Dinosaur Queen
by HunterHQ
Summary: A young girl named Cera and her partner Miku awaken without a clue as to where or when they are, even as to who they are. Join them on their journey as they work together through trials of many kinds to dig up their past and piecing it together, while battling foes across space and even time itself!
1. Prehistory in the Re-making Part 1

Chapter 1

Prehistory in the re-making Part 1

Out in the depths of space, in what appeared like a tunnel filled with a multi array of colours and sparkles all around, a female figure, dressed in a dark red futuristic full body suit and in a red helmet, floated adrift in the vast space as if being carried along the tunnel stream like if she was floating on a river surface. She remained motionless for several hours, her breathing deep and heavy and her eyes closed. After a little while, the she slowly opened her bright amber eyes and peered through the visor groggily. "Urgh… what… w-what happened?" she groaned, her vision still dizzy and her focus weak as she did her best to process her surroundings and everything that had happened prior to her predicament. She then closed her eyes, trying to recall the last thing she could. "Let's see, I was… in my ship… but was hit by a laser blast… The cargo hold was damaged, and about everything was lost. Then it was hit again and… there were warnings to get to the escape pod, but… something hit my head and… nothing…" She then opened her eyes and stared out at the space around her.

As she looked to the side, her vision became clearer as she several objects came into view. The largest appearing to be a now charred and heavily wrecked mechanical pod in the shape of a cross between a pointed sleek fighter jet and a rounded dinosaur egg framing. Several parts and debris were also seen floating gently in space, but the items that caught her attention were several egg shaped capsules floating about all around her, along with a white object shaped like a gun, and a certain card which stuck out from it. "I recognise those…The cards I saved….My dinoshot… and Miku… But why…?" she asked herself as to what did she or everyone else back home did to deserve such a tragedy that befell them all…..She weakly reached

"I guess this is it then. Even if I did survive the blast…If I'm stranded alone in between time periods with no hope of getting help from anywhere….it just means….I failed." She said and breathed heavily, with her last bit of strength, she then reached out and grabbed the dinoshot, holding it up to her face. "I'm sorry Miku… I'm sorry everyone…" A few tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry… I couldn't do more to help…" she wept bitterly as her eyes began to close and she slowly fell into despair. Right before she closed her eyes completely and the thought of giving up on hope and even life began to cross her mind, a bright blinding light suddenly shone in the very front of her, at the end of the seemingly endless tunnel ahead of her which caused her to widen her eyes before covering them with her hands, "AAAHHH!" she cried, just as the light was becoming too much, when she heard a voice that seemed to resonate in her head.

"Cera….."

At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes in shock, finding herself now encased in a bubble of some sort. "What the… What was…?" before she could say another word the voice spoke again interrupting her thoughts.

'Cera… Are you truly giving up? Or are you still willing to keep fighting?' a mystical female voice spoke to her.

The girl now named Cera, blinked at that, before giving a small sad smile. "… I wish I could… but I… I don't… I don't know if I can anymore…." she said feeling insecure and unsure of herself.

'What if, I could offer you a new start?' Cera looked up at that, before the voice continued. 'A new start, to rebuild your confidence, your very life, and to acquire strong allies who can help you in the fight to come. Friends and comrades, to aid you in a quest that would be impossible for any one person to undertake.' the voice offered before a rainbow winged bird, no, a pterosaur materialised before her and she could only Cera could only blink in shock at what she was seeing with her very own eyes.

"… Can you really do that for me? Can you really… give me a chance like that?" she asked.

'Only if you choose to accept such a thing." The pterosaur replied as she flapped her wings gracefully while sheltering young Cera in them, "Be warned… Should you accept, not all of your memories will be with you.' Cera widened her eyes in fear before they continued. 'It will not be forever. You will recover your memories over time. But to start anew, to earn the friendships you'll need, and to rebuild your confidence, this will need to happen. I cannot send you forth without doing so.' she said.

Cera looked down, thinking about everything she knows and everything she's been through. After a few moments, she looked at the card in her hand, remembering all she's been through and survived thanks to her partner. "As long as I have Miku with me….as long as I can remember her at least….then I have no regrets about this." she said before thinking carefully about everything they weren't able to prevent, and the thought of being stronger than before filled her with courage, "If I don't do this, I'd be as good as dead…..and even if not, there won't be a future to go back to. Heh, what do we really have to lose….also….after everything we've been through back home….that I think maybe a fresh start could be just what we need, can't have any lingering worries and scars from the war carry on after all….." Taking a deep breath, she took hold of the maroon coloured device floating beside her and flipped a part of it open, sliding the card inside before attaching it to her waist. She then looked straight into the light before her, at the pterosaur herself. "I'm ready."

The Pterosaur nodded in acknowledgement of her pure heart and sincere request, 'Very well. Good luck Cera…May fortune shine upon you and your allies.' She said as Cera's bubble was immersed in bright light!

The bubble she was in suddenly shot forward, Cera going through the tunnel, and had time for one last thought before the light cleared away all other things. "Here goes everything…" were her last thoughts as she closed her eyes and was completely enveloped in light, as her mind cleared and she drifted off into a peaceful slumber. Soon the light bubble she was in shot straight through the time tunnel ahead and vanished in the blink of an eye!

"Urgh…..My head…." Cera groaned as she slowly began to stir and sit up. Raising a hand to her head to try and calm it. When the helmet she realised she was wearing got in the way, she took it off, letting her long red hair spill out behind her, "Urgh, what happened? I feel like I got ran over by a herd of camarasaurus…." slowly she rubbed her temple as the pain flowed away slowly. As opened her eyes revealing them to be blue, she blinked a few times as her vision began to clear. She was rather surprised to find herself in a rather small clearing surrounded by trees in the middle of a grassy meadow. Opening her eyes, the sun had just began to arise over the hills and as she looked around, seeing nothing but the trees, the grass, and the open sky. She then paused and tried to recall what happened last….but she couldn't remember anything….

"Where am I? And… how did I get here?" She asked herself before suddenly freezing, as a realization came to her. "… And… w-who am I?" She placed a hand on her forehead as she tried to remember. "… Ce… Cera… That's my name… and… I have a partner… Their name is… Miku!" She widened her eyes, as she began to look around rather frantically in a hurry, trying to find her long-time friend, even if she couldn't remember what they looked like "Miku! Miku, can you hear me!" Not getting any response, other than scaring a few birds, Cera looked about her person, trying to find anything that could help her find her partner, and surprisingly found a gun-like object that she thought she recognised. "This is… my Dino-shot? Is that right?" She then tried to use it as best she could remember, and a compartment near the front opened up and a golden card shot out. Grabbing it, she noted the starburst and rainbow lights symbol on its center surrounded by a golden border. Flipping it over she saw an image of a dinosaur on it, depicting a small raptor's head on it with a white coating of feathers, which quickly made her eyes widen with realisation, "That's right. You are a dinosaur, and have a card form! And this," She looked back at the device in her hand, and spotted the scanner portion. "Is what let's you come back out!"

She then slid the card through the scanner on the back of the device, and the card turned into energy, being absorbed by the device and causing it to light up, circuits all shining all across the device. The front then opened up like a clamp, shine shining out from the opening. Cera then aimed her device at the ground in front of her, and pulled the trigger, the light firing out and gathering at the spot she aimed at. When the light died down, a small white feathered dinosaur, no larger than a sparrow appeared before her and eyed her with bright bluish eyes and a toothy smile. "Miku!" Cera knelt down and hugged the Microraptor, who nuzzled up at her and pressed her head against Cera's neck cuddling closely to her as they both smiled and laughed at their joyous reunion after what seemed like forever. "Oh, I was so worried when I woke up and couldn't find you!" Cera smiled as she took her little dinosaur into her 2 hands and looked at her.

Miku pulled her head back, and her head glowed slightly. "Hey there! How are you doing?" The dinosaur seemed to communicate back to her telepathically, while the dinoshot glowed faintly in sync.

Cera scowled lightly at her. "Who were such a naughty girl, worrying me like you did!" she pouted.

The little microraptor tilted her head slightly, "What are you talking about? I was in my card form the whole time." Miku then blinked in confusion. "Wait… I was, right?" She then looked around the clearing, still holding onto her partner. "Where are we anyway?" she asked.

Cera sighed as she stood up, still holding onto her friend as if she were scared she'd disappear if she let go. "I don't know. I can barely remember anything at all." she replied before looking down at her, "What about you?"

Miku narrowed her eyes trying to remember herself but unable to recall a thing that could help them, "Hmmmmmmm… I… don't have a clue." she responded scratching her feathery head.

Her partner then sweat-dropped and sighed. "Of course… you don't remember anything at all?"

Miku squirmed out of her hold and moved around her until she was perched on her shoulder, "Not much. I remember we're partners… our names are Cera and Miku…" She tilted her head again as she tried to focus. "And, we had some sort of mission, I think…" she added scratching her head once more in thought.

Cera sighed again in disappointment, "Just great. Out in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how we got here or what we're supposed to be doing." She looked up and held a finger to her chin. "Hmm, I think there was something about needing to find… something…"

Her partner shook her head in worry. "Man, this is annoying. Ah well!" She then climbed on top of Cera's head (much to her annoyance) and stretched her tiny arms out. "We should explore this place! Who knows what well find!" She then lowered her limbs and looked at Cera by hanging her head over her face, her head upside-down as she smiled. "Maybe we'll even find a clue as to why we're here!" A low grumbling came from just above Cera's head, and Miku's smile dropped for a moment, before returning again. "And maybe some food!"

Cera raised an amused eyebrow at her partner. "You get excited WAY too easily sometimes, you know?" Cera and Miku then laughed a little, before Cera started walking. "Alright then, let's start looking for food and information."

"Yahoo!" Mike squeaked as she raised her feathery arms up in excitement for their new adventure into lands unknown!

Later though, it was almost midday….after walking for so long along the game trail before them through the forested glade, Cera was beginning to sweat with exhaustion from fatigue and due to being cooked like an egg inside her thick jumpsuit under the sun. She had no idea why she wore it to begin with, and if she could she'd take it off too….only that she had no other clothes with her unfortunately. As she panted and gasped with thirst, she rested her arms on her knees as she took a moment to recuperate. At that moment Miku had just awoken from her nap resting on her shoulder, after scratching her face and opening her eyes she then sighed.

"We've been walking along this trail for a really long time….you'd think we'd find a hint of civilisation or even some people by now."

"We're walking Miku?" Cera muttered to herself feeling rather annoyed, eyebrowing her hitchhiking friend. "I'm the one who's doing all the walking here….." She just wished they could change places, though given their current difference in body size she'd only end up crushing the poor reptile into a feathery pancake….even if she was at full size. Looking up at the trees around her she narrowed her gaze at them, "If only you could could climb up those trees and get a better view, but you'd have to be full size to do that….and I don't want to draw any attention to us…..the way we look we're already suspicious looking…." she then sighed almost beginning to lose the will to continue going as she nearly fell forward, only to stabilise herself against the nearby tree trunk.

Her partner sighed feeling unable to help her in this situation….till she turned to the front and her eyes widened with joy and hope to see a small settlement just below the hill they were at, "Look Cera! A town!" she squeaked causing her friend to look up and see the town with small houses and stores in the distance.

"Maybe we can get some answers there." nodded Cera as she stood up straight again, but as she looked down and saw how she looked she then began to realise maybe they hadn't thought things through completely…..

Once again the pair were stuck in a rather tricky situation….though lucky for them, fortune was just around the corner or more like behind them.

"Greetings young lady!" a deep voice called out to them from behind catching their attention.

"Huh?"

As they turned around they were rather surprised to see a rather plump senior man with a bald head but also a fluffy moustache and beard which covered around his chin and cheeks. He wore a set of travellers clothes with an outer safari coloured pocketed vest over his purple shirt and a set of shorts and hoping boots. Around his back he carried a rather large backpack, almost twice his size, which seemed to be stocked to the brim with all sorts of goods inside, one of which seemed to be a few bottles contained some sort of liquid inside which Cera and Miku couldn't quite make out.

"H…Hello there…." Cera replied waving rather uneasily to see him out of the blue and with so much stuff being carried, "And who might you be?" she asked as Miku swallowed feeling rather nervous herself.

"Oh just a humble merchant travelling from town to town, making an honest living by selling rare or exclusive merchandise." he said with a rather jolly smile as he trotted up to her, feeling almost no fatigue from the immense weight he was carrying on his bag, as if he had super strength or something like that. As he opened his eyes to get a better look at a new potential customer, he noticed the small fluffy white Miku sitting on her shoulder which made him brighten up, "My my that's quite a cute little dinosaur you have there." he said.

"Haha, oh thanks….her name's Miku by the way, and with we've been like the best of friends as long as I can remember." Cera smiled feeling flattered, "Even if it isn't very much…." she thought on the inside.

"And proud of it too." The chibi microraptor held her head up proudly.

"My my isn't that just sweet." the man then chuckled.

Car nodded, "Mhmm, though she can be rather snippy at times…."

"Snippy?" Miku narrowed her eyes feeling offended.

"But otherwise she can be-" At that moment Cera and Miku both froze upon realisation and turned pale before they both exclaimed.

"Wait what!?"

"Huh!?" They each gasped with widened eyes upon the fact the man seemed to realised that Miku was actually a dinosaur!

Cera weakly held up her finger which shook as she tried to point at the man, "H….How did you-"

"Ahahahah! I'm just messing with you. I may be old but I know a bird when I see one." He then laughed to her surprise and relief.

"Oh….." She placed a hand to her chest as she stilled her racing heart, though for some reason she had a feeling he wasn't being that honest with her now. But she'd best leave it at that….

She and her partner became a little more on edge as the man placed a finger to his chin in curiosity and he came up closer to her, though his eyes were focused more on Miku, "Although, she doesn't look like any bird I've seen around here before." he commented as the chibi raptor huddled up closer to Cera and even began to try and burrow into her hair to hide from his unblinking eyes!

"Oh she's a….a…." Het droughts spiralled rather uncontrollably as she tried to figure out a legitimate answer….she didn't know much about small birds though, so she had to settle for the very first one that came to mind, "An albino sparrow! Yeah! That's right! An albino sparrow! Haha…." she chuckled nervously, "I found her out in the cold with a broken wing some time ago, took her in and raised her back to health, and as you can see she's really attached to me." she said using her finger and brushing the little dino's head who nuzzled in on it, "The 2 of us are pretty much inseparable."

After taking it away, Miku couldn't help but harden her gaze at Cera, "A sparrow? Hmph, how dare you compare to the likes of such lowly avians….." she grumbled feeling offended.

"Oh? Really now…..?" The merchant replied as he focused more on Miku once more which further unnerved her as she quickly buried herself in Cera's hair till she was almost out of sight, except for the small tinge of white she left from her feathers peering through the red hair. Cera was also beginning to feel put off herself, she was almost tempted to punch the guy in the face too for intruding on her personal space had he not then back off that very moment. "Well I've been to all sorts of places and seen many things in my life, but never have I seen an albino sparrow before, must be my lucky day then." he smiled scratching his beard before looking at Cera herself. "You certainly don't look like you're from around here either with that outfit." He then added looking up and down and even around Cera as she froze in place nervously. "In fact, in all my travels I've never before have I seen clothes like that before," he added at the end coming to a stop in front of her again, "Are you supposed to be some sort of stunt driver or something?"

"Stunt…driver?" As Cera looked at herself she had to admit she did look like some sort of vehicle driver of some sort….."Come to think of it…..I can't remember why I'm wearing this….looks so out of place out here too….in fact….I can't even remember anything at all about myself…other than my name and Miku….." she thought to herself feeling a bit downcast, as Miku popped out from her hair looked to her with a sympathetic expression.

"Hmm? Is something the matter?" the merchant blinked.

Cera then took a sigh before she decided to explain her condition, "Well you see….I don't really remember much on where I am, or who I am actually…." she said uneasily, "I just woke up without even remembering a thing other than my own name and my friend here." she said motioning to her dinosaur who looked up at her sadly, "All I do know is that Miku and I are both case friends, and that she's pretty much all I have now…." she added as she lowered her head in sadness.

The merchant stared at her for a moment before he looked away, "Oh, I see….how unfortunate….." he said feeling bad, before turning back to her, "So then, I assume you don't have a place of your own?"

"N-No…." Cera replied nervously, "And even if I did, I can't remember at all….."

"Hmmm….." It was at that moment the merchant suddenly smiled, "Well in that case, follow me then." he said as he trotted along another path which lead through the trees, "Come on now, we don't have all day!" he called out to her turning around before heading back into the woods with Cera and Miku just standing there.

Mike then looked to her with suspicion, "Should we follow some stranger from out of nowhere Cera?" she asked.

"Well he doesn't seem like the shady sort Miku," Cera replied shrugging her shoulders, "Besides, what have we got to lose?"

"Good point." her friend replied as they both followed him, surprisingly he had made a rather good pace through the woods ahead of them despite carrying so much with him on his back.

They hiked deep for a few moments before they came upon a rather attractive log cabin which lay by a small stream with plenty of fresh water in the middle of an open glade. The sky shone rather brightly with the radiant sun in the background and there were some small meadows of flowers situated near there. As the man opened the door to the cabin, inside was even more impressive than the outside, a small comfy bed with a drawer and night light situated next to it, was situated in one corner next to a window, a small kitchen with a stove, dinner table with 3 seats and even a medium sized refrigerator was there. There was even a small bathroom with a shower and toilet in another corner from the living room where a small couch and lamp stand stood.

"WOW!" Cera and Miku couldn't help but gaze upon the living quarters with wide sparkling eyes as if it was paradise.

"Yup, it's a thing of beauty isn't it?" The merchant replied proudly as he looked all around it, "This has been my humble abode for quite some time now, it's a shame now that I'm going to have to move on to newer, more verdant pastures." he said sounding sad at first before looking to her, "But at least now I know I can trust this to someone as sincere as you, and I'm sure it'll do more than satisfy your needs."

Cera blinked in surprise, "R…really? You'd do that for us?" she asked.

"Mhmm," the merchant nodded back to her, "I don't just say this to anyone, in fact, I can tell a great person when I see one." He said placing a hand on her shoulder with reassurance, "I know you'll take care of this place just fine as if it was your own." A thought seemed to cross his head as he took off his oversized bag, "In fact, I think I even have some clothes that I can throw in for you too as an added bonus!" he bellowed as he began digging through one compartment of his bag, before laying out a wide array of clothes in different colours and designs upon the bed.

"Wow…..this…sounds almost too good to be true….." Cera breathed in amazement.

"Hehe, normally I'd charge over 200 dollars for all these, not to mention an average rent of 500 a month….." he then chuckled.

"EH!?" Both Miku and Cera both exclaimed as their jaws hung and they both turned pale.

He then flashed a cheeky grin at them both, "But just for you, it's on me." he said holding out a peace sign.

Cera couldn't help but bow down gratefully non stop in light of his kindness, "Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you so much!" she said multiple times, as Miku hopped on the side table and sweat dropped at her partner's rather embarrassing gesture. As she looked up at him, "I'll never be able to repay your kind gesture sir." she said.

The merchant smiled as he patted her shoulder, "Aww there's no need young miss, in fact when I see someone such as you, pure hearted and truly in need of help, I can't just turn a blind eye." he said before turning rather serious, "Anyone who'd do that would be lower than the worst scum." he said in a rather firm tone which made both Miku and Cera a bit uneasy, till he smiled back at them again, "Besides, you've allowed me the chance to see a most rare sight indeed." He added turning over to the small white chibi dinosaur on the desk as he took one more look at her, to her discomfort, "You certainly are lucky to be blessed with such a close companion." he said at the end before turning to look at them both. "Be sure to take care of each other will you?"

Cera then stood up and nodded with a firm smile, "We promise we will."

"I'll be sure to protect Cera here with my very own life." Miku thought on the inside as she nodded firmly with her partner.

The man smiled pleased with the answer he received as he then hoisted his enormous backpack onto his back again, "Well then, now that that's out of the way, it's time I went on my way." he said as he opened the front door and stepped out, "Take care now both of you!" he said as he began trotting off on his way.

Cera then waved to him, "Thank you very much…err…..what's your name again?"

He then paused momentarily before replying to her, "Johnny, just call me Johnny." he said.

"Thanks…Johnny…." she said thankfully knowing she and Miku pretty much owed their lives to this kind but mysterious stranger, "Will we ever see you again?"

He closed his eyes and smirked, "Who knows where the roads will take us. But if they are destined to cross again then so be it." he said as he turned around, his back facing her, "I'll give you a wise word of advice though as my final parting gift to you may not understand or even believe what I'm about to tell you just yet, but I'll say this. Sometimes you won't find answers you seek, even if they are closer than you think. Instead, they may find you." He said as Cera and Miku both blinked their eyes in confusion.

"Find….me?"

"You'll understand in due time missy," he replied as he held a hand out to them, "But for now, I'll bid you and your friend farewell! May fortune smile upon you both!" he cried as he suddenly dashed off!

"H…Hey wait!" Before Cera could run out to stop him though, he had syrrpisingly taken off like an olympic sprinter! Leaving behind a set of dust clouds at his feet! As it cleared up, Cera lowered her arm and finished coughing, having caught some of it in her eyes, nose and mouth. After brushing her face clean she was shrpsied to see he was gone. "He moves pretty fast despite carrying so much…." she breathed in amazement.

"He's a strange fellow to say the least." Miku added brushing the dirt off her feathers.

Leaving it at that, Cera turned around to look back at their new accommodations as she placed her hands on her hips proudly, "Well, might as well get settled in….." she said as she went back in and shut the door behind her.

 **(Later)**

Much later that afternoon, the sun was just beginning to set over the hills yet people were still going about their daily activities and routines nevertheless such as their jobs at stores or returning home to see their families. In one corner, Cera, now dressed in a bright blue and white stripped dress, wearing black and white trainers and a yellowish long sleeve over her inner layer, was carrying a bag filled with all sorts of groceries and other necessities she felt were needed to make her new house complete, such as food for the refrigerator or washing liquid for the washing machine inside her new home. "Phew, finally that's out of the way….." she breathed feeling beat as she checked off the lats item on her list as she headed back home with Miku still perched on her shoulder.

"Hee hee, we sure got in a really big haul today didn't we Cera?" she giggled eying the bag filled with delicious ingredients ranging from fish fillets, eggs, meat and vegetables. "And it's all thanks to me sniffing out that old box under the bed." she said holding her feathery head up high, recalling when they were checking out their new room and seeing what else they could do to make it better, Miku had happened to stumble upon a small box under the bed, and when they opened it it was filled to the brim with money! "Who would've thought that box contained so much money on top of that too! Talk about a score! With all that loot we'll be filled up to the brim with food for weeks to come! Hee hee, we should be grateful old gramps left it behind too." While she was unsure whether Johnny had left it on purpose or by accident, it was a stroke of luck they stumbled upon it.

Cera however didn't quite share the same enthusiasm as she did, "I don't know Miku, isn't this kinda like stealing though?" she asked.

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm sure he wouldn't mind and even if he would he doesn't need to know does he?" grinned the little dinosaur, "Besides sometimes to survive you'll have to take advantage of every opportunity you get, even if it seems rather underhanded."

"I guess….." Cera admitted not able to counter what she said as she then dropped her head feeling a little conflicted. "Though why does this remind me of something I dislike very much….." she said finding the situation to be vaguely familiar to something she felt in the past…..before shaking her head, "Be that as it may, at least now we've got a roof over our heads and enough money to last us a while, we can now focus on finding answers to the reason who we are, and why we're here." Mike nodded with her with a smile, as she then stopped in her tracks, "Though we don't have a clue on where to start….." she sighed as Miku fell down in dismay!

"Err….that is a predicament we don't have an answer to yet." she chirped wiggling her tiny hands together.

They both were once again at a loss….but as if by divine intervention….a possibility made itself known to them as a couple passed by them chatting about something which caught their ears.

"Hey! Did you hear! Dinosaurs showed up just the other day in Cambodia!"

"For real!? That's just awesome!"

"Huh?" Both Cera and Miku were taken a bit aback after hearing what the couple spoke out loud. "D…Dinosaurs? Here?" Feeling interested, Cera trailed behind them slowly doing her best to listen in on what they were saying. What she heard came as a surprise for both her and Miku.

"I hear it was a purple and really spiky one which showed up at that temple, heard it fought with a T rex too!" cried the girl.

"Yeah, and I heard it even shot out spiky arrows from that tail too, pretty gnarly eh?" the boy followed, "Heh, if I knew dinosaurs could do all that I would have taken one of those palaeontology courses instead of being some boring accountant."

"Hahah, maybe it's not too late for me to do just that!" chuckled the woman as they soon walked off, "Come to think of it, dinosaurs have been popping up all around the world here and there out of nowhere, wonder what the big deal is with that."

As the couple soon disappeared out of sight, Miku drifted into thought as she began processing everything, "So then….I'm not the only one?" she asked.

"Guess not Miku….." replied Cera narrowing her eyes seriously, seeing now they might have a clue of some sort. "Looks like it's time we did a little digging of our own." She said as Miku nodded with her and they moved off.

After they dropped off all their things at home, the pair then spent the rest of the evening scurrying around town gathering whatever intel they could find or get their hands on, either asking local people, collecting whatever news articles were available till eventually it was at night time, inside where the pair sat at the table, well Cera sat at the table with a rather well cooked rice and fish dish in front of her, and Miku stood on top at the other side with a small water dish in front of her and another bowl with small insects inside which she began pecking at, which thankfully was able to find and catch just outside in the woods nearby their cabin.

After the nice meal, the pair gathered at the living room as they began to look over everything they collected, "Let's see what we've gathered so far….." said Cera as she typed on the small computer she also bought earlier, with Miku perched on her shoulder as they began cross referencing the newspaper articles they gathered, laid out on the floor, and on the internet now. What they found truly came as a shock to them.

"Whoa, just look at all those incidents over the past few days….." Miku chirped in surprise seeing articles including an Altirhinus appearing during the soccer tournament in Brazil, an Ankylosaurus causing a ruckus at the city a bit far off from where they were and even the appearance of a theizinosaurus too in that very city!

Cera nodded in agreement, "Yeah…..it's hard to believe there really are more dinosaurs out there besides you….wonder if that has something to do with why we're here….." she mused as she continued scrolling through, till Miku pointed out.

"Hey Cera, take a closer look over there in that corner." As she took a closer look, she saw in one corner were a trio of kids, 2 boys (1 in orange and another in blue) and a girl with long pink pig tails who were running towards the tower where the therizinosaurus was climbing, with what looked like 3…dogs? It wasn't just one picture, they even were seen at a nearby ninja village too where a trio of deinonychus had showed up. "I keep seeing those kids in almost every one of these pictures….."

"And those 3 in weird outfits too." Cera pointed out as another picture showed a fat boy, a tall skinny man in sunglasses and a slim but no doubt old lady with green hair also present in several of the photos such as one taken in New York where they hijacked a police car and another Bali with a daspletosaurus which seemed to be….'dancing'? "Could it all be a coincidence?"

"Unlikely…." Miku shook her head, "Especially since many of these dinosaurs appear at least once or twice in these documents….." She said as she hopped onto the floor and poked at the newspapers which depicted certain dinosaurs making many multiple appearances in different locations. Among them included a Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Spinosaurus, Saichania, Carnotaurus and Parasaurolophus. Which in fact seemed to resemble the 'dogs' they had with them at times…..

As the pair continued their research and dug deeper into the recent events, Cera however began to realise there were apparently 2 separate groups working against one another to capture dinosaurs that appeared around the world….but looking through more and more…continued to make her feel more disheartened….and pained…."Dinosaurs….fighting each other…..People running scared….destruction everywhere they go….." She breathed seeing that as the only thin which tied them together, as what buried emotions that couldn't be explained began to rise up from inside her….as if this it self was what she feared and hated the most….."It feels just….wrong…."

 **And thus concludes the very first chapter of my new story. This takes place between episode 38 and 39 and this is a test to see how well it goes. If it gets popular enough or there are other writers willing to help me out with writing this (Because it's really big and long with what I have planned)**

 **Part of this chapter is also thanks to Gundoru, and I will be working with darkblade2814 on this too, if anyone else is interested in this feel free to PM me.**

 **P.S-The only name Johnathan used was Johnny Cook during beast or famine, so I thought that would be his name now while his head isn't screwed on properly, literally.**


	2. Prehistory in the re-making Part 2

Chapter 2

Prehistory in the re-making Part 2

Elsewhere over the Atlantic Ocean that same night, in a laboratory on a certain island, something sinister was taking place. In its' lower levels, a man in a thick trench coat, Seth, was busy observing a purple stegosaurus inside a tank screeching in agony as various electrical shocks were being sent throughout its body from a laser hanging at the ceiling of the room. After several consecutive shocks the large armoured herbivore turned back into a card which fell gently to the ground. Despite that, Seth seemed rather pleased with the results he had acquired from that test.

Switching on to a camera, "Lab report 311, experimentation at 50% success. The subject's endurance levels have doubled at best though potential for even greater growth is still plausible." He stated as he finished his recording before taking out an Earth move card, "If the dinosaur can be made stronger perhaps the same can be said for its moves as well." He said to himself thinking what his next test would be, "Should I make the move itself stronger or perhaps reduce the move's recovery time?" He then thought to himself while weighing the costs and benefits of each experiment as well as deciding which would have more priority over the other. Regardless, there were endless possibilities for him and the new breed of dinosaurs he would one day bring to the world and he would be the one to usher in this very new age as he smirked to himself.

After that he switched over to another monitor to find a pair of siblings asleep in bed though not peacefully. Both children were dressed in warm pyjamas under thick wool blankets in their rooms with Icepacks over their heads and a rather large housemaid had just entered their room with a bowl of warm chicken soup. While Seth was pleased with Rod and Laura's recent efforts at acquiring him the new stegosaurus from Cambodia, he also was rather disappointed they would fall sick so easily to a few measly mosquito bites, though he then realised his expectations may have been a little too high, coming from young children, which made him feel a bit more sympathetic for them, "Perhaps I should make sure they are both properly equipped and prepared the next time I send them to capture dinosaurs in more hostile environments..." he thought to himself seeing them sleeping in bed, also making note of it so he wouldn't repeat the same mistake again. After that he went back to his research and experiments without a backward glance at the 2 children.

Meanwhile in another room, a large bedroom to be precise, things were going the same as usual for a certain trio of the Alpha gang, and by usual it meant really really awful...

"Bleach! Ptooi!" Cries Dr. Z as he spat back a mouthful of disgusting paste back into a bowl of black slimy mush. He then glared at Ursula, Zander and Ed who were in his bedroom before him as they both gasped, "That was the worst thing I ever put in my mouth! Just what were you 3 clods trying to make eat!?" He demanded while they sweated nervously.

"W...why it's a new health pudding we cooked up just for your dinner Dr Z..." squeaked Zander as he clapped his hands together.

"Yeah, made from magnesium and potassium rich foods," added Ed twiddling his fingers together, "Yams, potatoes, bananas and even a touch of ginger root! Making it perfect for relieving tension and not to mention it's 100% healthy!"

Finally Ursula, the leader of the bumbling trio, put on the biggest loving smile of all, "We made it just for you from the bottom of our generous hearts. Now come on tell us, no need to be shy now doctor, tell us how much you love us..." as she said that her 2 underlings shared the same bright smiles of hope as she did. As they opened their eyes eagerly to receive praise in return for their efforts, they were met with the exact opposite of what they expected.

"Are you nincompoops trying to poison me!?" Screamed Dr. Z furiously as he grabbed the entire bowl off his bed and flung it straight at the trio catching them off guard!

"Gaaah!" They screamed in horror as they leapt out of the way as the bowl smashed against the back wall and their hard efforts gone to waste as it slid down the wall to the ground.

"That batch of sewage will ruin me long before my back gets any better!" Dr. Z continued to rant shaking his fists while lying in bed wearing several pink beard Ribbons and Dino pjs.

"B...but Dr. Z...we deserve at least an A for effort right?" quivered Zander.

"Y…Yeah I mean it's the thought that counts right?" Asked Ursula rather nervously as the 3 got back together and crossed their fingers hoping for at least some sort of consolation prize, though unfortunately for them their string of bad luck had no intention of ending anytime soon.

"Out of the question! If it wasn't for his back of mine I would have shoved down every scrap of that mouldy mush down your measly little throats!" Dr. Z screeched shaking his fist with widened reddish eyes which made them all jump.

"Eeeek!"

He then shot them all a piercing scowl, "You 3 clods are just as capable at taking care of me as collecting dinosaur cards, and by that I mean completely incapable!" He growled before gasping for air from exhaustion as the trio's hearts raced uncontrollably.

"C...can we be excused now Dr. Z?" Squeaked Ursula pointing towards the back door.

"Th...that's right? I mean it's clear you want to be alone now right? No need for us to bother you anymore." Asked Zander shaking anxiously.

"Unless of course you want us to do something else for you instead?" Added ed, which awarded him some angry hissing from his 2 friends.

"Ed..." they glared at him which made him cover his head with his hands.

"Eek..." He squeaked.

"Tch!" Dr Z spat in disgust still trying to get the bad taste out of his mouth before looking around the room, "Where's Helga!? I asked her to come give me a back rub 5 minutes ago! Why hasn't she shown up yet!? And why am I stuck with you 3 in the first place!?" He yelled in frustration.

"Oh Helga? We actually passed by her just now." Said Ursula in response.

"Oh yeah that's right! She went over to take care of Rod and Laura who are sick in bed now." added Zander.

Dr Z's ears perked up and he blinked, "Say what?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"She said something about them catching a fever due to a bug bite or something," continued Ed twiddling his fingers, "Then after that she forced all her usual duties onto us, which is why we're here taking care of you right now in her place."

Dr. Z then held his hands up to his face in shock as his eyes widened, "Gasp! My own grandchildren sick!? How can this be!?" He gasped as he jumped up on his feet to the surprise of the Alpha trio, "Don't worry children! Your grandfather is about to-" suddenly a loud cracking sound echoed through the room, its' source became known to everyone in the room as Dr Z's face tightened and cringed with pain.

CRACK!

"Ack!" Dr. Z croaked as his back ache rendered him immobile once more as he fell backward right on his bed again as the trio gathered around him with concern.

"A...anything else Dr. Z?"

"We're here for you always..."

"Say the word and your wish is our command!" His faithful minions said to him in unison.

Dr. Z then grit his teeth furiously and screamed his head off, "Gargh! You idiots have given me enough trouble for one day! Get out now this instant! Get out! Get out!" He screamed throwing a barrage of pillows in their faces which smacked dead on!

"Aaaaaaah! Yes sir doctor sir!" They all cried as they beat a hasty retreat out of his room! Despite being soft Dr Z sire had a lot of strength being so small, so each pillow felt like it was filled with bricks rather than feathers as they made contact!

A little while later the 3 stooges limped into the alpha gang living room as they each slouched over on the couches and chairs to catch their breath, panting deeply with exhaustion, "Phew...a second longer and we would have come out dressed like chickens..." muttered Zander falling face flat on the seat of a chair.

"I wouldn't mind, at least I can eat myself and not feel any regret about it..." added ed feeing hungry himself, rubbing his huge belly while lying down on the couch.

A tic mark then sprouted on Ursula's forehead as she stood up and placed both her hands on her hips, fed up with being disrespected for the last time! "Grrgh! Will you both get your heads screwed on straight!?" She growled before taking her anger and frustration on the guy nearest to her, "Ed this is all your fault! It was you who told us to make that disgusting mush in the first place! Now Dr. Z is going to put us through more trouble than ever thanks to you!" she yelled pointing to him as his heart skipped a beat!

"B...but it was supposed to be a guarantee fix for bad backs!" The poor boy whimpered as the lady glared at him menacingly, "I thought if we mix together the best health foods of all it'll cure any kind of ailment in no time!" He added trying to protect himself.

"And just who gave you that bright idea?" Ursula then asked raising her eyebrow.

"I looked it up on the internet, and the internet never lies?" he replied, as he began receives various sweat drops or 'are you serious?' expressions from his friends.

"Tch! You've got to be kidding me..." sighed Zander shaking his head in dismay before slouching back into depression, "Now Dr Z's madder than a bull in a china shop, just when we try to do something good for a change it bites us in the butt..." he mumbled through the seat cushion on the chair.

"Life just isn't fair is it? One minute you're at the top of the world and next thing you know you're in the down in the dumps…." Sighed Ed after that losing all motivation and slumping down, "If only there was something we could do to cheer him up and get us back on his good side again like before..." he said moping about the good old days when they were all growing up under his care, when he was actually nice for once, before dinosaurs came into their lives, now it seemed the kind man they knew was no more…..

"Yeah...keep dreaming you two..." gleaned Ursula who pretty much was questioning her purpose in life before suddenly brightening up with hope! "Ah! You guys! I just got the most brilliant and full proof idea of all!" She cheered as she jumped up full of energy and an idea lit up in her head, while her 2 underlings looked up at her uneasily.

"Oh boy, Ursula's got an idea..."

"And that's never a good thing..." they each said, as she overheard them and pouted.

"Oh just cut me some slack will you? Have I ever steered you wrong before?" She then asked while wearing a rather jolly smile and clasping her hands together.

They looked to each other in thought, "Should we answer her Zander?" Ed whispered.

"Better not ed, bad idea..." he replied shaking his head.

Noticing their lack of faith in her she then snarled and smashed their heads together, "How dare you!?"

Bang!

"YOW!" they helped as 2 huge bumps swelled on their foreheads and they whimpered like a pair of dogs covering their sore spots, "What did we ever do?" They both groaned before passing out on the ground with stars over their heads.

"Never mind..." Ursula replied with annoyance rubbing her temple before eying them both seriously, "Listen I have an idea that is guaranteed to put us back on the fast track to promotions and rewards, which will also both show up both those pipsqueaks Rod and Laura and make us look good! So are you with me or are you with me!?" She then demanded.

As they both looked up at her they looked to one another, "Do we even have a choice Zander?" Asked Ed.

"No Ed, we never do…..might as well go along with it..." his friend replied as they decided to at least hear her out.

"Good, glad you guys are on the same boat." She replied with a smile, "First off, a pop quiz. What does Dr. Z love most of all?"

"Ummm…." both men scratched their chins before answering.

"Making things explode?"

"Giving us a good thrashing?"

Ursula then face palmed in response, "No you dummies, it's adding new dinosaurs to his dinosaur kingdom!" She growled, "And what better new dinosaurs to add to his collection than those belonging to those bratty kids in the d team!?" she suggested with a sneaky grin.

What she said completely baffled the imaginations of the other 2, "Say what!?"

"I knew she was crazy but I didn't think insane!"

"I'm serious you two," She said to them, "Use your heads, if we bring Dr. Z the very dinosaurs who have been causing us all this trouble in the first place imagine how much he'd reward us for years to come!" She suggested as the 2 buffoons blinked in surprise, "See where I'm going? He'll be so grateful for us ending the bane of his very existence for him, he'll be rewarding us so much we may even have plenty money leftover to spare when we're retired!" She continued with a sinister grin while rubbing her palms, "Plus with Rod and Laura now sick as dogs and out of the picture, this is out chance to rub it in their faces and get back on Dr Z's good side too! Also with the brats unable to do anything to stop us anymore, it's basically 3 birds with 1 stone! Ahahahaha! Sometimes I even amaze myself..." she laughed to herself while indulging herself in several fantasies where she was walking over the defeated D team like a ruled out red carpet, for calling her old lady so many times, and receiving Dr z's generous rewards while Rod and Laura were crying in the background.

Both Ed and Zander then dropped their jaws in amazement, "You know Ed...I can't be leave I am saying this but...she actually does make a good point..."

"Yeah...who would've thought she'd come up with a big picture plan like that..." Ed added in agreement.

"Excuse me?" She then narrowed her eyes at them after hearing what sounded like an insult.

They then shook their hands out, "N...no no! We were just amazed at how well thought out your idea was!" Said Zander while Ed nodded frantically.

"Ohohoho! Why it's only natural of someone as perfect as me after all..." chuckled Ursula as she once again returned to what she was doing while they sighed with relied.

"You make a good point there Ursula," said Zander.

Ed though then realised something else that was just as important, "But still, those kids are stronger than ever, beating them for their dinosaurs won't be easy..." he pointed out.

Ursula then smirked in response, "Ehehehe, don't worry, I've got that covered." She said smiling rather deviously as an idea had hatched inside her mind.

As they observed her rather sinister expression their uneasiness soon returned to them, "I don't like where this is going Zander..." Said Ed nervously.

"The feeing is mutual..." the skinny sunglasses man replied.

A while later the 3 of them, already managing to snatch their alpha scanners back from the sleeping pair of siblings, entered Dr Z's private depot where a series of inventions laid scattered about, from all terrain vehicles and jets to lasers and other weapons lay around, though most of them unfinished or untested. There were also the remains of many of their former vehicles, including the torpedo they were shot in at Niagra Falls or their tunnelling drill which was destroyed by Altirhinus in Augusta, which had met gruesome ends due their never-ending string of bad luck and under Dr Z.

"Bad idea Ursula, bad idea..." Said Zander rather frantically, in fact being in that very room was beginning to give him the creeps.

"You know Dr. Z will get ten times as mad as he already is now when he finds out we messed with his stuff..." squeaked Ed.

"You mean IF he finds out," corrected Ursula feeling confident with herself, "Which of course he won't, and even if he did, he won't get the least bit angry because we'll have brought him 3 new dinosaur cards before that!" She said, "You see where I am going? When he finds out how we took initiative and used his inventions to bring him success he'll be all the more grateful for us, and we'll be on the fast track to fame and glory for sure!" She added proudly, "Fortune favours the bold after all!"

Her two friends weren't as enthusiastic but they could see where she was going, "I guess if you put it that way..." Said Ed scratching his cheek in thought.

Zander then looked around the entire lab and array of devices surrounding them feeling rather insecure about what they were doing behind Z's back, "But these are all Dr Z's inventions, you can't possibly believe they'll actuallyget the job done for this plan you've got?"

"Of course not you bums," she replied in annoyance still having bad memories over the many times their equipment or vehicles fell apart or exploded at the worst possible timings, "Which is why we'll be doing a little tinkering to these little toys to make sure there aren't any unfortunate accidents," she said with a smirk as she began walking off in another direction, "And by we of course I mean you."

They both stood back in surprise, "Eh!?"

"Excuse me!?" they gasped.

"Come on you guys, some of us, like you, were born to do manual labour while others like me were meant to supervise while making sure we maintain a beautiful complexion!" She said waving her hand at them, as she pulled out a beach chair from nowhere and lay down on it while sipping from a glass of iced orange juice, "Besides I just got my precious nails done and no way will I do so much as chip one of them off in any dirty man's work." She then said flashing her newly done nails to Ed and Zander's annoyance.

"Aren't we all grunts here though?"

"Yeah, why do we have to do all the hard work?" They both asked.

"Would you rather I take all the credit for the whole successful operation then hmm?" She then asked raising an eyebrow at them.

They both shuddered, "N…no of course not!" They both gasped in alarm.

"Then get to it you lazy slugs! None of us are getting any sleep tonight until everything's perfect!" She growled as they both gasped and headed off to fetch the tools from the garage, while she kicked back and relaxed, folding one leg over the other while reading the latest fashion magazine she picked up the other day, till eventually dozing off and a bubble began blowing from her nose.

 **(The next day)**

Early the next morning, the sun began to rise over the hills and a rather medium sized blue minivan pulled up along the road before it came to a stop near the top of a hill. As the door opened, a rather energetic bearded man with a cowboy getup stepped out of the driver's seat and stretched out his arms and bellowed at the top of his lungs! "Well kids, here we are!" he cheered before taking in a breath of air, "SNIFF! Haha…..fresh mountain air with no trace of exhaust fumes," He then covered the top of his eyes as he peered around the area, "Trees and greenery as far as the eye can see and not a trace of architecture within a 100 mile radius. Isn't this just great!" he grinned with excitement.

"Ummm dad?" A groggy voice moaned from behind as 3 kids stepped out. All of them were rather tired and still sleepy with bags over their eyes, either yawning or still half asleep. "You woke us up like 6am in the morning, on a Saturday, just to bring us out to the middle of nowhere?" Max grumbled with annoyance as he looked around them and his eyes hardened.

"I knew you were always up for adventure and excitement Dr Taylor," muttered Zoe rubbing her eyes, "But isn't this a little much? I kinda need my beauty sleep…." she said. Speaking of beauty sleep, she knew her sister Reese needed it most, one time she got up on the wrong side of the bed because of Paris singing early in the morning like a rooster's crow and she really let them both had it…..

"Yawn….I haven't been this sleep deprived since that incident with the ankylosaurus a few months back…." Rex yawned covering his mouth.

As Spike turned around he placed his hands on his waist and grinned energetically, "Come on kids! You should be filled with way more youthful vigour than that! And you're not even half my age yet!" he bellowed pumping up his arms, "Besides, today's a special day! One that you 3 ought to engrave in your hearts for years and years to come!"

As soon as he said that, their interest was piqued as they did their best to fight back any leftover drowsiness in their eyes, "Oh? Why's that?" Max asked curiously.

Spike grinned eagerly as he came to the best part, "Because, today's the day your grandmother Grazelda first took me on my very first trip into the great outdoors! In fact, it was at this very spot she took me to long ago when I was your age." he said proudly folding up his arms and looking up at the blue skies above.

"R…Really?" Max went feeling quite touched.

"That's….kinda sweet…." added Zoe as she smiled.

"Yeah…." Rex breathed.

"That very day was what inspired me to love the great outdoors with all my heart!" Dr Taylor continued as he began scanning the horizon, "In fact, it was around this very spot we're standing that I once uncovered my very first dinosaur fossil!"

The D team kids then brightened up with amazement, "WHOA!" they all gasped.

"For real!?"

"No way!"

"You're kidding…."

"Oh no, it's very true kids." Spike smirked proudly before then scratching his cheek in thought, "Though I can't quite put my finger on what dinosaur it was…."

The kids' excitement soon died down and was replaced with disappointment, "Aww…."

"What a let down…." They went either face palming or falling down.

"Be that as it may, it was this very spot which set me on the path to become the man I am today." Dr Taylor continued.

Max then walked up to him, "That's….nice and all dad. But….is there any reason why you woke us up like really early this morning? We could have set out later couldn't we?" He then asked.

His dad grinned in response as he placed a fatherly hand on his boy's shoulder, "Well, you know the old saying the early bird gets the worm! Also best way to beat the traffic!" he cheered, "And I kinda felt nostalgic and really excited I couldn't contain myself, so I just had to bring you kids out here no matter what!"

Max and his friends then sweat dropped at the man's immature response, "Heh, typical dad….always going with his gut rather than his head first…." Max chuckled.

"One day Max, you'll be taking your kids up here to this very spot to continue our family legacy." Dr Taylor then added catching his ears as he turned to look to his son, "Won't you son?"

Max was taken a little aback by his dad's statement, but he said it in a way where he couldn't say no otherwise he'd hurt his old man's feelings…"Err….sure of course dad! Why wouldn't I? Heheh…heh…." he chuckled nervously, considering he decided to have kids in the first place that is.

Zoey and Rex then snickered behind his back, finding the thought of a girl who'd want to marry someone as hot headed as Max quite hilarious….though if his dad could find love maybe there was hope for him yet.

Rex then folded his hands behind his head, "Well in any case guys, we might as well enjoy it while we're here!" he said, which gave Max the lucky break he needed to get away from his dad's sensitive question.

"Y..Yeah of course!" He said, "There's plenty of room for Chomp, Ace and Paris to finally run and get some fresh air and exercise."

"They have been a little stressed out not being able to run around lately," Zoe replied in agreement, "This could be a great time for them to vent out some stress."

"Well then what are we waiting for guys!? Let's get them out here right now!" Max cheered as they took out their dinoholders. As they swiped their cards, they glowed and 3 chibi dinosaurs appeared before their respective partners as they stretched out or yawned.

"Come on! Let's go check out this part of the woods Chomp!" Max called out to his buddy who followed him excitedly into the forest.

As they disappeared from sight, Rex's partner couldn't help but stomp his feet with excitement and pant excitedly. Rex smirked understanding what that meant, "Want to race Ace? Heh, you're on!" he went as they both sprinted off after Max!

"H…Hey wait you guys! Don't leave us!" Zoe cried out as she and Paris hurried after them so they wouldn't get left behind.

"Be careful kids! Don't wander off too far!" Dr Taylor called out to them before recalling an important memory, "That's right! Now I remember! I buried that fossil in a time capsule!" he cheered with excitement before slumping back down again, "Though I can't seem to remember where it was….." It was then he perked up and headed to the back of the van, "Well then, guess it's a good thing I packed this just in case!" He cheered opening up the booth and rummaging through the many other things he had stored inside, as he began throwing out shovels, gloves and picks, "Let's see….I'm sure I packed around…Aha!" He cheered as he pulled out a rather large metal detector with blinking lights on it, "Hehe, now we're cooking! Dr Taylor's super ancient treasure hunt now begins! Oh how I feel so young again…." he said jittering with excitement before switching on his device and going off treasure hunting.

Meanwhile as they trotted along the forest path, Paris went to go sniff some flowers in some bushes nearby as Zoe supervised to make sure she didn't try munching on any poisonous toadstools, while Rex paced behind Ace who tried snapping at butterflies for an early morning snack. Meanwhile Max had just noticed Chomp dive into some bushes and he grinned knowing what he was doing, "Playing hide and seek Chomp? Okay, ready or not here I come!" he cheered as he reached his hands out ready to give the little trike a surprise from behind!

As Rex breathed in the clean mountain air he felt more at peace and relaxed than before, "You know, I think I can get used to this…." he said to himself willing to let Dr Taylor slide this once, as he was about to drift into dreamland himself, he got awoken by an unexpected wake up call.

"Hey Max! Rex! Look at this!" Zoe cried out as they quickly hurried to where she was, kneeling down and staring at a log it seemed. As they got closer through, they became quite amazed to see a Japanese stag beetle and Hercules beetle were engaged in pretty close combat with one another! It was rare sight almost no one had ever witnessed in the wild before!

"Whoa that's cool….."

"Yeah, it's not everyday you see something like this…." Max and Rex breathed with amazement as they didn't take their eyes off both insects for even a second as they continued to thrash about, each hoping to overpower the other with sheer strength!

"Who do you think's going to win?" Zoe asked.

Max grinned, "Hehe, I'm gonna bet 10 bucks on the rhinoceros beetle!

"Oh yeah? In that case I'll pit 10 bucks that the stag beetle will win!" Rex countered as he and Max fist bumped.

"You're on!"

As the 2 boys began rooting for their respective insect to win, Zoe couldn't help but sweat drip in response, "Seriously? You guys are betting your allowance over an insect fight?" she sighed face palming, "Boys….sometimes I don't understand them…."

While the 3 kids focused on the beetle battle, their 3 dinosaurs soon gathered together, Ace apparently had noticed a peculiar leaf had fallen on the ground and he sniffed it with interest before barking and calling the other 2 over. As they looked closer the white leaf turned out to be a feather, though not like any they've seen, in fact it seemed almost saurian in a way. As they looked up they caught sight of a small white fluff perched on a tree branch, which soon turned to look down. The 3 D team dinosaurs were surprised to see the white ball of fluff in the trees was in fact alive! The fluff however was surprised to have been seen as it quickly hopped over from tree branch to branch hoping to escape the unwanted attention she just got as the 3 chibi dinosaurs chased after her!

Meanwhile the D team was oblivious to the fact that their pets were running off from them, as their eyes remained fixated on the beetles where neither one had shown signs of giving up or tiring just yet. "Man these guys are really evenly matched…."

"Yeah, just look at them lock horns with one another….."

"I never thought insect fights could be this intense…" They each commented as the hercules beetle tried to jab its horn forward only for the stag beetle to clip onto it and hold it back!

"Hey Chomp! Come over here and take a look at this!" Max called as he turned around, but the second he did, he widened his eyes to see all 3 of their dinosaurs running farther away into the woods to their owners' shock!

"Huh!?"

"Ah!"

"H…Hey Chomp! Wait! Come back!" Max yelled as he raced after them.

"Oh no not again! Ace!" Rex grunted as he got up and hurried over.

"Don't go off on your own Paris! Wait for me!" Zoe cried as she followed the 2 boys after their friends!

Meanwhile, the 2 beetles were stuck together and struggled to pull themselves apart, only for the both of them to eventually tumble over the log and fall into the underbrush!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off in the distance in the hills, a rather large reddish plane-like vehicle with tilting propellers on the ends of its wings had landed rather smoothly for once, as the wind it generated from its wings began flowing away several leaves off the tree tops as it then landed in the middle of a clearing. As it's back opened up Ed was first to step out as he wiped away some sweat from his brow, "Phew, thats the first safe flight we've had in a long while..." he muttered taking a breather as he got off first.

"Well naturally," replied Zander with a grin stepping out next from behind him, "Considering it isn't Dr Z sending us off its obvious we'd make the trip in one piece."

"Good point..." Ed replied in agreement, recalling the number of times Dr Z blasted em out of their vehicles or made them explode upon arrival whenever he sent them out to capture dinosaurs, every single one made him shudder, though for the first time arriving safely felt so unusual and out of place for him. His trial of thoughts was derailed as suddenly he and Zander suffered a serious kick to their rears which end them flying into some nearby bushes!

"GAAAAAHH!" They cried as they struggle hard to pull themselves out of the underbrush before managing to, though it ended up with them rolling across the field and they lay face flat on the ground!

"Alright guys enough chit chat, time to get to work, chop chop! Time to get to work!" Stated Ursula impatiently clapping her hands.

The other two looked up to her nervously while still lying down, "You really sure about this Ursula?" Asked Ed feeling insecure, while rubbing his sore bottom.

"Those modifications we made were pretty expensive," Added Zander with a pout, "If something goes wrong we can pretty much kiss our allowances down the toilet!"

"Relax you guys...listen," she said sighing having lost her patience over their paranoia, "Ever heard the saying big risks make big rewards, not to mention the best rewards come to those who initiate and make their opportunities rather than wait for them?" She then asked, "The time for worrywarts is over, the age of the Alpha gang starts now!" She boasted with fire in her eyes.

"But….How will we know the brats will come in the first place?" Asked Ed twiddling his fingers, which then earned him huge bash on the head by Ursula!

SMACK!

"Owie!" He cried as Zander shuddered.

"Newsflash Ed, how else do you think those kids show up in our faces everyone a dinosaur appears? The news?" she replied sarcastically,"By now you'd figure they'd have some sort of detection system like we do. And of course what easier way to bring them in than with a dinosaur, you get what I am saying?" She stated as the two men soon realised what she meant.

"Thats...genius..."

"How come we never thought of that before?" They gasped in amazement.

"Because your puny brains could never come up with a scheme that's as efficient and elegant as me." Ursula winked playfully before glaring at them like a demon! "Now get off your butts and get to work on those traps now!" She shouted pointing out as they shuddered.

"On the double!" They cried as they quickly rushed back in and hauled out the equipment off the jet and began assembling their devices and soon began looking for good places to set the traps.

As Ursula stood back and watched the 2 men work their butts off, she then grinned deviously to herself as she rubbed her hands together with her nasty plot which was soon coming together, "Hehehe just you wait you little ankle biters, when this day is over you'll rue the day you ever crossed me..." She thought to herself with glee knowing today would be the last day they ever crossed the Alpha Gang.

 **And now concludes chapter 2. Have to say I didn't expect to finish this so soon. In any case you're wondering, the aircraft the Alpha trio used is the one used on the dinosaur king arcade game.**

 **P.S-** **Grazelda Taylor is actually the name of Max's grandmother in the anime, stated from episode 7.**

 **Hope to be able to see this story through if I can.**


	3. Prehistory in the Re-making Part 3

Chapter 3

Prehistory in the re-making Part 3

"Hey Chomp! Wait up!" Max cried out holding his arm out as his close partner and the other 2 chibi dinosaurs continued rushing off along the forest trail, apparently eying something moving relatively quickly through the trees up above. As he charged ahead after the 3 little dinosaurs, the rest of the D team hurried after him trying their best to keep up.

"Ace slow down! You know we can't keep up with you!"

"Paris you too! Please slow down!" Zoe and Rex both called from behind as there legs were beginning to feel like jelly, having fun for so long they hadn't realised how deep into the woods they came.

Fortunately for them, Chomp, Ace and Paris soon came to a stop in front of a rather large tree as they stared up at its upper branches, allowing Max to finally reach his arms out and grab hold of the yellow triceratops! "Got ya!" he cried out catching his friend by surprise as he looked to Max's panting but relieved expression. It didn't take long for Rex and Zoe to take hold of their partners too.

"Huff huff….that was really bad Paris! What if you got lost!?" Zoe scolded as Paris lowered her head in shame.

"Zoe's right, that goes for all of you too." said Rex as Ace turned away unable to look at his partner in the eyes. He then sighed and shook his head as if he was dealing with a little kid himself, "Just what in the world got you all so riled up all a sud-" As he looked up to see what the dinosaurs were so excited about, he then paused as his eyes caught sight of something clinging onto the trunk of the tree not too far from the ground but still out of arm's reach. It was white and fluffy and no doubt alive and moving for sure as it quickly scurried over to a nearby branch and perched on it. "Hey guys take a look up there." Rex pointed out with interest as his friends soon followed.

"Is that a….bird?" Max questioned as he narrowed his eyes for a better look.

"Not like any I've seen before, that's for sure." Zoe added putting on her goggles and zooming in for a closer look, on closer examination she saw at the end of its small wings it also had a pair of tiny…hands? Also, it had a rather long and tuffed up tail and long antennae like feathers sticking out from its head, as it stared down on them from above and it began scratching an itch on its face apparently with its unusually clawed feet.

"Looks kinda scrawny too….wonder what species it is…." Max then thought to himself, though his train of thought came to a stop when he heard a voice call out of nowhere.

"Miku! Miku where are you?" The voice echoed through the woods as the D team and their dinosaurs looked around curiously for whom it belonged to.

"Huh?" They looked around and overheard some incoming footsteps and rustling in some bushes nearby. Wrestling her way out of them was a young girl about their age with long red hair, wearing a striped dress with and trainers. As she looked up the tree she then smiled.

"There you are, come down from there you silly girl." she said as the white 'bird' then leapt down and flapped her wings, slowing her fall gracefully before coming to a smooth landing on the girl's shoulder. "You shouldn't go running off like that, you had me worried sick and this is a really big forest after all….." she said rather concerned, petting the little bird's head with her finger as she then chirped in response and covered her face with a wing rather sheepishly.

Chirp chirp

"Oh it's fine no worries, just don't sneak off behind my back again next time okay?" the girl said once more before nothing that they weren't alone. "Hmm?" She blinked her eyes in surprise to see that there were 3 other kid with her, 2 boys and a girl, with pets it seemed to her. "Oh, hello there. Didn't notice you there." she said politely.

"Err…h…hi there." Max waved out rather awkwardly as Rex and Zoe simply smiled, "We didn't think there was anyone living all the way out here in the middle of nowhere….away from the town that is." he said.

"Yeah, I can understand that." the girl replied back as she looked around their surroundings and smiled, "Though there may not be much here at first, you'll get used to enjoying the fresh air and nature around you," she said taking in a breath of fresh air, "Away from the noise and stress of civilisation and immersing yourself in the way things used to be before being touched by the hands of people." she then added rather poetically to the surprise of the D team at how deep she was.

"That's another way of looking at it…." Rex thought in agreement, recalling back to a time before when loud construction work kept him and Ace awake all night once, an experience he hoped he wouldn't need to go through ever again.

Eying the girl's shoulder curiously, "Is this your….pet bird?" Zoe then asked pointing towards the white ball of fluff who narrowed her eyes at her.

"Pet?" The red head blinked at her words before eying her little friend before smiling and stroking her gently, as the bird rubbed into her finger, "I'd prefer to call her a companion actually, she and I are really close as long as I remember, so to call her a pet would be rather insulting wouldn't you think?" she replied.

"Actually….yeah, we kinda get how you feel." Zoe responded scratching her head sheepishly before looking down to Paris who looked up and barked at her curiously, "We'd never consider our….dogs as just pets, in fact, to us I'd say they're best friends any of us could have asked for." she said as her green partner began nuzzling into her leg rather affectionally while Max and Rex nodded with their partners by their side.

The girl then looked to them in confusion as soon as she heard what Zoe said, "D….Dogs?" She then looked to each of them, a small yellow one with 3 horns, a tall bipedal one with bull like horns and the last being green with a curved crest on the head. Their unusual appearance made her bring a hand to her chin in thought, "Strange…they don't look like any breed I know….no offence…." she said.

The D team nearly jumped at what she said before Rex spoke out to save their skins, "N…None taken, though they look a little….unique…..I'd say your bird there is rather different from other birds we've seen too." he said pointing to it again, changing the topic quickly.

"Haha, you make a good point there." the girl giggled before holding out her hand, "Whoops, forgot to introduce myself, my name is Cera." she said.

"Nice to meet you." said Zoe as Max and Rex nodded.

"And this is Miku." Cera gestured to her shoulder again showing her little avian friend who squawked and raised out her arms welcomingly.

"Miku huh? Aww what a cute name…." Zoe replied bringing her hands together finding her movements to be adorable.

"Thanks."

Max then grinned as he walked up to Miku and began wiggling his finger rather playfully, "Hey there little birdie, want a juicy little wo-" He then took it away quickly in time before the little ball of fluff suddenly snapped at it! A near miss and his finger tip barely feeling the needle like teeth graze against it!

SNAP

"Ah!" he gasped grabbing onto his finger with his hand before looking back and feeling at the little 'bird' having attempted to take his entire finger clean off! Even Zoe and Rex too were rather shocked.

"Whoa! I didn't expect that." Cera gasped in

"Yeah no kidding…." Max replied in agreement as the others decided to keep their distance for their own safety, there was no telling what this 'bird' was really capable of, "Is it really a bird though? I'm sure no bird alive today has teeth….not ones I know of…." he then thought suspiciously seeing it resembled a feathered dinosaur in a way….

"Bad girl Miku, that's no way to behave to visitors, now apologise." Cera scolded with a firm expression which made her friend sulk and cover her face behind a wing. "Sorry about that, she doesn't take kindly to strangers at first, but I'm sure she'll warm up to you." She apologised.

"Hehe let's hope so, wouldn't want to be anywhere on the pecking order now huh?" Max chuckled as everyone else then laughed in amusement. He then stepped out and held out a hand, to Cera this time.

"The name's Max, and this is my buddy Chomp!" he said gesturing to his friend who wagged his tail and jumped up and down rather energetically.

"I'm Rex and this here is my partner Ace." he said standing forward as his 'dog' panted joyfully while running around Cera, getting her scent and familiarising himself with her, to her tolerance since she could tell he was just curious.

"And last but not least, I'm Zoe." she said last while holding up her own partner, "And this here is Paris." She said as Paris let out a calm bark.

"Max, Rex, Zoe….I'll be sure to remember that, nice to meet you all." Cera responded to their introductions before a thought soon crossed her mind. "Why do they look so familiar though?" she thought before she stared at them unblinkingly, "Wait a minute…..it….can't be….." It didn't take long for her partner Miku to join her as well in surprise, much to the D team's unnerve.

"Ummm Cera was it?" said Rex uneasily having notice her unusual change on behaviour.

"Is…everything okay?" Zoe then asked feeling suspicious herself.

"Why are you staring like that all a sudden? It's….kinda creepy…." Max concluded taking a step back.

Nothing could prepare the 3 of them for what Cera was about unveil next, "I…It's you!" she exclaimed catching them all off guard.

"Huh!?"

"U….Us?"

"You 3 are the ones travelling all across the world chasing after dinosaurs aren't you!?" As soon as she uttered those words, the 3 kids' hearts skipped a beat simultaneously.

"E….EEEEEEEHHHHH!?" As they cried out their partners simply stared and blinked in confusion.

A little while later the D team found themselves at Cera's lodge further ahead at the forest clearing. Inside the dinosaurs played together in their corner as they always did, while also including Miku now into their little circle of friends as they welcomed them to play chase or even hide and seek with each other around the house.

Cera was showing the D team her extensive research into their activities over the past couple of months through the internet sites or news articles, and they had to admit, her research was almost as impressive as theirs' when it came to dinosaurs….

"So after cross referencing the many different sources I gathered and linking them altogether with the multiple appearances of the same dinosaurs, as well as checking out eye witness reports, that's how I pieced together your identities." she concluded at last much to their amazement, as they stared at her in surprise and disbelief.

"Wow….now that's what I call doing research…." Max whistled.

"Yeah no kidding….even I'm impressed by all this…." Rex admitted as he looked around all the sources gathered before them on the study desk and table.

After seeing enough Zoe then turned to Cera rather seriously, "Listen umm…Cera…." she started off uneasily before shaking her head and working up the courage to say what she needed to, "We'd really appreciate it, if you could keep this a secret from anyone else. If others were to learn about this….well…..I'd rather not think about it but it'll be really bad for us, the dinosaurs and those close to us too….." she said scratching the side of her head.

"Yeah, we don't want anyone else to get involved…for their sake and ours too…." Rex added, knowing that if their identities were to get out to the public, they'd have far more on their plates than they could possibly handle. Dealing with the alpha gang and beating them to dinosaurs was trouble enough, no way would they want any other outside parties to interfere or worse get involved with them outside of a mission, for it was anyone's guess what would happen then.

Max then nodded with his friends as the tension in the air rose and even the 4 dinosaurs stopped their playing and turned to their partners, instincts telling them something was definitely up even though they didn't quite understand human speech.

"….." Silence echoed through the entire house for several moments…..

Till Cera then smiled back lightly, "Of course, your secret is safe with me, I promise." she said before looking over to the 4 dinosaurs, filled with life and innocence in their eyes, "After all, I actually love dinosaurs too…..And I wouldn't want anything to happen to yours as well….." She said having an idea over the possible dangers they could face if news of their existence and identities were to reach the wrong ears….or what were to happen if they fell into the wrong hands.

"Phew what a relief." Rex breathed placing a hand to his chest letting out a sigh of relief, "You don't know how much that means to us."

"Yeah…." Max then nodded before folding his arms at the back of his head and pouted childishly, "It's quite a shame though, but it can't be helped. If word of this got out to the rest of the world, I'd be the most popular kid in class by now and I'd be signing autographs by now." he then stated snarkily as the others turned to him.

"Say what!?"

"You!?"

"Well duh," he snickered rubbing his nose, "I mean out of all of us it's clear I'm the one who beat the most dinosaurs, and not to mention Chomp's also a triceratops," the said gesturing to Chomp who tilted his head curiously, "He's the most famous of all herbivorous dinosaurs! He's pretty much a dino celebrity! It's no contest whom out of the 3 of us news reporters would pick as the best! Besides, all these photos and videos have gotten my best side." he boasted.

"Grr! Don't make me laugh!" Rex retorted feeling offended, "Ace and I would take that title from you by a storm! We'd run circles around you both like we did with the alpha gang and you'd be out before you can even move!"

"Oh yeah!? I'd love to see you try!" Max growled back as he and Rex glared at one another with a burning passion and sparking rivalry between them!

"Oi! Just because you 2 boys get most of the action doesn't mean you can leave me out of the picture!" Zoe cried out pouting and steaming her head off catching their attention, "I could be the center of attention on papers and magazines around the world if you guys didn't keep hogging the spotlight every time! In fact, I bet I could be quite the leading lady myself if I wanted to and you boys would be my personal menservants." she giggled striking a cute pose and wink, "Just admit it, you guys would be helpless without me backing the team!" she then laughed rather snobbishly.

"Yeah right, in your dreams Zoe." Rex scoffed.

"Rex does have a point there," stated Max shrugging his shoulders cheekily, "The minute some famous celebrity like that Deckham guy from team Euro shows up, you're pretty much out cold and on the sidelines, if anything we often have to pick up the slack for you." He said reminding her of the time they lost the altirhinus back in Brazil all because of her knocking herself out from excitement after seeing her dream star up close with her own eyes.

Hearing their remark caused a tick mark to appear on Zoe's forehead as she steamed angrily, "Oi! You take that back now! Or would you guys prefer to tussle!?" she yelled shaking a fist at them. As the 3 friends engaged in another one of their usual childish squabbles, Cera on the other hand stood where she was, apparently taken aback by their carefree behaviour, on how they saw their excursions in acquiring dinosaurs….she initially hoped that they would do so because they had a good cause….that they had a good reason for not only battling dinosaurs and causing collateral damage, but even using other dinosaurs to do it….many thoughts began to gather in her mind, as she then shook tensely and gritted her teeth.

"How could you…" she breathed which the D team soon picked up on as they turned to her.

"Huh?"

"What could you be thinking?" she hissed as bitter tears fell from her eyes, "You call yourselves dinosaur friends….yet you carelessly send them into battle and make them fight, and you even have the nerve to treat this as some sort of game!" she yelled as she began tensing up and the D team were taken heavily aback by her sudden behavioural change. "Guess I was kidding myself to think you'd be different from the alpha gang."

"H….Hey! Where did that come all of a sudden!?" Max widened his eyes as his friends too gasped in shock.

"How could you possibly compare us to the likes of those creeps!? We're nothing alike!" Rex cried.

"We fight because we're here to protect them from falling into their filthy hands! Otherwise they'll do all sorts of cruel things to them! It's unthinkable you'd even consider us the same as they are!" Zoe followed.

"Is that so?" Cera then replied, "On the surface you may see it like that, but what happens after you turn them back into cards? Do you just leave them trapped in there, ignoring their cries for help and they never to see the outside world again? Do your reasons really justify what you do to them? You force your partners to battle other dinosaurs and you don't consider their own safety either, what if something were to happen to them because of what you tell them to do?" As she said that the D team were soon at a loss for words, unable to respond back even though they wanted, "Not only that, the dinosaurs you fight to capture, you hurt them badly too just as much as the alpha gang does. The way I see it, opposite sides or not, you're all basically playing the same game in the end!" she yelled.

Her words hit like daggers on a bullseye and the D team couldn't find anything to retort back with, "B…But we….."

"You guys claim to be different but the similarities are all too apparent. Think you can prove me wrong? What do you have to say for yourselves?" Cera then continued before realising she may have gone too far now….as she turned around with her back facing them, having said enough, "I think you guys should leave now….." Was all she she could bring herself to say as she lowered her head and sighed, knowing she couldn't take back what she had uttered.

Realising they weren't welcome anymore, the D team gathered their partners before taking their leave. Who got the feeling it was time to go, after noticing their rather downhearted expressions and hearing the earlier outburst, as they instinctively went up to their respective owners.

"Come on Chomp, let's get out of here." said Max calling the young trike to follow him out, though he seemed to be rather sad to part ways with his new friend.

"You too Ace….Paris….let's not overstay our welcome…." added Rex as he and Zoe exited with their partners, who too carried rather sad expressions before they left the house. "Sorry for disturbing you…..but….hope you'll change your mind about us someday…." Were the last parting words Rex uttered as they rest of the D team parted ways with Cera…..as they closed the door behind them, leaving both her and Miku alone….again…..as she then made her way to her bedside to think about everything that just transpired, while Miku looked back and forth between the now closed door and her partner who apparently closed off her heart.

Meanwhile as the gang headed back onto the trail putting distance between themselves and the lodge, while still unable to shake off the words that Cera had left embedded within them…."I can't believe what just happened in there…."

"Neither can I…"

They didn't have much time to dwell or reflect back on what happened though, as suddenly they heard a beeping sound coming from their pockets and packs which caught their attention.

Beep Beep

"Huh?" As they all took out their dinoholders from their pockets they noticed they were glowing!

"A dinosaur? No way!" Gasped Max widening his eyes as Chomp, Ace and Paris gathered around their shocked owners.

"Where is it Max?" Zoe then asked curiously as her friend began to dial on it.

"Let's see here..." As he tapped on the screen and locked on to its signal he then brightened up with excitement, "Hey it's actually not too far from here!" He said with an energetic smile to his surprised friends who stared, "What luck! And here I thought this entire time we'd have to go straight back to the D lab!" he cheered and clapped his hands together happily and relief, the thought of another exciting adventure just around the corner felt like a great distraction that he could use to get his mind off what Cera said.

Rex and Zoe on the other hand weren't as enthusiastic however, in fact they both felt rather uncertain about themselves, as they went completely silent as their expressions soon turned be rather emotionless, "..."

Max then noticed his friend spacing out, this time having something serious on his mind which worried him somewhat, "What's up Rex? Anything up?" he asked as Zoe and the other dinosaurs looked up towards Owen, sharing Max's puzzled expression, usually he'd be as pumped up as they were.

"I don't know you guys..." He replied looking back at them, "It's just...from what Cera just said to us...what if she's right? What if we're really hurting dinosaurs and not saving them from the alpha gang? What if we really are no better than them ourselves?" He asked feeling rather guilty and uneasy.

Max's eyes widened, "Say what!?" He gasped while Zoe was also taken quite aback by surprise herself, "Come on Rex don't tell me you're actually buying into all that nonsense!? She just doesn't know what she's saying that's all!" He said rather spiritedly and firmly in his beliefs, before then clenching his fist before finally exploding out to his friends' surprise, "Just who does she think she is!?" he growled angrily unable to control himself any longer which made Chomp jump and Ace and Paris both cower behind Rex and Zoe, "Doesn't she know how hard we work to keep the dinosaurs safe and from hurting anyone else!? Especially from the alpha gang! If it wasn't for us who knows what kind of nasty experiments they'd be performing on them!" he hissed, "Yet she says we're no different from they are!? The nerve! She has no right to accuse us like that!"

"I don't know Max...maybe she's right in a way..." Added Zoe who soon mirrored Rex's expression of uncertainty.

Max widened his eyes in shock at Drake's response, "Huh!? Not you too Zoe!" he gasped even more in disbelief that his friends weren't backing him up on this.

"I mean if you look at it from her side of things we really kind of hurting the dinosaurs in a way." She said, "Sure the dinosaurs may be confused and feral being in an unfamiliar environment but...we do tend to put them through even harder times and fights before sealing them back into cards for who knows how long..…" She said feeling rather remorseful herself now putting Cera's words into careful consideration.

"In a way…..she isn't actually wrong….." said Rex having just put into careful thought, "Sure we may have good intentions to help others in need and to stop the dinosaurs from falling into the Alpha gang's filthy hands, but still….does it really justify us sending Chomp, Ace and Paris to fight on our behalf?" he asked before lowering his head and the others listening closely to him. As he continued, Ace seemed to rub himself along his leg instinctively sensing discomfort in his trusted partner and so he felt it best to comfort him…though to little avail as Rex looked down at him sadly, "Also, have we really considered how the dinosaurs themselves feel? Can we really blame them for acting the way they are? I mean, if you're yanked out of your home and time into a place you're completely unfamiliar with, being cut off from your own family friends too….that's really painful to think about too….."

"Also while we sit by and give them commands, Chomp, Ace and Paris are doing all the fighting for us, braving all kinds of danger too, because we put them in it as well...without even asking whether they want to or not..." Added Rex thinking about what Cera had said to them, her words having burnt into his memory, even his heart, no matter how hard he wanted to forget or deny it, "In the end, are we really that different from the alpha gang?" he then added as the 3 chibi dinosaurs looked around their masters curiously, unsure what to make of their conversation.

Max then was at a loss for words seeing no way to fight back that good point, "Oh...right...when you put it that way..." He muttered scratching his cheek. Thinking over everything they'd done thus far, every time they went to save a dinosaur from the alpha gang they rarely took into account that dinosaur's own feelings of fear or agitation. Instead they usually went into attacking it and maybe even hurting it further and even at times treated the cards they gathered like a collection for a game…..Not to mention during battles they tended to cause collateral damage themselves too, even if what they did was completely different, looking from another perspective would say otherwise….

Before he let the same insecurity get to him though, Chomp managed to get his attention with a nip on his leg helped wake him up and bring him back to his senses. Seeing his buddy's bright eyes and trust in him help reminded him of what really mattered, "Even if that is the case, we can't let that stop us from doing our job." he then said speaking up for the group as they then looked to him in surprise, "As far as I know, things will be far worse if we did nothing. No matter what others think I'll keep doing what I know is right!" he said out loud with confidence placing a fist to his chest, "The fact remains there's still a dinosaur on the loose and if we don't do something innocent people will get hurt for sure!" He said fired up while clenching his fist, "And what's worse, the alpha gang might get their hands on it and do all sorts of cruel experiments on it like some kind of lab rat! Sure maybe we may end up fighting them and sealing them into cards for who knows how long, but that can't be worse than what those creeps would do right?" he then asked looking to his friends as they eyed him back unsurely.

"I guess so...but..."

Max then placed a hand in Rex's shoulder comforting him, "Hey don't worry about it buddy," he said with a smile, "I'm sure Cera will understand, but for now we'll just have to keep doing what what's right and that's protecting both the dinosaurs and people."

Seeing his point of view made Zoe feel more sure if herself as she wiped away any doubts she had in herself, "You know what? Max is right Rex," she said to him as he turned to her surprised.

"Huh?"

"Things will get a whole lot worse if we do nothing and sit idly by," She said supporting Max's point of view, "And besides no one can stay angry forever, I'm sure Cera will come around eventually, we'll just have to hope she'll see it our way when that time comes." She concluded feeling assured as Rex eyed her firm expression along with the assurance of their partner dinosaurs too before finally facing Max.

"So what do you say Rex?" Asked Max once more hoping for his friend's support. "You in?"

Looking at his friends' encouraging faces as well as their determination, Rex then smiled back at them in response with confidence and feeling assured, "Heh, you know I was actually thinking the same thing." said Rex as Ace came in to nuzzle up to him and Rex returned by petting him gently on the head. "If we hadn't met our partners, they probably would be still trapped in cards all alone with no one they can trust in this modern world…..or worse…."

"Cera may think we're putting them in danger, and maybe we are…." replied Max before shaking his head and putting on a more confident expression, "But at least we believe in them and we're willing to support them every step of the way like they'd do for us, and if we hadn't met them we wouldn't have had all those fun adventures, seen so many sights or had the chance to meet all sorts of people too." he said enthusiastically.

"Yeah that's actually true…." Zoe replied in agreement, thinking back to when they explored the Amazon rainforest, made their way across Paris, meeting friends such as in Scotland or in Augusta and helping them out too….bit more importantly for her she got to meet her all time favourite sports celebrity and even got the chance to experience being a princess in palace….despite it not working out for her in the end…..

"That's just like you Max, guess it was silly of me to think you'd lose your convictions that easily." Rex chuckled.

"Hehe, you know me better than anyone else Rex." his spiky hair friend grinned while rubbing his nose.

"You may be hard headed sometimes, but that part of you is still something to be admired….tee hee." Zoe chuckled as he then turned red and shouted out.

"What's that supposed to mean!? How about I show you hard headed huh!?" he then growled as everyone, even their own dinosaurs burst out into joyful laughter as everything went back the way they should be, while learning something important themselves too.

"Ahahahah!"

"Whether it's right or wrong if there's a dinosaur in need of help there's no one else who'd do it but us." Rex then spoke out feeling assured of himself now, "Now come on guys, let's go rescue that dinosaur!" he called out.

"Awesome!" Max and Zoe cheered as their Dinos began chirping with excitement for adventure.

"Okay guys, let's go get that dinosaur!" Max cheered raising his fist to the sky as the others cheered with him.

"Alright!"

Rex then eyed the rest of his friends and smiled, "Max is right, I can't let what others say put me down, we still have a responsibility to the dinosaurs...our friends..." He thought before his smile vanished, "Still...why do I have the feeling this can't be a coincidence..." he thought to himself as he followed his friends along the trail up the hill to where the signal was.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the lodge, Cera hung her head outside the window, resting it on her arm while overlooking the lake in front of their home. As she stared into space, her thoughts spiralling chaotically and uncontrollably, feeling rather unsure about herself over what she said to the D team earlier. While she had voiced out her honest opinions she herself couldn't help but feel rather guilty about what she said to them, while being controlled by her own emotions. She was so lost in thought she hadn't noticed Miku had hopped up onto the window side till she was right next to her close friend and nuzzled at her, making her turn.

"Are you alright?" she chirped with a rather concerned expression as Cera simply sighed back in response.

"I don't know Miku….." she replied not facing her, "I just…..I just had to get that off my chest…..all their talk about battling dinosaurs and treating them as mere trading cards….it just….infuriated me….and I….I…." she breathed as she fell even more downcast than before.

"I know how you feel," the little dino bird replied to her before narrowing her eyes, "But still, what you said to those kids wasn't very nice. You didn't even listen to their side of the story."

"I know that now Miku!" Cera suddenly yelled glaring at her, which made the little micro raptor squawk in shock as she leapt in surprise before flapping her wings to slow down her fall, as she landed on the floor safely. Cera covered her mouth, "Sorry!" she gasped before lowering her head and Miku looked back with compassion, "I honestly feel terrible now….But still….."

As Cera fell into an even more depressed state than before, Miku hardened her gaze knowing she couldn't let her partner stay this way. She then hopped up towards her and spoke up firmly, "You know something Cera? While I was talking over with their dinosaurs, I heard something rather intriguing." As she said so with authority, her human partner couldn't help but look back at her too. "Believe it or not, when I spoke to each of them, about who they felt being with their human partners, they each said the same thing to me."

"And….what did they say?" Cera asked.

Miku smiled, "They said, they love their partners more than anything and anyone else in the world." she said which absolutely stunned her partner as she widened her eyes in surprise, as if this news was simply revelational to her.

"Wh….What?"

"It's true, I was surprised to hear them say that myself. That they liked them, and wanted to be with them." Miku added jumping up and flapping her arms before coming back down smoothly. As she did she spoke a little more firmly and seriously, "But as I listened in more to what they had to say, I became more convinced and understanding of their point of view." she continued, "They don't just stay together, they live together. Communicate, help and protect one another, taking each other to new heights where either one of them couldn't, not jut between their respective partners but even with each other too. Through this special bond of friendship, they bring forth new possibilities for both sides and therefore they all shine brightly in a no doubt spectacular future to come. Sure they also have their share of ups and downs now and then too, but then again, what sort of relationship doesn't have any downs, it'd be pretty boring now right?" As she said so Cera said nothing back but listened, "I know you may not agree with me, but sometimes you've just got to take the good with the bad. When they fought other dinosaurs, they didn't just fight blindly, they fought with the intention to protect people, their partners from harm and even the dinosaurs too." she said, "On top of that, each day of their life they lived they had all sorts of adventures with one another, enriching each others' lives and helping others in need too. If you ask me, I'd say there can be no wrong coming from the lives they live right now." The little raptor continued before scratching her head, "Though my memories may seem a bit fuzzy, I seem to recall….us….having such times too before….when I look at them, I can only see….us…."

Cera opened her mouth with surprise, but as she gave it clearer thought she soon began to remember, at the back of her foggy mind that even she and Miku too had a bond of friendship of their very own, though she couldn't recall what memories they had together she did at least know for a fact that they were real and fruitful experiences, and not just partners who they trusted watched each others backs but they were also the closest of friends as well.

"If you ask me, I'd say you owe them an apology," added Miku at the end as she paced back and forth across the balcony before eying her partner carefully and looking at her with a trustful expression, "But in the end it's your choice what you want to do, but whichever side you choose I'll support you, because I'm your irreplaceable friend." she said with a smile as Cera took a step back and began to process everything she heard and learnt from the little dinosaur.

"Miku….." As she took a breath and cleared her mind she then nodded dimly what she had, no, must do, "I was wrong….I shouldn't have judged them based on their actions alone, but also their intentions behind them….maybe I had them all wrong the whole time….I….I have to make this right." she said admittedly.

Upon hearing her, the little micro raptor brightened up, "That's my girl. You'd better hurry off before it's too late, otherwise you'll never be able to take it back." she said with assurance as Cera nodded back at her. Before she could make a move though, she suddenly heard a beeping sound coming from her table inside the lodge.

BEEP BEEP

"Huh?" Her ears perked and she and Miku looked towards the table to see her device was flashing red suspiciously. "The dinoshot's glowing…." Mike voiced out as Cera scooped her up wit her hand and placed her onto her shoulder gently as the 2 of them made their way towards it.

As she picked it up and narrowed her eyes closely, "I know this signal…." she breathed feeling it to be strangely familiar, and so did Miku….

"It means there's a….dinosaur nearby?" They looked to one another with concern, "Is that a good thing?"

"Wish I knew the answer to that." Cera replied looking back at it. It was true, a insofar activated from a card can be unpredictable, having been awoken in a world unfamiliar to their own, they'd be hungry, disorientated, stressed and confused like any wild animal, and like any cornered animal they can act viciously and cause all sorts of damage to their surroundings and people. Because of this it also meant they'd endanger themselves by causing people to fight back too…..understandable because there would be fear and agitation on both sides, and yet she also knew fighting couldn't be the answer….but it was usually the only one available…..

After clearing her head by shaking it she narrowed her eyes firmly, "In any case, we should go check it out, maybe these dinosaurs also have something to do with us being here." she said.

"And, we ought to make sure those kids are alright too." her partner chirped next to her as she looked back.

"Guess you're right Miku…." Cera replied in agreement picking up the dinoshot and hurrying towards the front door, "While we're at it, we might as well apologise to them while we have the chance."

"Glad you're in the same boat as I am partner." Miku chirped as they ran out the door and hurried up the trail from their lodge to the hills higher up behind them. As they hurried along, Cera began to think to herself more carefully, as she thought to herself…if the D team's dinosaurs were happy and no doubt trusted their owners that much….. at least they can't be as bad as she first thought…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

A while later the D team went tracking through the woods further upstream from the lodge below. It was a long walk for the 3 kids, especially since they had to stop every few minutes to keep their partners from running off the trail every time they picked up a new scent or noticed a butterfly flying by. Though they were at least making great progress in the long run as the signal became stronger and stronger with each step, as they nearly made it to a clearing ahead of them.

"We should be getting close by now, the dinosaur should be around here somewhere..." Muttered Max reading the dinoholder as they entered a nearby forest glade. The area was covered by several dense trees and underbrush, as well as being surrounded by a series of rugged cliff sides and a nearby waterfall which lead down to the lake where the log cabin was.

As Rex calmly observed the scenery and nothing how encompassing the glade and cliff side was he knew something was up, "Wait guys, something's not right." He said making a stop and holding his arms out, holding both Max and Zoey back where they were as they soon took notice of his suspicious behaviour.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" They asked him curiously as they looked to him. Soon after that their 3 dinosaurs gained rather agitated expressions and became on high alert as if they could sense something was close.

"Call me crazy if you want, but I almost get the feeling that we've just walked right in it a-" before Rex could finish his sentence a sudden familiar roar echoed through the forest as several birds so flew out of the treetops in a frenzy! Charging out of the woods, knocking several trees in his path and roaring at the top of his lungs was a ferocious red tyrannosaurus which glared at them with menacing green eyes!

"Trap!" Rex gasped in alarm finishing his sentence as both Max and Zoe gasped at the sight of the T. rex charging at them before they all leapt out of its way! Before they had a chance to recover, suddenly exploding out of the waterfall was a purple and bluish spinosaurus which snarled aggressively as he leapt into the ground! Then bursting out of the cliff side was a spiky purple saichania which screeched as she entered the scene!

The D team quickly regrouped took several steps back in surprise as well as recognising the 3 dinosaurs before them, "Terry, Tank and Spiny!?" Gasped Zoe in surprise.

Max then narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, "Then that means..."

"Ahahaha! It's about time you 3 brats came, we were beginning to think you wouldn't show." A familiar voice called out to them. As they all looked up above them they came face to face with the alpha gang trio up above on a cliff side staring down at them smugly.

"Don't you know it's rude to be late to a party?" stated Zander.

"Yeah, especially since it's about to become our victory party! And you're the guests of honour!" Ed cheered.

"Hope you enjoyed the little surprise he cooked up just for you, because soon you're about to be extinct!" Laughed Ursula mockingly as she and her 2 friends grinned and smirked seeing the D team fell right into their trap!

They then narrowed their eyes and grit their teeth in frustration, "Not you again Old lady!" The D team said together angrily.

As usual Ursula flushed a deep red before steam erupted from her ears, "Grrrgh! How many times do I have to say it before you get it into your puny skulls and even punier brains!? I am not an old lady!" She screeched which required Zander and Ed to hold and calm her down.

"Calm down Ursula!"

"Don't let her get to you! We have them right where we want them remember?"

"Oh?" She blinked before snickering sinisterly, "Ehehehe, that's right I almost forgot." she added as Rex's fears were confirmed.

"So this was a trap after all..." he stated as he looked around the encompassing cliffs and glade, not to mention the alpha gang trio was there now.

"Ohoho! You catch on pretty quick." Chuckled Ursula in amusement, "It's too bad for you that this is going to be the last time we meet like this."

"Because of you little troublemakers getting in our way and foiling us so many times, Dr Z's been on our backs for days!" Shouted Zander in annoyance pointing out to the 3 kids.

"But now all that will be a thing of the past, and you know why?" Concluded Ed smugly folding his arms.

Ursula then grinned, "Hehe, because once we give him the good news that we took care of you little twerps once and for all and present him with your dinosaurs, he'll be rewarding us for life!" She laughed, "So why not just making it easy for all of us here, well mostly for you, and just hand them over like good little children and maybe we might just forget about all those times you humiliated us and let you go aback to your little lives as if nothing happened." She said as their 3 dinosaurs growled and snarled menacingly to the D team.

"You must be crazy!" Yelled Max furiously shaking his fist.

"You can just forget it you creeps!" Followed Zoe at their outrageous demand.

"You'll never get your filthy hands our friends, not now, not ever!" Concluded Rex feeling more determined than ever.

"Hey that's not very nice, I make sure to wash my hands at least 5 times a day..." Muttered Zander feeling offended.

"And I wear gloves, so my hands are usually clean..." Followed Ed.

Ursula however then smirked as though she had been expecting this, and in fact counted on it! "Fine guess it's the hard way then….heh, to be honest I was hoping you'd say that," she grinned while folding her arms smugly, "Now I can really pay you twerps back a hundredfold for everything you did!" Looking down to their dinosaurs, "Terry! Tank! Spiny! You heard what they said, give them the thrashing of a lifetime!" She commanded as their dinosaurs roared and charged forward!

As their enemies closed in, Max narrowed his eyes, "Grr, we've got no choice now..." He then turned to his teammates, "You guys ready?"

They nodded in response and with confidence, "You got it!"

"You didn't need to ask in the first place."

"Alright here we go!" They said as they returned their partner dinosaurs to their cards and prepared to slash them.

"Dino slash!" They all called out slashing their cards on their dinoholders!

"Go triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Spring up parasaurolophus!" One by one their dinosaurs appeared in full size, as the sky turned multi colored with the battlefield. The 6 dinosaurs roared at one another before charging ahead into battle!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"We've been walking for quite some time now Miku….." breathed Cera panting feeling tired after climbing up for some time. As she looked around she could see they had gotten pretty far up hill but still no signs of getting any closer to their goal….though at least they knew they were on the right track as they looked on the path ahead of them to see multiple shoe prints and dino footprints along them.

"Good thing the trail's pretty muddy now, otherwise we'd never be able to find their footprints all this way…." Miku chirped looking ahead to see they still had quite a ways to go, and no doubt a dinosaur was also waiting for them ahead. Before they could take another step however, the sky suddenly turned multicoloured to their surprise as they looked up and widened their eyes!

"Huh!?"

"Wh…what's going on?" Cera gasped as she looked around to see their surroundings, the trail and the trees had also turned purplish, soon followed by the sounds of roars in the distance, "I don't like the looks of this…." She then widened her eyes upon remembering something, "Wait….I know this…." Her expression was mirrored with Miku as they looked to one another in alarm.

"There's a battle going on!" They each gasped.

"Miku! We'll have to hurry now!" She cried out as Miku nodded, clinging onto her shoulder tightly as Cera went in full throttle towards the battlefield!

 **(Meanwhile)**

As the 3 dinosaurs on each opposing side faced off and starred one another down, their partners too were getting prepared for the battle that was soon about to be waged between them, "If you creeps think you're getting our dinosaurs without a fight you've got another thing coming!" Shouted Max defiantly shaking his fist at the A Trio up ahead who had just came down to the lower levels of the ledge for a front row view.

"Hehe, that's just the way we like it." Chuckled Ursula before giving out her next order, "Go get them!" She shouted as their dinosaurs charged forward towards the D team who retaliated!

Terry bared his flags and latched on to one of Chomp's horns, each tried to pull the other away until finally breaking loose. Chomp them charged forward and managed to swing his head to the side and knocking Terry off balance before stomping on his underside! "Awesome chomp! Keep it up!" Cheered Max excitedly.

Meanwhile Spiny lunged forward and tried to snap at Paris' neck but she dodged it just in time! As he came in close range she then let out a loud sound from her crest which disorientated the spinosaurus at close range before charging forward and knocking him over! "You're doing great Paris!" praised Zoe as Paris cried out pleased.

On another side Ace easily jumped out of the way of Tank's tail several times before circling spring to the side and flipping her on to their back and jumping on her repeatedly like he did with an ankylosaurus a while back! "Awesome work Ace! You've got her now!" Rex pumped up.

The A team on the other hand weren't as pleased with the way the tide shifted in the way of their enemies, "Ursula...things aren't looking good for us you know..." Muttered Zander with a frown.

"Yeah at this rate they're about to trounce again for the umpteenth time..." Added Ed feeling nervous and disappointed, "I'm starting getting the heepie jeepies over what Dr Z will do to us when we get home empty handed….." he then shuddered.

"Relax you clowns, that's what we want them to think." Replied Ursula smirking to herself as the others looked to her in confusion. "Besides, it's all part of the plan remember?" She narrowed her eyes seriously.

The 2 men were still clueless to what she meant, but soon their eyes then widened in surprise remembering their secret weapon lying in wait, "Oh yeah...Heheheh..." They then grinned rather maliciously and rubbed their hands eagerly, while waiting for the right moment.

As the battle raged on the tide shifted in favour of the d team. While Max and Zoe were enjoying themselves oblivious to the Alpha gang's plan, Rex on the other hand had his suspicions, "They're making this almost too easy...what's really going on here?" He thought to himself as Zoe called out.

"Okay Paris, time to wrap this up!" She said as she ejected a move card from her dinoholder, "Stomping hammer!" She called out as she slashed the move card!

As Paris flooded green and she glowed preparing to charge forth, Ursula saw that as the signal they had been waiting for, "Alright playtime's over! Zander now!" she shouted to him.

"On it! Activating Confusion machine!" He cried out pressing a button on his alpha scanner, causing a reddish machine to erupt out from the ground near the bushes! It then unfolded into a kind of satellite dish shape to the surprise of Zoe and Paris!

"Wh...what's that!?" Zoe gasped, she soon got her answer as the device emitted a loud sound from its satellite dish causing Paris to shake her head and cry in pain! It also caused her to lose her senses and made her unable to think or see clearly as she roared and thrashed about uncontrollably, slamming herself into nearby rock walls and trees in a frenzy! "Oh no Paris!" She gasped in shock.

"What the!?" Max looked around and saw what was taking place, "Zoe!" He then cried in shock as Chomp turned his head around, halting his attack while still on top of Terry, who then kicked him off before standing up again and roaring furiously!

"I knew it!" grunted Rex realising it was a trap as he expected.

"Paris snap out of it now!" Zoe begged but her words couldn't reach her panicked dinosaur who was still under influenced of the confusion machine as she charged ahead and slammed into a rock wall causing her to shake her head dizzily!

"Now's your chance Spiny! Get in there and finish her off!" Yelled Zander as the grass dinosaur's daze gave Spiny an opportunity to get back on his feet, he charged in and grabbed her neck with his teeth and threw her straight into a tree as it crashed down on her!

"No!" Cried Zoe in response as Spiny went over to her helpless partner and stomped on her repeatedly, each one causing her to cry out in pain!

"Get in there Ace! Help her out!" Rex called out causing the carnotaurus to disengage from the upside down saichania turn his attention to the parasaurolophus in danger!

"Oh no you don't," muttered Ursula in annoyance before turning to Ed, "Ed, that's your cue." She said next.

"On the double! Go paralysis machine!" He then pressed another button which made a similar looking device appear from a pile of rocks and shooting an electrical laser which hit its mark and caused Ace to stumble and fall to the ground as his entire body began to numb and freeze up!

"Ace!" Rex cried next.

"That ought to slow him down and make him easier to hit." Said Ursula pleased as her underlings snickered.

"Hehe, 2 down one to go!" Cheered Zander in excitement.

Max then clenched his fist and widened his eyes in anger, "Grggh why you..." He knew they were cheats but to stoop to something this low is far beyond crossing the line to him. He then saw Terry standing in Chomp's way so he knew what he had to do first. "Chomp, we'll have to take out Terry first before we can help the others! Get ready!" He called out as his partner responded with a battle cry! His dinoholder ejected a move card as he began to slash it! "Go! Lightning strike!" The yellow charging electricity in his horns before firing it straight at Terry!

"Uh uh uuuuh, can't have any of that can we?" Stated Ursula wagging a finger playfully before pressing another button on her alpha scanner, "Activating electric generator!" A new device erupted from the mountainside cliff as a more circular dish, which immediately drew in the Lightning attack and nullifying it! After that Terry charged forward and snapped his jaws on Chomp by the frill before throwing him across the forest floor like a rag doll!

"Ah! No!" Cried max in horror.

"Hahaha! How do you like that!? Now none of your little attacks will ever come close to even touching Terry!" Mocked Ursula as she made a face and stuck out her tongue at the disorientated D team!

"Grr you creeps don't fight fair!" Shouted Zoe as she and her friends bared expressions of animosity towards their old enemies.

"Hehehe, did it really take you that long to figure it out?" Chuckled Zander in response, "Guess you brats really are kids."

Ed then smirked, "You'll never learn will you?"

"You'll never get away with this you hear!" Yelled Rex angrily shaking his fist.

"Ahahaha! I just love it when you little tykes get mad and shout empty threats." Chuckled Ursula before looking to her teammates, "Well team, let's finish this off nice and easy, or should I say mean and nasty!"

"Tail smash!" Called out Zander slashing the card, as Spiny swung his tail 3 times at Paris' dizzy head before knocking her over!

"Dino swing!" Called Ed next as Tank flipped herself up and began charging at a limping Ace, struggling to move before being grabbed by the tail, spun around and swung into the mountain wall!

"Neck crusher!" Called Ursula finally as Terry charged ahead, tossed Chomp up and smashed at his neck with his tail into some trees!

"No!"

"Paris are you okay!?"

"Hang in there Ace!" The D team cried out as their partners' energy began hitting critical levels!

"Ahahaha! This is it! I can almost feel it...the sweet sensation of revenge and victory..." Laughed Ursula enjoying herself at every second of it.

"They say it's usually a dish best served cold, but I say we've waited long enough for this moment!" Added Ed.

"Now then, finish them off once and for all!" Said Zander last as their 3 dinosaurs charged straight at the disoriented D team!

As they closed in Max sweated and narrowed his eyes, unsure of what to do and frustrated at being so helpless. "No...this can't be it..." He thought to himself as their enemies charged towards their dinosaurs ready to deliver what would be the final blow…..

 **(Nearby)**

Unbeknownst to everyone in the vicinity, Miku and Cera were both watching the battle from a safe distance behind a rather thick grove of trees which lay above where the battle was taking place on a higher ledge. As they looked on to see the destruction and pain unfolding before them, they could only stare in horror hearing the painful cries and even specks of drawn blood spewing across the landscape in different places, or even dripping from freshly made wounds made by one another, all because of the people who made them fight one another…..

Cera covered her mouth sickened and heartbroken, "This….this is horrible…." she breathed as Miku narrowed her eyes seriously.

"I know what you mean." she replied solemnly before eying the battle more closely and noticing something she had to let her partner know, "But do you see now Cera? Take a closer look, do you see what I see?" As Cera looked her eyes widened to see each of the D team crying out with concern and care for their own partner dinosaurs, who not only fought for them but were also their irreplaceable partners and friends….In contrast to the Alpha gang who forced their dinosaurs to fight and had little to no emotional bond between them, the D team each had a unique but strong connection with their partners….on a level almost unimaginable for a human and a dinosaur….in fact….she had to admit that connection was the same as her own.

As she closed her eyes in thought then opened them firmly, "I….I get it now…." she said standing up and hardening her expression knowing what she had to do, "I can't just stand back and not do anything….I've got to help somehow!" she said firmly before gritting her teeth with frustration feeling helpless, "But….how?" As she asked herself that and thought carefully, considering she was still a person and Miku a minuscule dinosaur….there's no way either of them could do anything in their current state….and they had no weapons either…or did they?

She then recalled a certain device she brought with her, "Wait….maybe my dinoshot…." she then plucked the gun shaped device from her belt and eyed it carefully, "I remember now…..how to use this….."

Mike nodded too with confidence having remembered what it did too, "Mhmm, yes I'm certain when you use it in the other direction I'll become strong enough to fight!" she squawked flaring her feathered arms.

As she said that, Cera heard the ground shaking through the foot stomps from the massive dinosaurs below, as well as their loud roaring which made her feel a bit uneasy as she eyed her partner who sat comfortably on her shoulder. "Are you sure you want to do this Miku?" she asked with concern, "Those guys are much bigger than you are….With just one stomp they'd crush you into a pancake….What if…What if you get hurt or worse?"

"I'm fully aware of the risks Cera," Miku responded understandingly before narrowing them with conviction down at the battlefield, "But if we don't do this then they're all done for." She replied closing her eyes, "Even if we dislike fighting, we can't keep running and avoiding battles forever. At some point we'll have too take a stand and fight ourselves, it was unavoidable form the start." She then turned to Cera who stared back, "And besides, it's better to be now than later right? Also, though my memory's still a little fuzzy, you're pretty good at using it yourself, I'm sure you do too."

Hearing her partner's willing choice Cera finally accepted, "I understand…." she breathed now feeling assured of herself too as Miku flared up her wings and feathers ready for battle!

"If that's the case then I'm with you every step of the way."

Cera nodded, "Let's do this!" she called out as she pressed a button on her dinoshot, causing Miku to change into a form of shining rainbow light before returning to her hand in the firm of a similar sized card! "Alright then, here goes." She thought to herself as a latch opened on her dinoshot, "Dino slash!" She called out slashing the card across causing bright light to erupt from he device! "Microraptor! Shine!"

As the light died down, a white micro raptor, no bigger than a falcon stood in front of her, shaking herself as if she was just waking up. Each of her four limbs, having the taloned fingers/toes on each was heavily feathered in white feathers, with smaller feathers that nearly resembled fur covering the rest of her skin, and a set of long twin-tail like feathers sticking up from her head. The tail, which made up half her body's length, had a small batch of regular feathers on the tip that would aid in movement while airborne. She also had a small tuff of feathers that resembled hair on her reptilian head and she let out a small yawn that showed off its small, yet sharp teeth.

"You ready for this Miku?" Cera asked as her partner then looked at her with beady yellow eyes, and nodded firmly, "Alright, now go get em Miku." The young raptor cried out as she took off from the ledge and landing gracefully into the treetops below right where the red tyrannosaurus was closing in on the now wounded triceratops. Observing her surroundings and seeing the suspicious devices planted around the area, Cera knew exactly what she could do next, "Now it's time to even the odds…." She thought firmly as she leapt down rather skilfully off the rocky ledge she stood before sliding down and heading towards the battlefield from the sidelines!

 **And thus concludes chapter 3 hope you enjoyed it, also hope I got the characters right too. Sorry it took so long, had a lot of things going on for me nowadays.**

 **This chapter also features the alpha super moves, though more like alpha machines, used in the arcade and DS games, considering they have very sneaky effects and that the Alpha gang don't play fair. As featured here shows the D team's first meeting with Cera and Miku, and now despite what she said to them it's now up to her to rescue them. As for why she's very sensitive about dinosaurs, it's based on an OC season 3 that will go about her backstory, if I manage to get that for that is.**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter. Also with new year's coming soon I wish you all a happy new Year!**

 **P.S-I hope to make this story a collab because I know realise it will be quite a long one to do, will welcome writers who would be interested, since I tend to be packed lately. Also, would you want Cera to use other dinosaurs too or stick with just 1 partner as the D team does?**

 **In response to the reviews I hope I didn't disappoint.**


	4. Prehistory in the Re-making Part 4

Chapter 4

Pre-history in the re-making Part 4

Things were looking grave for the D team as they each grunted with frustration and anger, while each of their dinosaurs was driven further and further back into a corner. Chomp struggled to get to his feet after being battered about but Terry badly, Ace lay on his back in a doozy after being spun and thrown into the rocky walls by Tank, while Paris was almost unconscious herself after suffering multiple attacks to the head by Spiny's tail and from the mental fatigue she experienced from the confusion machine!

"This…can't be how it ends…." Max grunted angrily as he and his teammates sweated anxiously, as their enemies closed in for 1 final attack. They closed their eyes bracing themselves or not wanting to see anymore, till suddenly-

BEEP BEEP

"Huh? What the?" As they looked to their now blinking dinoholders, they widened their eyes in surprise to see a signal coming not far from where they were now. "Another dinosaur….here!?" Max then exclaimed as his fiends mirrored his expression of frustration and shock.

"Tch! Of all the worst possible times, why did it have to be now!?" Rex hissed in annoyance.

"Eheheh! With the brats all but helpless and at our mercy, all I need to worry about is what to wear to the victory party later." Ursula chuckled while Zander and Ed grinned.

"Finally, we're getting our tickets out of Loserville!" Zander cheered jumping up and down with excitement.

Ed's eyes welled up with tears as he began sniffing tears of joy, "Sniff….I'm getting so emotional I could just-" Before he could burst into tears though, his scanner suddenly received the very same signal as the D team did, as he then widened them in surprise. "Whoa! Zander you seeing this?" he gasped tugging at the skinny man's arm as he looked down and took a step back in surprise.

"What the!? Impossible! There's really a dinosaur here!?" he gasped before turning to see Ursula who was still hurling all kinds of insults at the D team, oblivious to the new dino signal they detected, "This really is our lucky day Ed! 4 dinosaurs for the price of 1! Woo hoo!" He cheered while Ed trotted over to tell her the news.

"Hey Ursula! Look at this!" he cried out causing her to yelp with shock before she turned to them with snarling red eyes!

"What is it!?" she suddenly snarled causing the 2 men to jump back in a fright! "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a woman when she's having a moment!? Can't you see me gloating over here!? Shouldn't you be too!?"

"Y..yeah but first, you've gotta check this out!" called Ed shivering as he held out his scanner to her, as she took it and had a closer look.

"Huh!? No way! There's an actual dinosaur close by?!" She gasped before turning around and shrugging it off to the others' surprise, "Oh who cares about that?"

"Eh?" They asked in confusion.

"Right now we've got way bigger fish to fry boys, and by fish I mean we've got 3 dinosaurs ripe for the picking in front of us now!" she grinned pumping up her arm with energy and confidence seeing their enemies now on their last legs and victory within their grasp, "They won't last much longer, once we're done with them we'll deal with that other dinosaur soon after." she said as the other 2 men nodded in agreement.

"Good point."

"In that case, let's wrap this up now!" They each said as Terry, Tank and Spiny all roared before charging head towards the D team and their now helpless partners!

They then looked up from their dinoholders after hearing the roaring enemy dinosaurs and they once again became anxious and agitated, "Urgh…."

"No!"

"Hang in there!"

Terry roared out baring his jaws wide ready to snap close on Chomp's now exposed neck, when suddenly a large tree right next to him began to rustle and catch his attention, causing him to stop suddenly in his tracks, as Spiny and Tank soon followed as they turned to their comrade, puzzled by his sudden change in behaviour.

"Huh?"

"What the?" The D team blinked their eyes in confusion, while relieved the Alpha dinosaurs stopped they still were curious as to the reason behind it.

The Alpha gang stared in surprise themselves before Ursula then yelled out in impatience, "Terry! What are you doing!? Stop trying to hunt for squirrels and just finish off that triceratops now!" she growled stomping her feet in a tantrum.

Blinking their eyes and squinting their gaze, both Zander and Ed took a closer look at what was rustling inside the tree, before they noticed something white and feathery was scurrying about in the branches, "Err Ursula?" Ed then pointed out.

"Tch! What is it now you dolts?" she hissed in annoyance as a tic mark appeared on her forehead.

"I don't think that's a squirrel…." Zander answered as a small white dinosaur quickly scurried out of the leaves and appeared onto the branch that stuck out of the tops till it hung from the end right in front of Terry's face! It was white with a scaly face and long father appendages flowing from its head as it then stood up and flared its arms and hissed!

Everyone then widened their eyes in surprise at the sight of the new arrival, "Hey! Would you look at that!" Max gasped, "It's a microraptor!"

"No way! It's so….small…."

"Yeah, and it looks so….pretty….." Rex and Zoe breathed in amazement being the smallest dinosaur they had ever seen, not to mention it was courageous baring its teeth in front of Terry!

As Max blinked his eyes and took a closer look at the new dinosaur, he then felt as though he recognised it from somewhere, "Wait a minute….that coloration….could it-"

Meanwhile the Alpha gang stood back and Ursula grinned rather deviously, "That's what the scanner picked up? Heh, this will be easier than taking candy from a baby," she snickered before paying it no mind and turning her attention back to the D team's partners, "Not to mention swiping those kids' dinosaurs."

"Strange…." Zander scratched his head curiously, "I don't remember a microraptor being one of the dinosaurs that were among the cards we lost."

"Yeah, Zander's got a point there." Ed muttered in thought as to how this was possible.

"Oh who cares about that?" Ursula interrupted shrugging it off, "A dinosaur's still a dinosaur, and after today we'll be leaving with 4 new ones just for Dr Z!" she proclaimed with excitement, "Now let's wrap this so we can all go home and-"

Before she could finish though, the raptor flared up her wings and snarled viciously before she launched herself from the branch straight towards Terry's face to the bewilderment of the D team and Alpha gang!

"Huh!?"

"Is it actually planning to take on Terry!?"

"That's crazy!" The D team gasped in disbelief.

While Ed and Zander widened their eyes in bewilderment, Ursula on the other hand began laughing uncontrollably, "Ahahaha! Not very smart are you, you little pipsqueak! You're cute, and you definitely have spunk for something so puny, but for disrespecting the alpha gang you must be punished!" She proclaimed, "Terry dear! Snack time!" Upon her command the red t rex roared ferociously and opened his massive jaws wide!

"EH!?" Her teammates then turned to her.

"Ursula wait! Isn't that literally overkill!?"

"We're supposed to capture dinosaurs alive remember!?" Ed and Zander gasped as Terry charged forward as the microraptor swooped straight towards his opened jaws!

"Oh no!" Rex gasped.

"I can't watch!" Zoe covered her eyes.

"STOP!" Max yelled almost tearing up at the fact they were unable to do a thing….but what happened next completely caught them all off guard.

The raptor narrowed her eyes clearly having expected this somehow, before skilfully moving out of the way of the rex's snapping jaws, a powerful flap propelling it upwards and out of reach as they snapped close! After that she swooped right down and planted herself ontop of the massive carnivore's head and face as everyone gasped in surprise and amazement!

"Huh!?"

What happened next came as even more of a shock, as the microraptor shrieked and shone brightly in a rainbow aura, while Terry glowed dark red! There was a massive transfer of energy from the larger predator into the feathered raptor as the red aura was slowly being absorbed into the rainbow one, as the raptor's eyes glowed and she shrieked fiercely, Terry on the other hand shook his head and thrashed about roaring in pain!

"What the!?"

"No way….." The rest of the D team were stunned in absolute amazement.

"Whoa! Is that puny dinosaur actually hurting Terry!?" Gasped Ed in surprise as Terry tried frantically to shake off the microraptor's grip on his face, while slowly weakening with every second passing! Spiny and Tank hung back knowing that off they tried to interfere they'd only getting themselves in a rough beating by Terry's thrashing.

"I've heard of big things coming in small packages but this is ridiculous!" Gasped Zander never being more shocked before.

Ursula on the other hand wasn't about to have any of it as she flared red and stomped her feet, "Grr! Terry! Shake that little pile of fluff and feathers off this instant!" She yelled impatiently while steaming madly, as her alpha scanner flashed red signalling Terry's power levels dropping dangerously low.

"Yeah, the worst it can do is make give you bad allergies so come on!" Added Zander.

Terry roared and shook more violently as he felt his energy getting closer and closer to critical levels. He then opened his eyes and charged forward while lowering his head, hoping to smash it into he rock wall ahead of him and his parasitic foe in the process! Quickly reacting, the raptor leapt off him at the last second as he ended up smashing his own head into the wall, disorientating him as he stumbled backwards dizzily, while the microraptor swooped upwards and attached herself to the back of the neck this time, flashing rainbow again as Terry once more roared out in pain, this time feeling a terrible headache.

Meanwhile in the thick undergrowth nearby, Cera observed carefully while being well hidden, downwind where her scent wouldn't be picked up as she said nothing but continued to oversee the battle as Miku continued her work on the much larger carnivore, "Almost there...just a little more..." she thought seeing the process was almost complete. After that, knowing her partner had everything under control now, she returned to dialling on her dinoshot trying to find the right frequency as she looked above her to see the electric generator which hung above her on the rock walls.

After losing his will and energy to resist, Terry eventually slumped forward, lowered his head to the ground and stopped moving, staying still in place for a few moments before his eyes opened up now glowing red! He then reared up and let out a loud terrifying roar before turning around towards his owners and snarled at them menacingly while baring his fangs!

"Umm why is Terry looking at us all of a sudden?" Asked Ursula rather nervously turning pale, as the T. rex edged in closer to them as saliva began drooling down from his teeth.

"Is he smiling? I don't like the look of that one bit..." suggested Zander hoping to see things on the bright side while his heart raced uncontrollably.

"Maybe he's happy to see us? And wants us to give him some love?" Added Ed twiddling his fingers and being close to wetting his pants.

As he said that, Terry let out a vicious roar and charged straight at them, "Aaaah!" They screamed as their own dinosaur began to chase them all around the area and they had several close calls as he tried snapping his jaws at them! He bowled over rocks and used his tail to tear down several trees as the trio scurried about like rats doing everything they could to avoid getting eaten alive! Terry's jaws nearly snapped up Ursula's green hair, Zander was barely able to avoid getting stepped on, and Ed ended getting blown away from the force of a tail swipe!

Spiny and Tank stood back in confusion unable to comprehend what they were seeing, while the D team held back and simply stared, "I don't believe what I'm seeing…." said Zoe.

"Me neither…." Max added as he sweat dropped.

"Can't believe they forgot about us like that…." said Rex. He knew the Alpha gang were the brightest bulbs in the house but this was taking idiocy to a whole other level, "Maybe it's best we stay out of the firing zone for now…."

"Mhmm…." His friends nodded with him.

Meanwhile the alpha gang managed to scurry up a rock ledge out of the reach of the massive tyrannosaurus as he jumped and snapped his jaws barely missing them! "EEK! Terry snap out of it you dimwit! We're on your side remember!?" Shouted Ursula to no avail as the T. rex's Jaws barely missed her long green hair!

"Is this the thanks we get for feeing and cleaning up after you for so long!? Talk about being ungrateful!" Gasped Zander shaking his fist in frustration!

Ed then took notice of the small dinosaur attacked to Terry's face which was glowing red instead of white, "Ursula! I bet that microraptor's behind this, no doubt it's making Terry go crazy or something!" He shouted out pointing to the raptor on Terry's neck as he tried to avoid getting squished by Terry's foot.

"Well if that's the case then I'll take care of it in an instant!" She replied taking out a card, "Go volcano burst!" She shouted slashing the card on her alpha scanner! Terry then flared up as he began to charge up fire in his mouth and swing his head around before firing it!

At that moment Cera who had just finished her work, then smirked to herself in amusement, "Heh you guys just made things a whole lot worse for yourselves." She thought, "Let em have it Miku!" She then called out on her dinoshot as her raptor caused Terry to turn his aim towards he bumbling trio and fire the flames at them!

"Aaaah!" They screamed as the fire immediately enveloped them and they came out all charred and singed in so many places! "We've just got our gooses cooked..." they groaned before the rock ledge they stood on crumbled and they crashed down to the ground.

Brushing off the soot from her face and pulling herself out of the rubble first, Ursula then streamed with rage, "Grrr...why you..." she growled clenching her fist, "No one messes with the alpha gang and gets away with it! Nobody!" She then motioned to her clothes and blackish skin and face, "This crime against fashion will not go unpunished!" She then turned to her two underlings and glared at them as they dragged themselves out while completely covered in scrapes and bruises, "Zander! Ed! Call Spiny and Tank and tell them to get their butts over here right now!"

They both were taken aback by her orders, "Say what!? You want us to attack Terry!?"

"But what about those kids? We have them on the ropes?" They gasped.

"Forget that, this is now!" She yelled, "Besides I am not about to let this little feathery pest get away with ruining my once in a lifetime face and my fashion!" She ranted before snarling at them like a feral beast! "Don't just stand there you idiots! Do it now before I use you both as meat shields!"

"Y...yes ma'am!"

"On the double!" They both gasped frantically as they took out their scanners and dialled on them, not wanting to end up in Terry's belly at all.

"Spiny! Get over here and kick some sense into Terry!"

"You too Tank!" They each yelled as the other 2 dinosaurs roared and raced towards them!

The D team couldn't believe their eyes, "Are they seriously going to attack their own dinosaur like that!?" Max gasped.

"Guess among alpha gang there's no honour and trust between friends." Rex narrowed his eyes feeling disgusted as they closed in on the brainwashed Terry. Even if it was to snap him out of mind control, the fact they'd even resort to attacking their own dinosaur was unthinkable!

At that moment, the electric generator suddenly sparked and surged with energy before suddenly exploding! The paralysis machine then fired a surge of energy freezing Spiny in place as he roared in pain and stumbled forward while the confusion machine too fizzled up as it fired sound waves which disorientated Tank as she thrashed about shaking her tail and roaring in a fury before they both then exploded too!

The D team once again were taken aback by another set of unexpected events, "Whoa! Didn't see that coming!" Max gasped.

"Yeah neither did I!" Rex followed

"Talk about a lucky break too!" added Zoe at the end before looking concerned as she noticed their dinosaurs were still lying down heavily beaten, "Oh if only Paris and the others could fight….." she sighed seeing her partner was still too weak and unable to heal the rest of their team.

"Yeah…." Max narrowed his eyes, as much as he hated sitting on the sidelines doing nothing there really was nothing they could do but hope that their good luck doesn't run out yet.

"What the!?" Ursula's jaw dropped upon seeing Spiny and Tank getting the receiving end of their own machines as she then hammered a fist into Zander and Ed's heads!

"OW!"

"Didn't you buffoons get those machines fixed so they WOULDN'T malfunction!?" she yelled as the 2 of them cowered and whimpered with pain, covering over the massive bumps that had just emerged from where she hit them!

"W…we did honest!" Ed whimpered.

"We even went a step further and upgraded their life expectancy with upgrades and improved safety protocols." Zander added twiddling his fingers.

"Then explain why they just fired on OUR dinosaurs!" Ursula yelled once more losing her patience, as well as her grip on sanity.

Ed then raised his hand up slowly and reluctantly, "Maybe because the upgrades were the cheapest we could afford?" he suggested. Before Ursula could give them another beating, Miku suddenly turned Terry towards the face of the mountain as he suddenly began smashing his face into it multiple times against his own will much to his owner's horror!

"Terry!" Ursula cried out as Zander and Ed also shuddered seeing now they were losing their edge again! "Argh! No no no! Not now!" she then exploded nearly pulling out her hair and losing all sense of self control, "Why do these things keep happening to us!?"

"Guess those who are failures are destined to fail again no matter how hard they try." a voice suddenly spoke to them from out of nowhere.

"Huh?" The 3 of them looked around in surprise wondering where the voice came from, before realising it came from 1 of their alpha scanners. As they switched it on, they were surprised to meet with an unfamiliar face on the monitor, a red haired girl to be precise, who seemed to be smiling at them mockingly. "Wh…Who the heck are you!?" Ursula exclaimed.

"And how did you get on this frequency anyway!?" Zander asked who was even more taken aback.

The girl on the other end simply smirked and shrugged into her shoulders, "Oh please, I didn't even break a sweat hacking into this com." she said cockily, "Not to mention, turning your own machines against you and summoning my microraptor was even easier than that."

The 3 goons widened their eyes, "Say what!?"

"You hacked into our machines!?"

"And summoned that dinosaur that ruined our entire strategy!?" They never imagined some stranger from out of nowhere could possess such skill, not only hacking into their com links and devices but even summon a dinosaur of her own!

"Hmph, I'd call that cowardice and pathetic." The girl narrowed her eyes in disgust, "For the record, the way you guys handle and treat your dinosaurs really does leave something to be desired...You really are scum of the lowest caliber…" she then said shaking her head in disapproval.

"How dare you!?" Ursula growled tensing her fist and causing a knuckle to bulge as the other 2 men steamed with rage! "When we find you, we'll be sure to make a living fossil out of you!"

"Oh I highly doubt that." The girl closed her eyes and stated undeterred, "With your cowardly machines now out of commission, I'd say your big plan just blew up in smoke. Face it, you guys are finished." As she said so, the microraptor glowed which caused Terry to roar and charge ahead towards his weakened comrades! As Tank thrashed about, her tail ended up sweeping Terry off his feet as he crashed down ontop of her and knocking the paralysed Spiny over in the process! At the last second the white raptor launched herself off his head and glided safely out of harm's way.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" They cried out in shock to see their dinosaurs now on the losing end once more!

As the D team looked on in amazement, still trying to process what was going on with the Alpha gang all of a sudden, Zoe suddenly looked up and pointed up in surprise. "Hey guys look over there!"

Her friends looked up as well and they too were surprised to see the white microraptor coming straight for them!

"Wh…what's it doing?" Max asked.

Rex gritted his teeth unsure of what to expect, "I don't know, but it seems to be heading straight for Paris!" he pointed out as the gliding dino changed direction and headed towards the green parasaurolophus and landed on her back!

"Hey! You leave her alone!" Zoe yelled protectively as she ran to her partner's side, "She's hurt, and I won't let you-" She stopped in her tracks as the raptor hissed viciously at her while flaring its wings! "Gah!"

"Zoe!"

"Get away from there now!" Her friends yelled coming to her aid. As they came closer they noticed Paris raise her head weakly towards the raptor, as they seemed to exchange a few words in dino tongue for a bit before suddenly the raptor began glowing brightly to their surprise which was soon transferred into Paris who glowed green!

"Huh!?"

"What….the?"

Even the alpha gang were surprised and were taken aback, to see a move they never saw before so it was anyone's guess now as to what would happen!

As the light died down, Paris opened up her eyes and let out a loud cry as she stood up on her legs and trumpeted much to Zoe's joy and relief, "Paris! You're okay!" she cried out hugging her partner on the leg who then lowered her head down and nuzzled her back.

"Alright yeah!" Max cheered holding his arms up.

Rex too was relieved to see she was doing fine, but then his eyes fixated on Paris' saviour, who then launched herself off Paris' back before landing gracefully onto a tree trunk and climbing upwards onto a branch nearby overseeing the battle, "That microraptor….healed Paris?" he questioned.

"Yeah….I guess so…." Zoe answered back as she and Max looked on curiously to see the small dinosaur peck at its wing feathers, pruning them and picking out dirt from them, "But….why?" Noticing her move card in her hand she then shook her head setting he priorities straight, "Never mind, first thing's first!" She said as she and Paris turned to their other allies who were collapsed on the ground with exhaustion, "It's your turn Chomp and Ace! Help's on the way! Nature's blessing!" Paris was enveloped in green leaf energy as she fired a stream of refreshing wind and leaves around Chomp and Ace, healing their wounds and restoring their strength as they stood up and roared energetically!

"Alright we're back in business!" Max cheered seeing his partner now fully restored.

"Great work Zoe!" Rex praised.

"Don't just thank me and Paris," she replied modestly looking up to the tree, "We owe to that microraptor more than anyone else."

"Yeah, we should be thankful it's on our side," Max nodded in agreement as he then eyed is suspiciously as it disappeared further in, "Though I can't help but wonder, why does it look so familiar?" As soon as he asked that he heard a loud roar coming ahead! As the D team all turned they saw Terry, Spiny and Tank get back up on their feet and snarl ferociously at them!

Max then narrowed his eyes, "We'll worry about that later, right now we'll have to deal with these guys first!"

Rex then nodded, "You're right." As he and Zoe readied themselves for battle once more.

Ursula then began stomping her feet non stop in frustration, "Drat! We were so close too! It's not fair!" she screamed as she scrunched up bits of her hair in her hands and was on the verge of pulling them out!

"Maybe we should put the victory cake back in the refrigerator now." Ed suggested.

"In fact, let's take this as a lesson to never celebrate prematurely." Zander added at the end knowing how this would end now.

"And with that I'll be taking my leave. Good day to you all, especially you old lady." The girl on the scanner replied casually as the signal was lost and the screen blanked out.

"H…Hey! You get back here right now! Grrr! How dare she hung on me!? And HOW DARE SHE CALL ME OLD!" Ursula quickly growled before gritting her teeth and flaring up with rage! "That does it! No more playing around! No one messes with the alpha gang like that and gets away with it! NOBODY!" she road as Zander and Ed both hugged one another in terror! "I sweat I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth for this disrespect! But for now Terry! Spiny! Tank! Don't let those little runts beat you when we're so close! Attack them now!" She ordered as their dinosaurs charged forward together!

"Here they come again guys!" Rex warned as their enemies closed in on them.

"Then let's try this one more time!" Max yelled taking leadership and initiative without hesitation before turning to his teammates, "You ready!?"

"Yeah!"

"They won't get the drop on us again!" They each said.

"Alright! Let's do this together!" He grinned as Chomp, Ace and Paris charged ahead too!

"Ladies first! Metal Wing!" Zoe cried out as she slashed the card across her dinoholder! Paris trumpeted before unleashing the pteranodon trio which took the skies and swooped down in front of the 3 Alpha gang dinosaurs, stopping them in their tracks as they all looked up to see them circling around.

"My turn!" Rex yelled, "Ninja attack!" As he slashed his card, Ace roared before charging ahead and splitting into 5 clones of himself as they circled around Terry, Tank and Spiny and slowly closing in while packing them ever more closely together with each strike!

"Now for the grand finale! Thunder bazooka!" Max shouted as he leapt up and spun forward before slashing his move card, as Chomp roared as he charged ahead and spun round like a torpedo while coated in electricity as he charged straight ahead and knocked through all 3 enemy dinosaurs at once, causing them to roar in pain while electricity surged through them! Sending them flying off into the distance!

"GAAAAAAAHHH!" The alpha gang cried out in a horror as they quickly beat a hasty retreat, "Run away! Run away! Run away!" The back door of the Alpha carrier opened up as they tried to escape, but thanks to their endless string of bad luck, Terry, Tank and Spiny ended up landing on top of the large red ship which caused it to explode in a huge plume of fire and smoke!

BOOM!

As the 3 dinosaurs reverted back to cards, the 3 members of the alpha trio were sent skyrocketing into the sky! "We're blasting off!" They cried before disappearing into the heavens with a star shining right behind them as they disappeared from sight.

"All right!"

"Yeah!"

"Hooray!" The D team cheered victoriously as their dinosaurs roared with triumph before returning to card form.

After they slashed them back into their chibi forms they each fell down all tuckered out with exhaustion, "Phew, I thought we were done for….." Rex breathed a sigh of relief as Ace gasped for air.

"Yeah, never thought the alpha gang would ever stoop to something so low." Max grumbled folding his arms in disapproval as Chomp fell down on his belly and yawned.

"Those guys really are the worst!" Zoe pouted while Paris let out a rather mad bark still feeling agitated after the effects of the confusion machine but was slowly returning to her old self at least.

"You can say that again." Max nodded in agreement as he looked down to their partners with relief, "Let's just be glad Chomp and the others are fine now. Aren't ya buddy?" he smiled as he kneeled down and began scratching the small trike under its chin, who then responded with a joyful yip, tail wag and face licking. "Hahaha! I'll take that as a yes." Max laughed as the herbivore's warm wet tongue brushed across and tickled his face.

Rex and Zoe smiled for Max, but soon Rex's smile vanished and became serious, "But still, we wouldn't have been able to get out of that mess without that microraptor." he said as he then turned his attention to above them, to see the white microraptor still perched in the tree above looking down on them from above. As Max and Zoe followed, her piercing gaze fixated on them like a hawk to a mouse.

"Yeah you're right." Zoe replied in agreement, "But still, where did it come from? And….what are we going to do about it now?"

"Good question." added Max as he brought a hand to his chin in thought. As much as he and his friends wanted to bring it home, they'd have to turn it into a card first, but to battle it seemed wrong, both because it's small and could get hurt and because they owe it after what it did for them. Nevertheless they couldn't just leave it here to be because the alpha gang would be back for it no doubt….it was a predicament….

To their surprise it suddenly leapt up from the branch and began gliding away "H….Hey wait!" Max gasped as he and Chomp chased after it, and the others soon rushed to their feet despite their exhaustion and followed after!

"Come back! Don't go!"

"Quick! After it!" As they raced through the forest, the raptor kept gliding from tree to tree, using each one as a rest stop to gain back some energy before launching itself once more, gliding effortlessly and gracefully far above the D team's reach as they pursued it.

"Man it's fast!" Max gritted his teeth as his feet began to tire.

"Yeah, it's just like in the fossils, microraptor's long feathers on both its arms and legs and perfectly shaped to allow it to glide by catching even the smallest updrafts of air." Rex noted narrowing his eyes and focusing them on its 4 feathered limbs.

"And with it being able to grab onto a tree every few seconds it just seems to get even higher," Zoe added seeing with each tree the raptor seemed to climb higher first before taking off again, "At this rate we'll never catch up to it…." she panted wiping away some sweat from her brow as she slowly began to gasp for air herself.

Max hardened his gaze as he pressed on, refusing to quit as he charged forward as Chimp soon followed his lead. Seeing his determination inspired the other 4 members of the D team to press on despite their fatigue as they continued onwards, after their white quarry…..

In a glade nearby, Cera paced back and forth patiently as she looked around feeling rather restless and worried as much time had passed, "Where is she? She should be here by now….hope nothing bad's happened." she hoped to herself. Having informed her partner Miku earlier to meet at this specific rendezvous point after the battle ended, she had waited here to avoid being detected by the dinosaurs and now hoped to be able to get Miku out before anymore unnecessary attention was drawn to them both. She began to worry and fear she may have been caught….when-

SQUAWK!

"Ah!" Her face brightened up as she looked above her to see Miku land at a large tree which stood right behind her, as she then lowered herself down slowly till she was able to look at Cera at eye level. "Great work Miku, you did better than I expected out there." She said as the raptor nodded and chirped at her, "Let's hope that's the last we see of those 3 clowns for a while too." She said as the raptor launched herself off the trunk of the tree and perched on Cera's arm like a trained falcon, also being careful not to grip onto it tightly with her razor sharp claws. "Alright, now let's get out of here before-"

"Hey wait up!" A voice suddenly shouted out not far from where they stood catching their attention, followed by a few others.

"Over there! I think I see it!"

"We've got it now for sure!"

"Oh dear." Cera then sighed sadly knowing that if she tried to make a run for it now they'd find her anyway…..knowing the jig was up she decided on the next best thing. "I wanted a chance to apologise to them….might as well take it now." She said as Miku looked to her with concern, "You'd better hide for now Miku, it'll make it easier at least for the time being." She said knowing she may have had to spill the beans eventually….so it may have been better sooner than later. Upon her instructions the raptor nodded before jumping back onto the tree and began climbing up its massive height, before looking down with concern at her partner before conceding herself above, while Cera took cover in the underbrush behind.

"It went this way! I'm sure of it!" Max cried out as he burst out of the forest trail and into the glade, as he began looking around he could find no trace of the microraptor anywhere as Chomp too sniffed the air but couldn't get so much as a whiff. "But where is it now?" He then asked as Rex, Zoe, Ace and Paris joined them. After looking around for a few more moments without so much as a clue, Max stomped his foot with frustration, "Darn it! We almost had it!" he yelled.

"Signal says we're right ontop of it." Rex stated looking at his dinoholder.

Zoe placed her hands on her hips and looked around too, "Still, that thing's white as snow, how can we lose it in this green forest?"

As they continued their survey of their surroundings, a voice then spoke out of nowhere catching hem by surprise, "Hey….guys…."

"Huh?" They quickly looked around and went on alert, as they covered each others' backs and their dinosaurs readied themselves for whoever was out there.

"Who's there? Come out and show yourself!" Rex yelled out agitatedly as Ace then snarled.

"It's alright, it's…only me…." the voice replied to them from in front, followed but he rustling of bushes and footsteps on dead leaves on the forest floor. Stepping into the light was none other than Cera herself, now covered in a few leaves and having a twig or 2 stuck in her clothes and hair.

The D team blinked their eyes at their unexpected visitor, as their dinosaurs too calmed down, "C…..Cera?"

"What are you….doing here?"

Cera then turned her head to the side feeling reluctant to answer back at first, "I….was in the area when I saw the sky turn all weird all a sudden and I heard roaring in the distance so I came to check it out." she said as if her voice was being choked, "When I arrived here….well….let's just say it was beyond anything I initially expected….." she said turning away.

"Oh….." The D team then froze upon realising she had saw their entire battle, "So then….you were here the whole time and saw us fight with the alpha gang?"

"From the very start?"

Cera paused before nodding reluctantly, "Y….yes I did….." she said.

"I see…." Max scratched his head uneasily as an awkward silence descended upon both sides. As their dinosaurs looked at their owners waiting for what would happen next, the D team looked to one another, seeing who would volunteer to speak up on their behalf to Cera….the person who disapproved most of dinosaur fights…..After a while and no one reached a conclusion, Max swallowed hard as he took a step forward, "I'll do it guys." he said bravely volunteering and taking initiative as the team leader, as he stepped forward before Cera, who awaited what he had to say. He then took a breath of air before he began to say his piece as firmly as he could, "Look Cera, I know you really hate dinosaurs fighting and seeing them get hurt in battle." he said turning his head away before gritting his teeth and turning to her seriously, "But we wanted to let you know that-"

"There's no need for apologies," she cut him off shaking her head, "In fact, the reason I was out here in the first place was because I wanted to apologise myself, for how I acted back at my lodge earlier….." she said.

The D team were taken aback by surprise by her change in mood and view, "Huh?"

"R…really? You did?" asked Zoe curiously as Cera nodded in response.

"Yeah, I realised at first I may have overreacted just now, I was so caught up in my emotions and assumed you wrong which was why I snapped…." she said feeling regretful as she lowered her head down slightly, "I should have heard it more on your side of the story, as well as maybe heard what your dinosaurs had to say too. Which was why I hoped to find you all and apologise as soon as I could." she said twirling some of her red hair in her finger, "But when I came and saw you all fight against the alpha gang, I realised I had you all wrong." she continued, "It's true battling can hurt dinosaurs too, but that's only part of it. It's why you're battling that matters just as much too," a light smile then came across her face, "And when I saw you all fighting in order to protect your precious partners, I now see that you really did care for them as equals and not just as tools or even animals…..I see now that you really are different."

"Cera…." The D team members slowly smiled with relief as if a weight pressed against their shoulders had been lifted at last, "We're glad you approve of us now." said Rex to her as she nodded.

"Mhmm….Yeah, also I couldn't just sit by and let you all suffer so horribly, so I decided to pitch in and turn the tables a bit by giving those goons a taste of their own medicine." she added as Max and the others were taken aback once more.

"Say what?"

Zoe then pointed out slowly, "Wait a sec, you mean-"

Cera nodded once more, "Yeah, I was the one who sabotaged their machines, causing them to self-destruct and even turn on their own dinosaurs too." While she didn't like it herself, to use such vile machines on dinosaurs there weren't any other options available and it was an urgent situation too.

"Whoa…..I knew that wasn't some random coincidence….but still….whoa…." Max thought to himself stunned before chuckling in response to put on a strong face, "Heh, that's some kind of apology, but we'll take it anyways."

"Yeah, we forgive you, and thanks for saving us too when we really needed it most." Rex followed as Zoe smiled and nodded in agreement.

Soon Cera felt herself at peace and with relief now that she was forgiven herself too, "Phew, thanks, glad we're even now….." she breathed.

Rex then began to ask, "But still, how did-"

She then cut him off, "Let's just say I've….got a certain talent for tinkering with devices and well….." as she scratched the side of her head she knew now was the time. Knowing Miku was watching them, she did a certain eye sign as Miku then acknowledged it and jumped down from out of the tree tops and glided elegantly down before anding on era's shoulder, much to the surprise of the D team and startling their dinosaurs!

"Whoa!"

"It's the microraptor!" Max and Rex gasped.

Zoe then cried out in alarm, "Cera! Get away from the dinosaur! It's dangerous!"

Cera smiled back unworried, though appreciating their concern for her wellbeing, "It's alright you guys." she said before scratching the raptor's chin underneath as she cooed with enjoyment, "Miku would never hurt me, we're best friends after all." she said.

Upon hearing her say that, they were stunned with bewilderment, "Huh!?"

"M….Miku!?"

"What!?" They all gasped.

At that point, Cera reached into her hip pack and slowly took out her white dinoshot, before to their absolute astonishment, pressed a button on it and turned Miku right back into a card, before swiping it across a slot on he device and causing Miku to appear in her small form on her shoulder!

The D team stared speechlessly at this incredible new revelation, "I don't believe it…." Rex breathed.

"That's why she looked so familiar!" Max cried out in realisation punching his fist into the palm of his hand.

"You have a dinosaur!?" Zoe exclaimed as their dinosaurs barked with excitement upon seeing their new friend again, who chirped back.

"Hehe…guilty as charged guys…." Cera giggled scratching her cheek while looking the other direction avoiding eye contact.

At that point, Max just knew he had to know, "Cera…..just who are you?" he then asked, as Cera then turned serious having known she'd be asked this serious question at some point, yet she had no way to answer back.

"I….can't say….even if I wanted to…." she mouthed out uneasily as she drew circles in the ground with 1 foot and tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible.

Upon noticing her change in mood, the D team grew rather suspicious yet also sympathetic with her at the same time, "You….can't tell us?"

"Why?"

"Is it because you don't trust us?"

"No it's not that at all." Cera shook her head before mustering up her courage to force the truth out of herself, "it's just….I don't actually remember that much about myself."

They then turned almost silent upon hearing her words, piecing together what she meant, "Wait so…."

"You've got like….amnesia?" Rex and Max each asked.

"Well…..I guess you could say that, though it isn't just me, Miku as well…." she answered reluctantly, "To tell you the truth," she swallowed painfully, "I don't remember much about myself, or even where I came from. All I know was that I actually woke up not far from around here a few days ago with no clue as to how I ended up there in the first place. All I had with me was Miku and well…this….my dinoshot, which is what I use to call her out. Somehow I still recall how to use it, and that I have some kind of connection with Miku too….as well with a certain understanding of dinosaurs too….but other than I can't recall anything else." She said sadly as if her heart was cracking under the pressure of the inconvenient truth.

"Cera….Miku…." they could tell from her tone that she was truthful and thus had no way to respond back to her properly, "We're so sorry…." while they wanted to understand her they couldn't just sympathise…yet they had no idea how to. Thier partner dinosaurs could understand too the situation as they went silent or whimpered sadly.

"It's okay you guys you don't need to be." Cera replied before looking down at their partners with a smile and reassurance, "In fact, I should be thankful to know that your dinosaurs are in really great care, and if I hadn't heard about you….maybe I wouldn't have had a clue as to who I am or maybe what I'm here for." she said before looking to them all and nodded, "I know the dinosaurs will be safe in your hands for sure."

"Cera…."

She then closed her eyes and smiled once more, "Well then, it was nice meeting you all, guess this is where we part ways….take care and hope we cross paths again some day…." she said as she waved to them and began to take her leave. As she did, Miku turned her head around and waved a feathery hand to Chomp, Ace and Paris who lowered their heads sadly and whimpered.

As she slowly began to walk away, the 3 members of the D team looked to one another seriously and nodded firmly.

Stepping out towards her, Max placed a hand on Cera's shoulder to her surprise, "Now so fast there."

"Huh?" she and Miku both turned to him in confusion.

"You don't actually think we're just going to say goodbye and let go all by yourself now are you?" asked Zoe as she and Rex walked up to them.

"If you really care for the dinosaurs the way we do, I'd say it's safe to say that you're one of us now." Max then grinned eagerly and enthusiastically.

"One of…you?" she then gasped in surprise, "I…don't understand. Me? Join up with you? The D team?" she questioned pointing to herself in confusion, as well as being unable to properly react to the offer she was just given.

"Yeah sure, why not?" Max replied, "You said it yourself, you yourself love dinosaurs and care for them as much as we do. And dinosaurs was what brought us to meet you in the first place! No way this can be just a chance meeting, it's gotta be like destiny or something right?"

Rex then chuckled, "Well destiny's a bit of a strong word….but he's pretty much on the right track."

"Also, the alpha gang probably know about you and Miku after that fiasco just now, so there's a chance they'll be back again." Zoe explained.

"If you stick with us, we can help protect you both, not to mention you wouldn't be alone anymore." Max concluded as he held out his hand to her, "So what do you say? Would you like to join us? Together we'll protect the dinosaurs and find a way for us all to coexist in harmony!"

Cera was tempted to reach out and take the hand, but then she held back uneasily as this was quite a hard choice for her to make, "Hmm…."

"Or would you not like that?" Max then spoke softly as his expression turned downcast. He then took his hand back and scratched his cheek, "It's your choice….and whatever you choose….we'll support you." As the D team patiently awaited for Cera's answer, they held onto the hope that she would accept their offer, while at the same time bracing themselves in the event she declined. Their dinosaurs too whimpered sadly too feeling though she may not accept.

Looking to each of their hopeful yet also serious faces, Cera gave it careful thought, weighing the benefits and risks that may come with either choice…..after consideration she then came to an answer, "Well, I'm not all that sure…." she said uneasily, "If I were to join up with you guys, no doubt we'd be going to face even more danger and battles with dinosaurs down the road….and who knows wha else really is in store for us if the alpha gang were to make us targets too, knowing that we're with you."

As she said that, the D team felt rather downcast and let down, "Oh…."

"That's too bad…I guess…."

"We…understand…." they said as their dinosaurs whimpered.

"But." She then said as they then perked up, surprised to see her now smiling lightly, "I think it'll be more beneficial that way for us all, we'll be able to see new places beyond this area with you…and I'm sure we'll be much safer amongst people we can trust….maybe even friends too…." she said looking up at them with hopeful eyes, "I'm sure we'll even gain new experiences too together and have plenty of fun adventures and memories to make along the way as well, not to mention there'll also be so many more dinosaurs out there to save and people to protect as well. And, I think maybe if we stick with you, Miku and I might be able piece together our past that much easier than if we were alone." she said feeling assured of herself that this was the right choice and she had no regrets about it.

Upon her answer, the D team and their dinosaurs brightened up joyously, "So, does that mean?"

She nodded while smiling sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm more than happy to join you all, if that means you'll forgive and have me…."

"You kidding!? We'd be being to have you on the team!" Max cheered pumping up his arms with excitement while grinning deeply.

"This is so awesome! We finally have another girl on the team!" Zoe squealed, "Someone I can relate to and have great conversations with as well!" she added with brightened eyes as several other ideas like sleepovers and other girly things she can do with another came to mind.

At that moment the boys turned to her feeling offended, "Hey! What do you mean relate to!?"

"Are you implying we don't have great conversations Zoe?" They questioned as she simply stuck out her tongue at them.

"Hee hee, it's a secret."

"Why you!" As they quarrelled with one another as they usually do, Cera couldn't help but chuckle to herself in amusement, also feeling rather touched as she could feel their close ties with one another.

"Hahaha, maybe it was fate in a way that we met up with them huh Miku?" she said to her partner who chirped to her in agreement as she nodded back. Looking back at them she smiled seeing their awkward childish behaviour yet also very strong and close bonds of trust and friendship, "I'm sure if we stuck around with them, we'll find out about ourselves that much easier and quicker….plus it'll make things all the more fun and interesting too." she closed her eyes in thought knowing they just might have a glimmer of hope of piecing together the mystery that is their past.

"Oh I almost forgot, here." a voice woke her from her thoughts. As she opens her eyes she saw Max holding out a small D shaped badge to her.

As she took it and held it close to her eyes and focused her gaze on it, "What's…this?" she then asked.

"It's your official D-team badge! That makes you one of us from now on!" Max answered proudly as Zoe and Rex clapped while Chomp, Ace and Paris all jumped up and down barking with excitement, celebrating her very welcome into the team.

"Welcome aboard Cera."

"Glad to have you."

As Cera looked around her she and Miku were deeply touched with all the praise and kindness she was showered with in the welcome, as she then gripped onto the badge and held it to her heart, "Thank you….I'll treasure this forever." she said before opening her eyes confidently, "I won't let you down and I look forward to saving the dinosaurs with you all."

"Mhmm…." The D team nodded as they all put their fists together, while their dinosaurs jumped together in unison letting out a cheer, together with Miku whom they accepted into their circle of trust and friendship.

"Oh yeah that's right!" Max then brightened up, "You should come back down with us, my dad will be excited to meet you!"

"We'll even pitch in and help you move your things out of that lodge too." Rex followed as Zoe nodded.

Cera smiled gratefully, "Thanks you guys….I can hardly wait."

"Well then, last one to the lodge has to carry the heavy stuff! Hahaha!" Max laughed as he took off downhill with Chomp, as Rex gritted his teeth and charged after him together with Ace.

"Hey no fair! You didn't say start yet! Max!" he yelled shaking his fist after them.

Zoe and Cera stood back smiling in amusement as they ran off while hurtling insults at one another, "Boys, they never grow up will they?" she said shaking her head with a hand on her hip before turning to Cera, "Well then, let's not get left in the dust." she said as they both ran off after the boys.

As they made their way downhill, Cera soon began to remember something important…. a voice which echoed at the back of her mind as if she had heard it in a dream…..

 **' I could offer you a new start? To rebuild your confidence, your very life, and to acquire strong allies who can help you in the fight to come. Friends and comrades, to aid you in a quest that would be impossible for any one person to undertake.'**

Upon remembering the voice and those words loud and clear, she then turned serious, "Maybe this could be the start of something big Miku." said Cera to her partner who cringed onto her shoulder and smiled back at her, "And whatever lies ahead for us on the horizon, we'll be ready for it." She said at the end as she focused her eyes on the lodge that came into view.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile that night, back at Alpha HQ things weren't looking up for the bumbling trio when they returned home somehow after crash-landing on the island, while in charred and tattered clothing, they reported everything straight to Dr Z….as a result things were really heading south for them...

"Rargh!" Roared the bedridden Dr Z as screamed at the top of his lungs causing Ursula, Zander and Ed to huddle up like scared puppies! "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

"P...please calm down Doctor, your blood pressure..." Pleaded Ursula sounding concerned where in fact she was terrified beyond belief as her heart shook like an earthquake, while Zander and Ed both turned as pale as ghosts!

"Calm down!? You expect me to calm down!? Outrageous!" He roared shaking his fists in the air while in bed and his eyes widened red with rage! "First you sneak off behind my back and take my precious devices without my permission, and not only did you get them destroyed you dare come back empty handed!?" He glared daggers which pierced into their very souls, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't feed you three stooges to Terry and Spiny this instant!" he growled as they huddled up together and got into begging dog poses!

At that moment the door opened and walking in was Rod and Laura in their dino themed pjs and nightwear. Rod had bags under his eyes and his hair was all messy, while Laura was wearing a nightcap and holding a brontosaurus plushie in her arms, "Yawn...grampa...what's going on here?" Yawned Rod drowsily covering his mouth before rubbing his eyes which he opened groggily.

"You're way too loud and we're trying to sleep..." Added Laura barely opening her own eyes.

As they focused better they saw it was the same thing that happened as usual so they shrugged their shoulders, "Oh...so that's it then...here we thought it was something important..." They thought feeling rather irritated they awoke over nothing.

Dr Z on the other hand was so caught up by the 3 stooges before him, he failed to notice his grandkids watching them.

"Y...you don't understand Doctor let us explain!" Begged Ursula hoping he would at least hear them out.

"We had those brats right in the palm of our hands really!" Added Zander shaking like a madman.

"But right before we finished them off some new kid showed up out of nowhere with a dinosaur of her own and she ruined our entire strategy we worked so hard to put together!" Concluded Ed as tears nearly welled in his eyes.

A tic mark appeared on Dr Z's forehead, "I don't want to listen to any of your miserable excuses you pathetic excuses for henchmen!" He shouted, "And of all the excuses you came up with that's the most pathetic of all! Just how much of a fool to you take me for!?" He screeched being irritated beyond belief, "Everyone knows the 6 stones have already been found, so tell me just how it's possible for someone else to summon a dinosaur!?"

Ursula clearly having not accounted for this, then twiddled her fingers unsure of how to answer him, "W...well its just-"

"That was a rhetorical question!" Dr Z yelled interrupting her causing her and her underlings to jump and sweat profusely.

Rod then shrugged his shoulders knowing there was nothing more for them to see, "Yawn...well no point in staying here any longer Laura, lets go back to bed..." He said to her as he began to turn around with her back to bed.

"You're right Rod," she replied yawning in boredom, "Say you wouldn't know where your fluffy earmuffs are would you?" She then asked.

"As a matter if fact I do, come lets get them, we already know how this will end…." Her brother replied as they headed back to their rooms for the night.

As they left the room, Chibi Terry, Tank and Spiny appeared before the trio from under Dr Z's bed, as they snarled and hissed rather aggressively to their horror, "After I'm done sicking Terry, Tank and Spiny on you three, I'll make sure Helga gives you all a generous dose of that 'delicious' health recovery food you tried to feed me this morning hehehehe..." He snickered deviously unable to wait a second longer for his night's entertainment while rubbing his hands together eagerly, "I'm going to enjoy this!"

"N...no Dr Z! Anything but that!" Their pleas fell on deaf ears as Dr Z laughed maniacally as the 3 dinosaurs flashed rather sinister grins before jumping onto their owners showering them with love and appreciation in the form of prehistoric pain!

CHOMP! CRUNCH! SNAP!

"NOOOOO!" The halls echoed with their screams of agony and despair soon after.

Little did anyone know was that the entire conversation was eavesdropped on by Seth himself from his lab as the drama played out on his monitor as he laid down the stegosaurus and saurophaganx cards on a table in front of him, having completed another round of experiments on them. "Hmm...so its true then..." He muttered to himself placing a finger to his chin in thought, as he switched to a different monitor displaying a Dinosaur signal that had recently appeared at the place where the D team and alpha gang fought, one which was completely new and unknown. He then smirked to himself rather sisterly at the turn of events, "Things have gotten that much more interesting indeed..."

 **And thus concludes chapter 4 and Cera's integration into the D team, stay tuned for the many new adventures they'll have together in facing off against new dinosaurs, the alpha gang and eventually diving into piecing together her fragmented memories!**

 **As for Miku's moves in order of use-**

 **Power siphon-Miku latches onto the face of the enemy and drains its energy and adds it to her own**

 **Parasitic perch-Miku clings onto the neck of the opposing dinosaur's neck and taps into its brain stem controlling its mind.**

 **Energy Equalizer-Miku shines light above ally dinosaurs and shares her energy, best after using power siphon for more effect since she gives up her energy for others.**

 **With new year's now started hope everyone has a great one.**

 **In response to reviews, glad I didn't disappoint and I do hope to be able to continue with this as well. In response to pokemonking0924, I hope to include a few more concepts in the DS later in the story including exclusive dinosaurs.**

 **To anyone who's also interested in helping me out with this collab feel free to PM me, I'll try welcome whatever ideas you can suggest too.**


	5. Settling into a new nest

Chapter 5

Settling into a new nest

Driving down the road back towards Sanjo City from the mountain tops, the D team rode together with their newest member in the pickup truck with Spike Taylor at the wheel, and inside new friendships and bonds were slowly being forged. "I really can't thank you enough for this everyone, I mean you guys are willing to let me and Miku stay with you all." Cera said thankfully as Miku sat on her lap nuzzling rather comfortably inside. "After what I said to you guys just now…..I…I don't know what we did to deserve this…." she then added at the end lowering her head feeling guilty and wishing she could take it all back.

"Aw, don't fret about it Cera. You're one of us now, and what's in the past will stay in the past." Rex relied encouragingly with a smile.

"Yeah, we D team and dinosaur lovers have to stick together after all." Zoe grinned while elbowing their new friend playfully.

Max then shot his arm up to the ceiling of the car with a confident smile, "With all of us together, not only will we save the dinosaurs for sure but the alpha gang won't stand a chance against us." he said filled with energy before looking to Cera with enthusiasm, "We couldn't be happier to have you on board."

Cera placed a hand to her chest in relief as she smiled feeling secure and at ease being around people she can trust and rely on now, "Thank you….." not only was she among friends who shared similar beliefs with her, but they were giving her and Miku now a place to belong.

"Don't mention it sweetie." Dr Taylor voiced out from in front in the driver's seat. "After what you've done for my boy Max and his friends, it's the least we can do." he said with approval while looking to the back seats from the front momentarily with a thumbs up before returning his gaze to the road in front.

"Yeah, we probably would have been goners if you hadn't shown." Rex admitted feeling relieved as he hugged Ace closer to him, who barked and smiled with joy feeling appreciated.

"Plus, we finally have a new addition to our happy family! In fact I'd be begging you to be part of it!" Spike then cheered up at front before shooting a glance at Miku on Cera's lap who gulped down nervously at his eyes fixing a firm but excited look on her, "Not to mention we'd also be bringing a new dinosaur in too! But not just any one, the very missing link between birds and dinosaurs! Hahahah! This is a once in a lifetime moment! I just knew coming out here on this special day and then taking you home with us isn't some coincidence but fate hahahahah!" Dr Taylor laughed out loud as the 4 kids sweat dropped, face palmed, sighed for shook their heads in disapproval at his childish behaviour.

"Heheh…."

"Oh boy…."

Wanting to change things off topic, "So Dr Taylor, managed to find any buried treasure with that doohickey detector of yours?" Rex asked as the older man lowered his head and dropped down in disappointment.

"Err….I'd rather not talk about it Rex…." he said in embarrassment. What he didn't tell them was that his device did pick up certain kinds of treasure but not he one he was after. He came across a pair of ancient underwear which made his stomach gurgle, then found himself standing in a pile of dinosaur faeces which nearly made him lose his breakfast. When he finally found his long lost time capsule, after several tries with only rocks and old metal garbage, his joyful reunion was cut short when he landed on an old buried landmine which blew up where he stood and left him unconscious till the gang arrived back with Cera. A childhood memory now lost to time forever, as he whimpered and sobbed up front.

"Okay then….." Rex scratched his head agreeing that he shouldn't talk about it anymore.

"My dad can be a little bit much at first…." said Max to Cera trying to stand up for his father, as difficult as it was, "And sure he can get overexcited sometimes, especially when it comes to dinosaurs, but once you get past that childish side of his he's the coolest guy you'll ever come across." he said.

"Heh, I'll believe it when I see it." Cera chuckled unconvinced.

"Oh I'm sure you will, in fact when you come to stay over at our place you'll never want to leave I guarantee it!" he then cheered clapping his hands together and shaking with excitement.

Thinking about it and feeling obliged she then nodded back rather uneasily, "Hmm alright then…."

"Hey!" Zoe then cried out, "Why should you get to decide where she gets to stay!? That's so not fair! Not to mention it's just so…..wrong!" she whined.

"Oh, so they live in different homes then….." Cera then realised upon hearing her statement, though was curious as to why she was making such a huge deal of it. Then again thinking about it, perhaps 1 girl living under the same roof as a pair of boys would seem rather unusual.

"Well when you put it that way….I guess you're right there Zoe." Max scratched his cheek uneasily with Rex, having not taken it into account their age and circumstances.

"Sorry about that Cera, you didn't need to see that." Zoe then apologised for her sudden behaviour and tone of voice.

"It's fine, it's no big deal for us." Cera replied shaking her hands before looking to everyone happily, "In fact, as long as I get to stay with great hearted people like you I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever accommodations you have to offer." she said.

"Aww that's so sweet of you to say that…." said Zoe as she took her hands together and smiled innocently with sparkling but determined eyes, "In that case, I'm sure you'll love it way better at my place better than that pigsty those guys call home."

Max and Rex quickly turned to her with stern expressions, "HEY!"

"You take that back this instant!" They each yelled.

"Oh come on guys no need to get all hostile like that, you know it's the truth." Zoe said back to them all snobbishly, "If it wasn't for your mom your home would end up looking like some rat's nest in less than a day, even you know that's true." she scoffed, "Besides, I'm doing Cera here a favour, your home already has way too many ungrateful mouths for your mom to feed. Plus I wouldn't want our newest member to get uncomfortable or worse, tainted by your immature or brutish behaviours." she said in a more ladylike tone to make herself appear more civilised as she could.

"Ouch, did you really have to go that far Zoe?" Rex sighed feeling rather offended even if it was true. As he hugged in Ace who tried to comfort him with licking.

"Oh yeah!?" Max then growled shaking his fist at Zoe with a huge tic mark on his head, "Well at least we don't live on top an animal clinic with so many noisy patients that keep you awake all night with their loud barks and screeches!" He yelled, "Not to mention sometimes it gets way messier even with both your parents at home!" he added referring to certain types of messes the animal patients would make other than causing a ruckus.

Zoe's eyes widened with fiery rage, "You watch your tongue mister wise guy!" she exploded unwilling to take any kind of insult to her family's believed animal hospital, "Don't make me put you in a strangle hold!" she said popping her knuckles.

"Just try it!" Max retorted as he shook his fists ready for a tussle, refusing to hold back even if his foe was a girl and his close friend.

Rex being caught in the middle with Cera sweated as he tried waving his arms out to stop the fighting before it could escalate any further, "H…Hey guys! Calm down!" he begged though to little avail as their dinosaurs barked loudly, tuning out the truck's radio.

The back of the car was about to turn into a ring for an all put brawl, when Dr Taylor decided to speak up and say his piece, "Now now kids." he said catching their attention as hey all looked up front to him, "Let's not make a scene in front of our newest recruit and member of the family okay?"

As he finished they blinked before looking down to Cera, whose eyes were opened widely with Miku as they both stared stunned and unblinkingly.

"Errrr…"

"Oh….." Looking to one another Max and Zoe realised they were at fault as they slumped back into their seats awkwardly.

"Now kids apologise right now, you should know better than that don't you." Dr Taylor said once more as they lowered their heads in shame.

"Yeah, guess you're right dad…." Max admitted as he and Zoe turned to her.

"S…Sorry about that Cera…." they said together as she smiled and scratched her head.

"It's….alright….I mean what's family without a little spice and excitement to add to it once in a while huh?" Cera chuckled nervously letting them off.

"Whoa she actually took it better than we thought….." Max blinked his eyes along with Zoe who were both taken aback at how easy it was.

"Let's not push our luck Max." Rex spoke up just to be sure as his friend sighed.

"Yeah, I think you're right Rex."

"But still how do we decide where she stays tonight?" Zoe then asked once more as they all drifted into thought on how they could settle the matter civilised, and not through primitive violence like cavemen or even dinosaurs.

Thinking for a while, Dr Taylor stuck up his finger as an idea came to mind, "Well then how about this?" he said as they all looked to him waiting to hear his answer.

"To be fair, why not we let her decide for herself then? Sounds perfectly reasonable if you ask me." Spike suggested as they all looked to one another and decided it was much better than any of their ideas put together.

"Hmph, sounds fair to me." Max admitted as he, Rex and Zoe nodded together in agreement.

"Well Cera, where would you like to stay?" Zoe then asked as she and the other members of the D team and their dinosaurs eyes her and Miku rather closely, much to her discomfort.

"Errr….." she sweated looking towards all of them, worried that her choice will no doubt hurt the one she didn't pick…..

"Don't worry, we won't pressure you to choose or anything, in fact whichever place you pick we'll be a-okay with it." Max

"But I really recommend my house way more than that noisy animal hospital any day of the week." Max whisper

"Okay then….." Cera then looked down to her partner for her opinion, "Well Miku, would you like to pick?" she asked as Miku buried her face under her wing to brush herself before chirping back in response.

Chirp Chirp

"Hmmm, well okay then…." Cera nodded upon hearing her answer. As she turned to the boys on her left side and Zoe on her right, she brought a finger to her chin in thought as she closed her eyes, weighed the positives and negatives for each choice, before finally making her decision, "I choose….."

 **(Later)**

As the truck pulled up in front of the Pet town animal hospital, Cera stepped out with Miku from the back door and as she stood in front she couldn't help but look up and smile with delight, "Wow, this place looks way better than I expected. In fact, it looks kinda cute…." she said after looking around it. The place gave off a rather welcoming atmosphere which put Miku at ease as she ruffled her feathers in excitement.

"I know right?" Zoe smiled as she stepped next to her new housemate with Paris hopping after them, and put an arm around her, "And if you think it looks great now, just wait till you see the inside. And the adorable room we have just for you!" she squealed with excitement.

"I look forward to it." Cera then nodded trusting her new friend's words.

As the girls and Dr Taylor began to unload the moving boxes from the back of the pickup truck, Zoe couldn't help but shoot a rather cocky smirk at Max and Rex who were still sitting inside. While Rex simply smiled accepting his loss with grace, Max didn't seem to take it so lightly as he folded his arms and scowled rather grumpily.

"Hmph…."

"Hehe, guess we can't win em all huh Max?" Rex chuckled patting him on the back hoping to comfort him though it only seemed to aggravate the spiky haired boy, who hated losing very much. "Don't worry, since the Drakes are coming to have dinner with us tonight she'll still get a chance to check out our place so we might still have a chance." he then added.

"Guess so…." Max huffed turning his head away, "Still can't believe she chose Zoe's place over ours in a heartbeat…." he said under his breath, though Zoe could hear it loud and clear and she seemed to enjoy rubbing it in his face.

"Hee hee hee….." Zoe she snickered snobbishly as Dr Taylor went back inside the truck. As he started the car and was about to drive off, Zoe leaned at the open back window giving a few last words, "Now you boys behave yourselves and make sure everything is nice is tidy till we come over, you wouldn't want our newest member to have any bad first impressions of you later at dinner now would we?" she said raising an eyebrow with a smirk as Max clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Tch!"

"We'll be on our best behaviour." Rex replied giving an 'ok' sign with his hands as he then playfully elbowed his friend at the back with him, "Right Max?"

"Yeah yeah….cheapskate….." he hissed as Ace and Chomp barked out the window saying their goodbyes got Paris as the truck drove off. As they waved bye to the truck which soon disappeared from sight, Zoe then took Cera's hand welcomingly, "Well, now with that out of the way, come on in and I'll show you around!" she said with enthusiasm as Cera nodded back at her looking forward to it.

"Mhmm."

Meanwhile inside the hospital, Dr Drake was busy using a mild needle to vaccinate a chow chow puppy which surprisingly took it without much fuss. "You're a brave little boy aren't you?" he said petting the pup's fluffy head which responded with a small bark.

Woof!

After that the dog's owner, a young woman, was at the reception counter where Mrs Drake handed her a bag of medicine tablets after she paid for them, "Now just give Fluffy make these special pills after each meal and let him get plenty of rest," she then smiled lightly as her husband handed back the chow pup in a small carrying cage, "And he should feel better in no time." she then concluded.

"Thanks Dr Drake, will do." The woman replied as she carried the cage by its upper handle and exited through the front door.

"Take care now." Mrs Drake called out with a bright smile. As soon as they both turned around to go into a mother room, as Zoe and Cera walked right in.

"Mom! Dad! We're home!" she called out catching their attention.

"Hmm? Oh hello there Zoe! Welcome home!" Her mom said welcoming her back.

"I take it you enjoyed your trip to the mountains earlier this morning?" her chubby father then asked.

Upon hearing his question she sweat dropped and scratched her cheek, "Err hehe more or less….." shaking off what was in the past she decided to introduce them to her new friend and soon to be roommate. "Anyways, I'd like to introduce you to our new house guest and member of the D team. Cera!" she said showing her off as the red haired girl smiled rather embarrassed before bowing down respectfully.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Drake, thank you for having me." she said.

"Hello Cera. It's a pleasure to meet you." Mrs Drake said welcoming her.

"Ah! Yes of course! I heard about you from Dr Taylor just now." Dr Drake then snapped his fingers in realisation before running up to her an shaking her hands, "I welcome you to our humble animal hospital, where all your beloved animal companions are given the best quality treatment and all the tender love and care they could ever want." He then stated showing off the hospital from the animal play area right down to the food stores and medical room which all glistened sparkly clean, very unlike the scenario that Max described back in the truck in the hopes of dissuading her.

"Thank you very much, we're really humbled." Cera replied taking in the welcoming atmosphere which made her feel she cold get used to things here very much. At that moment, Miku then climbed up and perched herself ontop of her shoulder, which Dr Drake soon took notice of

"Oh! So is this your little partner that Spike told me about?" Dr Drake asked as he took notice of her.

"Y…yes, this is Miku." Cera responded as the little raptor covered up her face shyly, "Come on say hi." She said nudging her with her finger, though it only served to make her bury herself in her arms and feathers even more so.

"Aww isn't she a little sweetheart. She's almost like a little canary." Mrs Drake smiled clapping her hands together.

Inside Dr Drake was tearing up and wailing with sadness, "Shame though, I was hoping she'd have a larger dinosaur with her, then I'd be able to test out my special mega needle!" he wept inside before an idea popped into his head. "Oh well, at least I have an alternative." He then walked up to the new girl and smiled welcomingly, "Say, since this is your first time here," he said eying the little dinosaur who slowly lowered her arms, "Your beloved pet shall receive a special vaccine shot courtesy of yours truly on the house! With 1 shot of this you'll never get sick again!" He announced holding up a small regular sized needle in his hand causing Zoe and Cera to both widen their eyes and gasp in alarm!

"EH!?"

SQUAWK!

Miku then turned pale, as paler than her usual white color till her entire body including her face and limbs became all ghostly, as she then fainted and fell down on Cera's shoulder, who blinked at what she just saw. "M…Miku?"

"Oh my….." Mrs Drake covered her mouth in surprise as her husband's jaw dropped. Clearly not expecting this outcome.

He then jumped as he felt a certain chill through the air and his heart skipped a beat as his daughter shook and tensed with rage as she then turned to him slowly, with flaring red eyes and gnashing teeth! "D…Dad! Look what you did to poor Miku!" she growled pointing at the now fainted bird dinosaur, as Cera had put her on the table to say her condolences for her life long partner.

"B…But Zoe….I was only trying to-"

"No buts!" Zoe cut him off before pointing out to Cera and her dinosaur, "Now apologise for what you did right now, or else you'll be the one taking that shot!" she threatened before swiping the needle from his hand! "In fact, I'll deliver it to you personally myself!" she roared intending to jab him in the backside!

Seeing no way out, her father slumped down into the corner and began wiggling his finger on the floor like a guilty child, "Y…Yes dear….." he whimpered as his wife covered her mouth trying hard but failing to suppress a giggle.

As Cera looked on with Miku, who had just regained consciousness and saw the whole drama play out they couldn't help but stare in amazement at what they witnessed, "Whoa, she actually managed to make him yield….." Cera said in awe and terror.

Miku gulped in response, "Remind me never to get on her bad side…."

 **(Later)**

"Ehehehe, sorry about that Cera." Zoe chuckled in embarrassment towards Cera as she sweat dropped and scratched her cheek before looking to Miku on her friend's shoulder, "And you too Miku." Both females were staring back at her rather uneasily as they were heading towards the D lab, where Cera learnt Zoe's sister Reese worked, and also served as the D team's base of operations. "My dad can get pretty excited and giddy when it comes to giving animals shots…..which I've told him over and over so many times…." she then grumbled before facepalming herself.

"Did you really have to make him unpack all my things though?" Cera then asked feeling rather compassionate for what Zoe had put her own father through, "That seems kinda harsh don't you think? Also, I wouldn't want to be a burden."

Zoe then placed a playful hand on her shoulder and smiled with innocence, "Nonsense, it's the least we can do, after all you helped save us from the Alpha gang earlier today so I think it's only fair we return the favour." she said before giggling with glee, "Plus it serves as a rather fitting punishment for him after scaring Miku out of her feathers, so it's basically a win win!"

"Eheheh I guess if you put it that way….." Cera then chuckled and sweat dropped, while Miku shook her head in disapproval, "Still in a way, he's kinda like Dr Taylor right? He's crazy about dinosaurs and your dad's mad about giving treatments to animals, they're like 2 peas in a pod." she then added with a smile as Zoe suddenly gained the shivers.

"That's….a rather scary way to look at it….." she croaked feeling sick, having just pictured her dad, Dr Taylor and Dr Owen at some wild man's party all drunk and out of control. "But yeah can't argue with that. Hahahaha." She then laughed hoping to shake off those thoughts but to little avail. Fortunately her train of unpleasant thoughts are to a stop as Paris barked up ahead. Seeing they had arrived, Zoe brightened up as she was able distract herself with something else now, "Well here we are! Welcome to the D lab!" She cheered as she ran ahead with Paris and Cera followed.

As they came closer, the sight of an unusual building with a ceratopsian head feature, a stegosaur shaped flower patch and designed unlike any other building she had ever laid eyes on. "Wow, this place looks….amazing….." Cera breathed.

"Hee hee, just wait till you see the inside!" Zoe giggled as door sensors triggered and the front doors opened.

As they entered through, Cera's jaw hung down stunned with amazement. Inside as she entered were several paintings of dinosaurs and fossils posted around the walls of the room with even several giant fossils depicting a T rex, tupuxuara and placerias stationed too. As they headed deeper in, many advanced computers and high tech devices in aesthetic dinosaur themes came into view, with stylised dino footprints stamped all over as well. There was no way to describe the emotions that were running through the minds and hearts of the lab's newest visitors. "Whoa…" Was all she and Miku could force out upon seeing this.

"Hee hee, told you it'd be amazing." Zoe grinned knowing that their new friends was already enjoying what she was seeing, and that the D team was making a great first impression too.

As they made it to the main area, they were greeted with several barks as Chomp and Ace ran out to meet them, as they played with Paris a couple of familiar faces came into view. "Hey! You guys made it!" Rex cheered as he and Max came up to them.

"Nice of you to finally join us, we've been waiting for you both to show up." Max followed as Cera nodded politely.

"Mhmm."

"So what took you both so long?" Rex then asked as he put his shoulders on his hips.

"Hehe, you know us girls love to be fashionably late." Zoe giggled as she gave a cheerful wink and struck a rather cute pose as she pulled Cera in closer to her, "Isn't that right Cera?"

She sweat dropped and chuckled nervously, "Err hehe, I wouldn't really say that….."

Max then leaned in and whispered to Rex as they turned around, "Heh must be a girl thing."

"I agree, though the last thing we need is having another Zoe on board the team….." Rex added as they both shivered at the thought.

"Brr, I get chills just thinking about it." Max stated, though his low talking was picked up by Zoe's sensitive ears as she shot them both a fierce glare that made both of them jump!

"You said something about me wise guy?" she questioned.

Max sweated and held his hands out shaking them frantically, "Err nope! Nothing at all!"

"Not a word about you." Rex followed as he motioned his hand zipping his lips shut.

"Now now kids, let's not misbehave around our newest addition to the family." Dr Taylor's voice called out as he came walking up towards them.

Cera then walked up to him and welcomed him, "Hey Dr Taylor, fancy meeting you here." she said.

"The same to you as well." Spike replied proudly before opening his arms out to the room they were in, "In fact we bid you and Miku a warm welcome to the D lab! The pride and joy of the D team!" he proclaimed as the kids applauded the official welcome of their newest recruits, with their dinosaurs barking and cheering at the sidelines.

Cera couldn't help but blush a little in embarrassment but also feeling rather proud to be honoured in such a way, "We are honoured." she said bowing down politely, as Miku perks her head from her arm covering her face in shyness.

Dr Taylor couldn't help but tear up at her response, "She really has great manners, something Max ought to take a queue from too." he thought to himself on the inside tearing up knowing it would be next to impossible, but they would be something for sure. After that he gestured to his side, "There's someone we'd like you to meet as well." As he said so, a young woman with blond hair with glasses wearing a lab coat and carrying some documents in 1 hand, came walking in with a rather serious expression at firs,t which made Cera and Miku feel rather on edge knowing she was a figure of authority, but lightened up as the new woman smiled at her.

"Greetings Cera. I am Reese Drake and I am in charge of all operations here at the lab." she said.

Cera then raised an eyebrow curiously, "Drake? As in-"

"Yup." Zoe cut her off skipping up to her, "Reese here happens to be my older sister." she said gesturing her hand to the older woman before she stood up with closed eyes and a smirk, "Considering that she's in charge of things around here, that means I'm technically in charge here too!" she boasted with her head held up high, much to the shock of the men in the room.

"Huh!?" They all gasped in shock and alarm before some of them turned rather aggressive.

"Hey! We never agreed on that!" Max growled.

"Yeah, aren't we like a collective trust?" Rex responded calmly in agreement as their dinos barked.

"It only makes sense you guys." Zoe giggled, "After all, since I happen to be Reese's sister it only makes sense that she leaves me in charge of here when she's not around!" She boasting, wanting to look good in front of Cera, who unfortunately wasn't buying it one bit as she and Miku stared back at her with suspicion.

"Leave you in charge?" Reese spoke up making her sister jump in a fright. "You must be joking Zoe, never in a million years would I ever do something like that." she said rather seriously, despite sounding all monotonous, with her glasses shining and her eyes not being shown.

"Huh!?" Zoe turned pale and slumped down to her knees in defeat, while the men began to snicker behind her back.

"Also, don't go making assumptions or putting words into others' mouths, remember what I told you?" her sister then added which made the young girl freeze up, as she scratched her chin and tried to avoid as much eye contact as possible.

"Err…..Okay maybe she didn't exactly say that." she admitted twiddling her fingers before turning down to her sister in a begging position, "But still, I can't believe you could say something so cruel about your own sister." she sniffled with tears watering from her eyes.

Reese then rubbed her temple with her free hand, and sighed shaking her head in disappointment at her sister's childish behaviour before responding back, "If it makes you feel any better though, I'd never leave the D lab in the hands of anyone in this room." she said much to their displeasure.

"Aww….." they all moaned and sighed while lowering forward as Reese took her leave and headed towards to the main computer to begin setting up something.

Stepping up and helping Zoe back to her feet, "Your sister is….pretty interesting I have to admit." said Cera to her.

"Not to mention brutally firm and honest…." Miku thought to herself shivering in her feathers.

"Interesting is the last word I'd describe her." Zoe pouted before whispering in her ear, "You'd better watch your back around her, though she may not look like it, the moment you let your guard down she can become a real monster in seconds."

"Is…that so?" Cera then gulped as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek.

"Mhmm, take it from me I've seen how unforgiving and tyrannical she can get, she even makes the alpha gang's t-rex look like a tame kitten in comparison!" she added.

"I heard that Zoe." Reese said to her catching her by surprise.

"EEP!" She jumped, while Cera covered her mouth in shock too.

"Gulp…."

"When I'm finished here, you and I are going to have a nice, long heart to heart talk. No excuses, understand?" she said authoritatively as Zoe fell back down and twiddled her fingers.

"Y….yes Reese….."

Max couldn't help but grin with satisfaction, "Heh, she should have kept that loud mouth of hers shut." he snickered as Rex suddenly covered his mouth with widened eyes and sweating anxiously.

"Shh Max, don't push it!" Rex hissed to him as she suddenly shot them a stare which made them and Dr taylor freeze in place!

"Why did I suddenly get a chill?" Cera gulped despite not having the stare directed at her.

"And I thought Zoe was scary….her sister's spine chilling….." Miku commented to herself.

A little while later she headed up to a table on the side of the room to see several dinosaur cards lined up and arranged neatly with move card dinosaurs too. After going over them all, Cera could;t help but feel rather impressed with their achievements. "So, these are all the dinosaurs you rescued so far?" she asked curiously.

"Yup, every single one of them! Impressive collection don't you think?" Max boasted rubbing his nose cockily as Zoe and Rex shot him a firm glare.

"Max…."

Realising his mistake he then sighed, "Oh, sorry if I sounded the wrong way….." he apologised scratching his head.

"It's alright, I understand now." she replied to them much to their surprise at how easy she took it. "You guys are all just doing what you believe is right, I now realise that." She said picking up a few of the cards such as the Maiasaura and daspletosaurus, sensing positive feelings emanating from them. "At least now I know you all have good intentions, and I'm certain these dinosaurs are no doubt happier and better off in your hands than with the alpha gang for sure." She said much to their relief.

"Phew…."

"Thank goodness."

As she continued going over the cards she then noticed a rather colourful acrocanthosaurus card as she picked it up and eyed it closer with interest, "What's up with this one? This card seems rather unique and special compared to the others." she commented.

"That….kinda depends on how you look at it…." Rex replied scratching his chin while his expression of unsureness mirrored in the others.

"We managed to rescue that dinosaur from the alpha gang, but not before they managed to perform some crazy modifications and experiments on it…." Max stated feeling responsible for what it went through.

"The next time we faced it, it was really powerful and literally on fire!" Zoe called out.

"Yeah, I get goosebumps just thinking about it all over again….." Rex added as Ace came up to him and hardened his gaze. "We only barely managed to win thanks to Ace though." he said nuzzling the carnotaurus under his chin as he giggled and rolled over. As Rex smiled with his partner's happiness he then sighed to himself on the inside, "Oh how I wish he gotten over his hydrophobia soon, it's getting really tiresome especially when it comes to baths….." he thought which would make their relationship perfect in his opinion.

"Doesn't change the fact that those creeps really are the worst!" Max yelled angrily as he pumped up his arms and gritted his teeth furiously.

"Yeah…..I can agree with that for sure….." Cera nodded in agreement seriously as well, while taking a closer look at the dinosaur card herself, "Experimenting on a dinosaur like some lab rat, tampering with living creatures against their will is just horrible…." she narrowed her eyes angrily, before eying it more with curiosity, "Still…..why do I feel like I've seen this somewhere before?" she thought to herself before placing the card back on the table.

"We still haven't found a way to return that poor acrocanthosaurus back to normal though." Max then added feeling guilty at unable to save it the first time or change it back now.

It was then that Zoe gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder as he looked to her, "But at least now it's safe and out of their evil hands." she said encouragingly as he then smiled.

"That's looking at things on the bright side." Cera then nodded in agreement.

His smile then vanished momentarily, "Although, they were able to get their hands on a stegosaurus and saurophaganax a few days ago, so hopefully the next time we see them again we'll be able to save them….." he then stated feeling responsible for letting his guard down and losing them to Rod and Laura, worried about the experiment they'd do to them. Remembering what a certain blue haired man named Seth, did to some velociraptors some time back, he just knew their encounter with the acrocanthosaurus was just the tip of the iceberg.

"I'm certain we will." Cera responded with confidence as she placed a fist to her chest, "I'll be sure to do my very best for the team and for the dinosaurs." she said with confidence as the rest of the D team smiled having her support.

"Glad to have you on board for this Cera." Rex commented feeling more secure about their future success and for the salvation of all the dinosaurs.

"Excuse me, pardon my intrusion on your pep talk." said Reese politely as she called out for the red haired girl's name, as said girl looked back to see her and Dr taylor at the monitor table. "But I'd like to see you for a moment Cera."

"M…Me?" she pointed to herself.

"Mhmm." Reese nodded. Seeing as she wasn't going to say more until she did as told she decided to do so.

"Okay….." She said before she walked up tot he older woman and the rest of the kids following behind.

As she stood before the D lab head, she then held her hand out, "If you don't mind, I am rather curious about that device of yours." she said.

"Huh? You mean my dinoshot?" Cera asked as she unhooked it from her belt and showed it.

"Yes, that's it." Reese answered as she held her glasses firmly as she narrowed her eyes and eyed the device closer.

After staring at it for a little while with no other comment, "Well, what about it Reese?"

"Something up?" Max and Zoe each asked feeling unsettled and curious. So was Cera, who was starting to think the woman was getting a little bit nosy…..

She then pushed up her glasses once more before asking nicely, "If you wouldn't mind, may I have a closer look at it?"

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, I promise you'll have it back as soon as I am finished doing a few scans on it and nothing more." she said encouragingly, "It intrigues me quite much and I am curious as to how it works as well as how it compares to the dinoholders as well."

Though not enthusiastic at first, Cera found her words to be truthful before she slowly handed the gun shaped machine over, "Sure thing, here you go." she said handing it off.

"Thank you very much." Reese replied as she placed it on the table and several devices form the ceiling began to perform scans on it and the monitors were displaying its' contents.

After a while Reese soon began to use precision tools to poke at the device and as sparks began to fly out Cera became rather uneasy and doubtful as to whether Reese was merely observing, "I'd appreciate it if you don't try anything funny with it…." she said swallowing hard, worried at what she might be implying to the apparently really scary lady before her.

"There is no need to worry about anything at all," Reese replied taking off her eye goggles and looking towards her, "Just what kind of person would you take me for?"

Cera scratched her cheek uneasily, "Well….."

Reese soon got the idea as she turned towards her little sister whose heart skipped a beat as soon as their eyes made contact, "You wouldn't have something to do with this would you Zoe?" Reese questioned as she hardened her gaze.

"Err no! Of course not sis! Why would you think that? Heheheheh…" she laughed nervously while shaking her hands out in a frantic before bonking herself on the head and sticking her tongue out playfully, trying to act as innocent as she could, though she began to sweat panicky as Reese's eyes remained unlinked and her gaze firmly fixed right into her soul!

"It's got nothing to do with her." Cera spoke out vouching for he friend who breathed a sigh of relief while falling to her knees in exhaustion of the pressure. "I'm just not too comfortable with strangers taking hold of my things that well….especially the only thing I seem to know how to use, and apparently all I remember about myself before I….lost my memories…." she said uneasily and rather painfully as silence soon filled the room.

Reese's expression became more compassionate as she soon replied, "I understand…." she push up her glasses once more, "But you can trust me that no harm will come to your device, I promise you that."

Feeling reassured once more, Cera nodded full of faith and confidence, "Alright." she said as Reese smiled once again.

"Thank you very much." she then put her goggles back on and took out her tools once again before doing some close examination on the dinoshot, "Now let's see what you really are….." she said as she did a more closer study on the device.

As the rest of the D team looked on they couldn't help but be both curious and puzzled as to what she was doing, "What do you think Reese is doing?" Max asked Zoe as she rested her head on her hand while gazing boredly.

"You're asking me?" she replied turning just her eye at him.

"Well you're her sister, we thought you might be into the same kind of stuff as her." Rex replied casually as he folded his arms behind his head.

Taking that as insult she squinted her eyes, "Why you…."

"How very interesting…." Reese spoke up interrupting her before she could continue. Perking everyone's interest they came up to her workplace as she took off her goggles and held up the dinoshot in one of her hands.

"What? What is it?" They asked curiously as she moved over to where her computer was as she began typing on the keyboards, depicting several screens opening up on the monitor, displaying the insides and circuitry of the dinoshot.

"According to the scans I performed, this device has no installed stone." she said as they all gasped and widened their eyes in disbelief.

"Huh!?"

"No stone!?"

"Then….how can it summon dinosaurs then when ours requires them?"

"That's just it, I have no clue whatsoever." Reese answered back, with a hint amazement in her voice. She then leaned over to the screens and began scrolling through them as the others gathered around to see, and they soon got an idea as to why she got stumped in the first place, "The integrated circuitry and technology that this device and its components are made of are unlike anything I've ever seen. Some of which are made from the rarest metals on the planet, others I didn't even know existed." she said.

"My my, how very fascinating." Dr taylor commented bringing a finger down to his bearded chin in thought.

"Yeah no kidding….." Rex followed.

"That's not all." Reese continued, "From what the data shows, apparently there's no limit to the kinds of dinosaur it can call forth."

"Huh!?" Their eyes widened once again.

"So then, it can like summon any dinosaur there is out there!?"

"That's what I just said Max." she replied monotonously, "In fact, its' design is beyond anything I've ever seen in all my years of technological expertise…" she commented as her discovery left the entire D team baffled.

"Whoa, if there's something that baffle Reese, then it's really amazing for sure….." Zoe breathed.

"Yeah no kidding, she's like the smartest of us all, and if something's got her stumped there's no way we have any chance of understanding it at all…." Rex added.

As Cera stood outside form the group she couldn't help but feel special and blushed to herself, "I….feel honoured….." she mouthed out twirling a bit of her hair with her finger while looking away, she knew her dinoshot was a precious device but not to that level of significance.

It was at that int that Reese turned around from her chair and stood up eying Cera rather firmly, "Cera, are you certain you can't remember where or how you got this?" she then asked as the red haired girl took a step back unable to respond.

"I…..I….well…." she stuttered momentarily before sighing with sadness, "I'm sorry I really have no memories as to how I obtained it….or even who I am….." she said rather weakly as Miku chirped, petting her neck gently as the others turned rather downcast, even the 3 dinosaurs too could feel it themselves as they stopped barking or running around.

Reese then gained a rather fronted expression as a result as she returned the dinoshot to its original owner, "Cera…..I see…..I apologise if I may have rubbed you the wrong way…." she said returning it.

Cera shook her head smilingly lightly while fighting back he negative feelings inside, "No it's fine Reese, you were just trying to be sure, and so am I….." she replied as the other D team kids gathered around to comfort her.

"Hey it's alright, no need to feel all down in the dumps. Frowning doesn't quite suit you or anyone for that matter." said Max as he placed an arm on her shoulder.

Rex nodded, "Yeah, Max is right, I'm sure your memories will come back eventually, you'll just give it time."

"You won't be alone on this, we'll be behind your back every step of the way." said Zoe taking her hand with both of hers, "And if it doesn't, we can just make some new memories starting here on out. Together." she said as they all smiled brightly around her with their dinosaurs showing how much they truly were wanting her and welcoming her into their family.

"Thanks you guys, it means a lot to us both….." Cera smiled before she began sniffling and wiping away a joyful tear from her eye, as Miku jumped up and down on her shocker chirping with glee, "I'll be sure to never forget this." The 4 kids shared a wondrous moment together…which was soon cut short by an unexpected yell.

"Argh! I can't take it anymore!" Spike cried at the top of his lungs as everyone quickly turned to him in surprise.

"Huh?" Even Chomp, Ace and Paris nearly jumped at the sound of his loud voice.

Immediately, Spike rushed over to Cera and got down into a begging position "Cera! Could I borrow your dinoshot for a bit? Just this once please?" he pleased with teary eyes much to the surprise of everyone else present.

"WHAT!?"

"Dr Taylor!" Reese cried out in alarm and anger.

"I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself Reese!" he turned to her, "It's all I was thinking about the moment you mentioned it had no limits!" he cried admitting he hadn't paid any attention to Cera's welcome moment she was sharing with the group just now. "The stones in the dinoholders won't respond to anyone else but the kids, and after seeing how Cera's device can pretty much summon any dinosaur at will on its own I just couldn't help myself!" he cried as he the tensed up his arms and gritted his teeth as if he was in agony, "Now after so many months of seeing the kids summon their dinosaurs and bring back new ones I just can't hold myself back anymore, I just have to give it a whirl and experience the excitement of summoning a dinosaur for myself!" he roared with passion before turning around and grovelling before Cera once more, "Please…." he whimpered looking up at her with the most teary puppy dog eyes he could show.

Much to the dismay of the D team kids and Reese as they sweat dropped, face palmed, shook their heads or sighed…..

"Dr Taylor, stop making a scene in front of the children, you're embarrassing yourself." Reese muttered rubbing her temple before she went to popping her knuckles, ready to deliver some well needed discipline!

"B…But I only want to try it out just for a little bit?" Spike whimpered once more in his defence before turning over to the D trio as they took a step back when he got close to them, "I mean I see you kids do it all the time when you're out in the field, just once I would like to experience it first hand!"

"Dad…..please stop making a scene in front of us all….." Max cried out as Rex and Zoe both couldn't bear to look into his disturbing eyes a second longer.

Thinking to herself for a little while, Cera then opened her eyes, "Alright sure, I'll let you use it just this once." she spoke up much to the bewilderment of the entire D team!

"Huh!?" Even Reese felt her heart skip a beat too, and she thought Cera would be smarter than that herself….guess she was mistaken…..

"R…really!? You…mean that Cera?" Dr Taylor clapped his hands together while his eyes shone brightly as a hundred stars!

She nodded with a smile, "Since you all were kind enough to do so much for me and Miku, I think I should return the favour myself in anyway I can by making myself useful to you all." Her statement was quite moving, yet many of the others weren't on the same page as her, either she was too kind or she was fooled by Spike's bad act…..

As she looked to Miku on her shoulder who nodded back at her, knowing what she was thinking, Cera then pressed a button on her dinoshot which returned the little raptor to a card. "In fact, I think I'll let you have the honour of summoning Miku." She said handing himmboth the card and her dinoshot, also for the fact she didn't want to take any risks with one of the larger dinosaurs on the table.

"Hooray! Today really is my lucky day after all!" Dr taylor jumped for joy as he did a rather humorous but more embarrassing jig, with several maracas while even shaking his backside too.

The rest of the D team sweat dropped at Spike's antics and took several steps back for their own safety, "This is big mistake…."

"Cera's going to regret this, I just know it…." they each muttered to one another while counting the many ways this could go wrong.

Right before she can hand them off to the large man's hands she quickly remembered something important as she took them back, right out of Spike's grasp as he then pouted at the tease, "Hold on a second first." she said hurrying over to the table and turning over to Reese, "Reese, is it alright if I use the work table and tools over there for a bit?" she then asked as the older woman liked her eyes.

"Umm, sure you may but what for?" she asked.

"You'll see." Cera answered as she put on the goggles herself and began using the tools and sparked up her dinoshot with them.

"Err Cera?"

"What is it exactly you're doing?" Zoe and Max both asked curiously after she worked for what seemed like 10 minutes straight.

"Just making a few quick modifications to my dinoshot first before letting Dr Taylor use it." she answered after pulling off the goggles to speak to them, "After all, with your recent skirmishes with the alpha gang, it's clear they have a dinosaur detection system just like this." She said before turning back to work, "So I'm just going to add in an extra layer of precaution, by encrypting my dinoshot with a special cloak programme to make sure that when I summon a dinosaur, it won't trigger any kind of signal for them to trace. I mean, we can't have them find this place and launch a full scale attack that would endanger everyone else and the cards already gathered right?" Cera

As she answered, the entire D team was once again stunned speechless by her logic and deduction, as Dr Taylor blinked his eyes and stared into space, "Ah…..Why didn't I think of that sooner?" he asked himself before he slumped down, "I can't believe I nearly let my enthusiasm and excitement get the better of me, not to mention giving away our top secret location in the process…." he groaned.

"Indeed." Reese commented feeling impressed herself, the way she thought ahead made her seem rather strategic like a battlefield veteran.

"Whoa…..no way…."

"She really though that far ahead?"

"Just who is she?" The rest of the D team commented in amazement.

After noticing her passion and expertise with the tools available to her, Max couldn't help but whistle feeling impressed, "So guys, what do you think?" he asked the others.

"I'm thinking she really knows her stuff….." Rex replied. "Still, is really letting your dad summon a dinosaur a good idea?" He whispered as Max quickly shook his head answering him.

"Not at all…." he then looked over to his father who was stomping his feet and biting his hat impatiently, which made him chuckle in amusement, "Though he's really wanted to do this for a long time now, so might as well let him have his fun, for a little bit." he said as the others soon smiled and nodded with him.

"Almost there….just a little more….done!" Cera called out as she finally finished the last few details. She said as Dr Taylor scrambled up to her and began skipping in 1 spot like a child awaiting for a new toy. "Well then, here you go, your patience has been rewarded."

"Oh boy! I can hardly wait!" Spike cried out grabbing the card and dinoshot without hesitation, "Here goes! The moment of truth, oh how I've waited long for the day I'd be able to summon my own dinosaur! It's just like that dream I've had where I rode on the back of a T-rex into battle!" he commented while dancing around with joy and heartfelt emotion, "Now it's finally about to come true! Well maybe this isn't exactly the same, but otherwise-"

"DAD!" Max yelled snapping himont of dreamland.

"Eh?"

"Dr Taylor, will you please get on with it already? We'd appreciate it if you didn't waste everyone's time monologuing….." Reese groaned pinching her temple as a tic mark was beginning to form on her forehead. Even the kids were glaring scowls at him as he thens sweat dropped.

"Oh alright then…..can't a guy enjoy the moment when his life long dream finally comes true?" he muttered under his breath, feeling offended they would poop on his party. Nevertheless he cleared his throat and holding up the card in a cool pose, "I've wanted to say this for quite some time and now here goes! Dino slash!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he slashed the card across the dinoshot! A bright light shone and it soon materialised into Miku's all sized form, as she raised out her wings and screeched powerfully, before being surrounded by the other D team dinosaurs who wanted to play with her.

Reese smiled impressed he was able to pull it off, but more so at the new dinosaur as she took a notepad and began writing down important notes on it.

"Would you look at that."

"He actually didn't mess it up." Rex and Max commented as Zoe simply stared back and whistled.

"Whistle.

"I did it…I actually did it! Woo hoo! I did it! I did it! I'm the man! I'm the dinoman! WOO!" Dr Taylor once more broke into his excited childish jig, as he ticked off another of his lifelong goals to achieve before he went to the fossil dig site high in the sky.

"Glad you're so happy dad." Max smiled while also sweat dropping, praying that he could stop soon in his mind.

"Oh I couldn't be happier!" Dr Taylor replied before putting on a rather big grin much to the unease of the otherss, "But this is just the beginning! Now to try something really big!" he jittered with excitement as he ran over to the D lab table and plucked out a card from the pile which he thought would be one worthy of him, "Like this carcharodontosaurus!" he boasted with pride as he flashed the card to the rest of the gang who widened their eyes or gasped in bewilderment!

"EH!?"

Dr taylor then grinned almost maniacally, driven on with adrenaline and excitement as he prepared to slash the card! "Prepare to meet your master! Di-"

"NOOOOO!" Everyone cried out in horror as he was just about to slash it!

With lightning speed, Reese suddenly appeared behind him and pinched him right under the elbow as he let out a high pitched scream in response! "YOWCH!" The sound of his cry echoed through the entire lab much to the surprise and horror of the children witnessing what was happening.

"You've had enough fun Dr Taylor, now it's time you return that to whom it belongs to." Reese said firmly to him as she hardened her eyes at the larger man whom she was easily overpowering with little effort!

"Y…Yes Reese, I hear you." Dr Taylor croaked as he dropped both the card and dinoshot form his hands, which Cera both quickly reclaimed, taking back what she said about the older man, from now on she would be keeping this out his hands.

After that she shuddered at the sight of Reese's skill in combat, making a note to herself never to get on the Drake's bad sides (in the event the parents were the same as Zoe and Reese) before pressing the button and returning Miku to normal again. "I think I'd better programme a few security measures into my dinoshot just to be safe." she commented eying her dinoshot before turning her attention to the D team. "If you like, I could tweak your dinoholders too and give them a little more kick too."

They looked back at her in surprise, "Really? You'd do that?" Max asked.

She smiled in response, "Of course, we're not just a team, we're friends too aren't we?"

Without hesitation and with plenty of excitement they quickly handed off their devices, "Awesome!"

"Thanks Cera, glad to have you on our side." They each praised or patted her on the shoulders giving her their upmost support, while their dinosaurs ran around her barking with happiness. Feeling showered with praise was more than enough to make both her and Miku smile, knowing she really did have a place among them now.

As she began working on the 3 dinoholders, Reese stood back and observed before smiling to herself, "Seems I may have found myself a competent assistant at last, and if things go well, maybe even a future heir…." she thought.

 **(Later)**

That night it was dinner time as the Drakes gathered over at there Taylor's for a finely get together between old friends. After the moms, including Reese and a bit of help from the kids and the dads, a well made dinner selection lay out on the table consisting of fried chicken, steamed vegetables, grilled fish and other delicious meals, which the men quickly wolfed down ravenously while the girls ate rather gracefully and politely.

"Man, I can't get enough of this!" Max mumbled with his mouth partially full.

"You said it Max! I feel like I'm in heaven now!" Dr Taylor cried out as he chomped on a large drumstick with Dr Drake, sinking his teeth into its soft meat and taking in its delicious juices!

"Sigh, like father like son….just wished they have proper table manners once in a while." Zoe grumbled with disgust while eating with Rex and some of the others calmly. As they ate at the table together, the dinosaurs ate dog food at the side near the TV, while Miku sat above on the couch eating a bowl with dried crickets in it.

"Mmm, this is actually pretty good Mrs Taylor." Cera commented as she took in another mouthful. "I can't thank you enough for inviting us to dinner." She said as Miku looked up from her for and chirped with delight.

"Why you are very much welcome Cera dear," Aki replied with a bright smile, "Though as much as I'd love to I can't take all the credit, Mrs Drake here actually helped me out a bit too." she said turning to the orange haired woman who sat next to her.

"Oh I didn't do all that much really….." she chuckled.

"In any case, Miku and I are really appreciative of this very much." Cera added as she continued eating and treasuring the wonderful food before them.

"We're glad you both love your meals very much, there's nothing I enjoy more." said Mrs Taylor feeling touched before noticing Miku on the couch, "It's rare to see someone with a bird outside of their home, many prefer to keep them caged so they wouldn't fly away." she commented curiously, "I didn't think it would be possible for someone to have such a close bond with a pet other than with dogs, but there's a first time for anything I suppose."

"Yeah…..what you just said….." Cera said nervously as some of the others shared her expression.

Seeing it as an opportunity, Max decided to change the topic both to keep Miku's identity a secret and also because he wanted to get something off his chest, "You know Cera…." he grinned putting an arm around her shoulder, "If you stay with us here instead of at Zoe's, I promise you'll have have meals fit for an emperor every single day." He said which made her feel somewhat uneasy.

"Oho Max you flatter me, even though I'm not really that good of a cook myself." his mom responded modestly.

"But it's true mom!" Max called back before turning to Cera again, "I could even have her throw in a couple of her homemade milkshakes too! Trust me they're way better than anything you'll find at any ice cream stand out there!"

"Oh that sounds…..nice." she replied unsure what to make of it.

"Oh boy, I know where this is going…." Rex sweated as Zoe began to steam up.

"Trying to buy her in with food are you?" she muttered as she stood up firmly ready to stand her ground, "Well it won't work!" She then turned to Cera, "My mum happens to make the juiciest and sweetest apple pie you've never heard of! One bite and I promise you'll never be able to stop wanting more!"

"Err….okay…." she sweated scratching her cheek.

"Oh my, that's so sweet of you to say that Zoe….." her mom chuckled while Reese sat at her side of the table and ignored the chatter.

"Now now kids, we're all friends and family here." Dr Drake clapped his hands getting them to settle down.

"So there's no need to get anymore hostile with one another since we have a new addition to our group." Dr Taylor followed sounding firm. Their words fell on deaf ears as both continued to argue over whom Cera should stay with.

Seeing it as an opportunity, Cera decided to put a little distance between herself and the hoo haa at the dinner table, as she went over to the TV area to see Rex watching the 4 dinosaurs eat. Noticing he was rather quiet himself she then leaned in curiously to him, "Hey Rex, you seem pretty quiet, is something wrong?" she asked feeling concerned.

He looked up to see her next to him, "Oh Cera it's you, no it's nothing at all really." he replied with a smile.

"Really? Because it doesn't seem that way….." she responded raising an eyebrow.

Seeing there was no way he could lie to her, he decided to come clean, even if ti did hurt….."Sigh…well it's just that…seeing Max and Zoe being so happy and energetic like they are now, the fact they have families of their own with plenty of connection and cheer between them….I can't help but feel kinda left out myself." he admitted as Cera raised an eyebrow.

"Left out?" She blinked before remembering what he meant, "Oh….right….." she recalled when they were in the truck telling her about themselves, their dinoholders and stones, adventures from their side of the story, but one fact she remembered especially well was that Rex mentioned he was adopted unlike the others, and he couldn't probably relate to them as much from what she expected. Realising that she smiled as she sat down to him, "Well Rex, you know you're not exactly the only one who feels like that."

He blinked his eyes in surprise, "What do you mean?" He then quickly remembered that Cera herself too was in a similar position as he was, how she didn't remember her own family even if she did have one….how she was like the odd one herself too. "Oh yeah….."

"But even so, I won't let that set me back completely." she said wth confidence, "Even if I can't remember what my life was like before I lost my memories, I at least now feel very blessed to be surrounded by so many great people. I'm sure you feel the same way too don't you?" Rex remained silent as he gave it some thought. "They say family is whoever is there for you when you need them most. And I'd say you found one that can do much more than that." She said smiling as Rex too felt more at ease.

"You're right Cera….." he said gratefully, "Thanks, guess I needed that."

"You're welcome." she replied.

"And just know that we're your family now too, so don't ever forget that." Rex added as he stood up and she followed too.

"I'll be sure to remember that."

"Hey! Cera! Rex! Don't just sit over in the corner by yourselves!" Dr Taylor called out to them as they turned to see Max and Zoe doing an arm wrestle with one another while Reese and the moms had a nice chat together at another section of the house. "Our night of family fun has only just begun!"

"After Zoe and max finish their little contest we'll start with charades followed by twister and a whole set of fun family games!" Dr Drake cheered shooting his arms up with excitement. "Come on and join us! It'll be fun!"

Smiling at the family fun they were all having, Cera stood up and urged her blond friend to join them, "Well, shall we Rex?"

"Heh, alright then." he chuckled as he ran off to join them, "Don't count us out of the picture just yet!"

Before she followed, Cera paused for a moment before thinking to herself carefully, "Family huh? I wonder….do I have a family of my own too? If so….will I ever see them again?" she thought to herself before shaking her head clear ad putting on a bright smile as she joined the rest of the gang for an all night of fun and excitement, as their dinosaurs hurried to join in too!

 **(That night)**

After a long night of fun, laughter, binding and excitement, the Drakes arrived back home with Zoe excitedly taking Cera upstairs to her new room which had been finished, where she had a nice newly made soft bed and fluffy blanket in the corner next to the window, decorated in blue wallpaper and whitish drapes, and a small mirror with a table at the side leading to a personal bathroom. She had beaten Max in the arm wrestling match, settling matters between them about Cera once and for all and was about to reap in the reward by enjoying a night of girls only fun. Unfortunately her mother had other ideas…..

"Aww mom come on! I've waited so long just for this!" she whined as they stood outside Cera's room with the door opened up, "I just know Cera will enjoy a sleepover in my room with me where we can have pillow fights and do other girl things like comb each others' hair!" she begged.

"Now now Zoe," her mom responded, "Cera just moved in with us, let's give her some space and let her settle down first. Alright?"

"Oh alright mom….." she sighed knowing there was no way she could get her way…at least for now.

Her mom then smiled, "Thank you dear, now good night and see you in the morning." she said as she walked off to her own room.

"You too mom." Zoe said to her as Cera called out from her bed.

"Good night Mrs Drake. You too Zoe."

Zoe then turned to her new firned and smiled, "Well Cera, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow, and we wouldn't want you to miss out on any of it too." she said as Cera nodded herself.

"I look forward to it." She said as Zoe closed the door behind her. Cera was now dressed in long wooly pyjamas and wore a night cap and even a flower themed eye mask which she slowly put on, while Miku was given a small box with comfy pet pillows inside as her own bed, which she nuzzled in rather comfortably. As she slid under the covers she called out to her partner, "Well Miku, can't say today went the way I hoped for." The young raptor opened her eyes to see her partner, "But I have to say things might be looking up for us now….." were her last words as she drifted off into a deep restorative sleep for the net day to come.

As she did, Miku smiled to herself seeing her partner was happy and content now, and the was all that mattered to her, as she nuzzled in to her own bed ready to hit the hay. "I think I can get used to this…." she thought to herself as she closed her eyes, "Who knows what adventures or obstacles we would run into from this point on…..But at least we won't be undertaking them alone anymore." were her last thoughts as she yawned and drifted off into dreamland.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Ooogh…..my back's all sore….." Ursula groaned in agony as she and her friends Ed and Zander limped out of Dr Z's room now all in torn up clothes, bandages in several spots on their faces, several bite marks across their limbs and within their torn fabrics, ruffled hair with evidence of tugging in them. As they all slumped down and fell face forward on the ground, Ursula then lifted her head up gritting and gnashing her teeth furiously as the painful memories of earlier began to flooded her mind no matter how much he tried to forget. "How dare they do that to us, after all we've done for them….." she hissed clenching her fist before sitting up and eying all her clothes, from her upper body suit down to her high heeled shoes and cape, "Oh my one of a kind fashions….sniff….no one could ever replace you….you will be missed….." she teared up and her eyes watered immensely seeing this as a huge tragedy against fashion.

"Ugh…..I feel like I just got into a fight with a grizzly bear….." Zander groaned feeling all sore around him, rubbing his head after suffering several nips and scratches from Spiny's teeth and claws, evidence seen around his face and his cracked sunglasses!

"I feel like I've been sitting on a cushion made of pins and needles…" Ed whimpered as he lay on the ground, as he then shuddered recalling how Tank had rammed herself straight into his butt with her spiky back. "I've been through abuse from Dr Z before, but that one really takes the cake…"

"Hey Ed, I think you've got a tooth stuck in your rear end." Zander spoke as he pointed out one of Terry's teeth that was still embedded in the fat boy's bottom! "Let me get that for you." Without warning he moved in and plucked it out, causing Ed to jump up in pain!

"YOW!" he cried out before landing back down with a loud thud!

As Zander eyed the hole in his comrade's pants and the nasty wound that was in he then shuddered, "Ouch, that's going to leave a mark….and probably a nasty infection too…." he said.

"I…Infection!?" Ed gasped before turning pale and fainting unconsciously, "Farewell cruel world…." he breathed his last as his soul leaving his body into a more peaceful place at long last…..

Having all she could handle from her 2 incompetent underlings Ursula flared red and exploded! "Grrgh! Will you quit your bellyaching you two!? I can't take this anymore!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs as suddenly both Ed and Zander jumped up in a fright caught by surprise by her unexpected yell!

"GAAAAH!" They then ran over and covered her mouth while sweating profusely.

"Sshh! Ursula keep it down! You'll wake Dr Z!" Zander hissed.

"Or worse, Terry, Tank or Spiny….." Ed then shivered, the last thing they wanted now was to get themselves chewed out but their own dinosaurs….literally….

She then shook them both off and hissed with disgust at their whimpering, "Tch! Instead of whining about our problems we ought to be doing something about them! That's how real work gets done!" she growled stamping her foot in frustration.

"B…But what can we do now?" Ed then whimpered twiddling his fingers, "Dr Z locked up the weapons vault and suspended us from duty until further notice."

"Not to mention he confiscated our alpha scanners on top of that….." Zander moaned after than as his body slumped forward.

Ursula's fire then snuffed out as she fell to her knees weakly with reality being shot right in her face again, "Great…..thanks for reminding me….." she moaned. It didn't last long though as a certain red haired girl flashed into her mind, and recalling her face and what she did to them reignited her flames of anger and vengeance once more. A tic mark appeared across her forehead, she clenched her fist and grinned her teeth with fury! "GRRRRR! It's that little new brat's fault! Barging in and foiling our plans when we were so close! We've had more than enough trouble with 3 of them getting in our way every single time, now another comes right out of the woodwork!?" she screeched pulling her hair in anger.

Catching onto her words, both men then flared up vengefully, "Oh just thinking about it again is making my blood boil…." Zander growled tensing his hands.

"It's all her fault!" Ed cried out punching the ground several times no matter how much it hurt, though eventually as he picked up his hand he saw it throbbing painfully "Ouch."

After a while of furious gnashing, Ursula's scowl turned into a sinister grin, "You know what boys?" she said as an idea hatched inside her head and she snapped her fingers, "I think I know just the solution for this humiliation." She said as they turned to her curiously.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Asked Zander raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"An ice pack and a good night's sleep?" Ed then asked bluntly.

Ursula then gained a tic mark in annoyance as she tightened her hand into a fist, "Payback you idiot…." she said popping her knuckles.

Zander and Ed both blinked in confusion, "Huh?"

"Listen!" she growled as they jumped up straight in a fright, "It's because of that new kid we ended up like this, and there's way I can ever bounce back from this humiliation until I make her pay!" she snarled punching her fist into the open palm of her hand, "Just thinking about her makes me want to tear her apart way more than the other 3 brats we had trouble with all these months!" she growled as she fumed with rage.

"You know what Ursula? You're right!" Zander announced in full agreement.

"She was really rude crashing our almost victory party. We've gotta teach her some manners!" Ed voiced out firmly hitting a fist into his palm.

Ursula grinned with delight seeing her partners were on the same page as her, "Hehe, glad you guys are on board, now we really can let her have it the next time we see her, which will be very soon!" she declared vowing vengeance as they all laughed out loud together.

Zander however quickly stopped, "But how do we even flush her out?" he then asked using a finger to scratch his head, "No way we can just simply summon a dinosaur like last time, the brats won't fall for it so easily as before, not to mention we can't without the alpha scanners at least." he pointed out.

"And without a good enough reason, Dr Z will never give them back to us after the last mission we screwed up." Ed muttered following his friend.

Ursula then lowered her head down clearly having not taken this factor int account, "You make a good point there you boobs….." she folded her arms in thought before her brain hatched another idea, "Aha! I've got it!" She cried out as she snapped her fingers.

A little while later the trio found themselves at Dr Z's map table at the main hall, where they gathered around in a circle with the table at the center, "I can't believe we're actually going to do this….." Zander muttered in disbelief as he took out the box filled with Dr Z's fortune telling dino bones from the side.

"Hey these old bones worked wonders before when Dr Z did it, that's how we found dinosaurs before they were activated." Ed then pointed out.

"Which is why they're going to help us find the next dinosaur before the brats get there!" Ursula chuckled, "With this we'll always be 10 steps ahead of them! Aha!" she then grinned and rubbed her hands together in devious delight, "And when they show up late to the party we'll spring our new trap on all 4 of them! After we've beaten them all thoroughly, we'll rub our victory right in their sorry faces and they can't do anything about it!"

"Oooh! I like the sound of that!" Zander gasped clasping his hands together.

"Hey my butt's already starting to ease up now from hearing that." Ed followed rubbing his behind which was throbbing less and less now.

As the alpha trio all gained rather devious grins and chuckled amongst themselves in full agreement, they gathered around the table ready to begin their newest dastardly plan! Though if not for 1 small little problem…..

"Alright then, how did that motto go again?" Ursula asked herself as she placed a finger to her chin in thought.

"Umm? Was it stick your bone, stick your bone goo?" Zander suggested as he did a little jiggle leaning side to side with his hands on his hips.

"Nah that sounds way too ridiculous, I think it was make a moan, make a moan moo!" Ed followed, as the 2 of them soon began doing all sorts of ridiculous dance steps, skits and even more ridiculous rhymes to the point they were doing swing dancing with one another.

Their theatrics became even more nonsensical that Ursula scrunched up her hair in her hands tightly and gritted her teeth before screaming her head off, "Argh! I can't take this anymore! We're wasting time with this silly old nursery rhyme! Just give me those bones and I'll toss them across the map!" she yelled snatching them out of the men's hands as she began shaking them up ready to throw them across the map table!

"Ursula wait!" Zander held his hand out, "If we don't do it the way Dr Z does, we could end up on some wild goose chase in the middle of the ocean!"

"Gah!?" Ed then gasped at the horrors of where they could get sent, like stranded on a deserted island, falling off the cliff of a huge mountain or even getting them surrounded by a pack of wolves in the woods!.

Before he could speak up though, Ursula had beaten him to the punch, "Oh yeah? Just watch me! Ha!" she laughed as she tossed the bones!

"AAAAHHH!" Both men hugged one another and they could feel their hearts beating and everything go in slow motion as the bones slowed down before finally landing in place.

"Ahahah!" Ursula then laughed snobbishly, "What did I tell you? Feast your eyes on my success!" she boosted as she held out her arm to the table while holding her head up high.

As Zander and Ed both headed to the table and took a closer look at the dino claw's position, they both narrowed their eyes and squinted at their so called leader, "You're telling us to go all the way to middle of the Mariana Trench?" he said as she quickly opened her eyes and looked again, sweat dropping nervously.

"Err well…..of course! It went exactly as planned!" she then cried out putting on a facade of confidence, "Now let's head to the loading bay and assemble the underwater mining gear!" she announced pointing to the loading dock's direction.

"Forget it! I'm doing it properly this time!" Zander retorted as he scooped up bones for a real try, "And I think I just got the rhyme this time!" he grinned but just as he was about to throw though, Ed's large thick hand grabbed him the last second!

"Hey! Don't you dare! Without giving me a turn it's no fair!" Ed cried out trying to yank the bones out of the skinny man's grip!

"Ed! Hands off!" Zander retorted as they began fighting over the bones like kids with toys!

Upon seeing this Ursula slapped herself in the forehead before pinching her eyes in, "Tch! I'm surrounded by nincompoops….." she grumbled before marching in to stop the fighting, "Alright break it up you two! Don't make me-" As she tried to pull them apart, suddenly one of their fists shot out and bashed her straight in the face as she stumbled back! Her face had caved in and as she pulled it back out, now with a black eye and swollen red, she then flared red and roared "Grrr, how dare you damage my perfect beautiful face!? That's it! I've had it!" Letting loose all she had she dived into the brawling men and soon it turned into a triple threat as all 3 scrambled and fought for the bones!

"Let go already!"

"Hands off the merchandise you twit!"

"It's my turn!"

Suddenly Zander and Ed's hands we flung out and the bone scattered all across the floor, some of them even were chipped or cracked! As the 3 stopped fighting, now all tangled up, they widened their eyes in shock at what they did, "Gaah!"

Ursula quickly turned and glared at her underlings which caught them by surprise! "Now look what you bozos did!" she yelled as they shivered in alright!

"I…it's fine, we can just gather them all up and put them back where we found them, and Dr Z will never know." Zander shuddered while twiddling his fingers together.

Ed gulped as he nodded, "Yeah, no way things can get any worse than they are now….."

As soon as he finished his sentence, chibi Terry, Tank and Spiny stumbled into the room as they eyed the bones that were scattered around the room rather intently, much to the anxiety of the Alpha trio.

"Ummm….what are you guys doing?" Ursula asked uneasily. She soon got her answer as their dinosaurs, without warning, began jumping onto the bones smashing them under their weight till they were nothing more than piles of dust! They even began to fling about some of them into the walls or across the the room which further ruined them!

"GAAAAAAHHHH!" The Alpha trio cried out in horror as they quickly scrambled to unhook themselves as fast as they could from their tangled up bodies! By the time they separated they could only look on in despair and shock as Terry flipped up the last bone, in the shape of a claw, into the air before crunched it up and swallowed it thinking it was a biscuit! Their hearts skipped a beat and they turned pale, as Terry licked his lips in satisfaction before taking his leave with Spiny and Tank, leaving their owners to contemplate their place in life.

"When Dr Z finds out what we did to his precious bones he'll literally have Helga serve us up and he'll eat us for breakfast." Zander mouthed out as he began biting his fingernails.

"W….Well, on the bright side at least we he won't be sending us out on short notice anymore…" Ed then quivered as he began twiddling his fingers together, "And if worst comes to worst we have an excuse this time for our mess-up right?" he then squeaked as Ursula turned around to them both menacingly, a shade covering the top half of her face before a pair of blood red eyes pierced at them, causing him and Zander to hug one another and sweat profusely!

"Not….one word…to Dr Z….ever….got it?" she said in a low but menacing tone while tensing up her fist which shook as she was only barely able to restrain herself from going full berserk on them both!

Knowing the wrong answer would send them into the afterlife, the 2 of them nodded weakly and turned pale, "Our lips are sealed….." they gulped.

 **And now concludes chapter 5. Just wanted to do something about Dr Z's dinosaur bones and why they haven't been seen again for so long. Hope you enjoyed this and I hope to be able to tie up other loose ends the anime may have, though feel free to point them out, I may miss a few. This chapter took longer than expected since I am now on a very packed schedule. On another note Rod and Laura won't be appearing again for a while due to them recovering, also want to give the D team more chances to shine with their new recruit. Next chapter will feature a hunt for a new dinosaur, one lost by Cera.**

 **In response to the review from MCRDanime, yes I will be going over those other dinosaur cards in future chapters where they will involve dinosaurs used in the arcade and DS that weren't in the anime seasons, including tarchia or tarbosaurus.**


	6. How the Canyon Crumbles

Chapter 6

How the canyon crumbles

It was early in the morning at Zeta Point, Seth was in his laboratory keeping to himself and all his matters in the dark away from Dr Z and the others, knowing they were short sighted and couldn't never comprehend his ideals or the revolution he was determined to bring forth. He smirked to himself seeing that things had taken an unexpected turn with a new dinosaur user in the D team with an unknown dinosaur herself, but knew full well how he could exploit this to his advantage. As he prepared to activate his machine which would no doubt amplify the abilities of both stegosaurus and saurophaganax, he decided to perform a test run to ensure energy levels were stable and wouldn't cause any negative side effects, after all he needed his dinosaurs to be in perfect condition if his vision was to become a reality. The circuits lit up as he pushed up levers and pressed buttons, and the laser guns in the glass enclosures began powering up as he smiled with delight to see it was coming together…..till they suddenly shut down unexpectedly to his disappointment.

Checking his equipment's integrity he narrowed his eyes seeing that the alpha metal supplies were insufficient in powering up his device to the level of power he was hoping for. Meaning he had to find a new deposit and soon. As much as as he detested having his time taken away from his experiments he had little choice but to put them on hold for the time being, as he switched over to a screen monitor. As it switched on it showed Rod and Laura in their pyjamas while in their room working at their computers, no doubt having to do with the large amount of homework and assignments that were piled on them before they left home.

In his mind he initially planned to send them to harvest metal but then decided against it, seeing it instead as the perfect opportunity to help throw off any suspicion off his trail (especially Helga, who was beginning to get a bit nosy lately after she joined the duo on their trip to Cambodia). Furthermore, he knew that mining was a task unworthy of the 2 children, believing their talents were far better suited to capturing dinosaurs. With no other choice he decided to leave his lab to notify the 3 stooges, knowing they could also be of some other use to him as well, as he smirked placing his hand into his pocket.

Meanwhile in Dr Z's bedroom, Ursula, Zander and Ed were doing what they could to help relieve the poor old man of his excruciating back pain. This time by walking and stepping over him. First Ursula decided to practice cat walking over him in the event she would one day go on stage at a fashion show or beauty pageant, Zander tried various yoga standing poses and Ed even tried to tap dance on him! Little did Dr Z know, was that part of what they were doing was taking off some of their frustration on him by hoping to trample on him intentionally!

Eventually, having enough of their so called help Dr Z gritted his teeth and exploded with immense rage! "Gah! You call that a massage!? Stop trampling on me and get off you useless twits!" he screeched shaking his fist as they quickly jumped off in a fright!

"EEEP!" They landed on top of one another as Dr Z threw them off as they scrambled out and shook out their hands worriedly.

"We're sorry Dr Z! It's just we keep seeing this as a way to cure backaches on TV!" Ursula cried out recalling various shows where some people walked on another's back to massage them. "So we thought that just maybe it might be the ticket!"

"Actually it was more like Ed who suggested it to us! We just followed what he said and nothing more!" Zander followed as he and Ursula quickly pointed fingers at him leaving him out to dry!

He looked to each of them in horror, shocked that they were willing to turn on him without hesitation just to save their own excuses! "Say what!?"

"Enough of your excuses! Ack!" Dr Z croaked as he sat up before falling back down on his bed, "Urgh…..I need a real treatment for this back ache of mine….." he groaned and tensed feeling worse than ever. With another burst of energy he shot up straight to the trio's surprise, "Get me a massage chair now! Or better yet a chiropractor!" he spat as they stood up like soldiers ready for duty!

"O…On the double Dr Z!" They said as they rushed to the door, only to be stopped by a massive woman in a housemaid outfit!

"Not so fast!" she bellowed intimidatingly as the trio stopped in their tracks and fell backwards!

"EH!?"

As she walked in they scurried out of their way as Dr Z shivered, seeing her eyes focusing straight into his soul, "I will not allow it Dr Z! We have only just barely managed to make ends meet and I have no intention of letting your selfish whining bring us down to the red again!" she said firmly.

"Y….yeah that's right!"

"Shame on you doctor! We thought you'd know better!" Ursula and Zander followed singing with Helga as Dr Z gritted his teeth knowing what they were trying to do.

He then whimpered upon seeing Helga staring down at him with authority, "B….But my back is really killing me….." he pouted, "Also Ursula, Zander and Ed are so tired from trying to help me, don't you feel sorry for all their hard work? I wouldn't want to keep imposing on them unfairly…." he whimpered while showing his best puppy dog eyes though to no effect.

"Huh?"

"Hmph in that case." Helga then put on a rather sinister grin as she began popping her knuckles. Each one as loud as a dinner bell as the trio froze in fear and shuddered while Dr Z could feel his spine chill! "I'll give my special surefire treatment for any kind of back pain or ailment there is! Once I'm through with you your backspin will be gone just like the dinosaurs!" said Helga as the old man crept as far back as he could not his bed shaking his hands out.

"E…E…Errr Helga….There's really no need really…..I…I'm sure it'll go away just fine on it's own!" he quivered.

"Nonsense!" Helga cut him off as she took hold and flipped him onto his back as he shivered with fear, "Now stay there and hold still while I work! Don't you dare move otherwise you'll end up in a state far worse than you are right now!" she threatened as he quickly turned to his henchmen for help.

"H….Help me!" he cried pleadingly before screaming his head off, "You 3 numbskulls! Don't just stand there! Do something!"

The A team would gladly brave any kind of danger for their beloved doctor, but taking on Helga was well above their pay grade, "D…don't worry Dr Z, Helga's the expert here, I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

"We're rooting for you!"

"If anything goes wrong we promise to honour you for the rest of our days….." They each said not wishing to endanger their own health and well being much to the doctor's frustration.

"You traitors!" he screeched, "If only I could move I'd pummel you all into the ground by now!"

"Enough Dr Z! You sound worse than a child!" Helga bellowed silencing him once more.

"Y…yes ma'am….." he croaked as he tensed up, feeling Helga's brutish hand brush across his back knowing she planning out just where to apply the most pressure, or better yet pain!

"Now if we start on the spine you'll feel more relaxed afterward." she noted before staring frightingly at the helpless doctor, "Don't think of resisting, otherwise I'll be forced to use strict methods of discipline and restraining you!"

"GAAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed, as she held her hand up prepared to deliver a firm karate chop!

Ring Ring

A bell sound rung as she stopped inches from making contact. She looked out to the door as the others followed too, before she let go. "Hmmm how unfortunate my appointment with you must be cut short Dr Z. Rod and Laura are in need of me." she said disappointed as she took her leave, much to the relief of the other 4 people who felt their hearts quiet down or let out gasps of relief. "I will be back shortly, so till then stay put!" she said as she left the room.

"N….No need to rush Helga!" Dr Z cried out.

"Y….yes that's right! Take your time! Rod and Laura need you way more!" Zander followed.

"They're so lucky to have you!" Ed followed clapping his hands together.

"Why can't she be harsh to them for a change?" Ursula muttered rubbing her temple.

Dr Z then slowly turned over to the trio with a malicious grin, signalling he hadn't forgotten about what they tried to do to him earlier, not only trampling him but even trying to leave him at Helga's mercy! "As for you…."

"Gah!" they shuddered and widened their eyes as he grinned rather sadistically himself!

"Prepare to-"

"Pardon me for the intrusion doctor." a familiar voice spoke out calmly and with respect.

"Huh?" As they all turned they saw a serious blue haired man in a thick coat step in before them, the trio feeling at ease knowing that they were safe since Dr Z usually was in a good mood whenever he was around.

"Hmm? What is it Seth?" Dr Z raised in eyebrow as his trusted assistant bowed with respect.

"I came here to report that our alpha metal supply is beginning to run low once again," he said sounding rather unfortunate as he held out a small tablet depicting the supplies running low, "According to my best estimates we may have only enough to last for no more than a few days at our current rate of usage." he said.

"Gah! That's terrible!" Dr Z gasped clasping his hands on his cheeks in horror, "If that happens everything from our devices, machines or even our base could fall apart piece by piece!" he cried out.

The trio huddled together, "And what's worse? For all we know he's going to be sending us off to some horrible deposit site like in the middle of the desert or even the bottom of the ocean!" Ursula hissed with annoyance as her 2 grunts shuddered.

"Oh how I get bad memories just thinking about that….." Ed whimpered.

Overhearing the Seth smirked knowing he had just the idea to rectify their dilemma, "Fortunately, after recent excursions to harvest alpha metal, I was able to develop and improve the detector's capabilities," he said flipping to a different screen showing a newly developed alpha counter now in a sleeker and more advanced design, "Therefore it should be able to operate without any outside interference nor encounter any errors in metal detection." he explained, "In fact, I even took the liberty of testing it myself, as a result I was able to pinpoint a rather large and promising deposit hidden deep within the Grand canyon in Arizona." He said as the map projected on his screen which showed a red blinking beacon on said location.

"Is that so?" Dr Z mused before grinning and clapping his hands like an excited child, "That's excellent news! Great work Seth my boy!" he cheered as Seth smiled.

The trio shivered knowing exactly what it meant, even cursing Seth for making something so devious to send them out once more. As they tried to tip toe out, Dr Z suddenly shot them a firm glance, "You 3 could take a cue from him, maybe you'd learn to be useful for a change." he shouted making them jump and freeze in their tracks.

They turned to him shakily and held weak thumbs up, "We'll keep that in mind doctor."

"Loud and clear." Ursula and Zander each said as Ed nodded.

"You'd better." Dr Z grunted before gritting his teeth, "Well don't just stand there! You have a mission! Bring me back that alpha metal this instant!"

"Gah! Right away sir!"

"On the double!"

"You don't need to tell us twice!" They all jumped before scrambling for the loading bay for their transport, which hopefully wouldn't crash and burn for the umpteenth time. As they left the room, Seth soon did leaving Dr Z in bed, as the door shut he held out his hand from his pocket which revealed a small fly shaped droid which buzzed its wings as it took flight and followed after the bumbling trio, knowing it would prove most useful.

A large apatosaurus shaped helicopter left Zeta Point soon after and after travelling for some time it soon arrived at a vast Canyon in the middle of a barren land, "Well here we are, the grand Canyon." Said Zander eying the map as he prepared for landing.

Looking out the window, Ursula yawned in boredom as she settled her head in her hand as she leaned back in her seat, "I don't get what's so grand about it, looks like a barren wasteland to me..." she muttered.

Ed who sat next to her was reading a guidebook he got on natural wonders of the world, so he eagerly turned to answer her, "Well from what I researched it's because-"

"And I don't care." she interrupted as he sighed in disappointment.

As soon as they landed they came to a pretty opened clearing in the middle of a wide pit in the canyon, as they landed and stepped outside Ursula folded her arms and looked around proudly before nodding, "This looks like a good spot to start digging. The sooner we find some the sooner we can go home and I can get back to a 10hr beauty nap." She said to herself before turning to her 2 underlings, "Zander! Ed! Unload all the alpha droids and the mining equipment and have them dig everywhere till we find some alpha metal now." She ordered as Zander stood up firmly.

"Already on it Ursula!" He yelled before running over to the transport to unload all their equipment which included several sleeping droids and several drills and other digging tools.

"H...hey Ursula," said Ed speaking out uneasily, "Shouldn't we like make a plan first on where to dig?" He suggested, "Back in the future the canyon was still rather intact, and kinda pretty to admit, so I think that if we plan our excavation carefully we can avoid causing something like a rockslide or collapse or something and-"

"And who are you to talk about thinking Ed!?" She interrupted him once more as he jumped back in surprise!

"Gah!"

"Need I remind you that it was your job to refuel the transport on our way back from Antarctica weeks ago!?" She growled leaning in towards him menacingly while he paced backwards before stopping at a rock wall, "Not to mention it's also because of your lame brain ideas to come up with that so called mush heath food, Helga's been serving it non stop to Dr z and he's been blaming us for it every single day since then!" She shrieked before tensing her fist at him, "Just do what you're told and nothing more! Otherwise I'll use you as Terry's chew toy for life! Got it!?" She growled as Ed lowered his head sadly once more.

"Y...yes..." He whimpered before proceeding to summon Tank.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile it was afternoon over at the Pet Town veterinarian clinic as joyous laughter could be heard from inside one of the examining rooms of the hospital. "Ahaha! At long last! I've finally done it!" Dr Drake laughed almost sounding like a mad scientist as his glasses shone manically while he held up a beaker filled of mysterious clear liquid. "With this new super medicinal formula it'll cure any kind of ailment to animals there is! Heck, it might even work on dinosaurs!" he grinned before shivering excitement before spinning around holding it up like a parent would cherish their child's success, "Oh how I can't wait to fully load this into my mega needle and and thrust it into a poor animal's bare behind….." he said dreamily while his eyes glistened so innocent yet also evilly, "Now all I need is a willing test subject, I mean patient! Hohohohoh!"

Listening in from outside Zoe then sweat dropped and sighed with dismay and embarrassment, "Oh dear, there goes my dad going cuckoo with needles again." she groaned as Paris looked up to her, "Let's just hope you don't get sick yourself Paris…..Who knows what kind of side effects it would have…..brr just thinking about it gives me the shivers…." she added as Paris shivered herself and scurried off to the living room up front. As Zoe followed she noticed Paris had nuzzled onto a pillow on the couch while her new roommate Cera was typing at a laptop, seeming rather focused and intent at something. along with Miku who sat at the table where the laptop rested while looking at the screen.

"Hmm?" Curiously, Zoe walked up to the both of them and leaned down to see wha they were so interested in, "Hey Cera what are you doing?"

Her voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "Oh, hey Zoe I was just doing a bit of research online into possible alternatives to medicine," she answered as Miku looked up to her, "So that the hospital might be able to expand its methods and hopefully avoid the use of Dr Drake's…..needles…." she said shivering herself uneasily.

Looking around to make sure alone, Zoe leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Better not let him hear you say that, you'd be hurting his feelings…." she said.

"Will keep that in mind." Cera nodded, "Anyways, I found one that was quite interesting. Pressure point stimulation, or better yet massage and reflexology." she said as Zoe sat down interestedly to see the website Cera was on involved plenty of pressure points and reflex zones in people, "Apparently by rubbing some parts of the body helps relieve tension and pain in people, so I thought why not use this for animals too? Maybe it might have a similar effect…."

"Huh? Well what do you know….." Zoe admitted interestedly, she was so used to seeing animals take vitamins and shots she didn't think some of the human applied alternatives would be possible.

"Also I think maybe this kind of home treatment can be much cheaper and effective since anyone can do it, especially for those who can't afford it." Cera continued, "Furthermore, I'd also believe that it's much simpler since it can treat ailments at the root cause which may not be as serious as it may seem. Plus I think it makes the animals that much more happier and attached to you too, isn't that right Miku?"

"Hmm….." Zoe placed a finger to her chin in thought, after determining it in sound medical science she then grabbed Paris lying next to her and held her out to Cera, "Well when you feel like you've got the hang of it, I hop you'll let Paris be your very first patient." she said.

"Haha, I'll consider it." Cera laughed before her dinoshot and Zoe's dinoholder began blinking red at the desk near where they were. "Huh? A dinosaur?" Cera asked knowing what it meant.

"We'd better get going then." Added Zoe firmly as she stood up and went to get her device with Paris following her out.

"Mhmm." Cera nodded doing the same as Miku hopped onto her shoulder and they made their way to the D lab where everyone else had gathered.

"Where is it Reese?" Max asked as Zoe's older sister began dialling on the computer.

"The signal originated deep within the Grand Canyon in Arizona." she answered after looking closely.

"The Grand canyon!?" Dr Taylor suddenly exploded with joy as the others jumped at his sudden outburst, "Incredible! That's one of the 7 wonders of the world!" he cheered with excitement much to the dismay of the children.

"What's so interesting about a canyon dad?" Max asked.

"I mean it's cool and all but isn't it basically like a valley carved out by rivers right?" Rex followed.

"That's the thing kids." Spike smirked folding his arms, "You see it's not just a massively long and deep gorge, it's made out of many side canyons carved out by many years of erosion!" he explained dramatically while stretching his arms wide open, "In fact its' walls come in countless shades of colours ranging from brown, red and even gray! How it's formed in the first place is the mystery the world hasn't yet to solve!" he proclaimed as the D team gained some level of interest.

"When you put it that way…." Max scratched his chin.

"In fact Dr Owen and I have always wanted to plan a digging excursion there one time!" he followed before falling forward and sighing, "If only there weren't so many restrictions and laws we could have uncovered who knows how many dinosaurs…"

Rex then chuckled, "Well if it makes you feel any better we'll bring you back a new one soon enough." he said as he and Max were the first to get into the teleporter before being followed by Cera and Zoe.

"Take care you kids….." Dr Taylor sighed disappointedly still dwelling on the past.

"Watch out for each other, it's a very steep place and no doubt dangerous for sure." Reese added.

"We will Reese!" said Cera with confidence.

"See you later!" Zoe waved as they vanished in the teleport's light.

 **(At the Grand Canyon)**

As a ball of light appeared on a large cliff of the canyon, it soon dissipated revealing the 4 children inside. Looking around herself and checking to see all was fine, Cera then nodded seeing everything was in order, "So that's what it feels like to be teleported." she thought to herself with Miku, "Not bad….."

Zoe herself smiled seeing Cera took it well before they walked over to look beyond the cliff they stood at, to the massive canyon and carved out walls and structures left behind after many rivers had passed through this land long ago, "Well looks like we're here." she said.

"Wow, this place looks incredible," Rex commented as he took in the sights while Max starched out and took a breath of air.

"The air's so fresh and the canyon just looks so magnificent too….no wonder it's a wonder of the world."

"Yeah, to think this was all made by natural processes and events, undisturbed by the hands of man too." Cera added, though the peace and serenity was soon disturbed by the sounds of large machinery and operation as it sounded not far from where they were. As they turned to its direction they could also hear a low roar as well which put them a little on edge.

"That doesn't sound natural at all….." Max muttered.

"Could be our dinosaur, let's check it out!" Rex added as they ran off in the direction at which they heard it. After coming far through the rocky footpaths and descending to one of the lower levels they were taken aback at what they found.

"Whoa look at all this!" They found themselves at the base of a newly dug section of the canyon, where several rocks seemed piled up at the entrance of a rather deep cave in one of the canyon walls, outside were several alpha droids carrying rocks out from the cave before dumping it outside. Most of which were rather clumsy as some even bumped into one another and dropped their load or even collapsed after piling too much load on themselves!

"Those are all alpha droids." said Max narrowing his eyes with his teammates. They soon felt a low rumble through the ground as a large boulder was pushed out of the cave bowling over several droids in the process! As they looked closer a purple saichania let out a shriek coming out of the cave before shaking the dust off her back.

"And there's Tank! No doubt the dino detector picked up her signal!" Rex pointed out as the alpha dinosaur stretched herself and shook her tail, despite being an earth dinosaur and enjoying digging herself, being cooped up in really tight spaces for too long wasn't something she enjoyed much, as she irritably began to walk back inside wishing she could just tunnel for the fun of it.

"That means the old-"

"SSH!" Max and Rex covered her mouth quickly in alarm as they sweated nervously, much to Cera's surprise.

"Wonder what that's about?" she thought before deciding to the their advice and not utter that word.

"Sorry I meant the alpha gang's here." Zoe muttered pulling their hands down.

"Sure looks like it." Cera commented as she and the others hid behind a rock to avoid being seen by the working droids. As they pulled out from the side slowly Cera narrowed her eyes, "What are they doing? Looks like they're digging for something, maybe mining?" she asked as the other dinosaurs along with Miku growled rather agitatedly.

"If they're mining, could it be they're looking for alpha metal here?" Max then asked.

"That could explain why there're so many robots about, not to mention all that digging too." Rex followed.

Cera blinked upon hearing their words, "Alpha metal? What's that?" She asked curiously.

"From what we've heard, it's what those creeps use in their devices and machinery." Max answered.

"Also it's very rare and highly adaptable as they said." Zoe followed as she and the rest of her teammates turned rather serious before refocusing on the mining operation up front.

Cera could tell they knew much more than they let on so she asked, "You guys sound pretty intense…..is there something else you know?"

"In a way yes….." Max replied rather uneasily.

"No doubt that metal is also what they use to make their hideout run as well as experiment on dinosaurs too." said Zoe.

"The last time they destroyed an entire refinery in order to refine a single ball of metal, it was a miracle we all got out of there alive." Rex followed as Cera covered her mouth in shock.

"That sounds….horrible….to think they'd go through all that for their own selfish means…." she said before tensing up her hand rather angrily.

"You don't know the half of it." said Max as he hardened his expression.

Cera looked around to see some of the canyon walls had chipped away and were becoming increasingly unstable no doubt due to the excess activity taking place and the digging taking place, "At this rate all their digging could end up ruining this entire natural treasure forever." she said worried.

Max then tightened his hand into a fist ready for action, "Then we'll just have to stop them!"

"Dino slash!" They all cried out slashing their cards.

"Triceratops! Roar!

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!

"Microraptor! Shine!"

As all 4 dinosaurs appeared on the field and roared, their presence was alerted to the alpha droids who turned to them,

"Alert! Alert! Intruders!" They cried out before charging ahead! "Attack! Attack!"

"Go you guys!"

"Take them down!" Max and Zoe each cheered as Chomp charged and bowled over several droids in his way and tossing a drill over to the side, while Paris' sound attack overloaded their circuits and caused several of them and their machines to self destruct!

Cera narrowed her eyes seeing she, Miku, Rex and Ace were surrounded on all sides, "There's quite a lot of them, let's see if we can do something about it." She thought as she called out an attack, "Energy equaliser!" As she did so, Miku shrieked and shine brightly before latching onto Ace and powering him up, he roared fiercely and Rex smiled.

"Thanks Cera!" He said as she held a thumbs up to him, "Now it's our turn Ace! Ninja attack!" He declared slashing the card. Ace charged forth splitting into several clones of himself as he evaded their incoming charges and smashed through them with ease!

Before long they managed to destroy all their machines and reduce the droids all to scrap metal, "That should take care of them!" Max cried out as he grinned with the others seeing they cleaned house.

"What's all that racket going on!?" A female voice yelled out from the caves. Before long, Tank charged out of the cave with the alpha trio in tow. As they turned to face the D team they scowled and tensed angrily.

"Not you brats again!" Ursula growled with frustration.

"It's like everywhere we go they're right around the corner." Zander grunted.

"Like gum on a shoe..." said Ed softly but also with irritation in his voice.

"Your mining operation's been cancelled old lady!" Rex yelled out pointing to them, as Ursula flared up red and stomped her foot on the ground repeatedly.

"How dare you call me that!?" She screeched, "I swear when I get my hands on you I'll-" she turned her eye to the side realising there was someone else with the D team today, being a long red haired girl and a small dinosaur perched on her shoulder.

"Wait a minute...you're..." soon the others followed her gaze and they widened them in shock, "Gah! You!" They all gasped

"You're that kid who thwarted our plans back at the woods the other day!" Zander yelled as he and the rest of the trio clenched their fists and hardened their expressions at her while she just stared seriously.

"That's right, didn't think we'd meet again like this." She said as feelings of spite and hatred welled up in their enemies.

"Grrr...because of you Dr Z's been up our back for days now!" Zander yelled.

"Yeah! You put us through so much trouble, and now we're about to shove all that down your throat tenfold!" Ursula screamed before turning to Ed, "Ed take care of them all right now!" She ordered as he stuttered and sweated nervously.

"Huh!? M..me!? By myself!?" He whimpered pointing to himself.

"Oh you're right, I can't rely on you for anything," She grumbled facepalming, "Guess I'll have to do it myself! Give me that!" She growled snatching his alpha scanner out of his hands!

"Hey!"

"Go Tank! Earthquake!" She called or slashing the card and causing Tank to glow purple as she feared up on her back legs and slammed down, causing a huge crack in the earth to split open!

The D team widened their eyes upon sight of Ursula's insane move, "What the!?"

"Has she lost it!?" They all gasped in disbelief seeing the canyon walls around them were beginning to shake and rattle too!

"Everyone move!" Cera cried out as their dinosaurs quickly leapt out of the way of the fissure That split the ground as it soon opened up into the mountain wall that was in its way making ut even more unstable!

"No Ursula! You can't use that here!" Ed cried out as Zander started to panic with him.

"Oh yeah and why not?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him. As she took a closer look she saw the canyon walls began to crack and fall apart creating a massive rockslide that was about to fill in the crater!

"That's why!"

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

"Rockslide!" Everyone screamed as the canyon filled to the brim with rocks and they all were buried alive...

As the dust settled the canyon's appearance had drastically changed, with a much wider opening as well as a new slide of rocks now filling it at the very centre.

At one wall, a rock fell away to reveal a dinosaur card capsule embedded inside it. The capsule, which was embedded inside of the cliff, fell out of the opened crag of and smashed open in half as it fell on top of the rock pile. Revealing a pair of cards inside, a dinosaur and an Earth move card. As it did, some grains of sand then spilled out and covered the cards causing them to glow purple and shine before they materialised as a moderate sized ankylosaur! It was pineapple coloured with while covered with a series of brown stripes over its back down to its sides. It's back and head was also lined with a series of bony lumps and it's tail ended with a rather bony club.

It then lowered its head down and began sniffing the air to get a feel of its surroundings, it then noticed something buried underneath the pile of rocks it stood on. As it dug through it managed to uncover a rather plump boy with spiky purple hair in a brown shirt with a large red A on it. Looking closer the Pinacosaurus also noticed what appeared to be the club of another ankylosaur was sticking out from the rock pile.

Sniffing them Both and realising they were still alive but barely, it then took compassion on them, as it hoisted Ed up onto its back then grabbed onto the end of the club and with all its strength, managed to pull out a now unconscious Tank before dragging her and Ed into a nearby cavern that had opened up nearby due to the rock fall.

"Urgh...where am I?" Ed groaned weakly moments later as his eyes began twitching. As he opened them and bushes away some dust that had gathered on his face, he forced himself to sit up which caused a large streak of pain to surge through him. "Owie my everything..." He cringed painfully noticing his clothes had cuts on them and his face and some parts of his body had scrapes and bruises too. Especially his backside. As he looked around he was surprised to find himself sitting in what appeared to be a large circle of grass inside a rather dark cave with several stalagmites hanging above and stalactites sticking out around him. "Huh? Why am I sitting on a bed of grass?" He asked himself as he heard some low grumbling next to him. As he turned he widened his eyes to see it was Tank who miraculously had ended up with him after the rockslide occurred!

"Tank? You're okay!" He cried out as the saichania shrieked at him uncaringly As she slowly but unsteadily got up to her feet.

Despite her not liking him that much, Ed was relieved to see she was still alright in a way, before looking around nervously, But wait, where are we?" He then asked himself as he slowly working himself to his legs. As he did he heard the sounds of large approaching footsteps coming in from a dark cavern in front as Tank reared up her tail readying herself for battle.

"Huh? What's that?" He narrowed his eyes but then widened them to see a smaller but no less large ankylosaur appear from the cavern! "Whoa! A Pinacosaurus!" He gasped in surprise nearly stumbling back As Tank roared it at it. He then brought a hand to his chin in thought, "I don't remember seeing that before though..." he muttered to himself curiously before shaking his head clear, "You know what? That can wait! Go get em Tank!" He yelled out to his dinosaur who roared out!

As Tank began to walk towards the Pinacosaurus ready to attack she suddenly cried out in pain before stumbling forward and falling down!

"Gah!" Ed gasped realising her back legs still were fairly bruised and scraped by the rockslide earlier! He then backed away nervously as the Pinacosaurus then focused its attention on him as it came closer and closer! "P...please don't eat me Mr dinosaur..." he whimpered despite knowing it was a herbivore, "I...I was just kidding about attacking you honest! I-"

To his surprise the Pinacosaurus simply dropped what appeared to be a large clump of green moss before him, "Huh?" Ed blinked his eyes in surprise as he looked to the moss and back to the Pinacosaurus, who passed some over to Tank as well, who sniffed it and began eating it. As it turned over to Ed again and motioned with its head, he then got the message as he picked up his share uneasily, "Err thanks?" Was all he could say, feeling awakened about the situation. Nevertheless he didn't want to be rude since it was willing to share 'food' with him and he took a bite out of it. "Bleach! Yuck!" His eyes widened and he began spitting it out and even brushing his tongue off with his hands to get the taste out of his mouth, though it seemed to stick on to it very well...

The Pinacosaurus then lowered its head sadly and let out a sad groan as Ed quickly grabbed more of the moss "I...I mean...it's good!" He cried out as he forcefully began to eat more of it, no matter how much his mouth or stomach screamed in pain, he could see t made the wild dinosaur happy as it wagged it's tail with joy.

Looking to the side he could see Tank had eaten the last of her share of moss and she seemed to be fully reenergised herself, "Tank seems to be all better though..." Ed thought to himself in stories before realising the pain he was feeling earlier was beginning to disappear from him miraculously, "Hey I think I feel kinda better already..." he said out loud in surprise as the Pinacosaurus let out a cheerful cry.

After that he turned around and motioned with its head to Tank and Ed, urging them to come with it as it headed back down the cave it came from.

"Huh? Does he want us to follow?" Ed blinked as he got up with Tank, "Well what do I have to lose?" He then said as they followed it. As they traversed deeper after their new acquaintance they widened their eyes to find themselves at a bright underground spring, with sun light beaming through a hole above and lush moss growing everywhere around it.

"Whoa! Water!" Ed cried it as he ran over to the spring to drink as much as he could, even splashing his face with it as well, "Boy am I thirsty, I haven't had anything to drink all day!" He cried out feeling refreshed As Tank drank beside him quenching her own thirst. "Ah, I'll never take water for wanted again..." he then said gratefully before noticing Tank had gone over to where the Pinacosaurus was.

They both seemed to be sniffing one another and eventually raising their tails together and giving one another a tail-five as they smacked their clubs together playfully. After that it turned to Ed and he let out a rather happy cry to him, asking him to come over and play too, "Why is he so nice? Maybe he's just lonely..." Ed then asked himself as it seemed to flash him an innocent and trusting face as if it never saw anyone else for so many years and may have been lonely for who knows how long. He couldn't brings himself to turn it into a card after all it had done for him and Tank...

"Might as well enjoy it for now," he said to himself, deciding to join them since he couldn't beat them, "I'm sure the others are all fine….."

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Oogh..." Zander groaned as he managed to dig himself out of the rock pile back at the open canyon. As he pulled himself free he struggled to get to his feet before stumbling about groggily, "Next time I'd better remind myself to never trust Ed with an alpha scanner while we're in somewhere unstable." He muttered to himself rubbing his sore temple, his face covered in bruises and his clothes all scraped and torn up in various places. But that was the least of his worries as he could feel an immense pain on his lower back, "Ugh...my back..." he groaned placing his hands on his hips before mustering all his inner strength to pull himslef up straight!

CRACK!

The sound of his spine realigning itself echoed through the canyon, as Zander cringed with pain, made evident on his gnashing teeth and watering eyes. "Ough...any worse and I would be in bed like dr z, and who needs that?" He mumbled to himself as his pocket then started glowing. "Huh?" Taking his alpha scanner inside he widened them at what he saw, "A dinosaur here!?" He gasped in alarm.

"Mmph!" A faint mumbling sound could be heard from around where he stood.

"Huh?" Blinking his eyes and looking around he recognises it soon after, "Ursula? Where are you?" He called out as he soon got his answer.

"You're...standing on me!" A muffled but angry female voice yelled from under him.

"Huh?" As he looked down he was taken aback to see he was standing on top of a rock, and below that rock was a pair of long legs sticking out with a pair of pink high heeled shoes at the end! "Ah!" Zander then cried out as the legs shook.

"Get me out of here!" Ursula screamed from underneath, both in anger and in a panic as she hated being cramped in such a tight dark and airless space!

"Hang on Ursula! I'll get you out of there!" Zander cried as he leapt off and got a hold on her legs and began to pull! "Heave! Hi! Heave! Ho!" He yelled with every tug before gritting his teeth and pulling with all his might! "Gargh!" He screamed at he top of his lungs as he fell backwards into the ground and Ursula was sent flying out of the pile!

"AAAAAGHHH!" She screams as her face slammed into the rock wall, as she skidded down it left behind a huge crack and in print in the wall too. "Ugh..." she then gleaned as Zander clenched his own head in alarm at what he did!

"Gah!" He cried scurrying over to her, "Ursula! Are you okay!?" He cried looking over her as she delivered a sucker punch causing his own face to cave in! "Oogh!"

"Does this look okay to you!?" She screamed pointing to her face while flaring her eyes at him, her face now covered in huge scrapes and bruises while flaring red with pain and anger!

Zander twiddled his fingers together, "Umm well..."

"Don't answer that..." she stopped him as she began to relaxing her thoughts and rub her temple, "I'd pummel you for that but we have a dinosaur now to grab so come on!" She said impatiently as she headed for the cave that was near them.

As Zander began to follow he then stopped and looked back to the rock pile, "Wait! Shouldn't we find Ed first?" He asked before clenching his face with alarm, "For all we know he could be buried underneath this massive rock pile!"

"Oh forget him Zander," Ursula muttered to him to his surprise, "By the time we get him out of this mess the brats would have beaten us to that dinosaur!" She yelled, "Besides he'll only slow us down, also serves him right for bringing the whole Canyon down on us in the first place." She then added as she went inside without a backwards glance.

"I guess..." Zander scratched his head though finding it rather harsh as he followed her in.

Meanwhile at the other side of the rock slide, the D team was busy trying to dig one another out of the rubble, with Max managing to help pull Rex out and stumbling back on the ground.

"Urgh...Boy...That was rough." He groaned as he sat down panting with exhaustion while Rex rubbed his head.

"Yeah, tell me about it...I knew the alpha gang weren't the brightest bulbs in the store, but even that was crazy for them." The both of them

"Gah! Is everyone okay!?"

Zoe looked up to him and smiled rather weakly despite still suffering a minor doozy from just now, "Y...yeah I think so Max..." she said as Cera came up to them from behind a boulder.

"It's a miracle we didn't suffer any serious injuries..." she said with relief as she held up a card, "Good thing I was able to return Miku to card form right before that rockslide came on us." She said.

"Same here for the rest of us." Added Max as he and Rex flashed their cards, and decided to keep them in for the time being just to be safe.

As Zoe checked her pockets, her heart skipped a beat as she realised something was definitely missing, "Wait a minute..."she then widened her eyes and scurried her hands about looking through the rocks for something, her expression was beginning to turn panicky and her heart racing non stop when she could find no trace of it. "Where's my card?"

"AH!" The rest of her teammates gasped realising Zoe mustn't have been able to recall her dinosaur in time like they did. Now she could be buried underneath all these rocks and in danger of getting crushed!

"Paris!" Zoe the cried or as she began digging through the rocks frantically, till miraculously she was able to uncover a greenish crest with a blue tip. As she did, the rocks began to stir and emerging from them was none other than Paris herself! She let out a loud bellow to her comrades to show she was fine as they all smiled with joy and relief. "You're okay!" Zoe cried out most happily of all, though it was short lived as her partner then slumped down to the ground with exhaustion!

"Ah!" Everyone gasped

"Oh no Paris!" Zoe ran over to her to check for any serious injuries. Living with her parents has taught her a bit about animal biologist, something Cera also recently came to familiarise herself with. Checking the dinosaur's large body she fortunately could find no open wounds or signs of serious injury, though she seemed to be breathing rather heavily with wheezing as well.

Cera narrowed her eyes and obsevred carefully before looking to Zoe, "She's just exhausted, nothing too serious, though I wouldn't recommend sending her into battle for a while." She said as Zoe's eyes began to water a bit.

"Oh Paris..." she sniffled knowing that Paris no doubt shielded then from the rocks which was the reason why there were all in one piece in the first place. She stroked the hadrosaur's face gently as she opened up her eyes weakly to her partner who smiled back at her, "Here, you take a nice long rest now." Said Zoe with compassion as she returned her to a card.

Seeing she was still worried, Max walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry too much Zoe, I'm sure your dad can fix her up when we get back." He said encouragingly as she looked to him.

"Y...yeah I guess..." she said softly.

Little did she know, Cera then narrowed her eyes at the card, seeing an opportunity for her to try it a certain theory of hers later on.

Her thoughts were then interrupted as Rex called out, "Hey check this out!" He said as they all came to him seeing his dinoholder flash, "There's a dinosaur not far from where we are! And it's a new one too!"

The others were taken aback in surprise, "Wow, what are the chances of that happening here..." said Cera curiously as Rex turned in the direction in the signal it came from, which lead to a rather deep and dark cave in front, no doubt opened when the rockslide came.

"Looks like it's somewhere inside that cave." He said.

Zoe shivered nervously, "It looks really dark in there, it could be dangerous if we were to get lost or fall down a hole or something..."

"I've got this." Said Cera stepping up to the challenge, "Dino slash! Microraptor shine!" As the lights died down, Miku appeared in her full sized form perched on Cera's shoulder, "We're counting on you Miku." She said as her raptor nodded and she glided inside.

"You sure about this?" Max then asked with concern.

Cera smiled back at him, "Miku may be small, but she's really great at climbing and her eyes are as sharp as they come." She said confident in her partner's abilities, "If anyone can find the dinosaur and a safe path for us in there, it's her."

The D team looked to one another and decided to trust her on this as they smiled back to her, "Alright if you say so then." Said Max as they waited for Miku's call.

Little did they know, was that a certain robotic fly was observing them from a safe distance while perched on the rock ledge hanging just above them.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"And then it's like no matter how hard I try or what I do, they both they always look down on me. Sometimes they even leave me out too and they hog all the fun..." Ed whimpered as he sat down on a rock next to the Pinacosaurus who was listening in to his whims and sad tales. It hummed lowly with sympathy, while Tank nearby was taking a nice long nap after a good time of play just now. Ed then slumped forward, "Even since our time in the orphanage together we were always getting into a scuffle, sometimes even they gang up on me and make fun of me too..." he then added at the end before smiling lightly, "it's not all bad for us though, it was nice when Dr Z took us in and oh good those days were...I sure miss them when I look at things now..."

He then looked to the side and saw the Pinacosaurus had crept in closer to him and breathed gently on him to show he cared. Ed smiled seeing it cared for him, "Well thanks for hearing me out anyway Pinacosaurus, it felt really good to get that off my chest." He added as the ankylosaur brought its head closer to Ed and began nuzzling him, even tickling him with his friendly licking. "Ahahaha! Stop that it tickles ahahaha!" He laughed before widening his eyes in realisation, now seeing that dinosaurs weren't just animals, they were living and breathing creatures, with feelings and emotions too...

He then gritted his teeth in frustration, as if there were 2 sides of him clashing viciously with one another, made evident as he scrunched il his hair in his hands, before opening his eyes firmly, "Oh I can't let them take you, not after you saved our butts out there..." he thought to himself seriously as he looked to the ankylosaur who blinked at him curiously. Thinking to himself carefully and hard, he opened his yes firmly as an idea hatched in his head, "I know! I'll just get you out of here and then tell them I didn't see any dinosaur!" He thought out loud snacking his fist in the palm of his hand, "It's perfect! Nothing could go wrong with that!" He thought to himself gleefully.

His optimism However was short lived as the ceiling in front of them then collapse down! "Gaaah!" A pair of screams came too as it fell down!

CRASH

"Huh!?" Ed gasped in alarm as noise woke Tank up and startled Pinacosaurus causing it to back away nervously.

As the dust cleared it revealed Zander was lying on top of an annoyed Ursula who had a huge tic mark on her forehead, "Zander that's the last time I let you pick a tunnel..."she grumbled to the skinny man who whimpered in pain.

"Duly noted Ursula..." he said as she shoved him off and looked around them.

"Urgh now where are we now..." She grumbled.

"G...guys it's you!" Ed then gasped as he got a good look at the 2 newcomers, who looked to him in the direction he called.

"Hmm?" Upon noticing him and Tank they widened their eyes in surprise.

"Oh Ed!"

"You're okay! Oh how we were so worried about you right Zander?" Said Ursula eying Zander who then clasped his hands together and answered back as convincing as he could.

"Y...way of corse we were! We were searching high and low for you and we-" he then stopped upon noticing they weren't alone, "Hey! Is that a Pinacosaurus over there!?" He cried pointing out to the side as the yellow dinosaur was backing away nervously, sensing bad vibes coming from them.

"You're right! It is!" Ursula then gasped as Ed twiddled his fingers unsure how to respond.

"E...err...well..." things gotten even more complicated as they turned their attention on him and Tank.

"Ed! What are you doing!?" Ursula yelled, "There's a dinosaur over there and pure just sitting there with Tank doing nothing!?" She yelled before crunching her face in her hand in frustration, "Gah! Forget it! You're useless you know that!?" She grunted taking out her alpha scanner and card. "I'll bring in Terry to take care of this in a Flash!"

"Oh no, I gotta think of something quick!" Ed widened his eyes in alarm upon hearing what she was intending to do, "Wait! Stop!" he then yelled out stopping Ursula right before she could slash and call forth Terry.

"Huh?" She and Zander blinked their eyes in confusion as to his sudden outburst, but even more so he seemed to be dying them rather seriously.

Gritting his teeth he then forced some painful words out, "I found it, so it's mine!" He yelled as their jaws hung down in disbelief.

"H...Huh!?" They both gasped before turning serious.

"Just what do you mean yours Ed!?" Zander yelled in annoyance while shaking his fist.

"Yeah, we do whatever it takes to grab a dinosaur, even if it means we gang up on them! It's just what we do!" Ursula yelled afterwards, "You'd better have a good explanation for even daring to raise your voice against me!"

Ed stuttered upon hearing their words but then shook his head clear, "Yeah well..." he said uneasily before becoming serious, "Well I messed up back at the mining site earlier, and I just want to make up for it! And show you guys I am NOT a screw up!" He yelled, "So back off and let me handle this! Got it!?"

Zander and Ursula both blinked their eyes stunned and unable to comprehend what they just witnessed, Ed yelling at them? Being a man? No doubt he must have hit his head during the rock fall and now he's acting completely bonkers...

They then looked to one another for a second opinion. "Should we let him? He sounds like he means it..." Zander asked Ursula as she folded her arms on her hips and closed her eyes in thought before making a decision.

"Fine with me," she said sounding unsure of herself, "If he messes this one up, he'll be taking or shifts of nursing Dr Z for an entire month. Also he'll be taking the fall for us if we come back empty handed." She said firmly.

"Oh! Good idea! I could sure use a break from all that!" Zander clapped his hands gleefully, knowing he's loving nothing better than to get away from his whining bedridden boss for an entire month! As well as being able to use Ed as a shield against Dr Z's abuse would be the icing on the cake for them!

"You hear that Ed!" Ursula yelled out to him, "You've got your chance! Now don't mess this one up or else!" She yelled threateningly as Ed gulped down hard and turned almost pale. It was a tough call, help

"You...won't be disappointed..." he said painfully as he turned to Tank and the pinacosaurus, who was looking to them all in confusion, unable to understand what was going on...

"Sorry buddy…I've gotta do what I've gotta do…." he said painfully before yelling out and pointing at it, "Go get em Tank!" Ed yelled out as Tank turned to the Pinacosaurus and back to Ed in confliction. Ed gritted his teeth and yelled again, "We've gotta do this okay!? Just go!" Reluctantly, Tank shook her head and roared out before ramming the Pinacosaurus back catching it by surprise!

It shook its head and cried out in confusion, but Tank swung her tail out, barely missing as it slammed and smashed a rock down! Ed narrows his eyes as he continued to have Tank miss on purpose, hoping he'd be able to scare off the Pinacosaurus and he could 'accidentally lose it' deciding even if he had to suffer for an entire month it would be worth it...

After a while of Tank using simple throw and ram attacks to toss the Pinacosaurus around, along with near tail misses, It seemed to go well, though Ed could feel it tearing him up inside as he could see the pin in Pinacosaurus' eyes with each attack he sent and how it kept pleading out with him.

"Ed!? Quit messing around!" Ursula then yelled out impatiently.

"Yeah you can do way better than that!" Zander followed beginning to feel suspicious.

Ed realised it knowing it, and they could summon Spiny and Terry out at anytime, he had to think of something quick, "I...it's not that simple!" Ed shook out his hands before looking around for the perfect excuse to use, "It's just...This place is unstable! Just one wrong move could bring the whole selling down on us and we'll be smooshed like pancakes!" He yelled as his fiends turned pale in realisation.

"Ack...you make a good point there..." Ursula croaked before gritting her teeth in frustration, "Well hurry it up! You got us all down here and this is your chance to make it up, so don't you dare blow it!" She yelled as Ed lowered his head reluctantly.

"Okay..." He croaked as he continued to put on a convincing show. He then has Tank back it up into a corner and it turned around frantically looking for a way to escape...

"So far so good..." he breathed, "But I can't keep this up forever, sooner or later they'll see through this little act of mine..." It was then he gritted his teeth knowing there was no way out now. "Sorry pinacosaurus, but I've got no choice!" He shouted inside his mind as he slashed a move card, "Go Dino Swing!" He slashed the card as Tank roared, turning the Pinacosaurus around and grabbing its tail before swinging it around and around above her head before slamming down into the ground! It then tumbled across the cavern floor before coming to a stop near a rock wall, letting out a groan in pain before slumping down.

"Alright! You've got him on the ropes now Ed!"

"Finish him off so we can go home with a new victory under our belts! Can't believe I am saying this, but I take back all the nasty things I ever said about you!" Zander and Ursula both cheered. Though Ed didn't seem to take it all that well unbeknownst to them, knowing it came at a heavy cost for him...

"Yeah, yay me..." he muttered sadly before looking back to front of him. He the widened his eyes in surprise to see the Pinacosaurus had just gotten back up to his feet! Clearly still not beaten yet! "Huh!?" Even Tank herself was amazed at home much stamina the smaller dinosaur had in him.

"It's still standing after all that!?" Zander exclaimed in disbelief.

"That dinosaur really doesn't know how to stay down." Ursula grunted in annoyance before looking to Ed, "Ed, make sure you teach it a good lesson." She said to him as he nodded uneasily.

"Err sure will do..." as he said that he then paled and Tank began to back away nervously as the Pinacosaurus' eyes changed, this one filled with primal fury as it roared out with anger and spite in its voice!

"Is it me...or does it look angry?" Zander gulped uneasily with the others as the Pinacosaurus suddenly glowed purple!

As it glowed, the pinacosaurus roared as it caused several large rocks to erupt out from the ground in front of it before they combined together to form a massive boulder! It then made a quick spin around the boulder before using its' clubbed tail to slam into it like a baseball bat into a ball! Tank was taken aback by surprise and didn't have time to react as the boulder flew at her at a massive speed, smashing her against it like a fly on a windshield wiper and soon she and the rock were sent right at the res of the alpha gang who cried out frantically as it came close to them!

"GAAAAAAHHHH!" They screamed eating their arms out before turning around to run!

"Run away!"

"It's coming this way!" They could barley get within 10 inches of the boulder as it along with Tank smashed into them!

"AAAAAAHHHH!" They cried as the force pressed against their faces and they were sent into another cavern with a loud crash!

The pinacosaurus let out a roar in triumph, but it's victory was short lived as it soon succumbed to its wounds and it fell down to the ground, exhausted as the roof of the cave soon began to collapse around it…..

Nearby the D team had traversed deep into the cave after following Miku's directions after she scouted out and returned to them. They soon noticed their surroundings were beginning to return to normal as the battle ended.

"Hey, the battle field's gone now." Max noted seeing the cave changed back to its normal colouring and it got darker once again.

Zoe then placed her hands to her chest with worry, "Did you think maybe the alpha gang..."

In the distance they could hear the sounds of a groaning dinosaur, in both pain and sounding almost...depressed...

"That noise..." Cera could tell that was a dinosaur in distress, and be it friend or foe it was painful for her to take in, made evident as she clenched her chest and gritted her teeth feeling it's emotional and physical pain.

"It seems to be coming from over there." Said Rex as he and the others wasted no time on heading over to where the noises came from, with Miku pointing out the way.

As they arrived at the end of the tunnel, they were taken aback in horror at what they found, "Whoa! A pinacosaurus!" Max Gasped as they came face to face with the large dinosaur before them, only that things weren't as it seemed.

"It looks really hurt too..." said Rex narrowing his eyes hard as he saw the back half of its body was buried by massive boulders and it was groaning in pain with all that weight crushing it underneath, plus it seemed to be heartbroken as well as it's voice was also filled with emotional pain.

The others then turned hard and firm with anger, "I'll bet you my entire weekly allowance that it was the alpha gang for sure..." Zoe tended up while clenching her hands knot fists.

"Yeah, only they could be this heartless to a dinosaur..."

Max gritted his teeth before punching his fist into his palm angrily, "Grr! Wait till I get my hands on them for this..." he growled swearing vengeance and justice on them the next time they met.

Becoming serious, Cera then began to walk up towards the weakened and trapped dinosaur much to the surprise of her fellow D team members, "Huh? Cera what are you doing?"

As she soon stepped within arm's length of the seemingly unconscious dinosaur they all widened their eyes, "Don't get too close!"

"You might startle it!"

"It's dangerous! Get back!" They cried, knowing in its condition it's like a cornered animal ready to snap at any second!

Cera however smiled back at them reassuringly, she knew full well what it meant and she was fine with it, "It's alright, I know what I am doing." She said to them as it then opened its eyes weakly.

As it did it narrowed its eyes hard and let out a menacing growl to ward off Cera, but to everyone's surprise she reached or her hand and began stroking its forehead gently.

"It's alright, you don't have to be afraid. Everything's going to be fine." She said in a soothing mother's tone while gently brushing it over with her hand. As she did the Pinacosaurus seemed to calm down slightly as it then lowered its head and let a low growl as of it was sad or depressed. Cera then spoke again, "What's wrong? Please you can tell me. We're your friends, you can trust us."

The armoured dinosaur looked to them hesitantly, but then Miku hopped onto her shoulder and then her hand before chirping to it, as it then growled back, as if they were exchanging a conversation with one another.

As it finished Cera then smiled back with understanding, "I see...I understand now." She thought to herself before striking

it again, "It's alright, you're safe now and that's all that matters." She said as the Pinacosaurus turned its head away still feeling rather bitter or betrayed...

It was then when Miku began chirping encouragingly to it, it became at peace and closed its eyes calmly, before its body glowed purple and it returned to the form of a dinosaur and move card.

As she picked up the cards, the D team looked on speechlessly at her with widened eyes and stunned expressions, "Umm Cera, what did you just do?"

"Yeah, it seems like you were just...talking with it?" They asked.

"That's exactly what I just did." She said smiling back to them much to their surprise, "Miku and I told it that it didn't have anything to fear from us, and that we would take him somewhere safe and no one will ever harm him again." She said, "And after that he just trusted us."

"Wow, who knew you had that kind of talent..." Zoe breathed in amazement as she and the rest of he D team began to wonder who exactly was she, and what else she may be capable of that she doesn't know yet, or maybe keeping from them...

They didn't have long to think about it though, as the absence of Pinacosaurus soon caused the rock pile in front of them to grow unstable as it soon shook unsteadily and began to fall apart on them!

"Let's get out of here quick before it collapses on us!" Max cried or frantically to the others as they nodded without hesitation.

"Right!" They all said as they pressed a button causing them all to disappear in bright light, as the place they stood on soon became buried completely under piles of rocks...

Meanwhile in another cavern further away, Ed laid almost motionlessly across the cavern floor, while covered in sand, several rocks as well as many bruises. The moment a small pebble from the upper ceiling fell down and bonked him on the head he opened his eyes and groaned before coughing out a mouthful of dirt and sand, "Cough! Cough!" Sitting up and rubbing his forehead, "Well that didn't go as planned….." he said gritting his teeth as his head began to throb non stop.

"Urg…." not far away Zander was able to dig himself free from a rock pile nearby, though his glasses now were cracked, "If I had to give that new move a name, I'd call it rock roller….." he moaned rubbing his back before pulling himself up straight.

"GARGH!" The sound of Ursula's growling made Ed jump into Zander's arms in fear as they shivered with horror to see Ursula's hand erupt from the rocks like an undead zombie! When she pulled herself up her clothes were deeply scathed and torn as she gnashed her teeth and fumed red with rage! "I can't believe I actually trusted you Ed! Not only do we NOT get a new dinosaur, but now you've got us trapped in another cave! This is all your fault!" she growled pointing at him. After that Zander quickly put him down and scurried off to save his own skin, leaving Ed quivering before a now menacing Ursula who stared down on him like a scolding parent!

He huddled at the side twiddling his fingers, avoiding as much eye contact as he could, "W…Well it was all in my good intentions….." he was able to mouth out before Ursula cut him off!

"Good intentions your butt!" she growled grabbing him by the neck and yanking him up till his eyes met hers! As he stared into them, he turned pale and his blood ran cold to see her demonic burning eyes! "What do you think Dr Z's going to do to us when we come home empty handed!? HUH!?" she growled as tears began welling up in his eyes and he began to whimper.

Losing interest in him she dropped him on the ground as he lay down covering his head.

As he did, Ursula began to rub her temple in thought while regaining her composure, "Okay Ursula calm down….you can do this," she said to herself before grinning and rubbing her hands together with a devious grin, "Before Dr Z grinds us into paste, I'm going to make sure those 2 bumbling baboons take the fall first before I do….yes that's right…..that's exactly what I'll do!" Before she could pop her knuckles to take out her frustration on both Ed and Zander, the latter's voice called out to them from the other side of the cavern.

"Maybe it's not as bad as it all seems, look at this!" he said with amazement while holding the alpha scanner and pointing it in several directions around him.

"Hmm?" As they went to see, they looked on with interest to see the scanner's readings were relatively high and only seemed to climb higher with each new direction he was turning.

"The alpha counter is going crazy! There must be tons of alpha metal lying around in here!" he said out loud.

Ursula and Ed's eyes widened, "What!?"

"For real!?" they both gasped.

He nodded eagerly to their answers, "Yes! Take a look and see for yourselves!" Handing it to Ursula, as she turned the scanner in many directions she saw Zander was indeed right. Every square inch of the room had an alpha reading of at least 70% and nowhere where they turned, the readings never fell below that level! Even the floor they stood on had large traces of alpha metal buried within, luck truly shone upon them this very day. "Maybe this day really isn't as bad a loss as it seems!" He cheered stretching his arms out with joy.

"Is this what they call a silver lining or looking on the bright side of things?" Ed then asked as Ursula paid him no mind.

"Well whatever it is, we really are saved!" she cheered as she and Zander began doing jolly dances across the room, "Oh thank you kind and merciful spirits!" they praised and sang as Ed sat it out.

He folded his arms with a smile, looking to the entrance of the cave, at first blocked by the massive boulder from rock roller, which was now beginning to crumble down and give them a way out. "Pinacosaurus…thank you….." he said to himself feeling most grateful.

 **(That evening)**

Back at the Taylor's house, the sun had begun to set turning Sanjo City a bright orange as it parted from the city. Inside Zoe sat at the couch and looked on sadly at Paris who was coughing rather badly in front of her, even spewing gout bits of sand and dirt with each one as Max, Rex and Cera looked on sympathetically with their own dinosaurs at the chairs or standing up.

"Ack! Ack!" Paris squawked in a sore and painful tone as she then lowered her head and groaned sadly.

"Oh Paris I'm so sorry for letting this happen to you." Zoe sighed as she stroked her dinosaur's back gently before picking her up and letting her settle on her lap, "When we get home I'll have my dad look you up and treat you as soon as possible, so please hang in there….." she said as Paris curled up on her lab and let a low but painful hum.

"Poor Paris….." Max said feeling for them, also looking to Chomp feeling appreciative that the other dinosaurs were still okay.

His feelings were inroad by Rex who looked on, "Never thought I'd actually miss her singing, usually she's very lively and energetic, now she's just…..not….." Chomp, Ace and Miku both looked on feeling for their comrade, till Cera narrowed her eyes and stood up with a firm expression.

"You know what Zoe?" she said as the others looked to her.

"Hmm?"

"Remember that special massage therapy technique I talked about earlier this morning?" she asked as she kneeled down and held her arms out to Zoe, "I think I feel ready now."

Looking to her friend, to Paris and back she then put on a rather concerned expression, "You….really feel sure of this?" she asked as Cera nodded and smiled.

"It's time I tried it out on my very first patient. And who better than Paris?" she said as Zoe closed her eyes and opened them seriously.

"Okay, I trust you." she said handing the green dinosaur over to her, as she settled down on Cera's own lap. "Cera, be careful okay?"

"I will." she replied as she began stroking Paris gently to make her feel secure and safe, before feeling around for the right nerves.

As the others looked on curiously and eyed what she was doing, Max then raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Massage? How's that supposed to help?" he asked.

"Well with people massaging some parts of the body helps stimulate pressure points and heals fatigue and tension, it's worked with animals before so it might work the same with Paris." Rex suggested.

His spiky haired friend however shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not convinced it'll work as well on dinosaurs though." he said.

"At least she's trying something you guys!" Zoe cried to him angrily which took them aback a bit.

"Hey it's better than nothing, I guess…." stated Rex as they returned to observing Cera close as she began to get serious as she focused her fingers around certain spots, as if she was feeling the little dinosaur's body for the right nerve…..

"Come on Cera, I know you can do this….." Zoe said inside her head as she narrowed her eyes seriously, and the tension began to peak as Miku and the other dinosaurs looked on with intent.

"Hmm…let's see….for most animals the reflex points for the lungs should be here, so it should probably be the same for dinosaurs….." Cera thought to herself recalling what she studied as she felt around Paris' feet, chest and back. After finally getting the points right she then smiled gently, "Okay Paris now just relax." she said in a soothing tone which made Paris at ease as she let Cera begin rubbing and pressing at the spots she made note of. After a little while, Paris seemed to close her eyes dreamily before Zoe then asked out of concern.

"Well?"

"Paris, think you can try to say something?" Cera asked as Paris opened her eyes and began to squawk softly.

"Ack….croak…."

"That's alright just take your time." said Cera once more as she took a breath and opened her mouth.

"Bark….bark…." she said with a small smile as Zoe clasped her hands together and cried out.

"Oh! Your voice is back!" she cheered plucking her partner from Cera and she began hugging her closely, with Paris barking with delight as Zoe began snuggling with her again.

As the other dinosaurs barked happily to see their friend back to normal, Max and Rex couldn't help but stare speechlessly and in amazement at what they witnessed, "No way….it actually worked!?"

Cera stood up proudly at her success, "She should be back to normal by morning Zoe," she said brushing the parasaurolophus' crest who chirped with enjoyment, "Till then just make sure she drinks plenty of water and eats softer food."

Zoe nodded, "Sure thing Cera, thank you….." she said gratefully before smiling at her, "You might have what it takes to be a real vet someday."

Cera then sweated and scratched her cheek, "Ehehe….oh I don't know about that….." she said with embarrassment before she spoke a thought of hers out loud, "Though I do wonder if acupuncture might work the same with animals too."

"Hee hee, who knows?" Zoe giggled.

Max then placed his head on his arm and pouted, "She's good with dinosaurs, tech and now with animal treatments?"

"Is there anything she isn't good at?" Rex sweat dropped and smiled as they soon noticed Chomp and Ace running around her legs, while barking with excitement at her.

Smiling with amusement she could tell what they were after, "You guys want a turn too?" she asked and they confirmed with several excited jumps and backflips to prove it. "Hahaha, okay okay one at a time now….." Cera laughed as she then kneeled down and decided to get started on giving Chomp a nice back rub.

"Heheh, guess it's turning down someone in need." Max then grinned rather deviously with Rex who decided this would be a perfect opportunity.

"Say Cera, my shoulders actually feel kinda stiff after today's mission, you think maybe you could rub my shoulders a bit?" said Rex playfully rolling each of his shoulders back and forth.

"Also, my feet feel really sore after all that walking." Max added as he lifted his feet off the floor and pointed them to her, "If you wouldn't mind?"

Cera sweat dropped nervously as she took a bit of space back, "Umm…."

"Oh no you don't!" Zoe growled, "Don't even think about it!" She quickly reached in and pinched the ears of both boys as they cried out in pain!

"YOWCH!" As they pulled away their ears began to throb all red and sore before they scowled in disappointment….though their problems had just begun….

"If you want a massage that badly….." Zoe grinned rather maliciously as she began to pop her knuckles, "How about I give it to you myself?" she then added as a certain chill came over the boys, and the other dinosaurs huddled behind Cera in fear knowing wha was going to happen.

"Uh no thanks Zoe. There's no need for it!" Rex cried out making a run for it!

"I feel better already, yup! Good as new! See?" said Max jumping up up and down before following his friend as they quickly bolted for the door!

Zoe who wasn't about to have any of it, hopped to her feet as she ran after them! "How about I be the judge of that? Now come here you two!"

"Aaaah! Stay away!"

"Leave us alone!"

"Stand still you!"

"AAAAAAHHHH!" As the house echoed with the sounds of footsteps, screaming and eventually several popping bones, Cera couldn't help but laugh in amusement which was soon followed by the other dinosaurs.

"Hahahahah!"

 **(Meanwhile at Zeta Point)**

"What's this!? You 3 clods DARE come back without that new dinosaur card!?" Dr Z yelled enraged from his bed as the A team huddled together and shivered before him, as if they were stranded in the cold!

"W…well not exactly Dr Z…." Zander croaked as his teeth could be heard chattering as he shook! He and his friends were starting to turn pale as Dr Z stood up and grabbed an electrical lightning rod which he was patting and fingering with his hand.

Ursula smiled weakly as she tried her best to defend them, "But wait! We have something that you'll definitely be pleased with!"

"I don't want to hear any of it!" Dr Z cut her off suddenly, "Once again you have betrayed my trust and now it's time for you to face the consequences!" he roared as he switched on the rod which began to spark and prepared to throw it straight at his henchmen with all his might as they huddled together and screamed in a panic!

"GAAAAAAHHHH!"

Right before he could release the rod from his hand, the door to his room suddenly opened, "Pardon me for the intrusion doctor." said Seth politely as he stepped in much to everyone's surprise.

"Huh?"

"Seth? What brings you here?" They also looked to their new unexpected arrival and were more surprised to hear what he had to say.

He turned to the Trio and smiled lightly before looking to the old man in bed, "As much as it amuses me to see the ordeals you put them through, I'm afraid I must strongly suggest that you withhold your punishment." he said.

"Oh!" the Trio's eyes shone brightly with hope and they quickly huddled behind him, using him as a buffer against their abusive boss whose jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

It took Dr Z several minutes to process what his ears had just heard as he picked himself up and yelled, "Just what do you mean withhold my punishment!? They came back empty-handed! They deserve to be punished!"

"Not quite." Seth smirked in response as a small fly like droid flew into the room and landed in his open palm, as everyone looked with interest. "You see I dispatched a special spy drone in order to observe their progress," he explained as he pressed a button on its abdomen causing a certain chip to be ejected from it. "I originally intended this for field studies in hostile environments, as well as to study the behaviour and attack patterns of our foes or to determine the causes of any failure in the field so we would improve and not repeat any previous mistakes, as well as delivering a just punishment for said failure….."

"How….interesting….." Dr Z commented admittedly as the trio said nothing and looked on.

"But what I discovered was most intriguing." Seth continued as a monitor screen came down from the ceiling and Seth inserted the chip inside, "Take a close look at this." He said as a recording played on screen, depicting the Alpha gang's battle with the D team at the canyon. While everything seemed to go the way as it usually did, with the D team getting the upper hand as usual, a new girl stepped into the battle and with an unusual device she summoned forth a white feathered dinosaur much to Dr Z's amazement.

"Gah! Th…That's a microraptor!" he gasped being taken aback speechlessly while his 3 henchmen simply smirked and snickered seeing they were right all along. Dr Z pointed out weakly, "But…that's impossible! That wasn't among the dinosaurs we lost when our machine broke down and we were stranded here!" he then gasped.

"S…see! We really were telling the truth the other day! Hehehe….." Ursula laughed rubbing her plans together as she popped her head out from behind Seth.

"Yeah, so that means we're off the hook right?" Zander followed while Ed clasped his hands together uttering prayers of some sort.

Ignoring their chatter Dr Z leaned back in bed and teared up emotionally, "I've always wanted to bring 1 of those back with us," he sniffled before gritting his teeth and shaking his arms in a childish tantrum, "But they wouldn't allow it! Can you believe it?! And now someone else has one instead of me!? Unacceptable! Outrageous!" he then yelled as he grabbed pillows one by one and began throwing them off his bed in a fury and even biting down on another in frustration, nearing ripping the stitching apart.

"M…Maybe they snuck 1 in as a secret?" Ed asked speaking up, "Like some kind of apology gift or even a birthday present?"

Dr Z placed his head on an arm as he began to think about it, "Hmm….that sounds nice….." he muttered before recalling something and he gritted his teeth and screamed! "But still, a microraptor!? Such a puny dinosaur gave you 3 bozos so much trouble when it's barely the size of a chihuahua!?" He yelled scaring the Trio and making them all jump, referring to the previous day when they blew their mission at the forest even with all their unfair edge with all their devices and machines. "For that you're still going to the big house!"

"EEEEEEKKKK!" They turned pale and huddled together in the corner.

Seth then turned rather serious, not wanting to waste anymore time with this nonsense, but saw this as an opportunity, "If I may doctor." he spoke up, "The discovery of our new enemy is actually significant gain for us, but if you wanted something more from this mission," He pressed a button on the remote as it depicted the many large rocks that they brought back to their lab from the Grand Canyon, where many droids were hammering at it with pick axes and other tools before bringing them over to the other stations to be condensed and refined. "They were also able to bring back a supply of much needed and near pure alpha metal deposit. A deposit which should be easy enough for me to extract the metal without any trace of impurities at all, an extremely rare success I have to admit." He said.

"Did you now?" Dr Z raised an eyebrow as they looked back to, and they bowed down grovelling before him.

"Y…yes that's right!"

"We were just about to tell you but you didn't give us the chance!"

"And well, sure we may have lost the dinosaur but if we didn't then we wouldn't have found it! Honest!" They each said with as much innocent smiles as they could.

Steh then pushed them out of the way as he handed Dr Z the chip from the monitor, "My chip here has recorded all the proof they require to back up their claims. Therefore, I strongly believe you should reward them for their hard efforts, or at least let them off easy just this once." he said as Dr Z closed his eyes and folded his arms in thought.

"Hmm…"

As the trio looked to Seth puzzled as to why he would be sticking up for them, he simply shot back a smirk at them which made them step back and sweat nervously, knowing that look meant they owed him, and when you owe Seth back you really owe it big time…

"Very well then," Dr Z spoke up catching their attention, "I'll let it slide just this once. All because Seth said so."

Ursula, Zander and Ed all placed hands to their chests and breathed sighs of relief knowing the worst was over…at least for now….."Phew…."

"For a second I thought we'd be dinosaur chow…."

"Same here….." They each said slumping down to the ground with exhaustion, knowing they couldn't take another moment like that.

"But don't get any funny ideas!" The old man suddenly yelled back which made them jump up!

"AAAAHHHH!"

"Mark my words I will not tolerate another failure!" he threatened shaking his fist, "Otherwise next time I'll send you off to my weapons testing room and use you lot as test subjects! Understand!?"

They all bowed down and went into begging dog positions, "Thank you Dr Z!"

"We hear you loud and clear!"

"We shall never forget this kindness!" They each cheered and cried as Seth took his leave having enough. As he left, Rod and Laura each poked their heads from the side of the door to see everything playing out differently from what they envisioned.

"Whoa, they actually came back with something and didn't get punished for once by grampa?" Laura commented covering her mouth in deep surprise, seeing their grandfather nice to the A-Team of all people was something that comes once in a lifetime to them.

"Guess maybe we're still very sick huh?" Rod then groaned placing a hand to his head checking his temperature and rubbing his forehead.

His sister then nodded in agreement, "Yeah, must be seeing and hearing things…..or maybe it's like a sign of the apocalypse?"

"Better get back to bed then." her brother said rather uncaringly, as he began walking back to the room folding his arms behind his head as she trotted after him.

"I'm with you Rod….." she said.

A little while later the 3 nincompoops exited Dr Z's room without so much as a single scratch as Ursula and Zander came out laughing rather joyously, "Ahahahahah! This really is a miracle!" Ursula cried out dancing in a spin.

"The spirits of mercy, luck and kindness really are shining on us today!" Zander sang as he held his arms up to the ceiling as if he was giving praise and worship to forces above!

Meanwhile Ed simply stood back casually and smiled folding his arms, "That…..Or maybe there's something about this being nice to dinosaurs thing after all….." he said before giving a wink.

 **Hope you enjoyed this new dinosaur hunt chapter. Since Ursula and Zander had their nice moments with a dinosaur, in Ruff and Ready and Dinosaur Amour respectively, I thought Ed should have one too.**

 **I couldn't have done this without the help of darkblade2814, who helped me come up with the plot for this, looking forward to welcoming anyone else who may be interested in this too.**

 **In response to pokemonking0924**

 **Glad you enjoyed what I wrote so far, thought of making Miku more of a status dinosaur since she's small and not suitable for direct combat. Feather arrows is a nice idea but wanted to make something more unique since for example pachycephalosaurus has laser ray from its head and megalosaurus controls gravity.**

 **I hope to make it as best i can for her to develop with each of the D team and their families in preparation for an OC season 3. Also yeah wanted to have an idea for the bones too since they weren't seen again for so long and wanted to address that loose end. A nice idea for the trench but they didn't do his chant so it wouldn't be fully accurate though haha.**

 **I think I do have a plan for an irritator to be a wild dinosaur and it will be an important OC chapter too.**


	7. Game On!

Chapter 7

Game on!

At the D lab, the D trio and their partner dinosaurs had just entered to find Cera standing by 1 of the tables as she seemed to be staring rather intently at something much to their curiosity. "Hey Cera what'cha doing over there?" Max asked as he and the others walked over to where she was, as she and Miku both looked up at them.

"Oh guys," she said acknowledging their presence, "I was just taking a look at a handful of the cards you managed to acquire." she said spreading out carcharodontosaurus, saltasaurus, styracosaurus, utahraptor, maiasaura and ankylosaurus across the desk. "And after going over them for sometime, I noticed something rather familiar about them….."

They blinked their eyes curiously, "Familiar?"

Rex suddenly widened his eyes upon realisation, "Wait, as in you actually remembered something about yourself!?" he gasped as the others soon followed his expression.

"AH!"

Cera then shook her head rather reluctantly, "Well no not really, though I wish I did….." she said looking away a bit before eying the cards on the table, "It's more like something I knew once before but not about memories as to who I really am."

"Oh….okay then." said Max as he and his friends all felt a little let down, but happy nonetheless.

"So then what did you figure out?" Zoe then asked as Cera smiled in response.

"This." she said showing off the 6 dinosaurs in her hand, "Take a close look at these 6 dinosaurs I got here. Tell me, what do you see?" She asked hoping they'd be able to guess it to make it more fun.

As they all narrowed their eyes and focused, they couldn't quite see what the puzzle was, though Zoe blinked her eyes and smirked feeling confident over her answer she decided to keep it to herself letting the boys have a shot at guessing it. "Umm….I see 6 dinosaurs we managed to rescue a couple of weeks back?" Rex asked.

"And I see how some of them really gave us a run for our money too." Max followed.

Cera smiled though it was a bit of a disappointed one, "Well…yes….but there's something else too, can you see it?" she asked again.

Taking a closer look Max hardened his gaze and placed a finger to his chin in thought. Staring intently a bead of sweat ran down his cheek before hitting his fist into the palm of his hand, "Ah I get it now."

Rex turned to him in surprise, "Oh! You figured it out Max?"

Max smiled, "Not a clue….." he chuckled as Rex sweat dropped in response.

"Figures….." he sighed.

"Well it's not like you're coming up with anything yourself!" Max growled back in response shaking his fist in frustration.

Zoe facepalmed in dismay at their childish behaviour and ridiculous answers, "Oh come on guys, isn't it obvious?" she said as they turned their attention to her.

"Huh?"

"Look," she said picking up the 6 cards and flipping them over, "Each of these dinosaurs represents one of the 6 elements represented by the stones." she explained, "Fire, water, earth, wind, grass and lightning."

Cera smiled pleased that Zoe got the right answer, "Yes, that's exactly right." she said as Zoe playfully smirked at the 2 boys who huffed in response.

"Ah…..How did we not see that before?" Rex wondered.

"Heh I knew it all along." Max boasted smugly folding his arms behind his head, "I was just testing you."

"Yeah right….." Rex grunted narrowing his eyes unbelievingly.

"Sometimes you've just got to look beyond just the surface and think a bit more ahead." Cera explained as she took the cards from Zoe and arranged them rather unusually to them on the table, "Also when I took a closer look at them, I also noticed that each of these dinosaurs seemed to have type matchups with one another too."

The D team members blinked their eyes curiously, trying to figure out what she meant, "Type matchup?"

"Look at it this way." She explained taking the saltasaurus and carcharodontosaurus cards and holding them up, "Water puts out fire, everyone knows that right?" As she said so they nodded. After that she picked the styracosaurus up and held it with the saltasaurus, "But, water also conducts electricity."

"Yeah that makes sense." Max mused having recalled Chomp's lightning based attacks having much greater effect on water dinosaurs like Spiny and Baryonyx compared to most others when they fought together.

"Looking at it logically, I also found out about this too." Cera mentioned picking the ankylosaurus next, "Earth grounds electricity, so it would make sense lightning dinosaurs may be at a disadvantage against earth ones."

Max placed a finger to his chin in thought, "Now that I think about it, Chomp's moves didn't seem to have as much effect on Tank compared to Spiny so that makes sense." he said in agreement.

"Also Ace's wind attacks didn't seem to do as much damage to Terry as it would to other dinosaurs," Rex followed remembering their battle at the London museum, "And when he took a volcano burst straight to the face he couldn't last more than 2 seconds….." He added, also recalling the incident with the acrocanthosaurus, where his cyclone only served to whip up the flames even more so.

"Whoa, how did we not notice that before?" Max breathed in amazement, a feeling which was mirrored by the others present in the room, most of all was Reese who was at her table listening in to every word said.

"Overall here's what I managed to piece together." Cera concluded as she pointed out to the cards 1 by 1, "Water puts out fire but also conducts lightning. Next, earth blocks lightning, but grass grows over earth and holds it in place. Finally, wind scatters grass yet it also spreads and even strengthens fire." She explained much to the amazement of the D team, as they stared with unblinking eyes at her theory. Reese herself was rather intrigued by her logic that she wasted no time trying to add it all to the manual, which was untouched for quite some time until now.

"That's…..quite a lot to take in…." Max commented, his head spinning from the massive influx of new knowledge into his brain. He used to think battling dinosaurs was fighting till they turned back to a card for sometime, now with this it makes battles much more complex that they really are, no doubt with the potential to be something much more…

"Hey Cera, how did you figure this all out, on your own no less." Zoe asked curiously as Cera simply smiled.

"Well I didn't really do this all by myself." she said scratching the back of her head before letting her partner hope right into her hand as she brought her to her shoulder, "Miku helped me out a little too." As she said so, the little microraptor chirped with a nod.

The rest of her friends raised an eyebrow upon her statement, "She did?"

"How?" They asked rather suspiciously as Cera suddenly blinked on alert realising what she had said.

"Oh she kinda….gave me a hint here and there after we started picking through them…..hehehe…." she laughed nervously in response as Miku winked playfully to her as Cera nodded back, "Yeah, and after thinking it all logically this all just clicked together."

"I see….." said Rex thinking there may be more to what Cera was letting on, but decided not to poke at it any further out of respect.

Cera then lowered her hand and allowed Miku to hop onto it as she raised her up like a bird, "As for Miku though, from what I can tell she doesn't seem to have any sort of strength or weakness to any of these attributes." she said as her partner brushed herself with her arm, "In fact, even we don't know what she's truly capable of just yet, but I know it'll be something great." she said with a smile.

"Another piece of valuable knowledge I ought to add to the manual…." Reese thought to herself as she made another note down.

At that moment, Max patted Zoe and Rex on the shoulders getting their attention, "Hey guys, mind if you come over here a sec?" he asked rather seriously as they turned rather uneasy in response.

"Oh okay…." They replied as they came together in a group huddle to discuss something amongst one another, to Cera and Miku's interest, though at the same time feeling a bit offended that they were whispering right in front of her, showing that they may not trust her about something or that they weren't including her despite being part of the same team.

"Her microraptor has the same element as that doctor's pachycephalosaurus, therizinosaurus and deinonychus." Max pointed out rather suspiciously as he narrowed his eyes, "You think it could be a coincidence?" he asked which earned him a couple of serious glares from his friends.

"Max, you're not actually suggesting….."

"N…no of course not!" he waved his hands frantically, "It's just…it can't be a coincidence right? The fact she lost her memories yet she seems to know a lot about dinosaurs….even understanding them…." he replied scratching his cheek stating the facts that shouldn't be overlooked, something which Rex and Zoe took to mind.

"I see what you mean….." They became rather downcast at the possibility, but Max then brightened up deciding to support the and be optimistic instead.

"But I'm not going to point any fingers," he said, "Cera's a friend I know it, and I just know she loves dinosaurs as much as we do and wants to help protect them against those who would misuse them." he said as they nodded back at him in agreement.

"Yeah, guess you're right…."

"Sorry guys….." he then apologised hoping he didn't create any tension or distrust between them, though fortunately they smiled back showing they forgave him.

"Umm….is there something you guys are talking about I ought to know?" Cera then asked curiously as they quickly sure d around putting on as convincing a poker face as they could to show they weren't suspicious at all.

"Well Cera," Max asked rather uneasily, "We were curious as to what made you decide to do this in the first place?"

"It's not like you needed to, you're already a part of this team." Rex followed as as their friend decided to give it a little thought, before coming up with an answer of her own to respond with.

She smiled and clapped her hands together, "Well I just thought maybe I go over some of the cards to pass the time and all, since we have nothing better to do at the moment." she said. "Also from what I can tell there's only so much we all know about the cards now so I thought maybe I try to take a crack at it here and there." As she continued her expression gained a slight hint of sadness as she came to another bit she let reluctant to speak about, "And the fact dinosaurs seem to jog at least bits and pieces of what I remember….." As she said that she put on another positive expression as quick as she could to avoid giving herself away, "I thought maybe studying the dinosaurs we have now would give us a better idea of how they would rect and fight, that way we can prepare for any other future battles ahead, plan out strategy better so we can end the fights more quickly and reduce any collateral damage or putting innocents in danger. Not to mention we wouldn't need to make the dinosaurs suffer as much too, as well as avoid drawing too much unneeded attention." she added at the end as she twirled a bit of her hair with her finger as the D team gaped at her speechlessly at how selfless she was….which made Max feel rather guilty about doubting her earlier.

"Wow….that's…..very thoughtful of you Cera….." said Zoe as Max smiled in response before putting an arm around her.

"We're really lucky to have on board with us, you'll definitely be a lot of help to the D team in our quest to save the dinosaurs!" he cheered as Cera couldn't help but blush at feeling welcome with so many glad expressions around her.

"Unlike you lot," Reese interrupted having finished writing in her book and putting it away, "She's doing something very productive with her free time, unlike the rest of you who spend too much time watching TV or reading comic books which rot your minds." she said with disapproval, as they took it to offence.

"Hey! You don't know that until you try it yourself!" Max yelled shaking his fist out before she shot him a glare which silenced them and their dinosaurs on the spot! It even made Cera herself shiver despite it not being directed towards her.

"That was just low…." Rex sighed turning away unable to face his failure.

"Was that really necessary Reese?" Zoe pouted before quickly whispering into Cera's ear, "At least I'm better than those 2 in any possible way." she said pointing to Max and Rex behind her with her thumb.

Getting over it, Max then huffed as he folded his arms behind his head, "Still if you ask me I'd say this just complicates things a little too much," he said rather snobbishly, "All we've got to do is just beat the dinosaur with everything we've got and that's that." he added with a grin as the others turned to him and he became the focus of everyone else's attention.

"Max, you really should give her more credit." said Zoe.

"She went through all this effort for the team, we're lucky to have on our side to help us be ready for anything." Rex added in agreement helping to make Cera feel more appreciated herself.

"Oh yeah?" Max then grinned as he began to open up the small hip pack he was carrying and he began ti pull something out of it, "Heh, well I know another way we can be ready ourselves! Check this out!" he boasted with confidence as he unravelled a poster he got from the mail earlier in the morning as he flashed it to his friends as they took a closer look at it. It was bright red and flashy, with a green t rex and a red triceratops facing off with one another with a big title in the center of the poster.

"Dino Might tournament at the arcade clearance sale down at the Megamall?" Cera said out loud as she read it.

"Isn't it that video game where you play against one another as dinosaurs?" Rex questioned, "How's that supposed to be of any help at all?"

"Duh? Why try to guess how a dinosaur would act when you can experience being one yourself!?" Max responded, "It'll get us some much needed experience on dinosaur fighting and maybe teach Chomp and the others a few new moves from what we learn there!" he said before grinning with excitement and jumping up, "Not to mention whoever wins that tournament gets anything from the arcade store free of charge! It's basically like getting 2 prizes for the price of 1! Oh man I am so gonna ace that!" he cried out at the top of his lungs as Chomp jump up energetically feeling his partner's enthusiasm and catching it himself. "Heh, and they say I'm not well prepared Chomp, hehehe…." he chuckled as they both ran off out to the mall, dropping the poster as he left, with his friends staring at him with dismay as he left.

"He didn't listen to one bit of what I said did he?" Cera asked.

"Nope he didn't….." Rex face palmed.

Zoe then placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she smiled to her friend along with Paris who chirped, "But we did, thanks for the advice Cera, we'll keep all that in mind the next we go up against a dinosaur." she said as Cera nodded in acknowledgement,

"Mhmm. Thanks you guys. I feel really appreciated to hear that." She said before recalling the poster Max left behind and picking it up for a closer look, "Still there really isn't much going on, maybe a trip down to the mall should be interesting since I haven't gotten used to Sanjo City just yet." She said rolling up the poster and putting it at the side.

Zoe's eyes then brightened with excitement as she said those words, "Oh you'll love it for sure!" she cried out taking her hands in with her own while staring straight at Cera rather uncomfortably, "In fact, I know this really awesome jewellery store and fashionable boutique we can both visit to try on all sorts of cute outfits and stuff! I'll be your tour guide to the greatest place here in town! Now come on let's go!" she said before tugging on her friends' hand and dragging her along for the ride!

"H….Hey!" Cera couldn't fond the strength nor the time to react as she was pulled along for the ride by an overenthusiastic Zoe and Paris, leaving Ace and Rex behind who sweat dropped at the drama that just played out.

"Oh boy, we'd better follow them so that they wouldn't spend over our allowance…." he said to Ace as they both hurried off after their fiends not wishing to get left behind in the dust.

"Have fun now….." Reese smiled as she returned to her work, letting out a sigh of relief now with the peace and quiet.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In their room, both Rod and Laura both sat at their tables working on their homework as usual. As Laura hummed with enjoyment as she began solving several math equations, Rod kicked his legs back and forth as he entered an internet site to help with his research. He got along quite fine and smiled to see he had made great progress, till several pop up ads suddenly opened up in his screen much to his annoyance, "Tch! Stupid pop ups, get out of my face!" He hissed in annoyance as he began to close them down, "Man I should really install a pop up blocker one of these days….." he thought to himself knowing exactly what to do….till a certain ad caught his attention and he stopped himself from clicking the close icon just in time! "Whoa!" he gasped as he widened his eyes at what he saw on screen before flipping his laptop around. "Hey Laura check this out!" he cried out catching her attention.

"Hmm?" As she looked from her screen to see her brother pointing frantically at the ad depicting Dino-Might on it, she couldn't help but giggle in amusement, "Oh silly Rod, I know you love video games as much as I do, but you do realise Helga would never let us skip homework and studies for something like that right?"

"Not that Laura! This!" He said pointing at the lower side section of the ad as Laura leaned in for a closer look.

She squinted her eyes a bit while reading it out loud, "Clearance event? Win the tournament and get any prize free of charge?"

Rod nodded, "And take a look at what they have on offer." he grinned as he clicked on 1 of the prizes available, which displayed a card folio on it, which seemed to have blurry but unmistakable images of dinosaur cards in them!

"Whoa! Is that another card folio!? No way!" Laura gasped covering her mouth in amazement at their lucky find, in a pop up of all things.

Taking his computer back, Rod took a closer look and began digitally enhancing the image. As it cleared up, the image of the cards was still rather blurry but was good enough for him, "Looks legit to me," he said before closing his computer and taking it with him, "Maybe if we can get permission from gramps we'll have a valid excuse to skip today!"

"Hmm, that does make sense….." Laura thought out loud to herself as she and her brother got off their seats, "Also, we should at least check it out." She said as they both left their room and their homework on the table. Little did they now was that Seth was listening in to their new discovery from a monitor down in his lab, and the news of a possible opportunity caused a devious smirk to come across his face.

In another room, Dr Z was lying down in bed taking a nice long nap and was settling into a pleasant dream, when the sounds of approaching footsteps followed by the opening of his room door caused him to open his eyes.

"Grampa! Grampa!" a pair of voices called out to him as he sat up groggily.

"Urgh…." he rubbed his eyes and was about to turn grouchy for having his rest disturbed, but calmed down upon seeing his grandchildren had come to visit him, "Oh? Ah it's you two! Glad to see you both are feeling much better." he said with a smile to see his young grandkids now active again like they should be. "Wish I could say the same for myself though….." he then frowned after checking the condition of his own back which seemed to be as sore and stiff as it ever was.

Rod and Laura looked to one another and smiled, "Hee hee, well we know something that will cheer you up for sure!" Laura giggled with glee before Rod flashed the computer screen to Dr Z. "Ta da!"

"Huh?" Dr Z leaned in closer for a better look before raising an eyebrow at them both with suspicion, "A video game contest? Just how will this make me feel better?" he asked, "Normally I wouldn't be on board with Helga but shouldn't you be working on your assignments by now?"

"Not that grampa!" Rod called out, "Take a closer look at what they have as a prize!" He pointed out at the digitally enhanced image of the prize section of the website.

"Hmm?" As Dr Z squinted his eyes and took a closer look he then widened them in amazement, "Ah! It's another card folio and it seems to be fully loaded with cards!" he cried in surprise.

"I came upon this as a pop up ad while doing research, guess good thing I didn't click this off before getting a good look at it." stated his grandson.

"So what do you think? You think it's for real?" asked Laura.

Dr Z folded his arms in thought, contemplating whether this could be counterfeits or not….in any case it was worth investigating, "Hmm….well there's only 1 way to find out!" he then pointed out to the sky as he issued what may the kids' first mission granted by him, "Go you two! Your mission is to win this silly little tourney and bring me back that card folio!" he proclaimed as they both stood firmly like soldiers!

"Right!" They said together before turning around to leave.

"Not so fast!" A voice suddenly spoke out from nowhere catching them by surprise.

"Huh?"

Suddenly bursting into the room were the 3 members of Dr Z's elites, or in other words his former elites, "Never fear the A team is here!" Ursula, Zander and Ed chanted together in unison while striking poses, much to the letdown of Dr Z and his grandchildren thinking it was someone important.

"What are you 3 stooges up to now?" he mumbled raising an eyebrow, his mood turned sour the moment his eyes made contact with them.

Ursula then skipped towards his bed and leaned in towards him with a bright smile, "Dr Z, there's no need to trouble the children when they clearly have so much homework to do." she said sounding lovingly.

"Which is why we, your faithful favourites, have volunteered ourselves to retrieve that card folio for you!" Ed bowed.

"You can leave this to us for sure! We won't let you down!" Zander proclaimed placing a fist to his chest ready for duty!

Dr Z suddenly gained a rather sinister smirk across his face as he began to chuckle with maliciousness, "Leave this to you? Faithful followers!? Ha! You must be joking! You 3 numbskulls couldn't even find your way back home without breaking something in the process, let alone play a video game!" he laughed before turning vicious much to their horror, "What makes you think I could ever trust this to you!?"

They huddled together in disappointment at his lack of faith in them, "W…well it's because…"

"I wasn't asking!" Dr Z cut Ursula off as she twiddled her fingers.

While he continued to berate them, Rod began whispering an idea into his sister's ear, and a bright smile came across her face highlighting her agreement with it, "Good idea right?"

She nodded, "It could be a nice warmup for the tourney later."

"Then it's agreed." Rod grinned as he stepped in between the bumbling trio and their bedridden grandfather. "How about we decide this with a game then?" he called out as they turned to him with interest at his words.

"Oh?"

Ursula and the trio grinned seeing this as an opportunity to one up the kids, "Go on we're listening…." she grinned rubbing her hands together.

Rod smirked, "That old seabird game I made, this time we'll let you be the eagle for a change." he said as the trio gasped in amazement.

"Huh!?" Even Dr Z was quite surprised to hear his grandson be so generous, he was used to giving handicaps to make the match more challenging and enjoyable but this caught him off guard.

"If you beat us then you'll prove that you've got the skills you need to blaze through anyone in that tourney." Rod grinned while pointing to himself with his thumb.

"But if we win, you keep your noses out of our business till we get back home." Laura added brightly with a light chuckle, "Plus giving you a handicap ought to be a nice warmup for us too." she sang.

"So what do you say? Think you're up for the challenge?" Rod asked as the trio all grinned and snickered deviously at this opportunity, there was no way they could possibly lose now!

"Hehehe, you might as well quit right now, because you just dug your own grave!" Zander snickered rubbing his hands together.

"And a very deep one too!" Ed followed punching a fist into the palm of his hand.

"By the time we're through with you, it'll game over before the game actually begins! Hahahaha!" Ursula laughed boastfully holding her head high up.

"Talk is cheap, we'll see who really has the skills to win." Rod replied undeterred as he and Ursula both looked one another in the eye, neither one of them backing down from the fight!

"You're on and you're going down!" Ursula responded as they all exited Dr Z's bedroom for the main hall to play!

Dr Z with interest began to push himself up to follow them, "Now this I ought to see….." before he could pull himself up, a sudden strike of pain followed by the sound of his back snapping echoed throughout the room!

CRACK!

"EEEK! If only my back wasn't hurting….." he began tearing up before slumping flat onto his bed once more, left alone in his room.

At the main hall, Rod and Laura both finished setting the game's rules and round before they began their deciding match to see who would go on the mission. Ursula's side had a massive handicap with 3 controllers at her side, each operated by herself and her 2 lackeys, whole Rod and Laura operated at the other end. "Enjoy your loss pipsqueaks!" Ursula yelled out as the eagle took into the skies ready for battle!

"I believe that's our line." Rod replied back as their albatross got up into the air with them! The fight began as both birds began swooping at one another, as the eagle struck out with strikes with its wings and claws, the albatross was able to skilfully dodge at every last second much to the surprise of the A team.

"Grr! Hold still you little runts!" Zander grumbled in annoyance as Rod and Laura's strategy to frustrate them was progressing quite well.

As Ed began to sweat seeing their bird was losing stamina, he noticed their power gauge had reached maximum! "Hey Ursula!" he cried out, "The special attack meter's all full now!"

She grinned hearing his words, "Perfect! Now's the time to finish them with out special move!"

"Here comes the dive bomb!" Zander announced pressing the button as the eagle flew up to the sky and struck down like a torpedo!

"Here it comes Rod!" Laura cried out as her brother grinned seeing it at the moment they were waiting for!"

"Perfect." he smirked as the eagle closed in on their albatross!

The trio began snickering with delight knowing their victory was within their grasp! But at the last second the albatross swooped out of the way causing their eagle to bash itself straight into a cliffside and getting its head stuck!

"Gah!" They gasped in alarm to see their ultimate move turned into an ultimate fail!

"We sucked you right into our trap!" Laura called out as she and Rod grinned to their now panicked foes who began pressing all sorts of buttons or tugging at the controls in several random directions!

"Hehe, now for our special move! Go Albatross kick!" upon Rod's commands, the albatross struck out forward with its foot ready to bring it down upon the now trapped eagle!

As it closed in, Ursula's heart began to race and she sweated profusely before turning to her underlings who were still messing around with the controls! "Zander! Ed! Get us into the air now!" she yelled.

"I'm trying!"

"This game's controls are out of whack!" They both cried out pulling at the control sticks and pressing the buttons to no avail! By the time they managed to get their eagle free, the albatross delivered a swift kick to its head, knocking it out cold and taking the A team out of the match for good!

"Ack….." their jaws dropped and they turned pale as they could only stare unblinkingly and speechlessly at the sight of the wimpy albatross flapping its wings and standing triumphantly over their utterly defeated eagle.

"And that's game." Rod grinned victoriously as he snapped his fingers, "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a real match to win. Let's just hope it won't be as easy." He said as he and his sister began to exit the room with a new victory under their belt, "Maybe there'll actually be some real competition when we get there Laura." he said to his sister who folded her arms behind her head.

"I sure hope so Rod, that didn't even make good practice." she added boredly as they left the trio gritting their teeth and shaking their fists at them bitterly.

"Grrr…!"

As they made their way through the lower levels to the hangar, the pair of siblings was stopped by a famailr voice which came out of nowhere, "Ah, Rod and Laura, just the two I was looking for."

"Huh?" As they both turned around they saw Seth walking towards them calmly with his hands in his pockets. "Oh hey Seth, what's up?" Rod asked curiously.

"Rod and I have to be going somewhere now, grampa sent us on an important mission!" Laura cheered.

"Did he now?" Seth smiled, "Well in that case, you'd better not forget these." he said taking out a pair of alpha scanners from his pockets and handing them to them both.

They both blinked their eyes in surprise, "Huh? The alpha scanners?"

"We're only going to go enter some gaming tournament, no biggie, it's not like we're going to fighting any dinosaurs right?" They each asked.

"Perhaps, but a little insurance wouldn't hurt now would it?" Seth replied as he held out a pair of move cards, a fire and earth one, in between 2 of his fingers, "I've even taken the liberty of adding in a few new kicks to your arsenal now. I trust you'll be most pleased." he said handing them both to Rod and Laura respectively.

"Magma blaster and spike arrows?" Rod asked as he recognised them both.

"Whoa! Those are the move cards belonging to Saurophaganax and Stegosaurus!" Laura gasped before grinning excitedly, "Hee hee, with these there's no way we'll lose!"

"I'm glad you agree Laura," Seth said feeling glad she was satisfied before looking to her brother, "Surely you feel the same way too Rod. Especially since you'll also be having this too." He said reaching into his pocket again and handing him the triangle shaped move card he developed.

Rod blinked his eyes in surprise as he gazed upon the move card Seth held, "Huh? You're giving us the velociraptors again?" he questioned rather suspiciously as he eyed it.

Seth narrowed his eyes seriously sensing Rod's untrusting behaviour, "Is there a problem?" he asked with a very firm expression which sent a small shiver down Rod's spine as his eyes met the older man's glare.

"N…no of course not." Rod shivered as he took it without asking any further questions, he could tell though Seth was usually quiet and moody, to getting him in a bad mood would no doubt be almost as bad as getting on Helga's nasty side. "It's just, all this seems a little overkill for some measly contest." he said before putting on a strong front to show they his confidence, "Also, we're plenty strong on our own, those D team losers don't stand a chance!" he grinned pumping his arm.

Seth smirked in response, "Heh, I wouldn't be so sure about that….." he scoffed as he began turning around.

Rod raised an eyebrow with suspicion as to Seth's words, "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned, feeling offended that Seth would have little faith in his and Laura's abilities, especially when it came to technology and games.

Seth himself knew the pair of kids were confident, and their skills were indeed top notch to back up their claims, but he knew that their adversaries had a new ally that even that had little knowledge of, so he decided to let them off with advice and a warning. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, it's better for you both to experience it for yourselves first hand." he said with a small smirk before stopping to turn to them, "So I'll say just this. There's recently been a new face in the D team's ranks, and mark my words, she isn't one to be underestimated." he said raising questions amongst Rod and Laura.

"New face? You mean like they've got a new member on their team?" Laura blinked.

"So they've got one more on their side, no biggie." Rod shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll see….." Seth replied, "In the meantime I'll be sure to cover for you from Helga till you return home, so you can rest easy knowing she won't be bothering you anytime soon." he concluded, "And with that, I'll be taking my leave. Good luck now." he said as he left the premises leaving the 2 kids with more questions than they started out with.

"What's that all about?" Laura asked her brother who folded his arms behind his head in a laid back manner.

"I don't know, Seth's always been keeping to himself and from the rest of us since forever. Sometimes even I don't know what he's thinking…." he replied sounding rather uncaringly, "But, as long as he's doing all this to help gramps obtain his dream and help us go home to mom and dad, I'm willing to do as he says."

"Guess you're right about that Rod." his sister replied before smiling with energy, "Oh well, we've wasted enough time with chit chat, come on! We've got a game tournament to win!" she cheered while her brother grinned deciding a little game should get them both a little more psyched before their big challenge.

"Hehe, how about we start by racing to hangar? First one there gets to call shotgun in the driver's seat!" he declared as they both got into starting running positions.

"Hee hee! You're on! Whee!" Laura giggled then cheered as they took off for the elevator leading down to the hangar.

Observing them from a distance at the far back, the A trio popped their heads out from behind a corridor, with furious expressions of anger and spite, "Tch! Just look at them! Acting all high and mighty just because they beat us in 1 lousy video game!" Ursula hissed through her gritted teeth.

Zander gained a tic mark on his forehead and he began shaking his fist out in anger, "Yeah! They probably rigged it against us too! No way a couple of snotty brats like them could ever beat experts like us!" he growled as the elevator door closed behind Rod and Laura.

"At this rate they could steal our positions as Dr Z's favourites and most trusted…" Ed muttered sadly before a scary thought popped into his mind, "Eventually they could even be our superiors!" he gasped in horror clutching his face in!

"Grrr…..oh the thought of that is just making me burn up inside!" Ursula growled as she began to pop her knuckles, before suddenly gaining a sinister smile on her face as she hatch a new devious plan to get back on Dr Z's good side. "And you know what? I'd say instead of moping around, let's do something about it!"

Her 2 friends looked to her curiously, "Oh yeah? What's that?" asked Ed.

"Another one of your bright ideas Ursula?" Zander followed.

"Ahahah! My brightest one yet!" she laughed sinisterly, "For now we'll just tail them and let them do all the hard work of getting that card folio for us while we sit back and relax! Then when they least expect it, we'll sneak in and snatch it from right under their little noses! And all the glory that comes with it!" she proclaimed, "Oh how I look forward to seeing their helpless expressions when we return victorious!" she laughed as Ed and Zander both cheered in agreement.

"Yeah! That could actually work!" Ed cried out.

"Not to mention the rewards and promotions Dr Z will give us too! Soon we'll be on the way to being top executive or something!" Zander noted as he began to do a rather jolly jig to show his happiness and excitement.

"And best of all, we'll be able to boss them around and make them do as WE please! Ahahaha! Sometimes I even amaze myself." Ursula laughed to herself snobbishly as Ed and Zander both held their arms up and jumped up and down, showing how much they wanted in on Ursula's plan.

"Well then, count me in!"

"I'm all abroad chief!"

She grinned seeing everyone was on board, "Excellent, now come! Victory awaits us!" she declared pointing up to the sky as the trio charged forward towards the elevator!

 **(Later)**

At the mall, Zoe dragged Cera through all sorts of stores hoping to bring out her inner girl as she so claimed, much to the latter's confusion. Their first stop was, to a beauty parlour which wasn't exactly her cup of tea having been forced through several treatments and makeovers, though she bore with it since Zoe seemed to enjoy it that much, though Paris and Miku didn't as the green parasaurolophus began sneezing quite violently after being sprayed with perfume, while Miku ended up being coated in white powder till she looked almost like a dust ball herself! Finally after exiting a popular boutique, now carrying several bags of exclusive clothes that were on offer, Zoe giggled and jump energetically having the most fun she had in ages.

"Now wasn't that just exciting Cera!?" she cried out with Paris following her, as Cera panted rather tiredly, having managed to get back to her usual look at last after trying on so many outfits due to Zoe pressuring her into doing so with her critical fashion sense at every single detail from the colour down to the cutting.

Despite all that she put on a tired but sincere smile for the fact she at least was able to make her friend happy, and to some extent herself, "Hahah yeah I guess it was…." she sweated tiredly as Miku narrowed her eyes with annoyance at Cera's overly selfless attitude.

"If you like that you'll love this!" she grinned, "There's this jewellery store just down the block and I was thinking we head there next and-"

"Actually Zoe," Cera cut her off wanting to do something a little different herself, "I was thinking of checking out the arcade with the guys and seeing what it's all about." she said.

Zoe widened her eyes with shock upon hearing those words, "Say what!?" her mind was blown, never before had she imagined a girl would actually want to dive into the boorish things that the boys were so into….to her it felt almost like a living nightmare!

"That video game flyer Max showed us earlier kind of intrigued me," Cera replied, "I'm curious as to see what kind of dinosaur game they came up with, not to mention what other games and entertainment they have in store too."

"No way….." At that moment, Zoe fell to her knees and began to tear up rather comedically, "I can't believe you'd choose going over to some silly video game tournament! How could you? I…I thought we had a connection?" she cried out as tears watered out from them.

"Ehehehe….we do Zoe honest." Cera scratched her head while sweat dropping at her friend's overdramatic behaviour, "Not that it's bad or anything, I enjoy it. I just thought we might try something different now and then, I'm sure even you'd get tired of doing the same thing everyday right? It's just not as fun as interesting after a while." she said backing up her point as Zoe wiped away her tears and sniffled bitterly.

"I….guess you're right…." she pouted looking away. As Paris came in to nuzzle up and comfort her.

Cera then stepped up toward the arcade entrance, which glistened and shone with a bright sign with several ads for games or prizes on display at the window display, along with a massive poster depicting the new release of Dino Might, "Besides, it looks pretty cool and while we're here I hope to experience everything Sanjo City has to offer," she said as Miku chirped and tugged at her ear getting her attention. "Ah yes, you too Miku. Come on, let's go have some fun." She said as Miku jumped up with excitement and they both went inside the noisy and bustling gaming corner.

As she past through the doors, Zoe picked herself up and turned rather serious as a result, "I'd better go with her so she doesn't end up like those immature boys….." she said firmly as she marched right inside after her.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Nearby at a clearing in the Central park, obscured by a grove of thick trees, a sleek streamlined jet with pterosaur shaped wings on its side (The black jet Seth used during metal imbalance) landed smoothly as its upper section opened up, with Rod and Laura jumping out of it. After landing they each did a little stretch after being cooped in the driver's compartment for some time during the trip before deciding to get to work.

"So, where do we go from here?" Laura asked her brother who took out his alpha scanner and he began dialling on it.

He narrowed his eyes as a blimp appeared on the map screen and he smirked to se they were pretty close to where they needed to go, "According to the address, the arcade is right at the megamall which isn't very far from here." he said pointing right ahead of them.

His sister smiled in response, "Well in that case," she snapped her fingers and a blue alpha scooter ejected out from the jet's storage compartment which they both hopped on as it sped to them. "Lead the way big brother." said Laura cheerily as Rod began to start up their ride.

"With pleasure." he said as they sped right ahead leaving their jet behind.

A few moments after they left, a set of banging noises could the jet's underside, it then opened up and 3 people were sent rolling out of it. Zander and Ursula first rolled into a tree before Ed came tumbling down on top of them! "Gaah!"

"Uff….that's the last time we cram ourselves into the trunk of any transport." Zander wheezed feeling himself crushed under Ed's massive weight.

"Same here Zander….." Ed whimpered feeling too weak to move a muscle.

Underneath them both, Ursula fumed red and steamed having been the one to receive the most punishment. Feeling her face squashed into the ground she summoned up all her inner rage and strength! "Grrgh! Stop your bellyaching and get up you clowns!" she roared as she threw them both off with all her might!

"AAAAH!" They cried as they tumbled away and into another tree, the impact sending a bunch of leaves to fall on them both!

"Rod and Laura already have a head start! You want them to beat us to the reward before we do!?" Ursula growled as they both sprung to life almost instantaneously!

"Gasp!" They jumped up and shook their fists filled with motivation

"No way!"

"They're going down!" They growled gritting their teeth with fury as Ursula snickered seeing their fiery determination was exactly what she wanted out of them.

"Glad to hear it, now come on team! Move out!" She announced pointing out in the direction the 2 siblings went as they trotted after them.

 **(At Zeta Point)**

Back at Zeta Point, Seth was walking down the corridor back to his laboratory to initiate his next stage of his experiment. In his mind he felt confident that the 2 children, despite their young age, were more than capable of securing the card folio along with several new potential test subjects that will serve as the chosen ones to save the dinosaur species from extinction by surviving the event that wiped them out thereby enabling new possibilities to be made as a result. The thought and potential results actually excited hm somewhat though only hinted by a smirk he had on his face. His train of thought was interrupted by the voice of someone familiar but no less than a nuisance.

"Seth!" Helga bellowed as she stood behind him, his smirk vanishing as he turned around to face her.

"State your business Helga," he replied, "You know I am a busy man and I have a lot of work to do." he said as calmly as he could while doing what he could to hide his hatred from the housemaid robot.

"Don't play coy with me! You know exactly why I'm here!" she yelled pointing out at him angrily, as Seth narrowed his eyes firmly. "Where are Rod and Laura? They should be studying and doing homework right now."

Seth said nothing at first before replying "Isn't being their keeper your task? What they do is none of my concern." he said.

"I know very well that they have been hanging around with you lately and that you are not best of influences." she responded in accusation as she hardened her expression furiously, "There wellbeing is my priority, so I suggest strongly that you tell me the truth right this instant! Or else there will be big trouble for you!"

Seth once again remained silent, he knew he could easily deal with her at his leisure but in his mind he knew that now would not be the best of times. So then, decided to tell her the absolute truth, "If you must know Helga, Dr Z just sent them on an important mission to retrieve dinosaur cards, that is all you need to know." he said.

His answer seemed to only infuriate Helga all the more so as she returned his answer with an angry yell, "Do you take me for some kind of fool!?"

"No I do not, which is why I have proof right here." he said as he took out a tablet from his trench coat and began dialling on it. It then depicted the very scene that took place moments before he sent his 2 grandchildren out on their mission.

As the recording completed its run, Helga hardened her gaze looking at the tablet then to Seth and back again. Neither one seemed willing to give in, and with the silence came great tension in the air as the 2 of them faced off.

"….."

After several minutes, Helga finally deemed it legitimate as she closed her eyes calmly, "Very well, if that is what Dr Z wishes, and as long as they are home in time for dinner and their assignments then so be it." she replied as she turned around smoothly before walking off. Before she exited the corridor though, she shot Seth a final backward glance before walking away, "But don't think you're off the hook just yet. I've got my eye on you, if you try anything to harm them, I will make you pay…." she thought hinting she still didn't trust him.

As she exited the premises Seth smirked to himself in amusement, "That went much better than I expected." he thought before turning serious, "But she is much sharper than she let's on…..I'd best take precaution in the event she does get too nosy for her own good…." he then turned around and entered the elevator that wold take him to his laboratory, as it descended his smirk turned rather malicious as a result. "Now I move on to the next phase of my experiment." he thought to himself as he held out the dinosaur cards of both stegosaurus and saurophaganax in his hand.

 **(At the megamall)**

Meanwhile back at the arcade, both Cera and Miku looked around in amazement with wide and amazed eyes at the wonders of the arcade, with a bright array of flashing lights from the ads and signs leading to a wide variety of gaming booths from racing, shooting and fighting to simpler pixel type ones or even grab the prize with the claw. There were also a number of different ticketing booths where you could trade in money for game tokens, which you could then use to win tickets that you could then trade in for various prizes, which ranged across the different booths from household video games, gaming systems or other simpler prizes like trading cards or stuffed animals. It truly was a kid's dream come true in this colourful and bustling new atmosphere for Cera, "Wow look at this place…it's just….amazing…." she breathed in awe as she and Miku's eyes glistened in the light.

"If you find noisy and being surrounded by geeks on every corner then goodie for you…." Zoe muttered covering her ears unable to bear with the loud noise coming from the games or even from the crazed gamers and nerds who screeched with excitement when they won. She even shuddered as some of them even from the seating areas flashed her a couple of suspicious or unnerving looks, prompting her to hurry up and stick close to Cera. Apart from her, even Paris didn't find the environment very favourable as the loud noises and music disorientated her some what causing her to shake her head quite frequently.

As Cera looked around she could feel her heart race with excitement, "Wonder where we should start? Oh I just can't decide…." she said to herself out loud as though she were enticed or in a trance under some spell.

Zoe sweat dropped seeing the way she was behaving, "Oh no I'm losing her….I'll have to act fast!" she thought to herself in a panic before tugging on her friend's arm, "Say Cera, how about we find Max and Rex first then we decide on what to do next huh?" she suggested hoping to get her mind off the video games' enticing advertising. She was going to make it her mission not to let her new friend end up like how Max and Rex had fallen in her own opinion.

Thinking it over, Cera then nodded much to her relief, "Hmm, sounds like a good idea…." They didn't have to look far though as the 2 boys in question suddenly ran up towards them in a frantic with Ace and Chomp trailing behind them!

"Hey guys!"

"Check this out!" They each cried out panting with exhaustion, even somewhat dripping with sweat too.

"Huh?"

"Max? Rex? What's gotten into you guys?" Cera and Zoe asked curiously to see them so panicky, as if they were being chased by a lion or something similar.

Suddenly the boys took hold of the girls' arms and pulled them along! "No time to talk! Come here and see this!" They said as they dragged the along for the ride!

"H…hey wait!" As they came to a stop near one of the prize booths which was lined with several dinosaur related prizes like stuffed toys or books, they looked down to one of the lower levels-

"Ah! No way!" Zoe gasped in amazement, "A card folio….with dinosaur cards!?" she was taken aback by surprise to think they'd actually find another.

While she did that, Paris, Chomp and Ace were tapping their heads and feet at the glass for a better look, till Cera gently moved them aside for a look herself. As she did, Miku scurried out from her hair to take a closer look herself.

Narrowing her eyes she managed to make out a couple of the cards that were currently on display in the folio behind the display glass, which included a siamotyrannus, olorotitan, polancanthus and move card with a pair of troodon in it, which she seemed to recognise as move block. "These cards…..I feel like…I've seen them someplace before…." she breathed to herself as her eyes locked onto the cards and she didn't take them off for even a second.

As she did that, Max tapped at the desk in front of them where a plump man with his back turned towards them was. "Say sir, excuse me." He called out as loud as he could over the background noise of the arcade, which fortunately was enough for him to hear as he began to turn around.

"Yes? How may I help you?" he said politely as he showed them his face, which took all 4 kids by surprise.

"Whoa!"

"No way!"

"Ah!" They gasped in surprise as the old bearded man smiled to see them again.

"Oh it's you 3, it's been a long time." he chuckled in amusement before turning his attention to Cera who too was just as surprised as her friends were, "Ah! And to you too young lady, it's quite a surprise to see you again too." he added as she waved slowly to him politely.

"Y…yeah, it is…." she said.

Upon hearing what they both said to each other, the other members of the D team looked back and forth between the 2 in confusion, "Huh?"

"Wait, you two know each other?" Zoe and Max both asked curiously as Cera turned to them all.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing you guys." she said as her friends decided to go first.

"Well, we met him not far from here a couple of weeks back, he gave us a card folio loaded with several move cards and a ceratosaurus." said Max.

"Then we also came across him in Bali when we were out looking for a daspletosaurus." Rex continued.

"I see…." Cera relied with interest.

"How about you?" Zoe then asked, "How did you both meet?"

Cera then drew a hole in the floor with her shoe as she tried to remember everything she could before saying her piece, "Well you see….." After a while she began to retell her story over from how she first woke up without any of her memories with Miku, then they came across this very same man who gave them a roof to live under days before her fateful encounter with the D team, "And that's about it." After she finished they were at quite a loss for words as they look back and forth between Cera and the man before finally looking towards him who smiled quite warmly at the 4 kids before him.

"Wow, that's actually really nice of him to do all that." said Max surprised there were actually such good people out there who'd be willing to go out of their way to help others like Johnny just did for Cera.

"You really were lucky back then." Rex nodded in agreement.

Cera scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "Hehe, yeah I guess when you put it that way."

"Ahahaha, this is quite a small world isn't it?" Johnny then laughed out loud caching the attention of the 4 kids, "It's good to see you've made some great friends since we last met." He said as Cera smiled in response remembering his words from back then, had he not given her a place to stay while there she wouldn't have been able to meet Max, Rex and Zoe in the first place. Something she would treasure in her heart forever. "But enough catching up, how may I help you kids?" He then asked them.

"Well for starters," Max spoke first, "If we could ask how did you manage to get your hands on all those cards?" he asked.

Upon Max's question he folded his arms and closed his eyes in deep thought. For several minutes he remained as he was, silent and almost motionless, Zoe even thought he would be sleeping, but before she snap her fingers in front of his face he then opened suddenly to her surprise as he said "Hmm….well…."

"Y…Yeah?"

"I forgot…." he said at the end as they all groaned in dismay or faceplamed.

"Guh….."

"Guess nothing's changed since then…." Max muttered with a sigh.

Rex then walked up to the counter and asked up close, "S…say, you wouldn't by chance have any more of these would you?" he asked as the old man then shook his head.

"Hmm…nope I'm afraid this is my only one left. Sorry to disappoint you children." he said.

"I see…." Rex replied feeling somewhat suspicious though it didn't seem like the guy was hiding anything else.

"Well in that case, how many tickets would that book cost?" Cera then asked politely as the man faded his arms in thought again.

"Hmm….if I were to put a price on it….." he said stroking his beard before giving them a grin and thumbs up! "Just for you kids, how about 500 tickets? That's my best offer."

"500!?" They all exclaimed with widened eyes and hung jaws!

"B…but we love dinosaurs, you even said so yourself and you were willing to give them for free last time remember?" Max stuttered.

"True…." Johnny responded politely as he folded his arms and sat back in his seat firmly, "But that was then and this is now. And right now I'm rather short on cash, after my last move I accidentally lost all my earnings and now I have to work all the way from scratch again." he answered as Cera tilted her head away and whistled calmly.

Now having realised the money box she found in the lodge was left there by accident and not on purpose, she had reason to worry, "Is that a fact?" she said having spent nearly all of it after she and Miku got their hands on it.

Johnny then turned his attention back to the 4 kids, "Anyways, now I'm doing everything I can to scrape a living just to get by, a man's gotta eat right?" he said as they looked to one another in thought.

"I see…."

"We understand…."

Reaching into his pockets and pulling them inside out, seeing they were empty, Rex sighed, "Even with all our allowances put together there's no way we can play enough games to win that many tickets…." he said.

"Someone would have already earned enough long before we do….." Cera added in disappointment, also worrying what if the wrong hands were to obtain those cards…..

"Isn't there some other way we can get it?" Zoe then asked as she looked at Johnny pleadingly.

Johnny folded his arms and thought for a moment once again, "Hmmm…." he folded one leg over the other and remained still for every minutes before open his eyes firmly and answering them, "As a matter of fact, there is."

They all widened their eyes and gasped, "Huh!?"

He stood up and showed them to the ride side of his prize booth, "It's really rather simple, once you take a look to your right of course." As they directed their attention to the side they widened them in amazement to see a prehistoric forest themed section with the sign showcasing a T rex facing off against a triceratops, the entrance being the mouth of a dinosaur skull and after passing through there were various gaming seats and arcade game booths spread out around that section. "Behold! The Dino Might competition!" Johnny proclaimed proudly as the eyes of the dino skull entrance lit up and a roar sound was played followed by the screeching sounds of pterodactyls for added effect!

"Of course!" Rex gasped in realisation beating his fist into the open palm of his hand, "The arcade is having a clearance event and whoever wins gets any one prize they want!" he said as Johnny nodded with a huge grin on his face.

"That's right!" he bellowed loudly, "If you kids want to win big then you've really got to win big!"

Max then grinned eagerly as he tensed up his arms and felt his spirit all fired up! "Then sign me up!" he said charging at the front desk, as Johnny handed him some registration forms which the young Taylor filled in quickly.

"Hey, don't leave me out of the loop!" Rex called out as he came in next after Max, feeling excited himself.

Zoe lowered her head and sighed shaking her head, "Never thought I'd say this…." she groaned before opening her eyes firmly, "But count me in too!" She said with determination, surprising Max and Rex for a moment before they let her through to enter.

Cera smiled seeing everyone was getting psyched for the games as she finally stepped in herself, "It'll be so much more fun if we're all playing, where do I sign?" She asked as she had her turn at last.

As Johnny handed her a form he pointed it out for her, "Just here….here….and here." he said as she filled in her details and he collected them all in a neat pile, "And with the you're all set!" He said before allowing them inside the dinosaur zone of the arcade!

As they entered they were surrounded by several girls and boys who too had entered the tourney hoping to win other prizes that were up for grabs at Johnny's prize counter. Some of them were dinosaur fans too based on some of their clothes such as hats or shirts which depicted dinosaurs on them too.

Seeing so many competitors made Max punch his fist into the palm of his hand with eagerness, "Heh, if all we've got to do is win then you might as well give it to us, cos it's as good as ours!" he boasted with a big grin on his face, "It's not like there's anyone around here who can handle dinosaurs like we can, right gu-" Suddenly both Zoe and Rex's hands covered his mouth, plugging the boy's mouth before he could finish! "MMPH!"

"Be quiet Max…." Zoe hissed at him in alarm as others around began eying them weirdly.

"Hmm?"

"Huh? What did he say?" They asked as Rex let out a nervous laugh.

"What he meant to say was we're really good at video games, not to mention we know a lot about dinosaurs, so there's no way we'd lose." he said.

"Oh yeah? Guess that's because you haven't met us yet." a familiar voice said to them which them all perk up with alarm.

"Gah!"

"That voice…."

"No way…." As the 3 D team members, followed by Cera turned to look to the entrance of the dinosaur zone, they widened them in surprise to see none other than Rod and Laura standing before them!

Rod waved a hand to them, "Hey there losers. Surprised to see us again?"

"Miss us? Cos we sure did, kicking your butts for the umpteenth time that is!" Laura smiled innocently though her true face behind the smile was far more sinister.

Sensing something off about them, Cera tensed up and remained on high alert while Miku quickly hid inside her hair nervously.

"You again!?" Max yelled in annoyance.

Zoe clenched her hands into fists, "Why do you always have to keep showing up and getting in our way!?" she cried shaking them at the kids who scoffed in turn.

Rod smirked in response to Zoe's rant, "Heh, I believe that's our line." he snarked.

"We told you, those cards are ours so that makes YOU the bad guys and not us!" Laura pointed to them as they hardened their expressions in turn.

"So why don't you just beat it already?" Rod followed, "We already know how this is going to turn out." he said shaking his head pityingly to them all as they and their dinosaurs tensed up and gritted their teeth in annoyance.

As far as they were concerned the dinosaurs didn't belong to anyone, and even if they did belong to the alpha gang once as they claimed they'd never let them use them however they wanted.

"In your dreams!" They yelled as Cera looked to them and back to Rod and Laura a few times in confusion.

"Umm, you know these kids?" she asked curiously.

Rex narrowed his eyes, "I wish we didn't." he said in a hard tone.

"Those 2 are Rod and Laura," said Zoe, "Their grandfather happens to be the leader of the Alpha gang…."

As those words left Zoe's lips, Cera's eyes widened in shock, "The alpha gang!?" she gasped as she quickly turned to the smirking pair of children, "So then, they're in league with those goons we've been fighting before!?" Inside she felt rather outraged that they would even let children be part of their group, even if they were family.

Rod gained a rather offended scowl as he then folded his arms on his hips, "Hmph, you'd better not put us in the same group as those 3 clowns." he said firmly.

"Yeah, because compared to us they're simple henchmen, and we're like…high ranking officers!" Laura followed as she cheered with energy in her tone.

"When you put it that way sis, I guess it makes sense." said her brother who then smiled, as he looked to her and she smiled brightly for being praised.

Cera blinked her eyes, "Siblings?" Inside she was also worrying for their future being amongst such awful people.

As Laura focused her eyes on Cera she then whispered in to Rod's ear, "This must their new friend Seth told us about." she said as her brother smirked unimpressed.

"Heh, she doesn't look like much, bet I could wipe the floor with her way easier than them." he replied as he took a look around the game booths then to the front of the prize corner, "So anyways, all we need to do is win this silly competition and then we get any prize we want huh?" He then smirked with confidence, "Heh, that card folio is as good as ours." he said which further aggravated the D team who shot them fierce glares and tensed up their hands into fists.

"Oh ho ho! Very bold words for someone so young." Johnny laughed as he stepped in between them all, "Why not prove your mettle by winning your way to the top of the dinosaur world! Prove you have the skills worthy of being called the dino master and the prize is yours!" he proclaimed as he looked to all the other people gathered in the arcade as he made the announcement, "That includes all of you too."

As all the other bystanders cheered or applauded with excitement thinking it to be a simple game, the D team remained serious and kept their eyes firmly fixed on Rod and Laura who seemed to be filled with confidence themselves, and they knew full well they had the skill to back it up.

"Heh, in that case sign me up!" said Rod as he went up front to register with Laura trotting after him.

"Me too!" As they walked towards the counter they gave another smirk to the D team as they were angered even further, knowing their mission to win the tournament to save the cards had just become that much more important.

As all the competitors took their seats, Johnny stood at the front and announced to all who were present, "The tournament shall soon begin! May the best dinosaur win!" he bellowed as everyone cheered and roared with excitement before hurrying over to the first game booth they could get their hands on!

As they all sat in place, Rod called out to the D team who were sitting opposite him and Laura, "You guys better not lose in the first round, not before we kick your butts out of here and into extinction." he said mocking them.

"As if! Those cards aren't yours!" Max yelled agitatedly.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Rex concluded while Zoe simply shot them a fierce glare.

In response Rod grinned along with Laura, "Hehe, in that case, challenge accepted." he snickered as they got into their full on game mode.

Cera meanwhile decided to stay out of the crossfire and focus on putting together a possible strategy with the dinosaurs available for choice, which ranged from a T rex, triceratops, utahraptor, ankylosaurus, allosaurus, iguanodon, pteranodon, stegosaurus and apatosaurus.

"Hehe, it's no contest which I'll choose!" Max chuckled making his choice, "This is for you Chomp!" he said choosing the triceratops.

"Hehe, I think I'll go with the apatosaurus for a change." Rex thought deciding to try something new.

"I'm all for the iguanodon!" Zoe cheered as she picked it seeing it to be quite similar to Paris in a way.

As Rod looked over the choices available he popped his fingers as he got into the spirit of things, "Heh, it's like this game was made perfectly for us eh Laura?" he said to her sitting next to him as he chose Tyrannosaurus as his dino, confident his experience in handling Terry would give him the edge he needed.

Laura smiled as she nodded at her brother's statement, "Mhmm, I couldn't have said it better myself." she said cheerfully as she selected ankylosaurus seeing it was similar to Tank whom she had skill in using for some time.

As everyone made their choice, Jonathan stepped forward to a dinosaur egg shaped roulette, similar to those used in gaming casinos, which he activated "Now the wheel of destiny shall spin, who shall be the first to meet on this fateful field of battle!" he announced as he pressed the button and it began to spin. Everyone fixed their eyes upon it as it began to slow down, tensing as it finally landed. "Our first battle shall be between Rod and Max!" Johnny announced as their seats lit up, "Now let the battle begin!" On their screens, Rod and max each had a 1st person view of their dinosaur facing the other while a larger screen up front was displayed for everyone else to see.

Their dinosaurs faced off and roared at one another in a prehistoric volcanic field as Rod and Max faced off.

"Heh, looks like this match is in the bag before it even starts!" Max grinned while Rod simply shot him a simple smirk.

"Oh we'll see about that." he said as their dinosaurs charged ahead, Max's triceratops charged and knocked the T rex to the side and almost off balance!

"Oh yeah! Go get em triceratops!" Max pumped his arms as he pressed the attack button over and over again, with Chomp barking with excitement as Max gained the advantage! Eventually he was able to back Rod against a large boulder and Max grinned with excitement as he had him cornered! "One more attack should do it! Charge!" he commanded as his trike roared and charged full power right ahead!

At the last second, Rod smirked deviously as his plan fell into place! "Heh, you fell right into my trap! Now!" he cried out pressing a button making his rex jump over Max's dinosaur!

"Huh!?" Max gasped in alarm as Rod evaded his attack and his trike ended up getting its horns stuck in the boulder! Max's eyes widened as his heart raced seeing the tables had turned in an instant! "No! Get out quick!" he cried out anxiously mashing buttons randomly as fast as he could but nothing he did seemed to help dislodge him from the rock! He was a sitting duck!

"Heh, your attacks are way too predictable, I could read you like a book!" Rod taunted as he had his t rex walk slowly towards Max's helpless triceratops.

"Grrr!" he grunted knowing now he was at Rod's mercy, "Come on! Move!" he cried out smashing his hands on the controller but still to no avail! His heart skipped a beat as he noticed Rod's special attack bar had just filled to its maximum!

"Now finisher move!" Rod cried out as he pressed the button, "Cretaceous crunch!" His tyrannosaurus roared ferociously as it grabbed the trike behind the frill and with immense force dislodged it from the butler while snapping its horns off in the process like twigs! It held up the trike high above its head in its jaws, struggling helplessly before smashing it down on the ground, causing he ground to shake and crack, snapping its' prey's back in the process before stepping over it in triumph!

GAME OVER

Max's screen lit up as he crunched up his hair in anguish, "NO!" he wailed as he pounded his hands on the game console repeatedly while Chomp whispered in sadness. "I can't lose! Not this soon! It's gotta be rigged!" he yelled beating on his own legs while seated, before running up to Johnathan clapping his hands together pleadingly, "Hey mister, you've gotta give me a rematch! Please…." he said with teary eyes, though unfortunately he was met with a firm expression and a shaking head.

"Sorry no can do, a loss is a loss." he said as Max slumped down defeated, with Chomp bouncing to his side and nuzzling at him hoping to comfort him. "Let's give it up for our first winner! Rod! Who skilfully lured his foe into a false sense of security before delivering a destructive counterattack while his guard was off!" Johnny then announced as Rod then smirked proud of his victory, his own screen saying YOU WIN!

As many of the other competitors began to applaud for his stunning victory he could help but stand up and wave to them all, "Ahahah, thank you thank you." he said bowing to them before grinning mockingly at Max, "Better luck next time, or should I say never hehe." he said as Max clicked his tongue bitterly.

"Ngh….."

"I knew Max should have had a little strategy before hand." Rex facepalmed seeing they were now down 1 dino user.

Zoe shook her head in disappoint, "Charging head first is just like him, too bad he doesn't think first otherwise he would have seen that coming." After that though she smiled as she looked to see the roulette spin and land n the next 2 competitors. "Oh well, looks like it's me vs you next Cera." she said to her close friend who nodded at her back.

"Mhmm. No matter who wins, it'll be up to them to beat those kids." she said to Zoe.

"So let's make the most of this round and get each other ready, so no holding back now."

"Was about to say the same thing." They said to one another as an open plains area showed up and their dinosaurs, an iguanodon and utahraptor appeared opposing one another. The battle between the 2 girls was rather fierce as Cera's frontal assaults were kept at bay with Zoe having her iguanodon shake its arms and dumb spikes fiercely warding off her advances. After that she was lucky to have her tail sweep over Cera's dinosaur and it fell to the ground!

"Alright! I've got you now!" she cheered as she prepared to have it stomp on the utah! Cera however was quick to respond as a series of buttons she pressed let her raptor jump up in time and speed away out of the forward crash! "What the!? How'd you do that?" she gasped in alarm.

"I just got a feel of my dinosaur's strengths and weaknesses," Cera smiled, "As well as yours too." her words made Zoe shiver nervously as her iguanodon couldn't keep up with Cera's quick footing!

"Urgh…take this!" Zoe cried out desperately as she had the iguanodon do another front slam!

"Now special move!" Cera countered pressing the move button, "Somersault kick!" she commanded as she charged in right when Zoe was about to do a front slam!

"Oh no!" she gasped seeing she walked right into Cera's trap, as the raptor jumped upwards and delivered an astounding kick upwards at the iguanodon's head from below, causing it to all backwards and out of the fight!

"Winner! Cera!" Johnny cheered as everyone applauded in response.

At their side Laura and Rod carefully observed her chosen moves and skill and they had to admit she definitely showed plenty of promise, "Hey she's not half bad Rod." Laura commented nodding with approval.

Rod however then shrugged his shoulders unconvinced that it was skill and more on luck, "Yeah? Heh when it comes to it, I'll take her out before she even has a chance to move." he smirked feeling confident he could still trounce her easily, since she didn't have a dinosaur with her, so she probably didn't know how using one would really be like….or so he believed….

Zoe slumped down with disappointment, "Aww I lost…." she sighed before picking herself up again, "Oh well, video games aren't my strong suit anyway…." she said going back to her perky self.

"Guess that means you need more video game training," said Max to her as he stood beside Rex.

"Maybe we could give you some pointers next time you come over." They each said as she scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Ehehe thanks but I think that's one type of practice I'd pass up on…." she laughed before shaking Cera's hand. "Good luck Cera."

Cera nodded back to her firmly, "Mhmm, I'll do my best. I promise to win for us too." Inside though she could feel her heart beating uncontrollably as a smile slowly came over her face, "I can't believe I'm saying this….but..this….is actually pretty fun…." the intensity and excitement of the game where she could use dinosaurs to their fullest potential, followed by the fact there really was no one getting hurt needlessly….she could feel as though she experienced this one before….though where? She then wondered…..

As the progress continued, Rex unfortunately suffered a rather hard loss to Laura, who's ankylosaurus delivered a tough blow to his dino's front and back legs and out manoeuvring him and he collapsed. He was then wishing he chose the raptor since it was fast like Ace was. Laura didn't have much time to celebrate though as the system pitted her against her own brother. They wished each other the best and they fought hard with one another, till eventually Rod was able to grab Laura's tail and throw her into a rock wall before delivering the finishing strike on her unprotected side!

At long last was the moment of truth.

"And now we move on to the final round! Who shall emerge victorious as dino master!?" Johnny announced as they were soon brought down to 2 competitors only, "Shall it be Rod the Rampaging Ravager?" He said showing off to his left side first as Rod waved his hands out and received many claps and a cheer from Laura.

"Yay!"

Followed by some thumbs down by the D team. "Boo!"

Johnny then shifted to his right side, "Or shall it be Cera! The Cretaceous Queen!?" he announced as she blushed shyly and just waved modestly.

As others clapped pressingly for her making it far with great skill, her fellow teammates and dinosaurs cheered for her, "Hooray!"

"You can do it!

Followed by Laura doing a thumbs down herself, "BOO!"

As they took their seats, the screen materialised in a dense jungle like battle field with Cera's utahraptor and Rod's tyrannosaurus facing one anther for 1 final epic showdown for the title dino master! "Heh, you did well to get this far newbie, but you're going to wish you didn't." Rod spoke out with a confident smirk while Cera flashed him a serious glare.

"We'll see who's going to wish they lost in the preliminaries soon." she said as both her and Rod readied their dinos for battle.

"Let the final match begin!" Johnny announced as the countdown began and the match took off!

"Go T rex!"

"Onward utahraptor!" They each cried out as their dinosaurs charged forward and everyone looked on with sheer anticipation over who between these 2 gifted dinosaur handlers would be able to emerge victorious!

The D team especially as they held on tightly to their partners and sweated anxiously for their fired to win the cards.

"Come on Cera!"

"We're counting on you!"

"You can do it!" They cheered as they motivated her to have her raptor start with a slash and dash! Outflanking Rod's t rex as its' bite missed and she was able to deliver a cut to its leg! Though the damage it inflicted was merely superficial.

"Heh, you can't expect those puny claws to do you any good now do you?" Rod smirked as his rex tried to stomp on the utah, though luckily it was able to jump out of the way in time as the ground where it stood cracked under the massive force of the Rex's heel!

Cera swallowed hard, "Whoa that was close." she breathed anxiously as a bead of sweat dripped down her cheek, clearly she had underestimated Rod's capabilities.

"A lucky escape, but you won't win that way." Rod yelled out as his t rex launched assault after assault mercilessly! Tearing through trees and smashing boulders as if they were twigs and pebbles, Cera desperately avoiding each attack barely as they came! Even she felt herself driven into a corner as she began to tire out and only just barely managing to press the right buttons in time!

At the sidelines Max, Rex and Zoe looked on intently at the nail biter of a match going before their eyes, "She can't just keep dodging…." Rex commented, "She has to attack at some point."

"Yeah, but what can she do with a raptor?" said Max, "No way would they ever fight a tyrannosaurus in real life." he added at the end feeling doubtful of her chances.

Zoe tightened her grip on her knees while Paris stayed nuzzled in on her lap, "I'm sure she's got some plan, otherwise she never would have made it this far." she said feeling hopeful as the others looked to her and back to the match.

"I guess you're right." Max admitted as he tensed up and tightened his hold on Chomp who was beginning to choke by his friend, "Though it doesn't look very well now."

Rod then gritted his teeth impatiently as he noticed the countdown had now reached its' half mark, "If you think you can win just by dodging my attacks and waiting it out till the time runs out, I won't let you!" he yelled with aggression in his tone, "I'll stomp you flat before that happens!" As his attacks continued to press on, Cera narrowed her eyes seriously, finally realising a possible counterattack she could implement after seeing the t rex's only 2 weak spots. It would be a very daring and crazy move, with a low chance of success if Rod were to pick up on it, but it was he only hope as she was slowly losing cover to get behind in time to avoid an attack!

Seeing the battle turning well for them, Laura sat down and wiggled her legs playfully without a care in the world, "Heh, I guess we were worried for nothing after all, just wait till we bring the news to Seth and grampa." she giggled to herself as she sat back and relaxed at her seat.

Finally, Cera found herself trapped at the base of a massive rock wall with Rod having just cut off all possible route of escape for her, as he grinned eagerly for the final attack! "Hehe, I've got you cornered." he snickered as the D team cried out.

"Oh no!"

"I can't watch!"

"Tch! She's finished…."

Rod pressed his special attack button, "Here goes! Finishing move! Tyrant's roar!" he cried out as his rex reared back and prepared to unleash a devastating blast from its jaws.

As everyone covered their eyes or cried out, Cera surprisingly smirked seeing Rod behaved exactly as she had hoped for! "Got ya!" she cried out as she had her raptor charge straight ahead and run underneath the t rex's legs!

After that it let out a powerful roar and blast of wind which punched a huge crack into the rock wall, "What!?" he exclaimed as Cera's raptor miraculous escape got behind him and dodged his best attack!

"No way!" Laura soon followed nearly falling off her seat!

Cera was only getting started as she pressed some more buttons causing her raptor to leap right on top of Rod's back!

"She got on top of him!" Max pointed out as Rex and Zoe gasped in amazement.

Rod tried pressing several buttons as his t rex slammed itself into the wall or thrashed about but Cera's claws dug deep and she codlin;t be dislodged, "Gah! I can't shake her off!" he yelled in frustration and annoyance while pressing buttons in a frantic.

"In the one place you'll never reach." Cera then voiced out as he then gasped in alarm.

"Tch! Is this what she was planning from the start!?" he breathed seeing she had begun digging her claws into his dinosaur, causing it to roar in pain as apparently she got him in a vulnerable spot!

"Get her Rod don't let her beat you!" Laura cheered for her brother.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" he yelled angrily as his dino still made no further progress in getting off its attacker, as his pressing soon turned to forceful slamming, evident by him sweating hard and gritting his teeth, "Grr! Get off!" he yelled as Cera smirked in response.

"As you wish." she said as she had her raptor dig into the rex's back, driving it forward until it tripped over several trees it knocked over earlier before jumping off to safety!

"Ah!" Rod gasped in alarm as his rex crashed to the ground on its' side much to the amazement of everyone present in the room! Now the tables were turned, as Rod found himself the hunted and Cera's raptor closed in on him! "Get up! Get up!" he cried desperately, but his t rex struggled over and over to no avail of getting up! "Urgh! If I was using Terry he'd be up on his feet in a flash…." he thought having trained him to use his legs to stand up again, in the event he ever fell down in full sized form.

As Rod's tyrannosaurus turned around to force itself up, Cera finally saw that window of opportunity! Getting close, she narrowed her eyes and pressed the final attack button as her raptor screeched launching itself high into he air! "Finishing move! Raptor meteor!" she called out as the raptor shot down its killing claw and drove it straight into the Rex's chest as it roared out in pain, spitting out blood much to everyone's amazement!

"AH!"

"Whoa!"

After roaring in agony, the rex let out a final breath before it then collapsed motionless on the ground, and Cera's raptor stood upon it and screeched triumphantly.

For several moments everyone stayed speechlessly, some with widened eyes and shocked expressions….unable to describe what their eyes witnessed, it was so intense everyone else in the arcade had gotten off the games they were doing to come see, and it definitely was beyond anything they were expecting. Even Johnny himself had a hanging jaw before pulling it up and stepping out to announce before the situation got anymore awkward, "A devastating combo with a critical move right to the opponent's weak spot! We have a winner! Cera!" He bellowed as everyone snapped out of their trance and cheered at the top of their lungs!

"HOORAY!"

The D Team jumped up for joy and even hugged each other as they cheered, "She did it!"

"I knew she could!" As they did so, their dinosaurs ran around and jumped up with excitement, Cera though slumped back into her seat panting with exhaustion before smiling at Miku who popped her head out to smile and congratulate her.

"Heh….that was…a good game…" she smiled before resting easy.

The only ones who weren't enjoying the moment as everyone else however, was Laura and her brother Rod, who sat down staring at his screen which said Game Over, he couldn't comprehend what he just saw, "No way….I lost….." was all he could force out from his voice. Never before had he been beaten so utterly in any game till now, to him, this was an all new experience for him and he had no idea how to react or respond to it.

Max then smirked as he walked up to Rod and burst into laughter, "Hahahah! Who's the loser now huh!?" he said mockingly while pointing to the defeated second place finalist who hissed back at him with a begrudging expression.

He blinked his eyes snapping out of his faze before glaring back at Max, "Grrr….." he grunted and clenched his fist before regaining his composure and folded his hands on his hips, "Heh, guess it takes one to know one." he said smirking at Max who sweat dropped and fell down comedically.

"Ack!"

"He's got a point there Max….." Rex commented as he and Zoe shook their heads in disapproval at him, as he picked himself up and shook his fist at them angrily.

"Hey whose side are you on anyway!?" he growled fuming up before shaking his head clear, "Aww just forget about it, all that matters is that we won and that the cards are ours now." he said before pulling a face at Rod and Laura, "Hehe, better luck next time." He grinned as he began to stick out his tongue at them, while Cera, Zoe and Rex simply stared at his immature behaviour.

Rod scoffed uncaringly as he turned around to take his leave, "Hmph….don't count your victories just yet, no way you're getting rid of us that easily….." he said as he made his exit with Laura through the arcade entrance.

Once they were out of sight, Laura ran out in front of her brother and cried out, "Rod! How could you let her beat you like that!? She doesn't even have a dinosaur and yet she mopped the floor with you!" she cried.

He then sweated nervously and shook his hands out, "C…calm down Laura, I didn't expect her to be that good honest! She just….caught me by surprise that's all…." he said uneasily while his sister simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"Right…."

Rod then folded his arms in deep thought, "Still, who is she? And how did she learn to play like that…" he thought to himself with a serious expression, while Laura lowered herself forward with a frown.

"What are we going to do now? When grampa finds out about this…." She sighed deeply, only to be interrupted by Rod getting her attention after a pat on her back.

"He won't, trust me, this game isn't over yet." he said encouragingly to her before grinning rather deviously, "It's only just begun."

Back at the arcade, Johnny the arcade manager congratulated the entire D team at the awarding ceremony where all the other competitors were applauding and praising them, though most of all Cera, who was crouching down while hiding behind the backs of her teammates as they tried to protect her from the paparazzi, while also hoping to get as much attention themselves though hand waving or jumping up and down while striking poses. "To the victor goes the spoils. The cards are now yours." he said, "As you were able to pull off an astounding victory, I'll even throw in this bonus prize special collector's pack for the newest and hottest show Dino Troopers!" He proclaimed loudly as he passed on the book and dino trooper deck box to all 4 of them as they took it and jumped up joyously.

"Awesome!"

"YAY!"

A little while later after managing to get out of the crowd's fanatical behaviour as well as sneak Cera out without notice, the D team had finally managed to exit the arcade and were now on their way towards the train station and then back home in triumph. While of course giving Cera some compliments and congratulations of their own, "That was incredible Cera, I've never seen anyone play that well before." said Rex as he walked beside her.

"Yeah, not even a real utahraptor would make the moves you did back there." Max commended as she blushed red with embarrassment.

"Hehehe….oh it was nothing really…." she said, "I'm just glad we were able to pull it off."

"Where did you learn to play like that?" Zoe then asked with interest as Paris barked looking up at Cera.

"Yeah, it's like you're some kind of video game prodigy!" Max added on before clapping his hands together in a begging position, "You've really got to teach me that critical move there! Please pretty please?" he pleaded with puppy dog eyes, much to Zoe and Rex's embarrassment.

She chuckled nervously"Ahaha…it's actually not as complex as you think. You see-"

"Celebrating your victory so soon?" A familiar voice interrupted them as they turned in the direction it came from.

"Huh!?" They gasped in alarm to see Rod and Laura were speeding towards them on an alpha scooter!

"Hope you don't mind us crashing the party!" Rod called out as Laura reached out her hand and snatched the card folio right out of Cera's arms much to the surprise of the D team!

"Ah!" The D team failed to respond in time, and before long the duo of kids waved the card folio playfully in front of them much to their frustration and annoyance.

Zoe gritted her teeth angrily, "Hey! We won those fair and square you weasels!" she cried out.

"Now give it back or else!" Max then threatened shaking his fist furiously.

"Hee hee, sorry but that's a big no no." Laura giggled wagging her finger.

"Besides that wasn't even a real victory," Rod followed, "There's no way any of you guys could ever beat us if we fought for real and you know it." he said smirking at them while shrugging his shoulders mockingly at the D team.

"So I'm afraid the prize goes to us once again! Catch you later losers!" Laura sang as the 2 of them sped off in the direction of the park where they parked their aircraft!

As they sped off leaving the disoriented D team and their dinosaurs in the dust, they looked on furiously at their foes getting away with pulling wool over their eyes out of the blue, "Why you! No way we're just going to let them get away with that!" Max yelled.

"Yeah, not with all the hard work we put into getting those cards the first place!" Rex followed pumping up his arms into fists.

"Come on! Let's go after them!" Zoe cried as they prepared to charge forward, but Cera held back as a better solution came to mind.

"Guys! Wait!" she called out stopping them in their tracks, "It's obvious we'll never catch up to them on foot! We'll have to think this through carefully."

Max widened his eyes in alarm, "Carefully!?" he exclaimed, "Those creeps just got a head start on those really fasts cooters! We can't waste time contemplating, I'm going on ahead!" he yelled impatiently before taking off after the siblings its Chomp hurrying after him!

"Max wait!" Rex cried out chasing after his friend with Ace, while Zoe stayed behind momentarily, looking back at Cera them towards the front where her fiends were heading, before finally making her decision on who to follow.

"Sorry Cera, but this time I'm with Max, we can't afford to sit back while they get further every second." she said sadly before smiling lightly to Cera, "But if you do have a plan, feel free to let us in on it, in the meantime we have some thieves to track down." she said.

Cera nodded understandingly, "Alright then….You guys go on ahead, and good luck, the meantime Miku and I will think of something, I promise." she said placing a hand on Zoe's shoulder who nodded in response before she hurried after the boys together with Paris. After they both left, Cera brought up the map on her dinoshot as she began drawing her finger over the Sanjo City map, estimating Rod and Laura's most likely destination as well as their most likely route, "Let's see now…..from what I've leant so far the alpha gang wold have to land their transport somewhere large but also well hidden….." she mouthed out tracing her finger to the park before bringing it to her current position and the direction they took off in, "The best place for that is somewhere in the central park of Sanjo City….so if they were to take the quickest route….." After calculating inside her mind she pinpointed it on a certain dot on the map, "Here!" She said so as she looked to Miku who nodded to her, apparently knowing what she was thinking. "Alright, now to bait the trap….." She thought to herself as she pressed a button on her device which returned Miku to a card, "Let's go Miku. Dino slash! Micro raptor! Shine!" she chanted as bright light erupted from where she was!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Rod and Laura sped along the busy street avoiding incoming passerbies and vehicles with ease, taking the shortest route possible to get back to the park and then to their ship which was docked at the most secluded section, "Hee hee, that was easy as pie!" Laura giggled in amusement as she clutched the folio with one arm while securing herself onto Rod with the other.

"Yeah, way easier than any other mission we've had so far." Rod snickered in agreement, "I could get used to mopping the floor with the D team any day."

"Oh just wait till grampa sees all these cards he'll be so happy his back could fix itself just fine." said his sister as she decided to take a sneak peak at the cards inside to see their haul. As she began to skim through, she blinked her eyes in surprise noticing something rather peculiar about the cards they had now acquired, "Oh?" She then patted Rod on the back getting his attention.

"Hmm? What is it Laura?" he asked.

"Say Rod, you've got to take a look at this….." she said showing him the book as he raised an eyebrow in confusion as to why she would want him to stop over something so small when they're so close to victory. She then shook it in front of him more thoroughly, "Come on please! It's important."

"Sigh….alright then…." Rod sighed as he set the scooter on brakes and they came to a stop near the entrance to the park, "What's so special about these cards? They're the same cards as they always are aren't they? Nothing to sneeze at."

"Y..yeah I know that." she replied, "Still, you really should check out these dinosaurs here…..I don't recognise any of them." As she said that Rod took the book and opened it up. As they both looked through, what they found came as quite a surprise. On pretty much every page of the book was stacked with dinosaurs they need came across before, some of which included nodosaurus, centrosaurus, alioramus and liliensternus. Also there were also a number move card dinosaurs too such as tapajara dive, skydive with a quetzalcoatlus, and special recovery with cryolophosaurus on it. They were so deeply intrigued by their find they didn't realise they were being watched high above them by a pair of predatory eyes, locking on to the book.

"I don't recognise any of these at all from the cards grampa and his old friends made….." Laura commented flipping through page after page, dinosaur after dinosaur.

Rod narrowed his eyes with suspicion, true there were a great many cards that were scattered across the globe when their base had an accident, maybe they would miss a dinosaur here and there but there was no way they'd miss this many. "Yeah you're right Laura…..you think these could be fakes?" he suggested thinking something was definitely wrong with this picture.

Laura checked the backside of some of the cards and they seemed to be real in appearance, "I don't know, they could be or maybe not…." she said putting it back in.

"Guess we'll have to find out when we get home then." Her brother replied as he prepared to start up their scooter once again. Before he could move again though, a figure behind the corner of a nearby building pressed a button on a gun shaped device, disabling her cloaking function, as it did-

Blink Blink

"Huh? What's this?" The siblings took out their alpha scanners to see they were glowing, as they zoomed in on the beacon it depicted a signal was coming not far from where they were! "A dinosaur here?" Rod questioned.

"Could be belonging to those D team kids right?" Laura then called out, "Maybe it's a trick! Or maybe the scanner's just malfunctioning!"

Rod shook his head uneasily, "N…no…this signal says it's brand new….and it's…." The signal then appeared to be moving, until it appeared to be almost right on top of them, "Coming closer?"

A light breeze soon blew across them, and without warning a sudden blur swooped down from above them with a loud shriek!

SHRIEK!

"AH!" They had no time to react as the card folio was snatched right out of their grasp!

"H…hey!" Laura cried out, she and her brother widened their eyes in surprise to see a small white and feathered dinosaur had grabbed the book in her jaws, she glided across the wind currents till she perched on the arm of a person. As the looked they recognised her as the new girl with the D team, Cera.

"Great job Miku. Just like we planned." she said praising her partner by scratching her under her chin and she cooed in amusement while shaking her feathers playfully.

Rod and Laura were both taken aback in more ways than they could believe. "No way….She has a dinosaur?"

"It's a microraptor….But that wasn't one of the original cards, what's going on here?" As Cera took out her dinoshot and returned Miku to her chibi form, they snapped put of their faze before yelling out at her in anger, "Give that back! We stole it fair and square!"

"There's nothing fair about stealing," Cera replied seriously narrowing her eyes at them, "I thought you kids should know better than that, didn't your parents ever taught you that? If not then they really need to do a better job at it." As those words left her lips, both Rod and Laura turned serious….the fact she actually brought up their parents and pretty much insulted them….They both felt anger boiling up inside themas their expressions hardened. "I thought you children would be different from the Alpha gang we know," Cera continued before shaking her head in disappointment. "But I guess I was only kidding myself, you all really are alike…..thinking of just using dinosaurs as mere tools and nothing more. How disgusting….."

"How dare you…." Rod suddenly said in a low tone catching Cera by surprise.

"Huh?"

"You know nothing about us!" he yelled furiously, "We were thinking of letting you off easy, but now you've made this personal!"

"We're gonna get you for that!" Laura followed as her brother started up the scooter's throttle and charged straight at their enemy!

"Oh dear…." Cera breathed before turning around and making a run for it, knowing it just got serious!

"Come back here!" They zoomed after her but luckily, after several quick manoeuvres and last minute turns she was able make a break fro an alleyway and hide behind a large dumpster sitting at the side, as she covered her mouth and Miku his inside her hair, making as little noise as possible as well as less movement as she could. The alpha scooter with Rod and Laura on it came to a stop right at the entrance to the alley way, they looked around fiercely with vengeful expressions and only became ever more frustrated to discover they lost sight of her and that her trail was now cold "Where did she go!?" Laura cried out, her tone betraying a sense of vengeance that she and her brother had, that they wanted to take out on this stranger who dared insulted their parents whom they loved more than anyone else…..

"Grr, she couldn't have gotten far, let's keep looking." Rod grunted as he sped along the path of the alleyway, missing Cera and Miku as they came out the other end and took off the other direction….

Realising they were gone, Cera let out a loud gasping finally able to take a breath after holding it in for so long. Miku too gasped for air after she poked her hair out of her partner's hair, it wasn't just that, Cera could feel her own heart was racing uncontrollably and she could feel herself sweating like crazy while in a panic…."Huff….they're fast that's for sure….no way I'll be able to outrun them for sure….." she panted before bringing a finger to her chin in thought, "But if that's the case….." As she began to think her next move, which wasn't easy due to the pressure she was under as each thought was constantly interrupted by her fear of being spotted as she couldn't help but look at all directions around her every few seconds to make sure they weren't spotted. She was about give up and make a rush to the outside, when Miku began to chirp something to her.

CHIRP CHRIP

After listening in to what she had to say, Cera smiled with relief agreeing with what she had in mind, "That could work Miku, heh, they wouldn't see it coming." she said as she placed the book down on the floor and began to search up something in her pack, "Thanks a lot for the idea Miku, glad I have you with me." she said thanking her partner as she took out a deck box that was given to her right before she left the arcade earlier. It was then she narrowed her eyes in serious thought, how the alpha kids took offence to her words earlier, could there be more to them than she first thought?

 **(Later)**

Moments later Cera stood alone in the middle of Central Park, tapping her foot repeatedly on the ground while waiting frantically for her friends. "Where are they?" she asked as her heart began racing and she began to sweat rather profusely. Not long ago she contacted them via communicator to inform them she had the cards and now wanted to meet with them as soon as they could, so they could regroup and stand a much better chance at protecting it against the alpha gang. Though sometime had passed and she was beginning to worry, "I told them to meet us right here, hope nothing bad's happened….." Miku popped up on her shoulder and nuzzled her at her cheek giving her some comfort, though she still feared the worst for her fellow teammates and friends, evidenced when she swallowed rather hardly. She was about to call them once more, when a familiar voice cried out to her from behind.

"Hey Cera!" Her ears perked up upon hearing Max's voice.

With a bright smile she turned around to see the rest of the D team and their dinosaurs running towards her, "You guys came." she said with a sigh of relief.

They smiled back at her feeling relieved too, "Of course did." said Max.

"When we heard the news we came as soon as we could." Rex followed.

"Have to say, being able to snatch the card folio from those 2, we didn't think you'd be able to pull it off on your own so easily." Zoe commended feeling most impressed.

Cera scratched the back of her head, "Oh it wasn't easy that's for sure." she chuckled nervously, "For kids they really are tenacious….But nothing I couldn't handle." she then added at the end as she folded her arms with confidence, though at the back of her mind, she had an uneasy feeling that there was something about them too…..something a little more than what she initially assumed them to be.

"Good to know." Rex said with relief, he and the other D team members unaware of Cera's hidden feelings. "So where's the book now?" He then asked.

Cera smiled as she reached into her back hip pack, "Right here." she said taking out the red book and holding it out to the others who gasped in amazement.

"Ah! You actually got it!" Max cried out in amazement.

"Told you a proper plan can do anyone some good now and then huh Max?" she said playfully elbowing his side while he sweat dropped seeing Zoe and Rex's grinning tease faces directed at him.

Seeing he couldn't deny it, he twiddled his fingers and pouted, "Yeah, I guess so…." he said with great discomfort.

"Heh! Guess it's a good thing we have a backup plan ourselves!" A familiar voice laughed catching all of them by surprise!

"Huh!?"

As they turned around to look they saw Rod and Laura both on their alpha scooter blocking their only way out of the park and holding out a pair of alpha scanners! "Going somewhere?" Laura smirked.

"Too bad we can't just let you walk away after that stunt you pulled. So let's settle this properly!" Rod yelled out as he and his sister held out a pair of cards!

"Alpha slash!" They both called out slashing their cards!

"Blaze Tyrannosaurus!"

"Shake em up Saichania!" Both their dinosaurs appeared on the field and roared viciously, their presence causing other people and passerbies to run away in a panic! Soon the park was clear and devoid of all people, all except for the Alpha duo and the D team who stared down facing one another.

"Grrgh….Why don't you guys just back off already!?" Max yelled shaking his fist in anger as his friends all carried firm expressions as he did.

"Yeah, there's no way we'll ever hand the cards to you!" Zoe yelled defiantly.

Laura smirked in response, "We know that, which is why we're left with no other choice but to use a little brute force. Don't blame us for what's about to happen." she sang.

Rod grinned, "Once we beat you guys down we'll be more than happy to take those cards off your hands, or better yet, we only just need one of your dinosaurs to make the others surrender, perhaps then you'll be willing to negotiate a trade. Your friend for the folio." As he said that, their dinosaurs barked and became more agitated knowing what they were planning, and they weren't about to have any of it.

"Now that's just low…." Rex narrowed his eyes with disgust, a feeling and expression mirrored by Cera who stood by him.

"I agree…." she hissed clicking her tongue.

"So what will it be? Think you guys have what it takes to be a real dino master? Hmm?" Rod taunted as their adversaries readied themselves for battle.

"Tch! Guess we've got no other choice but to fight guys." said Max.

"Seems that way." Cera added as their leader turned to them all.

"You ready?"

They nodded, "When you are Max!" said Zoe.

"Alright, then let's do this!" The 3 of them returned their dinosaurs to card form before slashing them across their dinoholders!

"Dino slash!"

"Go triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnosaurus! Blow them away!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!"

As their 3 dinosaurs appeared in their true full sized forms, the sky turned multi coloured and the park vanished, now to be replaced by a grassland terrain surrounded by many prehistoric plants. The sight of it made Miku and Cera widen their eyes in amazement as they looked around their surroundings, "A battle field…..incredible…." she breathed….feeling as though she somehow experienced this before….but how…..

"Stand back Cera," Max said to her as she turned to him, "We'll handle this." he said firmly and she nodded trusting them.

"Alright. Good luck you guys." she said wishing them the best as they nodded back with a smile.

Wasting no more time, Rod and Laura sent in their dinosaurs for a full on assault! "Go get em! Terry!"

"You too Tank!" They called out as the t rex and saichania charged ahead, with their rivals charging towards them!

Chomp and Paris engaged battle with Terry, with Chomp attacking head on and their heads colliding in a tie, before Terry could get a bite on Chomp's horn Paris quickly came in a full forced charge before knocking him over from the side into a rock!

Meanwhile, Ace effortlessly jumped out of Tank's clubbed tail multiple times before getting a bite in on her front leg! Though she was quick to react as she shook him off and mounted a charge with her spiked back, only for Ace to leap over her and land on the other side!

"Heh, we've got you guys outnumbered so this shouldn't take too long." Max pumped his fist and grinned with confidence.

Rod narrowed his eyes as a drop of sweat fell from his cheek, "Hmph, numbers don't mean everything you know." he said.

"Especially when you've got tricks up your sleeve." Laura cheered which seemed to set Max off a little.

"Oh yeah!? Tell that to this!" He yelled taking out a move card! "Electric charge!" As he slashed the card, a lightning bolt dropped from the sky as Paris stepped out of the way, letting her friend charge straight into battle with his now electrified horns!

Rod sweated and gritted his teeth anxiously but Laura quickly stepped in with a move of her own, "I've got your back Terry! Earth barrier!" Tank quickly disengaged from Ace as she leapt in front of Terry, slamming her forelimbs into the ground and causing several rocks to fly up into the air before they covered over her till she was encased in a crystal like armor which easily deflected Chomp's charge and sent him flying back into Paris!

"Chomp!" Max cried out as Zoe covered her mouth in shock.

"That looked like it really hurt too…." she said.

Cera cringed at the sight, the thought of running straight into a wall and having the force deflected back at you was not a sensation anyone would enjoy. But after that passed, she became rather surprised at the kids' teamwork with one another, as well as sensing a bond between both them and their partners, "The way they're communicating and working with their dinosaurs….it's completely different from the Alpha gang we know…." she said as Miku chirped feeling impressed.

Hearing her words, Rex decided to put it into practice as he took the lead next. "Okay guys, let's regroup show them some real teamwork!" He called out as Max and Zoe nodded in agreement with him.

"You got it!"

"Alright!" They called out as their dinosaurs regrouped together for a final attack!

"Together now! Lightning strike!"

"Metal wing!"

"Cyclone!" They call called out as their dinosaurs began to shine with power surging through them!

Seeing this as an emergency, Laura cried out to her brother with urgency, "Rod! It looks like a good time for that secret weapon!" she suggested.

"I'm way ahead of you Laura!" he called out with a grin as he took out a move card from his scanner, one which Cera's keen eye caught sight of.

"That card…a triangle shape?" she questioned knowing it wasn't natural.

"Go critical block!" As he slashed the card, the 3 velociraptors appeared before them which charged ahead, splitting up before each latching onto one D team dinosaur, snapping at, clawing or charging at them causing their moves to get cancelled out!

Max sweated and gritted his teeth with frustration to see their efforts get blocked, "Oh man not that move again!" he grunted as Rex and Zoe tried desperately to regain control of the situation.

"Shake em off Ace!"

"Paris!" They cried as the raptor's cunning and agility easily kept them out of harm's way by lathing onto the far back of their enemies where they had no hope of reaching or shaking off!

Meanwhile as the ferocious battle ensued, Cera took notice of a certain malevolent aura emanating from each of the 3 velociraptors as they continued their merciless assault, "That move card…..the raptors….." She gritted her teeth with anger as she clenched her fist, "They no doubt suffered horribly…." she hissed under her breath.

Meanwhile Rod and Laura both smirked with amusement to see the tide of the battle was turning in their favour now, "Now to turn the tables on you! Blazing spin!" Terry erupted with flames as the velociraptors quickly broke off their attacks and cleared out! Terry then fired a set of flames from his mouth which enveloped Chomp, who screeched in pain before being grabbed by the neck! He then picked him up, spun him around and round before throwing him with all his might towards Ace and Paris who were bowled over by Chomp as they fell to the ground heavily beaten!

"No!"

"Get up Paris!"

"Ace hurry!" The D team all cried to their partners in horror as they struggled to get back to their feet in time.

Cera could only look on as though she was traumatised by the immense pain and suffering the dinosaurs were going through in the battle, and they weren't about to stop anytime soon….as she turned to see Laura hold up another move card in her hand!

"Like we'd give you a chance to fight back!" she yelled out slashing the card, "Spike arrows!" Tank's back surged with energy before the club on her tail glowed and began shooting out a powerful barrage of spiked arrows as fast as a machine gun did! A barrage of spikes shot up into the sky before raining down upon all 3 o the D team's dinosaurs as they all roared and cried out in unbearable pain of being impaled!

Max widened his eyes, "Ah! That move!" he gasped recalling it to be the one stegosaurus used back at Cambodia.

As Paris and Ace remained down on the ground due to fatigue and exhaustion, Chomp struggled wobbly to get to his legs, though his breathing grew deep and at this rate he too would be brought to his knees once more…..

Rod smirked seeing their foes were now on their last legs for sure, as he took out another move card, "Now to finish you guys off with Magma blaster!" He called out as he prepared to slash the ultimate fire move for Terry to unleash!

"Grrr….." The D team eyed them begrudgingly, not only did they manage to take 2 dinosaurs from them but now they were even using the moves of the dinosaurs they caught….that really was throwing salt in open wounds. To make matters worse, the velociraptors began regrouping around with terry and Tank as they began watching he D team's partners, eying them closely and waiting for the moment they would try any last desperate moves before sealing them off for good, along with their fates!

"As long as those velociraptors are out there, any attack we try to throw out will get blocked….." Max hissed knowing the alpha gang's seemingly full proof strategy.

"They've got us pinned down." Rex huffed as the pressure began getting to him.

"Is there anything we can do?" Zoe asked anxiously, "It….it can't end this way!" she cried out as Cera decided enough was enough, as a shade covered her eyes and she suddenly revealed them to be filled with rage.

"That's enough!" she yelled out catching everyone's attention as she began stepping out onto the battle field.

"Huh?"

She turned and shot a fierce glare towards Rod and Laura, "Those velociraptors, there's no doubt about it, you guys did something to them didn't you!?" she yelled furiously with glaring eyes. An expression which made the rest of the D team rather uneasy, recalling how much she detested seeing dinosaurs hurt unnecessarily….Laura especially as she actually began to shake a bit with fear.

Rod however scoffed in response, "Hmph, what's it to you? We didn't do anything to the dinosaurs, we're just using the cards given to us and nothing more." he said which further infuriated Cera.

"Tch! Guess it does pay to be ignorant then….." she said hissing through her gritted teeth, "The fact remains you're using a dinosaur that was no doubt forced under experimentation against it's will! And no doubt if you got your hands on more dinosaurs you'd make more suffer!" she yelled out before glaring at them with a firm glare, "Well not on my watch! I'm going to make sure you don't leave here with any of these cards!" She growled holding out the card folio and tossing it behind her as she took out her dinoshot, which caught their eye with interest.

"Huh? What's….that?" Laura asked uneasily.

"I don't know…." he brother answered narrowing his eyes, "But from the looks of things, we're about to find out…."

Max swallowed hard as a drop of sweat dripped from his cheek, "Whoa, I didn't think Cera would get so riled up like that….." he said uneasily.

"Me neither." Rex added, now they knew she took matters with dinosaurs more seriously than any of them ever could….but why?

Pressing a button on her dinoshot, Miku transformed into a beam of light before returning to the form of a secret dinosaur card, "Let's go Miku!" She called out as she slashed the card on the opened end of her dinoshot! "Dino slash! Microraptor shine!" As her dinoshot shone, Miku appeared before her in full dinosaur form as she flared out her wings and shrieked!

Everyone gasped in shock to see Cera was taking it to the battlefield now, though Rod was the first to recover as he smirked, "Check it out Laura, looks like she wants to play too." he said mockingly.

Laura narrowed her eyes seriously, "We admire your spirit but you're way out of your league here. Go climb a tree or something unless you want to get squished." she said deciding to show a little mercy since they were up against a minuscule foe.

"I'll be the one doing the squishing here." Cera hissed under her breath as she prepared to fight.

"Cera wait!"

"You can't fight them head on like that!"

"Don't worry you guys, I know exactly what I'm doing." she replied to them firmly as they held back deciding to trust her. She took out a move card and without warning or giving the velociraptors time to react she slashed it! "Time to fight fire with fire! Go move block!" Miku shone brightly, which disorientated the dinosaurs out on the field as they shook their heads and roared out, even facing the others to cover their eyes!

"Argh! That light….."

As the right died down, everyone looked on in amazement to see a pair of troodon had materialised before Cera and Miku! "Whoa! Those are troodon!" Rex gasped.

Rod and Laura widened their eyes in shock, "No way!" The troodon duo snarled against the raptor trio before both sides charged one another and engaged in up close combat! One faced off 1 raptor while the other troodon fought against the remaining 2. Yet despite the difference in numbers, the fight was pretty much even as the larger troodon were able to quickly anticipate and outmanoeuvre the raptor's attacks much faster than the raptors could to the troodon's moves! As the engaged in biting and slashing everyone looked on in amazement to see the clashing between them!

"Look at that, they're outnumbered and yet they're fighting evenly with the velociraptors!" Max gasped.

"Not quite," Rex corrected, "Troodon are supposed to be really smart amongst dinosaurs, even outclassing many of the raptors in terms of intelligence. No doubt they must have some sort of plan…..like Cera…." he then realised as he saw Cera focused completely on the battle as if she knew exactly what she was doing from the start.

"Did Cera get that from the card folio?" Zoe then asked.

Rex narrowed his eyes, "Looks like it, with so many cards in there we should be lucky she picked a good one." At the back of his mind, he also suspected that maybe she might have known this would happen in advance, and just so happen to know the right card to use….

In the end the first troodon was able to sidestep its' opponent before snapping at its jaws and bringing it down, while the other one struck forward and took both its' rivals out with a claw swipe, causing the trio to return together as a single triangle shaped card.

"Alright!"

"They did it!"

"Woo hoo!" The D team cheered as Cera smiled feeling victorious, mush to the discomfort of Rod and Laura.

"No way, she beat the velociraptors!" Laura cried out in disbelief.

"Tch!" Rod clicked his tongue in frustration took out his grappling claw and tried to shoot it out to retrieve the triangle card, but in the blink of an eye, 1 troodon sped ahead and snapped on it and yanked it out of his hand to his surprise! "H…Hey! That isn't yours!" he yelled as it ripped apart the claw to pieces before stomping on it!

After that the other snapped up the triangle card in its jaws before it and its partner sped over to the D team's side, "Give that back!" Laura yelled out as they handed Cera the card.

As she reclaimed it, the troodon returned to card form as she narrowed her eyes firmly against her foes, "You've made enough dinosaurs suffer for one day. There's no way we're letting you take this!" She yelled defiantly flashing the card at them as they gritted their teeth in frustration.

Her team mates rushed over to her and praised her with many encouraging words or friendly pats on the back, "Awesome Cera!"

"Great job!"

"Nice!" They each praised as she smiled and blushed shyly.

"Aww thanks you guys….it really means a lot." she said. Though their moment was cut short by a loud roar on the opposing side.

They quickly turned to see Terry and Tank back again, now enraged along with their owners who were now intending to pull out all the stops from this point forward! "Hey no fair! You stacked the deck against us!" Laura cried out.

Rex narrowed his eyes, "You guys are one to talk! Not only using that critical block move again on us but even having the nerve of using Saurophaganx and stegosaurus' moves too!" he yelled.

"He's….not wrong there…." Laura muttered having been stand corrected.

Rod clicked his tongue seeing they were beginning to get on his nerves, "Tch! You may have beaten the velociraptors but your dinosaurs are now on their last legs!" he yelled as he had Terry prepare to charge in for one final attack!

Cera hardened her gaze as she prepared for a countermeasure, "Not for long!" she said turning to her partner, "Miku! Energy equaliser!" Her raptor shone brightly in light as she took to the air and glided to Chomp, resting herself on his back behind his frill as she began to charge him with her own energy! He glowed in bright rainbow light before shaking off the spike arrows and roaring with power!

"Alright Chomp!" Max cheered shooting his fist to the sky as Zoe and Rex smiled with relief.

"Grrr!" Rod gritted his teeth even more frustratedly, while his sister Laura stood back blinking her eyes in disbelief.

"The way she handles and communicates with the dinosaurs….just…who is she?" she asked herself. She didn't have much time to wonder as Max called out his attack to Chomp!

"Now let's go and finish this!" he called out as his triceratops roared and charged ahead into battle against Terry and Tank!

"Oh yeah?! Take this!" Laura countered slashing a move card, "Earthquake!" Tank surged with energy as she rose up onto her hind legs and and slammed onto the ground causing a massive crack in the ground to open up towards Chomp!

"Thunder bazooka!" Max countered as he slashed his move, allowing Chomp to leap over the fissure and spin while surging with electricity!

"No way!" Laura gasped.

Rod clenched his fist, "Grrgh! Let's see you top this! Magma blaster!" he yelled slashing the move, as Terry gathered fire in his jaws and slammed his foot in the ground before firing it at full force! To his surprise, Chomp effortlessly speared through the flames! "Impossible!" Rod gasped with Laura as Chomp finally powered on through and collided with Terry and Tank, firing them backwards into one another before colliding through a large rock and returning to card form.

"I don't believe it!"

"Tch! Not once but twice we actually lost!? To them!?" They cried out in exasperation, "This really isn't our day…." Rod groaned faceplaming as the battle field disappeared and they returned back to the park.

"Woo hoo!"

"We did it! The cards are now ours!"

As the D team celebrated their victory after their partners all returned to card form, Max laughed out loud and pointed at their defeated opponents, "Ahahah! In your face!" he laughed much to their annoyance.

"Grr! This isn't over! Not by a long shot!" Rod yelled as he and Laura reclaimed Tank and Terry's cards.

"Ahahaha! Oh you couldn't be more right!" a female voice laughed out of nowhere catching everyone's attention.

"Huh!?" As they all turned to the side they caught side of the Alpha trio, standing at the other side of the park staring mockingly at them much to their dismay.

"Not you guys!" Max yelled in annoyance.

"And the old lady too!" Zoe followed which caused a huge tic mark to appear on Ursula's forehead!

She turned red and steamed, "Hey! How dare you!? How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!?" he growled with Zander and Ed trying hard to hold her back and restrain her. After she calmed down she grinned sinisterly before flashing a certain book in her hands, "Anywho, looking for this?" she sang as her 2 henchmen snickered deviously.

Cera widened her eyes in shock, "Gah! The card folio!" As she turned to look where she tossed it earlier in the battle she saw it was gone! Turning to the thieves she and her teammates hardened their gaze and turned furious knowing they were purloined when they least expected it!

"Give that back!"

"We won it fair and square!" Max and Zoe each yelled.

"Perhaps, but you made a deal with Rod and Laura, not us." Ursula wagged her finger playfully, "So I'm afraid that doesn't count." she sang before sticking out her tongue and making a face at them.

"Unlike the last card folio, we'll make sure this one is locked up secure so there's no way you'll see it again hahaha!" Zander laughed joyously while Ed simply, grinned.

Zoe gritted her teeth in frustration, "Tch! You guys are the worst!" she hissed.

"I can't believe they just took it when we least expected it." Rex huffed in annoyance.

Rod and Laura weren't having it any better either, "They actually used us as a distraction….That's just sneaky…." Laura breathed as she frowned with disappointment.

Her brother shook his fist out in anger, "Hey! We had a deal remember! That you'd stay out of our business!" he yelled.

"And let you fail Dr Z?" Ed answered back as Rod fell silent at his words.

"You know we did think of that at first, oh how mad he'd be and the trouble you'd get yourselves into." Ursula giggled as she tingled with excitement, "But then we decided bigger picture, why do that when we could simply swipe the glory from right under your noses!"

"Which we just did!" Zander called out as they turned around to the their leave! "And now we're off!"

"See you wouldn't ever want to be you!" All 3 of them said as they took off behind the trees as fast as they appeared!

The D team charged straight after them in pursuit! "Hey get back here!"

"Stop right there!" they cried out hoping to close as much distance as they could before it was too late!

As Rod and Laura remained back where they were, they began contemplating whether this may have been a good or bad thing. Thinking it over carefully, Laura tugged her brother's sleeve catching his attention, "Hey, even if it was sneaky, at least we got the cards in the end so I guess that counts for something right?" she said hoping to encourage him and lighten the mood.

"I guess…." he replied before smiling back, "Heh, better luck next time for us I guess." Noticing Cera was still rather close to them, he narrowed his eyes and yelled out to her, "And you." As he said so firmly, she then stopped in her tracks momentarily as her firm eyes met theirs. "I'm sure we'll be seeing more of you later on, if I were you, I'd watch your back. Next time, things will be very different." Rod concluded as he and Laura took off on their scooter and disappeared from sight.

After they left the premises, Cera narrowed her eyes firmly before smirking to herself along with Miku before she ran off to catch up with the D team who left them behind.

A little further into the distance she found all 3 of them searching around the glade of trees they ended up at, as they each were on edge and scouting out every inch of terrain for any sign of the alpha gang, even shouting out old lady a few times didn't do them any good…surprisingly….as they sighed in defeat knowing they were long gone by now.

"GRARGH! I can't believe they got away from us!" Max yelled in frustration as he fell down to the ground punching it repeatedly, as Zoe and Rex looked on. They too were angry and frustrated having lost so many cards, but not to the extent Max was. Cera looked on sympathising with him as she walked up to him hoping that what she had with her would cheer him up at least a bit. As she came closer he heard him breathing heavily, "We had them….we had them! And now….they're…." Chomp barked sadly as he came up to Max's face and nuzzled him, while Ace and Paris held back by their partners' sides.

"Actually guys." As she spoke up they all looked to her, confused as to why she was smiling brightly as she began reaching into her hip pack, "We're the real winners here, and here's proof of that." as she took out a deck box and opened it, she poured out a couple of cards revealing them as a couple of dinosaur cards which included a sauropelta and an archaeopteryx charm move card!

The entire D team was taken aback by surprise as their eyes widened at Cera's unexpected gift.

"Whoa!"

"No way!"

"Are those-"

Cera nodded, "Mhmm, all the cards, every single one from the folio." she answered as the D team shook emotionally before taking hold of some of them joyously. Some of them even went to hug Cera closely to show their thanks, as she blushed and patted them back.

"This is awesome!"

"Good job Cera!"

Rex then stopped his celebrating and asked with suspicion, "But wait…how did you get them?" he asked pointing out to her as the rest of the D team quieted down and turned their attention to her.

In response she giggled cheerily while scratching the bad of her head"Hehe, like I said, it was part of my plan."

 **Flashback**

A while ago, while she was in the corner hiding from Rod and Laura, she and Miku decided to take an extra step for safe measure, by quickly emptying the cards from the folio by shaking them out. After gathering them up as fast as she could she took out a certain deck box she picked up while at the arcade, and after taking out the cards that were in it, she replaced them in the card folio before securing every last card from the folio in the deck box before contacting the D team she acquired the book.

 **(Present)**

As she finished her story the entire D team was stunned speechless with amazement at her quick thinking and unexpectedly successful backup plan under such short notice and pressuring conditions, not even they could have been able to have plan out as calmly as she did.

"Whoa, now that's really thinking several moves ahead…." Rex commented, even he was impressed despite being the most level headed and tactical of the group.

"Yeah no kidding…." Max followed.

"Wonder why I didn't do that the last time…." Zoe thought to herself while feeling guilty. Sure she may have had less time to react but she knew she could have done better. A mistake she wasn't abut to repeat again.

"I leave nothing to chance and neither should you guys," Cera explained looking to them all, "Even if something seems unlikely it's usually best to anticipate anything that might happen no matter how unlikely it is, after all it's better safe than sorry right?"

Max scratched the side of his cheek sheepishly, "Yeah I guess so…." he said trying to avoid eye contact. Before sucking it up and deciding to apologise for being wrong, "Sorry Cera….You were right, maybe holding back and thinking things through more carefully may turn out to be more beneficial in the long run…..I understand it now." he said as Zoe and Rex smiled seeing him acting more humble.

Cera patted him on the shoulder showing she accepted, "It's fine Max, what's done is done, and all that matters is that you learn it now." she said before looking to everyone else, "If you ask me, looks like we've all learned a valuable lesson here if you ask me."

Everyone nodded, "I agree." said Zoe before she widened her eyes upon realisation, "But wait." She then tugged at Cera's shoulder making her turn to her, "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier!?"

Max and Rex both mired Zoe's expression before focusing their attention on Cera herself, "Yeah why? I thought we were a team." said Max.

"If you had the cards all along, then you had us all worried for nothing right?" said Rex questioning her.

"Hehe…sorry about that," she sweated while scratching the back of her head," Like I said, I didn't want to take any chances and risk giving them away, sorry about worrying you guys like that…..though as they say sometimes to trick your enemies you might need to trick your allies too. Though I don't usually approve of it at least it does work in the most desperate of situations." she said chuckling nervously as the res too the D team squinted their eyes at her, disappointed for being tricked before coming to a reasonable resolve.

"That makes sense….."

Taking a handful of the cards, which included a dacentrurus and arrhinoceratops, Rex looked up to Cera curiously, "Wait a sec, if the cards are here then, what did the alpha gang just take?" he asked.

"Oh just a little surprise I cooked up on the spot, one they won't forget. Hee hee." she giggled with a playful wink knowing the alpha gang were no doubt going to love the surprise she left them in place of the cards, which were no doubt going to be better than leaving them empty handed after all their hard work.

 **(Later that evening back at Zeta Point)**

"You buffoons! How dare you sneak off behind my back?! Especially on a mission I did NOT assign you on!" Dr Z yelled, with great displeasure while he lay in his bed, at the A team as they sweated profusely at him berating them. When they stood before him with the card folio they expected to be showered with words of praise and admiration, instead though they were rewarded with harsh words and the potential of severe punishment much to their shock.

"W…With all due respect Dr Z…." Ursula started out, her voice shaking as much as she was.

"Rod and Laura were about to lose the cards if we hadn't stepped in." Zander followed kneeling down.

"Sure we may have to sneak behind your back….again….but this time it was for a good reason!" Ed concluded while grovelling before Dr Z like a begging dog!

"All that matters is that we have the cards and the brats don't. Ta da!" Ursula sang while flashing the closed book before him.

Thinking git over and scratching the side of his head, Dr Z took a calm breath deciding to forgive them for disobeying him. "Hmm….very well then I'll let you 3 off the hook. Good work….." he said folding his arms with small pleased smile, as the Alpha trio brightened up and began dancing up and down with each other in celebration.

"Why thank you Doctor!"

"We knew there was still kindness deep down somewhere in you!" In fact, they could see smooth sailing for their future and maybe even better treatment too, they probably wouldn't need to babysit him anymore and they could pile all those chores and punishments on Rod and Laura however much they wanted! The possibilities were endless for them, and they decided to increase it all the more so-

"In fact, once you see these cards they'll cheer you right up and set your back straight once again!" Ursula grinned handing the book to Dr Z who took it eagerly with excitement.

"Oh boy oh boy! I can't wait to see what new dinosaurs begging for me to add them to my kingdom!" he thought to himself as began to open the folio slowly, cherishing every second of it like a child would over a birthday or Christmas present, "Come to me my little darlings! Come to-" As he finally opened the book, his face turned stone cold and his jaw dropped speechlessly, "GAAAAHHH!" he screamed as he looked through all the pages of the book, each page turning becoming slower and slower with each one and his expression turning more grim and cold with each one.

Oblivious to Dr Z's sudden change in behaviour, while still fantasising about their possible promotions, "What do you think Dr Z?" Ursula smiled brightening up with Zander and Ed grinning like eager kids, "I take your silence is because you're stunned beyond belief at the success we've returned home with?" She said as she and the men leaned in closer on his bed hoping to get a glimpse of his pleased expression.

"Oh I'm stunned beyond belief alright…." he said in a rather low tone which put them off. They took a few steps back as they noticed him increasingly shaky, as he lowered the book his expression hardened into one of madness, with his face streaming pure red and veins popping up al over his near bald forehead! He began gnashing his teeth like a crazed animal about to snap and they could hear not just the grinding but also the sounds of growls coming from him as well, "Grrr….." they read the signs….and they no doubt didn't bode well for them…

"Umm Dr Z…." Ed squeaked slowly, "Why are you?" Cutting him off he threw the book at full force without warning, leaving only a fraction of the second for the trio to jump out of the way frantically!

"GAH!" They cried all on the ground covering their heads, also skipping a heartbeat as the book slammed into the wall leaving behind a few cracks and even a dent in it!

"Is this some kind of joke!?" Dr Z roared at the top of his lungs, "You dare get my hopes up only to smash them down once more!? Only I can get that low and no one else!" he screamed at the top of his lungs while slamming his fists into the bed and his pillows.

Confused to his behaviour and what he said, they began crawling towards the book which lay open on the floor, "Wh…what are you talking about Dr Z?" Asked Ursula as she took hold of it and the others gathered around her to see what the problem was, "I thought these dinosaur cards would-" Upon sight of the book's contents they all turned pale and stared speechlessly into it. The folio was indeed loaded with cards, but not just any cards….and certainly not dinosaur cards…..

Every page was loaded with trading cards of the popular actions series known as Dino Troopers, with character cards depicting the troopers like red and blue, even some of the villains they fought, even with special power up, weapon or field cards that came with the entire set too.

They were stunned beyond belief, with their hopes all crashing down and sinking into the abyss once again….though what they suffered was nothing compared to Dr Z, as the sheer shock of being betrayed by his own henchmen suddenly sent a shock of pain though his spine, which caused in a massive crack that echoed throughout the halls of Zeta Point!

SNAP!

"GARGH! My back hurts even worse than ever!" he screamed at the top of his lungs while grasping his backside! The Trio huddled together shocked they hurt their beloved boss, who stood up on his bed and glared furious dangers at them! "And it's all because of you!" he pointed at them as they shook their hands out frantically!

"N…No Dr Z! We can explain!" Ursula cried out.

Zander flashed the folio out, "Yeah! These are just super rare dinosaurs unlike anything you've ever known before!" he said pointing out to a card depicting the 5 dino troopers together in their heroic poses.

"See, this one even comes with a fancy move card too!" Ed cried out flashing a card showing the dino trooper villain unleashing wind from his chest.

Dr Z gnashed his teeth having none of their excuses, "I'll show you fancy moves!" he growled before grinning deviously with just the appropriate punishment to deliver them! "Right after I have Helga stuff you 3 to the brim with MUSH!" he laughed maniacally as the Trio turned pale and shivered down to their spines!

"NOOOOOO!"

Meanwhile, Rod and Laura both were heading back to their room per Helga's instructions, as the sounds of despair echoed through the hallways. Picking it up, Rod couldn't help but snicker with delight as he folded his arms behind his head, "Hehehe, guess it was nice of them to take the fall for us huh Laura?" a few moments passed and she didn't reply much to his curiosity. As he turned to his side he could see that though Laura was focused in front of them, no doubt her mind seemed to be somewhere else, "Laura?" he asked again before noticing she seemed to be thinking to herself, as well as quietly thinking them out loud. "She has some nerve talking to us like that…..about our parents and then judging us about how we handle dinosaurs." she whispered seemingly angrily under her breath, "We're just doing what we can to get all our cards back that we lost, if anything they're the bad guys not us." Then her expression became somewhat doubtful after recalling what Cera mentioned to them on the battlefield, "But then, she does seem to have a way with the dinosaurs too….not to mention….is what we're doing really right though?" Upon recalling her words, Laura remembered how Seth modified the velociraptor cards to make then stronger, sure they were a means to ensure they got back all the cards but now she was beginning to have second thoughts herself on what was right and wrong….

Her train of thought came to a halt when her brother began waving his hand in front of her eyes while calling out to her once more, "Hello? Earth to Laura?"

"Huh?" she blinked and shook her head clear before turning to her brother who was eying her rather curiously. "Oh sorry Rod, I was just thinking just now." she responded with almighty smile though her brother could see right through it.

"About what?" he asked raising an eyebrow before realising it himself, "Wait, you're not talking about that girl were you?" he asked.

She nodded, confirming his suspicions, "If I remember, her name was Cera." she said bringing a hand to her chin in thought.

Rod then folded his arms in response, "Have to admit, for a new kid she sure knows how to handle dinosaurs pretty well, not to mention she did have some skill in that video game too." he smirked seeing now he finally had someone worth acknowledging as a proper rival, sure it meant they'd be having more trouble capturing dinosaurs but at least now the game would be a tad bit more interesting for them.

"Oh? Sounds like someone's got a little crush." Laura grinned cheekily as her brother suddenly turned red in embarrassment.

"Wh…what!? Where'd you get that idea!? It's nothing like that! Don't be ridiculous!" he cried out flustered his sister would bring it up like that."

"Uh huh….."

"Besides she got the cards in the end no doubt, so many dinosaurs none of us have ever seen before! Not to mention they even got the velociraptors too, they're one step ahead of us now!" Rod followed it up angrily.

Laura lowered her head in thought, "I guess when you put it that way." it was then she brightened up and smiled back at him as they made it to their room, "Guess that means we'll have to try harder huh?" She said as they went inside to get back to their computers. Little did Rod know was that his sister said that hoping to lighten the mood and amuse herself, because Cera's words about them manipulating dinosaurs still stuck to her like glue on paper, and even her little joke she still couldn't shake the fact that Seth no doubt knew a lot more than what he was letting on…..

Little did they know however, was that Seth himself had overheard every word of there conversation through one of the monitors. He narrowed his eyes in a firm gaze, the news that his modified velociraptors were defeated had proven to be quite unsettling to him, the fact there there was someone who could actually throw a wrench into his plans was something he couldn't overlook….as he returned to his work deciding to double his efforts from this point on.

 **(Meanwhile)**

That evening at the D lab, Reese was busy doing some scans on the triangle shaped velociraptor card the D team acquired. While she knew there was still so little they knew about the cards, she knew that this one was no doubt abnormal, which were near similar to Dr Z's secret dinosaurs which had moves programmed into them, whereas this one was a move card capable of multiple moves at once. Whoever made this card was no doubt a genius, but also very threatening if they were on the side of the alpha gang. The recovery of this new card was no doubt a victory for the D team, but chances are this could only be the tip of the iceberg for what the alpha gang may have in store for them in the future if they were to get their hands on more dinosaurs, so she made it her mission to prepare them all for the worst.

Meanwhile, Rex and Cera were busy sorting out the cards they gathered from the folio and arranging them in order before adding them to their ever expanding collection of cards. "We sure got a really big haul didn't we?" Cera mentioned as Miku pushed over a prosaurolophus card to her, which she took and arranged next to an edmontosaurus and lambeosaurus.

"Mhmm. And it's all thanks to you." Rex replied with a glad smile as he took a chasmosaurus and an opisthocoelicaudia from Ace, who held the cards in his teeth, before putting them in their respective piles.

"And that's checkmate….again." Zoe's voice could be heard from across the room as she beat Max at chess once again, this time in record time and in record number of moves too. Next to them, Paris and Chomp were having a wrestling contest only for Paris to have gotten the better of Chomp, anticipating his charge and thrust before countering and now flipping him over and her pinning him down!

Max gritted his teeth in frustration, "Aw man! Not again!" he cried out grasping his hair in bundles before slamming his fist defiantly on the table they were at. "Rematch! Now!" he growled slamming his hands while Chomp barked at Paris defiantly, refusing to accept defeat.

"Come on Max," Zoe sighed shaking her head feeling almost sorry for him while still admiring his determination to never give-up, "I won like 5 games out of 9 straight through already." she said telling him to give it a rest while Paris hummed cheerily.

"Then let's make it 6 out of 11!" he demanded as Zoe sighed once more seeing no other way to dissuade him.

"Boy Max sure is trying hard isn't he?" said Cera as she and Rex observed from afar as they rearranged the pieces on the chessboard, and Paris and Chomp took their positions on opposite sides of the room.

"Sure is a glutton for punishment that's for sure." Rex chuckled in amusement as their respective matches began once more, "Though it may be a while before he finally gets the hang of strategising, and to use his head the right way." he added at the end as Cera and Miku both nodded in agreement.

"So true."

At their table, Zoe managed to corner Max's king with a queen, rook and bishop surrounding him on all sides, "Looks like you lose again Max." She snickered beating him once more completely and utterly, once again breaking both her records in time and number of moves.

"NOOOOOO!" Max wailed in despair falling backwards onto the floor while throwing a tantrum, while Chomp cried out in defeat with Paris lying on top of him again, as everyone else laughed in amusement.

 **And thus concludes chapter 7. This is might be the biggest chapter I wrote for this story so far and I enjoyed it very much, hope you all did too.**

 **It was based off my thoughts on Downtown Runaround on what the D team could have done when they had the card folio instead of losing it to the alpha gang one time. It also shows Rod and Laura meeting Cera for the first time and them acknowledging her as someone to take seriously, as well as them using the move cards they got from stegosaurus and saurophaganax. The D team also manage to recover the velociraptors too in this chapter since they were never seen again after episode 37 Duelling Dinos, so wanted to address that here.**

 **As for the dinosaurs seen here, the card folio will contain all the dinosaurs that are in the DK universe except the ones that weren't shown in either the anime or in this story to come, for example others I hope to use in OC chapters such as irritator, aren't in the folio they acquired, also these are several of the cards that Cera lost as well the first time before her memory was wiped clean. If this confuses you feel free to PM me so I can better answer any queries you may have.**

 **Just to let you know I don't plan on writing every single episode from the anime, such as lights, camera, destruction for example, though they will get mentions of it in my OC chapters. But I will be doing mesozoic mess in a couple chapters later.**

 **In response to Drew Luczynski, well they didn't show it true but maybe I can make it more evident in season 3 (my own after season 2), also what sort of shipping war are you talking about?**


	8. Haunted Halloween

Chapter 8

Haunted halloween

It was halloween season in Sanjo City, as the evening sun had finally set, the streets and town was alight with many flashy colors glowing from decorative lights in shape of spooky themes such as bats or monster faces, while others had ornaments such as jack o' lanterns sitting on the lawns of several houses which were all carved with a variety of silly or scary faces. The houses too were decorated with various ornaments too play cobwebs or bats and spiders hanging from the ceilings, the entire town was truly getting into the spirit of things. Kids dressed in a wide variety of costumes from the classic werewolf or frankenstein to cosplaying as some of their favourite tv/movie characters soon came bursting out of several houses at once, crying out in excitement for candy as they ran off carrying their paper bags or pumpkin baskets to ask for sweet treats from neighbouring houses, while some adults who too dressed up in the spirit of things went out to supervise them or to set up stands and attractions to earn themselves a little extra treat besides candy.

In one house, which wasn't quite ready yet for the festivities, "Aha! Evil will never triumph! Now taste my justice!" Max proclaimed loudly while dressed in a scarlet red dino trooper costume, his personal favourite, as he flashed his heroic blade in a rather dramatic pose before trying to view himself from different angles in the mirror, even deciding to flex a bit himself.

Knocking on his door and entering was Rex, who was in a medieval knight costume which even included a helm, boots, sword and a shield, stepped in clanking about with each step he took. "There you are Max." he said with a small frown of disappointment on his face as Chomp and Ace were with him too, though not dressed yet since Zoe herself said she had just the right costumes in mind for them, "Quit goofing off, you were supposed to be helping out with getting the place ready remember? It's your job to help mom with the pumpkins while I decorate the house." he said rather seriously.

"You must have me confused for another dear citizen!" Max boasted to him while wearing his helmet, "Scarlet trooper doesn't concern himself with mere house chores! He fights evil day and night to protect the innocent!" he cried out before striking a pose once more, which did little to impress Rex nor sway him from his moody attitude.

"Yeah yeah, now hurry up," he said turning around and smirking at his friend, "Otherwise mom said she wouldn't let you go trick or treating with the rest of us."

Max widened his eyes throwing his helmet off, "N…NO! I'm coming! Wait up!" he cried out following after him.

As he came downstairs, Rex had just exited the house to hang up dinosaur skull themed lights on the house with Ace. Looking at the dinner table, Max's eyes widened at a pot of treasure he saw there. "Ah…." His mouth began to water as he saw a large assortment of cookies, liquorice, lollipops and chocolates in a large cauldron shaped pot. He snickered to himself thinking no one would notice if he were to help himself to a few of them first. As he tiptoed over to the table his hand reached out, only for the sweets to suddenly be taken out of his grasp!

"Huh!?" as he looked up he gulped to see his mom was smiling at him cheekily, dressed in a shrine maiden outfit while also sporting a pair of fox ears and even a tail too. She wagged her finger, "Uh uh uh Max, these are for the trick or treaters that will be coming soon." she then said pointing to several large pumpkins sitting on the table nearby the tv area. "If you want some though, you're going to have to earn them." she sang as she took the pot into the kitchen to keep it out of her son's greedy reach.

As the candy pot disappeared from sight Max then let out a deep and heavy sigh as he lowered himself forward, "Aww man….." he groaned deeply to himself before looking to the pumpkins at the TV area. Seeing that complaining and whining won't get him anywhere, he might as well get his job done with seeing no other way about it. Taking the kitchen knife that was at the dinner table he began poking at the large vegetables, though his efforts barely made a dent in them. "Man the skin on this thing's as tight as a drum….." he grunted in annoyance as he only managed to get the sharp edge into the skin of the pumpkin though carving it out was another challenge he was having trouble with. He hardened his gaze and yelled out loud as he tried to slice through but to little avail. "Poof…" he gasped sweating with exhaustion before falling back into the couch, before he could give up though he heard the sounds of munching nearby. As he opened his eyes he then jumped in shock to see Chomp was munching through he pumpkin he tried to carve out! "Chomp no! You can't eat that!" he cried out yanking it away from the young triceratops, who let out a sad whimper in response. Sympathising with him, Max held out his hand and gently petted his partner's head with his hand. "Save your stomach for the candy, that's the real good stuff!" he said encouragingly with a smile, which made Chomp bark with joy in response.

Looking to the damage his buddy left on the pumpkin, Max frowned wondering how he was going to explain this to Aki, till he blinked in realisation, "Wait a minute…." he then looked to Chomp then to the pumpkin again several times. As his partner tilted his head curiously, Max scratched his chin in thought, "I wonder…."

 **(Zoe house)**

Meanwhile at the animal hospital, which was now decorated with snakes, scorpions and spiders around its walls to give it a more spooky theme, Mr and Mrs Drake both left the house (while dressed as a japanese samurai and kunoichi respectively) on some house calls leaving Cera and Zoe back, knowing they could trust them to lock up the place when they go out. Speaking of Zoe though….

"Ta da!" she cheered while flashing a bright blue ball gown with yellow highlights. She also sported a pair of red high heeled slippers, light blue arm sleeves, a green bead necklace and a small tiara embedded with bright decorative stones in it, "Don't I look like the belle of the ball? Huh?" she said with a cute wink as Paris jumped up and down barking amazed and Miku smiled and nodded with approval. She held out her dress doing a polite bow to thank them for their approval before looking to the back room. "Hey Cera, what's taking you so long? Shouldn't you be finished by now?" she called out to her friend who apparently wasn't finished changing yet.

"I don't know Zoe….." her voice said uneasily as she stepped out into the open, blushing red as a tomato. She wore a pair of purple pointed shoes followed by a set of white knee socks. She also sported a rather frilly purple dress decorated with a number of ribbons around it and a long lace wrapped around the torso till it ended with a bow knot behind. She too wore a pair of somewhat baggy purple arm sleeves and a pointed purple hat which had a bow ribbon laced around it. The most notable feature of her costume was the set of glittering fairy wings that were sticking out from behind her as she blushed red in embarrassment while clutching onto the sparkling wand that came with it, which ended with a glittery star ornament. Her outfit turned out to be rather flashy in her opinion as she kept trying to turn her head away from Miku and Paris' amazed and surprised expressions, being widened eyes and hanging jaws. "I feel silly in this….not to mention it's really uncomfortable and itchy…." she said twitching nervously while scratching her uncovered shoulders and struggling to reach her back where the wings were.

"Aww come on Cera, you look great!" Zoe cheered patting her on the back, "I picked out that costume with all my heart, not to mention you can't have a princess without her trusty fairy godmother." she said while doing a cheerful spin and letting her dress flow too.

Miku and Paris began to snicker in amusement, as Cera looked to them with a pair of narrowed eyes.

"…."

"And don't you both worry." Both Paris and Miku's snickering vanished and they jumped as Zoe leaned down towards them both. "I've even got outfits for you too!" As she smiled at them cheerily they both turned pale and their hearts both skipped a beat.

Little while later….

"Ta da! Now don't you both look smashing?" she sang cheerfully clapping her hands together as she smiled proudly at her hard work, Paris now had a pair of white feathery wings clipped onto her back, a long brown brushy bit covering up her tail and finally a small white cone shaped horn was tied onto her forehead around her crest to make her look like an alicorn! Miku on the other hand had a beak piece tied onto her face along with a few more colourful feathers around her wings to make her look like a parakeet!

As they both frowned and let out disappointed sighs, Cera couldn't help but sweat drop and chuckle in amusement at their appearance. "Heheh…heh….." As they say what comes around goes around.

 **(Max's house)**

"There and done." Back at the Taylor house, Rex had finally managed to finish hanging up the last of the decorations around the side, which was tricky standing on a ladder while wearing metallic boots in a clanky knight armour, but nevertheless successful as Ace jumped up and down wagging his tail praising his partner for his accomplishment. "Alright, and with that we're all set!" he said as he took scream steps back to eye the place form the garden, to see it now decorated with skull and bone themed lights handing from the roof ends and around the support pillars of the house, "Man does that look like a spooky house or what." he commented folding his arms on his hips proud of the good work he did.

Inside, Max too was relieved to have his task finally completed, "Phew, never thought we'd ever get that finished." he breathed wiping sweat from his brow as they now had a set of spooky themed pumpkin lanterns ready to display on the lawn, in a variety of unusual and creepy faces which would no doubt give all but the bravest of visitors a fright! "All thanks to you Chomp." he said looking to his friend who was still nibbling away at a failed attempt to carve it into a dinosaur shape.

"My my, if he keeps this up he might end up eating the entire pumpkin…." said Aki smiling in amusement as Chomp seemed to be indulging a little too much into the pumpkin having almost finishing half of it and then turning to eye at the rest!

"Whoa whoa!" Max gasped grabbing his buddy and picking him up before he could get the chance, "Hehe, save your stomach Chomp, you'll need it for the big boatload of treats we're going to be hauling back in later tonight!" he said petting the trike's head who then barked in excitement while shaking his tail!

RING

"Trick or treaters already?" Max then asked curiously as he looked to the door after putting Chomp down.

"It's still a little early for that honey, but I'll go see." said his mom walking up to the door while he and Chomp went to taking the pumpkins outside to set on the lawn with the candles to make them light up..

As Aki opened the door she covered her mouth in surprise to see a pair of girls at the door, in rather adorable costumes in her opinion, "Hey boys!" Zoe called waving her hand out, as Paris stood by her side and Miku on Cera's shoulder.

"Ah! Zoe and Cera! Welcome." smiled Aki with a warm angelic smile that was enough to make most people feel light hearted and at ease.

Looking at her, Cera couldn't help but nod in acknowledgment, "Wow Mrs Taylor, you look great!" she praised as Aki blushed red herself.

"Aww thank you dear, this was something I've wanted to try on when I was younger but never had the chance to do." said Mrs Taylor as spun around a little to show off her outfit.

"Hee hee, well you sure do look the part." Zoe giggled, "Maybe you'll have luck being picked as shrine maiden for this new year festival if you're lucky."

"Why thank you….you sure are sweet." she said before welcoming both girls and their pets in, "Come on in and help yourself to some treats before you all head out." she said showing them to their candy pot as Zoe giggled with excitement over which she should help herself to first.

"Hee hee!" Sitting down she split a couple of the treats between herself, Cera and Miku, giving the sugar stars to Cera, candy corns to Paris and some gummy worms to Miku, as they munched away at their snacks while Zoe and Cera ate in a more civilised manner.

Before long Max and Rex came back in after preparing the outside, and they both were quite surprised to see who was in their house now, "Hey Zoe and Cera! You're here!" Max cried out as their friends came to greet them. As Max then narrowed his eyes and placed a hand to his chin in thought, while observing Cera's outfit (to her embarrassment) he couldn't help but grin and give her a thumb up, "Wow, not bad….." he said as she laughed nervously.

"Hehe…." Cera blushed red in embaressment.

"Hee hee thanks, you're not too bad yourselves." Zoe commented the 2 boys.

Rex then blinked his eyes curiously, "I thought you were done with princesses after that time in India?" he asked as Zoe took several steps back and waved her arms out frantically.

"T…that was totally different!" she cried out now blushing red herself.

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise at Zoe's sudden change in behaviour, while and the boys smirked or grinned at her, "Okay so maybe I don't want to be an actual princess, but that doesn't mean I still can't dress like one!"

"Right….." They both said in response.

"Anyways, I've got presents for both Ace and Chomp too!" She then stated taking out a paper bag she had brought with her, also hoping to change the subject, "Ta da!" She then said after flashing off her masterpieces, with Chomp dressed in a bedsheets with a set of eye holes and Ace had a nose horn taped on his head along with a pair of wings and a pointy tip at the end to make him look like a dragon!

Max and Rex both blinked their eyes unsure of what to say in response, "Well they do seem to…..like it?"

"I guess?" They each said.

"Don't you guys look absolutely adorable too? Hmm?" smiled Zoe leaning in to them both as they simply blinked back at her.

Cera smiled, "I guess they don't hate them at least since they haven't torn them up yet." she suggested as the boys nodded.

"Agreed."

Max then fetched his helmet and put it back on, "Well, we've got to go help Reese and dad with getting the D lab all set up too." he said as he headed for the door and the others followed.

"Still think she'll want to join us too?" Rex asked.

"I highly doubt it," sighed Zoe in disappointment, "She's always so deep in her research and not having any time for 'kiddish festivities' as she says. Heh, she's not that much older than us yet she acts like a grownup." she then snickered as Cera raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's because she is one?" she pointed out.

"W…well she's still got a lot more years ahead of her and we wouldn't want her to miss out on anything while she can!" Zoe then cried.

"I see your point there….." Cera replied standing corrected, also feeling quite touched that Zoe was that caring for her sister despite being harsh and strict at times.

Zoe then held out another paper bag, only this one was tied and wound now with a red ribbon, "I did manage to get her a special halloween gift just for her! I do hope she'll at least consider opening it up and trying it." she then added feeling hopeful.

"Yeah hopefully…." said Max as he then called out to behind them, "See ya mum! We're heading out for the evening!"

"Take care kids!" Aki replied back to them from the kitchen, "Make sure you share your goodies with everyone! And stay away from the woods."

"Will do!"

"Bye bye!" They all said to her as they exited the door and closed it behind them.

After heading up there hill to the D lab, they couldn't help but look on impressed to see the place was indeed ready for the holiday mood. Around it were several flickering lights and sound speakers playing menacing dinosaur growls and roars, along with several bones or dino skulls decorating the premises outside, "Wow, that sure does bring a nice halloween theme to it." Rex couldn't help but feel impressed.

"Yeah, Dr Taylor sure has gotten into the spirit of Halloween for this that's for sure." Cera nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's go in and see if he needs anymore help." said Zoe as she opened the door and let the others in.

As they went in the skeletons of pterosaurs hung down from the ceiling and were decorating the place with other kinds of Halloween decorations and ornaments. "Hey dad!" Max called out, but suddenly the lights were cut to their surprise!"

"Huh!?"

"What the!?"

"Hey who cut the lights!?"

"A blackout?"

"Greetings citizens of Sanjo!" a voice bellowed out loudly surprising them all!

"Huh!?" They gasped and looked around in alarm, before a spot light from out of nowhere shone down before them, revealing a large man dressed in a rather impressive adventurers' outfit. He wore a set of silver sunglasses and a black spiked adventure hat. He also sported Dr Taylor's brown gloves and vest but the inner layer was grey and fluffed out at the shoulders, followed by a set of bright blue jeans.

"I am Dinoman! The Mysterious warrior who studies dinosaurs!" the mystery man bellowed folding his arms and flashing a cool grin looking as heroic as he could, though his act didn't seem to impress or fool any of them though….

"Umm….." Cera scratched her head wondering what to say, she could admit though it wasn't what she had expected.

"Dad…..you're embarrassing me!" Max face palmed.

"That's a costume?" Rex asked.

"Even Chomp and the others look way better than that….." Zoe sweat dropped.

In response Dr Taylor suddenly fell facedown on the ground as the words hit him hard like an emotional rollercoaster.

"I told you that outfit wouldn't be that convincing Dr Taylor….." said Reese at the other side, not looking while focused on her work.

The man then sweated and clenched his fists after picking himself up, "No, no can't you see!? It is I Dinoman! You must be mistaking me for someone else!" he cried out before shooting his fist up to the air powerfully! "The name's Dinoman! Dino Power!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs and as dramatically as he could, as the 4 kids and their dinos stared back.

Max rolled his eyes, "Fine….whatever you say dad….I mean….Dinoman…."

"Yup! And don't you forget it! Hahahaha!" Dinoman laughed out loud while the others simply stared and sweat dropped.

"Right….."

They then headed over to see Reese at her work place with hopeful expressions, "So Reese, feel like joining us this year for trick or treating!?" Max cheered with excitement.

"It's going to be super fun!" Zoe followed.

"Yeah, surely you wouldn't want to spend the night cooped up in the lab now would you?" Rex concluded.

Sadly their hopes didn't seem to be up since her eyes were locked on the computer screen she was at, "I appreciate you kids inviting me out, but for the umpteenth time I told you I'm not interested." she said monotonously which put them down slightly, "I've outgrown such childish activities long ago, and besides, I'm quite busy myself and have no time for them anyway." She said.

"But-" Before Zoe could finish, Cera then stepped in to stop her there.

"Let's not force her okay. It's her choice and let's respect it." she said placing a hand on Zoe's shoulder as she sighed sadly.

"Oh fine…."

"It was worth a try anyways…." added Rex comforting Zoe too.

As they turned around to leave, Max turned around and called to her, "Well if you change your mind, you know where to find us!" he cried as they left through the doors.

"Take care." she said to them though without turning so much as an eye to them as they left the premises.

After they left, Dinoman popped in out of nowhere, "Well then young lady! Care to join me as my trusty sidekick!?" he bellowed loudly with much enthusiasm and excitement, "In venturing the streets of Sanjo City and gathering all sorts of rare, juicy and delicious treasures!?"

In response however, Reese reached out and pinched his ear tightly without even leaving her seat!

"YOW!"

"I told you before Dr Taylor, and my answer remains the same." She said in her usual monotonous voice, also with hint of impatience knowing he had been doing this to her a bunch of times earlier in the day and she was at her limit. "So you'll just have to go sweets hunting on your own tonight, and do not make me repeat myself." She said as she turned an eye to the incapacitated man, who froze in terror upon seeing her glaring expression, "Understand?"

He then gulped down hard, "Ugh…..why can't everyone just play along….." he whimpered wishing he could get some respect. As she let him go he rubbed his now sore and throbbing ear before getting back to his moral self, "Well suit yourself then Reese, just wouldn't want you to miss out on all the fun that's all!" he said though Reese didn't seem to pay him much mind.

"Hmph….." Wishing he'd act his age, it was hard for her to imagine a man would act like a child and not feel shameful about it too.

Before he left, he then opened a nearby cabinet and took out a brown paper parcel from it, "Oh yes! Zoe sent this to me earlier this afternoon, said it's for you. She went through a lot of trouble to get this for you, so you should at least open it up!" he said as Reese blinked and for once the entire night, looked away from her computer to see Dr Taylor put it on the desk nearby. "Alright! Dinoman away! Dino power!" He bellowed loudly in his alter ego before heading for the doors and not sweets galore!

After a while of staring at the parcel left behind, Reese couldn't shake off the feeling and interest at what would be inside. She couldn't focus back on her work without the thought of her sister's gift coming to mind every few seconds. Eventually unable to handle it anymore she headed towards it, "Might as well see." As the took the bag and brought it up, she noticed a note stuck to it as she began to read it.

" **Dear Reese, I know you've been busy, but don't want you to miss out on all the fun today, so I got this special costume for you since you've been such a good sister. I know you'll look absolutely stunning in this! You can thank me later!"**

Reese smiled with appreciation, having her heart touched by her younger sister's kind words, "My my, how sweet of her…..Wonder how I should thank her for this?" she thought to herself before sniffing her own clothes, "These lab clothes of mine are starting to smell a little, must have been the long hours of working, also I have been busy almost all day…" she thought to herself after giving their words some more careful consideration before finally deciding to open it. "Might as well see what she got me," she said to herself as she began removing the brown paper and string also feeling somewhat excited to find out what it was, "It can't be too-" as she opened up what was inside her gaze hardened firmly and her smile vanished, "…." she said nothing as the eyes in her glasses flashed menacingly, next time she saw her little sister she was going to give her much more than a stern lecture, "Bad….." she then added finishing her sentence.

 **(At Zeta Point)**

Meanwhile back at the Alpha gang's island, it was night and Rod and Laura had spent nearly the entire day working on their assignments given to them by Helga, and frankly they couldn't take another second of staring at a screen filled with numbers and complex words which continued to drive a nail of pain into heir heads, their expressions of droopy eyes and gradually slowing typing made that clear.

"Yawn….man I'm bored….." Rod yawned covering his mouth before folding his arms behind his head and leaning back into his seat.

"Yeah, we've been at this all day now, we should probably get some time off." suggested Laura, "We're almost finished anyways."

"Are you kidding?" Rod replied opening an eye to her, "If Helga catches us with even a single question blank she'll ground us for life. You want that to happen?"

Laura lowered her head in sadness, "I guess not…" she sighed before bringing up another tab, revealing a camera spy droid she sent out to keep an eye on Sanjo City, already confirming that was where the D team's home base was located. What she saw though only seemed to make her not only more whiny but also jealous as she saw the large number of people in the streets, going door to door for treats while dressed in various costumes such as animals, clowns or monsters, or playing games at the halloween fair such as pin the tail on the chimera or apple bob. She puffed up her cheeks, "Look at everyone having so much fun now while we're cooped up in here….it's not fair!" she then cried out shaking her arms and legs childishly.

"Hmph….." Rod folded his arms in disappointment, he felt the same as he did but as long as Helga was out there there's no way they could ever get out and play, let alone off the island…..

He was about ti give up, when the door to their room suddenly opened up and stepping in was none other than a certain familiar man.

"Huh? Oh hey Seth." said Rod as he and his sister looked up to see the blue haired man entering.

"Another dinosaur for us to catch?" Laura asked as she switched off her computer.

He smiled in response, "A good guess, but no."

"Oh? So why are you here then?" she then asked curiously.

He then closed his eyes and smiled before giving his answer, "Simply to tell you both to go have a little fun and enjoy the festivities for tonight."

"Say what now?" They both blinked their eyes in surprise and suspiciously, thinking they misheard what he said, actually they were even wondering whether the man they were talking to was Seth.

"You heard me," he then added confirming his words, "You've done so much these past few days and I believe what Helga's doing to you is very much unfair. After all, you're children not robots, you deserve time off and freedom to do as you please now and then." he said, "So feel free to take a break and….trick or treat as they say…."

Their eyes both widened with joy and amazement, "Wow!" Rod cried out pumping up his arms in excitement.

"Really!? You mean that!?" Laura clapped her hands together.

He then smirked in response, "Would I lie to you?" he added, "Still, while you are out there I do have a simple task for you both." he then said as held out a pair of alpha scanners.

"Oh? And what's that?" Rod asked as he and Laura took both devices from him.

"To keep your eyes peeled," Seth answered, "Especially since I learnt the other day about your encounter with the D Team's newest member." he added seriously which put a damper on Rod and Laura's happy mood. The memory of their complete and utter defeat still burnt into their minds since then and they were feeling rather sore and bitter too about having lost a large number of new cards to the D team because of her.

"Oh….you heard about that…."

"Word gets around quickly huh?" They each said frowning.

"Faster than you can imagine…." Seth replied as he put his hands back into his pockets, "While everyone is enjoying the festivities I want you to keep your eyes opened for their base of operations, which no doubt lies in that city somewhere. When you have the chance-"

Both Rod and his sister brightened up, "We can get back every single one of those cards those D team jerks stole from us!" they each cried out.

"You both are fast learners." he nodded, "I'm certain your grandfather will enjoy such a treat on such a very momentous occasion."

"And we can have fun too!" Laura cheered.

"Finally! No more homework and assignments! My brain can finally take a breather!" Rod jumped up for joy.

"I'll be sure to cover for you while you are out for tonight." said Seth feeling pleased to see them getting psyched, also deep down he was doing this to get on their good side and to avoid drawing any suspicion towards him, for if he could get them to trust him, he could surely make Dr Z trust him as well and in turn Helga. As turned around to take his leave, he stopped as the door opened up and he didn't step out, "Oh and by the way." he said pointing to Rod's computer screen, "The answer to your last question is B, taking into account the speeds of both trains and the angle at which they are travelling at, Point B is no doubt their most likely point of intersection." he said at the end before leaving.

As Rod took a closer look he widened his eye sin surprise to see that Seth was indeed right, "Hey, how did I miss that?" to him it was a very simple explanation and answer, yet also the most unlikely answer that one would choose if they were faced with the question.

"If he's so good why doesn't he help us out more often?" Laura huffed folding her arms on her hips.

"Let's just be glad we're finally done." said Rod switching off his computer before grinning and punching his hand into his fist, "And it's time for some well deserved payback."

Laura nodded in agreement with him, "Yeah, but first." She ran off outside to Rod's surprise, and before long she came back in dressed in a full black cat costume complete with fluffy tail, a bell collar, cat ear headbands and even paint on whiskers on her face. "We've gotta look the part!"

"Heh, you just read my mind." Rod grinned as he ran off to their room and after rummaging through his closet he came back out dressed in a dark black and red cape, while sporting a rather smart suit on the inside with a bat theme on it, along with a pair of fake vampire teeth.

As they both headed for the hangar, Ursula, Zander and Ed both looked out from the corner begrudgingly as they tensed their fists and hardened their gazes, "Just look at them, thinking they can just waltz off and leave us here with that slavedriver Dr Z just because they're kids!?" Ursula grumbled feeling offended that this implied she was old.

"Oh the joys of youth, I knew I never should have wasted you….." Zander teared up as they watered from his eyes, as years of regret began to well up inside him.

"Yeah, just think of all those gummy bears they could be loading into their pumpkin baskets as we speak….I could eat 10 bags worth right now." Ed thought out as he began fantasising all the different kinds of sweets and chocolates they could be gathering up now if they weren't stuck in, the thought of it made his mouth water and his saliva began to drool!

To Ursula, that was about the last straw for her, "You know what, why should we stay here and waste our time on menial labour!" she cried out punching up to the sky, "We have our own lives to live and I'm not about to waste any more of it here in this madhouse!" she proclaimed, her fiery spirit and words inspiring both Zander and Ed.

"Count us in too!"

"We'll show those brats we don't need to be toddlers to have fun! We can do that just fine, maybe even better!" They both said as they all cheered in unison!

"Yeah!" They were prepared to go make their mark on the world, when a familiar voice cried out and shattered their moment of glory.

"Hello!? I know you 3 dolts are out there! Get in here right now!" Dr Z suddenly screamed from his room behind them which amide them jump up in surprise!

"EEP!" They screamed in terror as the sound of their bedridden boss' voice sent shivers up their spines.

"Where's my dinner!? I expected it to be here yesterday!" he screamed while slamming his fists into his bed like a spoiled baby!

"Ack!" Ursula's jaw dropped having realised they forgot about making him dinner for the night.

Zander then brought them all in for a close group discussion, "What do we do about him?" he whispered.

"He'll never let us go for sure….." Ed whimpered twiddling his fingers together.

"Just leave this to me boys." said Ursula narrowing her eyes as she headed for the door and popped in her head to see Dr Z lying in bed as usual with a grumpy expression, "Sorry Dr Z, but we're about to head out into town to do a little trick or treating…." she said smiling cheerfully at him, "So I'm afraid you're going to have to bother Helga for this, bye bye!" she concluded waving her hand to him as he widened his eyes.

"What!? You're just going to leave me here to starve just so you can goof off!?" he exclaimed before tears began welling up in his eyes, "How could you be so cruel and heartless after everything I've done for you?!" he wailed as he began bawling out dramatically.

Ursula then sweat dropped seeing him acting like a big baby, not to mention to her he looks like one too. She then smiled rather warmly to him as she decided to sweet talk him, "How about this then? When we get back we'll be more than happy to split our treats with you, we know how much you love those chocolate covered raisins after all."

Suddenly his fake tears dried up and he patted his blankets with excitement, "Ooooh! Now that sounds lovely!" he cried out with his eyes glistening. "In that case! Proceed! Get going already! Bring me back all the candy your hands can carry!" he cried out giving them their orders for the night.

"We'll be sure to bring you back enough to leave cavities in your teeth the size of a canyon!" Ursula sang as she left his room, finally, and Dr Z cheered at the top of his lungs.

"Yippee!"

Heading to both Zander and Ed, "Come on boys! Let's hustle before he says something else!" she called out speeding behind them.

"Right behind you!"

"Halloween here we come!" They cried out heading for the aircraft hangar.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile Sanjo city's suburban district was alive with the sounds of laughing, cheers and excitement as children in costumes like ghosts or animals ran from door to door for candy while others decided to take a crack at the many games and stands that were set up too such as haunted houses, photo boards and even candy grab bags.

The D team were on the streets together looking around in amazement and awe, "Wow, seems the whole town's gotten into the spirit of Halloween." commented Zoe impressed.

"That's just putting it lightly! Look!" Rex pointed out at the pumpkin launch near a large garden where participants were loading up the large vegetables into catapults before launching them at the bullseye targets! One kid in a pirate costume cut down the rope holding it with a safety blade, as it launched the pumpkin high into the air before splatting right in the center! At another side was apple bob, where participants could dunk their heads in and try to pick out the apples with their teeth only.

"Ah! That looks like so much fun!" Max's eyes glistened as Chomp, looking through his ghost costume barked with excitement, "Come on Chomp! Let's go!" he said as they both ran off to play!

"Right behind you Max!" Rex followed as he headed over with them with Ace!

Zoe smiled and shook her head, "Oh boys…..they never change will they?" she said cheekily.

"Nope they won't." Cera chuckled before looking around feeling somewhat insecure for some reason, which Zoe soon took notice of when she turned to look.

"What's wrong Cera? You don't look too happy." she asked with concern as Paris looked up.

Looking around and noticing people shooting a few glances at her, Cera couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, not to mention a but cold since it was autumn now, "Are you sure about this?" she asked Zoe, "I feel so embarrassed in this….not to mention it's kinda cold too…..Also….I don't know how to feel with everyone else looking so….strange." she said, to her as far as she could remember, may be her first ever halloween night and she wasn't quite sure how to take it.

Zoe brightened up and brought her in after putting an arm on her shoulder, "Oh it'll be fine Cera, you've just got to have the right attitude!" she said cheerfully, "Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a couple of games and have some fun!"

Feeling a bit more encouraged by her friend's words she nodded back at her with Miku chirping happily as well.

As they said talked, Paris wandered off curiously and went to nudge someone in a black cloak. "Hmm?" As the person turned around and flashed a skull mask, being dressed as the grim reaper, Paris couldn't help but bark frightened as she scurried back to hide behind Zoe, shivering.

"Oh don't worry about it Paris, it's just a costume, nothing to worry about." said Zoe reaching down and stroking her gently to calm her.

"Looks like she's all freaked out and agitated." said Cera, "Can't really blame her thought since everything is so strange and foreign to her." she added in an understanding manner.

Zoe too noticed this and smiled encouragingly to them both, "Oh she just needs a little time to get used to things Cera, I'm sure she'll settle down soon, like you." she said.

"I hope so too." Looking around Cera saw something that caught her interest, "Say that looks like fun." she said heading to a spider toss game to try her luck.

"Ugh, I'd never touch a real spider…." Zoe shivered as she followed along, and she got a chill up her spine upon seeing the many toy tarantulas in the basket that people were grabbing to throw on the sticky web net, "These don't look too captivating either…." she added taking a step back while others took hold of them, in fact seeing the kids grabbing hold of the bugs with their bare hands made her jitter.

"Aww don't worry about it," Cera chuckled having taken hold of a few herself, "Just loosen up and have fun. Even a princess has to get her hands dirty sometimes."

"Hmph…." Zoe puffed her cheeks at the thought of a princess getting dirty, also feeling a but sour at having her own words used back at her, she even cringed slightly when Cera bravely picked up one of the stuffed tarantulas.

As she narrowed her eyes and focused her aim, she then tossed it with all her strength and to everyone's surprise, landed smack right in the center! "Aha! I got it!" she cheered as everyone clapped and applauded for her.

"Woo hoo!"

"She's pretty good!"

"And cute too…."

She then got handed a prize, being a bag full of bon bons and chocolates, Zoe couldn't help but feel inspired and motivated herself. Seeing the other prizes out for grab which included a set of limited edition movie character costumes she then gained a sharp expression and pulled up her arm sleeves and got her game face ready! "Okay, outta my way! It's my turn!" she said moving through the line and grabbing hold of a tarantula before throwing it!

At the pumpkin catapults, Rex managed to land a perfect score after his pumpkin managed to hit center of the bullseye! "Oh yeah! I'm the man!" he cheered jumping up and down as he was handed a set of choice nut bars

While Chomp and Max both went diving for apples in the apple bob, they looked at one another, Max having an apple in his teeth while Chomp had one on his 3 horns and in his mouth, the way he looked made Max burst into laughter, "Hahahaha!"

Ace on the other hand knew there was something interesting going on in the large barrels they were getting apples from, and wondered if there was anything else that was in. Moving to an unoccupied one, he jumped up but still couldn't reach the tip. A few drops splashed on him and he shook it off in fear, but his curiosity eventually took over his safety instincts, as he jumped up and managed to grab the tip! As he climbed over he accidentally fell in and began to splash violently while crying for help!

Turning around, Rex widened his eyes to see Ace apparently drowning in the apple bob! "ACE!" he cried out rushing in to rescue his buddy who began coughing up water and shaking himself dry all over, though his dragon costume still seemed okay even though he was wet. "Whoa! Careful there….." said Rex hugging him tightly while stroking him gently, in his metallic armour as Ace snuggled up to him, "We really have to get you over this fear of water sooner or later….." Rex then muttered knowing it'd be a hindrance if they were to fight in areas where bodies of water would be present.

Meanwhile at the other side of town, a pink jet with a dinosaur like head landed in a clearing, and hopping out of it was Rod and Laura all dressed up and ready for candy hunting.

"Well looks like we came to the right place." said Rod looking around to see people walking about with candy baskets or in costumes.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun!" Laura cheered excitedly, "I can't wait to collect all sorts of delicious treats to share with everyone else when we get back!"

"Ahahaha! In your dreams you little half pints!" A female voice said behind them as a blue dimetrodon shaped jet landed behind them.

As they turned to look, a female witch, a skinny mummy and a plump orc with a spiked mace hopped out of it, "Because the A team is here to plunder this town of all its sweetie goodness!"

"And there's nothing you can do about it!" said Zander and Ed proudly.

Rod and Laura then turned sour upon seeing the 3 clowns had to show up and ruin the mood, "What are you 3 clowns doing here?" Rod then asked.

"I'm actually surprised grampa decided to let you guys off your leashes." Laura added curiously.

Ursula folded her arms, "Hmph, for your information Dr Z gave us an assignment to bring back bags full of delicious goodies just for him!" she scoffed.

"And when he sees how reliable and generous we are, he'll give us promotions and he'll even decide of giving our jobs as nursemaids over to you 2 troublemakers!" Zander boasted pointing out at the both of them.

"It'll be smooth sailing for us from then on!" Ed stated holding his head up high.

Rod folded his arms and smirked in response, "Heh, you guys couldn't take candy from a baby, what makes you think you have a chance at gathering any goodies at all?" he said snarkily to them.

Ursula smirked raising an eyebrow at him, "Oh? If I didn't hear any better, that sounded like a challenge!"

"Heh, so what if it is? Hmm?" Laura followed.

Ursula grinned, "Okay then, let's see which team manages to gather the most candy before midnight tonight."

"Loser has to nursemaid Dr Z until his back is all better." Zander added upping the ante.

Rod smirked confidently holding out his hand, "Heh, you've got yourself a deal. Let's shake on it!"

"Of course….." Ursula smirked as she shook with Rod, but behind her back her other hand was crossing her fingers, "Hehehehehe…."

"Since we're so nice, we'll go first and show you how it's done." said Laura showing them off to a line of houses that were nearby them.

"Watch and learn." Rod followed as they skipped along to the door of the first house they saw and began knocking at it.

Knock knock

The door opened and out of it came a fairly lying man with brown hair dressed in a bear costume and his head inside the bear head's mouth, "Hello?" Looking down he saw the 2 kids hold out their bags.

"Trick or treat!" They said and it caused the man to feel light and warm inside.

"Aww how adorable, how could I possibly say no?" he said as he went back to fetch a bowl full of goodies, "Here you go." he said pouring an equal share into their bags.

"Thank you!" They said waving goodbye to him before taking off their innocent faces and replacing them with smirks as they returned to the Alpha trio.

"Heh, beat that." Rod taunted.

"Hmph, beginner's luck!" Ursula scoffed unimpressed with the rest of her gang.

"Step aside and watch how the professionals do it!"

"That's right!" Zander and Ed each said as they trotted towards the same house and knocked on the door.

Knock Knock

The same man popped his head out from the door, "Hello?" he looked down expecting to see some new kids, but was surprised to see feet instead. "Hmm?"

As he looked up he was greeted by 3 suspicious looking adults in costumes as they held out their bags. "Trick or treat?" They all said in unison.

The man blinked his eyes in surprise, and their smiles seemed to put him off rather than encourage him to give them candy, "Ummm….Aren't you 3 a little too old to be trick or treating?" he then asked.

Ursula then widened her eyes in anger at those words, "What's that!?" she growled before grabbing hold of the man and shaking him violently much to Ed and Zander's alarm!

"GAH!"

"How dare you say that to me buster!?" she growled threateningly before staring into his eyes and he sweated anxiously, "You can never be too old for free candy! Now pay up or I'll make you into a bear skin rug!" she growled and he screamed in terror at the top of his lungs!

"AAAAH!"

Zander and Ed moved in quickly to breakup the fighting, "Ursula settle down!" Zander cried out holding back the vicious witch lady from hurting the innocent bear anymore!

"Yeah there are other houses to choose from," Ed followed pulling the man free from her grasp and settling him down on the floor gently as he gasped for air, "We should have better luck there."

She clicked her tongue in frustration before claims herself down with a breath, "Tch! I suppose you're right….." she huffed, though her troubles weren't over just yet.

"Cops! Cops! I'm being assaulted! Help!" The man in the bear suit yelled out for help much to their confusion and surprise.

"Huh?"

The sound of a whistle was soon heard followed by loud yelling, "Stop right there you 3!" A pair of cops jumped out in the bushes dressed in green zombie makeup and in ragged police uniforms as they ran towards the troublemaking trio as they widened their eyes in horror and fear!

"Oh no! Zombies!" Ursula shivered being the first to scamper away!

"Run!"

"Don't let them bite you!" Zander and Ed followed as the cops chased them through he streets!

"AAAAAHHHH!"

As they all disappeared from sight Rod couldn't help but snicker in amusement, "Heh, we've got this beat easy." he said giving his sister a high five.

"Hee hee!"

Uptown at the top of a grassy hillside, a tractor pulling a cart full of hay cubes soon came up and sitting at the driver's seat was Johnny, now dressed in ragged farm clothing and a ruffled straw hat, along with a small rag mask on his face to make himself look like a scarecrow, "Hayrides! Come get a free hayride around town!" he cried out as groups of children scurried to him and struggled to get a place at the back for a free ride.

"Whoopee!"

"Let me on!"

After a number of kids dressed as angels, dogs, robots etc. got on he then began driving away up towards the outskirts of the city, and the kids all cheered with excitement. One kid dressed in a wizard outfit noticed his friend was doing something rather unusual and he spoke out, "Hey there, what you got there?" he asked to the boy next to him who was dressed as a lion.

His friend then held out an unusual shaped egg container which he was holding, "Oh, I found this in the bushes just nearby that house we just visited." he answered, "It's probably a container for some special deluxe chocolates or something."

The wizard boy jittered with excitement."Well open it up and let's see!"

The lion boy tried to yank at the container but he noticed it was sealed rather tightly to his surprise, "Urgh….this thing's tighter than than a jar of peanut butter!" he grunted as he trued harder and harder to pull it apart but to no avail. Feeling exhausted and frustrated, he then scowled at the container's stubbornness and refusal to open, "Tch! This isn't worth it, there'll be other candies to choose from." he said giving up on it.

"I agree, maybe you should toss that away, it'll just take up space in your bag." his friend suggested and he nodded in response.

"Mhmm." As he tossed it uncaringly, it then rolled down hill from the tractor picking up speed as the hill got steeper, till it eventually rolled into the woods nearby. Eventually it came to a stop at a large rock where upon impact it opened, revealing 2 cards inside it. As a wind blew through the forest, creating an ominous howl in the process, they blew over both cards causing them to glow light blew before they materialised! As the light died down, in place of the 2 cards was a large carnivorous abelisaurid dinosaur, with short arms but no doubt a broad and massive head supported by a massive muscular neck. It sported a large set of red markings over its head and face and its body was black but also covered with swamp green stripes over its body which lead down to its tail. Sniffing the air and then the ground, the rugops decided this would be an excellent place to mark its territory as it began scratching the ground with its feet before sniffing the air and licking its lips, hungry for food having been trapped in a card for some time. It soon catches scent of something appetising as it heads out in the direction of it, leaving the forest and seeing the town nearby as it heads off after the smell. As it arrived, it came upon a jack o' lantern bag filled with treats left behind at the doorstep of a house. Sniffing it, it greedily snapped up the entire load of sweets before rushing off in search of more, heading for the streets filled with countless people and even more treats among them.

Meanwhile in another part of the town, everyone was oblivious to the danger now amongst them, including the D team, who were now laughing together in amusement after finishing their night's share of fun and treats.

"Ahahahaha! That was so much fun!"

"Mhmm….it sure was….."

Cera enjoying it deeply in heart

Max then pointed out at a large stage decorated with several pumpkin stage lights and other halloween decorations, while also sporting a spooky set of drapes with an eerie theme of background music playing, "And look, they're about to have a halloween costume competition later!" he cheered with excitement before turning to the signboard near it, "We should totally enter you guys! Says there the winner will get a month's worth of peanut butter stickies and chocolate banana bars too!" he cried out jumping up and down uncontrollably.

"Hehe….I think we've got more than enough treats on us Max." Rex chuckled pointing to their bags which were stuffed to the brim with sugar coated treats.

"Yeah, too much and you'll have way worse than cavities to worry about tomorrow morning." Cera pointed out as Max sighed feeling let down.

"Aww man…..did you guys really have to be such party poopers?" he groaned as they and their dinosaurs walked on pass the stage, while unaware their dinoholders were flashing red in their pockets.

At the stage, a man dressed up as a large frankenstein stepped up to the workers onstage who were dressed as dwarves, "Is everything set up?" he then asked as they looked to him.

"Everything's all set boss!" they replied giving him an a okay sign.

"Good! Because we're going on in 5 minutes!" The boss replied before looking back stage only to get the surprise of his night when he saw the prize of sweets had disappeared from the desk! "Huh!? Hey where's the prize gone!?" he exclaimed looking around and under the desk. As he did, he failed to notice a black tail had slid past the back door to the stage.

Meanwhile at the park side, the Trio were busy gasping for air, struggling to catch their breath after having lost the cops, "Urgh….that was a close one…." Zander panted while on the ground, his rags soaking up his sweat and almost making him smell.

"Yeah, those zombies nearly had our brains…." Ed whimpered lying down on his back, taking off his mask to find his face fully drenched.

"No undead corpse is ever going to get their greasy claws on my beautiful mind as long as I live and breathe!" Ursula then screeched out loud as she took in a gasp of air.

"Hehe, so guys? How's the trick or treating going for you?" said Rod's voice as they looked up from where they were.

"AH!" They widened their eyes to see both Rod and Laura had a bag each filled to the brim with candy, anymore and it could just tear!

Ursula pointed out at them weakly, "H…How did you?" she asked painfully forcing the words out, the sight of the massive hurdle they were smacked with after having just barely escaped form the cops was beginning to take her breath away again.

"Hehe, trade secret." Laura sang.

"You know, if you drop down on your knees and beg like dogs we'd be happy to split some of our candy and give you a little head start." Rod then offered while taunting them.

"Let's say…..70-30?" his sister than suggested which caused the 3 adults to burn up in anger and spite!

"Grrr! You half pints dare to mock us!?" Ursula yelled, "Mark my words, the night is still young and we haven't even begun to get serious!"

"Before long you'll be giving your grandfather a sponge bath and rubbing his feet all day while we sit back and use you as footrests!" Zander threatened.

"Yeah! That's right!" Ed concluded.

"Okay then, have it your way." said Rod shrugging his shoulders as he turned around with Laura to find more candy and further secure their victory even though it was a landslide.

"Enjoy washing Grampa's back these next couple of weeks." his sister sang as the trio suddenly shuddered and had nightmares of having to scrub Dr Z's old wrinkly back which could be filled with all kinds of grime, dirt and covered with so many old spots that would look horrendous to the naked eye!

"EEESH!" Ursula screamed wanting to gouge out her own eyes or even rip her own brain out! "I tried so hard to erase those horrible memories from my mind these last few weeks and now they've come back to haunt and scar me once more!" she screamed.

"Even I'm still getting nightmares….." Zander cried covering his face with his mum hands.

"We've gotta do something! I don't want to scrub Dr Z's sweaty and wrinkly back anymore!" Ed cried painfully.

Hardening her gaze she clicked her tongue in frustration seeing no other way out, "Tch! Guess there's only one thing to do….." she and the others then eyed the sweets bags that Rod and Laura were carrying, they just knew in order to save themselves from such a cruel fate they had to play dirty and snatch it under their noses. "But how to get it away from them?" She then mused to herself.

Meanwhile, Rod and Laura soon heard a blinking sound coming from their pockets, "Huh?" As they took out their scanners they widened them in surprise

"Rod check it out!" Laura gasped.

"A dinosaur's nearby here!" her brother followed, their loud words being picked up by the A team's ears as they gasped.

"Ah!"

The 2 kids then grinned with excitement, "This will be perfect! When we get back home we'll celebrate with an all night sweets binge and a new dinosaur as a special icing on the cake!" Rod then grinned.

"This night just gets better and better." Laura cheered.

"Look kids! It's over there!" Ursula then yelled out pointing ahead of them.

They quickly turned in alarm, "Huh!?"

"Where!?" As they looked in front they saw a boy dressed in a brachiosaurus outfit, being with a long neck head piece and a full body dinosaur zip up suit down to the tail.

"Umm Ursula, that was just some guy in a dinosaur costume." Laura said back.

"Yeah, you guys really need glasses if you think-" As Rod turned he saw they were no longer where they were to his surprise, "Huh? Where'd they go?"

"Probably doing something stupid as usual," Laura added following his gaze, "It's a wonder how they-" As she closed at her hand she realised it was empty much to her alarm! "Hey! My scanner's gone!" she gasped as Rod turned to her with widened eyes.

"Say what!?" Checking his own hand and pockets, "Gah! Mine too!" he grunted before looking to see both heir hands were empty! "And so's all the candy we collected!"

"Tch! Those guys must have done it….." Laura puffed her cheeks angrily while Rod gritted his teeth flashing his vampire fangs in anger!

"Wait till I get them for this." he grunted punching his hand into his fist.

Further off in the distance, the trio was running quickly into the streets where the dinosaur signal was, "Ahahahah! I told you it would work!" Ursula grinned deviously to herself while Ed and Zander snickered, "Those 2 toddling twerps never stood a chance against my intellect!" she boasted as she held both Rod and Laura's scanners while Ed and Zander had both their bags of candy.

"That was genius!" Ed cheered praising their leader, "Even I never thought they'd ever fall for something like that!"

"Just goes to show in the end they're still kids!" Zander grinned as he began stuffing his face with a few caramel crunches as they ran.

"Now we bring in the long haul and with a new dinosaur for dessert on top of that! Dr Z's going to be so proud of us for sure!" Ursula cheered feeling victorious and confident as they all headed for the main town square, with Ed and Zander both waving their fists out like partying animals!

"Woo hoo!"

Meanwhile in the streets, the Rugops began walking amongst the many people who were oblivious to his presence, despite his large size many thought of him as another person (though very large) dressed in an authentic dino suit, so some couldn't help but also stare at it in admiration.

"Hey dude!" a medium sized man dressed in masked wrestler's outfit (with a homemade championship belt, wrestling pants and a bull themed mask) praised as he petted the rugops' thigh which prompted the large carnivore to look down at him. "Nice costume! Where'd you have it made?" He asked.

In response, the dinosaur simply snorted at him before moving on ignoring him.

"Whoa man talk about rude….." the man folded his arms on his hips feeling offended.

Sniffing the air and smelling food, the dinosaur turned to look and saw a young girl dressed in a small monster costume, (purple with tentacle arms, fuzzy hair and a single eye on an antennae) busy counting candy till a shadow covered over her. Looking up, she could only watch as the rugops suddenly grabbed her bag and began to snap it up along with all her night's treats! "H…Hey! That's mine! Give it back!" she cried out stomping her foot. In turn, the rugops simply spat the bag out in front of her, leaving it as a slobbery brown mush before her. The little girl then sniffed as tears welled up inside her eyes and she could no longer hold her sorrow in as she exploded into tears, "WAAAA!" she cried out loud drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity as they looked to the crying child and the massive 'person' who apparently picked on her.

"Oh Stephanie!" a voice called out, running through the crowd was a large burly man dressed in a furry monster suit with bull horns on top a headband and coloured blue with purple spots and having a short tail at the end. "What's the matter?" he asked getting down to her as she whimpered.

"Daddy! That big meanie took all my candy!" she cried pointing out to the one responsible for picking on her, "WAAAAA!" she cried as everyone looked to the rugops and turned rather fierce and mad at him.

Her father patted her gently calming her down, "There there sweetie, daddy will sort things out with him." he said before turning furious and pointing out at the large dinosaur, "You sir ought to be ashamed of yourself! Stealing candy from a child! Take off that ridiculous costume so I can tell it to your face!" he yelled despite being much smaller than his adversary.

In response the dinosaur lowered its head down and snorted at him, which only seemed to infuriate him all the more!

The man then popped his hands and cracked his neck, "So you want to play it that way then? Fine! I'll teach you some manners!" he yelled as he lunged forward and began to tug at the head! "Grrgh! Why won't this thing come off!? Did you super glue it on or something!?" He pulled with all his might before stumbling back and losing his grip! "Puff puff!" he gasped exhausted with air before turning red and charging forth! "GRARGH!" he grabbed hold of the rugops' jaws and impend up widely! His heart then skipped a beat when instead of a human face inside he saw lines of sharp teeth, drooling saliva and a slobbery tongue. He slowly closed the mouth and backed away to his daughter, "Wait a second…..that's not a mask…is it?" as he asked the Rugops let out a loud ferocious roar to confirm his answer!

ROAR!

After having saliva slat in his face and his monster hood blown off his head, the man turned pale and shook with fear, "AAAAAHH! It's real!" he screamed in terror picking up his screaming daughter and running away! Soon everyone too got the message as they cried and screamed in terror before running away, scattering in various directions!

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Seeing everyone split off in so many directions, the rugops looked around seeing who would be the best target to choose, before roaring ferociously charging through and knocking down several attractions and tearing them down to shreds! Knocking over the apple pools, smashing pumpkins and catapults and tearing up the drapes covering the stage!

Suddenly the crowd of frightened people burst in through the streets where the D team were much to their alarm! "HUH!?" They all ran out to the sidewalk out of the way of the stampeding and panicked crowds.

"Why's everyone running like their lives depended on it?" Max then asked before an idea came to mind.

"AAAH! A dinosaur!"

"He's going to eat us!"

"Run for your lives!"

As they all took out their dinoholders and Cera took out her dinoshot their widened their eyes in alarm at the signal. "AH! A dinosaur!" They all exclaimed.

The rugops continued its vicious rampage through the town, snapping up whatever treats were left behind or discarded on the ground from the panicking crowds, until noticing a person standing alone locking up his house, with his back turned towards him. The rugops licked its lips ravenously before slowly beginning to stalk his unwary victim…..

As the guy turned around however, it turned out he was wearing a dinosaur skeleton themed costume (similar to that of a boneysaur in fossil fighters champions) and as he turned around to meet the dinosaur face to face, he dropped the bag of sweets he was holding and then held his arms up and screamed!

"BWAAAAAAHHH!" To the rugops it was as though he was looking at a walking dinosaur skeleton, so it roared in a fright too before both of them turned around and ran away from each other!

The dinosaur then charged ahead and knocked over a car causing its alarm to go off before it took off for the outskirts of the town! Upon noticing the crashed car, the D team saw it head off in the distance, "There it is!" Max cried.

"Whoa! That's a rugops!" Zoe pointed out.

Rex turned to the others serisouly, "We've got to catch it before he hurts someone!" he said as they nodded firmly in agreement.

"Yeah! And quick!" said Max as the 4 of them took off after the dinosaur.

As they did however Cera narrowed her eyes, sensing something about it, as if she had seen it somewhere before, "That dinosaur….." she breathed as they maintained pursuit.

Eventually however, the large carnivore made a break for the site that was strictly off limits to the D team as they halted at its entrance after it disappeared inside, "Oh no! He's headed right into the hallowed woods!" Zoe gasped as the others followed her expression and looked with her.

They could only stop and stare at the borderline between the woods and the town, as they gritted their teeth in frustration remembering the strict rules Aki told them earlier, Max most of all, "Mom said those woods are off limits, especially at night time." he grunted.

Rex sweated anxiously, "I don't blame her for being so worried, they say that anyone who's gone in has never come out again….." he said.

"What do you think's in there?" Zoe shivered as a howling wind blew through the woods, in her mind she fantasised about all kinds of wild animals like wolves or snakes lurking, or worst maybe quicksand or real ghosts that wouldn't hesitate to take an innocent girl like her. Feeling overwhelmed by her own imagination she then suggested to them all, "Maybe we should wait till morning when it'll be safer?"

Max however clicked his tongue in response, "Tch! Forget it Zoe! I'm not about to let that rugops get away with ruining our halloween festival!" he yelled clenching his fist knowing this crime demanded justice, "I'm going in there!" he cried out loud as he prepared to march right in.

"Huh!?" The others gasped and Rex ran out to restrain him from going any further!

"Argh! Let go of me!" Max growled trying to break out of Owen's literal iron grip but to little avail.

"Max are you crazy!?" Rex yelled at him, "Think about it! Once you go in you'll never be able to find your way in there or out! You'll basically be a sitting duck against that dinosaur!" he shouted as Max sweated and gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing he was letting his instincts overcome caution. Nevertheless he knew he couldn't just ignore them.

"Yeah well…..I can't just stand by and do nothing while that dinosaur roams free only to terrorise again later on!" he yelled back as Rex loosened his grip and Max shook free. He then brushed his costume up before turning to the rest of them seriously, "Besides, I doubt the alpha gang would let a bunch of woods stop them too."

His friends looked to one another in thought, understanding his side of things, "I get your point." Rex replied admittedly before becoming serious again, "But still we can't just rush in there without a proper plan. Even if we do manage to find the dinosaur and catch it, we still need a way to get out."

"Urgh…." Max grunted knowing Rex was right too, and the kids tried to think up ways they can go in without getting lost or to find their way back out afterwards, but they couldn't really think up anything until Cera suggested an idea.

"Don't worry, I think I've got that covered." she said holding up a finger.

They looked to her in surprise, "Huh?"

"You do Cera?"

"Mhmm," she nodded as Miku appeared on her shoulder flapping her wings while still dressed as a parakeet. "Miku here has really great eye sight, especially in the dark. Also she's really great at climbing trees. With her we'll be able to find a way out as easily as we go in, that I can be sure of." she said looking to her partner, "Isn't that right?" In response the microraptor nodded and chirped.

Seeing they had a good plan now, the D team was able to rest more easily knelling they were in good hands, "Phew….thank goodness we have you on the team with us now." said Max feeling grateful and relieved.

"I definitely feel more secure with you both around as our eyes and ears." added Zoe as Cera blushed feeling honoured.

"Hee hee, well I guess it's part of the job as fairy godmother to guide and protect those in need."

"Hehehe, you got a point there." Zoe followed.

Max taking leadership stood up before them, "Alright, then it's settled then!" he said calling them together with team spirit, "Come on guys! Let's go get that dinosaur and save Halloween!"

"YAY!" they all cheered together with team spirit as they all charged into the fray together as a group!

As they soon banished into the darkness, Ursula and the rest of the alpha trio popped their heads out from behind a tree at the entrance, as she grinned rather deviously, "Hahaha! My plan is working perfectly already." she laughed rubbing her hands together.

"What plan Ursula?"

"Yeah? Mind filling us in?" Zander and Ed asked her as she rolled her eyes and face palmed.

"Isn't it obvious you two?" she replied, "We'll tail those brats and let them find the dinosaur for us! Then we'll swoop in and snatch it right under their noses! An ingenious full proof plan if I do say so myself." she boasted confidently before holding her head up high, "Only someone as brilliant as I could have come up with it!"

"Heh, well naturally." Zander then replied in agreement.

Ed then scratched his chin in thought before asking her something else, "But wait, how will we be getting out after that?"

Ursula then froze before lowering herself down, "I…..don't have a clue…." she groaned weakly as the other 2 men frowned and sighed with her.

"Ugh….."

Soon however, Ed snapped his fingers as an idea came to mind, "Wait! I've got it!" he called out prompting his friends to turn to him.

"Hmm?"

"You've got an idea Ed?" They asked him as he nodded eagerly.

"Sure do! Listen! There was that story about the minotaur in the maze, and the hero used a ball of yarn to mark out a trail for himself as he went along so he wouldn't get lost himself!" he pointed out, "So we'll leave out a trail as we go, then after we've grabbed the dinosaur we'll follow it back out!" he said as his friends brightened up impressed.

"That could work!" Zander cried out as Ursula clapped her hands together.

He then reached into his back pocket, "I even have just the thing for it." he said shaking it bag, the rustling sounds side hinting he had lots with lots of something inside, probably pebbles.

"Well done Ed, who would've thought you could come up with something so ingenious yourself."Ursula praised clasping her hands together as Ed rubbed his nose with his finger cockily.

"Heh, well I do have my moments." he smirked as Ursula flexed her arm.

"Alright team! We've wasted enough time! Hustle it up and let's grab that dinosaur for Dr Z!"

"Yes ma'am!" They each said. As Zander followed Ursula, Ed stayed behind to make out their trail, which turned out to be large breadcrumbs which he began laying out neatly in a line as they traversed deeper and deeper in. Unbeknownst to him, one by one the trail was being picked clean, by a flock of crows and then a couple of rats…..

Meanwhile as the D team continued onwards through the dark woods down a single clear trail, surrounded by dead trees and leaf litter on both sides, Max lead the way clipping on his triceratops horns and switching them on so that they would have at least some light out on the situation. Nevertheless the light only covered a few feet around them and ahead was still darkness and winding roads to who knows where. Max and Rex were on high alert with Chomp and Ace too, both having shaken off their costumes to make sure their senses were at their best. As Cera and Miku looked around carefully to their sides and back, Zoe began to shiver nervously as the wind continued to howl through the woods, making her feel cold and spooked out.

Assessing the situation carefully like Cera told him once, Max turned around, "Everyone we'd better stay together and do NOT split up." he said to them.

"Max is right," replied Rex in agreement, "If we get separated, being lost is the least of our concerns, for all we know that dinosaur could be lurking out there waiting to pick us off one at a time."

The very thought of them being separated and taken out alone was enough to make Zoe shudder. Continuing onwards, she became rather jittery as she heard the rustling of leaves, turning around she noticed it was just Paris nibbling at a close bush hoping to get a quick snack before the cold breeze blew again and made her hurry back to Zoe! Like her she too was frightened, as the trees and their barren branches appeared almost like claws and seemed to be reaching out at them. She really wished she were home and having apple pie with her parents, and if not she hoped the sun would come up soon, no way she'd want the dinosaur out here though, in the tightening grove and darkness they'd be picked off easily and they'd never stand a chance against its speed and camouflage in the shadows….

As these thoughts raced through her mind she didn't notice Max then stepped on a twig catching her by surprise.

CRACK

"EEP!" she squealed before huddling up close to him! Much to the surprise of Rex and Cera!

"Hey! Not so close Zoe!" Max cried trying to get her to give him some space, much to his discomfort. "Yeah, we need to stay together but not that close…." he then grunted as she twiddled her fingers.

"S…sorry….it's just…." A leaf then fell down from above and landed in her hair, causing her to jump up in a fright! "GAH!" she screed knocking down Ma and Rex in the process!

"Ow!"

"Oof!"

"Get it off! Get it off!" she cried jumping and running around while brushing off her hair in a frenzy!

"Hold still!" said Cera firmly as she plucked it off revealing it as a dead leaf.

Upon her realisation and the boys glaring at her for knocking them down she then scratched her head nervously, "Oh….err….sorry about that…." she chuckled.

"If you keep screaming like that you'll give us away!" Max then growled in frustration.

"I know! I'm sorry! It's just-" As she stepped backwards she felt her big dress had gotten snagged on something which caused her to panic and scream once again! "AAAH! Something's got me! Help!" she cried out in alarm, much to the amusement of Max and Rex, who did their best to hide their snickers and grins behind their covered up faces under their mask and helm, wishing they brought a phone to record this.

"Zoe!" Cera then yelled once more settling her down as she turned to her.

"Huh?"

She then moved in and found the branches stuck to Zoe's ball gown, "Hold still. I'll get those off you." she said snapping them away from the main branch before pulling out the twigs gently. "There that should do it." She then said pleased she got the job done as Zoe looked down, seeing her dress was slightly ruffled but would have been far more ruined of she had torn them off in her panicked state.

"Thanks Cera….." she said before sitting down sadly, "I'm sorry guys….It's just….it's so dark and creepy out here….."

"We understand Zoe." said Max sympathising with her while Rex nodded.

She smiled seeing they cared but then focused her attention on Cera, "And yet…..compared to the rest of us, you seem to be all calm….and…not afraid….." she noted as the others followed her eyes to her.

"Yeah, Zoe does make a good point." said Max in agreement.

"Even I'm feeling a little edgy myself now," Rex admitted, usually his level headedness was what helped him keep a clear mind and conscience but even now it was starting to reach his limit, and noticing Cera didn't seem all that put off by what was going on around them was quite impressive, "Just how do you manage to pull it off Cera?" he then asked her.

Thinking to herself for a bit she then replied, "Huh…..I never actually thought about it….." she said, "Well if I were to guess, I'd say all it takes is a clear and calm head, sure it may sound difficult and it sure is…." she then closed her eyes and opened them again with a mild smile, "But when you have an important objective or goal in mind, something that you absolutely must do, and you make it your central focus, I guess that's how I manage to block out anything else that could distract or throw me off." she said as the others listened quite interestedly, "That way when you have a certain clarity in mind, you can go on without any doubts or insecurities no matter what you've experienced in the past or currently facing now. At least….that's what I believe, it's what I do to help keep my priorities in check and my thoughts straight too." She then turned to eye them all, "I'm sure none of you guys would have any trouble doing that if you put your minds to it. I mean, you guys are so used to handling dinosaurs in all sorts of disastrous occasions on a regular basis, so something like this should be a cakewalk in the park."

Upon hearing her statement the others looked to one another and chuckled in amusement seeing she made a point, "You've….got a good point there….." Max admitted.

"Yeah, why didn't I think of that sooner." Zoe then added as Cera stepped in to say one more bit of advice.

"Like you said to me, just loosen up and and relax a bit and I'm sure you'll be able to focus on your clear goal that much more easily." she said as Zoe had the words taken out of her mouth, being given the same advice she gave Cera earlier for a second time….was something she didn't think she'd experience. Looking to them all, "Well, shall we continue?" she asked as she took the lead next and walked ahead.

"Yeah….sure…." said Max feeling somewhat in awe.

As they followed her behind seeing who she and Miku were both quite unfazed they couldn't help but feel amazed, "Wow…she's incredible….." Rex had to admit.

"Yeah, it's like nothing even fazes her….." Zoe added, "Maybe we ought to be putting what she says into practice too."

"Maybe not everything….." Max then said uneasily as he pointed her out, apparently she seemed to be staring at the ground carefully, not moving an inch.

They blinked in surprise unable to determine what she was doing, even finding her to be acting rather strange. "What's she doing now?" asked Zoe with interest.

"Who knows…." Rex followed, starting to wonder if fear had messed up her logic…..though it didn't seem to be that way….

"Hmmm….." As she placed her hand on the ground she then nodded firmly before looking back to the rest of the gang, "Looks like we're on the right track too."

"Huh? How can you tell?" Max asked blinking his eyes.

"Take a look." she said showing them the trail, where several large tracks, theropod tracks could be seen on the ground heading up the forest path deeper inside.

"Wow footprints." Zoe gasped in amazement.

Rex nodded, "Takes a keen eye to spot those in this darkness….." he admitted.

"Not just that, take a look." She said pointing out to a trail of smashed torn branches from tree trunks and ruffled up leaves shown signs of something passing through. "No doubt he came through here." She said after picking up one of the branches and examining it carefully, "Also, it seems pretty fresh too, he may still be close by." she said tossing it away before eying the others seriously, "We'd better be quieter and careful from this point on."

Max and the others soon nodded in agreement with her logic, "Yeah, let's stay together and be on the lookout."

"For all we know he might be just ahead or maybe preparing and ambush in the underbrush." Rex could tell there was the chance it could be stalking and hunting them now as they speak….so no doubt they had to be on high alert at all times from here on out. As they trekked deeper, the sounds of hooting owls and crickets began to die down and became replaced with ominous silence, which was enough to make anyone's skin crawl, but the D team and their dinosaurs pressed on, fighting off the tricks and hallucinations of their own minds. Taking Cera's advice to heart on focusing on ahead of them and not around.

It was soon that Cera stopped after smelling something, even cringing and pinching her nose as she took a closer look at where it was coming from up ahead. "Stop." She then said holding out her hand to them as they stopped.

"What is it now?" Max then asked as the others became rather unnerved over what could have gotten her so riled up.

"Look there." she said as she pointed out to a dark brown and clumpy slime mass. Upon closer inspection they saw it also had pieces of candy wrappings all around, as well as being coated in a layer of bile and coloured pink, purple and blue in some bits. The sight of it was enough to make Cera and the rest of the D team nauseous, some more than others though.

"Bleaah! Gross!" Max cried out covering his mouth as Chomp, Ace and Paris took cover behind their owners unable to take the smell! "What is that!?"

"Ugh, it looks like someone or some dino ate too much candy and got sick…." Cera mumbled through her covered nose as she pointed out more tracks from the mess.

Zoe felt herself turning green and her stomach beginning to churn, "Uff…..it looks and smells disgusting." she said weakly, putting a hand to her stomach before feeling something coming up! "I think I'm gonna get sick too….."

"Err let's move quickly okay?" Rex quickly suggested as they hurried off before they ended up making a mess of their own! Zoe especially, unwilling to let her princess dress get soiled.

As they continued trekking through the woods, Rex then patted Max on the back, "Hey Max." he whispered getting his friend's attention, "Maybe we should learn from Rugops' example and not eat our entire load when we get back."

"Actually, I almost don't feel like eating any at all….." Max replied.

"Same here…."

A while later, the forest path began to widen, and the ground began to harden making tracks that much difficult to find, as well as the mists beginning to pick up. Nevertheless, Cera kept her senses on high alert, "We've come a long way…..We should be getting close now….." she said as the others narrowed their eyes seriously and nodded. As they soon came to a clearing ahead in the forest, they stood above a deep glade where a large rock sat in the middle of it. The mist around them began to dissipate and they all caught sight of their target.

"There it is!" Max whispered pointing to the large carnivorous dinosaur which was sleeping rather soundly, curled up against the large rock.

"Whoa, he seems to be sleeping rather heavily too." Rex commented as they heard it snore from where they stood.

"I'd probably do the same if I just threw up and recovering from a tummy ache."

"Maybe you should get your dad down here and check him up huh Zoe?" Max snickered as he elbowed Zoe cheekily, though she didn't seem to take it well as she flashed him a mad scowl.

"Very funny Max…." she grunted.

"You're right, that rugops would probably eat him before he gets the chance to give it any medicine." Max smirked shrugging his shoulders and further ticking her off.

She pulled up her arm sleeves and began to pop her knuckles, "Why you-"

"Ssh!" Cera and Rex both hushed them silent and they both sweated upon seeing their serious expressions. "Do you guys want to wake him up!?" Rex hissed in alarm as they looked to one another and frowned.

"Sorry…" They said.

Cera narrowed her eyes and brought a finger to her chin in thought, having felt the wind's breeze and assessing the situation, "Hmm….."

"Something up Cera?" Zoe asked curiously noticing him.

"We're still downwind," she answered, "He hasn't smelt us yet. If we move now, slowly and carefully, we just might be able to take him by surprise." she explained as they nodded in agreement with her suggestion.

"Yeah, good idea." Max nodded.

"And we'd better watch where we step too, wouldn't want to step on any twigs and give him a rude awakening." Rex added as they all nodded in agreement.

"Mhmm."

"Alright, follow my lead." said Cera firmly as they walked around, trying to get out of the wind's breeze and hoping to take the dinosaur from surprise behind it. "So far so good…..just a little more….." Cera thought to herself narrowing her eyes as they came ever more closer to it until-

"Hold it right there!" a loud familiar voice suddenly called from out of nowhere!

"Huh!?" The D team all gasped and looked around trying to find where the voice came from, and they soon got their answer as the Alpha gang appeared below them!

"Ahahahah!" They laughed cockily which aggravated them.

"You!" Max yelled.

"Thank you so much for locating that dinosaur for us!" Ursula taunted.

"Now we'll be here to take it!" said Zander rubbing his hands.

"This is our way of saying trick or treat!" Ed continued, "Only this time we tricked you into doing the hard work, and now we're here to collect our treat!"

Max and the others hardened their expressions, "Why you….."

"Aren't you a little old to be in halloween yourself old lady!?" Zoe cried out causing a tic mark to appear on said lady's head!

"What did you say!?" she then screamed suddenly to Ed and Zander's alarm!

"You heard us," Max followed, "In fact your ragged costume seems to fit you perfectly you old hag of a witch!"

"Uh oh….." Zander and Ed both muttered as Ursula began to turn red and her eyes flared demonically!

"GRARRRGH!" she roared at the top of her lungs which scared bats out of the trees in several directions, even shaking the dead leaves off several trees and the earth itself! "I'll crush you for that, you little ankle biters!" she screeched swearing vengeance with all her being! "Enough tricks! I'll rip you apart with my bare hands!" As she yelled out, the rugops suddenly opened its eyes which had veins popping out of them.

Grrr….

The sound of a growl could be heard from behind which caught the Alpha gang's attention.

"Huh?" As they turned they jumped to see the rugops stand on on its hind legs and roarer furiously while flashing its fangs at them!

ROAR!

"Oh boy, they're in for it now…." Rex whistled as the others nodded with him.

As the rugops got back to its feet and stared down at those responsible for disturbing his sleep, Ed and Zander both huddled together in fear, shivering till the were pale as hosts while Ursula stood in front of them rubbing her hands together apologetically, "Oh? So sorry for the rude awakening sir." she then suddenly turned nasty as she flashed a grin, "But you just picked the wrong place and time to take a nap, and now you're going to pay for it big time!" She turned to behind her, "Zander! Bring out Tank now!"

"O…Okay I'm on it!" Zander nodded taking out their dinosaur! "Alpha slash! Clobber them Saichania!" he called out as Tank materialised in full form before the rugops, as it took a few steps back in response.

As the dark sky became brighter red with the battlefield engaged, Max tightened his hand into a fist, "I'm not about to let them take Rugops! I'm going in! Chomp!" He was about to press the button on his dinoholder when Cera stopped him.

"Wait Max!" she cried grabbing his hand in time. As he looked to her in surprise with the others she looked back at the battlefield as Tank and the Rugops squared off with one another, "Something tells me we should stay out of the firing line, let's just watch for now."

"Tch!" Max clicked his tongue but decided to listen to what she said, as they all focused on the battle before them.

The rugops let out a loud threatening roar but Tank screeched back undeterred, responding with a spin before slamming her tail right into his stomach! As it roared on pain, coughing out in response and staggering backwarrds, the D team couldn't help but cringe and feel bad for it.

"Ouch! That's gotta hurt….." Rex hissed.

"Yeah, not to mention it was just recovering from a tummy ache just now." Zoe followed.

The alpha gang snickered seeing they were winning and now was the time to seal the deal! "Alright Tank! Time to take it out for a swing, or should I say Dino Swing!" Zander called out slashing the move card! Tank glowed as she charged forward, turning the disoriented Rugops around before grabbing its tail and spinning around before throwing him at the large boulder!

"Oh no!" The D team cried out in alarm, but at the last moment the carnivore opened its eyes ferociously before turning its body around, kicking its legs into the boulder and redirecting the force and momentum it shot back out towards Tank! Spinning in a corkscrew motion and spearing the unsuspecting saichania from behind as she tumbled like a bowling ball towards the alpha gang!

"GAAAAAAHHH!"

They cried out in alarm as they turned around but failed to escape in time as she knocked through them and they fell across the forest floor like bowling pins!

BOOM!

"Ouch…." They all groaned together as the Rugops got back on its feet and turned its attention towards Tank who was now upside down!

"WHOA!" The D team gasped in alarm.

"Did you see that!?" Rex gasped.

"See it? I couldn't believe it!" Max cried with his widened eyes.

The only one who wasn't surprised was Cera, in fact it seemed as thought she suspected it as she narrowed her eyes firmly at it, "Just as I thought, that Rugops has a lot of fight left in him that's for sure…." she breathed along with Miku perched on her shoulder.

The rugops suddenly glowed bright blue as it then spun charged ahead and ran around the helpless Tank in a perfect circle, picking up speed quickly till it eventually created a massive tornado which carried her up into the air! She screeched out in terror as she was carried higher and higher into the sky till she couldn't be seen!

"AH!" The D team all widened their eyes in shock at what they saw, even feeling the fearsome pull of the tornado the rugops generated! It also began pulling in leaves, small patches of dirt and stones and nearby-

"Urgh my head…." Ed groaned rubbing his temple as he and Zander pushed themselves up.

Ursula then blinked her eyes upon feeling something, "Why do I feel like we're getting sucked in?" she asked seeing her hands were leaving drag marks in the forest soil.

"Hey, what's that sound?" As Zander and the other looked around their eyes widened in horror to see the huge tornado that formed behind!

"GAAAAH!" they screamed and scurried away, but the pull of the vortex was too powerful as they themselves were soon sucked in!

Eventually as the rugops stopped at the side to catch its breath, the trio fell down with a mighty smack to the ground leaving massive imprints in the forest soil!

"Oof….that hurts…."

"Tell me about it…." Ursula and Zander both moaned painfully in the soil, with their costumes now starting to tear and rip.

Ed raised his head out from the ground, "Well…at least the worst is over no-" Before he could finish Tank suddenly landed on all 3 of them with a mighty boom!

CRASH

A cloud of dust erupted where they were, followed by a glowing purple light as the saichania returned to her card, leaving behind 3 large human pancakes where she was, "Ouch….." they groaned.

The D team gasped in amazement at what they witnessed, "It just took out Tank and the alpha gang…." Rex breathed.

"And that's when it's not feeling too well," Max added feeling worried what the rugops would be capable of it they were to face it at full power.

Narrowing her eyes at what she saw, Cera could only confirm one thing from it, "Tornado toss…" she said upon recognising the move used.

They didn't have much time though, as the rugops suddenly sniffed the air and picked up their scent, before turning to where they were and snarling viciously!

"Oh no it's spotted us!" Zoe gasped as it strolled towards them menacingly!

Cera narrowed her eyes, "It's enraged, not just for being awoken but also from its pain, now it's attacking everything in sight!" she said.

Max narrowed his eyes, "No way we can leave it like this, we've got to turn it back into a card now!"

"Let's do this!" Rex followed as they both returned Chomp and Ace to their cards!

"Dino slash!" They both called out slashing them!

"Go triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

Both Chomp and Ace appeared in full size before the rugops, halting its advance as it backed away slowly now that it was face with 2 foes to contend with. "Go get em Ace!" Rex yelled as the carnotaurus leapt into action.

"Take him down Chomp!" Max cried out as Chomp roared and charged ahead!

In response the rugops quickly leapt up and kicked Chomp back down as he skidded down on the ground and hit himself on the large rock! After that he headed straight to Ace as the 2 abeisaurids snapped at one another matching their moves blow by blow! As Chomp regained his footing ad charged ahead the rugops leapt out of the way and Chomp only barely managed to stop himself from running into Ace again! Regrouping the rugops roared and snapped at them with a serious of mock charges from different angles hoping to corral them tightly so they wouldn't be able to move!

As everyone looked on tensely, Cera realised it's plan was no doubt to use Tornado toss to take them both out at once. "Tornado toss is no doubt a difficult move to get around." she thought to herself seriously, "If you're within range the vortex will suck you in…..but there has to be a weakness…." As she thought hard she eventually widened her eyes realising there was indeed an opening they could exploit! "Wait! That's it!" she gasped as the others looked too her in surprise at her outburst.

"What's it?" Max asked.

Cera turned to them, "I've figured a way around its' move!" she answered as her friends gasped in amazement and surprise.

"You did!?"

"Awesome!"

Cera then nodded before turning serious, "But if we're going to expose it, we'll need to get it to use its move again!"

"Say what!?" Max gasped in alarm. Even Rex was feeling doubtful as to whether Cera knew what she was saying, till she looked back at them seriously.

"Trust me on this! I know what to do!" she said firmly.

Seeing her friend's determination and confidence in what she was saying, followed by the fact she had gotten them this far, Zoe nodded decidign to trust in her decision, "Alright Cera, I trust you." she said as Cera smiled feeling reassured of her friend's faith in her.

Back at the battle the rugops was closing in on Chomp and Ace, and Rex decided to do something about it, "Let's see if it can handle this! Ninja attack!" he slashed his move as Ace charged forward splitting into duplicates of himself before leaping into the air to surround their foe! In response the Rugops glowed as it charged ahead and began to spin in a circle with tornado toss again! The massive vortex sucked in all of Ace's clones till only he was left being tossed upwards into the air!

"No way!"

"AH!" Rex and Zoe gasped while Max widened his eyes in horror as Chomp struggled to get away, but he couldn't fight against the power of the tornado as he was soon pulled in together with Ace! As the rugops stopped once again to rest, Ace crashed down first and then Chomp on top of him! Landing in a massive crash causing both dinosaurs to return to their cards!

"Chomp! No!"

"Ace!" Max and Rex gasped.

Cera pointed out quickly,"It's exhausted now!" she cried out as they turned to the rugops seeing it pant. "That's your chance to hit it!"

"I'm all over it!" Zoe cried out returning Paris to card form! "Dino slash! Spring up Parasaurolophus!" As Paris appeared in full form and bellowed, the rugops wheezed in exhaustion and tried to limp away, but it couldn't get very far as not only was it still exhausted from using 2 tornado tosses, but it hadn't fully recovered from its sweets binge earlier and it's lungs gasped for air, causing enormous amounts of pressure to take its toll on its heart! Furthermore, Zoe and paris weren't about to let it get away! "If it likes treats so much let's see how it handles this!" She declared taking out a new move card, "Go egg attack!" Paris then glowed causing a small purple oviraptor to appear before her as it let out a screech.

"Whoa! That's an oviraptor!" Max gasped.

"Did Zoe get that from the card folio back at the other day?" Rex questioned as the small dinosaur spat out a barrage of eggs from its gut that splattered all over the Rugops, pelting it like a machine gun before it collapsed down with exhaustion while covered in egg yolk!

The smell and sight of it made the D team cover their mouths or pinch their noses hoping to block out the smell, "Ugh….that's just nasty…." Max groaned.

"Tell me about it….." Rex said muffled up.

"Then I'll wrap this up quickly…." said Zoe trying hard to keep herself from hurling as she reached for her finishing move card, "Stomping Hammer!" Paris roared as she charged ahead. As the rugops got to its feet it looked up and gasped as Paris leapt into the air and slammed down hard on its back! The force of the impact caused it to roar in pain before it lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, returning to card form.

"We did it!" She cheered as Paris and the oviraptor cried out before returning to cards and the skies returned normal.

"Alright!"

"Now this is a treat." Max and Rex praised as they went over to retrieve the cards.

"Great job Zoe." said Cera patting her on the shoulder for a job well done.

"Yeah, you totally nailed that Rugops, it never stood a chance." Max followed giving her a thumbs up.

"Hey, guess even princesses pack a punch now and then." Rex chuckled.

"Aww thanks guys." Zoe blushed scratching her head before looking to them all, "But you know, I really couldn't have done it without everyone's help." she said gratefully before looking to the friend she felt contributed the most, "Especially you Cera, you really did guide us well, like an actual fairy godmother."

"Hehehe…oh it was nothing really." Cera chuckled blushing red with embarrassment, "Just doing the best I can in every situation we're faced with."

Seeing that they now had the dinosaur and had a full bag of treats to take home, "And now I think we've earned ourselves a nice victory feast tonight! Who's up for an all night's sweets binge!" Max shot his fist up as they all cheered with excitement for celebration!

"Hooray!"

 **(Later)**

A little while later, after Miku helped lead them out of the forest and back home, the gang was back home celebrating and enjoying the spoils of victory at the dinner table.

"Mmm, yummy goodies….I can't get enough of these…." said Dr Taylor stuffing his mouth full of toffee bites and gingerbread men at once.

"Be careful now Mr Dinoman, otherwise you won't be in any condition to fight crime tomorrow morning." Aki giggled as she helped herself to a single hard apple flavoured sucker.

"Hahahaha….." he then boasted out in laughter.

At the other side, Max was biting into a stick of peanut brittle before noticing Rex had something he wanted, "Hey Rex, trade you those cotton candy balls for my choco nut bars." he offered to Rex who was popping some candy corns into his mouth.

"Deal." he said as the 2 of them traded their sweets.

"Mmmm, I'd probably have to go on a diet after this….." said Zoe to herself as she found herself presented with ice cream sandwiches and popsicle sticks, "But it'll be totally worth it!" She then cried out stuffing her mouth with more!

Cera more modest on the other hand was much more modest as she took a bite out of peppermint candy canes.

Even their dinosaurs joined in on the sweets fest, with Ace having liquorice since it resembled meat to him, while Chomp and Paris munched away at fruit flavoured gum drops at their bowls and Miku was sucking on a pile of gummy worms.

Everyone enjoyed their moment together, when Zoe suddenly got a call on her dinoholder.

Ring

She then moved off her seat and fetched it before switching it on to see her sister on, "Hey there Reese, I-Urk!" she paused and froze to see Reese apparently glaring at her for some strange reason.

"Zoe, is this your idea of a joke?" she said rather menacingly as the image became full screen, revealing Reese was wearing full on skin tight bunny costume, with floppy ear headbands, leggings and high heels. She folded her arms crossly while tapping her foot and glaring at her sister through the other screen, who was already shaking with immense fear, turning pale and sweating bullets!

"H..Hi Reese, you….certainly look great in that!" Zoe said nervously as she swallowed hard.

"Just what made you decide this was a good idea?" said Reese with an unblinking glare.

Zoe scratched her head unsure of how to reply back to her, "I…it's just…..well….."

"I'm waiting….." her sister spoke again through the communicator. She was tempted to switch it off, but instincts told her she'll no doubt regret it if she did.

Finding a quiet spot away from the others, she then gritted her teeth painfully before confessing, "Urgh! Okay I wanted to make up for accidentally destroying your scarf before, so the other day when me and the others were out at the mall we went shopping for halloween costumes before coming home since it was around the corner, and I found this one was on offer and well….." she twiddled her fingers recalling how there was a mystery grab bargain bag for costumes, where the costumes were all wrapped up in brown paper so you'll never know what you'd get, making it a surprise, clearly…..

"I didn't open to see it but it really does suit you! Honest!" she then said at the end with innocent eyes.

"Is it now?" Reese raised an eyebrow before closing them with a tic make appearing on her forehead, "Last time I was willing to let you off easy, but now I changed my mind, you'll be getting what you deserve."

"Urk…." Zoe gulped but her heart skipped a beat when Reese flashed a scary smile at her.

"Next time I see you, we're going to have a nice long chat. Understand?"

Zoe bowed down sadly and in fear, "Okay….." she whimpered.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back to the woods, the trio were limping rather weakly, covered in scrapes and bruises all over them, with Ursula having lost her with hat and her clothes all torn up in places, Zander's mummy rags catching twigs and dirt along with falling apart and Ed's clothes being much more ragged and his orc mask having holes in them.

Having walked in circle for who knew how long, Ursula then exploded in frustration, "Urgh, just when are we going to get out of this place!?" she creamed causing bats to fly out of trees in other places.

"You just had to use breadcrumbs didn't you Ed!" Zander growled shaking his fist at the fat boy along with Ursula.

"Of all the things you could have used for a trail you used BREADCRUMBS!?" They growled menacingly at him as he huddled up at a tree drawing circles in the ground with his finger.

"I….I'm sorry guys….." he whimpered, "I didn't have any rocks with me, and I didn't want to use our precious candy so I used breadcrumbs…..since I only pack those as an emergency snack….." he said uneasily as his friends still bared their bitter expressions at him.

"Grr, if a pack of wolves ambushes us in the dark I swear I'll feed you to them first!" Ursula threatened as he nodded in agreement.

"Fair enough…."

"But on the bright side," said Zander taking out their bags and opening up revealing a large amount of treats they swiped form Rod and Laura earlier, "At least we have plenty of candy to last us till morning and it should be easier to find our way out when the sun comes up."

"That, or maybe I should have Terry burn down this forest as soon as we're done so we can be out of here in a jiffy." Ursula added deciding on what she was no doubt going to do the first chance she got. The trio then gathered in a circle laying own the treats before them in a pile, their mouths watering as they couldn't wait to sink their teeth into sugary tooth rotting goodness!

"In any case, let's eat! We'll have plenty to spare for Dr Z when we're done and then-" Before she could finish, the scene around them turned more gloomy and harder to see, as the fog mysteriously blew in….

"Huh?" Looking up from his share, Zander began to feel on edge as he eyed all around them, "Is it me or is it getting murky?" he then asked as the fog was completely enshrouding the forest in mist and obscuring the trees and their view so they couldn't see where they were anymore.

As they all stood up, the tension in the air thickening, Ed began to shiver anxiously, "I don't like the looks of this….." he whimpered huddling up with his friends who too were sweating rather nervously too. "Zander hold my hand…." he begged reaching behind him.

Zander in turn responded, "Okay Ed I've got you…." he said grabbing the first hand he could.

"Hey! Watch it Zander! That's me!" Ursula growled at him making him jump!

"Oh! Sorry Ursula! It's just-" The wind suddenly blew in, rustling up leaves as they scratched together to make a harsh rustling sound in all directions, mixed in with the wind's ominous howl.

"Woo ooo"

Ursula's heart began to race as she then gulped down painfully hard, "Okay this isn't funny anymore…." she said uneasily.

"I wanna go home…." Ed followed.

"The feeling's mutual…" Zander replied, but the 3 of them felt themselves frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle, not only out of fear but they had no idea where to go!

"You should not have come here….." an ominous voice suddenly spoke from out of nowhere, which made them all jump!

"Gah!" Ed then jumped into Zander's arms, who in turn jumped into Ursula's, making her fall down due to their combined weight!

"Ack! Get off me!" she growled shoving them off, but then they huddled together in fear.

"I am the spirit of the hallowed woods." the voice howled, "You dare trespass in my domain?"

Ed's eyes widened, "I definitely heard that!" he cried as Ursula and Zander shivered.

"You shall paaaaaay!" the voice screeched menacingly.

"GAAAAAAHHHH!" Ed and Zander screamed at the top of their lungs.

"C…clam down boys," Ursula said swallowing hard even though she felt her own bones freezing up, "I'm sure it's just some mind trick! And…I…I'll prove it!" she said stepping up and yelling back at the voice, "Sh…show yourself! We're not afraid of you!"

"Y…yeah! We've got dinosaurs with us! You wouldn't dare mess with us! The Alpha Gang!" Zander followed backing her up, though he could almost feel himself wet his own rages by saying that.

"Leave this place, or suffer my curse." said the voice once more.

Ed and Zander both widened their eyes, "C…curse!?"

"Mommy! Save me!"

Ursula gritted her teeth sweating anxiously but she shouted once more, "I don't believe you! There's no such things as curses right boys!? Heheheh…he…." she laughed looking to them, her face showing all the fear there could be from her.

"Errr….." was all they could reply whole shivering and turning pale

"You have been warned, now suffer the consequences….." the voice howled before echoing away.

It was then the trio heard the sounds of something dragging and scraping against the forest floor, and it was getting louder….and closer….and worse, they couldn't tell from where! "Ursula, I get the feeling we're not welcome here!"

"Yeah, we're going to beat it before it gets way worse!" Zander and Ed both cried and she glared at them both.

"Oh come on now you're not actually buying into that mumbo jumbo hocus pocus are you!?" she yelled, her anger hiding her facade of fear of being left alone, "S…so there's ghosts in these woods, big deal, what's the worse they'd do?" If anyone was going to survive this it was going to be her and not them!

Suddenly from out of nowhere, part of the fog cleared away to revealed a deep black coffin with a golden cross ontop of its' cover.

The trio then gulped upon sight of it as Ursula weakly pointed out at it, "I…Is that a-"

Suddenly a shadowy hand broke out from the top of ti causing them all to scream in terror!

"GAH!"

As the figure burst out of the coffin, it flared a pair of red eyes and stretched out its cape and screeched most fearsomely, "I am your worst nightmare!"

"GAAAAH!" the trio screamed turning pale nearly having their souls escape from their bodies! "M…m…monster!"

Ursula quickly looked behind them, as she and the 2 clowns grabbed handfuls of candy from their pile and threw them at the vampire! "Here! Take our candy! Leave us alone!" They screamed before running off into the forest, they didn't care where, anywhere was better than here! "HELP!" As they disappeared into the fog they ended up throwing their alpha scanners behind them as they suddenly crashed into a set of trees and knocking themselves out cold on the ground!

The vampire walked right up to them, picked up the scanners and snickered, as the moon peered through the clouds revealing him to be Rod!

"Hehehe, that ought to teach those clowns for messing with us!" he chuckled in amusement looking behind to see Laura step out from behind a tree, holding a megaphone linked with a voice modulator, and a fog machine.

"Yup! Hee hee!" she giggled setting down the device while also putting pressing the a homing beacon on the scanners so that their jet's autopilot system can track them later in the woods. Until it arrives they decided to help themselves to a sugary picnic together and enjoy themselves and the rest of the night. "Hey you going to have that?" She asked pointing to her brother's chocolate covered raisins as he handed them to her.

"Here you go." her brother generously offered handing the box to Laura.

Ripping the top cover up she popped a few into her mouth and licked her lips in delight, "Mmmm, yummy."

 **Hope you enjoyed this, it may be early for halloween but wanted to make one for that holiday. Also to showcase Max's dad as Dinoman too and Johnathan giving a hay ride too. The idea of the trio stealing from Rod and Laura to try and get the dinosaur was inspired by** **pokemonking0924, so thank you for that.**

 **A heads up, since nothing too significant happens in Beast or Famine for the D team I won't be writing about it but will be giving it a mention, though something important will be happening in the next chapter too, also after that will follow up with Mesozoic mess.**

 **In response to the reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski-Glad you enjoyed that troodon moment, also wanted to address how the velociraptor card is handled too since it didn't make any appearance till like at the final episode of season 2. Yeah the Alpha gang were messed around twice today and well I wouldn't call it an army but I do hope to include as many dinosaurs as possible as cameos or in appearances from the series not just the anime.**

 **pokemonking0924-Yeah, when I get to season 3 I'll address how she became quite skilled and talented, if I manage to get there. And yeah he is seen to be the least mean of the trio and unlucky at times too. Yeah wanted to give the Trio a break and have them bring back more metal since Dr Z stated they needed more to coat their reactor, but they'll be back to their usual shenanigans soon.**

 **Glad you also enjoyed chapter 7 too, yeah it does come by instincts gradually and it'll be explained how she got them later on, if I manage to get that far. The elemental matchups wasn't clarified in the anime so I thought I might bring it up here. I won't be making any shippings, at least not intentionally or much, also haven't thought about whether she will use some of the cards she got but will see.**

 **Next chapter will be taking place after 'Beast or Famine', I don't plan on writing that episode since nothing too much happens on the D team's end, but the next one will focus on Cera a bit and hope it doesn't disappoint.**

 **Still hoping to get at least 1 more writer who might be interested in being part of this collab, it's been quite a lot of hard work for me to do this story I now realise and with my schedule expecting to get busier in the next few weeks, makes me lose motivation sometimes but will still keep trying when I can. Feel free to PM me if you're interested.**


	9. Birthday blues

Chapter 9

Birthday blues

"Seth! Explain yourself right this instant!" Dr Z yelled furiously as his most trusted assistant stood before him in his room with his trademark moody expression upon returning from Chinatown.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about doctor." he replied but his attitude only seemed to further irritate Dr Z.

"Don't play coy with me!" he yelled angrily shaking his fist, "I know you've been sending my grandchildren out behind my back to capture dinosaurs these past few days!" Upon hearing those words Seth narrowed his eyes, knowing that Helga no doubt informed him of his recent actions, "For one thing that's what Ursula and her henchmen are for! Second, you're taking them away from their assignments and studies!" Dr Z continued as he shot a furious glare at him, "And finally, you're endangering them by sending them out there alone to fight vicious man eating dinosaurs!" he screamed, "What so you have to say for yourself!?"

Seth said nothing momentarily, at first he was tempted to knock him out with a fully charged lightning rod he had with him, but instead he kept his composure and bowed at him with respect, "With all due respect, I have most faith in your grandchildren's abilities, in fact I've even seen first hand the potential they wield." he said politely.

Dr Z blinked his eyes curiously as he heard what Seth said, "What sort of potential are you talking about?"

"The kind that is necessary for us to secure the remaining dinosaurs out there, as well as several new ones that have recently appeared as well." Seth answered as he reached into his pocket, "In fact, I'll have you know that it was thanks to their efforts I was able to acquire this saurophaganax and stegosaurus." He said revealing the 2 dinosaurs he had with him much to Dr Z's surprise.

"Ah!" he gasped in amazement as Seth handed him the cards to see, "My precious grandchildren….acquired these?" he asked.

"Indeed." Seth answered with a polite bow, "In fact I believe they can accomplish far more in a few hours than Ursula and the others can in a few months." he continued as the old man stared back at him with a hard gaze, true he had brought him success but to do something like this without his permission and behind his back was beginning to cross the line for him.

"….."

"There will always be time for homework and studies," Seth continued, "But opportunities are most rare and when you're presented with one, it's only natural you capitalise on them, so you can see why I had to take matters into my own hands, I couldn't possibly leave things to chance." he said.

"I see…" Dr Z then thought bringing a finger to his chin in thought.

"Still, I admit that I should have gotten your permission first beforehand, and I do hope you accept my sincerest apologies." Seth added at the end, but at the back of his mind he thought otherwise, if only he truly meant that.

Thinking it over Dr Z handed the cards back to him, "Very well Seth, I'll let you off easy for now." he said before eying him seriously, "But be warned. Next time, I won't be so gracious, try anything again behind my back and I'll have to remind you who's in charge by putting you in your place." he said giving a firm warning.

"Understood doctor….." Seth replied undeterred as he turned around to take his leave.

Before he could leave through the door though, "By the way, where's Helga?" Dr Z then asked as Seth then stopped in his tracks, "She said was heading out to fetch Rod and Laura earlier this afternoon and yet I haven't heard from her since. You wouldn't by chance have seen her have you?" he asked.

Seth said nothing at first before smirking to himself sinisterly and then giving his answer, "I ran into her not long ago." he said, "She said she had some business to take care of in Chinatown and won't be back for a few days."

"What sort of business would require her to be absent for days?" Dr Z then asked.

"How should I know?" the blue haired man replied, "If you ask me though, I'd say it's something we all can benefit from wouldn't you agree?" he stated looking back at him.

Thinking it over Dr Z did see Seth had a point, with Helga gone for a while they could relax and take things easier and have no need to worry about her being so strict with them, also they could get away with doing whatever they wanted too and she'd never know. "I suppose….." Dr Z thought before shaking his arms out childishly, "But still, with her gone who's going to be taking care of me and my bad back? Not to mention all the chores!" he cried.

"I believe you already have 3 who are more than capable of filling in Helga's shoes until she gets back." Seth replied referring to the Alpha trio, as Dr Z patted his fist into the palm of his hand.

"You're right!" he gasped, "In fact, putting those 3 nincompoops on her duty will serve as the perfect punishment until Helga gets back!" he said before laughing out joyously, "Ahahaha! Oh I knew I can always count you Seth! You've never disappointed me!"

"I'm honoured to hear that doctor." said Seth as he left the premises, along the way back to his lab downstairs he then grinned maliciously, "Heh, simple minded fool. A man with no vision as yourself could never comprehend my ideas. By the time you even have a clue as to what I'm really doing, you'll already be obsolete, or better yet extinct." he thought out loud as he entered the elevator taking him down to Zeta Point's lower levels.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the Taylor's house, the gang had finally made it home after a long but rather eventful day out. What should have been an enjoyable lunch with Johnny Cook's legendary crab and egg fried rice, turned out to be a colossal bust after a mapusaurus came in and ruined everything, and by the time the D team managed to subdue it, Johnny ended up leaving once more, so they all had to go back empty handed and empty stomached…..

"Aw man!" Max moaned in agony as he fell back into the couch and looking weakly up at the ceiling, "I really wanted to try out Johnny Cook's crab and egg fried rice! It's not fair! It's that mapusaurus' fault!" he then cried out throwing a tantrum while flinging his arms out uncontrollably like a little kid, while everyone else sweat dropped at his behaviour.

"Max that's enough now." his dad said folding his arms firmly as his son lay down on the couch and raised his arm weakly, as if there was a light calling out to him and he reached out weakly to grab it, along with Chomp who lay down on the ground exhausted and starving for even a leaf.

"Ease up Max," said Rex as he walked over and looked at Max, "I'm just as disappointed as you are, but you don't see us acting like fussy children."

"Besides, whining and complaining isn't going to make it any better." Zoe added as she folded her arm on her hip.

Max then teared up bitterly as he threw yet another tantrum "I don't care!" he cried out fussily, "I mean we waited nearly all day just to get a seat and now we come home with nothing! I'm so hungry I'd eat a horse!" He cried under his breath, in fact if he had the chance he'd literally do it too. As he finished, Chomp cried out in pain from an empty stomach, while Ace and the other dinosaurs became rather grumpy too for having nothing to eat themselves. After that Rex, Zoe and Dr Taylor heard their stomachs growl too as they either blushed or looked away while whistling.

"I hate to admit it but I'm hungry too….." Rex groaned falling forward.

"Yeah…..same here….." Zoe whimpered rubbing her belly.

"Well then, hope you've got plenty of room then." A caring voice said to them from behind.

"Huh?" As they all turned they widened their eyes in amazement and joy.

"Ta da! Dinner is served." sand Aki as she held up a pair of plates, one with braised chicken feet and the other with fried noodles! Reese then came in while carrying a bowl filled of beef stew which steamed rather strongly to show it was freshly cooked.

As they laid the dishes out at the table, everyone else looked on with pure awe, "Whoa!"

"Amazing!"

"It's beautiful….." Max teared up as Cera laid down a rather familiar dish, as Max looked up to her, "Is this?" he pointed as she then nodded confirming his answer.

"Yup, crab and egg fried rice fresh out of the pan." she answered proudly as she called out to the dinosaurs, "Come and get it everyone!" she called placing down mixed vegetables for Chomp and Paris while handing salted fish and fried pork to Ace.

"YAHOO!" They then split with the adults eating at the dinner table while the kids and their partners ate over by the TV.

"Let's dig in!" Max quickly wolfed down his share of food, stuffing it down his throat without even chewing!

"Max, Max take it easy, the food's not going to be running away." Aki chuckled in amusement as he looked up to her.

"I'm not taking any chances! After what happened today I'm wolfing it down right this instant!" he replied, his mouth still partially full before he finished it off and holding out his empty plate, "Seconds please!" He called out before the process was repeated once more.

The others had barely finished half their share when they saw Max finish off his second helping, needless to say they were amazed both in a good ad bad way, "Whoa, look at him go." Zoe breathed.

"Better not get between him and his food," Rex commented finishing a bite of noodles before noticing their dinosaurs were eating happily too, 1 enjoying it more in particular, "Or Chomp for that matter."

"Wow! This stuff's great!" At long last after finishing nearly 5 helpings of crab and egg rice, Max's belly was heavily stuffed till it was as bloated as a balloon, before covering his mouth feeling a big one coming, "Burp! Ah, man am I stuffed…." he said before looking over to the adults side, "Thanks mom, really appreciate this."

Aki chuckled, "Oh I can't take all the credit here," she said warmly before eying a certain member of the group who was particular helpful tonight. "Cera was the one who helped out mostly with the cooking, Reese and I simply prepared the ingredients."

As she said that, the kids widened their eyes in surprise as they looked to Cera who blushed red in embarrassment with all the attention she was receiving, "Whoa! For real!?" They gasped in amazement and awe.

Cera scratched her chin feeling somewhat nervous, "Ehehehe….well when I stayed on my own for a while I did have to cook for myself." she said twirling a bit of hair in her finger as she answered, "Luckily I found a cooking website online, made by Johnny himself surprisingly, and I stumbled upon many recipes there." she said, "Since you were really looking forward to that rice I thought I could at least try it out and hope it would make you feel better. It might not be the same as he would actually make it, but sure hope it suffices." She then asked hopefully as she bowed down.

Everyone then smiled in response, "It sure does." said Max licking his lips in delight.

"You're really talented that's for sure, I'm starting to wonder if there's anything you aren't good at." Rex commented.

"Well whatever it is, I sure hope it wouldn't matter at all." Zoe added as she folded her arm and laid back on it in the chair. "We're happy with you the way you are."

"You coming into our lives is like a blessing from the heavens, not a day goes by that we aren't grateful for it." said Spike over at the table as everyone showered her with praise and appreciation, she couldn't help but feel a bit emotional and tear up.

"Thank you…..everyone…." she sniffled a bit as she wiped away a single drop from her eye.

As Max noticed there was still one piece left on his plate, he quickly took it up in a single bite, "Mmmm, man this stuff is almost as good as the way mom does it." he commented as Aki looked over to him.

"Hmm?"

He then waved out his arms frantically, "N…Not that it ever will be of course!" he choked realising what he said before waving frantically at Cera, "Oh but yours is good too Cera! I just-"

"Hahahaha! It's fine no offence taken Max." she laughed in amusement, "Just doing what I can to help everyone else be happy that's all, it's a way of saying I care and thanks."

As she said that everyone felt touched and decided to give her a cheer, "Let's give it up for Cera! To her and her delicious dinner!"

"Hip hip hooray!"

"Woo hoo!"

As they did so, Cera smiled rather brightly as she received all the praise and emotional encouragement from everyone, but yet at the back of her mind she felt as though something was still missing as her smiled dropped slightly, "…"

Later that night, as Cera had gotten settled back into her room for the night, she smiled feeling at peace as she saw Miku nuzzle up in the small critter bed that was on the desk next to her own. "That was quite an adventure today wasn't it Miku?" she said to her partner who nodded back at her in response. As she laid back into her bed and thought about their family fun earlier in the afternoon, chasing down the mapusaurus and having all sorts of fun and experiences together, not to mention the many great times they had as well with the entire D team and family, "It's been a blast since we met up with Max, Rex and Zoe since that day." she thought to herself as she folded her arms behind her head, "I feel lucky that we were able to find ourselves amongst such great people, and dinosaurs." She then said before her smile vanished and was replaced with one of concern and confusion, "And yet…..I don't feel we're that closer to learning about….who we are really, and where we came from….and why we're here…" Noticing Miku had already fell asleep, she then shook it off and smiled before getting under the covers herself, "Well, there's no point worrying about that now, we'll let tomorrow worry about itself. Good night Miku." she said as her eyes slowly closed and she fell asleep.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Later that night downtown in Sanjo City, a massive construction project was underway for the development of a new apartment complex. Several machines had already been sent ranging from tractors, cranes, bulldozers and a pile driver, and they were now busy laying the foundation for the complex to be put up. It would have gone smoothly, if it weren't for a few unexpected complications the workers encountered, "Hey, what's the matter with this pile driver!? It's supposed to go way deeper than this!" A man in worker clothes and construction helmet grumbled impatiently as he pressed the button multiple times and yet the hammer from the pile driver didn't seem to make much impact in the hole.

"Oi! What's taking so long!?" A plumper man with a large brown beard and moustache, wearing ripped up jeans and a stained white singlet top yelled to him as the worker sweated anxiously to see his boss, "We're supposed to get stage 1 of this new apartment complex ready by tomorrow morning! That foundation was supposed to be finished hours ago!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"S…Sorry sir!" The worker responded anxiously, "But the pile driver just won't go any deeper!" he cried.

"Let me see." As the boss went over to check the machine's hammer and parts he could see no errors or anything wrong with how it currently was, "Machine seems alright….."

"Maybe it's the ground itself that's too hard?" the worker then stated in the hopes of bringing the boss' attention away from taking out his anger on him.

"Ridiculous," The fat boss grumbled as he hopped out of the pile driver to inspect the hole to see if there was anything jamming it, "There's no way anything could withstand-" As he looked down it he widened his eyes and froze in surprise at what he saw inside it, "No way…." he then breathed as he knelt down and began brushing away at it with his gloved hands.

"Umm….you okay there boss?" some other workers asked as they came around to where he was.

By the time he brushed away more dirt, he found what appeared to be a large plate of metal, and no doubt there must be more buried deep underneath where they stood! "Boys! I think we've found something!" he then cried out in a,ament as they all went to fetch their digging equipment to uncover what sort of treasure or artefact they may have stumbled upon by chance.

 **(Next morning)**

At the Taylor's house, Aki had just left for her reunion in Spain and so once more left the house in the care of the boys. Now Spike was having an important discussion with them both along with their dinosaurs to set out boundaries to follow, "Now kids, since mom has just left we're going to have to set some rules." he started out firmly while folding his arms with a serious expression, "Unless of course you want Zoe to pile all those duties on your backs for being irresponsible."

As he added that part at the end, both Max and Rex shuddered as bad memories returned to them, "Ugh, who needs that…."

"Yeah totally….." Even Chomp and Ace shivered in fear of Paris and Zoe giving them firm lectures too.

Neither of them wanted to have a repeat of those events, while also worrying about the potential fact that Cera herself might turn out to be like her, then they'd have 2 bossy girls nagging at them! "Alright, for starters we'll have to clean up after ourselves from now on, that includes after meals, our messes and after we get out of bed." Dr Taylor clapped his hands.

"Sounds easy enough." said Rex in agreement knowing he was capable of doing that on his own, "Also if we see a mess we should volunteer to clean it up too without waiting for someone else to do it." he added at the end which pleased Spike very much.

"Exactly, as well as taking initiative and setting a good example for others to follow, that's the way to go Rex." he praised as Rex chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"You're certainly a role model that's for sure." Max smiled as he headed over to the couch, "In the case, hope you don't mind cleaning my room for me while I check out whats's on TV." he said as he hoped on it with Chomp and switched it on, much to the surprise of Rex and his dad.

"Excuse me?" the blond haired boy blinked with suspicion while his dad shot him a firm glare.

"That's not what I meant Max….." he said shooting him a look that sent shudders down Max's spine!

"Aw come on dad," he then whined, "There's no need to do things so soon, mom only just left and it's not that messy. Besides we-" As he looked to the screen and flicked through the channels randomly, he then caught sight of something rather intriguing as he passed and stared at the screen, "Huh?"

"Max, don't look at the TV when I'm talking to you." said Spike firmly, but instead he received no response. "Max." He then said raising his voice assuming his son to be rude and ignoring him.

"N..no not that dad." Max replied quickly, "Take a look at this." he said showing the news report to him and Rex as the news anchorwoman appeared on screen live downtown.

" **We're coming live from downtown in Sanjo City, where apparently a massive unidentified craft has just been uncovered beneath the construction site for the city's newest apartment complex."** She explained while holding a microphone. Behind her at a construction site was a rather large hole that was dug with the help of several construction vehicles like bulldozers and tractors, and deep inside it was a very large aircraft, in the shape of a dinosaur egg yet also somewhat and pointed like a fighter jet, even sporting a blade like wing, with one wing broken off and buried nearby in the soil. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

"WHOA!"

"Would you look at the size of that thing….." They gasped in amazement. In fact the entire craft seemed to have been buried in the ground for a very long time, evidence shown from its' highly stained outer husk and several parts broken off and scattered in different areas. Nevertheless, its' presence was enough to draw hundreds of people from all over Sanjo City as they gathered around the pit and were kept at bay by authorities as they tired to get a picture in!

" **Experts who have gathered here currently have little to no idea as to the origins of this craft or to what even its purpose would serve. With a design no doubt far beyond what we have today, yet being ancient beyond belief. Some even believe that this may be a newly discovered OOPART that could no doubt become an eight wonder of the world."** The anchorwoman continued as some important scientists and archaeologists had gathered at the front trying tests on the vehicle, but none of their drills or tools seemed to make so much as a dent on it.

"To think something like that would be buried deep underneath our city…." Max blinked his eyes in amazement while Rex and their dinosaurs stared.

Dr Taylor quickly rushed to the house phone to make an emergency call, "I'm going to notify Dr Owen and our closest associates, this is the discovery of the century!" he cried out in a hurry as he began dialling, "Imagine, maybe there could even be evidence of extraterrestrial life out there just inside that thing! Who knows what secrets of the universe it may even hold! Oh the excitement is making me shudder!" he squealed as his eyes teared up like an overly excited kid waiting to get his present.

They sweat dropped seeing him act all childish once again, but they did get the point. "Yeah….who knows what that thing might have in store for us….." said Rex looking at the craft closely, "We'd better tell Zoe about this now." he then said.

Max then nodded in agreement, "Yeah no doubt she and Cera will want to hear about this." he aid as he dialled on his dinoholder.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Zeta Point, Seth sat at the couch eying the news channel to catch on up recent events happening in the world to see if there would be any opportunities that he could take advantage of. It was then that Rod and Laura were passing by that they noticed him there so they went and approached him curiously. "Hey Seth, didn't think we'd find you here." said Rod with interest.

"What are you doing?" Laura asked curiously as he turned to them with an approachable smile.

"Hello you two," he said, "I'm merely taking some time off from my work to keep myself up to date with current events." he explained.

"Didn't think you were the type to sit down at the couch and watch TV." Rod commented folding his arms behind his head.

"Heh, even geniuses need a breather now and then," Seth smirked, "Balance is essential in every experimental equation and aspect of life."

"That makes sense….." Laura mused before saying something on her mind, "You know with Helga away I feel like I can finally play for once without her checking in every few minutes to make sure we aren't dozing off or taking a break without her permission." she said.

"Yeah, same here, I can't remember the last time I was this relaxed." Rod added feeling in a good mood himself too. "I could get used to this."

"Considering that Helga won't be back for a while, feel free to take as much time as you both need." said Seth to them before giving them another assignment, "Also, while she's away you can take the time to come up with a nice gift for your grandfather, his birthday is coming up and I'm certain he'll appreciate it very much."

The kids' eyes widened in surprise before looking to each other, "Hey you're right!"

"How could we forget that!?" they gasped.

"Well we've been so busy studying and going hunting for dinosaurs it must have slipped our minds." said Rod scratching his cheek in thought.

"Looks like we know what we're going to do today!" Laura held up her arms excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm going to design a fancy toy Grampa will love more than anything else!" said Rod filled with motivation as he turned around to head for his work room.

"I'll help too!" Laura cheered behind him as they left the premises.

After they were gone, Seth smirked to himself seeing there was now no one that could possibly interfere with his plans anymore, it was only a matter of time till he eliminated the D team once and for all then nothing would be able to stop him from completing his work. It was at that moment an opportunity presented itself to him when the same news of an unusual space pod was uncovered in downtown Sanjo City. As the anchorwoman explained, he then folded his arms and narrowed his eyes feeling intrigued, seeing it was nothing he had ever seen in this time nor his own, no doubt it was worth checking out.

Little did he know was that Cera and Zoe was also seeing the exact same news report on TV as he was, and while Zoe was no doubt interested and curious about the unusual OOPART discovered, she didn't notice Cera and Miku were completely fixated on it, as if it somehow sparked some kind of deep interest that she couldn't explain, "That….looks familiar….." she breathed in amazement knowing she had to get a look at it.

 **(Later that day)**

"OW!"

"Watch it!"

"Get off me!"

It was late afternoon and after hours of going through a massive traffic jam for nearly the entire day, the D team finally made it downtown, or at least as close as they could get to the OOPART which was now covered up with a large brown tarp to keep it from getting affected by any outside elements like rain or wind which would affect it, as well as to keep any onlookers from getting too close or taking any pictures of it. As the D team fought hard against others pushing against them, Spike was able to make his way to the front, his eyes brightened with hope as he jumped out of the crowd and landing past the line, only for the guards to grab hold of him, "Let me through! I'm an archaeologist! I deserve to have a close look at that craft! I demand you let me at it!" he cried out as he then teared overemotionally before being thrown into crowd once more! "NO!" he wailed before being swallowed by the sea of people and even getting stomped all over them repeatedly!

"Dad….." Max groaned faceplaming in dismay before sighing at the sight of the massive crowd before them all, "Look at all these people, it's like a war zone here." he muttered, deciding it was bets that they kept Chomp and the others in their cards before they got off the car, no doubt they'd get lost or worse trampled while in this.

Rex looked to him, feeling exhausted having been fighting against shoving people nearly all day, "Can you really blame them? We've just found a UFO right in the centre of our city! Who wouldn't want to see this?" he said.

"Oh I can't wait to see it up close!" Zoe then gasped clutching her hands together in excitement, "Imagine if there really is life out there in the universe, and yet we barely even know our own planet."

"I know! The suspense really is killing me!" Max then followed up cheering for excitement, he watched all kinds of sci-fi movies in the past ranging from beings sent from the future to outer space aliens, the possibilities were limitless as he and Zoe jittered with excitement.

Rex couldn't help but smile in amusement at their childish behaviour, "Hehe, I'm sure we're all excited as you guys are." he chuckled before turning to the side, "Surely you feel the same way don't you Cera?" He then blinked his eyes in surprise to see that she was no longer where she was standing initially, "Huh?" As he looked around trying to find so much as a trace of her through the ever moving and growing flood of people but to no avail, "Hey, where did Cera go? A minute ago she was just here."

Unbeknownst to the rest of her friends, Cera pressed on determinedly as she fought her way through the large crowd, resisting their pushing and shoving non stop, while squeezing through every and any gap she could find between them. Eventually, her hard efforts and determination was rewarded as she was able to slip by under the barrier line, while the guard was distracted by holding back a few toddlers from wanting to go under the line. As she made her way to the back of the tarp, away from all the prying eyes of visitors, she then noticed the coast was clear as she slowly lifted up the tarp and saw the large metal hull of the OOPART aircraft, which she had to admit looked vaguely similar to one she might have seen before….as if she may have even rode in something like this in the past…..

She narrowed her eyes knowing she had to confirm it for herself, as she raised her arm out and touched it. As he fingers made contact with it, she suddenly had a flashback shoot through her mind, as she sat inside a certain cockpit of a vehicle and it shook rather violently while she travelled through a multicoloured tunnel, it's systems began to overload and surge with electricity before finally being enveloped in a bright light and her screaming! "AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Ah!" Cera then gasped in alarm as she took her hand back and clenched it tightly, she also began sweating and gasping for air as if she had escaped from a life or death situation! As she widened her eyes she slowly, uneasily, brought it over to forehead as she pinched her temple lightly, "What…was that?" she asked herself as she took the moment to recollect her thoughts. After she did she narrowed her eyes and reached out for it again, thinking she might be able to learn more, unfortunately she wasn't about to have a second chance-

"Excuse me ma'am." a firm voice spoke to her from behind which made her jump!

"Ah!" she gasped in alarm to see a guard had found her, "You shouldn't be here. Please come with me." he said as he grabbed hold of her arm and began to pull her away!

Cera widened her eyes seeing she was being dragged further and further away from what would be the key to solving her past, as she struggled as hard as she could to resist, "Please sir, I really need a closer look at that craft! I really need to!" she begged, but her pleas fell on deaf ears as she was dragged on, as she was eventually thrown out behind the line and back onto the streets.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but we can't allow anyone pass this line." he said firmly as he folded his arms and shot a glare, "We can't allow anyone to do anything that could possibly damage it in any way." Seeing she seemed rather desperate he then put on a light smile, "We do however have plans to have this delivered to the Sanjo City museum tonight, where it'll be put on display for everyone to get a proper look in the morning. If you would be so kind as to wait, that would be very much appreciated."

She then turned around to plead once more, "But sir I-"

"Cera!" a voice suddenly called out to her, which then smashed all hope of her getting another chance, as she looked around she saw none other than Max, Rex and Zoe hurrying over to where she was.

"There you are!" Max cried as he and the others came to her, then shooting serious expressions. "Where'd you been!? We've been looking for you!"

"Do you have any idea how worried we were!?" Rex added.

The guard curiously looked to Cera, then to the 3 kids then back to her, "Are you with her?" he then asked as he pointed at Cera.

"Y…yes officer." Zoe gulped nervously, worrying that something may be wrong, "Why?" she asked uneasily.

"Your friend here was trespassing behind the security line, she even had the nerve to touch the craft so we had to have her removed." the guard answered as they turned to her in alarm.

"Huh!?"

"Say what!?"

"Cera why'd you do that!?" They all cried out as Cera found no other way of explaining herself, as she sweated anxiously and felt herself backed into a corner.

"I….I…."

Rex then faceplamed, "I understand getting excited, but I never expected you didn't think you'd go that far!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah! I mean you actually got to touch it!? No fair! I wanted to do that!" Max then frowned gritting his teeth in frustration as Zoe and Rex sweat dropped at his behaviour, missing the point s usual.

"Max…."

Realising the trouble she caused, Cera then lowered her head, "I….I'm sorry guys….I…I don't know what came over me….." she apologised uneasily before bowing to the guard, "We're really sorry sir."

Thinking about it the guard then shrugged his shoulders in turn, "Since you're kids I'll let it slide this time." he said which brought some relief to the D team, "I'd advise you to get back to your parents though, it's getting rather late now and we won't be allowing anymore visitors." he suggested as they nodded.

"Yes sir."

Looking around Max saw the sun was indeed beginning to set and some of the visitors were already been forced to leave the premises, much to the discomfort of some of the D team, "Looks like we'll have to come back later….." sighed Max who was really looking forward to seeing the OOPART with his own eyes, but also anxious about having to go back through the massive traffic jam back home….."Come on guys let's go….."

"Alright…."

"Yeah…." they said in response as Max began to main off his frustrations.

"Aw man….I was really looking forward to seeing it up close with my own eyes." As he cried out, Cera turned her eye back to behind her as she eyed the covered OOPART slowly being picked up by a forklift and loaded onto a hauler truck as it drove off in the distance down the road. She narrowed her gaze, knowing she wasn't done with it yet, and she won't be until she gets the answers she's been searching for all this time…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Zeta Point, it was a grand day for the alpha gang, for them there could be no other day or event that could be more important than today, as the Trio presented themselves before Dr Z in bed, while serving him a rather large birthday cake as his meal in bed, "Surprise!"

"Happy birthday Dr Z!"

"Here's to the day you came into the world and graced us with your very existence!" They each chanted while throwing streamers and balloons into the air, while wearing party hats and blowing party favours. They did so with all their heart as they presented their very best to entertain him and to show him their upmost gratitude and loyalty to him.

He however, didn't seem willing to return to them any sort of gratitude of his own though, instead their performance seemed to sour his mood as he glared daggers at them, gritted his teeth furiously while clenching his blanker in his hands! "Grrr…"

Upon hearing his gnashing teeth and growling, the trio felt a chill pass them as their partying soon came to a halt and they stared rather nervously at their now glaring boss, "Umm Dr Z? You're looking a little tense…." Ed whimpered softly.

"We worked really hard to make your 65th birthday perfect." said Zander clapping his hands together.

"Aren't you happy for us that we even remembered?" sang Ursula as she held her arms out to him rather lovingly.

"Happy? Happy!?" he shouted which caused them all to jump and huddle together in fright!

"GAH!"

"You expect me to be happy after all the pain and misery you've made me suffer these past months!?" he screeched as he grabbed hold of the cake in front and threw it at them!

"GAH!" As they jumped out of the way and scattered, they felt their hearts crack as the cake they worked so hard to bake for hours get reduced to a mess as it splated on the wall and dripped down to the floor.

Dr Z then teared up and shook intensely with immense rage and anger welling up inside him, as the trio slowly and nervously turned back to look at him, "The only thing this day brings me is misery and pain, the fact that my time in this world is growing thinner and that I'll my final moments will be of nothing but regret when I realise my dreams of becoming Dinosaur King are never fulfilled!" he cried rather bitterly before pointing out at them, "And I have you 3 to blame for bringing me nothing but failure! For failing to capture any more dinosaurs and to secure me the resources I need to rebuild the time machine so we can all go home! At this rate I'll pass on in this timeline as a mere nobody!" he yelled as he began wiping away some heavy tears from his eyes before glaring at the trio once more, who felt devastated by what he said. What he was about to say next was about to fire daggers into their very souls, "I almost regret taking you in, and now I might even consider throwing you all out!"

"GAH!" they all gasped in unison, of all the insults and threats he threw at them, that was the most hurtful and devastating of all…..

"Please don't doctor!"

"We have nowhere else to go!" Zander and Ed cried out clapping their hands together while Ursula decided to suck it up and bow before Dr Z with respect.

"We honestly feel awful and responsible for causing you this much pain, we really do." she said sounding serious before looking up to Dr Z, "But rest assured tomorrow morning we will bring you a present you'll love for sure!" she swore as the other 2 men followed in sync.

"Yes sir!" they both said firmly.

Dr Z, unimpressed and unconvinced simply scoffed in response, "Unless it's a new dinosaur card nothing you give me will ever fill this hole in my heart at falling short of my dream!" He then cried out grabbing his pillows and throwing them as hard as he could! "Now get out! Get out! I don't want to see your faces again!"

"AAAAAHHHH!" The trio cried out as they were pelted mercilessly with pillows! A little while later they left his room all covered in feathers, looking almost like humanoid birds.

"Phew….that was a close one…." Ursula breathed before sneezing out a feather! "Achoo!"

"Yeah, I never want to go through that again…." Zander muttered sadly.

"Did you see his eyes? I felt like I was staring right at a man eating lion….." shivered Ed.

Ursula looked to him in response, "You can't blame him for being like that Ed, I mean we haven't exactly given him anything that made him happy at all right? As far as I know all we did was take and take from him…." she muttered.

"So true…."

Thinking about everything he had done, even if it was harsh and half hearted they didn't really give him back anything that would make up for the sacrifices he made for them during their earlier days…..his words still echoing within her mind and even her soul, unable to shake them off. Till she then clenched her fist and gritted her teeth in anger, "GRR! The nerve of him!" she roared blowing off all her feathers at once as she began stomping her foot and screaming her frustration out, "We worked hard day and night to prepare him his special birthday surprise and that's how he repays us!?" She growled before slamming her fist into the wall and making it crack, which caused Ed and Zander to both jump in a fright!

"AAAAHHH!" they gasped shivering together.

Ursula then sighed before going to her knees, "After everything we did for him….working our butts off with our own blood, sweat and tears, how we endured his punishments and harsh treatments day after day…..since we were taken in by him…." she then said sadly as her close friends came over to help comfort her.

"Ursula…." They gathered around and gave her a rather encouraging hug before she sniffed and stood up firmly with determination once more!

"Well I won't give up! We promised him a present that will surpass all gifts he's ever gotten and we're going to get him one!" she announced, "We'll travel to the ends of the earth, up then highest mountain or even the deepest sea, with all 3 of us putting together our efforts there's nothing we can't accomplish!"

"That's the spirit Ursula!"

"I've never been so inspired before in my life!" Both Zander and Ed gasped in amazement as they appeared to be worshipping a hero and role model of highest caliber.

"Hehe that's what I hoped to hear from you two." she chuckled cockily, glad that the pep talk she practiced from watching an adventure movie she watched not long ago had paid off.

Clearly it captured their hearts more than anything, "We're with you all the way!"

"For Dr Z!"

"YEAH!" They all cheered fired up

"But what are we going to get him that would blow his pants off?"

"Good….question….."

They panic over promise they can't keep

"I might be able to help you with that." a familiar voice spoke to them which caught their attention.

"Huh?" As they tuned to look they saw a man in a trench coat walk up to where they were as he eyed them with an approachable smile.

"Seth? What are you doing here?" Ursula then asked.

"I was passing by when I overheard your….passionate speech." he answered as he folded one arm on his hip, "Needless to say I couldn't help but feel…..moved myself by your devoted loyalty to him." It was then he began reaching into his pocket and began pulling something out of it, "As such I've figured out the perfect gift you can get for him that should make him forget and forgive all your past….mistakes." he said handing them a recent news article he downloaded and printed from the internet.

As they read it curiously they saw it depicted a rather large dinosaur egg shaped jet that was recently unearthed and delivered to the Sanjo City museum, it was unlike anything they had ever seen before, even making some of their machine look like toys in comparison, "What's…this?" asked Ursula as she and the others looked up at Seth, as he flashed them a rather sinister smile in response.

"Just follow my instructions carefully, and mark my words you will bring Dr Z home the greatest gift the world will ever know." he said.

 **(That night)**

It was almost midnight, and since the afternoon the moment she laid eyes and even laid her hand upon the mysterious unearthed aircraft, Cera had been very restless. Now she was writhing and and rustling about in her bed, as she kicked off the covers and most of her pillows off. "Urgh….ugh…." she groaned as she thrashed about, as she dreamt:-

Herself inside some sort of driver's seat and vehicle, traveling through a multicoloured energy tunnel, suddenly being hit from behind by a blast of energy, causing her vehicle to face several errors as it suddenly fried up and exploded in her face, "AAAAAHHHH!" she then screamed as a light enveloped her after that.

"Ah!" she gasped as she woke up suddenly, "Huh?" looking around she found herself in her room once more and that all was still normal as it should be. She placed a hand to her head to calm its' throbbing, "Oh…only a dream….." she breathed placing a hand to her chest in relief as she breathed rather heavily, doing her best to calm down her racing heart. She was also sweating rather profusely, as her back felt rather drenched in sweat too and her bedsheets and pillow where she rested even. After rubbing her temple and clearing her thoughts she heard the sounds of scratching coming from the window. As she turned to look she saw Miku had hopped out of bed and onto the window side and was scratching at the glass panel quite restlessly. As she walked up to her little raptor, who looked back at her she then smiled in response knowing what she was thinking, "Couldn't sleep either huh?" She asked as Miku chirped in response. "I was thinking the same thing…." she said as she went to go get changed into her normal attire. After she did, she got her dinoshot ready and allowed Miku to hop onto her shoulder, "Come on let's go." she said as she slowly exited her room. Looking to the left and right of her to make sure the coast was clear, it was dark and silent as the clock struck 12 at midnight. She then placed a finger to her lips as she eyed Miku, "Ssh….if we move out quietly we might be able to get by her." she whispered as she slowly tiptoed over to the stairs.

As her foot came upon the first stair, it made a small creak sound, which was enough to sit Paris awake in Zoe's room. Hearing them, she opened the door slilghty to see Cera's head just leave her eyes as she went down the stairs. After that she hopped onto Zoe's bed and began rubbing her with her head and nudging her too. "Urgh….." Zoe groaned groggily as she continued to sleep, even giggling to herself as she dreamt about Max and Rex giving her a spa treatment and trying her like a queen. Paris huffed in annoyance as she suddenly let out a loud shriek noise from her crest at point blank range!

"Gaaaah!" she screamed waking up and then falling out of bed! "Urgh…." she groaned rubbing it knowing she bumped on it. She was about to give Paris a stern lecturing to, when she instead barked rather frantically and worried which made her change her mind at the last minute, "Huh? P…Paris? What's wrong?" she asked worried as Paris then ran to her window and began tapping at it, while urging her to come see. "Hmm?" As she went over to the window to look out, she was rather surprised to see Cera had wandered off outside the front door and down the streets, "Cera? Where's she headed off to?" she thought curiously, bringing a finger to her chin before widening her eyes upon realisation, "Could it be?" she asked herself before getting changed herself and dialling on her dinoholder, "I'd better call Max and Rex and let them know about this too…." she thought seriously.

A little while later, Cera arrived to the entrance of the Sanjo City museum which though didn't look too impressive at first glance, being similar to that of a rather moderate sized glass dome which sat ontop of a smaller 2 storey foundation, it still housed a number of the country's most precious and treasured artefacts, the newest one being the OOPART aircraft that was uncovered earlier int he afternoon. She peered through the bushes looking left and right, scanning the dark night streets for any signs of security or patrols. After Miku returned to her side, gliding down from afar and chirping to her, she then nodded in acknowledgement. "Looks like the coast is clear." She said before returning Miku to small size. She then walked up to the front entrance to see that the 2 handles were chained together with a rather firm lock, meaning there was no getting in through the front. "Hmm….the place looks locked up tight, but there's got to be a backdoor somewhere." Cera then thought to herself hardly as she took out her dinoshot and began dialling on it, "Maybe if I take a scan…."

"Cera!" A trio of voices suddenly shouted out from behind her, which broke her concentration.

She then accidentally dropped her dinoshot upon hearing them call her name, "Ah!" As she turned around uneasily, her heart skipped a beat and she sweated upon seeing the rest of the D team, and their partners standing before her, painting with exhaustion but no less serious as they eyed her, "Max, Rex…Zoe?" she said uneasily as they gasped for air, drenched in sweat before glaring at her. She never accounted for them following her this late at night so she didn't know how to react or respond to this.

Max rested his arms on his knees before shouting out, "Huff….what are you doing here!? First sneaking around earlier today now you're trying to break into the museum!? Have you lost it!?" He sneered as Cera, for once shook in worry stepping back but cornered against the locked door. Zoe, Paris, Ace and Rex too were rather uneasy to see Max in such a state so they backed off a bit even though they could understand him being so angry, "I know you were crazy about seeing that ship, but this is getting way out of line!"

Miku shivered and hid inside Cera's hair, leaving her to face her friends on her own, "I….I…." the wrong words could spark an intense wildfire of anger, she knew that much so she had to choose her words carefully, the problem was she herself was at a loss for words and unsure of how to respond back to them.

"You've got some explaining to do and we're not leaving until we get one!" Max then yelled furiously as Chomp barked just as mad, "Especially for it being right in the middle of the night!" he hissed, his eyes reddened hinting he was very cranky from Zoe waking him up with her call.

Fortunately for her, Rex was still feeling rather calm and collected as he stepped forward between them both, "Hold on, there's no need to corner her like that. I'm sure she has her reasons." he said to Max as he breathed and eased up slightly, but kept his glare at Cera.

Zoe then looked at Cera feeling sympathetic for her knowing she must have had her reasons like Rex said, but after seeing the boys all angsty as they were they did have a point, on the other hand for Cera to go this far and behind their backs, they had to know what was going on. "Ever since this morning when that news report came up you've been awfully quiet and even snuck behind out backs." she said as they all looked to her firmly, "At dinner time you were awfully quiet as well, and I could easily see through that fake smile of yours too, no doubt something was on your mind since the start of the day."

"…." She said nothing in response.

"You're keeping something from us aren't you?" Rex then questioned seriously. "No doubt it has something to do with that machine they uncovered isn't it?"

Hearing his statement, Cera clenched her hand tightly feeling rather hurt and insecure inside, she knew in her heart she had to tell her friends, but at the same time she didn't know if she could or how….."….."

As they saw her expression change, they too began to realise it was personal to her no doubt, "Cera what's going on?" Max then asked finally calming down.

"Is it something you really can't tell us?" Zoe followed clutching her hands together tightly.

"Don't you trust us?" Rex then asked as Cera was nearing her breaking point.

Seeing no other way of getting out of this, on top of that, she knew she couldn't keep running away anymore, Cera then sighed deeply and took a deep breath as she finally confessed what was on her mind, "Guys I'm sorry for not telling, you were right, friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other….even if they are personal ones…." she said admittingly.

"Personal? What do you-" Max then realised and widened his eyes, "Wait, you mean?"

Cera turned her head to the side trying to avoid eye contact, "I'm not sure exactly," she said uneasily and feeling unsure of herself, "It's just, when I saw that aircraft on TV today, it's like….something just clicked in me, I felt like it was…calling out to me and Miku…." she continued uneasily, with each word being excruciatingly painful to admit and force out, "You can call me crazy if you want, but….I think maybe I saw it before somewhere….like in a dream I had once…..and that I really need to know what it holds…maybe it just might have some answers to who I am or even where I came from, I don't know for sure if this is the case, but I feel I just have to try and know." she said sadly.

"Cera…." It was at that point the D team realised this was something she had on her mind for sometime, and the fact that she didn't know anything about herself was no doubt tearing her up from the inside since then, yet she kept burying her emotions all inside her to keep the others from worrying about her. It was no wonder she couldn't say anything, she thought about them and their wellbeing a lot more than they first knew…How she kept denying herself and her own personal feelings all for them…..never before and they met someone so selfless, and yet if she truly had a connection with this strange craft which was now locked inside the museum, maybe she was someone truly special….

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier….it's not like I didn't want to…it's just…I-" she was cut off as all 3 members of the D team came around and hugged her closely. "H….Huh?" She blinked her eyes in surprise as she saw them all huddling around her, all of them feeling close, even to the point of weeping with her, along with their dinosaurs too who could sense her sadness and they came in to comfort her too.

"We're the ones who are sorry Cera," said Rex, "For not realising this sooner…." he then added softly as they all gave her a little more space as she looked at them all.

"We understand now….." said Max looking away, feeling guilty for snapping at her just now.

"Cera, you should have just told us from the beginning." said Zoe as she walked up to her, taking her hands into her own, "We're friends and we look out for one another's needs and shelter eat others' burdens,"

"Yeah, you didn't need to keep it quiet and go it alone, in fact we almost never do." said Rex as he came in next to them both.

"You say it may not concern us," said Max at last as he put a firm hand on her shoulder, "But anything that would affect one of us is already something that would concern us. We're there for each other, we thought you might have already known that."

Cera shook felling overwhelmed with emotion before tears began to form and fall from her eyes, "But I….no….you're right….I should have been honest with you all from the start." she sniffled as Max patted her comfortingly on the back.

"Tell you what, first thing in the morning we'll all go and check out that OOPART with you, then we can solve this mystery of yours together." he said as they all nodded at his statement in agreement.

"Together….how could I have forgotten about that…." Cera breathed before wiping her tears from her eyes as well as her nose. After that she put on a more firm expression as she nodded, "Okay guys, I-" She then stopped upon hearing the sound of an engine coming closer.

"Huh?" They all heard the same thing and even began to feel their clothes blow up a bit, along with the trees and bushes ruffling up by an incoming breeze. Which seemed to be coming from above!

"What's that?" As they looked up they noticed a rather large pink turtle shaped ship preparing to descend nearby where they stood.

"Quick let's hide!" Max yelled in alarm as he and the others quickly hid in the bushes nearby. As it landed, Max narrowed his eyes firmly as its' engines quieted down, "I know that ship…." he breathed recalling seeing them at the iron works factory. As it opened up, 3 people then came right out of it as he widened his eyes in alarm, "It's the alpha gang!" Max gasped as Rex and Zoe covered his mouth!

"Ssh!"

"They'll hear you." They each said seriously while holding a finger to their lips as he nodded back.

"Sorry." he muttered under their hands.

Zander and Ed stumbled after at pulling the backdoor after a couple of times. After that they took out a pair shovels and were ready to dig a hole underneath it, till Ursula face palmed in dismay before opening up a side window! After that Zander first hopped in, Ed got stuck and needed Zander to pull him, till Ursula got impatient and kicked his butt inside before hopping in herself.

"What could they want with the museum?" asked Zoe curiously as she put on her goggles to zoom in for a better look.

Cera narrowed her eyes, "Nothing good I'm afraid."

"Let's follow them closely, but stay hidden." Rex instructed as they nodded to him, heading for the open window and shadowing the Alpha gang slowly and carefully from behind…..

As the Alpha gang walked through the dark halls of the museum, the firs being the ancient artefacts exhibit, "Ugh, it's as dark as a dungeon in here, can't see a thing." Ed mumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out, "Maybe this flash light would help." he said as he switched it on, as it shone on an ancient tutan mask with unusual markings on it but its' appearance was horrendous, resembling an ancient fiend as Ed turned pale and screamed out loud! "GAAAH! Hold me Ursula!" he cried out jumping into the lady's arms and nearly bringing her down!

As much as she wanted men to be clingy to her this wasn't one of those occasions, "ARGH! Get off me you bonehead!" she growled in annoyance as she threw him off!

"Oof!"

"Give me that!" she hissed grabbing the light from his hand, "Just what made you all jumpy all a sudden?" she grumbled before flashing it at the Tutan mask, which sent a mild shiver down her spine upon seeing its' large freaky eyes, unusual mouth and tusk like teeth, "Okay that's disturbing…." she muttered shivering slightly before turning the flashlight away.

"Now do you get it? This place gives me the creeps." whimpered Ed as he shuddered like a frightened child.

"Lots of places give you the creeps Ed." Zander muttered, "Even the dark and dust bunnies make you run for cover."

"Just stay close, don't wander off and don't touch anything." grumbled Ursula as she and Zander walked on ahead.

"Uh huh." Ed nodded as he trotted after them not wanting to be left behind.

After passing through the modern technology section of the museum, Zander took out his own flashlight and shone on the map to find directions, "Alright, which way do we go now?" he muttered trying to get a good look, while Ursula continued to look around for signs, her expression turing rather sour and impatient considering it was late at night and past her beauty nap. "Hmm, according to this it should be right up ahead." Zander then pointed out as he flashed a light down the hallway to the 'OOPARTs' section.

"Umm what was it that Seth asked us to snatch from this place again?" Ed then asked.

"Urgh, did you forget already you birdbrain!?" Ursula grumbled as she delivered a swift blow to his head!

WHACK!

"OW!" he cried as he covered up the bruised spot in pain.

She then glared down at him, "He said we're here to get that weird spaceship they dug up earlier today, said it would make the perfect present for Dr Z." she said, "Seth even said it might even hold technology or power we could use too. If we managed to get our hands on it, we'll get on his good side again for sure! He'll be the happiest old man in the world." she cheered doing a childish spin in excitement as the pain finally managed to jog Ed's short term memory back.

"Oh yeah! That!" he gasped snapping his fingers.

"Finally Ed, that only took like 20 times before it finally stuck in that pea sized brain of yours." Zander muttered snarkily before Ed pointed out something they hadn't taken into account.

"But how do we get it back home after we find it?" he asked as his words stopped Ursula's dance where she was and she lowered herself down in a frown.

"I….haven't got a clue…." she groaned admittedly as her 2 friends then fell on the ground in dismay!

"Ugh…."

Little did they know was that the D team were spying on them from behind a pair of large Chinese vases and they hardened their expressions upon realising what their plans were, "Tch! They're really trying to take that OOPART and use it for their nefarious purposes…." Rex hissed.

"Then it's up to us to stop them!" Zoe added pumping up her arm as the others nodded to her in agreement.

"Mhmm."

It was then that Chomp turned to the side and saw a rather juicy looking potted fern, as he then wandered over to it and began to munch on it to his delight. Hearing the sound go his loud chewing, Max turned around and flinched in alarm to see what he was doing, as he hurried over to where he was, "Ah! Chomp no! Come back!" he cried grabbing hold of the little triceratops and pulling him back, but Chomp's mouth had clamped onto the leaf of the fern pretty hard that as he pulled him, he pulled the potted fern along with him, as it landed and smashed against the floor as Max dived back behind his hiding spot!

SMASH!

"ACK!" The D team flinched upon hearing the loud noise, and so did the Alpha gang as they turned around in alarm!

"Huh!?"

"Who's there!?" As they flashed their lights ahead and saw the smashed potted fern they then shone it around where it was, the D team sweating anxiously as they tried to hide their bodies and their dinosaurs away from the lights to keep from being seen.

"I don't think we're alone here Ursula…." Zander quivered.

"Could be a rat or maybe a ghost!?" Ed then followed up as Ursula gritted her teeth at him in annoyance.

"Get real Ed….." she grumbled before yelling out, "Alright! We know you're there! So come on out and show yourselves!"

"It'll make it easier for all of us, well more for us technically and less for you but that's the same thing!" Zander then followed up from her.

As the D team held their breaths, they could tell their enemies wouldn't let up and it was only a matter of time before they came over to look themselves. "So much for the element of surprise…." Cera groaned as she and the others turned to shoot glares at Max and Chomp, who sweat dropped and tried to hide his face from them.

"Ugh, sorry guys, looks like the jig is up." he muttered nervously while twiddling his fingers.

Rex then lowered his head and sighed, "It's fine, we were going to do this either way." he breathed before looking to them all, "You ready?" he asked as they nodded back at him.

"Mhmm." they said seriously.

"Let's kick these guys out of here." said Cera firmly as they nodded together in agreement.

"Alright, let's do this!" said Max firmly as they all appeared from their hiding places!

"Hold it right there you burglars!" Cera yelled catching the Alpha trio by surprise!

"Gah!"

"You kids!?" Zander gasped clapping his hands onto his face in horror.

Ursula flared up red and stomped on the ground in frustration, "Seriously!? Is there no place we can go where you can't follow and interfere!?" she yelled.

"Isn't it way pass your curfew? Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Ed then asked politely.

"When crooks like you are up and about there's no such thing as rest!" Max yelled.

"We're going to give you 2 choices, you leave now or we kick you out ourselves!" Zoe followed up.

Ursula smirked as she pretended to think about it, "Hmm, I think we'll go with C, clobber you kids into paste!" she yelled out with a grin as she and Ed took out their alpha scanners and cards!

"Alpha slash!"

"Blaze Tyrannosaurus!"

"Clobber them Saichania!"

Both Tank and Terry appeared on the field and roared at the 4 kids as they readied for battle.

"Guess it's the hard way then." Rex muttered before turning to his battle partner, "Let's get em Max."

"Oh yeah!" Max replied as they retuned Chomp and Ace to card form!

"Dino slash!"

"Go Triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Both their dinosaurs appeared on the field and faced off against their respective rivals, as the space turned pinkish and multicoloured signalling the battle field!

"Go get em guys!" Rex cheered as Chomp and Ace charged ahead!

"Show those twerps no mercy!" Ursula yelled with Tank and Terry following up!

Chomp quickly gave a charge and thrust, with Terry being able to dodge by sidestepping it! He tried to snap at Chomp's tail but the trike managed to dodge in time before his horn locked with Terry's jaws!

Ace leapt in to try and bite Tank, but she quickly countered with a tail swipe, anticipating this Ace leapt back out of the way at a safe distance but the ankylosaur kept swinging her tail at him, keeping him from getting closer.

Unbeknownst to them all, Seth's fly drone was busy observing the battle while clinging to a wall, and he was viewing it all on a computer in a pink jet which was hovering on the roof of the museum, "Looks like everything is going as planned." he smirked to himself as he took out an alpha scanner and a card, "Come forth Spiny!" he called out as the spinosaurus materialised on the roof and roared out! "Tail smash!" Seth commanded slashing the move card as Spiny glowed and began slamming his tail on the area where he stood, each hammering hit he delivered caused the spot to crack further and further, making Seth's smirk grow with each consecutive hit, it wouldn't be long now…..

Back at the battle, Chomp knocked Terry to the side off balance before getting under him and throwing him away! "That's the way to go!" Rex cheered.

"Keep it up you guys!" Zoe cried out as Ace grabbed hold of Tanks' tail and was now in a game of tug o war with her!

Cera however narrowed her eyes and focused her attention away from the battle and towards the entrance to the OOPART section, "Now's my chance, while they're all distracted I think I can get what I need. Just have to sneak pass them…." she thought to herself as she slowly slid by at the side, sneaking behind pillars, vases and exhibits like old model cars before finally managing to get through.

"You can do it!" Zoe cried out as she looked to the side and noticed someone was missing, "Huh? Cera?" Looking around finding she was nowhere to be seen she then widened them in shock, "Guys! Cera's gone!"

Max looked to her and widened their eyes in alarm, "What!?" he exclaimed.

"Don't tell me…." Rex narrowed his eyes.

Zoe turned to the other side to see the OOPART exhibit up ahead and she had a feeling where she had gone, "Hang tight guys, I'll be right back!" she called out to them as they nodded firmly trusting her.

"Okay Zoe!" Max yelled as he focused back with Chomp.

"We'll handle things here! Go get Cera!" Rex followed as he continued to support Ace.

After that she ran around the battle, fortunately unnoticed by the Alpha gang who were fixated on their opponents they didn't notice her slip behind them and into the next room.

Meanwhile as Cera ran down the long hallway past small glass exhibits of old pottery and vases, she finally came upon the OOPARTs exhibit, which was rather small and had only a few small displays of artefacts like metallic daggers or ancient boots, but the largest one of them all happened to be the very one she had come to see, "There it is…." she gasped in amazement as she laid her eyes upon the mysterious ship, which was now encased behind a layer of protective glass in the center of the room. "It looks perfectly intact….and safe…." she breathed as she walked up to it slowly, feeling a wave of peace or nostalgia coming right from it….."Why do I feel like I've seen this before? Could it have something to do with….me?" she asked herself as she slowly neared it. Inside she could the machine somehow calling out to her, as if a piece of herself was somehow buried beneath that metallic alloy and machinery….

Miku as well as she seemed to flare up her feathers and her eyes turned into slits, as if she could feel the same as Cera did.

She then turned serious knowing this was her chance to finally get some answers for herself and learn who she was, "Only one way to find out." Cera decided as she approached it and raised her arm out to touch the glass framing it was shielded within. As she got within inches of laying her hands upon it, she suddenly felt a few bits of stone and dust fall on her head, along with the room….shaking?

Rumble…..

"Huh?" As she looked up, without warning part of the roof suddenly cracked and gave way causing a large chunk to fall out of the ceiling straight for her! "Whoa!" She widened her eyes and quickly did a barrel roll to get out of the way, as the rocks smashed down where she stood and cracked apart, leaving cracks in the floor too. She placed a hand to her chest as she took a deep breath of relief, "That was close." she said before noticing Miku popping her head out of hair looking rather anxious, "You okay Miku?" She asked as her partner chirped in response, as she smiled feeling relieved again. "Thank goodness."

They didn't have much time to celebrate as soon a loud roar could be heard from above! As they looked up, leaping down through the hole and landing before them was a large purple spinosaurus, which snarled viciously forcing Cera to back away upon recognising him, "Spiny!" she gasped as Miku went back into hiding leaving her to face the large water dinosaur alone. She then gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, "But wait, if the alpha gang is out there fighting, who's using him?" She asked herself, but then heard the sound of an engine from the roof. As she looked up, a large pink jet with a yellow nose cone slowly hovered down through the hole Spiny made and she could see there was definitely someone inside the front seat, but she couldn't make out who it was. "Rod and Laura?" She thought before shaking her head, "No, the vibe I'm getting is way too sinister….In fact, it's almost…evil…." she then thought to herself as the glass front opened up.

She tensed upon seeing a tall blue haired man with red face paint appear from within as he smirked rather sinisterly as his eyes met hers', "My my what a surprise, I expected Ursula and the others to occupy all the D team, but it seems you managed to slip past them. No surprise there…." he said as Cera held her ground firmly, while Spiny backed away to give the man some space. "Though I suppose I should be thankful you were able to make it here, for I've heard much about you, Cera was it?" He then asked sounding as polite as he could, "It's so nice that we're finally able to meet."

Upon hearing her name being mentioned by this new member of the alpha gang she tensed up and hardened her expression, knowing this man was on a completely different level than the other members she had seen, no doubt….this man was indeed one of the worst…..

"You must be Seth…." she then said piquing the man's interest.

"Oh? You know who I am?" he mused raising an eyebrow.

"I heard about you from the rest of the D-team," she said answering with disgust, "They told me all about you and how you manipulate dinosaurs, turning them into weapons and fighters." her expression then hardened and she clenched her fist in anger tightly, "The very thought of it sickens me."

"Is that what they told you?" he replied before chuckling in amusement, "Hmph, you have me all wrong I can assure you. All I am doing is merely assisting the dinosaurs in unlocking in the potential they would have achieved if they had never gone extinct." he said as Cera narrowed her eyes at him, not buying any words of his. "But enough about me, we have business to discuss." he then said which surprised her.

"Business?" she asked suspiciously.

Seth nodded, "I've had my eye on you for sometime, for you to be able to defeat my velociraptors no doubt takes a level of dinosaur expertise and knowledge." he said.

Cera then gritted her teeth in anger, "So he's the one who put them through so much suffering." she thought to herself as Miku popped her head out slowly, already despising Seth the moment she laid eyes on him.

"It's clear there's something about you that's different compared to the rest of those children." he continued, "Who are you really? Is there something about yourself you haven't told them? Hmm?" She tensed at his words, she couldn't tell anything to them because she didn't know….and yet….if she did, could she?

"It won't matter much though, I'll be discovering that for myself, but there's no need to resort to violence." he continued, "I can no doubt tell you have potential of your own, potential you don't yet even realise. A talent that's no doubt being wasted on the likes of the small minded."

Cera then became filled with anger knowing he was referring to her irreplaceable friends that way.

"With my genius, I can no doubt bring out even more of that potential within you! Join me and we can usher in a new age of dinosaur evolution!" he proclaimed loudly and smirked while offering his hand to her.

Cera glared back at him already knowing just the answer to respond with, "That's nice and all but you can just forget it." she spat much to Seth's displeasure.

"…." His expression of a smile vanished and was replaced with a scowl.

"Join you so that you can tin to experiment on countless more innocent dinosaurs against their will? I'll never help you with anything that's so immoral, or better yet evil! It's not fair to the dinosaurs, in fact, I bet they'd rather be extinct rather than be used as lab rats in your experiments!"

He then smirked as she finished her words, "Hmph! I seem to have heard that somewhere." He said recalling Max saying that to him at the iron refinery, along with a certain man who had disagreed with his methods a long while back….in the end she was just like them, "How disappointing, it seems I was mistaken, you really are no different from them after all, just another nuisance in my way which I'll have to eliminate, in due time….." he sighed, "You're all nothing but naive children, you could never understand nor comprehend my vision for the world. In the case, we are done here." he added before turning to the spinosaurus who eyed back at him awaiting his orders, "Spiny, let's go. It's time we got what we here came for." As he said that Spiny obeyed instantly without question as he slammed his tail against the glass shielding of the metal pod, causing it to shatter into several pieces on contact!

Cera widened her eyes in shock at what Seth had came here for, "Don't you dare touch it!" she cried out in alarm, catching his attention once again.

"Hmm? Now what could you possibly want with this….machine?" He then asked as his jet then floated directly above it, "Why would you care so much about it? Is it that you hold some kind of emotional attachment, or better yet a connection with it?" he asked as Cera stuttered, at a loss for words.

"I….I…."

Seth then smirked is interest piqued deeply, "How very interesting." he mused scratching his chin in thought, "Perhaps you are more valuable than you at first seem." As he said that his expression turned into a malevolent grin! "Maybe I should take you as well!" he yelled as Spiny roared out and made a charge at her!

"Aah!" Cera widened her eyes and tried to make a run for it. Not realising it she then accidentally ran into a corner and as she turned around it was too late as Spiny walked up to her slowly and hissing menacingly with each step. "Urgh…" she sweated intently knowing she was trapped, but as Spiny was about to make a lunge-

"Leave her alone you big bully!" a female voice yelled out making the large dinosaur turn around, to see Zoe and chibi Paris facing off against him! "Pick on someone your own size!"

"Zoe!" Cera cried joyously to see help, while Seth hardened his expression into a scowl.

"Hmph….another nuisance…." he grunted in annoyance.

"Let's go Paris! Save Cera!" Zoe cried out returning her partner to a card, "Dino slash! Parasaurolophus! Bloom!" Paris bellowed loudly and Spiny roared in response as they both faced each other off.

Back at the main entrance Chomp and Ace had Terry and Tank on the ropes as they backed them against the corner, "This has gone on long enough." Rex said hardening his expression before turning to his side, "Max let's end this now!" he called out.

"I couldn't agree more!" his spiky haired friend grinned as he took out a move card, "Go Lightning spear!" As he slashed the move card, Chomp surged with power before thrusting his horns under Terry's chest and shooting a surge of electricity through him like a spear, before the tyrannosaurus collapsed down and shook in pain before returning to a card!

It was then Rex's turn, "Cyclone!" he called out as Ace was enveloped in wind, as he struck out and rammed Tank, who was sent flying into the air by the wind before she crashed back down on her back retiring her to card form!

"AAAAH!" the 3 members of the alpha gang claimed to see now they were left completely defenceless!

"No this can't be! Not when we were so close!" Zander cried out as he and Ed got back their cards.

"Alright you creeps, beat it!" Rex yelled as Ace roared viciously making them back away!

"You too old lady!" Max followed up further irritating Ursula.

"Grrr! How dare you!?" she gnashed her teeth and she twitched her fingers while her eyes flared orange, "Mark my words you'll regret this! Next time I swear it!" she yelled pointing at them as they took their leave back out the window they came and then taking off in their ship outside empty handed!

With the battle now over, both Max and Rex let out a sigh of relief knowing it was over. "Phew, that takes care of that." Max breathed before he and Rex soon noticed something strange was still going on.

"Wait a sec, why's the battle field still up?" Rex blinked his eyes as Chomp and Ace sniffed the air sensing something.

"AAAAHHH!" a pair of female screams could be heard from the other side of the museum which the boys quickly picked up on!

"Cera!"

"Zoe!" They gasped along with their dinosaurs in alarm before looking to one another, "We've got to hurry to the OOPART exhibit!" Max yelled as they both nodded to each other and rushed ahead!

Meanwhile, Paris was knocked back by Spiny and she was beginning to fall to her knees in exhaustion, she was used to dealing with Spiny on a regular basis but never like this before. Zoe panted tiredly too, but decided it had gone on long enough as she took a move card, "Metal wing!" She cried out as the 3 pteranodons swooped to the air and came together as a dive bomb!

Unfortunately for her, Seth smirked having anticipated this coming a mile away, "I don't think so." he said taking a move card, "Shock wave!" A veil of water surrounded Spiny and he threw it forward, deflecting the 3 pterosaurs and sending them flying back as a card!

"Ah!" Cera and Miku gasped in alarm! Being able to block metal wing was no easy feat for sure.

"No way! He blocked them!?" Zoe exclaimed caught by surprise.

Seth grinned seeing his opening, "Now to finish you! Tail smash!" he announced as Spiny roared and swung his tail repeatedly, smashing against Paris' twice before the 3rd knocked her into the wall, leaving a massive crack where she hit and returning her to card form!

"Paris no!" Zoe cried out as she ran to grab her card.

Seth smirked seeing there was no longer anyone in his way, "Now, with that out of the way, where was I?" he smirked as he had Spiny focus back on Cera who backed away nervously as he loomed over her and bared his huge teeth at her!

"Cera run quick!" Zoe cried out to her as she tried to turn and run for the exit!

As she tried to, Seth turned his attention to her furiously, "There is no escape!" he yelled out as Spiny charged ahead and leapt forward, landing in front of her, and the shockwaves generated by his landing sent Cera flying back a bit! "Urgh!" she cried as she fell on her backside on the ground, as the spinosaurus roared at her, "Tch! He's cut off our only exit…." she clicked her tongue as Seth began to approach at her from the other side while in the jet.

"Now, we can do this easy or the hard way." Seth chuckled knowing he had her completely cornered.

"Or how about neither!" a voice suddenly yelled out! As Spiny turned in the direction he heard them, he failed to respond in time as Ace and Chomp both charged and knocked him away as he skidded across the floor and hitting the wall on other side!

"Max! Rex!" Zoe and Cera both cried out in joy to see them.

"You guys alright!?" Max asked as he and Rex came up to them both.

Cera nodded, "Yeah, now that you're here!"

They all smiled gladly before looking up and hardening their expressions into spiteful scowls as they laid eyes upon their new enemy, "It's him….." Max narrowed his eyes recognising him as Seth, no doubt the worst villain of the alpha gang of all.

As Seth eyed them he then narrowed his eyes,"It seems there are more pests I'll have to exterminate…." he muttered in annoyance.

"The only one who's about to exterminated here is you!" Max yelled out, "Go get him Chomp!" The trike roared as he charged ahead, only to be held back by Spiny after the large carnivore used his huge arms to hold Chomp back and preventing his horns from reaching him!

Seeing Chomp couldn't get anywhere near him and that he was locked in an even struggle, Ace decided to tip the battle in their favour, "Ace! Get in there and help Chomp!" he yelled as Ace roared and sped ahead towards them! Seeing him, Spiny quickly threw Chomp down to the ground towards Ace as he skidded towards him!

"Chomp no!" Max gasped in alarm!

"Ace get out of the way!" Upon Rex's warning, the carnotaurus quickly reacted and leapt over him and continued to charge full speed towards Spiny! "Alright! We have him now!" Rex cheered.

"Wrong!" Seth yelled back, "I've got you right where I want you!"

"Huh!?" Rex then gasped.

"Take this! Tragedy of the sphere!" As he slashed the move card, Spiny shot out an orb of water straight in Ace's path! The carnotaurus, roared out in horror to see water before him, but he couldn't stop as his momentum drove him straight into the orb which swallowed him up and sloshed him round inside, as he struggled to catch a breath of air to no avail! Helpless, Spiny then roared before charging ahead towards the sphere as he knocked Ace straight in the chest and out of the water and across the floor as he returned to a card! He couldn't handle the fear of drowning, the suffocation due to lack of air and finally by the sheer sudden impact of being knocked out of it all.

"Ace no!" Rex cried out in alarm to see his partner defeated.

Seth then smirked sinisterly as he and Spiny returned his attention toto their last loose end, "And then there was one." he said as Spiny walked up menacingly towards Chomp who was now all alone and defenceless on the ground.

"Grrr!" Max gritted his teeth angrily, seeing he clearly underestimated Seth's abilities, no doubt his skills were on a level that surpassed the trio, Rod, Laura and even Dr Z! Nevertheless, he was still an enemy that had to defeat no matter the odds as Chomp still struggled to get back to his feet but to little avail! "Chomp! You've got to get up now!" Max pleaded as Chomp heard his cries but couldn't return them, as he fell back down to the ground exhausted, after fighting Terry he had little fight left in him for this, Max realised that and what's worse…..he couldn't do anything about it…..

As Zoe and Rex looked on helplessly, and Seth grinned maliciously seeing victory was within his grasp, none of them noticed Cera had slipped off to the sidelines taking out her dinoshot

"Spiny, it's time to put these children in their place. Finish him off now!" He ordered as Spiny roared and charged ahead towards the defenceless Chomp!

As he neared his defenceless victim, Max gritted his teeth and sweated in frustration, "This can't be happening…." he hissed.

"Oh it has indeed happened," Seth gloated before his eyes widened maniacally, "And now it's over!"

"NO!" They all cried as Spiny launched himself at Chomp ready to deliver the final blow!

"Now Miku!" a voice suddenly yelled surprising everyone in the room!

"Huh!?" The D team gasped.

Seth widened his eyes, "What!?" As he and Spiny both looked up, a full sized microraptor shot down from above and landed smack ontop of the spinosaurus' face! "What's this!?" he gasped in alarm as he turned to the side to see Cera with her dinoshot in action!

"Cera!" Zoe and the others cheered seeing she was fighting now!

"Go! Power siphon!" She commanded as Miku glowed red and began to absorb precious energy from the spinosaurus! He tried desperately to shake her off but to no avail! As he tried reaching for her, she jumped off in time as he ended up slashing his own face and bringing himself down! After that, Miku quickly glided over to Chomp, where she rested herself on his face, "Now energy equaliser!" she called out as Miku then shone blue, transferring the energy she absorbed from Spiny to Chomp, as he opened his eyes and stood up with a mighty roar!

"Alright Chomp!" Max cheered.

Zoe and Rex then turned to Cera, "Great work!"

"Nice teamwork! You really came through for us!" they cheered as she nodded.

She then looked to Seth firmly, "And now you're the one who's about to be finished!" she yelled to his frustration.

"Tsk!" he hissed in annoyance seeing Spiny was now weakened immensely, barely able to stand on his 2 feet. As much as he hated to admit it, he lost…..

"Now it's time we wrapped this up Chomp!" Max cried out as he prepared to slash a new all powerful move! "Go gating sparks!" He cried out as Chomp ran up underneath Spiny and began shooting a barrage of electrical bullets through his body repeatedly, like a gatling machine gun before thrusting upwards and knocking him back across the ground! The spinosaurus roared in pain before turning back to a card.

"Alright we did it!" Max cheered as Chomp roared loudly, Zoe and Rex both jumped up happily and Cera smiled happy for their victory.

The only one who didn't enjoy it was Seth himself, who used his grappling claw to retrieve Spiny's card back, "Hmph…..how disappointing…." he scoffed before returning his attention to the D team.

"Alright Seth, you've lost here, now leave!" Max yelled out as the others soon followed him.

Upon seeing himself outnumbered with a full sized triceratops and microraptor protecting them, Seth saw nothing to gain by staying to fight. Even he was smart and tactical enough to know when to retreat, "Very well as you wish, since you have put on a good show for me I will take my leave." he said politely as he bowed to them, then turning to Cera who had rejoined them, "And you, I think I have an idea on what makes you so special, I do hope we meet again." He said sitting back down in the seat. His words left a rather hurtful mark in Cera, since he really got under her skin and he was definitely not someone to take lightly….

"I wont forget this and you'd do well to remember, it would be unwise to cross me again, next time I won't be so gracious." he then added as the glass covering of the jet closed up and he began to fly away back to the hole above.

"That's right! Don't come back!" Zoe yelled out to him shaking her fist.

Upon hearing her words, Seth then smirked, "I know said I would leave," he said before suddenly turning around, "But never said I'd be going empty handed!" Suddenly a set of mechanical claws shot out from his plane which then grabbed hold of the OOPART ship and with a thrust of his jet boosters he took it up with him much to the D team's horror!

"The aircraft!" They exclaimed in shock.

Cera widened her eyes in horror as she saw what may have been the key to solving her past, being taken away, "NO!" she cried out as heavy tears tripped from her eyes and fell to the floor.

"Farewell." was Seth's final word as he took off above through the hole in the roof.

"Hey you get back here!" Max yelled angrily as he charged ahead with Chomp, but to no avail as Seth soon sped away and the OOPART disappeared into the skies with him. Max clenched his fist in frustration as he lowered his head down, though they won the battle, they lost this war…..

"He got away….." Cera breathed sadly lowering her head as the others came around to comfort her with their presence, best they could.

"Cera…..I'm…sorry…" Max said to her feeling guilty for letting her down.

 **(Next morning)**

The next morning found the entire D team was found watching television at Max's house where a news report was being issued in regards to last night's events as they eyed it seriously.

" **We're coming live from the museum of Sanjo City where an outrageous heist has taken place last night."** said the anchorwoman at the museum where many securities were gathered inside the museum and coutisde it, with several officers doing patrols around the perimeter and inspectors and detectives setting up crime scenes. **"The mysterious OOPART uncovered yesterday has mysteriously vanished, no doubt stolen by air as there was a massive hole in the ceiling found. There has also been evidence of property damage though the cause of which is unknown-"**

As they continued watching, everyone became firm and serious as they switched it off. The only one who wasn't present was Dr Taylor, who was crying his eyes out in bed having lost the chance to study something that may have come once in a lifetime, also worrying how he would tell his colleagues about the unfortunate events that turned up earlier…..

"It's a good thing we didn't leave behind any clues huh guys?" said Max to the others as they nodded.

"Yeah, too bad the camera feeds got cut too, no doubt that would have to be Seth's handy work." Rex commented recalling they mentioned that on the screen, also knowing there was no way the Alpha trio would ever be smart enough to do that.

"On the bright side it works for us too since they won't be able to trace back to us." Zoe then smiled as the others did with her.

"That's one way of looking at it." said Max in agreement, though their smiles soon vanished as they noticed Cera was still staring at the blank screen, no doubt having something on her mind still, as the D team could only look on unable to say or do anything that might bring her any sort of comfort or help…..they could understand though, what may have been the only clue they had to learning about Cera and who she was, was now lost and sh was back to square one. It was serious blow…..

After a while, Rex then nudged Max as he looked to him firmly, "Max, go on, say something." he said as max lowered his head uneasily before taking up on it.

"O…Okay…." he said as he walked over to Cera, "Umm….Cera…."

Hearing his voice she then looked up to him curiously, as soon the others gathered with him, "Hmm?"

"We're really sorry about last night." Max apologised looking away to avoid eye contact, in fact none of them could possibly look at Cera in the face after no doubt letting her down. "We really wanted to help you, and we did our very best but-"

To their surprise, she ended up bringing her arms around them all as she embraced them in a warm and welcoming hug!

"H…Huh?"

As she let go and looked to them all she then smiled warmly, "It's okay you guys, I'm sure there will be other chances I know it." she said as she looked to them and their dinosaurs who gathered at their feet, "All that matters is that now I know I'm not alone anymore, that Miku and I really do have such great and irreplaceable friends." she said as Miku perched herself on her shoulder and chipped happily, which brought a smile and wave of relief to the D team to see she wasn't too utterly devastated.

"Cera…."

"I was worried too much about the memories I lost," she continued as she reached down to stroke Chomp, Ace and Paris gently, "That I nearly forgot about the ones I've currently made with you…and the many new ones that may be waiting for us to forge together down the road from here on. And whatever comes our way we'll face it together." She then said to them firmly as they clapped for her pleased.

"Heh, that's a great way to look at things."

"You're definitely strong that's for sure."

"And you can count on it that we'll help you get your memories back one way or another, that's a promise." Max and the others promised her as she nodded in acknowledgement.

"I know you'll keep it." she said to them before recalling something that might serve as consolation for their efforts, "If it makes everyone feel better, I did manage to remember a small bit about myself."

Hearing her say that made them all brighten up with excitement as they gathered around to hear what she had to share with them, "Oh really!?"

"That's awesome!"

"So what is it?" They all asked with anticipation.

Cera then blushed that they were paying her so much attention as they were, even their dinosaurs too were nuzzling themselves against her legs wanting to hear her out. Even Miku nodded to her, encouraging her to tell them, "Well…." she started slowly while scratching her cheek.

"Yes?"

Taking a breath she then answered them, "Believe it or not, it just so happens today's my 12th birthday."

As she said that their eyes widened and they were taken aback beyond belief ,"WHOA!"

"No way!"

"For real!?" They all exclaimed.

"Yup it sure is…." she answered confirming them as she blushed shyly, "I know it's not really much but-"

"Not much!? Are you kidding!? It's an awesome special day!" Max cried out cutting her off, "Yeah, in fact I'm going to go get dad to order take out tonight, we'll have pizza as tall as the leaning tower of Pisa itself!" he said running upstairs with Chomp, to bring Spike the news.

"I'll even head down to the store and get us a boatload of snacks!" Rex added as he jumped off the couch and rushed outside with Ace.

"Just you wait, today will be the best birthday ever for you!" Zoe promised as she ran outside with Paris to bring in some gifts she had at her house as well as tell her parents about it too.

"Hehehe…" Cera chuckled to herself happily as she sat back in the couch and looked over to see everyone act selflessly all for her, to make her feel welcome and truly a part of the team, she knew at least this was where she belonged….

"I think I can move on at least for now," she thought to herself feeling more calm and at peace with the person she had became now, "I may not know who I am, or what the future holds, but I won't let that affect who I am in the present." she thought at last as she looked outside to the sky to see a bird fly past the sun.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Zeta Point, things as usual weren't turning out well for the Alpha trio, but little did they know that things were about to take a rather different turn for them this time around.

"Go in there Ursula!" Zander and Ed cried out as they were trying hard to push Ursula through the door to Dr Z's room!

"Why me!? You guys do it!" she exclaimed as she held her arms tightly around the edges of the door to prevent herself from going through it! There were even tight cracks forming on the sides showing her tight grip on it, followed by her palms which were increasingly strained as the men kept pushing on her!

"You're the one who made that promise to Dr Z, so own up to it!"

"Yeah, it's only fair." They then said to her as she then thought about it and realised they were right.

"Oh well err….." she scratched her cheek uneasily before deciding to negotiate with them, "Okay how about this, we all go together and own up to him." she said before sweating rather anxiously about what kind of punishment they'd be facing this time around, "It's unlikely he'll forgive us or let us off the hook after we failed to deliver a promise we couldn't keep….." she then shook her head and cleared her thoughts. "But as his loyal henchmen it's only natural! So you boys in or in!?" She then yelled to them as they looked to one another in thought.

"Hmm…." As they eyed one another, they gained a small smirk as they nodded in response.

Ursula then smiled with relief but grinned deviously to herself on the inside, with the intention of selling them out and leans them alone to face Dr Z's wrath the moment they let their guard down. "Okay then, lets do this." she said as they narrowed their eyes and got ready to open the door to face Dr Z. "One, two-"

"THREE!" Zander and Ed called out without warning as they shoved inside!

"H…Hey!" she cried in alarm as the combined strength of both men threw her in without warning! She then looked up to them and glared furiously, "What was that for!?" she growled shaking a fist at them in anger.

"Just be honest, you were going to shove us in and hang us out to dry weren't you!?" said Zander folding his arms crossly as she turned pale and sweated.

"H…How'd you-" she pointed at them weakly.

"What are you 3 lugs doing in my room?" a cranky voice spoke to them as they turned their attention to Dr Z together, as they planned…..

Stepping up first, "H…Hey Dr Z…." said Ursula as she shook uncontrollably in her high heeled shoes while twiddling her fingers about, while Ed and Zander held back and swallowed hard unsure how this would turn out. "About that incredibly awesome present we promised you the other day? Well you see-"

"What is it?" he then asked cutting her off much to their surprise.

"Huh?"

Dr Z looked away from them with an uneasy expression, clearly he was conflicted on the inside, "I was thinking about how I behaved yesterday to you lot and I…." he said before gritting his teeth in anger, "Urgh I can't believe I'm saying this but…I'm sorry!" he shouted painfully, in fact being forced to utter those words was enough to tear his own heart in two.

The 3 stooges were taken aback as they gasped in bewilderment, "EH!?" They exclaimed wondering if Dr Z lost his marbles this time around in his old age.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you! There you happy now!?" he yelled at them once more as he took a calming breath, "I now see you were just trying to make me feel better and cheer me up….in your unusual and ridiculous manner….." it was then he put on an excited childish face like a kid waiting for a well deserved reward from his parents, "And so I'm looking forward to this incredible present guaranteed to blow my pants off! Do tell me what it is won't you?" he then asked as he blinked at them with innocent puppy dog like eyes.

It was at that point the alpha gang felt extremely guilty and pained on the inside, no way they could possibly tell him the truth and smash down his hopes on his most special day, no way his old heart could possibly take it this time around. But they gave him their word, and they crossed a road there was no coming back from…..

"Err…."

"Well doctor…."

"You see….." As they began beating around the bush hoping to find someway to weasel their way out this time around, their saviour came to them in the form of someone most unexpected.

"It's just been completed." said a voice from the monitor which then appeared before them.

"HUH!?" As they all looked they saw none other than Seth himself who had appeared at the most unexpected time.

"Seth?"

"Ursula, Zander and Ed here made a valuable contribution to my recent work." he said as they eyed him in confusion.

"Eh?"

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?"

"Not a clue…." they said to one another but decided to play along with it so they wouldn't get in trouble.

"Thanks to their assistance I was able to acquire a…valuable piece of technology unlike anything we have ever seen or experienced."

Dr Z then blinked his eyes, "Oh? And what sort of machine are you talking about Seth? Do tell?" he asked as Seth smirked

"This." He then gestured to the side to reveal none other than the dinosaur shaped jet from the museum!

"Ah!"

"That's…."

"No way…." They gasped amazed that Seth was now in possession of the OOPART they worked so desperately to steal the other night and they couldn't tell how he managed to pull it off when they couldn't. Either way it was welcome relief.

"I must admit, the nature of this piece of equipment surpasses anything we have ever come across or even developed in our time." he then explained to Dr Z, "I have yet to decipher what it's origin or function is, but after taking it apart piece by piece, I found that it's power core is capable of generating immense amounts of energy which we can use."

Dr Z widened his eyes with interest upon hearing his words, "Oh?"

"Given time," Seth continued as he got to the best part, "I'll be able to integrate it into our main systems, and thanks to its components I'm able to replace nearly all the time machine's missing components, allowing it to potentially perform far better than how it was initially, which would potentially eliminate the need for anymore alpha metal mining."

"AH!" Dr Z and the alpha gang both brightened up with immense joy at the incredible news, Dr Z with seeing hope that they could time travel again in due time and the trio for not having to go out on anymore alpha metal raining excursions anymore.

"Incredible! Well done Seth!" Dr Z cheered shaking his arms out with pure joy and excitement, "Pretty soon we'll all be on our way home for good! After we capture the remaining dinosaurs that is." he then added at the end calmly before cheering his lungs out once ore, "Oh how I'll have to tell Rod and Laura about this!"

Seth nodded before turning over to the Alpha trio, "And you have them to thank for making this all possible. Isn't that right?" he then asked them as they quickly responded.

"Err y…yes of course!"

"What he said!"

"It's nothing but the truth!" They said quickly while nodding their heads off.

Dr Z turned to them and shone the brightest smile he ever had in years, one which they hadn't seen since the days of their youth, "This is the greatest present I could ever ask for! Ahahahah! Well done you 3, you did something right for once! Even I'm impressed!"

"Ahahah oh it was nothing Doctor!" Ursula laughed nervously while she blushed and scratched the back of her head.

"Anything to make you the happiest man on the planet!" Zander added clapping his hands together.

"It's the least we can do after all you've done for us." bowed Ed with respect as Dr Z continued to laugh in a jolly manner.

"Eheheheheh! This calls for celebration!" he cheered, "Tell Rod and Laura, they're free from their homework and assignments, today's all about fun and play all day!"

The alpha gang then got into full on party mode as they finally began to cut loose and celebrate as they pleased, probably was the first time in a long long while. "Woo hoo!"

"Let's crank up the music to 11! Let's get this party started!"

"Without Helga around we can finally cut loose and go wild as much as we want! Oh how I almost wish she wouldn't come back." Little did they know was that they were about to regret those words as they brought in all sorts of food from the kitchen and toys from the basement which soon began ti clutter up the halls of Zeta Point.

"Ahahahah! Today is the best day of my life!" Dr Z cheered as Seth smirked seeing his face on the monitors before switching it off.

"Heh, enjoy yourselves as much as you want short sighted fools." he chuckled to himself as he brought himself down to his computer and began typing on it, as he saw what he had on it he developed a most malicious expression on his face, "For now, the real work begins." he said to himself as the screen first depicted several components he acquired from the pod which allowed him now to harvest and extract alpha metal from the alpha gang's fallen machines and vehicles, which he had been working hard to salvage over the past few months. The metal in this devices had far more use in machines he planned to develop, and they would no longer take up space or use up any more time and resources, much like the doctor himself he believed he'll be eliminating with ease soon.

Another screen he had depicted 3 new droid model types he was also beginning to work on which was now possible with his newly acquired resources, the first being a small air type droid with small claw like arms built for carrying supplies or travelling fast, a more durable model of current droids with large heads and finally a bulky droid model with large upper body builds.

Going over what he had so far, the only remaining components he lacked were the remaining stone plates which were in the D team's possession, which will be retrieved in due time, of course there was still the matter with Cera to contend with, whom he truly acknowledged as a potential danger to his plans out of everyone he knew and encountered, but in due time he knew he'd have her dealt with after he discovers what secret she may hold with the dinosaurs, a secret that will soon be his…..

"Very soon, my vision, my destiny will be fulfilled." he said to himself as he then took out a dinosaur card which he also found was embedded inside the pod, which depicted that of a cryolophosaurus on it.

 **And thus concludes chapter 9. As stated this one takes place after beast or famine, and then the messes both the D team and alpha gang make from their respective parties are then found in the next episode, mesozoic mess, which I will be going over with too. I wanted to write this as a chapter to focus on Cera and help with her character development, hope I didn't disappoint.**

 **Here sadly for Cera, Seth acquired her old timepod, and with it he'll be able to fully repair and power the time machine again in due time, wanted to address that since it wasn't in the anime, as well as how he acquires the new super alpha droids too (As well as give appearances for DS droids such as supply droids that use fukuisaurus or the droids encountered in Asia) and how he gets cryolophosaurus, which was inside the pod. Also had Seth use Spiny since he used Terry and Tank before so thought he might use the last of the alpha gang dinosaurs, also because in reference to the DS how Seth used a spinosaurus quite skilfully, and to make Spiny more of a threat when used properly. Since Spiny got hit with the most powerful elemental moves apart from gatling spark in the anime, I thought I'd have Chomp do it here to him.**

 **Fun fact, the remote controlled mouse that Dr Z uses in mesozoic mess to sick Terry, Tank and Spiny on the Alpha trio is Rod and Laura's gift to him.**

 **Hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned.**

 **In response to** **pokemonking0924** :-

 **Glad you enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing it up too. I don't have plans for thanksgiving but I might have one for New Years Eve.**


	10. A mesozoic mess

Chapter 10

A Mesozoic Mess

As the bright sun rose over the horizon and enveloped Sanjo City in its warming radiance, Cera woke up feeling rather cheery after the party she and the others had over at the Taylor's the other night, considering they were willing to throw her an authentic birthday party for both her and Miku it was something she'd never forget for a long time, and made her feel all the more appreciative and blessed to be part of their family. Nevertheless, as she looked out the window, feeling positive as always, she didn't want to feel entitled or take it all for granted as she turned around to see her now messed up bed and she folded her arms intending to do something about it.

After cleaning up and changing out of her pyjamas into her morning attire she got to work on making her bed and tiding up her bedroom, from arranging the things at her table and ensuring all dust was swept out of the tightest nooks and crannies. As she finally dumped the last scoop of dust init the waste bin, she folded her arms pleased with herself and her accomplishments, "Phew! There all done." she breathed patting herself on the back knowing she did a job well done.

Her door then opened as she turned to see who it was, "Hey Cera good morning." a rather cheerful Zoe sang as she stepped in. As she looked around she then covered her mouth taken aback slightly, expecting it to be a little messy at least, "Wow, this place looks neat and sparkly." she complimented looking around, not seeing even a trace of dust on the books or desk.

Cera smiled feeling honoured, "Thanks, I make sure to clean up after myself pretty much every day now." she said as Zoe smiled back.

"That's sweet of you, though you didn't really need to you know." she said.

"I may be a guest in your home," Cera then shook her head, "But it's still your house and your rules, I can't just keep imposing on you guys all the time right? That'd be just rude and inconsiderate." she said as Zoe was then at a loss for words at her roommate's selfless and considerate behaviour, "Also, this is kinda like thanks for the birthday party you all threw for me yesterday, I just wanted to show you guys how much I appreciate it and that I care." she concluded as Zoe nearly hung her jaw unable to respond back properly to her.

"Wow Cera, a lot of people sure could learn a thing or 2 from you about being responsible." she breathed before smiling herself feeling lucky, "Especially Max and Rex for sure…." She then muttered under her breath with a pout wishing they'd do the same once in a while.

"Oh I'm sure anyone would have done the same." Cera responded, "It's only natural, pitching in to help your parents out with the cleaning now and then, it just shows you appreciate them and aren't taking them for granted. I'm sure even Max and Rex do the same right? In fact, I'm sure they're taking good care of home while Aki's out in Spain as we speak." she said.

Zoe turned silent at her last sentence much to Cera's confusion. It was then she began to snicker, failing miserably at holding in her amusement before she exploded into uncontrollable laughter, "Pfft! Hahahahahaha!" she giggled while covering the top of her face.

Cera blinked her eyes in confusion, "Did I say something wrong?" she then asked as Zoe managed to catch her breath and her laughter began to slow.

"Oh! Sorry sorry it's just…..Ahahahah! Sorry I can't help it!" she cried out, "It's just the thought of Max and Rex actually being responsible is just hilarious! Ahahahah! Oh I can't stop myself!"

"Huh? Really? They can't possibly be that bad can they?" Cera then asked as Zoe finally managed to get ahold of herself.

"Hee hee, how about I let you in on something Cera? Just between you and me." she said looking around to make sure they were completely alone in the room, before narrowing her eyes seriously into the red haired girl's, "But you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially not Mrs taylor got it?" she asked seriously as Cera sweated feeling anxious.

"Umm….my lips are sealed?"

"Excellent, now listen here." After that Zoe began to retell the incident that happened several weeks back, when they went out to rescue a maiasaura and how the boys had left the house as messy as a pigsty since the last time Aki left on holiday, and boy did Cera take it as a revelation….as she stared speechlessly at something she didn't think was possible.

"Oh…..never thought they'd be such slobs….." was all she could say in response.

"Heh, that's exactly the reason why they need people like us," said Zoe patting her on the back, "Otherwise they'd be living in a garbage dump for a home with all sorts of creepy crawly guests like roaches or even rats!" she exclaimed as Cera began to cover her mouth to hod, back her own laughter.

"Guess it's a good thing we're nothing like them huh?" she said through her covered mouth as Zoe closed her eyes and grinned in agreement.

"Yup, totally."

They both then laughed together over the helplessness of the boys while heading downstairs, and after having breakfast with their partners, their dinoshot and dinoholder at the desk began to flash red indicating the appearance of a new dinosaur.

"Well, looks like duty calls again." said Cera cheerfully as she picked up her dinoshot followed by Zoe grabbing her dinoholder which lay next to it and they both headed outside with their partners in tow, Paris carrying Miku on her back.

After arriving at the lab and meeting up with the rest of the boys, Reese had just managed to finish pinpointing its exact location, and boy was it a surprise for everyone, "A dinosaur just showed up in Barcelona?" Max asked curiously, "That's where mom is!"

Upon hearing the news Dr Taylor's eyes glistened brightly with joy, "It has to be a sign!" he proclaimed raising his arms out to the sky before clapping them together, "Now I know Aki and I were meant for each other."

Seeing him acting all lovey dovey over his wife was beginning to make the 4 kids nauseous as they squinted their eyes at him with no comment.

"Yeah well we better get going." Zoe then stated as the others nodded with her in agreement.

"Right."

As they began to head for the teleport, Dr Taylor then widened his eyes and reached his hand out for them, "Wait!" he cried as they stopped right upon the teleporter and Reese was only 1 button away from activating it. "Kids don't you think you ought to take me along this time!?" he cried before blushing and jiggling with glee, "Your mom probably misses me a lot!"

They all eyed him awkwardly, most of all Max who couldn't believe his dad was acting like a goofball at his age, "Err I think she'll probably be okay." he said.

Sighing momentarily, Dr Taylor then patted his fist into his palm upon realising something else he could do, "Alright then, I'll write her a letter! Give me a second!" he said as Max groaned in dismay.

"Awww…."

"But we don't even know where she is…." Rex pointed out as Zoe smiled back at them brightly.

"Come on it's for true love, it's the least we can do." she said as Cera nodded with her in agreement.

"It's been a while since she gave you guys a phone call, might as well let her know that you're all doing fine." she said as the boys found no way to respond to their logic.

"Err…."

A while had passed when Dr Taylor finally managed to scramble together a sheet of paper and a pen with appropriate ink levels to use, along with a suitable sized envelope. But after that it still took him several minutes to put together and find the words he wanted, as the boys began showing signs of impatience such as shoe tapping or shaking restlessly.

"Umm Dr Taylor, as admirable as your love is for mom, we don't exactly have all day you know?" said Rex as Dr Taylor cringed upon realisation of his holding them up.

"I know I know, I'm almost finished!" he cried out as he sweated profusely coming to the last few lines, "Which words to use….oh I'll just use both! There! Done!" he said proudly as Max and Rex sighed with relief that it was over at last. Though they both felt a little grossed out when Spike even gave the envelope a smooch after he sealed it shut, much tot he girls' amusement. "Now Max, promise you'll get this to her." he said handing the letter shakily as his son took it.

"Okay okay….sheesh…." he groaned lowing his head in dismay with Rex looking on awkwardly and Zoe and Cera smiling for them.

"Oh! And tell her to bring me back a pair of those bullfighter pants okay!?" Dr Taylor cried out waving to them as the teleport glowed.

Upon hearing his words, Cera frowned, "Bullfighting pants? Really? That's really bad mojo…." she muttered under her breath before she and the others vanished.

Very soon the D team arrived in an open street as they looked around and took in the sights, "Whoa so this is Barcelona." Max breathed in amazement.

"What a beautiful city…" Zoe said in awe.

"Agreed…" Cera nodded seeing so many happy people going bout their daily affairs without a worry in the world, "Sure wish we could enjoy the sights and appreciate the time while we're at it." she then added as she folded her arms.

"We can, AFTER we get the dinosaur." said Rex seriously as the others looked at him with frowns, as if he was some sort of party pooper….though he did have a good point.

"Fair enough…." said Cera, "Besides, a dinosaur causing a panic sure would spoil the mood." she added at the end as they set off on their dinosaur hunt. As they passed by and turned into another intersection, Miku looked around the back from Cera's shoulder before noticing 3 ladies passing by, 1 of them with short brown hair. After blinking her eyes and shaking her head she looked again to see that she was gone, before shrugging it off thinking it couldn't be possibly Aki, and looking onward with Cera.

While on the hunt, Cera decided to enjoy whatever sights they did come across and the first one happened to be one she didn't quite enjoy, "The coliseum." Cera said seriously as she looked up at it from a distance with the others.

"That's where they have all the bullfights." Max breathed in awe as Zoe looked on with disapproval.

"I would never go to one of those, I think bullfighting is really cruel." she said as Cera nodded with her.

"I agree on that."

Max turned to them feeling offended somewhat, "Hey, it's an ancient tradition."

"Well there should be change then." Cera responded as Rex sighed wishing it were true.

"If only it was that easy."

Without warning, as a pair of matadors walked along the street, one of them flashed a red cape which caused Chomp, Ace and Paris to bark and run crazy towards it!

"Whoa!"

"Paris get back here!" Zoe cried out.

Cera saw Miku was flaring up her feathers and hissing agitatedly, "Get inside Miku!" she said hiding the little dinosaur inside her hair so she couldn't see.

"Get these animals away from me!" the matador carrying the cape gasped as he waved it in alarm and it only seemed to agitate the 3 dinosaurs all the more!

"That red flag is driving them crazy just like it does with the bulls!" Max cried.

"Then we'd better get them away from it!" Rex gritted his teeth as they grabbed onto their dinosaurs and quickly dragged them out and away before things escalated any further!

A little while later they paid a visit to yet another frequently visited site at Barcelona, one which Max took great interest in as he laid eyes upon it, "So this is Sagrada Familia?"

"Yeah it's really famous." Zoe answered, "Antonio Gaodes started building it over a century ago and it's still not finished.

"Wow, he must be really old…" Max commented as Cera sweat dropped in response.

"That's one way of putting it….." she laughed nervously.

Meanwhile Rex paid his the sights no attention as he still kept his senses on high alert while looking all round them. Seeing no clues or any commotion he narrowed his eyes confirming they were in the wrong place, "Still no sign of any dinosaurs, we should look somewhere else…." he said as the others reluctantly followed him to a large fancy set of stairs where an attractive dinosaur fountain was.

Zoe and Max both took interest in it as they edged in for a closer look, "I've gotta get a picture of this."

"Yeah me too." they said taking out their phones for a picture.

Rex scowled with annoyance as he stomped right over to where they were, "Hey!" he cried out surprising them, "Just in case you guys forgot, we didn't come here to sightsee."

As they frowned in disappointment, Cera decided to step in to back them up, "True, but we still hold enjoy life while we can." she said, "It's not everyday we get to visit another country so easily while everyone else works so hard to earn enough for a single trip." As she finished, a large explosion sound could be heard not far from where they were, catching their attention!

Roar

"And of course there's a time for duty." she then said at the end seriously as they ran up to a higher spot for a better look. As they all looked closer they saw a massive cloud of dust erupt from the streets across them, and Cera narrowed her eyes knowing this had to be a large dinosaur. As it cleared, her suspicions were confirmed as a light blue dinosaur with red crests emerged and roared ferociously!

"It's an allosaurus and it's going nuts!" Rex gasped as they all looked on.

"That would be an understatement….." Cera then commented seriously as the big carnivore snarled and rushed onwards towards the town's national symbol and pride!

Zoe checked on her guidebook checking the maps and her expression confirmed Cera's worries, "Oh no, it looks like it's heading right for the Sagrada Familia…." she said as they all turned to her in alarm.

"What!?"

The locals looked on in sadness and horror as the vicious dinosaur closed in on their precious symbol of their culture, "Our national treasure…."

"Cannot somebody stop it?"

"I can't bear to watch…" They all said around the D team, who decided to take action to protect their livelihood.

Taking the initiative, Max retuned Chomp to a card, "We'll stop it! Dino slash! Go triceratops! Roar!" he cried out as the large triceratops appeared before them with a loud roar! "Alright Chomp, you've gotta protect that building!" Max ordered as his partner roared and launched himself towards the ground and charged full speed towards the ravenous carnivore! Racing as hard as he could, he managed to catch up with the allosaurus and pull it back by the tail!

"Way to go Chomp!" Zoe cheered but to their horror the smaller dinosaur seemed to be dragging Chomp along overpowering him!

"Huh!?" They all looked on in horror as the carnivore began to swing Chomp round and round before shaking him off effortlessly and throwing him straight into the very building they were hoping to protect! "NOOOOO!" Chomp's massive body punched a hole straight through the historical building which caused the entire structure to collapse ontop of him much to everyone's horror!

Max gritted his teeth seriously, "We'd better go check on Chomp!" he said rushing off first as the others called back their dinosaurs and raced towards the scene! With several angry locals in tow as well….

As the dust cleared, Max found Chomp lying down weakly amongst the rubble as he came to his side, "Chomp! Are you okay!?" he gasped as the ceratopsian looked to him groggily, still haven't been able to recover from the enormous building's fall on him…..

"For such a lightly built dinosaur it sure packs a lot of power." Cera noted, clearly underestimating its strength and knowing it'd make things that much harder…..

Her throughs were soon interrupted as an angry voice yelled out to them, "Look what you've done!"

"You've ruined the cultural landmark!" They yelled furiously as they began throwing stones out at them!

"Wait stop it!" Max cried out as they he and the other D team members tried to hold out their hands or shield themselves from the incoming stones! Fortunately or unfortunately they didn't have to worry for long as the allosaurus turned around and faced them all with a vicious roar! Sending the crowd into a panic as they ran off screaming in terror!

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Every man for himself!" They all cried as wind picked up around the ravenous dinosaur as it rushed ahead at Chomp at full speed!

Cera and Miku widened their eyes as they yelled out to the others, "Oh no! We'd better clear out now!"

"Ah!" As they all quickly ran out of the way, the carnivore spun around Chomp too fast for him to see before striking him repeatedly on all sides and leaving the wounded triceratops to collapse froths wounds!

"Chomp no!" Max cried as his partner cried out in pain before turning back into a card. Victorious, the allosaurus sniffed the air hungrily before rushing off in another direction down the street.

"There it goes again!" Zoe pointed out as Max went to reclaim Chomp's card!

Rex gritted his teeth, "After it!" he yelled as the others took off. Before following them, Cera stopped to eye the ruins of the once great Sagrada Familia, as the sight of its in pieces made her freeze and shake in horror, as a flashback coursed through her mind, as she pictured a large group of dinosaurs including a monoclonius, indosuchus and abelisaurus along with packs of pink velociraptors and swarms of pteranodons of different colours swooped in from the sky and began attacking a small town where its people ran about screaming in terror and how they left the place in ruins.

Each large dinosaur also had a certain crest like symbol on their forehead and sides as they reared up and roared in anger, as a much younger Cera hid behind a corner covering her head crying in fear! She shook intensely and tensed so much she didn't realise the others had left her behind and she lost track of her surroundings. Even Miku nipping at her ear or nudging her couldn't snap her out of her faze, as she tried hard to wake her partner up but to no avail. Ironically, it was the sound of the allosaurus' roar soon which was able to wake her up from her daydreaming. Shaking her head clear and focusing on the fact she couldn't let it continue to roam wild and free, she quickly followed the rest of the D team, with Miku eyed her with concern.

As they only barely managed to see glimpses of its tail turn through corners in the blink of an eye, Max could only deduce 1 conclusion from observing. "Man it's fast, no doubt we'll need Ace if we're going to stand a chance of keeping up with it." he grunted.

"On that note I agree." Rex replied in agreement as they saw it trust its head through a store as it began munching on large sticks of ham, before running off in another direction down the street.

"He's really hungry that's for sure….." Cera commented, knowing at this rate it could decimate the town's meat supply in a matter off days.

"Whoa! I wonder where it's off too now." said Max seriously as it scampered off.

As Rex looked in the direction it was heading off in, he widened his eyes, "To the meat shop!" he cried out as they all hurried! As they arrived at the entrance they saw a pair of female customers along with a female butcher run out of the store in a fright, knowing they hit the right place. As they came closer, Cera widened her eyes at their dumb luck, a familiar woman was staring straight into the eyes of the allosaurus, frozen in place out of shock and fear.

"Max look!" Cera pointed out as they came closer, "Is that who I think it is?"

"It's my mom!" he cried.

"It looks like she saw the dinosaur and froze in her tracks!" Rex pointed out as he began to panic like the others, knowing one wrong move would spell utter disaster.

Cera placed a hand to her chin in troubled through, "What do we do now? This can get really complicated….." she said uneasily.

Max gritted his teeth as he acted on instinct and shouted out, "Hey mom! Run away!" he yelled catching her attention.

"Hmm?" She turned to him surprised, "Well hi Max….."

Cera swallowed hard in response as she saw them all together, "This is….awkward…." she said.

Aki didn't have much time to react as the breathing of warm air on her face made her turn back to the ravenous allosaurus, which roared fiercely at her as she fainted unconsciously.

"We've got to hurry before she becomes dessert!" Cera then cried out in alarm as the dinosaur began helping itself to several hams that were just above Max's mom.

Looking around Rex saw something he could use, "I've got an idea!" he gasped as he ran to the side and grabbed a large ham, "Look over here allosaurus! This one's much bigger!" he yelled out to the beast courageously!

"Huh!?" Cera widened her eyes in shock as the allosaurus turned and snapped up the ham with little effort. As it did it raised its claws out and moved slowly towards Rex hungry for more! "Are you crazy!?" Cera gasped unsure whether to think Rex was either brave or just plain crazy!

He then turned to her with a serious expression, "Well what other choice do we have!?" he yelled as Cera gritted her teeth standing corrected.

"Urgh….okay fine, just be careful." she said with concern.

Rex quickly turned to Max as the allosaurus neared them, "Get your mum while I distract him!" he yelled.

"Good idea!"

"I'll help you!" Cera followed as they ran out of the carnivore's way, which paid them no mind as it focused on Rex who had gotten hold of another large ham.

"Come and get it allosaurus!" He said as he and Zoe ran off in the distance luring further away from their friends.

"Is she alright?"

"Hmm…."

"She's just fainted, don't worry, she isn't hurt in anyway." she said as Max let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew that's a relief….." he breathed wiping away the sweat from his brow. Noticing a bench nearby he then reached for his mom's legs, "Come on, help me get her onto that bench there."

"Mhmm." Cera nodded as she hoisted Aki from the front side and they both rested her gently there while she was still out.

After setting her down, Max sat back down panting for air, "Urgh….she's kinda heavy….." she gasped as Cera eyed him seriously.

"You'd better not say that when she wakes up, you know how sensitive women can be when it comes to weight." she said as he gulped at her serious expression.

"Will keep that in mind." he nodded as he rested down and gasped for some air, before suddenly remembering something important, "Oh, I'd better not forget this otherwise dad would fossilise me." he said quickly reaching into his front hip pack before taking out the love letter his father asked him to give. He then settled it down nicely next to his mom and he and Cera both smiled knowing she would be in for a lovely surprise once she wakes up.

"Guys! We've got trouble!" A voice called out to them both. As they turend they saw both Rex and Zoe hurry back to them rather frantically, and without the ham or allosaurus it didn't seem like a good sign...

"Huh? What sort of trouble?" Cera asked as they panted with exhaustion before answering.

"It's Rod and Laura! They showed up and stole the ham from us!" Rex answered as Max and Cera both gasped in alarm!

"Huh!?"

"Along with allosaurus' attention!" Zoe followed while Max clenched his fist in frustration.

"Grr those rats! Always getting in the way….." he grunted with annoyance.

Cera then looked to everyone else unsure of what to do herself, as she then asked hoping for suggestions, "So what now?"

Thinking it over quickly an assessing the situation, Rex soon came up with a rather daring and risky but also desperate plan in mind as he said to them, "Actually, I think might know what we can do." he said as he had the others lean in and he whispered to them.

Whisper Whisper

"Well what do you guys think?" he then asked as they nodded feeling confident about it.

"Mhmm! Sounds like a plan!"

"I'm all for it!"

"Me too!" They all said as Rex nodded in response.

"Alright, let's hurry, we might not have much time left." He said as they quickly spread out to get what they needed.

After a while of hard work, preparations soon came along perfectly as everyone did their parts.

"This will work perfect!" Max called out yanking off a large red tarp from above a canopy.

Zoe then ran in with 4 large hams and settled them down at the tarp's corners, "You think 4 of these hams will do?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll tie them together with this!" Rex answered after getting a piece of rope to tie to the tarp! After they all finished tying them together, Rex then took out his dinosaur card, "Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Ace appeared in his full sized form with a roar, as he lowered his head down his mouth began to water upon sight of the hams tied to the tarp! He began to snap at them, only to be stopped by Rex who got in his way, "Whoa whoa Ace stop! We need those hams!" he cried waving his arms out as Ace grunted. Seeing his disappointment, Rex moved in to stroke his head gently, "Listen, once we're done you can have as much as you like, okay?" he asked. Thinking it over, Ace then gave his friend a nod of reassurance as the others smiled pleased to see him be reasonable. "Thanks buddy."

Cera suddenly rushed in with a full sized Miku on her shoulder, "I found the allosaurus!" she called out as the others brightened up.

"Good job Cera!" Max praised, "So where is it?"

"It's at a construction site not far from here," she answered pointing out the entrance to the butcher's, "Right now it seems to be in a fight with Spiny." she then added as the D team were taken back in alarm.

"Spiny!?"

"So the alpha gang are going to beat us to the card before we have everything ready!?" Rex and Zoe gasped.

"Rats!" Max grunted punching into his hand with frustration.

Cera shook her head in response, "Not quite, that allosaurus seems to be holding its own pretty well," she feeling confident on who would emerge victorious, "In fact it's got a pretty powerful move of its own, I'd be more worried about Spiny."

They then breathed out in relief, "Phew."

"That's good to know."

"Either way the battle will be over soon, so we'd better get Ace ready as soon as we can!" she then said as they became serious.

"Right!"

"Okay guys, now help me get this on him." said Rex as the 4 of them were then able to spread the tarp over Ace well, till he wore it like a toreador cape, which Cera had to admit made him look rather smart.

"Looking good….." she said as Ace growled feeling happy to be praised, "I also had Miku do a little perimeter check, the best place we can fight to prevent any more collateral damage or endanger anymore innocents would be….." she then paused feeling a bit guilty to admit there was only 1 place they could use to ensure the wild dinosaur couldn't escape and they could fight at their fullest, "The bull fighting coliseum….."

Zoe turned rather sour before shaking her head, "We don't really have any other choice."

"Well we'll just have to make the best with what we've got." said Rex in turn while Max nodded.

"Mhmm." Eying Ace, it was a miracle he wasn't trying to snap at the hams or at the tarp itself like he was earlier with Chomp and Paris, "Let's be glad he isn't being driven nuts himself…."

Rex then walked up to his partner and patted him with encouragement, "Alright Ace, you know what to do! Go get em!" he said as Ace roared and took off.

As they prepared to follow, Cera held herself back at the last second to see Aki was still lying at the bench and she looked with concern, "You sure it's alright to just leave her there?" she asked as the others turned to stop.

Eying her, Max then smiled, "Mom's tougher than she looks, don't worry, besides it'll get way more complicated if she woke up to find us here instead of home right?" he said as Cera gave it some thought before agreeing with him.

"You make a good point there." After that she then thought to herself before asking curiously, "By the way Max, is Chomp still able to fight?"

Taking out his dinoholder and checking his partner while still in card form, the dinoholder displayed his energy levels were still very low and in the red, "Not really, he still looks pretty banged up from that last fight…." he said shaking his head.

"I see…." Placing a finger to her chin in thought she then opened her eyes already having a backup solution, "In that case." she turned to Zoe who was standing nearby, "Zoe, may I borrow Paris for a little while?"

She blinked her eyes in surprise at the sudden request, "Huh Paris? Why?"

"To buy you guys some time," Cera answered, "Ace will need your support so in the meantime I'll keep Rod and Laura busy, no way they're just going to sit back and let us do as we please right?"

Zoe thought about it and saw there was logic in her words, "I see what you mean." She then looked up with concern and some mild insecurity over entrusting her partner over to Cera, "But, will you be able to take them both on by yourself?" Even though they were friends she was planning to do something rather drastic and that didn't inspire much confidence in her."

Cera though smiled by with reassurance, "Don't worry about me," she said before winking, "In fact I have a secret weapon I've been hoping to use for sometime now, and I can't think of any other better time than now." she answered, but before they could ask she quickly cut them off, "I'd tell you more but then it'd be a little too long. Just trust me please."

Eyeing her dinoholder and seeing the determination in Cera's eyes, Zoe then nodded in response, "Alright…." she said taking out Paris' dinosaur card and entrusting it over to her, "Promise me you'll take care of her okay?"

Cera nodded firmly, "I will. Now go!" she said.

"Mhmm." Zoe nodded firmly as she then hurried off after Ace and the boys.

After they left, Cera looked to Miku who was on her shoulder, who let out a firm chirp before her expression turned serious, "Alright it's time I did my part." she said as she ran out in another direction.

At the construction site, the allosaurus managed to throw Spiny off balance and he landed ontop of the Alpha Trio, squashing them flat as he returned to card form! It roared ferociously, though it's victory was interrupted as Ace ran in, flashing the red cape and hams tied to it before running in the direction of the coliseum, prompting the hungry predator to change after it!

"Hey! It's getting away again!" Rod gasped, "And now they're stealing it from us!" he then gritted his teeth noticing that the 4 hams the D team had were more of an effective magnet than the one ham they had.

"After them quick!" Laura pointed as they prepared to zoom after them!

Before they could though, a voice stopped them, "I don't think so!"

"Huh!?" Leaping into their path was Cera as she held out her arms stretched out with a firm expression on her face, "You'll have to get through us first!" she yelled taking out a card, "Dino slash! Spring up Parasaurolophus!" Upon slashing the card Paris appeared in full size before the 2 alpha kids and roared out at them!

They were taken aback by surprise before they both smirked with confidence, "Oh? So you think you can take us both on by yourself?" Laura giggled in amusement, "Hee hee! You've got guts I'll give you that."

Rod closed his eyes and smirked, "Heh, fine we'll play with you a bit, I'm sure we can spare a few seconds." he said confidently as he and his sister took out a pair of dinosaur cards and slashed them!

"Alpha Slash!"

"Blaze Tyrannosaurus!"

"Shake em up Saichania!" Both their dinosaurs appeared on the field which caused the sky to change multicoloured as a result.

"We were hoping to bag that allosaurus but you'll do just fine." said Laura.

"With you out of the way we'll have 1 less pest to worry about." Rod snapped his fingers as Cera narrowed her eyes seeing the 2 powerful opponents she was faced with.

"We'll see about that." she said before punching forward, "Let's go!" she cried out as Paris roared and charged ahead! In response Terry let out a ferocious growl as he charged and they both collided heads together and began pushing against each other till Terry slowly began to overpower the grass dinosaur, her legs dragging back against the ground as she slowly began to lose ground!

"Hang in there Paris! Don't give up!" Cera cheered for her as Paris held firmly and tired her hardest to push back! Out of nowhere though, Tank rushed in and grazed at Paris' side with her spines causing her to roar in pain before Terry sent her back flying with the swipe of his tail! "No!" Cera cried out as she struggled to get back up, with Terry and Tank closing in on her.

Rod grinned while his sister laughed out, "Haha! It's 2 against 1, there's no way you stand a chance!" she said as Tank went up to Paris and raised out her tail ready to bring it down on her!

To their surprise though, Cera instead smirked, "Whoever said it was 2 vs 1?"

The siblings blinked, "Huh?"

"What are you talking about?" They then asked in confusion.

"This!" she answered shooting her arm out, "Go Miku! Power siphon!" The young microraptor appeared out from behind Paris and let out a screech while flaring her wings, surprising Tank as she jumped back! It was at that split second moment Miku jumped forwards and latched onto Tank's face as she glowed brightly, her aura enveloping the saichania who then thrashed about and cried in pain!

"Tank!" Laura cried out.

"What the!?" Rod gasped taken aback, "Did she use that parasaurolophus as cover for her microraptor?" he then gritted his teeth realising they had walked right into her trap! With Tank off balance and distracted, Paris saw her chance to get back up as Terry rushed in roaring viciously and baring his fangs! She quickly countered though by letting loose a sound blast from her crest which drove him back, he roared in pain while shaking his head clear in disorientation.

Meanwhile Tank attempted to remove her parasitic hitchhiker as she raised her tail and prepared to slam it down! Reacting quickly, Miku jumped off in time as the saichania's tail club hit dead on her forehead as she groaned groggily, knocking herself out cold! Seizing the chance, Miku climbed back onto the now unconscious ankylosaur as she glowed brightly again, tapping into her host's brain stem with parasitic perch! After that, Tank's eyes opened, only now they glowed red as she let out a loud roar in anger!

Cera smirked seeing it was now finished, "That's it! Now let him have it!" she called out as Tank turned around and began charging at Terry who was still recovering from Paris' sound attack! Running straight ahead she delivered a huge swipe with her tail to his chest, knocking him backwards as he groaned in pain! She didn't let up as she delivered another swift blow to his head before finally sweeping him over with he tail once more and causing him to crash down!

Rod widened his eyes and gasped, "Gah! Laura what are you doing!?" he yelled in anger as he turned to his sister, who was frantically pressing buttons on her alpha scanner.

"It's not me!" she cried out sweating anxiously, "I've lost control of Tank! That raptor's brainwashed her or something!" she said as Rod gritted his teeth and shook his fist in anger at Cera!

"Grrr! That's just low! Turning our friends against one another!" he yelled.

Cera raised an eyebrow at his statement, "I'm low? You guys are ones to talk!" she then yelled back, "Going through lengths to experiment on dinosaurs and using them against their will! I'm here to make sure you don't hurt anymore innocent dinosaurs!" Tank then snarled as she put herself between Terry and Paris, shifting her side and swinging her tail out at the T rex, waring him off while Paris held back to recuperate.

Her strategy had the siblings completely stumped knowing they'd lose either way, "I can't afford to use a move card otherwise I'd end up hurting either Tank or Terry….." Laura shook intensely.

"And I can't afford to have Terry attack Tank when we need her…." Rod gritted his teeth with frustration as Tank began roaring and charging at Terry!

"Tch! Looks I've got no choice now…." Laura hissed under her breath as she pressed a button to return Tank to her hand card form, leaving Miku to land down on the ground now without a host before the monstrous Terry who loomed over her! "Sorry Rod…." she said to her brother as Rod nodded understandably.

"It's fine Laura, I can handle this myself!" he yelled before pointing out, "Go Terry! Pay her back for what she did to Tank!" Terry roared ferociously as he raised his foot prepared to crush her under!

The young raptor screeched in terror but Cera wasn't about to have any of it, "Miku quick get back!" she yelled recalling her partner like Laura did to her hand, as the tyrannosaurus' foot stomped down and cracked the ground!

Rod snapped his finger in frustration, "A lucky escape but you can be sure won't happen again!" he yelled defiantly as he slashed a move card, "Take her down Terry! Neck crusher!" Terry roared after glowing with the move card and he charged towards Paris with the intent of finishing her off!

"I promised Zoe I wouldn't let anything happen to Paris, and I intend to keep that promise!" Cera then yelled taking out the secret weapon she had been saving for this moment, "Go super impact!" She yelled slashing the ultimate grass move card! As a result Paris roared out rearing up on her legs being surrounded by an aura of leaves! Before long a massive supersaurus erupted behind her which reared up on its legs towering up and letting out a huge bellow shaking the earth itself!

Rod and Laura both looked up in awe and shock to see their new foe presented before them, "Whoa!"

"No way!"

Even Terry himself paced back nervously, cancelling his own attack as the enormous sauropod crashed back down on the ground, the shockwaves nearly knocking him off balance. It then lowered its head gently and nuzzled Paris, encouraging her that it was safe as she leapt onto its head before it swung her straight out at Terry! The red t rex had no time to react as Paris collided straight at the front of him! He tried his best to stand his ground but the force of the throw along with Paris shredding at his underside eventually caused him to give way as he was knocked backwards over the alpha duo to their shock!

"Terry!" They gasped in alarm as he crashed several feet away, before letting out a roar in pain and returning to card form.

Cera smirked and gave a wink to the troubled duo, "And that's game." she said.

They both turned to her with displeased expressions, "Hey! That's just not fair!" Laura whined.

She however smirked back at them, "Since you guys claim that the cards were all yours in the beginning, guess you shouldn't have made them to be that powerful to begin with. I'm just using them that's all." she said shrugging her shoulders while also referencing them back to when they had their velociraptors. The fact she used their own words against them was rubbing salt in their wounds as they both swore under their breath.

"Urgh….we'll get you back for this!"

"Yeah! This isn't over!" They yelled cursingly before speeding off away in the distance on their scooter.

As they disappeared from sight, Cera returned Miku to her chibi form who perched on her shoulder. After she chirped into her ear, Cera replied, "Maybe there is good in them somewhere huh Miku?" she said as the raptor chirped again, having remembered how Laura was unwilling to have Tank or Terry hurt each other, showing they truly did care for their own dinosaurs at least despite what they did to others, "Let's just hope they make the right choice next time….." she thought to herself feeling hopeful in their potential for change.

"Urgh…my head hurts…." a voice behind them groaned catching their ears. As they turned to look they saw the alpha trio slowly coming too, as they groggily and unsteadily came to their feet.

"I feel like a mountain just fell on me…." Ed groaned rubbing his forehead as Zander stumbled about and nearly face planted after suffering several injuries all over him due to Spiny crushing them just now under his weight!

Ursula narrowed her eyes crankily at them, as if she had woken up from a bad night while covered in bruises, "Just be grateful we can still move, last thing I want to end up like is bedridden like Dr Z….." she muttered as the others groaned with her in agreement. They soon felt deep heavy breathing blow on them, which made them blink in confusion, "Eh?" Turning around they widened their eyes and jumped to see Paris in full size who roared at them together with supersaurus who was still present as they both stared down on the 3 defenceless humans! "EEEEKKKK!"

"You guys looking for a fight too?" Cera then asked as she folded one arm and raised an eyebrow at them.

They widened their eyes an stumbled back upon sight of her, "Gah! N…No no of course not!" Ed cried out.

"We're just enjoying the sights here in Spain, not looking for any trouble at all!" Zander quivered before Ursula brought him and Ed together in her arms in a headlock!

"In fact we were just about finished and ready to leave!" she then turned to them both menacingly as they paled upon sight of her, "Right boys!?" she growled as they nodded frantically in response.

"Y…yeah that's right we're leaving now!" They each said before turning around, "So we'll just be getting out of your faces! Bye!" They cried out scurrying off in the direction Rod and Laura both left in, "Rod! Laura! Take us home with you!" Their pleasing cries echoed as they soon disappeared out of sight.

"Figures….." Cera said shaking her head in disapproval before returning supersaurus to card size. After that she smiled pleased at Paris, "You did great out there. Good job." she said to the green dinosaur who let out a happy cry and stomped her foot with pleasure, "Hey I know, why not we be partners too huh?" she then asked jokingly as Paris then reared up on her hind legs in surprise! Miku as well looked to Cera in alarm before she bonked her own head playfully, "I'm just kidding. Can't you both take a joke?" They both seemed to eye her rather seriously as she chuckled in amusement at their reactions earlier, "Hehehe….Now to get you back to Zoe." she said returning her to card form. Looking up at the sky she could still see it was still multicoloured above, which could mean only 1 thing, "Looks like there's still a battle going on at the coliseum, better see who the others are doing." As she hurried along in the direction of the arena, she had only just stepped through the front entrance when the skies cleared and returned to normal, and she arrived at the stands to see Ace gorging himself on the 4 hams that were tied to the red tarp with great delight, which was great since he came out on top in the end, though Cera couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed for missing out on the action, "Oh, looks like it's over now…..shame…." Nevertheless she still smiled and clapped for them as they all turned to her after hearing her, "Great work you guys." she said to them pressingly.

"Hey Cera," Max waved after Rex recalled Ace to a card, "So how did things go?" he asked as she held her head up and smirked with confidence.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." She said before turning to Zoe, "Oh and here you go." she said returning Paris' card to her.

"Thanks Cera." she said smiling at her back.

"Told you I kept my promise." said Cera before reaching into her pocket and plucking out a card, "Oh and you should take this too."

As Zoe took it she widened her eyes in surprise at it, "Whoa it's super impact!" she gasped as the others came to look too.

"Is this the secret weapon you were talking about?" asked Rex looking to her as Max grinned.

"No wonder you were so confident it'd work." he said, "You really did think things through for us huh?"

Cera nodded in response, "I always do." what she didn't tell them though was that at the back of her mind was that she had a mild flashback of a rather uneasy vision….one she couldn't quite understand or describe, and she probably didn't want to at all….

"Well since were done here we might as well head back, it's time for dinner too." said Max snapping her out of her thoughts, "Not to mention mom's going to be back soon this evening, we'd better make sure everything's nice and-" before he could finish his sentence, both he and Rex passed realising they hadn't cleaned the house yet, and no way could they count on dad having done any of the housework at all since they left…..looking to one another they nodded before looking to both Cera and Zoe together.

"Umm Zoe and Cera?"

The 2 girls raised an eyebrow at them, "Hmm?"

"Think you could help us with one teensie little favour when we get home?" asked Max as he motioned with his fingers while he and Rex both put on rather innocent smiles and puppy dog faces at them both, which only seemed to make them more uneasy instead.

Zoe sweat dropped as the teleporter light began around them, "Why are you smiling at us like that?" she asked as Cera soon realised they were trying to butter them up so they'd help with cleaning up, fat chance of that happening.

"If you're thinking what we are thinking, you can just forget it." She and Zoe both scowled at the boys who then lowered themselves forward and frowned in disappointment.

"Awww….." they whined as they vanished.

 **And there's mesozoic mess, I will be following some episodes through like this but not all of them, also wanted to let Paris show off using super impact since it was only used once by altirhinus. Hope this didn't disappoint. Stay tuned for next time.**

 **In response to pokemonking0924**

 **-Hope you enjoyed Seth and Cera's first meeting, wanted to make it as impactful as I could. Next time they'll meet will be in Planes, trains and dinosaurs but in vaccination vacation they will have another encounter which would be more impactful. Though Cera lost her old timepod she managed to get something out of it, as well as a flashback. She'll eventually pick up pieces of herself here and there eventually. Yeah wanted to explain how Seth would get cryolophosaurus but don't plan on having him use it till season 2.**

 **To** **Drew Luczynski**

 **-** **Well Dr Z isn't so bad at times, sometimes he can be good, though not for this occasion as eventually he goes back to being a whiny baby in this chapter. Still he can show remorse and good at times. Also yeah the pod is what Seth uses to improve and help fix up Zeta Point more since I wanted to address that bit since he kept saying there were missing parts.**


	11. Planes, Trains and Dinosaurs

Chapter 11

Planes, trains and dinosaurs

It was mid afternoon at the D lab, Cera had just finished an entry into her journal regarding events that happened the previous day. How she had met Dr Owen for the first time, having heard about him from Rex and the others he was exactly like how they described, being 'passionate' about dinosaurs just as much as Dr Taylor was and how lucky Rex was to have been adopted by him. He was certainly an interesting fellow in Cera's eyes, as well as his argument with the movie director over how a dinosaur movie should be produced was rather…..unusual…..but what was more surprising was to hear how crazy in love he was with Ursula of the Alpha gang, luckily or unfortunately she doesn't seem to feel the same about him as he is with her, so the D team can rest easy knowing their fears of having an enemy as part of the family won't come to pass anytime soon. She also understood why he was feeling disturbed and hurt by the director shutting down his hard work and ideas, though he didn't have to be such a big baby about it….then again hearing about the director's weird ideas after they were done for the day they'd drive anyone nuts no doubt, no way would she see whatever abomination that lunatic would cook up..

If that wasn't weird enough, Cera had seen everything after they chased down a pentaceratops at the studio and even found out about the Alpha Gang having a robot housemaid which no doubt had a number of screws loose in her. It was also a bit unfortunate they had to turn it back to card after it had found love in a dinosaur robot there. Looking at things now though it was a bit sad that the world left the dinosaurs behind and now it pretty much rejects their existence in place of people. Though it was a shame Cera also knew that nature couldn't be changed, but that still didn't make the fact that all living creatures were toys of fate and nature was quite unfair….these were her thoughts she put into her entry before concluding it off.

After that, she closed up her book and then moved on to sorting out some more dinosaur cards, and as she took out a few she began to arrange them on the table alongside Miku in a rather unusual patter, one which Reese took notice of as she walked over to her with interest. "Excuse me Cera," she said, "Pardon me but I was curious as to what are you doing." Reese then asked politely.

Hearing her voice, Cera and Miku looked up to see her, "Hmm? Oh hey Reese." she replied, "I was just taking a look at some of these dinosaur cards here, I actually noticed a rather interesting pattern amongst them." she said as she showed off the cards she had with her which were a gorgosaurus, metriacanthosaurus, anatotitan, tsintaosaurus, camarasaurus, patagosaurus, neovenator, eustreptospondylus, polacanthus, kentrosaurus, brachyceratops and einiosaurus.

Reese then blinked her eyes, "Oh really? What sort of pattern?" she asked feeling intrigued.

Cera then smiled, "Rather than I tell you, why not try and figure it out yourself? If you feel like you're up for the challenge?" she suggested as Reese chuckled in response.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun." she said before an older man came bumbling in and butting between the girls.

"Count me in! Can I play too!?" Spike cried out before holding his head high, "As a veteran dinosaur expert I'm certain I'll be able to solve whatever mystery or puzzle you have!"

Reese narrowed her eyes crossly at Dr Taylor being rude, while Cera sweat dropped and scratched the back of her head, "Umm…sure of course, why not?" she chuckled nervously seeing no reason why she should say no when he was….full of hope?

"Yippee!" He then cheered childishly as he jumped up and down with excitement.

Ignoring his immature behaviour, Reese pushed up her glasses before eying Cera firmly, "In any case….we accept your challenge Cera." she said as the red head moved aside allowing her and Spike to go over to the desk and see the many cards laid out.

"Let's see if we can unravel the mystery behind these dinosaurs." Spike grinned while rubbing his hands together with excitement, and already he got an answer which he didn't hesitate to call out, "I've got it!" he cried surprising Reese and Cera about how quick and sudden he was, "All these dinosaurs come from the cretaceous period!" he announced before jittering with anticipation, "Was I right? I do hope I'm right!"

Looking the cards over, Reese sighed and shook her head while Cera instead smiled nervously, "Err not a bad guess Dr Taylor…." she chuckled before picking up a pair of cards, "But in case you didn't notice, kentrosaurus and camarasaurus do happen to be from the jurassic period." she answered as he widened his eyes in shock and surprise.

"Huh!?" As looked at the cards his jaw then dropped in disbelief as he poitned out at them weakly, "Hey! How did I miss that!?" he exclaimed before throwing his hat on the ground and stomping on it repeatedly without mercy! "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" he cried out dramatically before pulling on his own hair much to the dismay of Reese and Cera, who were unsure of what they were looking at.

"Uhhh….." Cera then reached out slowly and patted the large man uneasily, "It's no big deal Dr taylor, everyone makes a mistake now and then." she said.

"But for a dinosaur genius like me to make such an elementary mistake is unacceptable!" he then bellowed surprising her, even more so when he suddenly leaned in close to her face! "But from now on you can be sure I'll make a much more realistic answer from now on!"

"That's…good to know…." she gulped as she slowly backed away behind Reese who then took a look at the cards herself.

Eying them curiously she then asked, "How about I take a crack at it next?"

"Sure thing, go ahead Reese." Cera answered as Reese leaned in and eyed each of the cards individually and carefully, unblinking and full focused on them.

"….." After a while she then nodded with confidence, "I think I might know the answer." she said feeling assured of it much to the surprise of Dr Taylor, though not Cera.

"Oh you do? Well then fire away Reese!" he cried out.

In response though, Reese then chuckled, "Now where's the fun in that?" she replied, "I have a better idea, why not you go on ahead Dr Taylor, that is, if you want to prove you're a real dinosaur expert."

Hearing her challenge made the adventurous palaeontologist grin with excitement as he put his hat back on, "Heh, alright then! Challenge accepted!" He bellowed loudly and with confidence as he leaned over to look at them all. "I've got it! These dinosaurs come from the Americas!"

"Not quite, kentrosaurus was from Africa and not to mention neovenator is from Europe." said Cera shaking her head.

"Okay then," looking over them Spike snapped his fingers, "Alright then, half of these dinosaurs are herbivores and the other half are carnivores!"

"Not exactly," said Reese, "Can't you count Doctor? Only 4 out of these 12 are carnivores, I'd also say that over half are herbivores." she answered much to Dr Taylor's dismay.

"Huh!?" After a while he soon began to blurt out every answer that came to his over imaginative mind, and each answer was becoming more bizarre and ridiculous as they came. "Half of them facing left and the others right! No wait! They have an equal division of blue sky and cloudy backgrounds! No no! I've got it! They've all got unique personalities!"

Eventually after so many ridiculous replied, Cera knew when she had enough and she decided to stop him there, "Sorry Dr Taylor….but none of those answers come close." she sighed much to Spike's annoyance and ever growing frustration.

"Grrrr! GARGH!" he wailed in despair before rolling about on the floor like a child, while shaking his legs and fists like a kid who was denied a present, much to the dismay of Reese and Cera who looked on.

Having all she could stand, Reese stepped before him and he was forced to look up at her as she eyed him seriously, "Dr Taylor, if you don't stop this right now I may be forced to show this to everyone," she said flashing him her new phone which she used to record everything he did from stomping on his hat to his childish tantrum just now, which made him freeze in place and turn pale, "How would they think of you when they see you like this? You should be ashamed of yourself." she said as he sat up and bowed down pleadingly in a begging position.

"Y…You're right…..I should have been better than this….." he whimpered sadly as tears began to wet his face and even his nose became watery as he eyed Cera, "Okay I give up! What's the secret then!?" he cried out feeling disgusted with himself, no way could he call himself a man or a dinosaur expert after this, this day would no doubt haunt and scar him for years to come…..

"Alright then, I'll tell you." Cera quickly answered before anymore weird answers come up. Picking up each of the cards she began to flip them over one by one and explain, "You see when I was looking through each of these cards, I took a closer look at the symbols behind their cards." she said showing them off.

Dr Taylor narrowed his eyes and folded his arms as he observed, "There are the 6 elements, fire, water, earth, wind, grass and lightning." he noted before putting a finger to his chin in thought, "There are also 2 dinosaurs each which represent those attributes."

Cera nodded, "Yeah, but between each pair of dinosaurs with a matching crest what do you notice?" she then asked.

"Hmm…." After Dr taylor focused hard for a while he eventually figured it out as he widened his eyes, "Wait I see it!" he exclaimed, "The lightning dinosaurs are all ceratopsians like Chomp!"

"That's right." Cera nodded once more, as Miku chirped pleased.

"And all the grass dinosaurs are hadrosaurids like Paris." Reese continued, "For wind, they're either smaller carnivores like raptors or medium sized ones like Ace." she then added seeing neovenator and eustreptospondylus.

"You catch on quick." said Cera as she picked up 2 cards, "Also, from what it seems dinosaurs belonging to the fire attribute are large heavily built carnivores like the T-rex for example." she said before taking another pair of cards, "When it comes to water, with the exception of spinosaurids like suchomimus and baryonyx, they're mainly long necked sauropods." she stated before holding up the last 2, "And finally with earth."

"Anykylosaurids." Reese answered, "Also, a while ago we did encounter a stegosaurus which seemed to be displaying earth like traits, so that could mean earth dinosaurs would include them too." she said.

"How very interesting….." Dr Taylor mused as he gave it much careful thought. "It takes quite the keen eye to notice such a pattern….." he admitted as he looked to Cera, wondering how she managed to do it.

"Perhaps I should add that to the manual then." Reese then thought to herself as she took out the manual and began adding all that in.

Dr Taylor held a hand to his chin in thought, "Still, this doesn't completely explain how they keep appearing out of nowhere." he then said combing his beard with his fingers, "Sure the cards are scattered all over the world, but what causes them to activate in the first place?"

"Yeah, that is a good question." Reese then replied hearing him out.

"Sometimes they even pop up in the random of all places, and at the worst possible timings too." Spike then sighed knowing because of a utahraptor, the gameshow competition was ruined and they lost the money (Though they had no idea it was fake).

Cera then thought of it after hearing what he said, "Now that you mention it….." after a few seconds of careful thinking she then realised it, "I think I might know something about this." she sid snapping her fingers catching the attention of both Reese and Spike.

"Oh? Do tell…." she asked.

Cera nodded as she began to explain her theory, "If I were to guess, perhaps their elements have something to do with how they appear." she suggested.

Reese then remembered something, "Now that I think about it, according to the news reports there was a forest fire in China right where the carcharodontosaurus appeared a while back." she said as she went through some old articles and found the one regarding said dinosaur, "And there were lightning storms in Hawaii and Paris during the times Styracosaurs and anchiceratops showed up." she continued looking through some other records.

"From what the kids told me, the amargasaurus came out from the Loch Ness lake in Scotland, no surprise there if all it took was water." Dr Taylor stated.

"And since the euoplocephalus was activated in a cave I wouldn't be surprised if it got buried under rocks, dirt or something like that to be activated." Reese continued.

Cera placed a finger to her chin in thought, "So then for wind, I assume even a simple breeze would be enough activate them." she said.

"That seems plausible." Reese replied.

Dr Taylor folded his arms, "That also makes it rather problematic…." he muttered knowing the cards would turn dinosaurs so easily and then attack people on sight.

"Same goes for grass too I suppose…..if so much as a leaf or even a blade of grass brushes against is enough, we'd better take precautions. I'd also have to develop a specialised container to eliminate all possibilities of them activating just to make sure." said Reese as she made note of it all.

"What about these ones though?" Dr Taylor then asked taking Therizinosaurus and pachycephalosaurus and showing them to Cera. "You think you can explain how these dinosaurs fit in?"

"Hmm…." Thinking about it for a moment Cera then narrowed her eyes and shook her head sadly in response, "I don't know….from what I can tell these dinosaurs are definitely not ordinary ones for sure….not to mention I don't see any sort of pattern with them…."

"If I recall, the alpha gang made these dinosaurs by apparently fusing them with a move card." said Reese overhearing them, "Thereby allowing them to use several moves whenever they desire, without the need for a move card."

"That definitely sounds like something they'd do." said Spike firmly as Cera tensed up with anger.

"How cruel and unforgivable of them….." she thought to herself, imagining the pain and suffering they might have gone through.

"Still though, the fact remains that there may be cards like these out there as well." said Reese as she took both cards out of Spike's hand, "Cera, do you have any idea as to how these cards can be activated?" she then asked.

Giving more thought, Cera then asked first, "Well, do either of you recall how they came to be in the first place?"

Spike put on his thinking expression again as he folded his arms, "Hmm….from what I recall, Max and the others told me that the encountered the therizinosaurus downtown during a bright day after the sun shone bright light at a building side." he said before recalling something more recent, "And then when we were at the ninja village, there was this dino trooper play and after 1 of the actors flashed a blade, that's when the deinonychus appeared." he said, "Come to think of it, they also had glowing aura that shone in the 7 colours of the rainbow."

"Hmm, so that could also have to do with how they are activated." Cera suspected, "Heh, guess we could even nickname this secret attribute, an attribute of light."

"That does sound most fitting." Reese replied as she began archiving the data they've acquired from recent events and this conversation they just had, "We might not be able control how the dinosaurs may appear out there in the world. But we can at least make sure they stay safe here." she said making a reminder that she'd have to develop a firm safe for the cards to ensure that none of them would come into contact with anything that could possibly trigger them.

"You do that Reese, can't have so many wild dinosaurs running amok here in Sanjo City now can we?" said Spike to her as he imagined an accident occurring at the D lab causing all their dinosaurs to escape and run loose, tearing up the city, destroying properties or even eating people up! The thought of it made him shiver anxiously.

"Have you been able to deduce anything with the move card dinosaurs though?" Reese then asked Cera as she checked a few being pawpawsaurus in tag team and futabasaurus in futaba super cannon.

"Hmm, from what I can conclude so far is that they can only be called forth if there is another dinosaur out first." she answered remembering how she used move block herself, "Also there doesn't seem to be any sort of fixed pattern with them either…." she added at the end.

Dr Taylor then breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew, at least that means we won't need to go chasing after pterosaurs in the sky or go swimming after any marine reptiles." he breathed as Cera nodded in agreement.

"Mhmm."

Little did she know, Reese was eying her carefully, "Apparently she cares more about the D team's wellbeing and success more than I expected….." she thought before smiling warmly and returning to her work, "Guess that means our future and the dinosaurs' is secure…." It was at that moment the D lab's computer quickly picked up a signal which caught everyone's attention as it turned to Russia. "Hmm? A signal now?" she then asked.

"Oh well, might as well get to work." said Cera shrugging her shoulders as she walked over to the teleporter. As she stepped on, the rest of her friends burst in through the front doors in a hurry as they ran frantically towards the control room of the D lab.

"Come on guys hurry!" Max yelled impatiently as he went through the doors first.

"Ugh, slow down Max!" Rex grunted trailing after him.

"Not all of us can keep up the same as you…." Zoe grumbled as their dinosaurs scurried along to keep pace as they passed by Reese and Dr Taylor with hardly a hello, which Cera found a bit rude even if it was an urgent mission.

"Kids, another dinosaur's appeared in Moscow." Dr Taylor then said to them despite them not giving him ant greeting at all, which was good he took it lightly.

"Russia?" Rex asked curiously.

"Now that's a place I'd love to go see." Spike then smiled holding a thumbs up, "Mostly to ride the Trans-Siberian railway."

"The Trans-Si what?" Max asked clearly unfamiliar with the name.

Zoe then looked to Rex, "Do you know?" she asked him.

"Yeah, the Trans-Siberian is the world's longest railroad line, from Moscow all the way to Valdivostak. Almost 6000 miles long." Rex answered having studied up on it.

"We should ride it!" Max then cried out with excitement.

"Yeah, that could be really awesome!" Zoe followed in agreement with him.

"Just think of all the stuff we'd see!" Max continued knowing this was a must for them.

"Hang on," Rex then spoke up, "Don't forget we're going there for a dinosaur, not a vacation."

"Whats wrong with doing both?" Cera asked as they all looked to the blond haired boy.

"Yeah? Come on Rex lighten up once on a while, it'll do no wrong." said Zoe.

Rex then raised an eyebrow at them all, "Last time we took a vacation the alpha gang ended up taking styracosaurus from us. You want that to happen again?" he asked as they looked to one another realising he had a fair statement.

"Oh….good point…." Max uttered as he sweated and scratched his cheek.

Cera saw the logic in Rex's words but nevertheless still believed they could multi task, "Still, opportunities only come once, maybe we could at least consider it after we get it." she suggested.

Thinking it over carefully Rex then saw Cera too made a fair point herself, "Maybe…." he said considering it.

"There's also the aurora." said Dr Taylor with a smirk, "The famous natural light show called the northern lights."

Cera was intrigued by Dr Taylor's explanation, but she didn't have long to enjoy it as Max began tugging at everyone's sleeves rather impatiently.

"We'd better go now before he decides to come tag along." he suggested to them.

"I'm with you there Max." said Rex in response as Zoe nodded with them.

"Come on let's go before he notices." she whispered as they began to glow in the light of the teleporter.

"Alright then….." said Cera still feeling a little disappointed because she wanted to hear more of what Dr Taylor had to share with them, not to mention the way they usually teleported in the middle of his heartfelt lectures seemed somewhat rude, "A pity he can't come….." she sighed wishing he could come and experience the wonders of the places they visit up close, as they disappeared in the light and left Dr Taylor to his rambling.

They soon appeared in a street right nearby the St Basil's Cathedral, "Here we are Moscow." said Max as he and the others looked around to find any signs of the the dinosaur nearby, only to find that the weather was much colder and gloomy than they first thought, "Brr it's rather chilly here don't you think?" Max shivered as he hugged himself.

"Yeah, it is…." thought Cera, hoping none of them would get sick after this or that this mission wouldn't take too long. Even Chomp and Ace felt rather cold themselves as they shuddered too, fortunately Paris didn't feel the same and Miku had a layer of feathers and her partner's hair to keep warm.

"Sure wish I dressed warmer for this…." Zoe muttered as she shook a bit. It was then they heard a set of loud and panicked screams which caught their attention and put them on alert, "Tch! Looks like can't worry about that now….." she muttered feeling a bit irritated.

"It must be over there!" Rex pointed out in the direction of where the screams were coming from.

As the 4 kids headed towards the Cathedral, they caught sight of their target at the parking lot as it headed off for the park to get away from all the people. "There it is!" Max called out as they caught sight of a large blue sauropod with yellow spikes sticking out from its back. "What kind is it?" he then asked as it headed over

"It's an ampelosaurus!" Rex answered recognising it.

"We'd better hurry and catch it quick before it gets too out of control!" Max then cried as they raced after it.

It ran through the park gates and caused people there to scatter in a panic as it bellowed out loud. Observing it, Cera could tell it was confused, cold and hungry making her feel for it in a way….

As the dinosaur made its way behind a grove of trees, the D team maintained hot pursuit before realising it had disappeared!

"Darn it! We lost it!" Max grunted punching his hand into his palm.

"For a sauropod it sure moves pretty quick doesn't it?" Rex commented impressed as he looked around for signs of it though he couldn't find any.

"It couldn't have gone far though…." said Zoe as she put a hand over her eyes to see better.

As she looked around, Miku noticed something in front of them on the ground as she nudged Cera. As she looked to her partner perched on her shoulder, she looked down in the direction she was facing then smiled back at her, "Good thinking," she said before alerting the rest of her teammates, "We could follow these tracks it left." Cera pointed out as they noticed several large footprints embedded deep in the park soil.

"Wow, you've got quite a keen eye Cera." Rex whistled impressed.

Cera smiled, "Thanks, but it was Miku actually not me."

"In that case, thanks Miku." said Rex thanking her then as she chirped happily at being praised.

"You heard the dino! Follow those tracks!" Max cried out as they followed them! After a while of tracking the dinosaur, they found their way to an open railcard, where the soil turned hard and soon they lost sight of anymore footprints.

Rex lowered himself down for a better look but frowned upon seeing nothing, "Looks like the trail's gone cold…." he muttered as they had to search blind again.

"It's got to be here somewhere." Max commented as they headed in further, "Look for anything weird going on."

A rumbling sound followed by loud mooing caught their attention as Zoe pointed out, "You mean like over there?" she then asked. A herd of cows ran out of the cart in a panic as a blue tail and head could be seen sticking out from the other side of the cart, and the D team recognised it instantly.

"Yup, that's ampelosaurus alright." said Max confirming it.

"It seems to be looking for something." said Zoe as it stuck its head inside the cart.

As it took it back out it was now chewing on something it found there, "It's eating the cow's hay." said Rex.

"It must really be hungry." Zoe commented as it began to go in deeper to the cart.

"If you were out in the cold for too long, you'd be too if you want to stay warm." said Cera understanding it's situation.

Max then turned to the others firmly, "Well let's catch it." he said as they followed after it.

The thought of having to fight it made Cera feel conflicted, but what choice did they have now….she then thought as they came closer, only for it to pull itself further inside the card in search of food and warmth as it tucked its tail in. It was a tight squeeze and not very comfortable, but it was the best it could find as it rested its head and slowly drifted on into a long nap to conserve energy.

"It's going all the way inside." said Zoe.

"We can do anything with it in there." Rex added.

Max looked to the other side and pointed out to them, "There's another door! Over here on the side!" he cried as they hurried around to the side door.

Sliding it open they saw that it curled its head in and was already napping, "Look, he fell asleep." said Rex as they heard it snore.

"Aww that's so cute." said Zoe.

"Yeah, makes it look like an 800 pound infant." Cera commented, it would be a shame they'd have to give him a rude awakening soon after but things would get much worse if they continued to let him do as he pleased…..

"Let's take a closer look at it." said Max as he climbed in.

"Yeah, I want to see it too." Zoe followed as the others followed.

Cera held herself a back feeling uneasy though, "I don't like this idea….why do I get the feeling we're going to regret this?" she said worried about the fact they'd be right next to a sleeping dinosaur that can go berserk at any moment.

"It'll be fine trust us!" Max cried out to her assuredly as he held his hand out to her.

Thinking it over and seeing everyone was already on board, she might as well join them, "Okay then…." she said reluctantly as she took the hand and he helped her up.

After that, Max walked up to its head, "Be careful, don't wake it up." Rex whispered with concern as Chomp came up to its face and sniffed him.

"Now that's a loud snore." Max commented as it snorted and breathed deeply while sleeping on the bed of hay it was on..

"Aww….." Zoe thought clapping her hands together.

Rex eyed them seriously, "Come on guys, we have to figure out a way to get him out of here." he said sounding realistic and sensible, "And we don't have a lot of time."

Cera nodded in agreement, but as she turned to look behind her worries came true as it suddenly shut tight without warning! "Oh no!" she gasped as her eyes widened.

"Huh!?" They gasped as they heard clipping sounds and moving wheels outside, followed by a rumble which shook the cart momentarily!

"Are we locked in?" Zoe asked nervously.

"We are!" Rex cried out, "And the train is about to start up!"

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Cera gasped in alarm as she found they were caught between a wall and a really dangerous sleeping dinosaur that could destroy the train if woken up badly. This was a very serious situation as she crawled to the end of the train putting more distance between herself and the sleeping dinosaur, which the others soon followed her example.

"Now what?" Max then asked seeing there was nothing more they could do, "While he's asleep there's no way we can turn him back into a card."

"Yeah, that'd be just rude…." Cera commented as she sat down with the others as far back they could.

"And we are can't risk having him wake up inside of a moving car and going wild." Zoe stated as she pictured the dinosaur panicking in a breakout and causing the entire train to explode in flames! "Imagine what that would be like! A real train wreck!" she shivered.

"Yeah…." Cera nodded in agreement as she looked around carefully to observe their surroundings, hoping for a way out, but the only openings present were but a few small windows and they were far too small to squeeze out from. She then narrowed her eyes, "There's definitely not enough room in here to summon another dinosaur, if we fight here it'll be disastrous for us and the train." she said.

"At the first station, we'll wake him and get him off." Rex spoke out, "Until then we have to do everything we can to keep him asleep."

Thinking about it, Cera nodded, "Mhmm. Sounds like a plan." She and Rex however felt they might have to give up on that idea as Chomp and Ace climbed up and started bouncing on the sleeping sauropod's head! "Ack!"

"No no no! Ace! Stop it Chomp! Leave him alone!" Rex yelled frantically as he ran up to them

"Knock it off guys! What do you think you're doing!? We don't want to wake him up!" Max followed in alarm sweating nervously as he yanked Ace off. Chomp then jumped down and went back with them, at first it seemed they were in the clear, but Cera soon noticed they had a new problem to worry about!

"Looks like they won't need to…." she said nervously as its tail struck out from the roof and breaking through! It thrashed vigorously as Ampelosaurus moved about, its spikes breaking through the roof! It soon opened its eyes and banged its head on the ceiling as it bellowed in annoyance before eying the D team rather crankily! "Seems like he's had a bad dream…." Cera gulped as to eyed them.

"Well, it was a nice idea but he sure is awake now!" Zoe cried nervously.

"If he keeps this up he'll destroy the train! We have to calm him down!" said Rex feeling anxious as it raised its head and banged itself on the ceiling again in pain while continuing to punch more holes in the roof its with back spines.

"That's for sure but how do we do that?" Max gulped as it lowered its head to them and then snorting at them!

"GAH!" they cried as they were blown back as it continued to bash its shoulders at the side, causing the cart to shake with each one and its tail still stuck out from the roof. Cera could see he was restless and uncomfortable so she could understand why he was behaving this way, if only they could help somehow…..

"Ow that hurt…." Max groaned.

"Guys, he's really worked up now…." said Rex nervously.

"I know…." Max mumbled rubbing his throbbing head.

"Now what?" Zoe then asked looking up.

Cera gulped as the beast eyed them furiously with glaring eyes, "Anyone got any ideas? I'm open to suggestions…." she asked nervously as it's mood was like a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any second!

To everyone's surprise, Zoe's partner jumped out and started walking towards the agitated ampelosaurus to everyone's surprise! "Paris! What are you doing!?" Zoe gasped in alarm as she was tempted to get her back.

Cera then widened her eyes and stopped her, "Wait, maybe she has an idea!" she said to her surprise.

"Huh!?"

As the ampelosaurus lowered its head down to meet Paris, she fearlessly stood her ground and began to sing, very calm and serenely much to everyone's surprise…..everyone looked on speechlessly as she sang a harmonious tune, which made the sauropod feel light headed and easy as its eyes became heavy, before finally curling it back in to sleep once more.

"Paris put him to sleep with a lullaby." Rex commented in amazement.

"Wow, I never saw her do anything like that before." breathed Zoe clearly underestimating her partner, in fact she may even sing better than she did…..

"Phew. Just in the nick of time too." Max breathed in relief seeing they were in the clear at least for the time being.

"I'd applaud for her right now if we weren't stuck in with a sleeping dinosaur that can go berserk at any moment." Cera commented, "Still for that I'll give it at least 9 out of 10." she said as Paris chirped happily at being praised.

"Same here." Zoe smiled feeling happy for Cera's kind words.

Max then folded his arms behind his head looking around, seeing they still had a long way to go on his dinoholder to the next station, were stuck with no way of entertaining themselves other than messing with a sleeping dinosaur which was out of the question, "So then….till we reach the next station what shall we do to pass the time?" he asked.

Cera reached into her hip pack and picked out a deck of cards she brought along, "I brought some cards if anyone's interested?" she suggested.

Before they could answer, Zoe paused and listened to an unusual sound coming from the windows, "Wait a sec, I hear something…." she mused as she looked out to see a pink jet fly up just above the train, "You guys look! Up there!" she cried out in alarm!

"The alpha gang….." Rex grunted.

"Great, they're here to try and take ampelosaurus." Max muttered in annoyance.

"Isn't that old lady ever going to give it up!?" Zoe grunted clenching her fist.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Aaaaaa….." Ursula was trying to feed Dr Z with a pair of chopsticks as he opened his mouth widely to be fed.

Hearing some words echo in her mind she then grunted and thrusted it into his forehead, "Grr! Did someone just say old lady!?" she growled as Dr Z whined.

"OW! You shischkabobbed my forehead!" he cried.

 **(Present)**

Back at the train Max and the others narrowed their eyes as Spiny and Terry jumped out and parachuted down from the jet hoping to land on the train, fortunately though Rod and Laura miscalculated the air resistance followed by the speed of the train so they ended up missing it by a large mile as Spiny crashed down first and the parachute covered him! "Hahaha! Now that was an epic fail." Max chuckled finding it funny.

"Pfft! Yeah totally, thought they might have a better plan than that." Zoe snickered trying her best to hold in her laughter.

As Rex narrowed his eyes and looked he then sweated nervously, "Err, guys, we shouldn't celebrate just yet…." he pointed out.

"Huh?"

"He's right! Look!" Cera called out as a blue light shone, Spiny changed to full size and began to run straight at the train!

"Oh dear…" Zoe muttered clasping her hands together as he soon came close to the first few carts of the train!

"Here he comes!" Max cried.

"It's okay," Rex narrowed his eyes, "Spiny doesn't have that much stamina, I'm sure he'll tire out way before he can catch up." he said feeling hopeful.

"Let's hope so…." Cera followed, seeing his tongue stick out he was beginning to tire so Rex would be right…..but suddenly a chibi red rex jumped in through the windows of the cart! "Uh oh, Terry just got on board!" she gasped as the D team hardened their expressions and took out their dinoholders.

"Grr….get ready you guys….." Max grunted knowing Terry could come charging at them any second!

Their worries were wasted though as suddenly Terry was tossed out unexpectedly and he began rolling down the hill to a stop much to their surprise.

"Huh, guess we were worried for nothing…." Rex mused.

Max then breathed in relied, "Phew, looks like we're in the clear for now….."

"Yeah….." relied Cera in agreement before flashing them her deck, "So, anyone up for some cards?"

"Oooh! Count me in!" Max cried out holding his hand up as they sat down in a circle to play.

"Me too!" Zoe said with enthusiasm as she joined them.

Rex shrugged his shoulders, "Well if you can't beat em, join em I guess….." he said as he sat down too.

It was soon evening as the sun began to set and turn the skies orange, at long last it was time for them to deal their hands.

"Ta da! Full house!" Zoe cheered showing it off.

"Heh, that's nothing!" Cera smirked, "I've got a Straight flush!" she boasted flashing her hand.

"Hmph, that's nothing compared to my ROYAL flush!" Rex boasted as he displayed the best possible hand ever winning him the game!

"Aww no fair! I want a rematch!" Max whined as he threw down his hand which was a 3 of a kind.

"Actually, I think we'd better check to see if we're getting any closer now." said Cera as she collected back the cards and put them all back together. She then eyed Max who blinked curiously, "Max, since you lost I think it's fair you help Rex up. Deal?" she said with a smile.

Seeing everyone look at him he then puffed his cheeks in annoyance, "Hmph….fine…." he muttered as he squatted down and Rex climbed onto his shoulders!

"Urgh! Would it kill you to visit the gym once in a while Rex!?" Max grunted as he did his best to stand up straight as his friend looked down at him feeling offended.

"I'll pretend I didn't just hear that…." he grumbled before looking outside, liking what he saw he shared it with the others, "Good news! We're about to come to a town!" he called out.

"Great! As soon as the train stops we'll wake ampelosaurus!" said Max.

"But there will probably be tons of people up that station!" Zoe pointed out as Max brought Rex down again.

"That won't matter if we battle him quick and get it into a card!" said Max in response as Cera eyed the sleeping dinosaur feeling rather sorry for it.

"If only things were that simple…." she thought as she looked down at it.

"That's what we'll have to do anyway if we're gonna get it before the alpha gang does." said Rex to her as she sighed.

"Guess so…." she said feeling sad and wishing they could just return it to a card without a fight, but sometimes in place of ideal situations reality often forces people to make the choices they don't like to make….

"Hey Rex let me see next! I want to see how many people are outside so we know what to do when we get there." Max suddenly asked wanting to see how much closer they were as Rex sighed.

"Urgh, okay fine…." he muttered as he squatted down and allowed Max to get on, as he pressed his shoes into his shoulders while getting up! "Ow! Watch it!" he grunted as Max planted a hand to his head.

"Sorry." Max responded as he quickly looked out to see how many people there were, but to his alarm they zoomed past the station onwards! "What!? How come we didn't stop!?" he gasped in alarm.

"Something's wrong." said Zoe feeling a rumbling under her feet.

"Yeah, not only did we not stop, it feels to me like we're picking up speed!" Rex gasped feeling it too!

"Ah!" Cera gasped as she could see the way they zoomed past lights, wires and buildings on the side they were indeed speeding up! "You're right….." she said uneasily and fearing what were to happen if this continued unchecked…..

A while later there was still no change in the train's speed, "Something's wrong, it feels like the train's out of control." said Rex folding his arms in thought.

"I think you're right!" Zoe cried in agreement.

"I'll go check it out!" said Max seeing no point or patience in sitting around doing nothing anymore as he headed to the window.

"What?" Zoe asked looking to him.

"What do you plan on checking out?" Rex asked as he leapt up and grabbed hold of the window and pulled himself up.

"Is it what I think it is?" Cera asked as the confident expression in Max's face confirmed it for her.

"Heh, everything!" he grinned, "Chomp and I will look around and see what's going on." he said.

Cera wanted to stop him from doing something rash, but now they were out of options can couldn't just do nothing anymore, this might be their best shot yet, "Good luck you guys." she said for them.

Max nodded at her before returning Chomp his card, "Dino slash! Go Triceratops! Roar!" Chomp appeared in full size and was running outside it with Max leaping onto his head! "Alright! Here we go!"

A while had passed after Max left the cart, and Cera began to feel worried as she placed a hand to her chest in worry, "He's been gone a while, hope everything's alright." she said under her breath.

"It'll be alright," said Rex walking up to her, "I'm sure Max is-" before he could finish the train suddenly came to a huge screeching jerk which caused them all to fall!

"URGH!" They fell to the back as the cart began to shake and screech! As it stopped, it caused a small jerk to nudge ampelosaurus as it opened its eyes grumpily!

"AH!" Zoe and Cera shivered as they and Rex backed away at the massive animal standing up and forcing more of his spikes through the ceiling!

"That jolt woke up ampelosaurus!" Rex gasped as it smashed its head out and then broke out throughout he side having had enough!

"We've got to get out of here!" Cera yelled to them as they quickly followed her outside through the side door.

Coming around to the side they saw Max face to face with it as they quickly ran in to back him up, "Hang on Max!" Rex called as they regrouped, "Now let's turn it back into a card!"

"Altogether!" Max called as Chomp arrived.

They quickly took out their cards and prepared for battle, "Dino slash!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Spring up Parasaurolophus!"

Seeing it was outnumbered the ampelosaurus quickly turned and made a run for it, with 3 dinosaurs hot on its tail! Suddenly without warning, a red tyrannosaurus appeared on the railway lines and roared causing it to stumble and fall back as Chomp too stopped inns tracks and fell on Ace!

"Huh!?" The D tema gasped at the new arrival as Rex narrowed his eyes.

"The alpha gang again…." he grunted upon hearing the whirling sounds of a jet turbine coming in, "Huh!?" They all looked up to see the pink jet descending upon them.

"Thanks for helping out!" a male voice spoke out mockingly form it, one which the D team recognised all too well….

Cera narrowed her eyes, "That voice….it's Rod and Laura!" she gasped.

Max clicked his tongue, "Tch! Not again!" he grunted.

"They're beginning to get on my nerves worse than the old lady!" Zoe then cried out in annoyance.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Zeta Point, Ursula and her friends were writing another page of an essay to the history of Reimannian geometry when she heard family words ring through her mind like some sort of sixth sense which made her tense up and grit her teeth angrily! "Hey! Who called me that!?" she yelled out surprising Zander and Ed who were sitting by her side!

"EH!?" they exclaimed in surprise but Ursula's fiery anger was quelled by a swift knock to the head by a fan!

WHACK!

"YOW!" she squealed covering up a sore lump with her hands. As she looked up grumpily she and the others froze and turned pale to see Helga was looking down on them with demonic eyes!

"No talking! Get back to your studies!" she bellowed.

"Yes ma'am….." they whimpered in fear as she continued glaring down at them while they were forced to do Rod and Laura's assignments.

 **(Present)**

"Go! Volcano burst!" Laura declared as she slashed the move, and Terry began to gather fire in his mouth and charge it up! In response, the ampelosaurus got up and delivered a sweep with its tail knocking Terry down and making drop out the fire to Rod and Laura's alarm!

"No way!"

"GAH!"

"It's deflecting it!" He gasped seeing it was headed straight for the D Team!

"AH!" They gasped in alarm seeing there was no way they could escape in time nor could their dinosaurs react as they looked on in horror as their partners were about to get barbecued alive!

Out of nowhere miraculously, a man in a uniform quickly jumped in to take the front of the fire! "GARRRRRGGGHH!" he growled as everyone covered their eyes and hold their hands out to shield themselves from the light! As it died down they looked in hour to see the man fall down in flames before them! "Urgh…."

"Oh no!" Max gasped.

"Mister!" Zoe cried as they hurried over to see whether he was still okay, "Just hold on!" What they saw next caught them by surprise, "Huh!?" Upon seeing his face they all remembered him clearly, "You guys! We've seen this man before!" Zoe pointed out.

"Yeah….." Cera mused as she blinked her eyes recalling his name, "Wait…..it's…Johnny? But, what's he doing here?" she then asked curiously.

"Only he's not a man! He's a robot!" Rex pointed out the gears and parts in the now opened hold of his chest.

"You're right," Max breathed, "Just like the alpha gang's cook."

"But he saved us." Zoe noted confused and unsure of what was going on now. They didn't have much time to dwell on the moment as a bellow behind them caught their attention.

"Ah!"

The ampelosaurus glowed blue before being surrounded in a veil of water! After that a larger one surrounded Terry which swirled into a whirlpool, causing him to spin around violently before bringing him down to the ground hard and returning him to a card!

"It just used aqua vortex attack!" Rod gasped as Terry was defeated and they moved in to reclaim his card.

"Whoa! It just beat Terry!" Rex gasped in amazement that it was strong enough to beat him in one move. Cera though wasn't too surprised since water had advantages against fire and it came from a strong dinosaur and move too, this wouldn't be easy that's for sure.

"Well Chomp, now it's our turn!" Max grunted determinedly taking out his move! "Electric charge!" he cried out slashing the move, a bolt of lightning dropped from the sky which fully charged the trike's horns as he charged forward and struck the sauropod in the chest sending him flying then crashing to the ground some feet away, weakened but not defeated! Out of nowhere though, a purple saichania soon appeared and glowed purple as she generated a move of her own! "Hey! Where did Tank come from?" Rex gasped as Tank grabbed the weakened ampelosaurus by the tail and swung it around violently and with little effort before throwing it to the ground! As it returned to a card along with her, the battlefield disappeared and was replaced with a dark blue sky as a familiar man walked up to the pair of cards and picked them up.

"I'll take these." said Seth calmly as the D team failed to get to them in time, "Very considerate of you to take care of all the hard work for me." he said mocking them.

"Grr…." The D team grunted angrily upon realising they fell into his trap.

"You….." Cera narrowed her eyes furisouly upon seeing the most evil man she had ever met once again…..

"You can keep your old friend the android. Give him a nice sendoff won't you?" he said his last parting words before entering his vehicle and speeding away into the distance.

"Sounds like he knows him somehow….though not in a good way…." Cera thought seriously as she looked behind them to see the now charred remains of the robot man, "He'll be trouble that's for sure….." she narrowed her eyes, getting bad vibes from him which were unlike any of the alpha members she had seen.

Max tensed with anger as he suddenly punched the ground in frustration, "Grrr, we had it….we had it!" he cried out gritting his teeth as Zoe and Rex looked upon him sympathetically.

"Max….."

Cera then leaned down to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he looked up to her, "Cheer up Max, there'll be other chances. There always will be, I know it." she said to him comfortingly….

"I guess." he muttered sounding unconvinced.

A consolation prize soon came upon the D team as the skies soon lit up in a spectrum of many colors, "Look guys! Those must be the northern lights Dr Taylor was telling us about!" Zoe breathed in amazement as their dinosaurs let out many cries of joy and excitement themselves under the starry night sky.

"They're awesome…." Max breathed feeling himself calm down after earlier.

"Yeah…."

"Beautiful…." Rex and Zoe breathed in awe.

"Indeed…." Cera nodded feeling at peace herself along with Miku as the gazed upon a sight seen almost nowhere else on the planet…..

As enjoyable as it was, Max soon hardened his expression, "But I'd trade seeing this for that ampelosaurus card," he said having not forgotten about their loss today, "Next time we see alpha gang we're getting it back!" he said with determination.

"We will Max, we will." said Cera in agreement as they all turned serious with him too.

Noticing something still behind them, "Not to ruin the moment or anything though, but…." said Zoe to them, "What are we going to do with him?" she asked pointing to the still charred remains of their old friend Johnny who still lay nearby the railway lines seemingly lifeless like a corpse…..

"Good question…." Rex mused bringing a finger to his chin in thought.

"I'll call my dad have him deliver this to us," said Max switching on his dinoholder hoping to contact the D lab, "Hopefully soon so we can take a good look into who or what this is….." he said.

As Cera walked up to it and examined Johnny's parts she narrowed her eyes, "A robot this advanced, no way anyone can just make this for sure…" she thought to herself seeing its gears and circuits were more advanced than any other machine she had come across so far, "The way that man Seth spoke about him, seems he knows him but isn't too fond of him either….." she thought seriously before 1 final thought crossed her mind, "Just how will things proceed for us from the point on?"

 **Hope you enjoyed the way I wrote this chapter, how it shows Cera explaining a bit more on the dinosaurs at the start too. Stay tuned for Vaccination Vacation where she'll be meeting Seth again, and also to address a few plot holes too.**

 **In response to Drew Luczyski**

 **-Well in DS it's 1 oviraptor but different in arcade with 3, though egg machine gun the fusion move variety uses 3 oviraptors. Yeah wanted to give the alpha gang more of a role to fit the occasion since it was a halloween. Also rugops being a small carnivore compared to carcharodontosaurus and spinosaurus in Africa would make sense for it being a scavenger at times.**

 **-Yeah enjoyed writing that bit too with Cera fighting Rod and Laura, wanted to give them more of a use in this since the anime they were kinda just there and didn't do anything after allosaurus ran off from them. Am sure you can find opportunities if you make them, maybe have them train up some dinosaurs against one another while at the D lab.**

 **To pokemonking0924**

 **-Glad you like it, yeah for my next chapter including this one she'll be having a little more of a speaking role in it too. Though I won't be doing all episodes in the anime. Yeah, her seeing good in Rod and Laura will play a role later on, also her flashback, will not spoil anything yet but you are on the right track.**


	12. Vaccination Vacation

Chapter 12

A vaccination vacation

It was night, after dinner with the Drakes and getting changed into her bluish night gown for bed, Cera yawned rather drowsily as she rubbed her eyes, "Alright, time to hit the hay." she said to Miku who had already hopped into her own bed at the table as she went under the covers herself. Yet despite all that she couldn't rest easy nor could she take her mind off the events that transpired the other day as she sighed still feeling overwhelmed herself, "Boy, things sure have heated up yesterday." she started out, "First we lost ampelosaurus to Seth, we came across an android and now Chomp and Ace are both sick….." she muttered earlier they visited and they refused to take their shots, thus settling for drinking medicine instead. "Who knows how things will turn out from here on….." She then sighed feeling a little anxious as Miku chirped feeling for her sadly. Hearing her made Cera feel a little better to know she wasn't alone in this at least as she smiled at her friend, "No point in worrying about it now….." she said to her as she closed her eyes, "Good night Miku. Let's hope for the best tomorrow morning." She said to her partner who too feel into a good night's slumber. Little did either of them know was that tomorrow was going to be another adventure waiting for them…..

Next morning as the sun rose and shone through the window drapes, a beam of light shone on Miku's face as she tossed about uncomfortably as it radiated her face. She tried covering up but still the rays felt rather warm as she rolled around hoping to get a comfortable position before tumbling out of bed and waking up groggily. As she stretched out her arms and let out a yawn, she heard the sounds of rumbling and muffled voices outside which she picked up on and she turned to the door ruffling up her feathers in agitation.

The sounds of steps downstairs followed by mutters and grunts due to shoving, caused Cera to moan as she slowly opened her eyes and blinked, "Mmrgh….." she saw the sun peering in through her drapes as she rubbed her eyes and stretched out her arms, "Yawn…..morning already?" she said as she stepped towards the curtains and pulled them open. Miku hopped to the side letting her pass as she opened the windows to take in the wonderful beachfront view of the house, as she took in a deep breath, "Ah, the fresh air and sounds of the sea surely does relax the mind and calms the soul….." she said closing her eyes dreamily as wind blew not her face carrying the salty smell of the sea. Till she suddenly opened her eyes and widened them in shock, "Wh…what the!?" she gasped before taking a look around to see there really was the open sea and a warm sandy beach in front of the house! "Ah! H…How did we….? Where are we!?" she rubbed her eyes and blinked again before rubbing her temple in thought, "Am I dreaming? Did Dr Drake by chance use me as a guinea pig for one his new vaccine formulas last night and I am hallucinating? Or is this….." she then shook her head, "Better go see Zoe about this, if she isn't there then this is a dream." she muttered to herself as Miku quickly climbed onto her shoulder too.

They both knew something clearly wasn't right and they planned to get to the bottom of this, as they exited their room and walked to the other side where Zoe's was.

She then reached for the handle and opened it, "Hey Zoe, I-huh?" she blinked in surprise to see she was at her balcony, apparently waving to someone. "What's she doing there?" She thought to herself curiously as she walked towards her from behind. As she looked a little over the railings she noticed Reese in her pyjamas, was waving at Zoe apparently. She was unsure as to why as she looked ahead, "What's going on-Ah!" she widened her eyes in shock upon seeng her answer, about a large group of alpha droids along with the alpha gang were present there and they appeared to be taking Dr Drake hostage! "Get down!" Cera then hissed as she brought Zoe down out of sight!

"H…Hey!" she grunted painfully rubbing her head before glaring at Cera, "What was that for?" she muttered before Cera suddenly covered her mouth!

"Sssh!" she hushed placing a finger to her lips as Zoe widened her eyes and sweated seeing her so serious. "Let's go back in nice and quietly, no sudden moves." she said firmly as Zoe nodded back in response.

"Mhmm….."

Looking around them she then gestured to go back to the room where it would be safest, "Let's go under the bed and talk, it'll be better for us that way." she suggested.

"Good idea." Zoe replied as they quickly hurried over to the bedroom and hid under as quietly as they could.

Looking around and feeling the coast was clear enough, Cera began to discuss with on Zoe over what was going on assuming she knew, "Alright Zoe, any idea where we might be?" she asked.

Looking out from the bed firmly Zoe then looked back to Cera, "From the looks of things, I'd say we're no doubt back on the Alpha Gang's island." she answered.

"The alpha gang's island?" Cera blinked her eyes before gulping down hard, "As in….their headquarters!?" she gasped covering her mouth.

"Unfortunately yes….." Zoe muttered as she gained an uncomfortable expression on her face, "I never imagined I'd come back to this horrible place again…..it brings back bad memories."

"Again?" Cera asked before remembering, "Wait, you guys did mention you came here once and almost never made it out again." she said as Zoe nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah, it was by sheer luck and the slimmest of chances we were able to escape." she said as she became rather insecure, "When I look at things now, I'm not so sure if luck's on our side again." she then shuddered as Paris crawled next to her and chirped while Cera and Miku looked on.

Cera then brought a finger to her chin in serious thought, "Hmmm….if they were able to teleport us to their base this easily, we're in real big trouble for sure….but still….." she then shook her head, "No I can't think like that, otherwise Zoe would be insecure herself, I'll have to be strong for us." she then thought before putting an encouraging pat on Zoe's head as she looked to her, "Hey cheer up Zoe, luck is something you make. If we try hard and put our heads together I'm sure we'll figure something out." she said comfortingly as Zoe then took a breath of relief.

"You're….right…..we've been in sticky situations before yet we never gave up and always pulled through," she said feeling more assured of herself, "There shouldn't be any reason why this one is any different….." she then smiled as she put on a more confident expression, "Thanks Cera, I needed that."

"Don't mention it." Cera responded as they shook on it. Listening carefully and hearing nothing suspicious, "It's quiet…..I think it's safe to come out now." she said.

"Yeah, it's getting a little dusty down here." Zoe added in agreement as she began to feel the sniffles coming up.

After the 2 girls crawled out again and brushed the dirt off their nightwear, Cera looked to Zoe quite firmly, "We'd better call the others, no way we can handle this alone." she said as Zoe tried to switch on her dinoholder but all that came up on the screen was static.

"My dinoholder won't pick up anything….." she frowned in disappointment as multiple buttons she pressed gave no result.

"Neither does my dinoshot work…." Cera narrowed her eyes as she tried the same thing but ended up with the same result, "No doubt it must be due to some sort of jammer." she muttered.

"Now that you mention it this did happen once before….." said Zoe putting a finger to her chin in thought as the door to her room suddenly opened.

Fortunately who stepped in wasn't an enemy but a friendly face much to the girls' relief, "Oh hi Reese."

"You were pretty smart to hide from them Zoe, Cera." her older sister responded.

"Yeah we hid under the bed when we realised where we were." Zoe replied with a smile before frowning, "But we can't get a hold of the D lab, something's wrong." she said.

"There's a jamming device here on the island." Reese answered her which confirmed Cera's suspicions.

"Just as I thought."

"Oh."

"But don't worry, I'll take care of that." said Reese firmly as she was prepared to leave and do her part.

"Alright, be careful." said Zoe to her as Reese began to head to her room and change.

"You both get ready too, and try not to draw too much attention to yourselves." she said to them both before she left and closed the door behind her.

"Will do Reese."

"You can count on it." They said as she left before looking to one another.

"Well, might as well get cleaned up." Cera then suggested.

"Yeah totally, no way can I go into battle in my Pjs can I?" Zoe replied as they went back to their respective rooms, changed into their usual wear after brushing teeth, getting their hair properly done and taking a quick morning showers before regrouping downstairs near the front door, which was now a large opening with the door slammed down on the floor.

"I knew the alpha gang were weird and strange, but to teleport our house to their front door is just crazy….." Zoe muttered as she came down the stairs with Paris to meet Cera who was already out first.

"Yeah, we really underestimated them for sure, a mistake we'd be wise not to repeat." she said as her friend nodded.

"I agree on that."

Cera then looked outside the opening to see the vast jungle on one side and the sea on the other, "You sure your sister can handle the jammer on her own?" she then asked feeling a little unsure, though all it earned was a chuckle of amusement from Zoe.

"Heh, have you met Reese? She's as tough as they come, if the alpha gang were smart they'd better not get on her bad side." she said with a smirk and holding her head up high.

"Hmm, when you put to that way guess we don't have anything to worry about then hehe…." Cera then snickered before noticing Zoe's dinoholder was getting a beeping light on it, "Hey look." she pointed out as Zoe quickly looked.

"I think I'm getting a signal!" she gasped with joy before dialling on it, "Alright, now to call in the others, no way can we handle this by ourselves. Come on, come on…." Zoe prayed as Cera hardened her gaze and kept her eyes on the call, hoping the other end would receive it soon.

As they waited tensely, their patience and hopes were rewarded and answered as Max's face appeared on the dinoholder, "Alright it's in!" Cera cheered with Miku chirping with joy.

"You guys!" Zoe cried to see them.

"Zoe!" Max smiled along with Rex and Dr taylor on the other end to see she was okay miraculously.

"I'm so glad I got ahold of you!" she then said with relief.

"Did you know that your house is gone?" Max then asked.

"Yes, I'm in it! And so is Cera!" she answered, "Somehow we're on the alpha gang's island!"

"No doubt they managed to teleport us here…." said Cera folding her arms seriously, also still wondering how to approach this situation and wondering how to prepare for it so it doesn't happen again, if they could.

"Reese is here too and she's working on some kind of plan to get us back, but I don't know how to help!" Zoe continued sounding worried.

"Listen Zoe! Cera!" Rex then said.

"Yeah?"

"Summon Paris and Miku to their full size! That will set off the dinosaur detector and we can come help you!" he continued.

"Good idea!" Zoe answered with determination as she switched off her dinoholder.

"Let's do this outside." Cera suggested to her as she nodded in response.

"Yeah." Before they could step outside though, they were soon greeted with a pair of unexpected guests who came up to the opened entrance of the house.

"Huh!?" They gasped in surprise as they came face to face with Rod and Laura!

"What's your house doing here on our beach?" Laura mumbled feeling cross to see her on their home while Rod stared in surprise.

Ignoring them, Cera and Zoe both charged pass them. "Ah!"

"We don't have time to mess with you guys! We're a little busy!" Zoe yelled to them as she hurried off to put some distance between them and their enemies.

As they hurried along the beach, a thought suddenly crossed Cera's mind as she dug in her heels and stopped herself in her tracks, "Wait a sec…."

Hearing her voice Cera stopped too as she turned to look back, "What's up Cera?" she asked as Cera turned around to look back at their now unguarded house.

"We're not actually going to just leave the 2 of them there to mess around with our house now are we?" she asked Zoe as she covered her mouth in shock and realisation.

"Ah!"

Cera narrowed her eyes seriously as she stepped forward a bit, "You go on ahead. I'm going back to make sure they don't touch anything." she said firmly as Zoe looked at her with concern.

"You sure about this? I mean it's still 2 of them against just you." she said feeling worried.

"They're still younger children than us, I'm sure I can handle myself just fine." Cera replied feeling assured of herself as she looked back to Zoe, "Now go, find a secluded spot to summon Paris so you don't draw too much attention to yourself. I'll join up with you as soon as I'm done." she said confidently as Zoe nodded in response.

"Alright, good luck." As she ran off down the beach, Cera raced back as fast as she could back to the house, seeing Rod and Laura just entering through the doors as she hardened her gaze at them both.

"Now it's time I gave those kids a little discipline…." she thought to herself as she came within feet of the house.

Back at the Drake residence, Laura and Rod had both entered the house and immediately began looking around to see what it was like, in their opinion they were feeling kinda underwhelmed that a member of the D team would be living in such a simple shack. It was at that point that Laura had an idea pop into her head as she tugged her brother on the sleeve, "Hey Rod?"

He turned to her, "Yeah Laura?"

She looked around and found it was indeed completely empty, "Looks like nobody's home now." she said before smirking deviously, "This could be our chance to dig up a little dirt on them! Maybe they might have left some cards or something we can use against them!"

Hearing his sister's right idea made Rod beat a fist into his palm in agreement, "Hey yeah! That's a great idea!" he cheered as Laura giggled happily at being praised.

"Sorry but I can't let you do that." a voice said from behind them which cut their victory celebration short.

"Huh?" As they turned around they were surprised to see Cera had come back unexpectedly.

"Don't you kids know it's rude to go poking in another person's home uninvited?" she said shaking her head in disapproval, "I don't usually like to pick on little kids," she said before popping her knuckles, "But it looks like I have to teach you some manners. Ha!" She yelled before jumping on them both much to their alarm!

"Ah!"

Soon the 3 kids were enshrouded in a vicious brawl as the place rattled and rumbled with the sounds of furniture being tossed about and things breaking here and there!

"Ow ow! Hey! Stop pulling my hair!" Laura cried out in pain as her pink hair got yanked on before delivering a karate chop to Cera's head! "Take that you meanie!"

"Ow!" she yelped covering it up!

"Have a taste of my knuckle sandwich!" Rod yelled as he delivered a punch to Cera's face as she stumbled backwards and grasped her face painfully before her eyes peered from between her fingers furiously!

Something snapped inside her as that was the last straw and she lost all self restraint, "Okay, that's it! You guys are really asking for it!" she yelled as she charged ahead and jumped on them both along with Miku who flared her fangs as she swooped on them too!

WHAM!

BAM!

SMACK!

A little while later, Cera bit into a piece of medical tape before ripping off the strip and then sticking it on the many other layers she stuck on Rod and Laura as she tied them both to the opposite sides of a tree! "There, that should hold you for a while." She smirked proud of her work while folding her arms on her hips, while also taking some amusement in seeing them squirm and struggle fruitlessly.

"Urgh….argh!"

"Can't move….." They grunted in annoyance seeing they were bound up pretty tightly and couldn't move an inch. While Cera only suffered a bruise here and there on her face she did a lot worse to the kids who had band aids over their cheeks or forehead, covering bite marks and scratches from Miku along with some bruises too, as they glared daggers at her in anger.

"When grampa finds out about this you're going to be sorry!" Laura yelled.

"Grrr! You won't get away with this!" Rod growled.

"Correction, you guys aren't getting away." Cera corrected, "After the trouble you caused us these past few days, no way am I taking any chances with you." she said as she turned around to leave, "Maybe this little time out in the corner should teach you both a lesson so you'll behave better next time." she said as she headed off in the distance leaving them behind as they hissed curses under their breath.

"Grr….."

"Tch!"

As she headed along the distance Cera was about to pick up from where she left off, "Alright, with that taken care of it's time to go help-" she stopped in her tracks as she realised she could capitalise on an opportunity she had, "Wait, maybe I can use this chance…." he thought before turning around and heading back to the house.

While Rod and Laura hung on the tape pondering what they could do to get out of this, they heard footsteps dragging in the sand which made them look up to see Cera again, which only seemed to make their mood more sour, "What do you want now?" Laura huffed as she puffed her cheeks.

"Come to gloat? Rub it it in our faces?" Rod grunted has he scowled hard.

Cera shook her head, "Nope just the opposite," she said, "I was thinking, maybe you both can make yourselves useful and help me out a bit."

What she said surprised them as they blinked at her in confusion before answering back, "Say what now?"

"Excuse us?" They each asked as she nodded.

"I need to get inside and help my friends get the house back to where it belongs," She said as she turned her head to the inner island, "If you tell me how to get in, I'll make sure to cut down a couple of layers of tape before I leave later so you guys can free yourselves." She explained, "Sound like a fair deal?"

"Us?"

"Help you?" Rod and laura looked to one another before exploding in uncontrollable laughter.

"Pfft! Hahahahahahahah!"

"You're funny you know that? Hahahaha!"

She then raised an eyebrow at them both and her gaze became serious and unchanging to prove she meant it, as they soon picked up on it.

"Oh you were actually serious?" Rod then stopped and growled at her, "In that case, you must be joking! Or better yet crazy!" he yelled with anger with his blood boiling inside.

"Yeah! Just what kind of idiots do you take us for? You think we'll just let you in through the front door to our home like that!?" cried Laura crossly, "Maybe that kind of trick would work on Ursula and her sidekicks but not on us."

"So you can just forget about breaking in!" her brother continued hurling the insults and threats, "Before long you'll be caught and be imprisoned in a place way worse than what you've just did to us!" he added before grinning, "No one's going to save you this time and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Miku hardened her gaze and hissed while Cera brought a finger to her chin in thought, "Hmm, these kids are hard nuts to crack….." she thought, "They're loyal that's for sure, and it's not me to use a bad cop method of interrogation….." She was tempted to use torturous methods or blackmail but wasn't about to cross the line and be any lower than they were even though she was running low on options. She was just about to leave and head inside on her own, when an idea popped into her mind, "Wait a second…..Yeah that could work…." She thought to herself seeing it as perfect as she hid a smirk to herself before turning around to leave again.

"Giving up already?" said Rod who mocked her while Laura snickered.

Cera grinned sneakily knowing this would work no doubt, "You're right, I'm wasting my time here with you both." she while sighing, "I mean, you're kids so I probably wouldn't expect much from you anyways."

Their ears perked upon hearing her words, "Say what!?"

"How dare you!?" They yelled offended.

She then grinned being they fell hook, line and sinker, "You heard me, you're still young and probably learning your way around," she continued mocking them, "Maybe you haven't explored your whole island HQ yet and you'd probably get lost in that jungle instead and you need a rescue party to come look for you."

They both grit their teeth furiously, if their hands were free they'd get up close and personal with her if they had the chance, "What did you say!?" they yelled.

"I bet even those 3 idiots would know more than you both, also they're way easier to crack, I bet I can get what I need out of them." she said shrugging her shoulders as she began to walk away, "See you, have fun hanging around." were her last parting words.

Seeing her act so smugly and treating them with disrespect was more than they could take as they exploded, "Grrr! You are so wrong about that!" Rod growled as he thrashed about in the sticky binds of the tape.

"Yeah, we know this island like the back of our own hands!" Laura cried shaking her little feet while hanging, "In fact, we know of an entrance hatch not far from here that leads right inside! And that's just one of the many entrances covered around the entire island!" she blurted out to prove her point as Cera stopped in her tracks.

"Alright I admit, you kids really do know your way around, I had you both wrong." she then admitted as Laura held her head up high.

"Ha!"

"And I do appreciate the helpful tip too. So thank you." she added at the end with a bright smile.

"You're welcome." Laura replied before blinking her eyes in realisation, "Wait a minute….." She then turned pale over realising what she had done, "Oops…."

Her older brother then glared to her, "Laura! You just gave it away to her!" he yelled as she sobbed and whimpered with regret.

"S…sorry Rod….."

After that Cera quickly returned Miku to card form before summoning her, "Dino slash! Microraptor shine!" As she did, Miku appeared on her shoulder in full size before Cera threw her up and she glided up to a tree which she began climbing up, "Alright Miku, go find that entrance hatch!" she said as Miku squawked back and glided through the woods with elegance and grace. Before she followed Cera looked back to the kids with a bright smile, "Thanks for the tip, you kids really are nice." she said sounding grateful, "As a token of my appreciation, remind me to let you guys go later. See ya!" she waved as she disappeared inside the forest leaving the 2 alpha kids hanging.

"ARGH! When we get out of this you'll be sorry!"

"Yeah!" They each yelled swearing vengeance on her one day, "Besides who ties up children and just leaves them be!? Come back!"

As Cera hurried through she then noticed the skies turned multicoloured which could mean only one thing, "A battlefield, looks like I'll have to hurry." she thought to herself seriously as she leaped over tree roots and moved vines out of her way as she continued onward. As she looked around she could tell there were plants of many different varieties on the island before she leapt over a small stream which lead to a larger body of water down below as a thought came to mind, "This place really is dense….." she thought, "From what I heard from Max and the others, this place is artificial and moving. Yet, all this is natural, so how do they do it?" she wondered looking around her to see the trees growing and that everything was lush and green, "There's still so much we don't know about the alpha gang, yet all we do know is that they do have something to do with the stones and dinosaur cards," she then thought to herself further as she hardened her gaze, "Maybe this could be a chance to learn more about them, no way can I pass this up, especially since they took that OOPART craft not long ago, not to mention a couple of dinosaurs from what I heard." she said to hurls with a nod knowing what she could do now to help the team and herself. A while later it looked as though she was lost, but at that moment she heard the sounds of squawking as she looked up to see Miku had perched herself on a tree branch calling out to her while clapping her wings before pointing over to another direction ahead of her, "It's that way?" Cera asked as Miku nodded in response. She then smiled taking out her dinoholder, "Good work, now come back." she said retiring her to small size as she acted as her compass leading her out to a game trial which lead to a large cylindrical shaped pipe with moss growing on it, along with red swirling stripes on it making it look like an oversized candy cane. "Looks like this is it." She aid to herself as she entered the elevator which took her inside, as she entered the enemy lair for the first time…..

As the elevator doors opened up she widened her eyes in awe to find herself in a very futuristic corridor underground, "Wow just look at this place, it's no doubt metallic and huge….wonder how they made it, must have taken years to put together, not to mention they managed to do it underwater….." she breathed as she walked on ahead. When she came upon the first door she opened it to find it had several computers on a long table with benches at it, "A study room? No doubt this is Rod and Laura's place…." she thought as she saw 2 screens were on, both with the same topics on. "Is this what they're studying?" As she took a closer look she saw it to have many complex problems and numbers on it as she narrowed her eyes in focus, "Reimannian geometry? Seems a bit much for a kid….." she mused before blinking in surprise, "Wait, why do I know this? Also the answer to this should be B not A, because-" She quickly shook her head snapping herself out of it, "Wait a minute I shouldn't, they ought to learn this by themselves, also I have better places to be." She said as she left the room untouched.

Another room she entered was a store room with several spare parts for alpha droids of different varieties laid out along the shelves, "This must be the room for the droids' parts….." she muttered as she hardened her gaze seeing them all laid along there, "Better keep on the lookout in case there are guards about…." she thought seriously before closing the door behind. Later after heading to another section she overheard a deep voice coming from what seemed to be the kitchen. As she peeked in she noticed a large housemaid at the cooking stove, "Hmm? Haven't I seen her before? Wasn't she from the movie studio that time?" Cera asked herself as she recognised her as Helga.

"Terry." she said monotonously as she went over to the fridge and opened it to find frozen meats and vegetables in bags before closing it, "Terry come out now." She said again as she opened the oven to find it empty before shutting it again, "It is your turn for a shot." She then added opening the hot boiling soup pot filled with red hot chilli stew before shutting the lid on it again.

Cera and Miku sweat dropped knowing she no doubt had kink in her head somewhere, but no way was she going to fix it, "Okay…..I'd better go now before she decides to cook us." she said nervously before heading off quickly. As she continued down the corridor she stopped when she noticed a rather unusual dark pink door with a see through glass. "Hmm? What's this?" Her curiously aroused she headed over there to see what it was all about, peering through she noticed 5 pods stationed there with glass fronts on them. "Are those pods?" As she looked above it had a label notice ontop of it, "Hibernation chambers? What the?" While she pondered over what purpose it would serve she took a closer look to find 2 of the pods were occupied! Inside them were a pair of adults, one was a blond female with glasses in a purple and blue clothes while the other was a man with brown hair and darker purple clothing. She widened her eyes upon seeing them inside, "Are there people in those things!? How could the alp[ha gang do something like that!?" She gasped in horror with Miku, who began clawing at the glass but to no avail. She tried to go in so she could get them out, but found the door wouldn't budge! She banged and tackled it a few times but to no avail as she panted in exhaustion, before noticing a code box next to it as she hissed in annoyance, "Tch! Looks like this door is password protected, guess I'll have to comeback later…." she felt guilty at being unable to help but there was little she could do but move on and return another time…..if she had that chance….

In the engine room, Reese had just exited to find Zoe to borrow her dinoholder if her theory was correct they might be able to go home yet, as Zander escorted her out after she convinced him to be cooperative. As they left, another door opened and Cera found herself in the massive engine room with a huge cylindrical core in the middle with a number of devices around it as well, the sight of it was most overwhelming for her as she walked about and explored it in amazement, "Whoa…..This must be the control room….." she breathed as Miku too looked around feeling restless and agitated to be surrounded by so much unusual technology. As she walked over to one device she noticed a lever was turned to an off button and it looked like a communications control as she narrowed her eyes at it, "Hmm, looks like Reese was here and she disabled the jammer." she said eying it, "Not sure how she did it but great work." Turning her attention to the front she saw the huge reactor core and systems controls at the front as she went up to it, "This has to be the teleporter no doubt…." She then narrowed her eyes seriously, "If they can teleport our house like that it'll be dangerous if we just leave them be, who knows what they might have planned later on now that they know where at least 2 of us live." she thought realising the significance of this as she quickly typed into it a few codes and then syncing it into her dinoshot. "Alright, looks like I'm in, now I should be able to access them remotely and keep my hacking connection hidden, at least for a while….." she thought to herself seriously before noticing a container nearby that was attached to the machine. "What's this?" Curious she walked up to it and had it opened as it displayed a central stone inside with red, blue and yellow spots on it which was most intriguing. "Is this a….stone?" Cera asked herself as Miku appeared on her shoulder and chirped with interest, before recalling it looked similar to the ones that Max, Rex and Zoe possessed. "Just to be safe I'd better not do anything with it till we get off this place." she said as her instincts told her it would be best to leave it alone, at least for now…..

Having finished her work here she decided it was time to move on as she went back through the way she came, "Alright once I've decoded some of these encryptions I should be able to access that door and get this people out. But for now I'd best focus on finding that OOPART, and if I can't, then the dinosaurs they captured." she thought as she left. A little while later she continued traversing the massive facility which was turning more into a labyrinth than a base, "This place is huge, it's easy to get lost here." She thought to herself as she brought something up on her dinoshot, "At least this map I downloaded should help a little." she said dealing on it and found she was coming up near a master room, as she came close to it she heard some loud rantings of an old man coming from it as she slowly snuck a look through the side of the door, to see a near bald old man who was ranting and shaking his fists in frustration.

"Grrr, what are those nitwits doing now!? Why haven't they found and vaccinated Terry yet!? I expected them to have finished the job hours ago! Wait till I-" he cried out as Cera and Miku both sweat dropped.

"Is that their boss Dr Z? Not quite the mastermind we were expecting huh?" she said to Miku, "He is as looney as Max and the others say he is." she then thought bringing a finger to her chin in thought, "Still, why he does sound kinda familiar?" She then shook her head clearing her thoughts before she got sidetracked again, "No can't worry about that now, right now I need to focus and find those dinosaurs and the pod." she said to herself as she continued on, following the map along the path to where it stated main laboratory. As they continued the area turned much darker and more sinister as Miku perked ups nd looked around restlessly for any signs of dance,r the tension in the air was making her skin crawl, and so did Cera as she felt immense pressure weighing down on her as they made their way further inside. "We've come in pretty deep huh Miku? Still not sure where we are but we might as well continue." she said to her partner who still kept her gaze in multiple areas to make sure they weren't followed,. It wasn't long till they came upon another elevator, "This elevator, no doubt there's something very eerie about it….I can even feel evil just emanating around this place….like we really shouldn't be here." she then hardened her expression seriously, "We've come this far so we might as well see this through." as she said that Miku nodded in agreement to stay by her side till the end of it as she pushed the button and the doors had opened, "Here goes….." she said stepping through, unbeknownst to them a scout drone in the shape of a pink eye had spotted them but kept out of sight till the doors had shut.

As they opened she found herself in what appeared to be an experimental lab which was only dimly lit, but it was enough for her to see and what she found was horrifying as she turned pale and her heart skipped a beat, "Ah!" Before her were 3 large containers with energy surging through them and in each one was a saurophaganax, stegosaurus and the ampelosaurus! The machine was no doubt modifying them in some way and whoever was doing so celery had no regard for their feelings or the suffering they were going through, she could see it in their eyes and each surge of power caused them to thrash and roar in pain and fury as they banged and thrusted at their glass cells but to no avail….

"This is…..horrible….What are they doing to you?" Was all she could mouth out as she placed a hand on the beaker with Saurophaganax as it snarled viciously and clawed at the glass, but she didn't back away, knowing its' reaction was because it was scared and in pain. It was inhumane, she knew the alpha gang was evil no doubt but she didn't imagine they'd get this low. After hearing another roar in pain she hardened her gaze knowing what needed to be done, "I'll have to get you out of here, but how?" she asked herself as she looked around hoping to find some sort of release button so he could get them out.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, not while my experiment is reaching its' next stage." a voice said to her from out of nowhere which caught her by surprise!

Cora's heart skipped a beat recognising it, "Ah!" As she looked up she hardened her gaze to see Seth was descending down form a higher level while in a remote controlled carrier as he was just above her while he stared down at his intruder with a sinister gaze. "You….." she hissed as Miku then snared aggressively.

"I must say, I never expected to see you again so soon, to think that you would be coming here to me." he said in amusement, "I assume you've decided to take up on my offer join me then hmm?" His comment seemed to only agitate Cera and Miku more so as he closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, "Heh, didn't think so." he smirked before eying her closely, "Nevertheless, as a researcher myself I can't allow this opportunity to go to waste." Raising his hand he then snapped his fingers causing a squadron of small flying drones to circle her from above and a group of robot soldiers assemble around her! Some were the basic alpha droid model with yellow spikes on the sides of their heads while others had larger flat heads though were about roughly the same size as they all said in unison.

INTRUDER! INTRUDER!

Cera sweated and gulped seeing she was surrounded on all sides, "These are new…." she said nervously, being outnumbered nearly a 100 to 1 were not the odds she liked at all….

"Indeed," Seth answered feeling proud of them, "In fact these droids are but merely side products. The teleporter which brought your comrade's house to our island was all made possible thanks to the OOPART I acquired from the museum." he said as Cera gasped in alarm

"What!?" Even Miku too was shocked to hear him reveal that.

"That's right, it was thanks to merely a few components I….borrowed from that craft that I was able to bring the island's systems to near full power." he explained, "In due time with but a few more integrations….oh even I don't know the possibilities and potential it can bring forth and that excites me to no end!" he proclaimed sounding maniacal before grinning maliciously at her, "To think you in a way helped made this a reality, so I suppose….I should be thanking you in a way."

"Grrr….." Cera growled furiously as she clenched her hand, to think he would use that precious artefact for something as vile and despicable as this…..

Noticing her anger served to confirm his suspicions about something he had hindered for sometime, "That look of aggression in your eyes," he noted observing her, "So it's true, you no doubt have some sort of attachment, or better yet a connection to that OOPART, yet you refuse to say it, or perhaps maybe you have no recollection." he said as he offered his hand to her, "Perhaps if you'd like, I can help you jog your memory again. I'll be getting whatever secrets you hold one way or another, but if you cooperate it will be far less painful." he said politely before suddenly taking out a fully charged lightning rod which made Cera grit her teeth and Miku fluff up her feathers with a snarl! "Now, are we going to do this the easy way? Or the hard way?" He then said as his expression turned vile and sinister, with the droids surrounding her on all sides and tightening their formation around her as they came closer slowly and slowly!

As they closed in on her, Cera hardened her expression and shot Seth a fierce glare, "You should know what my answer is already you sicko." she said as she clenched her fist and gritted her teeth holding herself back best she could from exploding, "First the dinosaurs and now this, I'll never cooperate with you in a million years! You can just forget it!" she yelled at him defiantly as he closed his eyes in disappointment.

"Very well then, then you leave me no choice." he scoffed before yelling out, "Seize her!" he commanded as several droids raised their arms and charged at her!

SEIZING! SEIZING!

As they closed in on her, Cera suddenly felt something snap inside her head as she reacted quickly! "Hiyah!" she cried out as she leapt and did a roundhouse kick which sent several of the droids flying back into others while the rest of them held their position!

"Hmm?" Seth blinked in surprise as Cera recollected herself.

She too was surprised herself at this unexpected development, "Did….I just do that?" she asked herself as she looked at her own hands, as she soon began to pick up some old self defence skills she had learnt a long time ago on her own….

When more droids charged at her she quickly responded! "Hah!" Ducking or jumping out of the way of some she retaliated by grabbing their arms and swinging them to the other side or even parrying some of their blows and turning their power against themselves!

As she kept them all at bay for a while, miraculously, Seth couldn't help but applaud which caught her attention as she looked up at him, "Impressive, it seems I may have underestimated you." he then said as a grin came upon his face, "It seems I'll have to start trying now." As he pressed another button, causing the doors to open again, this time charging in were super alpha droids, larger and bulkier variants as they lumbered into the room and surrounded her! Their presence made Cera grit her teeth in frustration as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek as she looked around frantically for any small chance of escape. Noticing this, Seth couldn't help but smirk disgustingly as he felt he had his prey cornered, "What's the matter? Did you lose all your bravado already?" he asked mockingly as his new soldiers surrounded Cera once more, filling up the holes she had made earlier in their defence formation, "Maybe it's time you came to your senses and just give yourself up."

"Tch!" she clicked her tongue and sweated anxiously as Miku too looked around seeing there was no way they could win this fight on their own, "As much as I hate to admit it….he's right….there's no point in fighting a battle you can't win." she said begrudgingly as she lowered her head. She then lifted it up and looked to the 3 dinosaurs who were still in the glass tubes as she gritted her teeth having to say her next words, "I'm sorry you guys, I'll have to come back another time."

"Another time?" Seth questioned before grinning maliciously, "Ha! Don't make me laugh, you won't get off this island at all! I'll see to it personally!" he vowed as he entered the commands and the droids all charged forward!

"Grr!" Cera and Miku both held their ground readying themselves for what was about to befall them….when-

 **TELEPORTATION SEQUENCE HAS BEEN INITIATED! TELEPORTING IN 3 MINUTES!**

A computerised voice echoed through the room as Seth widened his eyes in alarm! "What!?" he gasped as he began typing n his screen on his platform, he gritted his teeth to discover the teleportation protocol was activated and it couldn't be stopped now, "Those children, this is their doing no doubt…." he grunted in annoyance as he banged his fist on it.

"Reese and Zoe did it…." Cera breathed feeling relieved they succeeded, and seeing him distracted was now or never, "Now's my chance!" she cried out as she turned around!

"Huh!?"

Seth turned in alarm as Cera quickly leapt up, using one droid as a springboard she jumped ahead over the group before landing at the elevator door entrance! "Hah!"

"Don't let her escape! Capture her!" Seth quickly ordered as he widened his eyes with fury! In response the droids chanted his order and charged after her!

CAPTURE! CAPTURE!

She pressed the button on the elevator and as it opened she quickly rushed in before pressing the close button as fast as she could! "Come on, come on…close already!" she cried in a panic as the droids charged ahead with their arms wide open! They came nearer and nearer and her heart began to race as they closed in! She closed her eyes and held her arms out, but as a stroke of luck, the elevator doors closed and what was heard on the other side was a loud thud as the droids all collided at the closed door in 1 massive pileup!

BANG!

Seeing they were safe for the time being, Cera placed a hand to her chest in relief as she fell down to the floor and breathed a deep sigh with Miku, "Phew…." she breathed with relief seeing they were in the clear as the elevator took them back up to the surface level, hopefully then she could rendezvous back with the others and then get off this place as soon as they can.

Back at the lab, the droids dispersed before going off to different entrances as Seth smirked disgustingly, "Heh, that's right go on ahead, it's cute to think you can escape." he said as he grinned, "Even if you do manage to get off this island it won't matter, as long as I have the teleporter in operating condition, it's only a matter of time till I have you and your secrets in my clutches." he added at the end as he clenched his hand into a tight fist.

Back on the beach, the D team looked on with relief to see that Zoe's house was now sent back to where to belonged and they could call it a mission success, "It worked!" Max cheered with the others.

"Yeah!" Zoe and Rex went.

They all then reached for their dinoholders knowing what to do next, "Alright, now it's our turn!"

Zoe then widened her eyes upon realising they were missing someone, "Wait!" she cried stopping them, "Cera's not here yet!"

"Say what!?" Max gasped in alarm.

"Then where is she!?" Rex asked before Zoe covered her mouth in horror fearing the worst.

"Oh no you don't think-"

"Run!" A voice cried out from behind them which caught their attention.

"Huh!?" They gasped and turned around to see Cera running towards them frantically with a sweating face and widened eyes.

They all brightened up with joy seeing she was alright, "Cera!"

"There you are!"

"We were worried about you!" They cried opening their arms out to welcome her, but instead tot heir surpie she zoomed past them without returning their feelings or even a hello! "Huh?" They went as they turned to see her leaving them in her dust.

"Talk later! Run now!" she screamed as she ran further off along the beach while dialling frantically on her dinoshot as her friends looked on curiously and puzzled..

"What's she talking about?"

"Wonder what's gotten her so riled up?" Max and Rex asked as they heard footsteps behind them. As they all turned they flinched and widened their eyes to see a massive army of droids charging at them while shouting in unison!

CAPTURE! CAPTURE! CAPTURE!

"GAAAAAAAHHHH!" They all cried in horror before they raced after Cera!

"Come on! Come on!" Max frantically dialled as soon all 4 of them were enveloped in light before being teleported! As they disappeared the droids all jumped but missed as they all crashed down on one another into one massive clump of metal while still chanting their order.

CAPTURE! CAPTURE! CAPTURE!

 **(Later)**

"Phew, what a relief…." Cera breathed as she and the rest of the D team arrived back at the D lab safe and in one piece.

"It's good to be back." Zoe said in agreement before noticing someone in front of them, "And since you're here Reese I guess everything's okay."

"Man I still can't believe they were able to teleport your whole house." said Max to her and Cera as they nodded at him.

"Yeah, no kidding…." she replied still feeling stunned and not fully gotten over the experience.

"What's the big deal Max?" Dr Taylor asked, :You teleport yourself all the time."

"Yes, but this teleportation device was powered by the energy in the stone from Zoe's dinoholder." Reese replied as Dr Taylor gasped.

"Ah no kidding? That tells me these stones have a lot more power than what we've yet discovered." he said.

"If they use the energy of the stones, we can assume that the alpha gang are no doubt involved with them somehow, also that they may be in possession of some too." Cera stated as she brought a finger to her chin in thought, "My guess is fire, water and earth."

"That makes a lot of sense," said Rex in agreement, "Also it seems to match up with Terry, Tank and Spiny."

As he said that, Cera then flashback to how she saw a central stone in the machine's engine, and she still pondered over what possible purpose it could serve…..

As they talked about it, their dinosaurs played with one another till Paris walked up to a potted flower and snapped it up as Reese gasped, "Ah! My flower!"

Zoe blinked in surprise at her sister's reaction before looking to her, "What's so special about that flower anyway sis?" she asked curiously, "We could always get another."

"Oh, it was a….gift…." Reese replied uneasily as she scratched her cheek.

Zoe tilted her head, "A gift? From who?" it didn't take long before she managed to put 2 and 2 together, "Wait a second…." she widened her eyes in alarm, "Oh my gosh! Reese don't tell me you got that from Zander!" she cried out as the others looked to Zoe then to Reese in alarm!

"HUH!?"

"EH!?"

Reese turned her eyes away avoiding contact with the others as they discussed about it.

"You know a while back he did go all gaga over Reese and sang some creepy song to her too…." said Rex recalling a time when she was in the Mexican desert and Zander broke out in song as he confessed to her.

"Yeah, that was really disturbing." Max muttered as he sweat dropped shuddering at the thought.

"Oh dear…." Cera then mused knowing this was a complicated situation.

Noticing Reese was twiddling her fingers, Zoe puffed up her cheeks in disgust, "Ugh! Reese! I do not approve of this!" she yelled in protest.

"And I thought Dr Owen proposing to the old lady was bad enough." Max snickered as Rex sighed.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Achoo! I think I'm starting to get sick myself…." Ursula sneezed on Dr Z while massaging him with Ed, much to their alarm.

"Gah! Don't pass it on to us!" Dr Z and Ed both gasped in horror.

 **(D lab)**

"Heh, reminds me of that time she tried to badmouth about Reese to that old pilot a whole back huh Chomp?" Max whispered to the yellow trike who barked, referring to a time at the airport when a megaraptor showed up.

"You know Zoe, give it time and Zander might actually become your brother law." Dr Taylor chuckled jokingly as everyone gained mixed reactions from his snarky comment.

"Huh!?"

"Say what!?"

"Oh boy that would be disturbing…." They said, though none of them was as bad as how Zoe took it.

"Hey! That's not funny!" she grow,ed shaking her fists in anger before looking to her older sister who was twiddling her fingers, "Reese! Tell him you'd never ever be with that guy ever! Besides, you don't have any feelings for a creep like that, not to mention he's a member of the alpha gang and you know all the bad things they do right!? No way he's your type!" she yelled.

Reese blinked her eyes and sweated nervously as her little sis began asserting herself over her as she gulped a bit nervously, "It's true they did a number of horrendous acts to the dinosaurs and to other people, that much I can't deny." she admitted.

"Ha! See I told you so!" she boasted holding her head up high.

"But….he's not all that bad if you ask me." Reese then added at the end as Zoe turned pale and skipped a heartbeat!

"…." She then fell to her knees and clenched her head in her hands, "This can't be…..my sister….." she then screamed her head off to the heavens in despair, "N…NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone laughed in amusement at her dramatic act in response, even their dinosaurs were running around her in a circle as she continued her howls and wails.

"Hahahahahahah!"

Soon after it wasn't long till Cera broke out of the laughter first having an uneasy feeling at the back of her mind, "Wait a minute, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?" she thought to herself as she scratched the back of her head.

 **(Evening)**

That evening while Ursula and Ed were busy massaging Dr Z in his room and Zander was out singing a sad love song of heartbreak outside, Seth was typing away at a computer near the reactor core in the teleporter room seriously as Rod and Laura soon came in to join him.

"Thanks for getting us out of that loop Seth." said Laura feeling grateful.

"Yeah, that girl lied to us!" Rod yelled, "She didn't even come back for us like she promised!"

Seth then smirked rather sinisterly, "Heheh, you need not worry yourselves about her for much longer." he said as he loaded the map screen and began entering certain coordinates, "Very soon she and the rest of the D team will interfere with us no more." He said as the 2 children came up to him feeling interested in what he was working on. "After monitoring their movements and tracking the frequencies and wavelengths of the stones in their possessions, as well as their teleportation patterns over the past months, I have been able to triangulate not just their homes, bit no doubt their base of operations." He said as multiple lines appeared on the map indicating their movements, before marking 2 places being Max's and Rex's house before finally focusing on 1 point in between them, "Here." he pointed as the location turned out to be where the D lab was located!

"Ah!" Rod and Laura both gasped in amazement at what he said, "You mean we'll be able to get all the cards they stole from us back!?"

"It'll be more than that." he replied as he reached out for the red button on the computer, "With the push of this button and the loss of their base they won't be getting in our way anymore." he grinned with the plan of bringing their base to their island which would no doubt cut off all their resources and means of teleporting, along with all their dinosaurs they worked so hard to collect over the last few months…..victory was within his grasp as he reached for the button that would end it all…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Almost got it….." Cera narrowed her eyes seriously as she typed away at her dinoshot with Miku's eyes fixed on her seriously. Since returning home to the Drake household she had locked herself in her room and she began typing through, its' screen depicting several encryption codes and firewalls as she raced quickly through them, bypassing as many security systems and protocols there were, she knew the alpha gang base would be a difficult place to hack into, but it was far beyond anything she had expected, nevertheless she refused to give up considering that the alpha gang now knew where they were she had to take extra precautions as her heart raced against the clock and she sweated tensely while Miku looked on, supporting her though every step of the way…..

Her work was only partially interrupted by a few knocks on her door as she looked up only briefly from her screen, "Hey Cera, dinner's almost ready." Mrs Drake called through the door, "You and Zoe probably had a long day today, she's been quite worn out and overwhelmed from what I can tell, no doubt from that stringed experience earlier today, so I made you both a very delicious and nutritious meal to get you both your strength back." she said kindly.

"Ok, just making sure I take care of one last thing first Mrs Drake." Cera called back to her as she quickly picked up from where she left off, "I'll be down shortly, won't be long now."

"Okay then." Mrs Drake concluded as she left.

Finally, after a few minutes of typing and cracking, Cera breathed a deep sigh of relief as she fell back on her bed in exhaustion, with Miku hopping next to her face to nuzzle at her. She then smiled pleased with herself as she nuzzled Miku's head with her finger, "There, that should keep them off our backs for a while at least." She said before getting off and heading downstairs for dinner, "Once I've cracked enough codes maybe I can find the password to that door, then maybe I can get those poor people out of there….." she then thought to herself, deciding to keep it to herself at least for now.

 **(At Zeta Point)**

"Finally." Seth breathed with maniacal excitement as he hit the fire button on the teleporter with Rod and Laura looking back with anticipation and excitement! What happened next came as a surprise which caught them all off guard as suddenly the room flashed red and the arms went off like crazy!

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"Gah!" Laura gasped as she looked up in a fright!

"Wh…what's happening Seth!?" Rod turned to him as Seth sweated and began typing on the computer to isolate the source of it!

"I…I don't know! Let me check!" he said as he found the systems were overloading and the circuits were malfunctioning causing the teleporter to go out of control! "Feedback!? Impossible!" he cried in alarm, "I'd better disconnect before it's-" Before he could finish the emergency shutdown, the computer then sparked before exploding in his face blowing him back along with the children!

BOOM!

"ARGH!"

"AAAAHH!" They were enveloped in a cloud of smoke which soon dissipated, with Laura coughing under her sleeves and Rod patting her on the back gently.

Cough! Cough!

"You okay Laura?" he asked as she looked to him with a smile.

"Y…yeah I guess." she replied, "A little soiled but I'm good." she said now partially covered in soot, in fact they all were a bit.

"Phew, that's a relief." Rod breathed calmly but it didn't last long as the moment was interrupted by an angry slam on the machine!

BANG!

"Ah!"

"NO!" Seth yelled in anger which made the kids shudder a bit at his sudden change in mood, they never saw him angry before and now that they did it was scarring to see him grit his teeth and tense up fiercely, like he could snap at any moment. He had reason too, considering the damage that had been done to the machine after months of hard work…."GRRRR!"

Getting Laura behind him Rod nervously walked up to the blue haired man and asked, "S…Seth? Is the machine….broken again?"

"Does that means we can't go back home…..ever?" asked Laura feeling sad as she clapped her hands together.

Seth said nothing for the moment before breathing a sigh and rubbing his temple, "No, the time drive remains functional but the teleporter is heavily damaged. It will take some time to affect repairs but it will be done." he answered sounding regretful on his part, clearly he celebrated too soon…..

"Phew that's a relief." Laura breathed seeing there was still hope for them to go back.

"Grampa wouldn't like it if he found out the time machine is broken again after it took so long to fix." said Rod.

"He's not the only one." Seth thought to himself as he did everything he could to keep himself from exploding again, it was taking every ounce of self control to do that.

Seeing there was no point in staying around any longer, Rod and Laura slowly began to back out to the exit, "Well Seth, we'll just leave you alone since that's how you work best, we need to go check up on Terry and the others anyways." said Rod as he and Laura quickly hurried out.

"Yes, you go on and do that. I'll see what I can do…..don't worry, rest assured you will be home soon, you have my word." he said as they let the premises. Doing a damage check he assed the machine's current state and his expression turned calmer upon seeing it wasn't as hopeless as he first anticipated, "I might be able to salvage at least 80% of the damage, but the long range targeting system is beyond repair, it seems it'll only work at close range now." he said as he narrowed his eyes in frustration, "Which means I'll have to get Zeta Point airborne for it to work…..which will be some time since it's in no condition to fly yet." he muttered as he brought a finger to his chin in thought, "That girl Cera, she must have had a hand with this somehow…..as far as I am aware none of the D team comes close to this level of hacking and programming….." he thought before a malicious smirk came upon his face, "Well played…..it seems I may have found someone worth my time and effort….."

 **And thus concludes chapter 12 where Cera visits Zeta Point for the first time and finds a few secrets in it too, as well as ensuring Seth doesn't try anything sneaky for a while. Wanted to address that bit since the anime didn't state why he didn't use the teleporter like he did this episode again later on, but it does work at close range so wanted to address it since in season 2 the backlander does teleport still.**

 **Rod and Laura were kinda just there in 1 scene of the episode so wanted to expand on that a bit so hope you enjoyed the fun Cera had with them.**

 **Also wanted to see the new droid models be used here and Cera demonstrating a new skill she remembered about herself and thats in self defence though it only happens when she has no alternative, since Miku isn't built on fighting she can't rely on her all the time so she has to defend herself in other ways. Her new encounter with Seth also heightens things too.**

 **In response to Drew Luczynski**

 **-Well they didn't mention anything about it in the anime so I thought I clarify it. They'll get it back eventually don't worry.**

 **To pokemonking0924**

 **-Glad you liked the discussion, yeah some chapters can't have Cera doing too much impact but you can be sure that this one she does. Also Dinoman did appear in the arcade game also.**


	13. Fight to the Finish

Chapter 13

Fight to the Finish

It was late afternoon in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, the sun rose high above the sky shining down bright rays of light which shone and illuminated the landscape while waves of heat which soon followed, rained down mercilessly, baking the land and forcing anyone under the light to seek shelter in whatever shad for cover they could find. At the mountains nearby, a card capsule lay upon a rock ledge, which soon gave way as some wind blew and eroded it slightly, causing it to fall and smash open on some rocks below as the cards landed on a lower pile of rocks. Some sand soon blew over them in the wind, causing them to glow purple as a large moss green ankylosaur, with spots of yellow around it and covered in several small bony spikes along to back down to its tail which ended with a club. As he opened his eyes and yawned the tarchia sniffed the air before sensing an incoming sandstorm blowing in the distance. Sensing danger he headed for an opening in between the mountains as he sought out shelter to wait out the dust storm, while also looking for food and water.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Max and the others were watching a brand new episode of the dino troopers on TV at his house and were looking forward to seeing the climax as the troopers banded together as they were about to deliver the final attack on the villain! The D team kids sat at the large couch while Spike and Aki sat at the table eying the TV from afar.

"Take this you villainous swine!" The red trooper yelled as they joined their weapons together and were charging up an energy blast while Max and the others looked on with excitement and anticipation, with widened eyes, deep grins or jittery emotion, while the adults including Cera just looked on happily in a more mature manner.

Right before they launched their attack-

"Breaking news!" A unexpected news report suddenly came up which interrupted the final battle scene and causing the rest of the D team to sigh in disappointment, except for Max who begin throwing off a rant in annoyance.

"Aww man it was just getting to the good part!" He cried out grasping his hair in his hands as the others looked to him and sweat dropped. What they were about to see though, was about to shock them to their core….

"We are reporting live at the Washington DC white house, where Eugene, Inspector of the CIA has called together leaders from across the globe at the United Nations in order to present newfound evidence regarding the recent and unexpected appearances of dinosaurs across the world." she explained as the D team widened their eyes and gasped in alarm and shock!

"Say what!?"

"No way!" Max and Zoe exclaimed out loud, never once considering the possibility that their actions would ever be caught on a global broadcast such as this. They always mangled to get away with it somehow, but today it seemed they were out of luck….

Rex tensed as a drop of sweat fell from his cheek, "That doesn't sound good….." he gulped anxiously.

"Oh my," Aki covered her mouth in surprise as she sat at the dinner table. "I've been reading about those incidents on news papers, no one knows how those dinosaurs appear or why, how nice they are finally about to do something to address them." she then added smiling with relief as the rest to the D team sweated nervously.

"Y…yeah, it sure is great mom." said Max anxiously as he scratched his cheek and the others either turned their eyes away.

"You said it Aki….heheh…." Spike chuckled nervously looking to his wife while his heart raced uncontrollably before whistling like he wasn't involved.

It wasn't long before on the screen when a man with a serious face, spiky black hair and beard and in a suit stepped before a large number of important leaders and audience in the UN court room "Greetings honoured delegates," he introduced himself politely with a bow, "I understand that the situation involving these sudden and unpredictable appearances of dinosaurs is most troubling and is no doubt a threat to national security." he said formally, "While the reasons for their appearances can't be so easily explained, I have nonetheless investigated the situation most throughly for several months now and have uncovered evidence that pinpoints these dinosaurs are not isolated incidents, but are no doubt tied to the actions of certain individuals who may no doubt have been involved with them **.** " he proclaimed as the halls echoed with curious murmurs and discussion amongst the people, as the D team grew increasingly nervous and alarmed.

"Ah!" They all gasped.

Cera on the other hand tensed and narrowed her eyes while Aki clapped her hands together feeling excited with a most innocent expression.

"Wow, how interesting. I can hardly wait to see this." she said with a bright smile as the others looked to her, gulping hard or shivering anxiously over how they were going to explain this. Either they confessed or she learns the truth herself now, neither option boded well but their day of reckoning had arrived and there was no escaping it….

As they all turned to Max, unwilling to admit the truth themselves, Max gulped down hard and sweated anxiously before forcing himself to walk over to his mom. "Err mom….."

She blinked and looked up to her son, "Yes honey?"

Max twiddled his fingers and even felt sweat in his feet and gloves as the pressure continued to build up inside, "Y…you see….there's….something we may need to confess….." he croaked painfully, as the others looked on in anticipation waiting for what was about to unfold.

Aki blinked curiously, unable to make out what he was trying to say, "Confess? What do you-" Her eye moved momentarily to the TV as she turned her full focus onto it as Johnson on TV was about to load in the evidence on the screen he had displayed there, "Oh! It's about to start! Let's see this first!" she said with excitement as she raised the volume so everyone could hear!

"Ah!" Max widened his eyes as everyone looked on in horror at their secrets finally about to be spilled!

"Oh no!"

" **Behold**!" The inspector declared pressing the button and the screen began loading, as the D Team's hearts raced uncontrollably!

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the screen then displayed an amusing scene which depicted a pair of velociraptors, who were dressed in human clothing and were involved in a romantic comedy drama with one another, directed and produced by none other than Stanley Spinoberg himself! As it played out the D team stared in surprised and bewilderment while members of the audience began laughing uncontrollably or shouting angry rants at the Inspector!

"H…Huh!?" He gasped in disbelief that what he was showing to countless powers across the world was nothing close to what he had in mind!

"Ahahahaahahh!"

"Is this some kind of joke!?"

"You took us away from our responsibilities to see this!?"

"Gah! N…No that's not what it looks like!" He waved out frantically to them before yelling to the staff in charge, "S…Shut that off now!" he ordered as they hurried to cut it off! He then turned to the camera and he widened his eyes in horror, "Are we still rolling!? Ah! Cut that off now! Cut to commercial!" he yelled frantically rushing to the camera, his palm covering up the screen before it shut off!

As the screen shifted into static, everyone stared speechlessly with unblinking eyes, unable to fully comprehend what they just saw, "Well, that was unexpected….." said Aki feeling rather letdown and disappointed, "I'm shocked they actually showed that on TV. Who knows how many saw that…." she said as everyone took a breath of relief knowing their secrets were still safe for the time being.

"You're not the only one…." Max groaned as he sat down with exhaustion from the anticipation, also feeling letdown that Spinoberg, his all time favourite director had created an abomination of a movie that gave dinosaurs bad names…..now he knew Rex's dad had every right to be angry with him.

His mixed expression of downcast and relief was soon mirrored by everyone else as they all let out a sigh of relief, except for Cera who folded her arms.

Smelling something sweet, Aki looked to the kitchen and hurried off to it, "Oh, looks like the cake's finished baking. I'll go get that out now." She said as she hurried off leaving the others.

As she disappeared from sight, they all decided to let out their thoughts, "Phew, I was almost worried there." said Zoe letting out a sigh.

"Yeah, I thought the whole world would know our secret by now." Rex breathed feeling more at ease.

"Let's be glad that didn't happen, it's a miracle!" Spike then cheered raising his arms out to the air, while Cera sat back and smirked to herself.

"Gee I wonder about that….."

 **(Flashback)**

Several days ago, Cera was typing away rather hard at the computer in the D lab, her eyes completely fixated on the screen she didn't say a word, which caught Reese's attention as she passed by, "What are you doing there Cera?" she asked with interest as the red haired girl looked up to her.

"Just trying to cover our tracks so no one can trace our activities back to us," she answered before returning back to her work and typing, "We already have plenty of trouble with dinosaurs causing havoc and the alpha gang, last thing we need is the government getting involved."

"That makes a lot of sense….." Reese replied placing a finger to her chin in thought before looking back at her, "How long have you been doing this?" she then asked.

"For a couple weeks now," Cera answered which surprised the older woman, "You won't believe how much content I've had to erase or clear out since I started this. It's a good thing most people prefer to run away screaming than stay behind to take pictures otherwise there would've been way more to do." she said seriously.

"I'm amazed, not only that you can hack into government systems but also you've managed to keep it up this long." Reese replied praying her.

"It was a little tricky at first but I got the hang of it," she replied, "It started out with news websites and their archives before moving on to police files and now this," she said reaching the last and latest file as she stretched out her arms feeling stuff after being stuck at the chair typing for a while now but smiling as she was almost finished at last, "But at least I can say we're in the clear for now, once I'm done with this." Looking to the data file for bit then turning to Reese, "Say Reese, would you like to have the honours of replacing this with something more…..entertaining?" she then asked as Drake smiled in amusement at her offer, also feeling flattered.

"Haha, sure why not?" she chuckled as she searched through various possible substitutes on the internet before finding one that would perfectly suffice, "I think this will do." she said showing off Spinoberg's latest masterpiece/monstrosity as Cera smiled and held a thumbs up in response.

"Hee hee, excellent choice." she giggled in agreement as Reese began uploading said file to the Internet.

 **(Present)**

"I was lucky there were only parts involving the D team on," Cera thought to herself looking back on it, "Though I'm surprised not many with the alpha gang, maybe they're covering their tracks too?" she then mused, "In any case it's fortunate for us, now we wouldn't need to worry about ourselves or the dinosaurs on the receiving end of the authorities." she thought keeping it to herself seeing no need to let the others know about it.

"While it is a shame the rest of the world is still kept in the dark and no one knows how to approach this situation regarding the dinosaurs," muttered Spike before sighing deeply, "Perhaps it would be best it stays this way."

The others nodded with him in agreement, "Yeah, wouldn't want a bunch of government agents busting down our door and taking us into custody or anything like that." said Rex.

"Yeah, no way would I ever want to be on the world's most wanted list." Zoe added shaking her head in disapproval.

"I can live without that any day." Ma added folding her arms before they all began laughing joyously together.

"Hahahahaha!" Their moment thought was interrupted by the familiar sound of a beep and red flashing light.

BEEP BEEP

"Huh!?" As they all looked to their flashing devices they knew what that meant.

"Another dinosaur's showed up!" Rex gasped.

"Quick! To the lab!" Spike said firmly as they nodded and filled him out the glass sliding door!

"Right!"

After they all left, Aki came back in earring a pair of oven gloves, while holding a large rich chocolate cake which was still steaming fresh form the oven, "Everyone! The chocolate cake's ready!" she cheered before opening her eyes to see the place was deserted, "Oh? Where did everyone go?" she asked herself looking around before puffing her cheeks, "They left me all alone again, and I worked so hard to make this for everyone too…." she muttered.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Zeta Point, Rod was busy typing away at a computer an was quite fixated on it while Laura watched him intently as he deleted a photo which depicted Dr Z and the A team robbing the vaults at Las Vegas. "And that takes care of that!" he said proudly as he laid back in his chair and stretched out himself.

"Nice job Rod," his sister praised, "Now we won't have to worry about anyone else getting in our way."

"I'm with you there," Rod replied in agreement, "That D team's already a handful on their own, last thing we need are a whole bunch of government agents sticking their noses in where they don't belong." he stated as their scanners suddenly blinked red on their desks nearby.

BEEP BEEP

"Whoa!" Laura gasped as she reached in and took them both, handing one to Rod, "Check it out! A dinosaur!" she said excitedly as her brother grinned with eagerness.

"Yeah, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our hard work for today." he said as he hopped out his chair and stretched out a bit more before waving to Laura, "Come on Laura, no need for Seth to tell us anything." he said deciding to do him a little favour since he was very busy lately.

"Mhmm." she nodded as they headed outside for the hangar.

Seth himself was very busy doing repairs on the generator and teleporter machine after the massive blowout it suffered not long ago, in fact he was working overtime to salvage whatever repairs he could while also doing his best to make do with what limited resources they hd to do it, needless to say he had his work cut out for him considering it was also taking precious time away from his experiments too, which frustrated him deeply since he could have been using his time to further improve the dinosaurs they had.

Meanwhile the A trio was lounging around at the living room doing their favourite hobbies to past the time, unaware of the new dinosaur. Ursula sat at the couch reading the latest fashion magazines as well as celebrity gossip which were all stacked up next to her, Ed was sitting on a chair holding a packet of potato chips and he was stuffing his face with them causing many crumbs to fall to the floor in a mess, while Zander had a set of puzzle pieces laid out on the table while working on a jigsaw puzzle which was already barely making up the picture of a tyrannosaurus in the forest.

The sounds of passing footsteps soon caught their attention as they looked up from their work and saw Rod and Laura pass their door in a hurry, which was more than enough to capture their interest.

"Where are Rod and Laura heading off to now?" Ed questioned as he then widened his eyes and gasped, "Must be another dinosaur!" he said patting a fist into the palm of his hand while dropping his bag of chips which then spilt out.

A tic mark appeared on Ursula's forehead as she jumped off the couch and her stack of magazines fell down on the floor, "Oh no they don't!" she growled spitefully whole tensing up, "No way am I about to let THEM get the drop on us again!"

"Yeah!" Zander yelled throwing his puzzle on the floor in frustration, causing it to break into pieces again, "I've just about had it with those 2 toddlers! As if the brats weren't trouble enough!"

"Then instead of yapping about it, let's go do something about it!" Ursula chanted pumping up her arm as her 2 sidekicks rallied to her side feeling motivated!

"Yeah!"

Their glorious moment was soon interrupted as Helga walked in, sparking red momentarily as she looked to them, her eyes glowing yellow, "Scanning….." she said monotonously as she detected the 3 messes in the living room, being Zander's puzzle pieces, Ed's crumbs and Ursula's magazine, "Messes detected. Scanning for source." she then said before turning to the trio sinisterly as her eyes scanned all 3 of them and locked on to them! "Sources detected." She said as she slowly, menacingly strolled towards them!

The trio felt their hearts racing and their instincts warning them of imminent danger approaching as Helga walked closer and closer to them, "Why is she walking towards us?" Ursula sweated as she slowly backed away, making sure the 2 bozos were in front so she would grab them first hopefully.

"I don't like that look in her eyes…." Zander shivered as he hugged himself and gritted his teeth anxiously.

"M…Maybe she's going to take our order for dinner tonight?" Ed gulped as she soon answered.

"Must eliminate sources of filth." she said deeply as she began to pop her knuckles, each one as loud as a dinner bell ringing! "Commence elimination!" she then bellowed as the Trio screamed loudly in terror!

"EEEEK!"

"We should go while we have the chance!" Zander cried springing away as fast as he could towards the exit and past Ursula!

"I'm with you there buddy!" Ed cried following him closely as Ursula's jaw dropped seeing they got ahead of her!

"H…Hey don't you dare leave me!" she yelled as she tried to chase after them! Their efforts were for naught as Helga suddenly zoomed in and appeared in front of them, causing the 3 stooges to freeze in their tracks!

"Gaaaah!"

She then reached out her arms and grabbed all of them and began to drag them away like rucksacks across the floor! Restraining them all in a single arm as she strolled down the hallways with them in tow!

"Get your hands off me you beast! This is harassment!"

"Ow! That's my liver!"

"I feel like a toothpick about snap!" They each cried, before turning pale seeing she had a massive garbage bag with her which was large enough to fit 3 people in like a body bag!

"Into the bag you go." She said as she flopped it open with her remaining arm!

The trio sweated anxiously and cried out, "AH!"

"Don't you da-" Suddenly they were all shoved into the bag without warning as Helga then tied the top end in a knot and eliminating their hopes of escape! "GAAAAAHHH!"

"H…Help!"

"I can't stand the dark!"

"Let me out of here!" They all cried and pleaded but they fell on deaf ears!

As she dragged them along, she didn't care as she walked down stairs and causing the bag to tumble about with its' load.

"Get off me you bozos!" Ursula yelled in frustration as Ed and Zander rolled ontop of her.

"I can barely even move!" Zander retorted in frustration.

"I feel like I'm getting kidnapped…." Ed whimpered.

"Oh please who'd ever want to kidnap you?" Ursula grumbled in annoyance which made Ed feel hurt and insulted, thinking he wasn't valuable or worth it…..

Their train of grumbling and annoyance soon came to a stop as they found they weren't moving anymore from earlier, which didn't seem like a good thing at all in their current position.

"Hang on, why did we stop?" Ursula then asked before feeling all 3 of them were being carried up and held high.

"She's lifting us up." Ed noted.

Zander then cringed, "H…Hang on…..do you think she's-" before he could finish, Helga then released her grip and tossed all 3 of them down the trash chute as they inside the bag slid down in a massive swirl almost like a roller coaster!

"WHOA!" they all cried together feeling pressure blowing against their faces despite being inside, before landing hard and roughly on top of a mound of garbage, in a dark room which ranged from old metallic parts to organic waste and grime which cluttered and lined the walls of the garbage store!

After recovering from their rough landing and wild ride, Zander groaned in annoyance being the first to regain his senses, "Great, not only we get treated like trash now we're tossed out like trash!" he ranted in annoyance having Ed ontop of him and Ursula's leg in his face!

"Oh world how could you be so cruel!" the green haired lady then wept comedically as she rubbed her eyes and leaked dramatic crocodile tears, "What did a beauty like me ever deserve such horrible treatment! WAAAAAA! It's not fair!" she whined loudly as Zander tried to poke his fingers in his ears to block it out, though being cramped up so close to her didn't seem to help that much.

"Well on the plus side at least we're together, things can't get any worse." he said, which then caused a bad sign for them as a loud grumbling sound sound be heard from Ed's belly!

"Uff….uh oh….." he huffed, feeling his stomach gurgle and bubble loudly, as he could feel something was rushing up from it and getting close to his throat!

Ursula and Zander both sweated nervously as they turned to him, hoping it wasn't what they feared, "Ed?"

"What's wrong?"

Ed's expression soon turned uneasy and sick, "I ate too much, and after that ride….I think I'm about to-" He turned green and his face puffed up signifying he was at his limit and couldn't hold back anymore! "URF!"

"NOOOOOOO!" Ursula and Zander shouted in horror as Ed began letting out his insides which began to full up the bag with them!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"So where's the dinosaur this time Reese?" Max asked the blond haired woman with everyone else, who was typing at the computer as they all arrived at the D lab.

After zooming in on the blimp she enlarged the map image, "In Mongolia, the Gobi Desert to be precise." she said as Zoe cringed and shivered uncomfortably.

"A desert? That doesn't sound too comfortable….." she said uneasily.

"Indeed, the climate in the Gobi desert can be very unpredictable," Dr Taylor nodded seriously as he folded his arms, "In fact during hot days the temperatures can soar to above 49 degrees while dropping below 49 at night!" he proclaimed much tot he shock of the D team.

"Huh!?"

"No way!" They gasped, all except for Cera.

"It's true," she said, "Considering that deserts have such dry air the heat gained during the day can be lost so quickly and easily when the sun sets."

"Not just that, the Gobi desert is often known for its annual sandstorms." Reese added which made Max and the others feel uneasy about dangerous environmental hazards on top of finding and battling a dinosaur under such conditions.

"Of all the places we've visited this may be the most dangerous of all….." Rex mused seriously bringing a finger to his chin.

"Rex is correct." said Spike firmly as he looked to them all seriously, "Max, everyone, This time none of you will leave until you are properly prepared do you understand? It's for your own safety, no exceptions." he said with authority.

Normally Max would disagree seeing his dad tended to overreact or get carried away, but this time he had good reason to be so, "Alright dad." Max then replied seeing there wasn't going against it this time, also when it comes to the desert it's better to be safe than sorry. The rest of the D team also nodded in agreement.

"One thing's that essential is water," said Rex as he got out a couple of large bottles from the back room, "I mean no way we'll be finding any water in a desert right?"

"Mhmm." Dr Taylor nodded, "Unless you manage to find an oasis, which chances are extremely rare and not worth taking." he said.

"We each take a large bottle, that ought to last us for at least a day, but make sure we use it only if it's an emergency." said Rex as he and Zoe went to fill them up.

"And don't forget sunscreen! That's a must!" Spike the called out which made Max cringe.

"Aww dad, you know how much I hate that!" he whined.

"Would you rather get red sun burn blisters all over your face and come back home looking like a clown Max?" Zoe asked as he shuddered at the thought.

"Err when you put it that way….." he muttered as he grabbed a bottle reluctantly and began latching it all over his face, neck and legs before passing it on to the others as they lathered themselves in it, even their dinosaurs!

Cera soon came back with a bunch of goggles and face masks, "This should come in handy in case we come across any sandstorms." she said laying them down on the table.

"Ah! Thanks Cera!" Max cried in joy as he tried them on which were still pretty clear and sturdy, "Hehe these are cool! No way will any sand be getting in my face today!" he chuckled as the others soon equipped themselves too till they were fully prepped for desert work!

"Alright, looks like were all set!" said Rex confidently as even the dinosaurs had mini goggles around their eyes to keep themselves secure, except for Miku, who did;t have one which fit her so she decided to hide herself in Cera's hair instead. As they all headed onto the teleporter they were enveloped in bright light before vanishing.

"Good luck out there kids! Take care!" Dr Taylor waved as they disappeared from sight. A few minutes layer he gasped in alarm, "Gah! Oh no! I forgot to give them winter clothing for the night!" he exclaimed fearing they'd freeze to death in the night!

"I'm sure they won't take that long Dr Taylor, let's have faith in them." Reese replied to him as he took a breath to calm himself down.

"You're right Reese, they've gotten out of tight spots before, I'm sure this will be fine…..I hope….." he added at the end with a hint of insecurity in his tone.

 **(Later)**

As the D team appeared on top of a large sand dune, already they were greeted by the desert with harsh rays from the sun above along with the dry air and sweltering heat, "Argh….man it's hot….." Max grunted covering up his eyes with his forearm as Chomp and the others already started sweating like crazy under the blistering heat the moment they made contact with the warm desert air and scorching sand!

"What'd you expect? It is a desert after all." Rex replied, feeling beads of sweat beginning to trickle down from his face in annoyance, also because he was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt so no doubt he was cooking the most with sweat already running down his back.

"Yeah no kidding, the sun's really strong here….wish I packed my hat….." Zoe sighed as she had to put on her pink goggles just to block out the sun's rays but even then it didn't seem enough.

Max then gritted his teeth, "Well we're here already, we might as well toughen it out and get this over with." he said.

"Yeah, sooner we find that dinosaur, the sooner we can get out of this hot spot and get back home." said Cera in agreement.

"Easier said than done….." Rex grunted looking around them to see nothing but sand, sand dunes and blowing sand by the wind for miles around.

As Cera switched on her dinoshot it instead came up with static much to her annoyance. "The heat seems to be interfering with the scanner, I can't get a full fix on the reading." she muttered, starting to feel grumpy with her hair and head feeling sweaty already, for Miku it was like being trapped between a rock and a hard place, or in other words between a sweaty and hot place as she hissed feeling agitated already heating up with her thick layer of feathers.

"That's just great," Max grumbled as he stomped on the ground though his shoe only sunk into the sand beneath, "So then we can't call for help nor can we summon out Chomp and the others if we run into trouble?" he asked feeling worried.

Cera checked once more to see that there was a signal still but it was very weak, "The communication function seems a little fuzzy….." she noted before dialling through and seeing some of the other functions still worked at least for the time being, "But slashing cards should still work, and everything should return to normal if we find some shade and cool off a bit."

"That's a relief….." Rex breathed along with the others.

"For the time being I guess we'll just have to think on our feet, and try to think like a dinosaur." Cera stated before bringing finger to her chin in thought, "If we were a dinosaur in a desert, where would we go to find food and water?"

As the D team pondered over what the answer might be, Rex soon caught sight of something in the distance, "My guess, over there somewhere." he said pointing out to the mountainous hills in the distance from them. "Chances are we might find an oasis in those mountains somewhere."

Max then nodded firmly, "Then that's where we'll start looking." he said.

"We'd better hurry too, if we stay out for too long in this heat we'll be done for." said Zoe as they all hurried off through the desert sand, braving the desert heat and harsh light best they could as they pushed on to the mountains.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Rod and Laura were soon flying over the vast desert in their blue alpha jet as they cruised smoothly over the orange desert sand, shielded from the blistering heat of the sun thanks to their air-conditioned transportation, "Here we are Rod, the Gobi Desert, with sand as far as the eye can see." said Laura looking out from the side of the glass windows seeing nothing but sand and hills for miles around, "Trying to find a dinosaur here would be even harder than finding a needle in a haystack." she then noted.

"Heh, that won't be a problem," Rod smirked as he tapped a button on screen which displayed a radar screen with a sonar function, "This radar should allow us to pinpoint the dinosaur's location easily and we can go after it in the comforts of this air conditioned aircraft." he said as Laura smiled.

"Hee hee, you make a good point there." she giggled before they both noticed a small red blimp on their radar, looking ahead it was pointed to a very large and wide mountain range in the distance.

"Looks like it's within that mountain range, full speed ahead!" said Rod as he kicked the engines into high gear and sped ahead!

 **(D Team)**

Meanwhile the D Team weren't able to enjoy the same comforts as the Alpha siblings as they continued their long and arduous trek through the vast desert under the blistering heat of the sun, "Sand….sand….nothing else but sand…..is anything else other than sand going to show up soon? I'm getting tired already…." Max moaned as he hunched forward and sweated like a mammoth in a volcano, his spiky hair was even beginning to sloop down after being drenched.

"I've got sand in my shoes….." Zoe muttered as she lifted up her show and emptied it of sand before putting it back on, only for sand to full it up again as she made no more than 2 steps.

"I'm even getting sand in my hair…." Cera noted as she ran her fingers through and felt several grains fall out from it after the wind blew on them momentarily.

"Man I feel like an ice cream cone about to melt." Max then groaned as his lips began to dry out and crack. Rex, Zoe and Cera too were just as exhausted as he was as their feet were beginning to drag through the sand instead of stepping on it. Chomp, Ace and Paris too were drained of energy as they panted hard and their tongues hung out from their mouths indicating sheer thirst.

Fighting against his urges to whine and complain, Rex saw the mountain range was coming very close in the distance which spurred him to continued trying despite the odds being stacked against them, "Come on guys," he said to them behind him as he pointed out to the mountains, "I know we're all feeling hot and drenched out here but the sooner we make it to those rockies we'll be able to get some shade and cool off a bit." he said.

"I know Rex!" Max yelled, already at his limit, which made him jump in surprise. "But still would it kill this desert to at least give us a little breeze?!" he then wailed falling to his knees and shaking his fists at the air, as Chomp slumped down and cried out in pain and agony. As much as the others wanted to talk back to Max about his childish behaviour they couldn't deny the fact he had a legitimate reason to act that way, in fact even they were beginning to reach their ends as well, as the sun mercilessly rained down its powerful waves of heat and light upon them, as if it had the intention to dry them out…..

When it seemed hopeless they'd be stranded in the endless sea of sand, a mild breeze soon blew in, which provided them some welcome relief from the heat and soon the light and the sun itself was blocked out by a rather large blanket of grey clouds that had just blown in. As the rest of them looked up they smiled with joy and their dinosaurs jumped about in excitement to see mercy hadn't abandoned them yet.

"Wow Max, looks like you got your wish granted." Cera complimented as he stood up again and took a breath of relief.

"What were the odds…." he commented to himself as he held up his arms and took in the full extent of the breeze, which was like a cooling nurturing touch to his already red hot and sweaty skin. "Aaaah…..now that feels better….." he said as everyone copied him.

"Yeah, no kidding, a little longer and I'd be burnt to the bone….." said Rex as he soon remembered something important, "Now that I think about it, maybe we should have a little water." he suggested to the group.

"Oh right! How could I forget that!?" Max hasped in alarm as he rushed to yank out his bottle from his pack and he rushed to open it before taking in a few large gulps, which were like heaven and life to him as it ran down his dry and course throat.

"Careful Max, you might want to ration that till we get out of here." Zoe warned as Cera and Rex both nodded with her.

"It'll be fine don't worry about it." Max replied ressuringly to them as he took another few chugs from his bottle, as drops fell from it Chomp widened his eyes and hurried along to catch them, but failed and whimpered sadly as they sunk into the desert sand. Hearing his friend cry, Mac smiled and filled in some water to his bottle's cap and handed it to his buddy who barked with excitement and wagged his tail, "You want some water Chomp? Here you go!" he said as he offered some water generously as the yellow trike lapped it up greedily but also gratefully. "Doesn't that feel better?" he said with compassion before petting him on the head and he nuzzled back thankfully.

Cera smiled seeing the bond deepen between the both of them, they were getting close, almost like brothers that she could confirm. She then did the same as he did and took a few sips of water before handing the cap to Miku to drink "Here Miku, this should fill you just fine." she said as the little raptor took it in her 2 tiny hands and slurped it down. As she looked around to see the endless dry land and shifting sand in the wind, she knew that it was so inhospitable that man would never try to tame this kind of land, yet life still manages to find a way here. "Wonder how desert dinosaurs manage to survive under these conditions…." she then muttered hoping the dinosaur they were after could be adapted to survive here.

"Here Paris, you look like you could some too." said Zoe as she handed Paris some water to drink after she had her share. "We all know how important water is for both pets and people alike." she said with a smile as she hummed joyfully.

"You too Ace….." said Rex as he handed his partner some water which he lapped up, worrying it may dry up and he may never have another chance to drink again. "A little longer and you'd shrivel up like a sardine." he chuckled in amusement before petting him on the head. looking to everyone else and seeing they all had their spirit back he smiled before calling out to them, "Alright guys, let's get a move on now."

They all nodded before continuing again, this time at a much faster pace, with the wind blowing and the clouds blanketing the sky and blocking out the sun they made excellent progress as they soon reached the foot hills and their scanners were beginning to function once more, as they took them out and saw the screens were back online! "Alright! Now we can use our dinoholders perfectly again!" Max cheered seeing all its functions were operational and they could go home if things got too sticky for them to handle out here.

The others soon mired his relief and joy, but soon Cera felt a change in the winds as she felt it blowing with a bit more force than it was earlier. Miku ruffled up her feathers and her eyes became slit as her instincts were picking up very bad vibes. "Hey guys, does it feel like the wind is picking up?" she asked as the others looked to her and decided to feel it themselves.

"Now that you mention it, yeah….." Zoe replied as she put her finger in her mouth before holding it up to the air to feel the wind, and she could tell it was no doubt picking up strongly.

"Wait a minute, didn't Reese say something about sandstorms?" Rex then asked as their hearts skipped a beat upon realisation.

"You don't think….." As Max turned to look in the direction the wind was coming in from, he and the others were stunned to see a massive wave of sand and wind rushing at them from across the desert and it was closing on them fast like a cheetah on gazelle!

"AAAAAAHHHH!" They all cried in alarm!

"Dust storm!"

"Run for it!" They each cried before putting on their goggles and makes before trying to get behind some rocks for cover! It was for naught as the winds were much faster and soon their were enveloped in the dust storm!

"Ah!" Max cried as his bottle was blown out from his hand and it spilt into the desert sands! "No my water!" he cried with Chomp before he and the others felt the winds blow with the force of a punch and sand was grazing at their faces!

"AAAAHH!"

They tried their best to fight against them, but found themselves sinking into the sand or being blown back instead! "The wind's too strong!" Zoe cried out as Paris struggled to keep behind her! "I don't like this!" she then cried as she fell down to her knees and Paris took shelter in her arms as she hunkered down.

"Ah! My face!" Cera cried as she felt the particles and grains scratch her cheeks and her arms.

"Can't see a thing, even with these goggles!" Rex grunted as the dust obscured his view making it hard to see everyone else, as Ace kept shaking his head to get sand out of his eyes. "Stick together! Don't separate!" He cried out though his voice could barely be heard by the howling winds, as he quickly took in a mouthful of sand and began coughing out violently!

Chomp and the others did their best to hold on before they let out a cry as they were beginning to blow away! "Chomp no!" Max yelled as he jumped and grabbed hold of his partner's paw before he could escape his grasp!

"Ace! Hang on!" Rex yelled grabbing hold of the carnotaurus who nuzzled up in his embrace as Rex used his own body as a barrier to shield him from the sand!

"Stay with me Paris!" cried Zoe as she grabbed onto her partner's tail right before she got carried away!

"Don't let go Miku!" Cera gasped as the little raptor cringed on to her finger and even resorted to biting into it just to stay secure, even if it hurt Cera than much she didn't care as long as her partner was safe! Very soon, another massive wave blew in which soon buried the all under the sand as the D team cried out! "AAAAAHHHH!" As the dust storm began to lessen, a large shadowed quadrupedal figure appeared from out of the dust behind some large rocks. Sniffing the air it saw the outlines of several figures buried by the sand as it headed towards them.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In their ship, Rod and Laura's warning signals soon lit up as they looked to it, "Hmm?" reading it Laura saw a wave of incoming winds and sands on the radar at red levels before looking out the window to see a massive wave of dust clouds building up in the distance and approaching them, "Oh dear looks like a sandstorm's brewing." she said worried putting her fingers to her chin in thought. "From the looks of things, it's a big one too."

"You can say that again….." Rod muttered in agreement as he eyed it increasing with distance as it closed in on them and when they were so close to reaching the dinosaur on their radar.

"Good thing we're still safe in this huh Rod?" said Laura feeling hopeful.

"Yeah, but we'd better not get too close," he replied eying the controls and screens which were lighting up with warning signs, "If sand gets clogged in our engines then we're done for." he said before pressing a button and pulling up the controls his hands were hiding onto. "I don't think that storm's going to be dying down anytime soon, therefore I'm pulling us up.….." he said as they began to climb higher into the sky towards the layer of white clouds.

"Yeah, and even if there is a dinosaur down there, there's no way Spiny and Terry will be able to fight in those conditions." said Laura in agreement looking down below to see the sandstorm sweep across the desert like a tsunami on the beach. She then folded her arms and sighed with disappointment, "Guess that mean's we'll have to find a place to wait it out and come back later."

"That's quite a shame but it can't be helped….." Rod muttered as he turned around to find a safe place sheltered from the storm to land so they could conserve their fuel.

 **(D Team)**

Meanwhile deep within a mountainous gorge where the walls of a canyon, apart from an opening in one, shielded the rest of the valley from the wild and blowing sandstorm outside, it was a calm and serene oasis with a large pond of water where some desert birds were drinking out of or pecking at some nearby bushes for any insects or grubs they could fine. There were also rocks scattered around and even flowing cacti spread across it to show it was indeed lush and fruitful.

In a cave nearby, Max lay near the entrance partially covered in sand as he slowly began to stir, "Urgh….what happened….." he groaned feeling aches and sores all over himself as he pulled himself up straight. As he began to rub his head he could feel grains of sand come off from his hair and gloves. His vision was still blurry and he could still hear ringing in his ears, but after shaking his head and blocking his eyes he found himself at a clearing with bushes and dead tree trunks sticking out around the sand or lying on the ground, safe and sheltered from the storm miraculously. "Where….am I?" He then asked as he stood up and turned around to see the entrance to the large cave in the rocky walls, "A cave….how did I get here?" He then felt something in his shoes and pockets, taking them off and flipping them inside out, large amounts of sand began to pour out of them till they made a miniature hill. "Whoa, look at all this sand….I feel as though I was just buried alive…." he said before eying the many grains on his clothes before beating them off, hoping to clear off as much as he could and get rid of the irritating sensation.

"Tell me about it….." a female voice groaned behind him. "I've even got sand in places I don't feel comfortable mentioning…."

As Max turned around he blocked in surprise to see a friend walk out groggily to meet him, "C…Cera?" he asked noticing she was still brushing out sand from her hair. He then smiled seeing she wasn't too harmed and she smiled back to see the same could be said for him, though a little banged up by the storm, at least they and their friends were-

"Ah! That's right!" Max then gasped in realisation as he ran past Cera to look inside the cave. She then followed him and they both found Zoe and Rex were lying down at a rocky platform looking rather battered, which worried their friends as they went over to them.

"Zoe! Rex!" Max gasped as he took Rex and shook him hoping for a sign of life. While he did that Cera brought Zoe up to check for a pulse and she sighed with relief to feel there was still one there, "Come on guys wake up! Please!" Max then cried once more shaking Rex rather vigorously, as the blond boy opened his eyes and moaned.

"Urk…." He slowly opened his eyes he caught sight of his friend holding him in his arms, "M…Max?"

"Cera?" said Zoe next as she woke up too.

Both Cera and Max both smiled feeling at ease, "Ah, thank goodness you're alright." she said as they helped them stand and then backed off to give them some space, as they began brushing off whatever dirt got on their clothes or in their hair.

"Yeah, I think so." said Rex as he brushed off the really irritating particles that were stuck on his long sleeve.

"Could be better, but I'm good." Zoe muttered as she had to take off her shoes and empty it of pebbles and grains too, "I'll never be able to look at sand or even the beach the same way again." she then muttered as she felt a few grains rub against her under her clothes in uneasy areas.

Max snickered at her being uncomfortable before looking around and realising they were missing some important friends of their's "Wait! Where's Chomp and the others!?" he then exclaimed as everyone gaped in alarm!

"You're right! They're gone!" Rex cried out as they looked around frantically for any signs of their friends.

They quickly ran out of the cave and shouted out at the top of their lungs, "Chomp! Are you there!?" Max called out.

"Ace! Paris! Miku!"

"We're here!" They cried out, but their calls went unanswered.

Zoe then brought her hands to her chest in worry, "Oh no, you don't think they got lost out in the storm do you?"

Max and the others turned to her horrified by that possibility before eying the opening on the other side seeing that the sandstorm was still raging violently outside, of that were true…."N…No!" He was tempted to run out and go searching, and the others were prepared to gild him back, when the sound of rustling bushes near them stopped them in time. As they turned to look, they rusted harder and eventually a yellow triceratops' head pop out and barked, bringing hope to Max and the others!

"Ah!" they gasped.

Max's eyes widened with joy and relief, "Chomp!" he cheered as the triceratops baby barred happily and ran up to him, followed closely by a small carnotaurus, parasaurolophus and a microraptro hanging on her back as they all ran back to their owners!

"Paris, Ace and Miku too!" Cera cheered with the others as they welcomed them with open arms, "There you are!"

"It's a miracle!"

"I almost thought I lost you forever!"

"Oh you had me worried Paris…you're safe now." Zoe cried rubbing her face on Paris who chirped back happily.

Ace on the other hand was more affectionate as he began licking Rex's face and tickling him non-stop, "Hahaha, take it easy Ace, I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." Rex laughed before stroking his partner's head.

A little while later after the renuono they checked their supplies to see if they had anything which may have survived the storm. Unfortunately for them luck appeared to have abandoned them as snd seemed to have filled up their packs and cluttered up all their things. "Ugh, my water's all filled with sand now….." Rex grunted uneasily seeing the particles sloshing inside his bottle, making him feel rather sick.

"And I lost mine in the desert out there….." muttered Zoe in annoyance as she felt her lips chapping up.

"It's just mine left now," said Cera as she took out the last remaining bottle they had with them, as they and their dinosaurs all fixed their eyes on it, "Question is, can we make it last?" she asked uneasily looking around to see everyone was eying their bottle and were aiming to get at least a sip of it.

"The dinoholder seems to be working just fine now that we're in the shade." said Rex checking his device, "We could go back and restock, but who's to say the dinosaur won't move on when we get back?" he then added stating they can go back if they really needed to.

"We'll just make do with the best we have now then we'll go back if we have no other choice." suggested Max as the others nodded with him.

"Mhmm."

He then bought a finger to his chin, "Still the question remains," he then said as he looked around to het a full view of their surroundings, "How did we end up here in the first place?" he then asked as he saw no doubt they come in through the opening in the walls, but somehow they got in after being further away from it earlier.

"Yeah good question…." Rex mused as they pondered over it for a but.

"The storm's out there and we're here in this gorge all safe from it." said Zoe before looking up at it and hearing the strong winds echo through the opening, "You don't think the storm blew us in here do you?"

Cera shook her head, "I highly doubt that." she said before noticing some footprints in the sand at the entrance coming in and out of it, showing there was someone here recently besides them, "Someone no doubt must have brought us here, question is, who?" Before the others could answer, the sounds of approaching footsteps followed by scrunching of sand came from behind the far corner of the canyon which caught their ears.

"Huh?" Turning around they could see a shadow looking on the walls as something began to approach them from the other side! As it did, their dinosaurs arched themselves ready to face what was going to come their way.

"Do you hear that?" Zoe asked uneasily.

"Yeah," Max nodded narrowing his eyes, "Something's coming….." he said as the sounds of the footsteps grew louder and louder.

Soon, emerging from behind some bushes was a large green and yellow ankylosaur with bony plated armour on its back. As it appeared it let out a low but calm bellow before walking to them, which surprised the entire D Team, "Whoa! That's a big dinosaur!" gasped Max.

"A tarchia…." Cera breathed, amazed that a wild dinosaur would approach them so calmly without any fear.

"I've heard of those," said Zoe, "They're ankylosaurs that lived in Mongolia and it was theorised that it was desert like it is today."

Max then smiled folding his arms on his hips,"Guess he must be feeling quite at home huh?" he said as the tarchia soon stepped towards them. As Chomp and the others held their ground and put on firm faces, the tarchia leaned towards each of the kids, sniffing them as they held still and their breath, worrying about what it might do next. They also didn't want to startle it knowing it could easily turn and smash them if it got spooked! As they held their breath and sweated anxiously, hoping it would finish soon, it then backed off giving them space as they took in a deep gasp of air and slumped to the ground overwhelmed by suffocation and the pressure!

"Boy that was close…." Max moaned.

"Yeah, I felt my heart was going to explode there…." Zoe gasped putting a hand to her heart as Rex and Cera said nothing but gasp for air, having held it the longest, their face colours returning.

As the tarchia moved over to a bush to browse, Max then pondered over a thought that crossed his mind, "Did he….save us from the sandstorm?"

"From the looks of things, that seems plausible….." said Rex in thought.

After that, the tarchia looked to them rather compassionately as it jerked its head to the back behind the rocks as it began to walk away.

"Looks like he wants us to follow him." Cera noted observing its' behaviour.

Max thens shrugged his shoulders, "Well, what have we got to lose?" he said as they followed behind, but staying clear of its heavy tail knowing one swipe could take their heads off!

As they made it around the coiner they widened their eyes to see the sparkling pool of water before them, as the sun's rays peered through a gap in the clouds above and ill innate the sparkling rich water before them! "Ah! An oasis!" Rex gasped as the others' eyes brightened in amazement.

"Look at all that water!" Zoe cheered excitedly as she felt her heart race.

"Ahahahah!" They laughed as they came down to get a well earned drink in the hot day while chasing away the birds that had gathered, scattering the flocks to the skies! They either splashed it on their faces, scooped it with their hands or even guzzled down from the edge like animals did.

"Man is this stuff great!" Max cheered as he looked up from drinking.

"Yeah, it tastes even better than the water we brought with us!" Rex commented as he sipped with his hands.

Looking around Zoe noticed their dinosaurs were settling in nicely, "And there's quite a lot of food to go around here too." she said noticing Paris and Chomp munching on the bushes and plants nearby while Ace went go chasing birds before resorting to snapping at some flying insects near the water, though the sight of getting near the oasis caused him to back away from it slightly, still not having overcome his hydrophobia yet. Miku meanwhile climbed on a dead tree branch nearby pecking ate whatever few grubs she could find under the peeling bark and she snatched them up and swallowed them down.

After enjoying their welcome relief they noticed their saviour was walking to the side towards some cactus plants as he began to sniff the flowers that ere blooming on them. "That tarchia pretty much saved our lives back there." Cera breathed feeling grateful for what it did for them.

He then opened his mouth wide and began to chomp down on a large chunk of cactus before chewing it up with the thorns and swallowing it down without any qualms. "Whoa look at him munch down that cactus." Zoe widened her eyes impressed.

"My teeth already hurt just looking at it." said Max uneasily as he covered his mouth feeling a numbing sensation come upon his teeth. He then looked down to see Chomp was shuddering at the sight before running off to chew some softer leaves at a bush, "I don't think Chomp would ever eat that, even if he was really starving…." he thought to himself.

The tarchia then looked at them, before moving on to a bush nearby, tugging at it until he tore it out form the roots! The D Team gasped at his strength and noticed he dropped it before them and used his head to nudge it at them.

Looking to it and back, Cera then pointed to it, "Is that….for us?" she asked as the tarchia let out a friendly growl.

They sweat dropped ay the dinosaur's unusual but no doubt genuine generosity, "Umm….thank you….but I don't think our stomachs can take that." said Max uneasily scratching the side of his head, which made the poor dinosaur lower its he'd sadly much to their dismay. He almost felt like taking a bite out of the bush to show his appreciation, but then changed his mind upon noticing Chomp and Paris were both wagging their tails and barking with excitement. As they looked to him he could tell what they wanted as he chuckled back, "But Chomp and Paris might like it right?" They then jumped up and down with excitement confirming it.

"Hahah I take that as a yes." said Rex as the 2 herbivores went to munch on the leaves and twigs they were given as a gift. After they had their fill the entire D Team dinosaur gang gathered around the tarchia and ran around him happily as he wagged his tail playfully with them, even letting them jump on top of him for fun.

"He seems pretty friendly for a wild dinosaur doesn't he?" commented Zoe as she folded an arm on her hip and smiled.

Cera observed and saw Zoe was indeed right as he let their dinosaurs approach him so closely and calmly without showing any signs of agitation, "Yeah, wonder why." she mused as she then smiled, "How about I go find out?" she added as she picked up Miku form the ground and began to walk up towards him, much to her teammates' alarm!

The rest of her friends turn to her in alarm, "Whoa whoa Cera! You're not actually thinking of walking up to that dinosaur are you?" Max laughed nervously thinking she was joking.

"Well, how else are we going to get an answer?" she then answered calmly much to his disbelief.

"H…Hey now, you're not actually serious!?" he exclaimed as she started walking up to its face and it looked to her, observingly her carefully, as the other dinosaurs made way and let her pass.

"Cera get back here!" Rex cried in alarm, but before he and the others could go and stop her, they saw it turned out to be alright as she raised her arm to its head.

"Hey there, it's okay…..we're all friends here right?" she said as she began stroking him gently and he hummed in response to the gentle patting she gave him, "Y…yeah that's right, we mean you no harm at all." she said in a soothing tone stroking his face, "We're grateful for you helping us out there, so thank you." As she said that, to everyone's amazement, the dinosaur began to nuzzle up closely to her chest and hum again. Listening to what he was grunting, Miku then looked to Cera and chirped, listening long enough, Cera nodded. "I see I understand….." she said understandably as she walked back to the D Team who were awaiting her answer, "It's alright you guys," she said to them, "Apparently this tarchia was just very lonely and wanted a friend. Also, he couldn't just leave us to get buried underneath all that sand just now so it decided to save us." she said before smiling warmly while turning her gaze to him as he continued munching, "We were really lucky he was in the area and he saw we needed help."

"Wow really?" Zoe asked in surprise, celery it wasn't what she nor the others were expecting.

"Whoa, so are you like some dinosaur whisperer or something?" Max then joked with a snicker as Cera shook her head in response.

"Not entirely," she said as she nuzzled her partner's chin, "It's more like I listen to what Miku tells me after she hears out what it had to say. But if you read its' behaviour enough you might get the same idea as I just did." she then added at the end as Max felt taken aback by her words.

"No kidding….." Zoe then mused with interest, amazed at another new talent Cera seemed to uncover about herself.

"Hehe, maybe at this rate you can do some kind of dino therapy with Chomp and the others," Max joked as he looked down at their dinosaurs who looked back at him curiously, "Get them to behave when they step out of line like they do in those dog or cat training shows." he chuckled.

"Haha that would be a blast." Rex then laughed as Cera blushed red with embarrassment.

"Aw guys you're teasing me….." They soon laughed together joyously, as the tarchia watched them from afar. It seemed to smile for a small moment before lowering itself down to the ground and let out a low groan which caught everyone's attention.

"What's wrong with it now?" Max asked eying it as Cera approached it slowly and carefully. As it turned to her it let out a few small cries to Miku who then chirped back to Cera, who's expression held firm.

"Hmm…."

"What did it say?" asked Zoe as she and the boys came up to their red headed friend after she seemed to have finished her conversation with the dinosaur.

Cera looked at Max and the others, feeling uneasy about telling them how the dinosaur felt, but eventually mustered up the courage to say it, even if it wasn't easy, "From what I can tell….it had a close friend once, but then….it lost them in something unfortunate," she said choking a bit and also feeling rather saddened herself, "So now it feels….rather downhearted since we kinda of remind it of its' old friend and the times they had together." she said at the end as the mood turned rather downcast for everyone, feeling they wished they didn't ask.

As they looked to the dinosaur they saw he stopped wagging his tail and he lowered his head down, his humming becoming lower and more depressed as he tried to look away. "For such a big dinosaur he really does have a big heart too….." said Zoe.

Max then walked up to it and it looked back at him curiously. The young boy then smiled and opened his hands out to him, "Hey it's okay big guy, everything's going to be alright." he said as the others soon joined his side to welcome the tarchia into their circle of friends.

"Yeah, we're all friends here." said Zoe smiling warmly, "And we'll be your friends too."

"If you come back with us, you'll be safe and have more friends than you can ever hope for?" Rex then offered as their dinosaurs jumped up and down barking with enthusiasm hoping he'd come with them. The Tarchia looked to them all and blinked curiously as Cera stepped forward towards it once more.

"You won't be lonely anymore and it'll be way more fun than living out here in the wilderness by yourself." she said as she held out her arm to it, "So what do you say?" she asked once more with hope.

The dinosaur looked to all of them one by one, as it began to ponder over what to do. It noticed all the sincere smiles on their faces knowing they meant what they said, yet he didn't feel quit ready to open up its own heart to them yet, as a bad memory and feeling passed through his mind at the last second, making him turn away much to their surprise and disappointment. He then turned around to the shelter behind some rocks as it then lay down to rest, curling up its tail by its side.

"So that's a….no?" Max asked feeling let down.

Cera shook her head, "I'm guessing it wants time to think it over." she said observing it, "We did only just meet after all."

"I see….." said Rex understandably before folding his arms on his hips, "Well we shouldn't go against its' wishes, we should at least give it some space for the time being."

"I agree…." said Zoe as Max nodded with her. As Cera looked back to the now resting dinosaur she narrowed her eyes slightly seeing there was still something about it, but she couldn't figure it out just yet….

"So what do we do now?" Max then asked feeling unsure what to do next.

Looking up at the sky, Rex could see it was getting dark, and the orange light of the sunset peered through the opening that as ahead of them, "It's getting late, maybe we can think it over in the morning." he suggested.

"Once tarchia trusts us enough maybe he'll change back into a card for us and we won't need too fight at all." Zoe then added.

"Yeah." said Max agreeing with her, as he and the others headed back to the cave behind the corner and saw it was rather homy on the inside sepsis being barren and rocky, "Good thing we have a place to spend the night too, courtesy of tarchia." he said as he stepped in.

"It feels pretty warm too," said Rex as he touched the walls of the cave, "Should be just enough to keep us from freezing through the night."

"Doesn't look too comfortable though…." said Zoe shuddering a bit noting all they had was a large rocky platform for them all to get on, other than that it was sleeping on the sandy floor, which was a big no no considering there right be bugs in there.

Cera then folded her arms at their predicament, "Well beggars can't be choosers." she muttered knowing it was an inconvenience that they had to sleep under such conditions. As she brought a finger to her chin in thought she then snapped them as she came up with an idea, "Though I may have a solution…." she said as the others stared and listened.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Nearby, Rod and Laura were traversing over the desert rocky outcrops when they managed to find a buffer just the right size to rest their jet and to provide enough cover for the storm earlier, as well as being not too far from where the dinosaur signal was. "This looks like a good place to land." he said settling the jet down gently to avoid scratching it against the sharp edges of the walls and boulders before coming to a settle on the desert ground, which was balanced between the soft sand and the hard rock.

Laura looked around nd smiled seeing it was just right, "Yeah, and it'll be way out of the dust storm's way if the wind does blow again tonight." she said before her eyes turned droopy, "Still, it is getting late and….yawn…..I'm getting sleepy…." she yawned covering her mouth as her eyelids became heavy.

"Yeah me too." Rod muttered feeling a little grumpy before checking the thermometer to see the air temperature outside was dropping below freezing levels, "It's really cold outside too, wouldn't be a good idea to go out." he said while also considering the fact that the low light would make it really difficult to see.

Laura then pressed the thermostat a little as it switched from air conditioning to heater, "Good thing this jet here comes with a heater too." she said feeling much warmer and comfortable as she lowered her seat down flat so it was pretty much like a bed, "Ahh, cosy isn't it?"

Rod smiled and nodded dreamily as he did the same, "Mhmm, we can go hunting for that dinosaur in the morning. Good night Laura." he said as he rested his head on the palms of his hands like a pillow and closed his eyes dreamily.

"Night Rod." his sister replied as she rolled to one side and rested her head on her 2 hands clapped together like a pillow.

Elsewhere, further off from the cave where the D Team and siblings were resting, a pair of travellers and their bactrian camel were settling down for the night in an oasis surrounded by several trees and a pool of water as they built a campfire to keep themselves as warm as they could in the cold of the desert, which dropped below 40 degrees, a sharp contrast to the heat of the desert day. As their camel slept by the fire, its owners, a pair of men in long nomadic clothing settled themselves by the fire, as they settled a frying pan on it and began to warm it up.

"Brr, tonight's colder than usual….as if that sandstorm earlier today wasn't bad enough…." said one man with a black shaggy beard wearing reddish clothing as he added another stick to make the fire bigger, though the desert winds blowing didn't seem to help much.

"I know, even 3 layers isn't enough for this….." his friend said who wore orange and white as he began taking out a rucksack with supplies, "Perhaps a nice warm meal should help." he said as he began to rummage through it, taking out a large frying pan and laying it on the fire to warm it up.

His friend looked over to him curiously, "I do hope you've packed enough food for tonight's dinner." he said feeling hopeful as he hugged himself to conserve body heat in the freezing desert night air.

"I'm sure we can make it to the next village on what we have." he friend replied reassuringly as he took out a large brown egg which was nearly the size of a football. "And this egg I bought from the last place we passed by will surely keep us going for tonight at least." he said as his friend took it into his hand and eyed it with awe.

"Amazing! I've never seen an egg this large before in all my years!" he gasped in amazement as the other man took it back and smirked.

"Enjoy seeing it now, because it's about to become our dinner." He said as he began to tap it on the side of the frying pan to make it crack, though after at least 3 knocks it didn't even have a single chip off! "Hmm? An unusually hard shell….." he mused to himself with interest as he continued tapping it but to no avail.

The first man's stomach then growled as he yelled out in hunger and impatience, "Hurry it up! I'm hungry!"

"I know!" he friend responded just as hungry, "Give me a minute or 2, this shouldn't take long." Losing patience himself he found a nearby rock and hurried over to it before smashing it! It caused a large zigzag crack to open in the center of it as he smiled with excitement, "Aha!" he cheered as he hurried back to his waiting friend who too was smiling with excitement upon hearing the crack earlier, "Dinner is now served." he said as he opened it, but instead of a massive yolk a pair of cards instead fell on the frying pan, one a carnivorous dinosaur and the other an orange card with a fireball on it!

Both men widened their eyes in surprise, "What!? Cards!?"

"What is the meaning of this outrage!?" They didn't have much time to be frustrated as the flames caused a few sparks to blow up into the air before landing on the cards! As a result they both glowed, causing the men to shield their eyes and the camel to wake up. As it died down they all widened their eyes in horror to see a massive bipedal tyrannosaur dinosaur, yellow with red marking around the body from head to tail roar out fiercely to the night sky and moon as they hugged one another in fear!

"GAAAAAHH!" They quickly ran over to their camel which had just hurried up to its feet upon seeing the massive carnivore awaken out of nowhere!

"Get on quick!"

"Run!" They cried as the tarbosaurus spotted them and charged at them with a wide open jaw! Fortunately the camel was able to avoid the jaws in time though it was a near miss as they could all feel her warm breath blowing on them and sharp fangs nearly making contact as they snapped close!

She roared in frustration but before she could try again and NOT miss, she halted her attack last minute as its nose soon caught a familiar scent. Sniffing the air and holding its head up high, she manoeuvred itself in the direction of the blowing wind before its nose locked onto the direction it was coming from like a homing missile. Taking in the scent it's eyes turned primal and slitted as it roared out in fury and headed in the direction the smell came from into the night, where the desert mountain range was.

Back at the cave, Tarchia noticed all the D team were snuggling together in a huddle, using one another for warmth to conserve body heat, even if it mean the boys had to get close with the girls to do it, some of them even resorted to hugging their dinosaurs as heat packs or even using them as pillows! Seeing they were so peaceful, the tarchia's heart was touched as he went to go gather up some nice soft bundles of leaves from a nearby bush before gently covering over them like a blanket, which made them feel more comfortable as their expressions turned to smiles.

It soon began to fall asleep knowing they were at peace themselves, as it brought it back to an old time before when it had a close friend…..

Suddenly, their nearby dinoholders and dinoshot suddenly flashed red, the beeping sound and light was enough to make it open one eye crankily, spurring him to move off to find another place to sleep for the night, near a shelter of boulders. But as it walked near them, its ears soon picked up the sounds of a roar in the distance, an all too familiar one as he growled with agitation. Looking out to the opening of the canyon wall, it narrowed its eyes with anger as it began to head out through them and into the night of the desert.

 **(Next morning)**

Ursula, Zander and Ed painfully dragged their feet across the floor as they staggered with exhaustion while covered with all kinds of grime and muck all over their clothes and hair. "Oww….I thought we'd never climb out of there…." Zander groaned rubbing his forehead as he scratched his head with his now icky fingernails, digging into his scalp which itched tremendously!

"Same here, but no way was I going to let my final resting place be a dump of all places." Ed muttered as lifted up his shirt and slowly shook out slime and goo from inside it before yanking out a tin can from inside his pants.

"How humiliating…." Ursula muttered, having chicken and fish bones caught in her hair and her eyes already developing bags since she and the others barely slept a wink as they spent nearly every waking moment trying to dig out of the garbage bag and then to climb back out to the entrance, it was an ordeal which took a toll on them all as they left behind a trail of food remains like banana peels and apple cores behind them. "I never want to go through that again…." She muttered as flied began to gather around their heads and hover above them, as they swatted at them repeatedly but to no avail. Having stayed down there the entire night their noses had pretty much gotten used to their new pungent odours much to their dismay.

"Hmm?" As they headed for their rooms for a much needed shower, not caring about the trail of garbage and grime the were leaving, they passed by the living room to see the monitor was flashing again. Upon closer inspection, their eyes widened in surprise, "Look! Another signal!" Ed pointed out.

"2 dinosaurs in 1 location!?" Ursula cried out as she clapped her hands together like it was a dream come true, "Oh this is our lucky day!" she sang before spinning around.

Noticing 1 signal was the same as the one from yesterday, Zander was able to conclude one thing from it, "Looks like Rod and Laura haven't come back either." he noted putting a finger to his chin.

"You think something happened to them out there?" Ed asked worried for them before biting his nails, "Like their ship crashed or maybe they got lost or lose eaten!?" he cried out in horror. To his surprise, Zander and Ursula seemed to take it pretty well as they both laughed out loud.

"If that was the case then luck really is on our side this time!" Ursula cheered shooting her arms out to the sky, "If we never see those ankle biters again it'll be a dream come true!"

"Oh yeah! This is what I call a time for celebration!" Zander grinned as he started doing a jig, "I just knew things would be looking up for us the moment we got out of that garbage disposal!"

Ed thought about it for a bit did see they had a point, he was about to join them in joyous celebration when realised someone else wouldn't at all and he gulped, "But would Dr Z want that though?" he asked as they then stopped celebrating and fell down in defeat.

"You make a good point….."

"Knowing him he might blame us and even make fossils out of us….." They each muttered in defeat as Ed turned pale!

"No! I don't want that to happen!" he screamed running around in circles in a panic, "What do we do!?" he then exclaimed before huddling up in the corner and shivering.

Thinking about it and realised they were in a predicament, Ursula then gained an idea, "Wait I know! If we bring them back along with those 2 dinosaur cards he'll reward us generously for sure!" she called out as the others turned to her, "Not just Dr Z, Rod and Laura would be indebted to us for this too," she then added with a devious grin, "I bet they'll be so grateful maybe they'll even owe us their very lives!"

The 2 men then cheered in excitement and amazement. "Ah! A great idea!" Ed gasped with his eyes glistening.

"I've always wanted to boss them around and rub it in those snotty faces of theirs!" Zander snickered as he did his jig again.

"Oh the thought of it is making me jitter with excitement!" Ursula sang as she blushed red, "I can't contain myself any longer!

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Ed cried as he waved to them to come quickly, "Let's go get Dr Z already!"

"Off we go!" They all cheered as they scampered along to their boss' bedroom. They quickly barged in through the door to his bed and saw he was reading a kids' storybook about a dinosaur in it, "Hey Dr Z!"

"Hmm?" He looked up from his book hearing their voices, grouchy that they interrupted his quiet time but he soon widened his eyes in horror to see them covered in grime, food packaging remains and flies! "Gah! What are you doing!? Get out now!" he yelled in alarm while pinching his nose to block out the horrendous stench they were carrying on them!

"Ah! Sorry!" They gasped in realisation at the mess they were making in his room before running around to behind the corner of the door, "Is this okay?"

Dr Z thought about it and found it more tolerable as he folded his arms grumpily, "Better…." he said before getting to business, "First off what do you want? And second, why were you all covered in garbage?! Don't tell me you actually went dumpster diving!" he demanded furiously.

"Long story doctor…." Ursula muttered twiddling her fingers as Ed and Zander both shuddered as they began reliving the experience they had in the trash chute the other night. "In any case, Rod and Laura still haven't made it back home yet we thought you should know." she then added which made Dr Z's heart skip a beat.

"My grandchildren are still out in that desert by themselves!?" he exclaimed turning pale as he grasped his face in horror as fantasies of his 2 children crying for help in the desert, drying up like skeletons under the sun and being swallowed up by a quicksand pit flooded his mind! "Oh no! I'm so terrible! How could I have let them down!?" he cried in horror as he stood up with determination, "Don't worry children! I'll-" Suddenly his back began to give way again!

CRACK

"Argh!" he cried in pain and teared up before falling back down on the bed whimpering.

"Umm if you'd like Dr Z, we can bring them back for you easy!" Ursula suggested lapping her hands together as she and the other speeded their heads in. "In fact we were just about to go when we decided to let you know first!" As she said that Ed and Zander both nodded frantically.

Dr Z hardened his gaze at them, "Grr, then what are you still standing around for!? Get your butts off and go already! Don't you dare come back without my grandkids!" he demanded before sniffing the air and pinching his nose while turning green, "And while you're at it, go take a shower! You smell worse than dinosaur manure!" he yelled pointing out at them.

"Ugh…." they groaned realising they should have done that from the start, "Yes sir doctor sir!" They quickly said before scurrying down the hallway to their quarters to clean up!

Their sounds of their footsteps slowly died down as they got further and further away from his room. Looking to the floor he saw they still left a long trail of garbage which include some orange peels and apparently left over oil and grease mixed in with burnt food crumbs in it, which stunk like crazy as his eyes began to water from the pungent stench it left. "Great, now what am I going to do with all this garbage….." he muttered, he was considering of calling them back to pick up after themselves when a burly woman suddenly barged in without warning through the wall! "Ah! Helga, perfect timing." he brightened up seeing just the perfect robot for the droid, "Listen, clean up this mess right now." he pointed to the mess with a firm tone.

She turned to look in the direction he did as her eyes scanned, "Scanning…..mess detected." she said in a robotic tone before eerily turning to Dr Z himself, "Source of filth detected."

"Hmm?" Dr Z blinked in confusion as to what she meant.

"Eliminating now." she said as she plucked out a large black garbage bag from her apron's pocket before stepping towards him rather menacingly.

Dr Z could feel his heart racing as she said nothing in her approach to him, "Wh…Why do you have that large garbage bag Helga? And why are you coming to me like some scary monster?" he gulped turning pale while pointing weakly at her. She soon stood before him and he then got the message as he shook his hands out in a fright! "Wait, oh no….Helga don't you-" She cut him off as she grabbed him by the throat and proceeded to shove him into the bag! "AAAAAHHHH!" his wills of despair echoed through the halls of Zeta Point as she sealed up the bag tightly and tied a knot around it before housing it over her back and heading right for the trash chute.

 **(Meanwhile)**

The next morning as the sun began to rise over the horizon and peer through the gap in the rocky walls, they shone through in a straight line and began to illuminate the cave entrance, as the rays focused n Max he turned around and grunted in annoyance before finally opening his eyes. After blinking them and smoking his lips he sat up straight and stretched out his arms, "Yawn…..man I slept like a rock last night…." he said getting up as one by one the D Team and their dinosaurs too woke up and kicked off the bushes they used as blankets and stretched out themselves too.

"Yeah, I didn't think sleeping on the desert ground would be that comfortable." said Rex curiously as he rubbed his back and found it to be perfectly fine much to his surprise. As he took a look outside he then pointed out to their side, "Hey look." They all turned to see the bushy covers they kicked off, "I don't remember getting covered by bushes last night." he said as he picked them up and felt them with his hands, "Also, it's actually pretty comfortable….." he then said with a smile before dropping it on the ground and letting Chomp and Paris munch at it for their morning breakfast. While they did that, Miku and Ace headed out to the pond to get some water and hopefully catch a few bugs that may be hovering about there.

"Who do you think put it on?" asked Zoe curiously before a thought crossed her mind, "Wait, you don't think-" She looked around to see they were actually missing someone as she blinked her eyes in confusion, "Huh? Where's…..tarchia?"

The others soon followed her as they looked around the canyon but found pretty much no trace of the large herbivore, as if he had disappeared into thin air! "Did he wander off somewhere while we slept last night?" asked Cera as Max face palmed in annoyance.

"Aw man, now we've got to go look for it all over again!" he cried before lowering himself down in dismay and Rex had to go pat him on the back to comfort him.

"Don't worry Max," he said encouragingly, "We can always keep track of where it goes using the dino detector." he stated brightening Max's mood a little, as Zoe volunteered to check on her dinoholder to track where he might have gone.

"It's still early in the morning so it should still work fine." she said feeling the temperature of the day was still quite cooling so their devices should still work as normal. As she switched it on she widened her eyes and gasped in alarm, "Wh.…What the!?"

The others turned to her, "What's wrong Zoe!?" Max cried as they gathered around her, the sound of her cry also urged the dinosaurs to regroup around them.

"Look!" She pointed out at her dinoholder, which was slightly shaky as she was surprised at what she saw, 2 red blimps, indicating that 2 dinosaurs were within the same vicinity!

"No way! 2 dinosaur signals!?"

"There's another dinosaur here besides tarchia!?" Max and Rex both gasped in surprise.

Cera narrowed her eyes and saw they weren't just active and moving, they were coming close together, "Looks like they're converging on one another….." she said seriously as they saw the opening to the canyon ahead of them, with tarchia's footprints leading out through it!

"Come on guys," Max waved to them, "They're not too far out from here, we should check it out!" he said as he rushed through first.

"Right!"

As they all regrouped and got prepped up they hurried off through the opening in the gorge, following the tracks of the tarchia hoping to find out where it was headed. As they did, Cera narrowed her eyes and hardened her expression knowing there was something amidst and it couldn't be good, "I've got a bad feeling about this…." was all she could think to herself as they hurried out into the open and across the warm desert sand.

As they headed through the opening and into the desert, the sun soon shone across the mountain range and before long it crept over the rocky ledge Rod and Laura were sleeping at in their jet as it radiated their faces and spurred them to open their eyes.

"Yawn…" they both stretched out and rubbed their eyes upon waking up, as Rod was the first to adjust his seat and wake up. "Hey Laura, sleep well?" he asked, his tone still somewhat drowsy as his sister adjusted her own seat.

"Mhmm," she smiled dreamily and nodded, "Surprisingly it felt really comfortable in here, almost as good as our beds back home." she replied. As she looked to the blinking screen she blinked her eyes in surprise at what she saw, "Huh?" Upon closer inspection she saw her eyes weren't playing tricks on her as she quickly alerted her brother, "Wow! Look at this Rod! There's another dinosaur nearby!"

He sprung to life upon hearing her words, "Huh!?" As he saw what he showed her he too was taken aback, "Wow, what a stroke of luck today is!" he grinned eager for a big catch before zooming in on their targets, "Looks like we can make it there on the alpha scooters." He said as he tapped a button to ejected a pink and blue scooter from their jet's back and they quickly hopped out from the cockpit and onto the desert floor, "Hehe, couldn't think of a better way to start the day." he said eagerly as hopped onto his.

"Let's go!" Laura cheered as she got on hers and they both sped away towards the nearest signal, leaving behind a trail of dust in their path.

As they sped along for a while, they came across a set of 3 toed footprints leading from an oasis, hearing the sound of a roar in the distance they could tell it was a carnivore and no doubt close by. As they hid behind a grove of trees, Laura pointed out a large theropod scanning the horizon carefully from above a sand dune while sniffing the air, "There it is!" Laura whispered as she pointed it out. As she took a closer look she noticed something familiar about it, "Hey, that dinosaur looks kinda like Terry doesn't it? In fact, it seems almost as big as him." she commented as Rod narrowed his eyes and brought a finger to his chin in thought.

"Yeah, except the arms are kinda shorter." he said noticing that small difference. He then smacked a fist into his palm, "There's no question about it, that's a tarbosaurus!"

"Thought so," Laura replied in agreement, "Though I don't remember that being among the dinosaur cards we lost." she then added.

"Doesn't matter, in the end a dinosaur's still a dinosaur, and we're here to grab it!" Rod replied as he grinned eagerly and tightened his hand into a fist.

"Mhmm!" Laura nodded,

Rod unaware of this took out a scanner and a spinosaurus card, "I'll send Spiny in to-" but as she was about to slash the card, she took a closer look at the tarbosaurus, it appeared it was fixated on something in the distance as it snarled and began to walk off. "Wait a second." she then said stopping herself at the last minute.

Rod grunted in response at her chickening out for some reason, "What's the big deal Laura?" he asked, "Just summon Spiny and let's get this over with already." he said impatiently.

"Yeah I know Rod." she said back feeling rather conflicted about something before pointing out at the wandering dinosaur ahead of them, "But it looks like that tarbosaurus is looking for something," she said seeing she was sniffing the air keenly before she began to move off in the distance down the sand dune, "Wonder what it is? Maybe we should find out."

"Like we care." Rod scoffed as he reached into his pocket and taking out a scanner with Terry's card, "Come on, if you won't do it then I will!" he grunted in annoyance as he prepared to slash.

Seeing him act as such brought Laura back to remember something that Cera said once, how they didn't care about the dinosaur's feelings and they simply used what they were given. Did that mean they saw Terry and the others as tools to use and nothing more? As much as she didn't want to do it, she knew they couldn't just attack and turn the dinosaur into a card like they always do…..

She then gritted her teeth and grabbed Rod's hand at the last second, "W…Wait Rod!" she cried out stopping him.

He turned to her in alarm, "What is it now?"

"W….well…." Laura looked away and twiddled her fingers knowing she acted on impulse and had no way to respond back, till she thought up an excuse on the spot, "I'm curious, I think we really ought to see at least what it's up to first then we capture it? Okay?" She said, hoping he'd buy into it.

Seeing Laura was eying him rather pleadingly, and also feeling somewhat curious himself Rod clicked his tongue in annoyance before conceding, "Sigh fine….." he huffed as Laura breathed a sigh in relief "Do we really have to though?" His sister didn't pay him much mind as they hopped on their scooters and took off behind the tarbosaurus, following it closely behind, as Rod narrowed his eyes at Laura who's mind seemed to be fixated somewhere else, "Looks like we are…..Wonder what's gotten into her?" he muttered before looking at his alpha scanner and noticing something odd, "Hang on," he said as his sister stopped to look too, "Is it actually heading for the other dinosaur signal?" he then asked before smirking, "If it is, maybe they could fight each other and then after we take the loser we can then get the winner while it's still tired and weak! Heh, maybe this can work to our favour after all." he said.

"Yeah, it sure can…." said Laura under her breath unsure of herself as they continued onwards.

Meanwhile, Tarchia had came upon the horizon in an area surrounded by sand as well as rocky outcrops sticking out of the ground. It sniffed the ground closely before lifting its' head and sniffing the air carefully. As it looked ahead it saw the tarbosaurus come in from over a sand dune not too far from where it was. They saw one another and locked eyes, and roared fiercely! The tarchia lifted up his tail and slammed it into the ground, creating an eruption of sand before raising it up and shaking it as a threat message!

The tarbosaurus however didn't buy she snared viciously baring its teeth and charging ahead towards the tarchia which held its ground! As it did, the sky turned multi coloured signalling a battlefield had appeared. As the tarbosaurus moved around to the tarchia's flank, he quickly shifted to his side and swung out his tail at lightning speed! The carnivore backed off in time with the club barely missing its' head. The ankylosaur brought in its tail again to prepare another attack but the tarbosaurus saw her' chance and delivered a head shove at the unprotected side hoping to throw him off balance! The tarchia however was able to maintain his balance and was only pushed forward before growing back in response!

It wasn't long before the D Team came upon the top of a sand dune and looking down they were surprised to see a battle between 2 wild dinosaurs!

"Whoa look!" Max cried out in surprise as they found themselves in the middle of a brutal battle between 2 prehistoric gladiators!

Rex eyed the new dinosaur and recognised it, "It's a tarbosaurus!" he said.

"And she's fighting tarchia!" Zoe gasped covering her mouth while Cera just stared and watched seeing the 2 dinosaurs circled one another, as the tarchia swung out his tail and the tarbosaurus was able to duck out of the way before lunching forward with a bite, though the ankylosaur was able to move out of the way in time as the massive jaws snapped close.

Max gritted his teeth seeing this as he turned to the others, "Come on guys, we should help it out!" he said rallying them together and they nodded in agreement.

"Yeah!"

"Dino slash!"

"Go triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!"

Soon all 3 of their dinosaurs appeared on the field together as a group, as Max yelled out the order, "Altogether now!" he cried as they all charged ahead towards the 2 battling behemoth that were already locked in fierce combat! As they came close, the tarchia was able to throw off the tarbosaurus away before it roared out angrily to the approaching D Team dinosaurs, which made them stop in their tracks as dust built up as they dug in their heels to halt their charge!

The D Team couldn't believe their eyes as the tarchia began to ward them off with its waving club tail, "Wh…What?" said Max surprised by the unexpected development.

"Why's he getting them to back off?" Rex then asked surprised it was refusing their offer to help it.

Zoe uneasily placed a hand to her chin, "Could he maybe be trying to keep the fight between it and the tarbosaurus, so that they don't get hurt?"

Cera narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "I don't think so…." she said rather seriously as the others looked to her in confusion.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" They asked.

She then focused her gaze at the tarchia which roared and slammed its tail on the ground as the tarbosaurus got back to its feet and charged right back at it, and they both met in a head lock trying to push the other down! "From what I can tell, it doesn't want us to interfere." she said as she hardened her expression seriously, "That it's his battle to fight and it's…..personal….."

The rest of the D team were taken aback by what she said, "P…Personal?" Max parroted uneasily with Zoe bringing her hands to her heart in worry.

"I don't know what that means, but….I don't like the sound of that one bit." said Rex looking back to the battle as their dinosaurs regrouped by their side to protect them in case things got hairy, while the tarchia and tarbosaurus circled one another and squared each other off for another confrontation.

"Me neither." said Cera narrowing her eyes, "All we can do now is stay out of it and hope for the best."

Nearby behind a rocky outcrop not far from where the D Team were, Rod and Laura too arrived on the scene and bore witnessed the battle brewing below them, "Hehe, looks like we're on time for the party, and we get a front row seat." Rod smirked knowing no matter who won the battle they'd win in the end, also knowing they could enjoy a good quality battle between 2 dinosaurs that lived in the same environment.

The tarchia swung his tail once more, but the tarbosaurus was able to get around in time as she opened her jaws widely and snapped hard, only for a tooth to break off upon contact with the ankylosaur's bony armour! It then fell to the ground with a few drops of blood as the massive carnivore backed away roaring in pain!

"Ouch!" Max cringed covering his mouth, "My teeth hurt just looking at it….." the scene urged him to take better care of his own dental hygiene so he wouldn't need to visit the dentist.

"No way will getting through that armour be easy." Rex noted.

The tarbosaurus roared ferociously leaning in, as the tarchia swung out its tail, this turned out to be a mock charge as the large carnivore expected it to come, leaning back out of the club's way before seizing the opening to charge in and grab it by the head! After getting good enough grip she was able to sling the huge herbivore through a large rock smashing it in the process! The tarchia got back up and charged ahead, meeting the tarbosaurus in a collision before overpowering and shoving her into a rock wall! The tarbosaurus recovered quickly and snapped forward, but the tarchia jumped back and managed to counter attack with a swift blow from his tail to the tarbosaurus' head sending her across the desert floor and even knocking out some of her teeth in the process! On closer inspection the tarchia and suffered a few bleeding bite marks to his head while the tarbosaurus' mouth was already bleeding from having some of her teeth knocked out as they both roared at one another violently!

Everyone looked on, tensing up at the heightened pressure in the air between both dinosaurs as the sense of anger and hatred could be felt, their partners tensing up and shaking with agitation, even the alpha gang was finding that this was getting out of hand.

"Th.…This is going too far!" Zoe cried out in alarm as the tarbosaurus stomped her feet in the ground and roar out!

Rex gritted his teeth, "And the tarbosaurus still wants to fight!" he gasped in disbelief.

"I don't understand, why are they so angry at one another!?" Max yelled, "Knock it off! Stop it both of you!" he yelled but his cried fell on deaf ears as both dinosaurs squared off with one another again.

"This….is horrible." breathed Cera as she begun to shake, "Their voices, nothing but rage and hatred…..they're out for blood!" she cried out clenching her fist much to everyone's alarm!

"What!?"

They all turned back to see the tarchia still wasn't about to yield just yet, in fact he was still raring to go. He swung his tail and delivered a swift blow to the tarbosaurus's side, who responded with delivering tail swipe of her own and knocking him away! Yet after getting up the tarchia was unwilling to back down as he roared another battle challenge at his rival.

"But….why would tarchia want to go through that extreme!?" Rex yelled, "I know about self defence against predators against one another but this is too far!"

"Urgh…." Rod meanwhile gritted his teeth seeing things were indeed getting out of hand, but as much as he wanted to interfere he knew that putting out one of their dinosaurs in the middle of that battle would be sending them to their doom, as Laura covered her mouth in horror and turned away unable to look anymore. It was at that moment, the stones in their dinoholders and alpha scanners suddenly began to glow, as they looked to them in alarm!

"Huh!?"

"What the!?" Their stones glowed and soon they were all enveloped in a bright light which forced them all to cover their eyes!

"Whoa!"

"AAAAAHHHH!"

As it died down they found themselves in what appeared to be a desert, only this time it seemed slightly more green with a few more shrubs, fallen trees and bushes in the desert sands surrounded by an oasis with a pool of fresh water in it, as the clouds blew gently across the blue sky.

"Huh? What is this?" Max gasped in awe with his friends seeing this never happened before to them.

"Did the stones bring us here?" Rex then asked.

"Seems that way…." said Cera just as amazed and surprised as the others were.

"No way…." Rod breathed as Laura looked up and around, finding herself captivated by the serene atmosphere and scenery.

It was then they heard the sounds of approaching foot steps in the distance. As they all looked, they saw a large bulky ankylosaur come up from behind a dune heading straight for the oasis for a good drink, an ankylosaur they all recognised in an instant, "Is that tarchia?" Zoe asked.

"It….looks like it…." Max replied. They soon noticed a small ceratopsian, without any horns and about the size of a sheep travelling close to its side following it as they made their way to the watering hole for a drink together.

"Is that a protoceratops?" Rex then asked. After that, the 2 dinosaurs began playing with one another, with the protoceratops wagging its tail like a happy doing and bouncing around the tarchia as the larger herbivore let out a few happy cried wagging his own tail and trying catch him.

"Aww how cute…..they're playing together." Zoe then said clapping her hands together with a smile, "Everything's so happy and peaceful…." seeing dinosaurs play with one another like young children did brought a warm fuzzy feeling to the kids, even the alpha gang who were eavesdropping on what they were saying, as they smiled seeing all was calm and safe.

Cera smiled before realising what this really was, "Could these be….tarchia's memories?" she then asked as the others looked to her, "Are the stones….showing us what happened in the past?"

"So that must have been his close friend from before." said Max upon realisation.

"Yeah…." Rex replied in agreement before becoming serious, "Wonder what happened? Why are the stones showing this to us?" Little did Rex know, was that soon regret that answer.

The scene shifted to later in the afternoon when the 2 dinosaurs were sleeping in the shade, with the protoceratops nuzzled in safely within the tarchia's curled up tail. It then stirred and yawned before heading out to browse on some bushes a bit further off, away from the safety of its larger companion. As it began to munch on the shrubs, it was unaware it was being watched by a pair of hungry eyes behind an large rocky wall. Letting its guard down, it failed to respond in time as a tarbosaurus lunged out from behind, roaring at the top of her lungs opening her jaws widely as she took the small herbivore by surprise!

Everyone turned pale, some covering their mouth in horror and disgust as the large carnivore grabbed hold of the helpless protoceratops and shook it in her jaws like rag doll before crushing the life out of it, as blood dripped down from its lifeless corpse onto the sandy ground. As she walked off with her prize, the tarchia had just awoken upon hearing the noise, and bellowed a cry of repair and sadness upon witnessing the life of his close companion taken away from him.

They all stared speechless, unable to fully process what they just witnessed…..

"That's…..horrible…." said Cera clutching her hands into fists as she felt herself choked hard on tears of sadness, they bore witness what tarchia experienced and suffered years ago with their own eyes and now they could understand its' pain….

"So that's the same tarbosaurus it's fighting now!?" Max gasped in alarm.

"No wonder it's so hateful and angry…." said Zoe sadly.

Laura couldn't help but sniffle and shed a tear herself while Rod clenched his fist in anger, gritting his teeth in the process seeing that tarbosaurus had to pay for what she did. Even he felt some emotional connection with dinosaurs from time to time and he felt really ticked off after what he witnessed. The rest of the D team were beginning to sympathise with the tarchia, when suddenly a bright light shone causing them to cover their eyes again!

"Ah!?"

"What now!?" They all cried as the blinding light erupted again! As it died down they found themselves at a rocky opening in a wall, with the entrance leading to the desert outside and what appeared to be a nest inside it.

They all blinked in surprise to see they were in fact in another vision the stones were showing them, "Huh? What's this now?" Max then asked before gasping in surprise to see the tarbosaurus come out from one side of the rocky outcrops with the body of the protoceratops in her jaws. As he gritted his teeth in anger and the others hardened their expressions, they soon took an unexpected turn to see a pair of hatchling tarbosaurus scurry out from the nest inside as their mother dropped the carcass for them to eat, which apparently was their first meal in weeks, after a long time of unsuccessful hunting she finally managed to bring food home for her starving young.

"Are those…..babies?" Rex gasped, seeing their were actually quite skinny and malnourished, and seeing how they were diving into the carcass ravenously was proof of their immense hunger.

"So then….the tarbosaurus did that so she could feed her young?" Zoe then mouthed out before smiling rather conflictedly, "That's….sweet….and yet….harsh…."

Cera tensed up as a result, "It's a cruel world that's for sure…" she said as they all looked down unsure of how to handle this situation, seeing there was no good or bad in this….each creature doing what it needed to survive, it was just life….

As the tarbosaurus moved off to go hunting for herself afterwards, the chicks played outside but stayed close to the nest. But they were soon greeted by an unexpected guest, and probably the last they would ever see. The tarchia soon walked in from around the corner of a large cactus, sniffing the ground and apparently tracking the tarbosaurus for what may have been miles now, as he narrowed his eyes seeing the chicks who stared at hum curiously.

"T…Tarchia?" Cera then breathed as it hardened its gaze at them and walked towards the unsuspecting chicks.

"What's it….doing?" Zoe then asked uneasily, knowing something didn't seem right. Without warning and to everyone's alarm, the tarchia growled angrily as he swung his tail club with massive force, smashing into 1 of the chicks and sending it flying into a rock wall! As it smashed against it, it let out a cry in pain its bones shattered like toothpicks from the force of the tail and collision before falling lifeless to the ground!

Everyone widened their eyes in alarm at what they witnessed.

"AH!"

The horror scene wasn't over yet as the remaining tarbosaurus chick made a run for the nest, the relentless ankylosaur, consumed by vengeance, brought down his tail and smashed down on the young dinosaur, leaving it as a now bloodied pile of flesh and bones which then speed into the desert sand.

"NO!" The D Team and the alpha gang were both taken aback at the horror they bore witness. As if the first scene with the tarbosaurus killing the protoceratops wasn't bad enough now they saw the brutal murder of baby dinosaurs….

The mother tarbosaurus soon returned hearing he sounds of her babies cries, as she arrived she soared angrily at the intruder who basically signed his death certificate as she snared viciously baring her fangs! In response the tarchia turned to face her and growled back raising his tail and shaking it up! Before they could do battle, a massive sandstorm then blew in, as both dinosaurs turned to look, without warning they were swept in and roared in agony before being swallowed up by the wind and sand!

The D Team cried out and shielded themselves, "AAAAAHHH!" They cried bracing themselves for the incoming wind and dust about to blow over!

"WHOA! Incoming!" Rod cried out as he quickly reacted and used himself to shield Laura who crouched down and covered her eyes!

As it seemed to die down they all looked up to find it was normal again much to their surprise.

"Hey….we're back home…." Max breathed looking around to see the sky was still clear in the morning and the winds were calm now. Before long the began to remember what they witnessed earlier as they turned rather downcast.

"So those were the tarbosaurus' memories we just saw too?" Zoe then breathed in a heavy tone.

"How awful…." Cera breathed feeling her heart was breaking up, both sides of the story, each of them tragic and after carrying it on for so many years it now seemed that both dinosaurs were trapped by it and unable to escape, until one of them perishes…..

"Tarchia was so nice too…." Rex followed as he sighed sadly, "To think he endured something like that once, losing his best friend before his own eyes, no wonder he's so caught up in revenge…."

"And that tarbosaurus, she was only doing what she had to to feed her family…." Max said painfully. Nature was such an unfair and cruel mistress at times, and the creatures that live under her rule were but her play things no matter what they suffered or experienced…..to think they were subjected to such a cruel fate….

Rod and Laura too were struggling to recover from the revelation that had just unfolded before them, "So then, basically both dinosaurs hold a grudge against one another.…." Rod muttered before hardening his expression uneasily, "Now they're going to settle it to the death….."

Laura swallowed hard, unsure what to feel of this, they came hoping to grab both dinosaur cards after they tired each other out, but after what they witnessed she was having second thoughts on what to do.

ROAR!

"Huh!?"

Suddenly the sound of a ferocious roar snapped them all out of their faze as they looked back and realised the battle was still taking place! They quickly turned back to the battle to see the tarchia suddenly glowed purple as he activated his super move! He stood up in his hind legs causing a massive swirling vortex of sand to open up beneath the tarbosaurus' legs and it began to suck her in! The vortex was also beginning to spread towards where they all stood as Cera yelled out to them in alarm!

"Get back everyone! It's a sand trap!" she cried in alarm.

"Whoa!" They quickly scrambled on top of their full sized dinosaur partners and backed away from the growing vortex of quicksand!

"Let's beat it!" cried in alarm as they quickly hopped onto their alpha scooters and jetted away out of the trap!

Backing away to higher ground and to the other side, they witnessed the tarbosaurus roar in pain, struggling to pull herself free but to no avail as she was swallowed up by the sand! A few seconds later, a huge pillar of sand shot out, striking her from the side as she landed hard with a loud thud on the hard ground ahead, smashing down on some rocks in the process as she lay helpless at the tarchia's mercy, who growled in anger as he raised his tail club ready to deliver the final blow to her head!

The D Team widened their eyes in alarm at what was about to happen! "No Tarchia!" Zoe cried out.

"If this keeps up he'll kill her at this rate!" Cera gasped in alarm.

Max gritted his teeth and rallied everyone together, "Come on guys! We've got to stop him!" he yelled as they nodded firmly and charged ahead with their partners!

"Right!"

On their side the alpha children could see that they couldn't sit back any longer as Laura turned to her brother sternly, "Rod! We should do something now!" she cried as he nodded.

"I'm about to do just that." he said as he was prepared to send in Terry, but before he could slash the card a voice shouted out which made him stop at the last second.

"Tarchia stop!"

"Huh!?" As they all looked, they were taken aback to see that Cera had ran out in front of them, and now she held her arms out in front of the tarchia, in the hopes of stopping it from crossing the line!

"Is she….out of her mind!?" Rod exclaimed as Laura covered her mouth and her heart began to race, she had seen enough blood and violence just now, even if Cera was an enemy even she didn't deserve to get crushed, no one did.

"Cera get out of there!" Zoe then cried out in alarm before Rex held her back.

"No, I think….she's doing what she thinks needs to be done." he said firmly as they looked closely.

The tarchia roared fiercely in front of Cera's face hoping to scare her out of his way, but she held her ground firmly and her expression was unyielding. He then began to raise his tail, at that point the others charged in.

"I'm not standing by anymore!" Max grunted, "I'm going in!" he said with Chomp charging with him.

"Me too, no way am I letting her do this by herself!" Zoe followed as she and Rex hurried to them.

As the tarchia was prepared to deliver the finishing blow, Cera then mustered up every ounce of courage she had left in her as she then spoke out to it, "Is this what your friend would've wanted? To see you consumed by anger and revenge?" she asked it calmly, as the ankylosaur held his tail back at the last second. It then backed away slightly as Max and the others rallied to Cera's side, with even their partners holding back at the sidelines, letting out warning growls at it. Miku as well, as she perched on Cera's shoulder and flare out her feathered arms defensively.

"We know you suffered a heavy loss, and we are very sorry for it, you have our sincerest condolences." Cera continued as she lowered her head sadly, "But hatred won't bring it back, nor would it change a thing. If anything, it'll only make things worse for you." She tensed momentarily before looking to the tarchia with a serious expression, "So please, let this cycle of hatred end here." As she said that the tarchia looked to see Max and the others were still standing by her side and with their partners hanging back ready to go, it knew they wouldn't hesitate to fight too. Taking a breath it then recalled the times it had with its old friend the protoceratops, how they were close and almost like family on their long travels through the desert together since they met, looking at itself now it realised it had much to be ashamed of…..

It then lowered its tail, calming down with deep breathing before turning around. As it turned to leave, everyone felt a wave of relief come over them, as Max fell down to the sand feeling overwhelmed by the pressure, while Cera put a hand to her chest and smiled, "Thank you tarchia." she breathed seeing it was alright now. Even Rod and Laura who were hanging back smiled with relief to see everything turned out fine too.

"Phew…..thank goodness…." breathed Max with a sigh of relief with everyone else calming down seeing the worst may be over.

"Yeah, I was really shaking in my shoes back there." said Rex shivering in his tone a little.

"I thought we wouldn't have been able to convince him…." breathed Zoe feeling much at ease.

After they did they turned to Cera and shot fierce angry glares at her much to her surprise, "What were you thinking Cera!? You could have been crushed!" Max yelled.

"I know guys…..I'm sorry for that….." she said twiddling her fingers together, even questioning herself about her reckless choice. "But, I guess my body acted on its own before I realised it….." she then said painfully as she looked away from them, "I couldn't just let that tarchia suffer anymore, nor did I want tarbosaurus to suffer either….."

As she said that, the rest of her teammates smiled understandably as they reached out to comfort her in turn, "We understand, you really love dinosaurs don't you?" said Rex, "Maybe on a level none of us have reached….."

Looking around the rest of them nodded with him agreement and Cera smiled with relief to see all was well now, "Let's just be thankful it turned out alright and that it's finally over with." she said optimistically, but her optimism was short lived….

ROAR!

"Ah!" They all turned quickly to see that the tarbosaurus had gotten back up on her feet and was now even more furious than ever! She then lunched out at full speed, nearly about crush the D Team like ants!

"Run!" Max yelled as they scattered, narrowly escaping the carnivore's giant foot from stomping on them into jelly! Upon hearing the roar, the tarchia turned around, but widened it eyes to see the tarbosaurus quickly grabbed its tail behind the club before swinging him out into a rock wall! After crashing against it he fell upside down and she began to mercilessly stomp on his unprotected side and with each one he roared in pain as the tables began to turn!

"Ah!"

"Oh no!" The D Team gasped in horror that the violent battle was about to begin again!

"Hey! Knock it off!" Max cried out.

"Yeah! Stop it tarbosaurus! There's been enough pain and suffering today!" Rex followed up desperately.

Sadly, neither of their words reached the tarbosaurus' ears, her attention was completely fixated on finishing off her rival that she blocked out everything else in her surroundings. She then opened her massive jaws widely and was about to clamp down on the struggling trachea's exposed neck and finish him off for good!

Zoe and Cera gasped in horror as Max then gritted his teeth seeing there was no other choice now, "Chomp! Protect tarchia!" he then yelled as the yellow triceratops roared and charged full speed ahead!

"You too Paris!"

"Get in there Ace!" Rex and Zoe called as they followed after their leader! Cera meanwhile held back wishing them all the best, though she wished she could do more as she and Miku looked on.

Hearing the sounds of approaching footsteps, the tarbosaurus turned to look around, only to see Chomp charge in and flip her away far from the now vulnerable tarchia! She then landed hard on the sand, but kicked herself back up and roared fiercely at the 3 dinosaurs who now blocked her way, signalling she would show no mercy to anyone getting in the way of her revenge!

Chomp shrieked back and charged ahead with Ace and Paris following behind closely. As they did, Cera narrowed her eyes sensing something wasn't right, before noticing a suspicious look in the tarbosaurus' eyes and she widened her own upon realisation, "Max! Pull Chomp out of there now!" she yelled warning him as he turned to her in surprise.

"Huh?"

"It's a trap!" she yelled as he was taken aback!

"Say what!?" Unfortunately for him, Cera's warning came too late as the tarbosaurus quickly sidestepped Chomp's charge and thrust to Max's horror, "No!" He then gasped seeing the trike had exposed his weak spots to her as she began to glow red and activate her super move! Gathering flames in her jaws she quickly grabbed onto Chomp's neck behind the frill then lifting him up she raced towards Paris and Ace who stopped in their tracks to see her charging at them with Chomp in her jaws! Before they could react in time she rammed them both straight into a large rock wall before blasting it with a tremendous flame causing it to explode into pieces!

"Ah! NO!" Max gasped as all 3 of their dinosaurs returned to their cards and floated gently to the desert floor.

Everyone was then aback by the sudden development, "No way!"

"I don't believe it!"

"She took them all out in 1 move…." Laura breathed in amazement while Rod was speechless beyond belief.

"She's overwhelmed with sorrow and rage….." said Cera as the others looked to her, seeing her tense up and shake, "She's channeled all of her rage, all her pain and sorrow over the loss of her offspring into that burning dash of hers…." she breathed as the others felt their own blood and hearts run cold.

"N…No way…."

"So then….there's really no way we can help her…."

"Urgh…." Max then gritted his teeth in frustration, clearly underestimating how much rage and anguish the mother tarbosaurus had kept inside her, perhaps there really was no other way to calm her down after all…..Shaking his head clear he hurried over to grab the cards of his friends. "I've got them!" he yelled as he managed to pick up all 3 of them.

"Max get back!" Rex yelled out as he looked up to see the tarbosaurus was now snarling at him and prepared to bring her mighty jaws down!

GROAR!

"AH!" Max cried holding his arm out and closing his eyes.

"No!" Everyone cried out thinking he hadn't got a chance of escaping…..that it was all over….until-

"ROAR!" A familiar roar echoed from behind, and as everyone turned to look they saw the tarchia had gotten back up on his feet, and now was bellowing a challenge to the tarbosaurus, intending to settle things once and for all between them now.

Upon hearing his battle cry, the tarbosaurus turned around and began scraping the ground and roared at the top of her lungs as she charged ahead with full force, with only one thing on her mind, to kill…..

As she did the tarchia glowed purple and stood up on his hind legs again causing a sand vortex to form before the charging carnivore and hoping to suck her in again! Unfortunately, this time the tarbosaurus was quick to react as she leapt over it with all the force run her legs and landed on the side of the tarchia much to everyone's amazement! As he tried to shift sides and get a better aim with his tail, the tarbosaurus quickly turned around faster before he could respond, as her massive jaws clamped hard on his neck! The sound of his neck armour cracking was heard before being blocked out by the ankylosaur's cries of pain and agony! As she crunched down, the tarbosaurus mercilessly shifted her head side to side as her teeth continued to dig into the tough hide of the tarchia before eventually causing blood so spill onto the ground, and his struggling only made it worse as it persuaded her to bite harder! Now that she had her long time enemy in her jaws she wouldn't let go until it was finished!

The D Team stared and looked on, as if they were seeing a real life horor scene before their eyes, "This is horrible….." said Cera feeling sick and sad as she fell to her knees feeling helpless and unable to think of anything…..

"Worst part is….we can't do anything about it….." said Max as he and the others stared hopelessly, it was like the animal documentaries they saw on TV, only this time it was real before their very eyes, the only thing they could hope for was if the tarchia would turn back into a card and save itself, but would it work before it died? They didn't want to take that chance, but they had nothing left…..all the could do….was watch….

Behind the boulders, Laura turned away and covered her ears to try and block out the tarchia's cries in pain as best she could, but the few groans that made it into her ear were enough to make her tear up and wish it would end soon.

"Tch!" Rod clicked his tongue having enough, this carnage show had gone on long enough and he was about to put a stop to it. But right before he was bale to slash Terry, the tarchia mustered the last ounce of energy he had to deliver a swift blow to the tarbosaurus' leg with his tail!

The force of the blow was almost like that of a sledgehammer as the tarbosaurus then threw away the tarchia with all the force she had, as he slammed through a rocky outcrop! After he landed he skidded across the desert floor before coming to a stop. With blood still seeping out form his bite wounds, he groaned and breathed heavily before closing his eyes and turning back into a card, safe at last…..

"Tarchia!" Cera cried as she ran in to grab both cards, "I've got you!" she said picking up the dinosaur and move card in time. She then looked up and widened her eyes to see the tarbosaurus had set her sights on her and the cards next as she took a step forward!

"Ah!" she gasped in alarm with Miku as the rest of her teammates cried out.

"Cera!"

"Run! Get out of there now!"

Seeing she didn't move and assuming she may have been frozen in fear, they rushed to her side on instinct, even if they didn't have their dinosaurs to protect them they weren't willing to abandon their friend as they rallied around to protect her. Their expressions turned serious as the tarbosaurus prepared to take another step to them, no doubt to mount a charge, but no matter what they were going to stand their ground…..

As the giant carnivore stepped with her other leg, the sound of a bone snapping was heard as she laid it on the ground! With a roar in pain she fell forwards and collapsed, much to the D Team's surprise!

"Wh…what?"

"Did she run out of energy?" Max and Zoe both asked.

Cera however knew the answer as she pointed out at her lime, which was now deep red, "Her leg, it's….broken…." she said sounding almost emotionless as the D Team soon realised that was the reason why Cera didn't run earlier….

"Tarchia must have done that, and it took him all he had too." breathed Rex feeling almost sorry to see her in such a state, "Now she….can't get back up….." She was so consumed by revenge she was willing to throw her own life away to get it. And in the end, she may have won the battle but she lost the war….

The tarbosaurus soon realised that, too late, as she began to breathe heavily and close her eyes, drained of energy she shed a single tear before glowing red and returning to her dinosaur and move card.

As they laid gently on the warm desert sand, like a tombstone for a grave, Max walked slowly towards them, with a shade covering his eyes as he picked them both up, "Not the way I was hoping to get 2 dinosaurs….." was all he could say.

The others soon walked up to him looking just as solemn as he was. For a while they just watched, as Max simply stared looking at the cards in his hands, neither saying nor doing anything. "Hey Max, are you-" As Rex reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, he then pushed it away to his surprise.

"I'm fine." he said eying Rex with a firm gaze which put him off a bit as he walked past him. As he came to the center of the group he held out his dinoholder and began typing on it, "Let's just….go home…." was all he said in a choked voice. Seeing no reason or no way to talk back, they all did the same and began dialling too.

While they did, Cera eyed boy the tarchia in her hand and the tarbosaurus' in Max's, "Let's hope they both rest in peace now…." she thought hopefully.

As they did so, Rod and Laura watched, still haven't recovered from what they saw just now, till Laura blinked her eyes snapping out of it, "They're leaving…." she said.

Rod then widened his eyes remembering they had 2 cards now, and with the D Team's dinosaurs all out of commission now, they were no doubt easy pickings, "Hey wait a sec, we should be going over and taking them now!" he said as he ran over to his scooter. Before he could get ti to move, Laura put a hand on his shoulder and looked away uneasily, not making any eye contact with him for she worried how he'd respond, "Rod." she then started swallowing hard knowing what was right, "I….want to go home now…..I don't feel so good….." she said with her stomach feeling painful and her heart overwhelmed.

As Rod looked at her and saw the expression she was carrying, he thought to himself and realised even he didn't have the heart to take the cards from their rivals even at an opportunity like this, it just didn't feel right to him either, not to mention he also knew he'd be proving Cera's point about them being low and like the others in the Alpha Gang. Clicking his tongue in annoyance he then sighed deeply, "Fine…." was all he could say as he and Laura jetted away back to their jet as the D Team vanished in a veil of light.

Meanwhile, a hang glider with alpha logos on both sides of its' wings soon descended from the clouds above with Ursula, Zander and Ed on it as they struggled hard to hold it straight let alone steer it to pick up strong air currents, but finally after a long and arduous journey, "Hey we're finally here!" Ed cheered with excitement as the pointed out to the desert below them.

"Excellent!" Ursula smiled, "Now let's just land this thing smoothly so that we-" They suddenly caught sight of something ascending from the ground below them, a blue alpha jet to be precise as it achieved lift off from the ground and begin to fly upwards. "Huh?"

Zander blinked to see if his eyes were working fine and unfortunately they were, "Is that jet coming straight for-" Before he could finish, the jet zoomed past them causing their glider to spiral out of control as it made a nose dive right into the desert below!

"GAAAAAAAHHHH!" They screamed in terror before they crashed in desert sand, causing a large tower of dust to erupt out form their landing! As it cleared, bits and remains of the glider were left scattered around them and their heads spoked out of the ground and they spat out whatever sand they swallowed. Though Ed had crashed into the ground head first and only his 2 legs were left hanging out from it.

"Great!" Ursula grubbed in annoyance as she pulled herself out of the ground, "Just when we come all this way for them they just leave us here to dry out!" she cried stomping her feet in frustration.

"Now we're going to have to find another way to get home….." Zander mumbled as he pulled himself free next and he moved to pull Ed out next, as he tugged on the fat man's leg with all his might before he stumbled back and Ed was sent flying out of it! "WHOA!" the skinny man gasped as he fell on his back!

"GAH!" Ed cried as he flew out and smacked hard on the ground, leaving behind an imprint in the sand as he spat out what he swallowed. As he blinked his eyes groggily he widened them upon noticing a way they could get home, "Hey look over there!" he pointed out as they looked at where he was directing them.

Ahead of them was a herd of camels, single and double humped, each tied to a stake near some water troughs and a tent with a nomad salesperson calling out to them, "Camels! Come get your camels right here!" he said waving to them, "Best prices and best quality camels!"

Ursula and Ed brightened up with joy to see they had a ticket back before they turned to Zander, who waved his arms out frantically, "Oh no! Don't look at me that way! I am not spending my money to buy another dumb animal!" he yelled having bad memories of an incident back in Egypt.

 **(Back home)**

Later at the D lab that night, Dr Taylor had just placed the newly acquired tarchia and tarbosaurus safely in their card vault before looking to the children at the table with relief, "Glad to see you're all safe and sound kids." he said with a smile, "We were worried about you since you didn't check in with us after so long."

"We're fine dad." said Max smiling back softly with the others.

"Yeah, not a single scratch on us too….." Cera said with a low sigh at the end as they fell silent once more, sitting at the table doing almost nothing. Even their dinosaurs didn't seem to have their usual spunk and enthusiasm as they normally did.

"To come back with 2 dinosaurs is an impressive feat, I thought you would be more excited about it." said Spike curiously, expecting them to be more energetic about it.

"We are happy to be back with those." said Rex before lowing his head, "It's just….a lot has happened Dr Taylor, we'd rather not talk about it right now."

Dr Taylor thought about it, before remembering what Cera had reported to him and Reese about their events in the desert, and after thinking about it more he could understand why it didn't seem like a victory or moment to celebrate, "I see….I understand…." was all he could say in response feeling sad.

Reese then walked up to him from behind, "Let's just leave them be for now doctor," she suggested, "They deserve some time alone to get over what they just experienced."

Looking to her and back to the kids seeing they were rather down and in low spirits he conceded, "You're right…." he said sounding sad himself as he turned around to give them their space, "I'll just…leave you kids to it then." he said exiting the room with Reese, leaving the children to ponder over everything they had bore witness with their own 2 eyes, they still hadn't managed to get over it, not even close…to see actual blood and gore followed with anguish and hatred together, it was overwhelming for them, not once had they experienced such during their adventures and they had no idea how to take it….

"I still can't believe what I just saw…." Max mouthed out as he stared a the table with an almost blank and lifeless expression.

Rex looked to him before dong the same, "Yeah, to think dinosaurs would feel such emotions, almost like us too….."

"It's horrible too, sometimes life can be unfair and we can't do anything about it sometimes…..it's just beyond our control what we get dealt and we're forced to make do with it whether we like it or not." said Cera with a deep sigh.

"That still doesn't make it any better." Zoe replied as they continued to stare into space, knowing that there may no doubt be more situations like this to come, having just experienced it for the first time, and yet….not knowing if they could handle it again….

After moping long enough, Cera hardened her expression seriously and stood up from her seat as everyone looked to here in surprise, "Well we can't keep dwelling over what's done, we do have to move on eventually from it." she said as they felt rather moved by her words.

"Cera's right." said Rex, "We can't keep feeling sorry about it, sometimes these things do happen and it's no one's fault. We just have to accept that's reality…." he added at the end.

Zoe then nodded firmly, "Now we know that these things can happen, and all we can do is the best we can and hopefully learn from them so we can at least prevent things from getting worse than they already have." she said.

"I agree with you there Zoe." said Max last as he stood up with a serious expression on his face, "Now I see that it isn't just fun and games, dinosaurs can be dangerous too." he added clenching his hand into a fist tightly, "And we'll have to do everything we can to make sure they stay safe, from the alpha gang and from themselves even." Max

"Mhmm." They all nodded with him in agreement at the end.

"Speaking of which, I'm surprised we didn't run into the alpha gang today." said Rex having just realised it as he put his finger to his chin in thought.

"Let's be thankful they weren't there to make things anymore complicated." replied Cera.

"Yeah, things would have been a whole lot worse if the old lady showed up." Zoe muttered folding her arms behind her back.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the Gobi Desert, it was late at night and the alpha trio were slowly and quietly sneaking up on a camel which was munching at a cactus near the rocky gorge for a midnight snack, apparently having just escaped from the alpha gang right after they bought it and only now they managed to corner it without it suspecting a thing, after nearly an entire day of chasing after it through the blistering heat of the sun, they were parched and at their last legs but now all their efforts were soon about to pay off.

"Almost there….." Zander breathed as he reached out for its rope handle which lay just in front of him, "I've almost got that rope…."

"Suddenly Ursula gained a tic mark and she yelled out loud in frustration, Hey! Who called me old!?" she screamed fuming red as she blew their cover!

"Gah!" The camel looked to them and then began trotting off quickly to their dismay, with Zander just missing the rope end!

"Ah! It's getting away! After it you clods!" Ursula bonked them on the head without taking responsibility as they hurried after it! "No! Don't desert us in the desert!" she cried pleadingly though they fell on deaf ears and only spurred the camel to run faster!

"I'm getting strong sense of deja vu here….." Ed mumbled finding this situation familiar somehow, "At least it's a good thing that camels was only a rental!"

"Lucky for us we put them all on my card!" Zander yelled in frustration as they chased the camel across the desert dunes into the middle of the night, "Come back here!"

 **And there's chapter 13, as things get intense this chapter stay tuned for others to come. In case anyone asks, the Eugene the inspector here will only be a one time character used for just this chapter, also wanted to address that there were so many dino incidents and yet no governmental action taken after that. Idea came from transformers prime how they manage to cover their tracks every time.**

 **In response to reviews**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-I wanted to make there be something else to happen on Cera's side and expand upon Rod and Laura simply showing up but not seizing the opportunity to snoop. Also, Seth's route will be following the canon but I think I might add a few things in season 2 but will keep things mostly the same.**

 **pokemonking0924**

 **-Yup she got a first hand look into their base and not areas the D team hasn't yet. Yeah, each of the skills she has will be expanded on in an OC season 3 if I get there, sometimes doing this story alone is challenging and it's easy to lose motivation. All wanted to address that fact that wasn't touched on in the anime how Seth had the long range teleporter but it wasn't used again.**

 **I enjoyed writing the funny moment too how she beat Rod and Laura and also that bit about Reese and Zander as well. I plan on having more alpha weapons later but alpha dinosaurs won't reappear till OC season 3.**


	14. Night of the dinosaur

Chapter 14

Night of the dinosaur

It was afternoon at the D Lab, and the 3 chibi dinosaurs were busy playing on the play equipment set up at their play one, with Ace hanging on the tire swing, Paris singing and humming in a corner with Miku swinging to the beat and Chomp was practicing his charge on a t rex balloon dummy as each charge he did ended up sending him right back after running into the balloon!

At the main area, Cera was bringing up some images on the D Lab computer which depicted the insides of the android Johnny, displaying several highly advanced circuits and gears after they did a kind of x ray scan on him not long ago. Reese meanwhile was wearing an eye mask shielding them from the sparks that were flying out while her tools were working on the inside of Johnny's chest, which was a massive opening after suffering a huge burn from Terry's volcano burst not long ago. After that she put aside her equipment and took off her mask before turning to her assistant, "Cera can you hand me the magnifying glass from that table?" she asked nicely as the red haired girl looked to her and nodded.

"Sure thing Reese." She said running to the table and getting the glass for Reese to use. As she did she then backed away slowly while turning away. Even if he was a robot, earlier they had to undress him a little by removing his upper clothes, fortunately he only sustained damage on the upper part of his body so it was fortunate they didn't need to remove his pants.

"Hmm very interesting….." said Reese snapping her out of her thoughts as she looked back to see Reese was staring rather closely to the android's insides.

"What is it?" Cera asked feeling unsettled that she may be getting a bit too close.

Reese however didn't seem to mind though, "These components are unlike anything I've ever seen before," she then said, "In fact this circuitry is far superior to anything we have here at the lab, even I have no idea what some these systems can do or even supposed to do." she then added.

"I'll have to agree with you on that." said Cera turning to the computer to see the schematics drawn up, "I don't think anyone has ever come up with a robot this advanced, let alone an AI that can have emotion or even talk back to you in a conversation." she said recalling how he was able to interact with her on a level almost human the first time she met him, how the D Team also met him several times in the past too and while he did seem odd popping up in the most unusual places he didn't stand out all that much to them so they never would have imagined he'd be a robot, "It's also amazing how he was able to take on so many different jobs, identities and have the skills to excel in them. Just who made him and why?" she then thought before taking a piece of rubbery plastic and handing it to Reese, "I think we might be able to repair his skin with this set of false skin, we should be able to stitch it back together again too." she suggested as Reese took it from her.

"That's a start, but we'd best do that later in the final stages." she said before using a pair of forceps and plucking out a gear which was burnt black and even chipping off, "Most of these parts are still relatively charred up too, we'll need to get them replaced." she said narrowing her eyes through the magnifying glass for a close inspection. "Let's hope Dr Taylor manages to get what we need." She then added.

"Hello! I'm back!" a manly voiced called out as if right on cue.

The girls looked back to see Spike run in with a paper bag, which appeared to be filled up to the brim with mechanical parts and tools in it, before handing it to Reese.

"Hi Dr Taylor, did you come back with those parts we asked for?" Reese asked as she began to rummage through them and sort them out on the table.

"Well yes and no." Spike replied as he scratched his cheek nervously. As they looked to him he then twiddled his fingers and pouted, "Some of the parts you asked were either out of stock or too expensive so I had to make do with substitutes they recommended." Both girls huffed and folded their arms at him in disappointment which prompted him to kneel down in a begging position!

"I'm sorry but that's just what happened!" he cried dramatically much to the dismay of Cera and Reese.

"I see….." Reese replied pushing up her spectacles before eying their entire inventory closely. She narrowed her eyes at some of them and sighed slightly disappointed, "These parts may not be as efficient but they should do for now." she said as she looked to Cera and Spike, "Well don't just stand there, this android isn't going to repair himself."

"Oh! Right of course!" Spike gasped as he went to assist Reese in the repairs along with Cera.

After a while of installing pieces and replacing parts, along with a few hiccups like Dr Taylor tripping over the wires and causing Cera and Reese to face palm or eye him with disapproval, it soon came to the moment of truth.

"Alright, now plug in those cables," Reese instructed Cera who grabbed a set of big wires, "We'll try to reenergise him and give him a jump start."

Cera then plugged them into one of his arms, "Done." she said.

"Alright," Reese nodded before turning to Spike at the computer.

"Dr Taylor, activate the power transfer." she said.

"Right." said Spike as he pressed the buttons and pulled the lever. As it happened, a surge of energy flowed through the cables and into the arms, causing the robot to glow slightly, at first everyone looked on in interest to see what would happen next, but their hopes soon vanished as the light died down and the gurgling sound of a shutdown happened.

"Aww…." Spike moaned in disappointment hoping to see it do something.

Checking the energy levels and seeing they were dropping low, "Energy levels are still too low Reese." she said as Reese put a finger to her chin in thought.

"I see, it's just as I thought…." she said to herself before folding her arms and letting out a sigh, "Well, I've given it my best shots, but without those parts there's not much the can be done."

"Sorry about that….." Spike apologised lowering himself own feeling responsive for letting them all down. "Well, guess that means I'll have to return some of those bits back and hope they'll restock soon. Good thing I saved the receipt." he said repacking the parts and tools they couldn't use into the paper bag.

"Until then there's nothing we can do now I suppose….." said Reese after that.

"So it seems." Cera added in agreement before looking around to see, apart from the chibi dinosaurs running around playing there was no sign of Max, Rex and Zoe in sight. "Say, the place really is quiet when they're all gone huh? Seems almost like a different place."

"Yeah, now that you mention it it sure does…." Spike commented as Reese smiled thinking she could get used to it without the hyperactive kids running around making noise and distracting her for a change. As she sat down and had a cup of coffee enjoying herself and the moment while it lasted.

"Today happens to be the kids' final day of school and their teacher Michelle wanted to reign them all together for a camping trip they'll never forget," said Spike with a smile, "To celebrate the last day of their school year before they move on to a higher level next year."

"Sounds like the perfect way to end it all off." said Cera smiling for them before noticing all their dinosaurs were chirping rather miserably, feeling lonely and left out without their partners around, "Almost perfect," she then added at the end with a sigh as they came up to look at her, "It's too bad they couldn't bring you along this time." she said scratching Chomp under his chin as she flashbacks to earlier in the morning.

 **(Flashback)**

The entire class had gathered in a number of lines outside the schoolyard, as the bus had arrived to pick them all up and send them to the camping ground and their families were standing back seeing their children off. As everyone waited in anticipation and excitement for the experience waiting for them on the bus, the D Team stood at the front looking forward to being the first to come on board. "Alright! Camp here we come!" Max cheered punching up in the air as he began to step up into the bus, only to be halted by a sudden alarm-

BEEP BEEP

"Huh!?" Max jumped in surprise and everyone too was shocked the they saw Michelle pop out of nowhere holding a beeping metal detector in her hand.

"Let's see what you're trying to sneak past the border mister!" she said sounding tough with authority as she took his bag from him much to his dismay!

"H….Hey!" he cried out, feeling his privacy violated as she rummaged through it, but turned pale and his heart skipped a beat when she yanked out his dinoholder!

"Oh? What's this?" she asked curiously as she eyed it all around, unsure what to make of it.

Max quickly snatched it out of her hand, "I…It's a toy!" he cried out suddenly, before blushing red in embarrassment to realise he blurted it out loud. Noticing people were beginning to stare at him, for playing with toys at his age he quickly spoke the first excuse that came to mind, "It's to….entertain myself while I'm at camp or on the bus! Yeah! That's it! Hahaha…ha…" he then laughed nervously as Michelle leaned in towards him with her hands on her hips.

She narrowed her gaze at him unsettlingly as he gulped down hard, "Hmm….well I'm afraid that's a big no no!" she then said wagging her finger at him much to his alarm as well as the other members of the D Team.

"Huh!?" he gasped with his jaw dropping, as Zoe and Rex too were taken aback.

"W…Why's that?" asked Zoe as Michelle turned to face the whole class.

"Because, this trip will be all about getting back in touch with our roots!" she proclaimed pointing out to the sky, "To a time before technology came into our lives, when we lived in a much more simple time away from heavy developed cities and noise!" she announced powerfully before flashing a childish smile at the whole group, "Not to mention we can't have any distractions around the would keep us from being all sociable and all the other things people do when we bond together!" She said doing a spin and grinning cheerily, "We all come from different backgrounds, but we'll all be gathered together as equals on this camp and for this one last day we will be sharing together a glorious experience to end it all off! Even though we'll be lead down different paths this wonderful final memory as a class which will never disappear! And I want us all to be connected as one!" She said doing a rather shakespearen style of drama movement as she kneeled on the ground and held her arms to the sky, "Surely you all can understand where I'm coming from right?" She then sang going back to her usual perky self.

Everyone however didn't seem t share her enthusiam as they began groaning or moaning in displeasure.

"I'm starting to regret signing up for this…."

"I for one can't wait to be rid of her after this camp is done with…." Some of them went hoping this would be the last time they ever see her.

Max and his friends looked to one another uneasily worrying what if a dinosaur were to appear while they were gone, also they knew Chomp and the others would love going on camp with them to the great outdoors to celebrate their last days of the school year.

"Right!" Michelle called as she clapped her hands and grabbing everyone's attention. "Now to everyone else who has so much as a gadget or even a toy on them, now's your chance to drop them off with your folks before we go! This of course includes phones!" She said gleefully as the students all moaned heading back to their parents to handover their earphones, video game consoles and whatever technology they had on them. Some of them were hoping Michelle would at least have some sort of emergency contact in the event there was a kind of urgency since none of them would be able to call for help if something were to happen.

"Aw man….." Max then groaned seeing no way out.

"Guess there's no helping it….." sighed Zoe with a light smile as she go hand her own gadgets to her family to hold onto, before meeting up with Rex and Max who were handing over their dinoholders to Dr Taylor, who was standing with Aki and Cera.

"Hey dad," Max then asked as he collected all 3 of their devices, "Could you hold on to these and take care of Chomp and the others while we're away?" he asked as his father smiled taking them off his hands, fortunately while Aki was talking with the Drakes over the camp.

"Of course Max." he said as Cera stepped up before them.

"And if a dinosaur appears I'll do my best to take care of it while you are away." she said holding a smile and thumbs up to them wishing them the best of luck. "You can count on me as well to keep your dinosaurs happy and healthy too."

The rest of her fiends smiled with relief to her her say that, "Thanks, that makes us feel a whole lot better knowing that Chomp and everyone else are in good hands." said Rex feeling at ease knowing they can trust her to handle everything, for she really did have the talent and skill to fill in for all 3 of them if she really tried.

"Mhmm, well see ya!" Max then waved goodbye as he and the others quickly hurried to the bus while they were followed by a large stream of school kids who followed from behind.

"Take care kids!" Spike waved calling out to them.

"Remember to brush your teeth! Go to bed early and don't forget to change your underwear every single day." Aki then sang to them, especially Max who sweat dropped in embarrassment.

"Mom….." he whined as Zoe and Rex laughed in amusement before getting on board and the bus began to drive away..

"Hahahaha….."

 **(Present)**

"Hope they all have fun out there." said Cera with a smile as it shrunk slightly as she looked down on herself. Thinking back, she couldn't recall anything about her going to school or any old friends she may have had before losing her memories, how the D Team all had that privilege and opportunity, she hoped they wouldn't waste it and appreciate how lucky they truly were to have what she didn't…..

Her personal thoughts were interrupted by some repeated tugging at her dress. Looking down she saw Chomp, Ace, Paris and Miku (on Chomp's back) all there wagging their tails and hopping up and down with excitement and glittering eyes hoping she could do something fun with them since ethic partners were gone for the weekends. She then smiled sympathetically with them as she gave them each a pat on the head, "Sorry you guys couldn't go, but until they get back want to have some fun and play?" As she asked that they bounced and ran around her with excitement, confirming her answer and hoping she'd play tag with them. "Hahahaha! Alright guys looks like I'm it!" she laughed as she ran after them around the D lab, while Spike and Reese looked on happily for her.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Later that day, the school bus soon parked outside the entrance to Sanjo City Woods on the outskirts of the city, as the door opened, Michelle was the first to hop out of the bus as she went out and took in the sights and smells of the fresh natural air, "We're here kids!" she sang joyously flashing a bright smile to the now grumpy and agitated students who moaned crankily as they got down with their backpacks, some even had bags under their eyes including Max, Rex and Zoe as they stumbled out and nearly tripped upon exiting the bus!

"Finally I thought we'd never get off….." Max moaned groggily as Michelle kept spinning and spouting nonsense in the background in excitement, not caring how she looked to the others.

"Yeah, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse there was a huge jam." Rex sighed deeply wondering what did they ever do to deserve it.

"Then she suggested karaoke to pass the time," Zoe followed sounding sick and almost ready to hurl just remembering it, "I'm surprised the bus driver was able to drive straight with all her noise." she said recalling how Michelle pretty much sang the entire trip without giving anyone a chance! If she had gone a little louder she might have shattered the bus' windows and caused permanent damage to everyone's hearing, also she was grumpy she didn't get a chance to sing herself.

"I almost thought I'd go deaf several times…." Max muttered as he dug a finger into his hear hoping to get it clear even though he tried several times already. Looking around they could see everyone too looked they had just came back from a war zone, how they were all battered and exhausted beyond belief. Many were hoping to get some shut eye on the bus but Michelle's 'singing' kept them awake throughout the journey which soured their mood deeply.

Zoe however caught sight of someone who didn't seem too bothered herself, who was also a familiar face she recognised instantly, "Oh look!" she pointed out to a short haired girl who didn't seem to stand out much from the crowd but was no doubt special to the D Team as they followed Zoe's finger.

Max squinted his eyes a bit for a better look before recognising her, "Hey is that Amy?" he asked blinking his eyes.

"Sure is." said Zoe feeling better seeing her old friend, "I'm going over to say hi!" she said as she hurried off leaving the boys behind to watch.

Amy herself was looking around feeling somewhat nervous to be surrounded by so many people, even if they were her classmates they were more like strangers to her, apart from Zoe she hadn't managed to get herself acquainted with the other students yet. She signed up for the trip hoping to make some new friends but now she was having second thoughts, clutching the straps of her backpack tightly upon feeling overwhelmed. She sighed in disappointment thinking she'd be alone again this weekend and that she didn't end off her school year like how she wanted, that was, until a familiar voice called out to her which caught her attention.

"Hey Amy!"

"Huh?" Turning around in the direction of the voice, she brightened up to see someone she did know and trust, "Oh hi Zoe!" she cried as she ran up to her.

"You look well Amy, hope you've settled into your new house." said Zoe as Amy nodded.

"Mhmm, I sure did and I think I might get used to staying here in Sanjo City." she replied as Zoe clapped her hands together.

"That's great! Good for you!" she cheered before leaning in towards her, "So how's Hana the third doing these days?" she then asked.

"Oh she's been enjoying herself at my house." Amy replied with a big smile, "I'm really lucky to have her, and the fact your parents are all vets so we have nothing to worry about."

"I'm so glad to hear that." Zoe replied as she put a hand on her shoulder, "If anything happens just know I'll be there for you."

"I'll remember that Zoe." Amy nodded as they both laughed together while Max and Rex smiled feeling glad they were enjoying themselves and each others' company.

"Wow, she and Zoe really are hitting it off huh?" asked Max.

"Yeah, it's great that she has a friend now and isn't so lonely anymore." Rex smiled folding an arm on his hip.

The warm moment didn't last long however, as another voice soon cried out grabbing everyone's attention. "Alright kids!" Michelle sang out loud as she assembled all the kids together, though they weren't exactly the most high spirited, since they were expecting to see cabins or readied campsites but found only endless forest and nature. "Now for a little super speech to both brief and pep you all up for this awesome camping experience! Or as I like to call it the wild weekends!" she announced as the kids all moaned in annoyance.

"Awwww….."

"Not again…"

"If I had my earphones I'd tune it all out."

"Here we go….."

"Might as well get this over with…."

Michelle picked up on all their negative whining and groaning, which made her pout before hardening her expression seriously, "Alright children listen up!" she then yelled stomping her foot on the ground as everyone became attentive, seeing she meant business now, "This is trip isn't just some simple camp where we sit around singing campfire songs and have little activities like all other namby pampy camps! This one is all about wilderness survival and to answer the call of the wild!" She said as she strutted about like a drill sergeant and flexed her arm, "To prove my point, we'll all be setting up camp ourselves and over the course of the next few days we'll be working hard to master the art of survival!" She then grinned eagerly as she faced the whole student body who were feeling uneasy about where she was going, "That means we'll be living out here, cut off from the modern world, tap into the survival instincts passed down by our ancestors before us and we live off the land!" She cried to the heavens stretching her arms out.

Upon hearing her words everyone widened their eyes and cried out in alarm, "Say what!?"

"Huh!?"

"EH!?"

"This isn't what I signed up for!" They all yelled realising they were basically stranded in the middle of nowhere because of their air-headed teacher, some of them tried to make a run for it only to find the bus had departed over the hill. They felt hope was lost and some didn't have the will to live any longer, they wanted to go out the easy way rather than meet their inevitable ends by mother nature due to their incompetent teacher.

Realising she may have started off the wrong way and only seemed to make them whine or feel insecure, she quickly reacted, "Now I know this may all come off as a shock to you all, but I wanted us to have an experience unlike any other for to remember our last, lovely and priceless time together, so I made some last minute changes and wanted to surprise you all!" Michelle responded hoping to bring their moods up (and to set a good example to them so they wouldn't hold anything against her) though to little avail.

"Oh we're surprised alright….."

"I'm feeling not too comfortable in putting my fate in the hands of an adult with the clueless mind of a 3 year old child." Some of them muttered.

"This may be our last time together literally by the time these next few days are over…." Michelle then started sounding sad and downhearted before mood swinging into a more positive attitude, "So together we'll grasp life, live the way mother nature intended for us!" she then announced before switching to her serious mode, "When you think about it many of us can't live outside the comforts of our indoor, air-conditioned homes or without our handheld gadgets. How lame." she said mockingly, which seemed to make some of the students reflect on themselves a bit more. "I bet if you didn't sign up for this you'd all like play video games all day long while cooped up in your room, now isn't that just boring and no fun at all when you could be enjoying the breath taking outdoors!?"

As she shouted out that, they began to feel guilty at her words which cut them to their hearts. Even the D Team felt they ma have been living it a little too comfortable lately even if they did go out dinosaur hunting they relied a lot on technology and not much on themselves.

"Sure the inside may be clean and comfy but does it have the enrichment and beauty nature can offer?" Michelle continued sounding more like a strong teacher person now, "We're not born on this planet to stay alive, but to be alive! To tame the wilderness and bend nature with our very own hands!" she yelled out powerfully filling up the children with inspiration and determination as she faced them all, "Now what do you all say!? Are you in!? Or are you in!?"

As she concluded her speech everyone cheered and roared at the top of their lungs, "Woo hoo!"

"Yeah! I feel like I can take on the world and its' creatures!" They cried feeling inspired and ready to seize the day with their own hands.

Grinning with delight to see she did something exemplary as a teacher for once, Michelle felt she was in the clear as she then clapped her hands together going back to her childish persona,"Alright, now we'll all be split into groups!" she said running over to her massive backpacker bag (About as tall as a groan man, double her size) and taking out a container with straws in it, "Now each one of you take a straw and you'll be put into that group along with the jobs that have to come with it!" She said holding them out to the group as the students went over to draw lots.

"So we split the responsibilities huh?" commented Max as he went over to pick one from the 'lottery'.

"Sounds fair to me." said Rex shrugging his shoulders as he drew. As they both eyed their draws, both being blue, they looked to one another, "Looks you and I got the task of gathering food Max." he said to the brunette who nodded as they shared a fist bump.

"And I'll be pitching the tents with Amy." said Zoe as she held out green with her short haired friend who stuck by her side.

"Yippee, I can't wait Zoe." she cheered softly while shooting up her arm modestly.

Around them echoed various comments amongst the students based on the lots they drew, being mixed and varied, "Come on, let's get started!"

"I'm ready for this!"

"Aw man why did I have to get stuck with you…."

"Hehe, we've got this in the bag!"

"Hey, want to switch?"

Once everyone was assigned their groups and finalised, Michelle then clapped her hands to them all and smiled warmly, "Alright kids, now that we're all set I'll be heading over to the little girls' room for a while, I'll check on you all in a bit." she sang as she hoisted up her bag onto her back, with little effort surprisingly, and began to hurry off somewhere she couldn't be seen.

"But Michelle, how are you going to go to the bathroom without a toilet?" Max asked curiously as he raised his hand. As he asked that some of the students listened having realised there weren't any lavatories or restrooms around for miles.

"Oh who needs a toilet when you have a shovel!" she said in a very cheerful but unsettling manner as she then flashed a childish smile and held up a shovel she apparently brought along for digging purposes.

As she said that, everyone shuddered and turned green realising what she meant, "Eeew….." Some even wanted to go throw up behind a tree or in some bushes upon hearing and picturing what she said. Max too was beginning to regret asking.

"I'd better eat and drink as little as possible…."

"This is a nightmare!"

"See ya everyone!" she then sang as she skipped along merrily into a deeper part of the woods leaving the kids to handle their responsibilities on their own., with some of the students began cursing her behind her back.

"Let's hope she gets lost."

"Maybe we can follow the trail back home while she's gone!" Some planned while others decided to suck it up and deal with it like real people.

Meanwhile as Michelle made it to a hidden bushy area away from the children, pulling through branches and vines, she looked around frantically to make sure she wasn't alone and wasn't followed. Listening carefully and deciding she was alone she breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright the coast is clear." she thought to herself before she snickered to herself and a massive wide grin came across her face as she covered it with her hand, "Hee hee hee!" Reaching into her bag she plucked out a large pink inflatable tent from it along with its pump. She quickly pumped it up in no time as it blew up to be as big as a minivan. After that she quickly took out several other things from her large backpack to spice up her woodland home, which included a small TV, mini refrigerator and several ready made lunchbox meals!

As she eyed it with pride she clapped her hands together and smiled with joy and glistening eyes, "Perfect!" she sang seeing she'll survive for sure out here in the wild before hugging each of her gadgets she laid out inside, "Oh how I just can't live without you my precious phone, food cooler and ready made meals." she said before moving onto the others, "Not to mention my mini tv with super coverage, oh how I'll be able to enjoy the comforts of my home away from home." She thought to herself, knowing she wanted to do this to make herself look good for the teacher board and students after her previous hiccups on their last field trips, but she couldnt bare to stay out alone in the wild so she made sure she came prepared this time. "Sure it may not be a good example for the kids but they don't need to know about this hee hee!" She snickered as she took out her phone which was a new models with a touch screen and data coverage for emergencies, "Of course we still need a phone for emergencies after all, good thing I snuck this into the bus before I got out the metal detector, that way the kids learn how to be tough on their own while I kick back and relax. Hee hee! Its a win win!" she grinned deviously to herself before a thought soon crossed her mind, "Hmm, I've still got a full battery, maybe a game or two wouldn't hurt." she snickered as she proceeded to play a new game she downloaded.

Back at the campsite, many of the kids had already split up in their respective groups to get their jobs done, in 1 of them, Max and Rex sulked as they began to head out to gather food with their lot and their were far from motivated to get started, "Man, I know I wanted an experience to end the year off but this wasn't what I had in mind…." Max sighed as he lowered himself forward and his arms dropped.

"Yeah, we'll be lucky to get back alive at least." Rex followed mirroring his attitude, posture and tone.

"Oh come on guys don't be such sore thumbs." Zoe chirped as they looked to her, gathering a number of poles and strings to pitch up the tents, "Let's give it a chance, after all an experience like this doesn't come everyday, not to mention it'll be a real adventure and a good chance for building character." she said encouragingly as Amy came up to her holding the sheets and tarps.

"I like the way you think Zoe." she said with a nod, "In fact I'm looking forward to enjoying this with you."

"Aww thanks Amy….." Zoe thanked.

Max then scoffed, "You'll be eating those words of yours soon enough….." he grumbled in annoyance thinking they were clueless if they couldn't see the things that could go wrong here, "Also we have adventures a lot remember?"

"Hmm?" Amy blinked her eyes in surprise as Max covered his mouth realising he may have blurted out something he should't have.

"Urk…."

"Ahahahah," Rex laughed nervously as he smacked Max on the back to the latter's surprise, "Well this is the first time we've had it like this, you know being out in the wild and roughing it up out of our comfort zone." he said trying to sound like everything was normal.

"Y…Yeah!" Zoe then followed, "You've just got to enjoy it! Seize the day and try something out of the ordinary like our other friend Cera once said, right?" she then smiled which made the 2 boys pretty much eat their OWN words after recalling Cera once spoke to them about sometime ago.

"When you put it that way….." they said looking away, whistling or scratching their cheeks while sweat dropping.

Amy blinked her eyes unsure what they were talking about, but before she could ask, Zoe then went back to her quickly, "Well Amy shall we get started on that tent?" she then asked with a big smile as her friend nodded in response.

"O…Okay then…." she said softly as they walked away to find a good place to set up.

After they left, Max and Rex both sighed with relief and exhaustion, "Oh boy this is going to be one trip we won't forget alright…." said Max.

"Yeah but not in the way everyone thinks…." Rex groaned begrudgingly, deciding they might as well get over it as groaning and complaining wouldn't get anything done. As they both headed for the river with the food gatherers, they failed to realise that a tree they passed under had a dinosaur card capsule resting gently on a branch that was cracking slowly and ready to snap at any given moment…..

 **(That afternoon)**

They all actually enjoy it, teamwork, change their minds, new experience and learning to get down and dirty

"Good thing dad taught me how to make a fishing pole with just sticks and vines." said Max feeling grateful for Spike's advice as he wiped some sweat from his brow.

"Yeah, who would've thought they come so handy." Rex commented as he tied the last few pieces of vine together to the branch to make a sturdy fishing pole with a small wooden thorn at the end for a hook. Hearing the sounds of chattering behind them, they both turned around to see a bunch of their classmates gather together to show off a bunch of colourful berries and delicious looking nuts and seeds in their hands full, which the found in the forest. Rex couldn't help but smile impressed by their find, "Wow, when you look around you'll see nature provides us all we need." he said.

"Yeah no kidding." Max commented before grinning excitedly, "This will be an adventure for our tastebuds that's for sure….."

"Hey guys look what I got!" another kid called out as he hurried over with a rather large leaf which as craving with worms, grubs, beetles, grasshoppers and other insects on it including a centipede! "I hear it's the real crunchy ones that make the meal, or was it the slimy ones?" he then asked as the group jumped back in surprise!

"Yuck! Gross! No way am ever I eating that!" cried one of the girls as she ran off screaming her head, while the others backed away slowly and nervously.

Max felt his stomach churn and he felt uneasy upon seeing it, and so did Rex, "But let's not get too adventurous…." he groaned at the end as Rex nodded with him in agreement.

"Yeah….."

In other areas some kids gathered rocks and lined them up into a circle for the campfire, while others came in with firewood to put on it. Others were also busy scouting out the area to plot out paths to use or even scouting out best places to go to the bathroom, as well as picking out soft leaves to substitute for toilet paper, much to most of their inconvenience and disgust.

"Alright Amy hold it up." said Zoe telling the smaller girl to hold up the poles in the ground as they and several others worked in setting tents for groups.

"Like this?" she asked shyly as she held them straight.

"Perfect!" Zoe praised as she smiled with joy and relief.

"Now just hold still….done!" She said tying the sheets together with strings she was given. As they stood back they smiled proudly to see the lovely pink tent they managed to pitch together for 2 people.

"We did it!" Amy cheered clapping her hands together.

"Hahahah! We sure did!" Zoe laughed as they clapped hands with one another after, showing exemplary teamwork, while others around them struggled to pitch up tents. Some collapsed quickly into a mess, others complained about setting up tarps above their tents, wanting to use it as a blanket while others worried about the chance of rain, either way it was going to be a long time before it would be ready.

 **(That night)**

Later on that evening as the sun was beginning to set, when everyone barely managed to make it through the day out of sheer effort or luck, the sky was turning orange as the day followed the bright sun's descent over the horizon before the dark blue and purple night followed behind with the first few stars showing up too. A girl student was writing in her tent writing a diary entry in a flower covered journal about the fun activities they did today when setting up camp, when her friend, another girl, came up to her in excitement, "Hey I heard everyone's gathering at the campfire to tell stories!" she cheered with excitement while pumping up her hands into fists.

"Yeah? Come on let's go! Wouldn't want to miss out on it!" the other girl said as she put down her pen and book as they hurried out to the campfire which was further out at an open glade. As they hurried on, nearby the tree branch high above which supported the dinosaur card capsule began to snap as the capsule smashed open on another stalk on the trunk, revealing a dinosaur and a wind move card. As they floated gently down to the ground, a breeze blew both cards together further into the distance as they both shone together in white light before quickly dying down!

"Huh?" Max went as he was strolling along the forest path to the campfire with Zoe and Rex, only to notice the white light in the distance flash before dying down again. He then stopped and looked around curiously sensing as though something was amidst.

Zoe and Rex stopped to see Max was hanging back behind them, "What's up Max?" asked Rex as his friend narrowed his eyes.

"Did you guys hear or see something weird just now?" he asked as they looked around but could find nothing out of the sort.

"Maybe it was just the wind," Zoe suggested before hearing louder cheers and talking ahead as she could see the bright orange light of the campfire in the distance, "Let's go before they start without us!" she cheered excitedly as she hurried along. Shrugging it off Max then smiled as he ran ahead with Rex as they joined the others to share some fish on sticks, crunchy bugs with nuts and juicy berries for dessert at the fire.

Amy and Zoe sat together on a log on one side as they shared all kinds of girl gossip with one another while Rex and Max hung out with the boys talking about the latest TV series, it was fun and enjoyable as everyone bonded with one another and treasured what might be the last time they see each other for a ling while.

Little did they know, was that tonight may possibly be the last night they see each other….

Hidden behind some bushes, a pair of yellow saurian eyes peered through the gaps in the leaves, slitting and narrowing as it fixed its sight on the whole group of juicy morsels. It's nose pierced through the bush, sniffing the air smelling fresh meat and their very breath, as it flashed a set of fierce sharp teeth in its jaws and licked its lips while swallowing pooling saliva. The dinosaur itself was medium sized and purple, with a pair of long white stripes going down from both sides of its' face down the body to the tail, with a small set of spines lining its neck down to the back and tail. The szechuanosaurus had found plentiful prey after finally being released from it's prison of a card, and with night approaching darkness was going to be a trusted ally on its' side, it planned to get food and no matter what it was or who got in its' way it wasn't about to let anything stop it, as it slid back into the darker depths to plan its' attack.

 **(Meanwhile)**

It was late at night over Zeta Point, each member of the alpha gang was asleep in their beds in their nightwear or wearing eye masks under the covers. The only one who was still awake was Seth, as he wore a welding helmet and held a pair of tools in his hands that were sparking violently at the reactor core as he continued welding parts together in the repairs. After a couple days of non-stop work straight, he took off his helmet and wiped away some sweat from his brow using a handkerchief he picked out from his trenchcoat.

He smirked to himself seeing he had finally done it after so long, though the teleporter wouldn't be able to function as he had hoped, at least it was still operational, in due time he would be able to get Zeta Point airborne again and with the stone plates their time machine would work again, allowing his vision to be realised…..but his joyous thoughts were cut short when a wave of pain struck him suddenly forcing him to cover his head as he cringed! "Urgh my head…." he groaned in annoyance realising he may have overlooked himself. He was also frustrated with how long the repairs took him from his experiments as he eyed the 3 dinosaur cards he had at the table. As much as he wanted to work on them, seeing it was almost midnight he then sighed in disappointment, "As much as I hate to admit it, even a genius like myself needs a good night's sleep to keep his brain in gear." he said as he turned around and headed for the door, "I'd best turn it in for now…." he said as the elevator doors closed behind him and the lights in his lab shut off. Unbeknownst to him, as he did his computer monitor depicted a dinosaur signal onscreen at Sanjo City's woods…..

 **(D Team)**

Back at the campsites, the entire class had gathered together and had already began to talk about strange or awesome things they experienced or done, or tell stories with one another over at the campfire. Either way, what they shared helped them to open up themselves more to other members of the class they haven't had the chance to interact with before and helped others to learn more about them. The D Team definitely had plenty to share with the gang, even if they didn't tell them about how they travelled the world in search of dinosaurs they did at least shared the awesome life of adventure in fossil hunting and learning about history and why it should be respected deeply, which earned them plenty of popularity amongst the class much to Max's enjoyment, though Rex and Zoe preferred to keep out of the spotlight either blushing red in embarrassment or sweat dropping at Max showing off his ego.

The forest was filled with the echoes of laughter and joy, mixed with the light and warmth of the campfire which was a welcoming embrace for anyone passing by, but the sound of a certain voice instantly turned the mood sour again, "Alright kids I'm back!" sang Michelle as she trotted gleefully into the clearing. As she appeared, many of the students scowled or frowned upon seeing her, which reminded them that she dragged them all the way out here against their will in the first place even if they were enjoying themselves now. "Sorry I took so long, but boy nothing feels better than cleaning out your colon." she cheered as she of the others shuddered at the thought of having to relieve themselves in the wild like wild animals or worse savages….Yet their teacher was abel to do it somehow without any qualms about it, some even began to wonder if she was even human.

"Ugh….."

"Glad I don't need to go anytime soon."

"Yeah, who knows what she ate while on the way here."

"Tell me about it." Kids began to mutter amongst themselves, some even turning green and holding back the need to throw up, including Rex, Zoe and Max.

Amy however didn't really pay what Michelle had said much mind, but instead giggled in amusement to hear all the boys' funny reactions, "Hee hee."

Their leader then folded her arms firmly as she began to make an announcement, "Now that we're all set up let's all have a nice get together around the campfire and we get to the most essential part of every camping trip!" she cheered.

"Marshmallows and smores?" asked Max rising his arm.

"Nope!" Michelle shook her head while holding her head up high before shining a flashlight under her face to look as scary as she could be, "It's telling spooky stories…..Woooooo…." she said wiggling her fingers and smiling creepily as some of the others sweat dropped at her sad attempt to look scary.

"Oh….." he replied feeling letdown before whispering to Rex and Zoe, "Doubt she can come up with anything scarier than her losing her lunch." he snickered as they chuckled with her.

Before long, she soon began to do a rather overdramatic retelling of one time in her bedroom when she was a little kid, when she tried to sleep on a dark stormy night and how some unsettling sounds had kept her awake, "I heard scratching noises coming from my closet, so I edged slowly towards it…." she said tiptoeing around the fire to act out her story, though some of the school kids didn't seem that scared or nervous, "I reached out for the handles and when I opened them-" She motioned her hands opening a pair of doors, before noticing a pair of yellow eyes shine in the dark of the bushes just in front of her behind the audience. The eyes then flashed a set of vicious teeth, which made her widen her eyes and scream out suddenly! "WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" she cried waving her arms out which then took the kids by surprise as they all cried in alarm too!

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Some of them felt their hearts skip a beat, others turned pale and even resorted to hugging one another! With Rex hugging Max having been caught by surprise, with Amy clinging onto Zoe's arm!

The sudden scream caused the eyes to vanish as Michelle blinked and rubber her own eyes to see they were gone now, "C…Calm down everyone! I'm sure it's just nothing! Hahaha!" she laughed it off thinking it was just her mind playing tricks on her, "I hope….." she shuddered at the end before taking advantage of it, "But I got you good didn't I? Hee hee hee!" she then giggled much to the annoyance of many of her students.

"If she does that to me again I'm going to rebel against the school order." one boy muttered as some others grumbled, as she caused a few to wet what may be their only set of clean pants for the weekend!

Others though took it rather well and seemed to have a newfound respect for her surprisingly.

"Boy did she really give us a jump that time." Max breathed placing a hand on his chest to still his racing heart.

"Guess we shouldn't underestimate her after all….." Rex chuckled as a bead of sweat fell from his cheek.

"Didn't think she had it in her." Zoe muttered as she laughed nervously.

After brushing off her clothes Michelle then made another announcement, "Well boys and girls, time to hit the hay!" she then added as she grabbed a bucket of water to douse out the campfire so that it wouldn't cause a forest fire in the night, "Hope you've packed your bathing suits because tomorrow we're hiking up the mountain to the nearby waterfall, where we'll also be going for a nice long swim at the waterfall pond!" she cheered as everyone jumped for joy in excitement for the activities next day.

"Yay!" As they all began to disperse for their tents, Michelle put out the fire with the water before using the flashlight to find her way back to her own cheat tent. Eying them carefully from the brush, the Schezuanosaurus licked its lips ravenously knowing it hit the perfect place for an all you can eat midnight feast. As it slunk deeper into the shadows to wait for them all to fall asleep, before he would make its' move…..

 **(D Lab)**

It was night time, the 3 chibi dinosaurs were listening to some music on the radio while dancing to the beat with Cera and Miku, something they did with their owners sometime ago together when they were having fun one time. While they did that, Reese continued to work tirelessly on the monitor specs of Johnny, while Spike eyed Cera having fun with the dinosaurs, amazed she was able to keep them entertained for so long, ere thinking about the kinds of fun the others were having out in the woods, "I wonder how the kids are doing now. Wonder what kinds of adventures they're up to in the wilds." he thought as he smirked recalling his younger days when he first started adventuring, "Oh how it reminds me of my younger days when I went out on week long excursions and had to sleep outdoors." he thought.

He then turned to see Cera had moved on to do yoga with them now, surprisingly they were handling it pretty well, as she and Miku shifted into downward dog position they began wagging their tails in enjoyment.

"Say Cera, do you go to school yourself?" Spike then asked suddenly as she then stopped and sat up, caught by surprise at Dr taylor's words.

Looking down to herself her expression turned somewhat downcast, something the other dinosaurs soon picked up on as they came closer to her, "Umm….not that I know of or remember honestly…." she said rather uneasy as Dr Taylor soon remembered her problem about memory loss….

"Oh, right of course….sorry for that…." he said with regret over what he said, looking away while Reese watched from her table.

Cera shook her and smiled back, "It's fine," she said to his relief, "In fact, I've been remembering bits of myself or things I am capable of here and there lately and I thank you and the rest of the D team for that." she added as Dr Taylor smiled and folded his arms on his hips.

"We're all very thankful to have you with us," he said in response, "I don't think we would have been able to get this far or acquire this much knowledge on the dinosaurs themselves. You really are an irreplaceable member of this team." he said praying her while Reese nodded in the background, Dr Taylor may be a bit much at times but at time he can be firm and a great example to follow, "Also, maybe we can help enrol you in their school too when it begins next semester, no doubt you'll make all sorts of new friends with them too."

"That sounds like something I can look forward to." Cera chuckled considering the thought before her eyes started to feel heavy and she let out a yawn, along with their 4 dinosaurs who were getting drowsy and tired themselves.

Noticing that and eying the clock on the wall Dr Taylor smiled and nodded, "Well, its getting late, shall we turn in for the night?" he asked Reese and Cera.

"I think that's a good idea." said Cera as she headed for the door with the dinosaurs in tow.

Reese then began to save files before initiating the shutdown programme for the lab before closing up for the evening, "We'll check in with the others later tomo-" Before she could finish her sentence and shut the lab down, suddenly the dinoholders on the table began to flash red to everyone's surprise.

"Huh?" Cera went over to her own dinoshot and checked it to see there was a signal, "A dinosaur?" she then questioned as Chomp and the others gathered around her with interest.

"Where is it Reese?" asked Spike as she began typing on the computer.

"Let's see….." she narrowed her eyes as she pinpointed the dinosaur's location. As the map enlarged and focused, she widened her eyes and covered her mouth when she saw it, "Oh my….."

Cera and Spike soon widened their eyes in alarm, "Ah! That's-"

"The campsite!" Spike wailed.

Cera quickly rushed over to grab the 3 dinoholders with her a she ran to the transport in alarm, "We've got to hurry now!" she gasped frantically.

"I'll get the teleporter prepared." said Reese activating the usual protocols, while Spike ran around in a panic unsure what to do.

"Everyone's out there defenceless! Especially Max, Rex and Zoe! They're all sitting ducks!" he cried as he began biting his nails fantasising over them being eaten alive like in a horror movie!

As she ran to the teleporter, their dinosaurs hurried to her barking firmly showing they were ready to go!

"Come on you guys! We're heading out now!" said Cera returning them all to cards and the teleporter began to power up.

As Spike got his act together he shook his head clear and looked to Cera, "I'll join you as soon as I can! Till then take care of yourself and the others!" he said seriously as she nodded back.

"Will do Dr Taylor." said Cera as she disappeared in the light and Dr Taylor rushed out for the pickup truck, Reese stayed behind firmly to keep watch over things, while also worried herself.

As the light appeared at the entrance to the forest on the road, Cera looked around to see nothing but darkness and trees around for miles, with the sounds of owl hoots and crickets chirping she knew finding the dinosaur or the others in this would be like a needle in a haystack. "Whoa it's pretty dark out here." she commented looking around, narrowing her eyes feeling the tension in the air as she clenched her fist, "The perfect time for an ambush no doubt….." Eying her surroundings she knew it would be too dark for Chomp or Paris to see, not to mention their size wold make it difficult to manoeuvre. Considering they hadn't heard any loud crushing sounds it had to be a small dinosaur capable of moving around in the tight spaces and darkness, as far as she knew there was only 1 dinosaur on their team who could handle such conditions. "I think I know just who bring out." She said taking out a card, "Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Ace materialised on the field with a roar as Cera climbed onto his back, "Alright Ace, I need you to use your sniffer to find the campsite. Also keep an eye out for that dinosaur too." she said patting him on the neck encouragingly as he nodded before charging ahead into the darkness.

 **(Meanwhile)**

It was midnight and all was still and silent, except for the sounds of snoring from the tents that were set up in a clearing near the river so that the kids could go for water whenever they were thirsty. The sounds of crickets and hooting owls echoed in the nightly chorus as everyone slept rather peacefully in their nightwear while wearing earplugs or night caps while awaiting patiently for the sun to rise. However, unbeknownst to the children or even the forest itself, there was a newcomer amidst, who stepped out from the brush, slowly and silently like a nighttime assassin, carefully placing its feet on the sold ground to prevent snapping any twigs to alert its presence to its prey. Sniffing the air, the szechuanosaurus then lowered its head to the ground sniffing the trail and scent of the children which splayed out in several directions, following the strongest one it could lock onto before it lead it to several tents that were pitched, each one it could tell had at least 2 inside.

With its excellent night vision, the predator was able to make out the tents in the darkness while also carefully placing its feet in the right spits as it worked its way around the support pegs and ropes holding the tents. Peering into each one, it decided to size up its' options available before choosing the weakest. Upon doing so it ended up stepping on a few dead leaves, which only made a small cracking sound which it ignored. In 1 tent however, Amy began to stir upon hearing the noise, "Urgh…." She rubbed her eyes groggily but before she could sleep again, she froze still, to see a dark saurian shadow peer through her tent from the outside, as it waved its tail up while sniffing the ground. As it stood up it opened its mouth, flashing a set of sharp teeth in its jaws! The fact that a monster was outside their tent, ready to punch at any given moment, Amy covered her mouth and shivered in fear, as she saw the predator's foot step in front of the opening gap, a 3 toed foot with hard scales and claws. She closed her eyes, tearing up and prayed for it to go away soon as her heart began to race uncontrollably and she did all she could to keep her breathing stable.

Opening her eyes slowly she sighed with relief to see the dinosaur had moved on in the distance. Placing a hand to her heart she turned over to Zoe, out of fear she did the first thing that came to mind, "Zoe…Zoe wake up…." she said as quietly as she could while shaking her friend gently.

"Urgh….huh?" Zoe, who's hair was now down and long, woke up drowsily and was about to yawn before Amy suddenly covered her mouth in alarm, "Mmph!?"

"Ssh….be quiet…." Amy breathed pleadingly to her as she looked back outside to make sure the dinosaur had gone before breathing in relief again.

Noticing her friend was acting on edge, Zoe herself felt a bit uneasy as she then asked, "A….Amy?" she whispered getting her attention, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Zoe…." Amy teared up as she hugged closely to the bigger girl, "I think….there's a wild animal outside….."

"Ah…." Zoe the patted her gently in response, "I….It'll be alright, there's nothing dangerous in these forests, I'm sure it's just a for or a racoon dog or something…." she said reassuringly, but Amy wasn't convinced as her expression grew more fearful.

"I don't know…..the foot was pretty scaly and I heard it hissing too….." she said as Zoe widened her eyes.

"Scaly foot? Hissing?" she blinked as she brought a finger to her chin in thought. Only 1 type of animal seemed to fit that description and that didn't sound like a good thing at all, "Wait, could it be-"

SNARL!

A sudden shriek echoed through the dark of the forest, which caused a chain reaction of sudden awakening and cries of alarm amongst the tents as the kids all got up one by one screaming their heads off!

"AAAAHH!"

"Ah!"

"WAAAAH!" As they all rushed out to see what it was but saw nothing, they became all the more on edge, knowing it was not wind nor their imaginations. Something was out there, stalking them no doubt, they were hunted…..

Kids that gathered together got in a circle to cover all sides while others ran about in a panic.

"Wh…what was that!?" Max exclaimed as he ran out of his tent with Rex who narrowed his eyes on alert.

"I don't know but I don't like it one bit…."

"This is just like that horror movie I watched! About there being some spirit or even a monster that haunts the woods and picking off unsuspecting campers one by one!"

"Oh man are we going to get eaten by some beast's midnight snack!?"

"I want to go home!" Several panicked responses came about amongst the campers which made Amy shudder as she hugged herself in a fright.

"Zoe, I'm scared….." she whimpered sitting down, as Zoe leaned down to stroke her kindly.

"D…don't worry Amy, I'm here for you I promise." she said hugging her and smiling at her reassuringly.

"That's right, we'll protect you." said Max who ran over to them with Rex.

"You can count on us to keep you safe."

Seeing their smiles and encouraging expressions she wiped away a tear feeling motivated as she nodded gratefully, "Thank you….I feel better already."

While the D Team comforted Amy, another girl on the sidelines yelled out, "Hey where's Michelle!? Shouldn't she be out here to make sure we're okay?" she cried.

"I think her tent's over there." a boy pointed out with a flashlight as he and another boy ran over to where it was. As they did they found the tent which appears very unusual and spiffy for a pitch up tent, but shrugged it off as they opened the front and popped their heads in, "Hey Michelle we-huh!?" They both widened their eyes to see the luxurious lifestyle Michelle had been hogging off to herself, the ready made meals in the corner on top of her cooler, not to mention the TV. Worst of all, she was wrapped up in a warm sleeping bag while strapping on a flower eye mask and earmuffs while holding onto a brown teddy hair as she snored loudly. No wonder she was so peaceful while they had to survive in the wild on their own all day!

Needless to say they were really ticked off to see wha she hid behind their back, "You've gotta be kidding me….." he said thing off her earmuffs, he and his fired both screamed at the top of their lungs!

"Hey Michelle wake up!"

"WAAAAH!" she screaming jumping up and striking some kung fu style poses! "Who's there!? You're not getting my lunch you-" As she focused more clearly her heart skipped a beat and she sweated upon seeing all her students had gathered outside her front door and were shooting her with fierce glares that could kill! Some were even popping their knuckles unable to hold themselves back anymore, which she noticed knowing they would try to bury her alive! "Oh hello there, anything I can help you with?" she chuckled nervously.

"What's all this?"

"Whatever happened to living off the land or getting in touch with our ancestral roots?"

"Your talk was all a bunch of phoney baloney wasn't it!?" Her students began to yell out and grumble, any second they could start a riot or worse a revolution against her as she waved her hands out frantically!

"Gah! I…Uh I can explain!" she gasped, "But first tell me what's wrong!? Is someone sick or lost or something!? There can't be any other reason you woke me up from my beauty nap right!?"

Groaning in disappointment and looking to one another wondering if she'd be of any help at all, till 1 student cried out from the back, "There's a big monster out there in the woods and it's going to get us!"

"M….Monster!?" Michelle gasped as she grabbed and hugged her teddy bear in 1 arm while biting her nails in another, "Oh no, oh no this is not good, I cannot get eaten by a monster in the middle of the woods with a whole load of children on me, that wouldn't be good for my image at all!" she thought to herself in a frantic before looking at her self image now, "Okay maybe it is ruined now but now's not the time for that!" She then stood up firmly and marched out to the student gathering putting on a confident face, "Don't worry, I have the solution to this! Ta da!" She proclaimed holding up her phone to the sky as everyone looked in awe at it, while others grumbled out loud.

"A phone?"

"So much for setting a good example…."

"Now now kids, let's not dwell on the past here," she said calming them down as she switched it on, "With just the push of a button I'll save us all and we-" Before she could press the call button, the phone's screen suddenly switched off and turned blank. Pressing the power button a few more time and getting no response, she then froze and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the phone's battery was at 0%! "Uh oh….." she croaked uneasily which was soon picked up by some of the students who were getting restless, agitated, ticked off or anxious.

"Is there something wrong Michelle?" Zoe asked as Michelle quickly hid the phone behind her back and she scratched her head nervously.

"There…appear to be some technical difficulties and well-"

"Say what!?" They exclaimed before yelling out their frustrations to the sky or to one another.

"I am not going to spend the rest of lay life running scared through these woods by some wild animal because of that nincompoop of a teacher!"

"If that monster comes I'll make sure she gets eaten first."

Realising things would get way worse and out of hand if nothing was done soon, Michelle cried out to them all getting their attention desperately trying to win back their trust, "N…Now now there's nothing to worry about! Everything's going to be fine!" she cried as they glared at her unconvinced, which made her sweat profusely and chuckle nervously, "If worst comes to worst maybe the mean old monster will go after them first and not me." she thought before sounding as tough as she could again, "There's no monster I promise you! In fact, let's all just go back to our tents and-"

Suddenly a set of bushes nearby began to rustle, which startled everyone!

RUSTLE!

"EEEK!" Michelle and several other students exclaimed as they backed away from it, some tried to make a run for it while others held them back not wanting them to get lost in the pitch black darkness alone.

"It's the monster I know it!"

Max and the D Team however, narrowed their eyes courageously as they kept a shivering Amy behind them and prepared themselves, "Alright guys, whatever's in there we'll be ready for it…."

"Never fear! Michelle, Science field trip leader extraordinaire is here!" Michelle announced seizing the opportunity to make herself look good, though inside she was shivering like crazy before shaking it off and sporting a confident expression, "This is it, gotta look brave and strong for the kids so they still have faith in me and not tell their folks on me, and because that's what teachers do!" she thought to herself as the rusting died down in the big bush, "I'm sure it's just a rat or something, nothing bigger than a fox." She thought to herself as she pumped up her arm, "I'll go check it out, you all just wait right here and you'll see first hand how man tames the wild!" She said as she marched right in with her flashlight.

"Wow, look at her go…."

"She's so brave…."

Said some of the students as she disappeared behind the thick shrubs. Several others however, including the D Team, weren't so convinced.

"You think she knows what she's doing?"

"Not a chance."

"She's gonna get eaten that's for sure."

"If she does that's the first thing that goes right around here."

On the teacher's side, Michelle walked carefully, slowly through he forest, sweating like mad as she looked around herself on all sides, her heart could explode at any second as the sounds of the night time creatures echoed through the forest. But seeing there really was nothing in sight where she shone her light, apart from a few scurrying foxes and a flying owl, she soon took a breath of relief seeing nothing was out of the ordinary much to her relief, "See Michelle, it was just a bad dream the kids had….hehe….just an owl or a racoon dog or something…." she laughed nervously, almost turning pale. She then gulped down hard as she prepared to turn back, "It's fine….there's absolutely nothing to worry abou-" Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a drop of cold water drip onto her hair which made her stop. "Huh is it raining?" She asked herself as she began to wipe it off. When she did however, she realised it wasn't rain at all. It felt slimy and also it smelt awful as she cringed, "Ugh! What is this!?" she grunted before looking up. As she did, she froze stiff and dropped the flashlight she held which shone on a pair of purple scaled clawed feet. Above her was a set of glowing yellow eyes in the dark night, attached to a large saurian head which then grinned and flashed a set of sharp teeth in its jaws, grinning at Michelle like a serial killer as she widened her eyes and shook immensely with fear!

She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't do what they wanted her to do! She froze, fixated but he dinosaur's sharp eyed gaze which locked into her eyes. As the szechuanosaurus opened its' jaws and prepared to rip her head clean off, she quickly mustered all her remaining strength to jump out of its way as it snapped close with a mouthful of air! Regaining her senses and seeing the carnivore fix its' sights on her, Michelle quickly turned around running as fast as she could away, shaking her hands out and screaming her lungs! "WAAAAAHHH!"

"Huh!?" Everyone turned around herring her echoing cries. At first they assumed it may have been something ridiculous which spooked her, but some of them were getting second thoughts as she burst out of the underbrush with widened eyes and flailing hands!

"EEEEEKKK!"

"Hey it's Michelle!" A girl gasped to see her. "So what'd you find!?" She ran past her without answering much to her surprise, "What the!?"

In the process she even knocked down a pair of boys and shoved them to the side, spurring everyone to stay clear of he path as she charged through them like a maniac!

"H…Hey!"

"What's the big idea!?"

"Out of my way! Every man for himself!" She then yelled as she disappeared into the darkness ahead.

"What's her problem?" Max then asked as he and the D Team eyed Michelle weirdly as she vanished. They didn't have much time to pioneer to over though, as a loud roar from behind caught everyone's attention!

ROAR

Turning around a large purple and white dinosaur leapt out of the bushes and snarled viciously before eying the entire student body before letting out another ferocious shriek which matched that which they heard earlier!

ROAR!

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Run for your lives!" Screamed the children as they ran about knocking over some of their classmates with only the instinct to stay alive on their mind! Some ran in groups while others decided to hightail it out on their own! Some were unlucky to get knocked down or shaved about before getting back to their feet an running off again!

As everyone ran about in circles due to the hungry dinosaur, which turned around unable to fix on a single target, the D Team stared at it and gasped, "No way! A szechuanosaurus!" Max gasped recognising it.

"Everyone don't move!" Rex cried out hoping to get the group to calm down, knowing splitting up as the worst thing to do when a predator is about. "Don't run!" His efforts fell on deaf ears as students began disappearing into the underbrush or darkness till their circle grew smaller and smaller.

Overwhelmed by fear and the peer pressure of everyone running for their lives, Amy cried out in a panic as she ran off in the distance too! "AAAAHHH!"

"Amy wait!" Zoe cried out as she chased after her too, to Max and Rex's alarm!

"Zoe!" They cried, but soon found they were pretty much the only ones left! They both turned quickly and widened their eyes to see the szechuanosaurus fixed its' sights on them before charging at the like a freight train! Opening up its arms and jaws ready to seize them!

"Gah!"

"Run for it!" Max and Rex cried out relating there was no other way as they ran together into the darkness and the szechuanosaurus charged into the bushes after them, letting out a loud nightmarish screech which echoed through the forest night!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off in the distance Cera rode on Ace through the forest, as he skilfully manoeuvred himself with ease while running through the winding trees and forested ground. His feet carefully placed so he wouldn't step on any twigs to alert their quarry of their approach. As he stopped for a moment he began to sniff the air hoping to pick up sone sort of sense while using his carnivorous night vision to scout out their surroundings, as Cera looked around the dark and almost pitch black forest with only the light of the stars and moon to guide them. "We've come in pretty deep…." she said seriously as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek, knocking at this tense moment they could easily be the hunted themselves, or the others in the campsite, they could easily be prey for any carnivorous dinosaur out there. Even a herbivore can be dangerous in this darkness too if easily spooked or agitated….

Despite the sounds of hooting owls or chirping crickets, Cera tensed up knowing there weren't any sounds she could hear that would give them a sign or clue as to where to go, "It's quiet….too quiet…." she breathed slowly as Ace grunted, starting to feel agitated himself.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Suddenly the sounds of mixed screams followed by an unfamiliar shriek broke the silence as it echoed through the dark depths of the woods, putting the duo on alert knowing it meant danger!

"Ah! Ace quickly!" she warned the carnotaurus who roared and charged ahead in the direction it came from!

 **(Meanwhile)**

The szechuanosaurus found its way to the campfire site where the smell of prey was strong, yet it couldn't see any humans in sight nor hear them. Assuming they were only here briefly it then passed on, unaware there were some students hiding behind some large rocks or in the bushes, some even had climbed up the trees and remained still to avoid detection, as it passed they all sighed with relief but others even began to cry or wet their pants wanting their mommies and to go home.

Passing by the river for a drink it soon moved off, as a pair of students took a gasp of air our of the water before diving back in again.

It then hissed and grunted in annoyance at failing to find any prey, but soon heard a sound coming from nearby as it walked over to where it came from. Eventually it noticed a light coming from a pink tent, inside it was Michelle, who was frantically packing up all her belongings in her backpack, or shove them in, while having a small lamp light it up for her to use, "Okay I've got everything packed with me, now for my last will." she said as she began writing with a pen on a sheet of paper.

" **If you've found this note I may have been eaten by a dinosaur. In my honour, make sure my name goes down in history as one of the best teachers ever, maybe even erect a statue of me or even name a state or country after me! Sincerely, Michelle. Science and Field Trip Leader Extraordinaire!"**

Upon finishing her last word she kissed it seeing it was perfect. "Alright! With that all set I'm ready to-" Before she could finish, a drop fell onto her sheet of paper, causing it to moisten. Looking up from her note, Michelle quickly turned pale and squeaked upon seeing the szechuanosaurus poking its head into her tent, gazing upon her and flashing a malevolent grin at her like a serial killer! It then leapt inside as Michelle screamed her lungs out!

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" She narrowed avoided getting her head ripped off as she and the dinosaur tussled wildly inside the tent, only for her to barely make it out alive as the dinosaur's claw tore a hole through her tent and caused it to collapse on it, tying it up as it thrashed violently to escape!

"GAAAAH! I don't want to be food! I don't want to be food!" Michelle cried closing her eyes and running away seizing her chance, "If I just keep running forward I'll-"

WHAM!

She didn't get too far though, as she ran straight into a tree and fell backwards onto the ground with a massive red mark on her forehead and face! "Oooogh…." she groaned as her eyes whirled around seeing stars before she passed out on the ground.

It didn't take long for the szechuanosaurus to tear itself free from the remains of Michelle's tent, and after sniffing the ground it soon tracked her down and soon looked over the now helpless woman. It snarled and hissed with delight as it opened its jaws filled with teeth and drooling saliva, its' tongue began to lick its lips ravenously as it slowly reached in to take a bite! It however then stopped at her neck, holding back and backing away as it sniffed the air. It could tell there were a few more humans about, as well as footsteps in the distance. It then grinned maliciously as it gained an idea, before grabbing Michelle by her leg and dragging her somewhere else.

Not far away, Zoe and Amy were hiding within the hollows of a large tree between its roots, as Zoe hugged in Amy close to her while keeping a sharp vigilance for any signs of danger. She looked from side to side as best she could, but without any light it made it very difficult to make out what was out there in the dark. She knew they couldn't stay here forever, they had to regroup with their friends so they had a better chance, but unless she knew what was out there she might as well be charging ahead against a tyrannosaurus on her own! It was a tough situation, and Amy seemed to know it upon seeing her serious expression.

"Is it safe to come out?" Amy then asked nervously, as Zoe swallowed hard realising there was only one way to find out.

"I'll check, stay here Amy." she said looking to her, as the smaller girl gasped and covered her mouth at her bravery. Zoe slowly stood up and pulled herself out of the tree roots as she stepped out into the clearing outside.

As she stepped out and scouted their surroundings carefully, Amy crouched lowly and peeked her head out only slightly from the opening in the roots, "Be careful…." she whispered out to her as Zoe stepped out further into the open.

She narrowed her eyes to get a good focus on her surroundings, and her senses on full alert as she surveyed carefully. Apart from hearing the sounds of the night there wasn't anything out of the ordinary at least for now, as she ushered to Amy behind her, "Alright looks like we're in the clear…." she said calmly as Amy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew….." she pulled herself out of the tree roots, her nightwear now coated in out and dirt like Zoe, but that was nothing compared to the anxiety she was feeling as she stepped out slowly to Zoe's side, clutching onto her arm like a child to a mother at the mall. "What should we do Zoe?" She asked nervously looking around, "It's still dark and there's a hungry dinosaur out there…."

Zoe sweated nervously and scratched her cheek unable to answer back, "I…well…." It was a good question, what which Zoe had no answer to. Sure they got away from the hungry dinosaur but they certainly weren't out of the woods yet, and they couldn't just stay put all night, either they remain lost forever from the others or the dinosaur would find them….

"I'm so…scared…." Amy quivered as she hugged Zoe tightly and cried fearfully, wiping her tears on her friend and only protection she knew of now.

Understanding their situation and seeing they couldn't rely on anyone else but themselves, with Amy relying more on Zoe, she knew she had to step up for their sakes. Taking a breath she cleared her head and thought carefully before thinking up their next step, "Okay first thing's first we have to find the others, make sure they're okay." she said firmly before stroking Amy's head gently as the small girl looked up to her, "And don't worry, nothing bad will happen, I'll protect you I promise." She said smiling to her compassionately.

Amy sniffled and wiped away her tears with her fingers before nodding, "O….okay…." she replied putting her faith and trust in her close and first ever friend since coming to Sanjo.

As they both walked together slowly through the game trail in the woods, in Zoe's mind she prayed she hadn't made a promise she couldn't keep, despite smiling calmly to her friend, she couldn't help but swallow hard as she felt the side of her hips where her dinoholder with her, only to find nothing there now, "If only I had my dinoholder with me…..oh this is the worst night ever…." She tensed before shaking her head clear again and putting on a more firm expression, "But I have to be strong, for Amy and everyone else's sake…."

In another part of the forest, Max and Rex pulled themselves out from some bushes and pushed away some low tree ranches as they tried to find their way back to the camp and hopefully some of the others knowing they'd stand a better chance together than divided. "Man where did everyone run off too?" Max grumbled in annoyance as he began to sweat immensely in his thick pyjamas.

Rex had all sorts of soil and muck coating his pyjama pants but he pressed on with determination knowing what was at stake, "I don't know, but let's just hope they got away from that dinosaur." he said seriously as he narrowed his eyes, "No doubt it scared and scattered us on purposely so we'd be easier to pick off…."

Max then gulped in fear at the thought as he kept reaching down to his hip but kept grabbing a handful of air, which made his heart race faster as he gritted his teeth in immense frustration, "Man I feel almost naked without my dinoholder with me." he hissed cursingly. It also make him realise how much he and the others may have relied too much on their dinosaurs for protection, on their own they really were but helpless prey or targets for the dinosaurs they hunted.

"Don't worry Max," said Rex to him as reassuringly as he could, "I'm sure Cera is on her way right now with our dinoholders and everything will be alright."

"But what if she's asleep at home?" Max then croaked which made Rex gulp down nervously.

"Okay didn't think of that….." he croaked before shaking his head, "But we can't dwell on the negative, let's just all hope for the best and make do with what we can for now." he said focusing on the task before hand as they climbed over a large rock, helping each other over it, "Our best chance is to regroup, we stand a much better chance together than alone."

"Mhmm." Max nodded firmly as they pressed on. Eventually, after trekking through the bush and trees long enough, they noticed a clearing up ahead between several trees in an opening, which they soon to recognise as the campfire site, which was now a pile of white and black ash in the middle. The pair of boys breathed a sigh of relief seeing they were close to the camp, "Can't be too far now." said Max with relief, hoping some of their friends had made it back and were safe without any injuries. As he looked to the side for anyone in the area, he noticed someone lying there, "Huh? Looks like someone's over there!"

Narrowing his eyes Rex recognised who it was, "It's Michelle!" As they ran over to her they noticed the massive bump on her forehead and how she was still mumbling nonsense while out cold, "Whoa looks like she knocked herself out." Rex commented as he snapped his fingers but got no response from her.

"Well, let's get her somewhere safe," said Max as he grabbed one of her arms, "She's pretty much free food for that dinosaur while she's in the open out here." he grunted as he tried to drag her along, surprisingly she was much heavier than he expected her to be.

Rex then nodded with Max in agreement as he went to help Max with Michelle's other arm, "Yeah, apart from that huge bruise on her head, I'm surprised she's perfectly-" It was at that very moment, recalling how Cera once told them to assess the situation, Rex then widened his eyes sensing something was amidst, "Wait a second….." Rex suddenly let go and stopped pulling, as he stood still looking around them carefully, something which Max quickly took notice of, which worried him.

"Rex what's wrong?" Max asked him nervously as his friend seemed to be in deep and concerned thought.

"Something's not right….." he thought to himself before looking down at their unconscious teacher, "For her to be exposed out here so conveniently….." he mused before noticing something unsettling nearby. A large drag trail, no doubt belonging to Michelle, followed by 2 sets of footprints, one coming from the forested area and another entering, "Drag marks…..footsteps…." He breathed as he then froze and stared, at Max seemingly. But now him, at a pair of glowing yellow eyes behind him!

"R…Rex? What's-"

"Max! Run! Behind you!" Rex warned cutting him off as the spiky haired boy turned around in alarm!

"Wha!?" Out of the brush the szechuanosaurus burst out and shrieked ferociously before charging like a bullet at them!

ROAR

"WHOA!" Max jumped as he scrambled to his feet with Rex, unfortunately dropping Michelle back with the instinct to save themselves!

"Run for it!" Rex cried as they ran away! Looking back the szechuanosaurus was picking up speed terrifyingly quick and would no doubt be able to catch up to them in seconds! Looking around frantically, with panicked thoughts racing through his mind, he quickly caught sight of a tree sturdy enough and tall enough to hold them both! "There! That tree!" He cried pointing to it as they both made a beeline for it! They quickly grabbed the stalks and branches and pulled themselves up in time, as the szechuanosaurus jumped and barely missed Max's leg by a few centimetres much to the boy's shock and relief!

SNAP!

"Whoa!" Max cried pulling in his foot and hugging it close to him with Rex hanging on at the other side putting a hand to his chest in relief.

"Phew that was close….." he breathed.

"Yeah, a second later it would have taken my leg off…." Max sighed finding it too close for comfort.

Their worries weren't over yet as the szechuanosaurus jumped up high and snapped at them!

"AH!" They cried in alarm as it continued to leap into the air and only succeeding in biting off branches that were close to them! As it tore through more and more the boys could only hand on and hug the tree trunk tightly in the hopes they wouldn't fall off and become dino food! It then slammed in its claws into the tree as it began to pull itself up much to their horror!

"Get away!"

"Leave us alone!" They yelled terrified as their attacker came close to ripping them to pieces!

Not far away, Amy and Zoe were trekking together through the underbrush when they heard shouting in the distance which caught their ears. "Huh? Do you hear something Zoe?" Amy blinked as she looked around curiously.

Listening closely, Zoe soon picked up on the cries for help as she widened her eyes in realisation, "Yeah, sounds like Max and Rex!" she gasped pointing ahead of them, "They're over there!" She said as they both ran out to where the voices were, unaware of what else was lying ahead….

Back at the tree, as the szechuanosaurus came close to where they were perched, the 2 boys began throwing sticks and other solid pieces they could break off from the tree at it, bonking it on the head and even hitting its eyes as it shook its head disoriented and then falling back down with a loud thud!

"Aw yeah take that!" Max grinned as Rex turned to him frantically!

"Max, you don't want to make that guy angry…." he said nervously as the dinosaur kicked back up and snarled at them viciously as it began circling the tree like a shark at a boat! They stared at it, never taking their eyes off it for even a second as it waited for an opportunity, searching for an easier way to get at them, before eventually snorting in annoyance and walking away from them

"Phew….Looks he can't get us." Max breathed deeply as he felt his heart could explode any second from the pressure.

"Yeah…..for now…." Rex replied in agreement before they noticed the szechuanosaurus had moved back into the opening of the clearing and snarl at them in frustration, nearby where Michelle lay, still out cold apparently. It was then Rex and Max both widened their eyes upon realisation, "It set a trap…..it actually set a trap…." said Rex realising it put Michelle out there to lure them over intentionally, if it wasn't them and one of the other students they'd get eaten for sure…..

"That's one really clever dinosaur…." Max gulped down as a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek and onto the forest floor, "It's very fast, really smart and extremely deadly…..Not the best of combinations.…"

They then noticed, for a brief second, that the dinosaur flashed them a rather sadistic grin as it turned around and began to hone in on the very bait it used to lure them in, Michelle herself!

"Oh no! It's going to eat her!" Max cried out in alarm with Rex gasping speechlessly at the fact they were about to witness something unthinkable with their very eyes! The dinosaur put a foot on Michelle's back and spend its jaws reaching in slowly as it prepared to snap her neck with 1 bite!

"Hey! Stop! Leave her alone!"

"Over here! Come get us!" Rex and Max both shouted out, hitting the branches using twigs or throwing out at it, but nothing they did made the dinosaur budge as it came within inches of sinking its teeth into Michelle's flesh!

"NO!" They both cried out covering their eyes unable to look any further. As much as they wanted to jump out of the tree they knew the result would be the same nevertheless, they'd only end up starting a feeding frenzy and turning the forest into a bloodbath, all seemed hopeless until-

"Max! Rex!" a voice called out to them.

"Huh!?" They looked out, and even the szechuanosaurus turned around in the direction it came from, as Zoe and Amy are upon the scene.

"What are you guys doing up there?" Zoe then asked with Amy peeking behind her unaware of their imminent danger.

Max and Rex widened their eyes seeing the szechuanosaurus had some new targets in mind as it turned around, "Zoe! Amy! Get out of there now!" They both yelled much to the girls' surprise.

Amy blinked in surprise while Zoe raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Huh? What's going on with you-" As she looked to the side, she turned pale as the dinosaur roared out at them viciously, focusing on them both as it flared out its claws and teeth!

SHRIEK!

"GAH!" They both screamed as it then charged straight at them like a freight train!

"Run for it!" Max yelled as the girls hurried off back into the trees!

Amy unfortunately didn't see where she was going, as she lost track of her surroundings and tripped over a large tree root! "Aaah!" she cried as she fell forward onto the ground as Zoe turned around in horror!

"Amy no!" she cried running to help her up. As she did they both widened their eyes and froze as the szechuanosaurus leapt into the air, its figure illuminated by the night of the moon as it closed in ready to sink its fangs into fresh meat, as Amy hugged Zoe tightly and Zoe put herself in front to shield her!

SNARL!

"AAAAAHHH!" Amy cried while Zoe teared up, not budging an inch, ready to protect Amy with her very own life, while Max and Rex looked on in horror as the predator was soon about to take the lives of their friends before them, and they were helpless to do anything about it…..

"NO!"

ROAR!

A new roar echoed through the forest, and out of nowhere a carnotaurus leapt over a fallen log and into the air, ramming the side of the incoming szechuanosaurus in time as it was sent flying back into a tree, smacking against it and falling down with a loud thud!

"H…Huh?" As Amy and Zoe both looked up, they widened their eyes in surprise to see another dinosaur had came in the nick of time to save them! "A…Another dinosaur?" Amy breathed in surprise, one which the D Team were all too familiar with.

"Ace!" They cheered in relief to see their miraculous saviour who now stood over Zoe and Amy, shielding them from any further harm!

"And look who's here!" Zoe pointed out as a familiar long red haired girl leapt down from the wind dinosaur.

"Sorry it took so long you guys!" said Cera with relief in her then thats he made it in time, "It was really hard tracking you through these woods." she said as Max and Rex both came down from the tree and hurried to her.

"Heh, well your timing couldn't have been more perfect Cera." said Max as he high fived her.

"Really glad she wasn't sleeping there…." Rex thought with relief.

As Cera handed Rex his dinoholder, Amy then looked to everyone in confusion unable to process what was happening, "U…Umm….Zoe?" she asked catching the taller girl's attention, "Who's she? And…what's going on?"

Zoe croaked realising the complicated situation they got themselves into, "W…Well Amy….you see…." she said scratching her head uneasily while the others looked away unsettled or whistled. They did;t have much time to explain as the szechuanosaurus kicked itself back up and snared viciously at Ace, furious for interrupting its meal as the 2 dinosaurs faced off the skies turned from dark night to bright multicolour!

All around kids who were hiding in bushes, trees or the river looked out in amazement to see it!

"H….Huh?" Michelle soon began to sit as she sat back up rubbing her sore temple, "Wh…What's going on? Why does my head-Ah!" She gasped speechlessly to see 2 dinosaurs facing off with one another, what's more so, Max and the others were there too and it seemed that they were with the horned dinosaur facing off against the purple one that terrorised their camp just now! Realising she was in a sticky situation she quickly ran behind a big tree and peaked out from it, "Now this I've got to see!"

Meanwhile as Ace and the szechuanosaurus exchanged roars and snarls, the others got out of the battlefield and held back on the sidelines where it would be safe, "Amy stand back!" Zoe warned her holding her back with her arm, "This is going to get rough!"

"O…Okay…" she replied as Rex stood out with Ace ready to fight!

"Go Ace! Take that dino down!" Max cheered as the carnotaurus roared and charged forth and the szechuanosaurus did the same! First Ace lunched forward but the szechuanosaurus jumped out of the way in time before leaping at him! Ace in turn dated out of its path before charging at it from the side, only for it to leap out of the way again! Ace charged forth and snapped at the szechuanosaurus' tail, throwing it but it reacted quickly and landed on its' feet before swiftly counterattacking with a claw swipe at Ace's face but barely missing it as the claw nearly grazed Ace's side! Despite both being wind dinosaurs and very fast, the smaller szechuanosaurus was more evasive and able to turn better than Ace could.

"Man that thing's fast!" Max grunted in annoyance as he, Zoe and Cera narrowed their eyes, while Amy covered her outs with her hands fearfully.

"Yeah, but nothing Ace can handle!" Rex replied undeterred as he took out a move card, "Ninja attack!" He called out as Ace charged at it splitting into 6 clones and surrounding his enemy on all sides in a circle! While the D Team smiled seeing they had him cornered, Cera quickly noticed the szechuanosaurus had glowed white for a brief moment. She blinked her eyes and looked again and saw Ace had already begun to dart in and attack it on all sides violently!

"Alright we got it!"

"Nice!" Max and Zoe cheered, but instead of returning to a card, the dinosaur instead exploded in a pile of dust, revealing only a tree stump in its' place!

"Huh!?" They all gasped in surprise. Even Ace was taken aback by what he saw, only to get ambushed by a sneak attack from the side as the szechuanosaurus ran in and kicked out at him, knocking him across the forest floor!

"Wh…what the!?"

"Ace!" Rex gasped in alarm as his partner got back up and only barely managed to dart away from the szechuanosaurus' leap!

"Wh…what's going on here!?" Max asked as he and the others couldn't understand what just happened.

"I don't know, and I don't like it…." Cera gritted her teeth seeing Ace was beginning to sweat and pant from fatigue. "Ace could waste all his energy quickly at this rate…." she noted putting a finger to her chin, "It's like the dinosaur we fought just now was an illusion…." She then opened her eyes realising what happened, "Wait…..dino illusion!"

Back at the battlefield, the szechuanosaurus glowed white for a bit as Ace charged in and battered it in the chest, sending it flying into a tree with a loud crash! But as it fell down it exploded into another tree stump as Ace stepped back in surprise.

"Oh no!" Zoe gasped.

"It happened again!" Max followed as Rex gritted his teeth in frustration and Amy looked on fearfully behind Zoe's back!

Out of nowhere, the szechuanosaurus leapt from above and onto Ace's back, biting down hard on his neck while clawing at his back with its' arms and foot claws! Ace roared in pain and agony as his attacker kept slashing at him mercilessly while crunching down in a double sided attack, one he couldn't escape from so easily as his energy drew into the red zone!

"Gah! If this keeps up….." Max grunted in frustration. Zoe meanwhile covered Amy's eyes and ears so she wouldn't need to see nor hear Ace's cries of pain, though that meant it left her to bear witness it herself….as she sweated anxiously wishing there was something she coddle do for him.

Rex gritted his teeth refusing to give up as he yelled at the top of his lungs, "You can do it Ace! Don't give up! I believe in you!" Rex's words of motivation were enough to spur the carnotaurus to shift side and shake off his relentless attacker who fell to the ground hard though it managed to get back up again and roar!

Cera then narrowed her eyes, knowing they had to end this battle quick as Ace panted hard and was bleeding from his wounds…but how….She then closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could, "Wait, when it uses its move it glows for a solid second…." Cera then opened her eyes in realisation as she turned to Rex, "Rex! Get it when it glows!"

He looked to her in surprise at what she said, "Glows?" he couldn't understand what she meant at first, before recalling who it glowed before ninja attack and when "Wait, so that's its' move?" He then observed his surroundings and realised something he could do to tip the odds in their favour, "Okay, I'll aim for that!" As he said that, Ace nodded knowing what the plan was as he ran to the side of the campsite, nearby the ahed of the campfire. He then lowered his head and roared out a challenge to the szechuanosaurus who shrieked in response and charged at him! "Wait for it…." he said hardening his gaze as it closed in. Max and Zoe closed their eyes unable to look or take the pressure, but Cera smiled seeing they had their fore right where they wanted!

It then leapt up into the air ready to dive down on Ace before light began to gather around it, "Now!" Rex commanded as Ace whipped up his tail, sending a wave of ash at the szechuanosaurus' eyes which caused it to screech in pain as it tumbled back down to the ground! Getting back up it kept scratching at its' face with its' claws hoping to remove the unbearable pain of the soot in its eyes but to no avail! Stumbling about, Ace seized the opportunity to strike with his tail at its stomach, causing it to cough up and stumble back in disorientation!

"Alright it's off balance now!" Cera cheered with Max, Zoe and Amy in amazement.

"Now to finish it!" Said Rex as he slashed the final move card, "Tornado toss!" Ace glowed white as he charged ahead and spun around the szechuanosaurus rapidly, building up speed and wind as he went, before creating a massive tornado that carried it up into the air, before it soon crashed down hard in the middle of the fireplace! The dinosaur reached out its claw desperately and shrieked in pain before collapsing in exhaustion, returning to its dinosaur and move card while the skies returned to the starry night again.

"Woo hoo we did it!" Rex cheered patting Ace on the head as his partner nuzzled him relieved to see he and his friends were safe.

"Yeah!"

"Nice work Ace!" Max and the others cheered as they went out to congratulate him, while Amy held her hands together in awe at what she witnessed.

"Amazing…." she breathed upon realising her friends actually used dinosaurs….

As Rex returned Ace to card form and picked up the cards in the ash pile, she walked out to them all slowly, "That was….incredible…." she said clapping her hands together catching their attention, also making them remember they had to explain things to her. "So then, you have dinosaurs too?" She asked looking to Max, Cera and Zoe.

"Uh huh….." Zoe nodded simply while Cera and Max looked away, whistling or scratching their heads.

"This is awkward…."

Zoe then walked over to her friend and leaned down to her, "Amy, you have to keep this a secret okay?" she asked hopefully as she stroked her cheek, "If anyone else were to know about this well….it wouldn't be nice would it if everyone were to have experiences like this again right?"

"Oh…that….wouldn't be very fun at all…" she replied as she saw the others looking to her too hoping she would do it. She then smiled and nodded in response, "Okay, I promise…." She said to their relief.

"Thank you." said Zoe who smiled back at her.

Max and Rex meanwhile held a hand out to Cera as she shook them, "You really came through for us Cera."

"Yeah, you saved our hides before we became dino chow." They said to her as she smiled.

"Heh, well I guess that should be enough adventure for you all huh?"

Max and Rex both laughed in amusement, "Yup, I've definitely had my fill of that for a while."

"Oh…my…gosh…." another voice said to them from behind. Turning around their hearts skipped a beat to see their teacher Michelle, apparently had recovered and regained her senses and now was eye goggling them all over, "You kids are like dino wranglers!? That's like so amazing! You've like tamed the greatest wild animals on the planet! To think you are all my students! Oh when word of this gets out-" She kept going on and on much to their dismay and unease

"Oh boy…." Zoe swallowed uneasily.

"We'd better find a way to keep her quiet about this…." said Max sweating hard knowing she could easily get this info out to the public and to all sorts of people they wouldn't want on their backs.

"Good luck keeping that motor mouth of hers' shut…." Rex groaned thinking it would be hopeless.

At the most impeccable of timings, a tree branch from above suddenly snapped and felt right on top of Michelle, striking her hard dead center on her head!

WHAM

"YOW!" she cried out as the D Team jumped back in surprise before she slumped down again out cold! "Urgh…."

Everyone stared speechless at what just happened before Max said out loud, "That works…."

Taking it as it was, Rex then began dialling on his dinoholder for help, "Let's call for help now, I've had enough of this night in the wild." he said as they all nodded in agreement.

 **(Next morning)**

It was dawn, and several authorities had gathered at the woods to escort the children in groups back to their homes, while others had their parents come directly as they hugged them closely or cried deeply to see they were alright, also scared out of their wits that something awful would have happened to their loved ones. Emergency rescue teams were also scouting out the area to make sure none had gone missing, while doctors and nurses went to treat the scrapes and injuries some may have suffered in their horrific experience last night either by trampling or forest related injuries like cuts or stings by plants or insects. It was a heartfelt reunion for most, the only one who didn't get a good sendoff was Michelle, as she was being carted away by some paramedics on a stretcher into an ambulance with a huge bandage wrapped around her head while still out cold. As she was loaded in and the doors shut, most kids snickered or grumbled glad to be rid of her at least.

"Hope we don't get to see her again for a while."

"Yeah this was all her fault…." Some muttered with relief holding begrudging expressions, scowls or grins as the ambulance drove off, finally free of Michelle's crazed antics once and for all.

Spike meanwhile stood with the rest of the D Team, checking intently for injuries with a first aid kit he brought with him. After her arrived he stayed with them through the night since Michelle was out of commission, and he was by far a better wilderness survival expert than she was any day. "I'm glad you kids are all safe, and without a single injury to boot." he said with a sigh of relief as he wiped some sweat from his brow before smiling at Cera who stood behind him, "Be thankful Cera here was able to find you all in time."

"We're really grateful for that." said Rex breathing a sigh of relief before putting a finger to his chin, "But still, that szechuanosaurus attacked us unlike any other dinosaur we faced so far….." he said recalling back to how it was out for blood, split up the group and set a trap that really worked….

"It was so vicious and really wanted a piece of us too…." said Zoe as she shuddered at the thought, knowing she wouldn't be able to live it down for a while.

"Well in the end dinosaurs are wild animals, and wild animals are unpredictable, we mustn't forget that." said Spike to them with a firm gaze telling them to be careful from now on as they nodded back knowing they had to take this seriously more, this night would remind them that it isn't all fun and games, one mistake can be the difference between life and death.

"Yeah, let's hope we won't go through another experience like that again…." said Max uneasily, knowing this experience would give them all nightmares for a while. On the other hand, this might have been a fruitful experience, now they knew how it felt to be without their dinosaurs, on their own they were people and people alone were no match against dinosaurs. From this, they knew they'd have to take better measures in the event something like this were to unfortunately happen again…

 **(Later that day)**

"No! Stop! Hear me out! I saw dinosaurs in those woods! Dinosaurs!" Michelle screamed as loud as she could while strapped in a white straightjacket, her hands were tied behind her back and her legs bounded up while she was strapped to a stretcher pushed by doctors! She kept thrashing about restlessly though the binds kept her held down while her hair became insanely frazzled and her face sported several scrapes and bandages on it to show she encountered 'resistance' when they had to hold her down! "Not to mention my very own students were handling them! You've got to believe me! I'm not crazy!" she cried more frantically but all it earned her were some concerned or weirded out expressions from the doctors and nurses, one of them even doing a twirly finger sign to show she was cuckoo…..

"Poor lady, she must have really hit her head real hard out there." muttered a nurse as she eyed the restrained teacher uneasily.

The head doctor accompanying them, carried a clipboard in his hands while shaking his head, "I've never heard anyone spout such nonsense before, this may be our greatest challenge yet." he said as he nodded to the staff who began to push Michelle's stretcher to the intensive care ward.

"I'm telling you there are dinosaurs out there! Dinosaurs!" she screamed her last few words in agony and bitter tears as the doors soon closed behind them, "What about my precious students!?"

 **Hope you all enjoyed this, i had a blast writing it, also special thanks to pokemonking0924 for suggesting some of the ideas for this chapter. I enjoyed writing this and wanted to give a kind of horror movie vibe to it, also szechuanosaurus setting a trap using Michelle as bait comes from a certain scene in jurassic park 3. Also this takes place before Kyoto Caper.**

 **Fun Fact, the yoga and dance moves that Chomp and the others were doing with Cera earlier are the same ones that happen in the dinosaur king japanese OP and ED, wanted a chance to have that.**

 **In response to reviews**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-I wanted to add that little tidbit in since I think they should have had that addressed, maybe you can have a mini arc on it after that massive battle in Sanjo City. Maybe you can address other bits here and there too like environments and how they can play a role in dino hunting. Wanted to come up with something for Helga doing something wacky while she's malfunctioning. Also that bit at the end with tarbosaurus and tarchia fighting one another, I had the idea for a while and wanted to do that but now that you mention it it does have similarities with your story idea too with the torvosaurus.**

 **pokemonking0924**

 **-Glad you enjoyed it. I don't think tarchia and tarbosaurus will be coming out again for a while though, also their moves were sand trap and burning dash respectively. Cera also mentioned it when they used it. Glad I was able to have that drama and emotion too, hope it didn't disappoint. Also wanted to make funny moment for Helga, wish I thought of the incinerator idea too.**


	15. Santa Saurus

Chapter 15

Santa Saurus

It was Christmas over Sanjo City, as houses around the suburbs put up all sorts of Christmas decorations such as wreathes on the doors or hanging Christmas lights outside. The City itself too glittered with bright lights and snowflake ornaments hung up at store entrances or on buildings, as snow flakes descended gently down to the ground and covered some areas in a smooth blanket of white snow, the air was filled with the warm and joyous singing of carols by Christmas choirs in the streets or going door to door, hoping everyone would be filled with the Christmas spirit and have a happy new year.

In her room at the animal hospital, Cera was dressed in a white upper top and long red dress writing in her journal about the events from the other day after she and the others had a trip down to Kyoto to catch a fukuisaurus. For a small dinosaur it was both fast and pretty strong, especially its move card, which she feel would serve plenty of good use on Zoe's hands. Miku, wearing a red santa hat hopped over to where she was as she written down the entry in her journal before closing it up.

"Alright," she said as she stood up and helped Miku onto her shoulder, "Now that that's taken care of I think it's time to lend a helping hand in getting the place ready." As she said that, Miku chirped happily and with excitement as they shut the bedroom door behind them and went downstairs. After that they aided Mrs Drake in setting up the Christmas Tree and its' decorations, hanging ornaments around the house as well as helping to prepare a Christmas turkey.

"Thank you very much Cera." said Zoe's mom gratefully with a warm smile, dressed in a Mrs Claus outfit. "You've been such a great help getting the place ready for Christmas."

"It's my pleasure Mrs Drake." said Cera with a bow, "After Zoe decided to spend her time over at the Taylors' I couldn't just leave you and Mr Drake all alone now could I? This is also my way of saying thanks for giving me a place to stay too."

"Now that's very sweet of you." she smiled warmly with a chuckle, before the house phone began to ring.

Ring Ring

"I'll get it." she said as she went over to pick it up.

As she did, Cera looked outside the window to see the gentle snow falling from the bright evening sky and hearing the echoes of singing and cheer in the distance, which helped to put her mind and hart at ease, "It sure is nice isn't it Miku?" she said to her partner who hopped next to her as she sat down at the table. "Christmas really is a time for cheer and giving, as well as thankful for what we have." While they may not remember much about themselves, they are at least are thankful for what they have now. That was what went through her mind, as Mrs Drake soon came up to her.

"Hey Cera?" she asked getting her attention as the young girl looked to her.

"Yes?"

"My husband's calling me out now," said Mrs Drake as she got a first aid kit from the back room, "He said something about an emergency with the elephants at the zoo catching a cold in this weather, and he needs me to bring over his…hee hee….mega needle for it." she giggled patting the kit she had with her which made both Cera and Miku shiver at the thought.

"Brrr….." The first time they saw it, they nearly had their souls scared out of their bodies, but to have it brought up on Christmas was something they wouldn't expect….

"Going out to work on the holidays? Harsh…." said Cera pityingly.

"It is, but it can't be helped sometimes…." Mrs Drake sighed with a smile as she prepared to leave the house, "So I'm afraid I won't be able to stay and help with the decorations, sorry for that." She said, but before she left she turned around to look at Cera again, "Also I'm sorry to trouble you but would you also mind looking after the house while we're away too?" she asked hoping to trust her with said important task.

Cera smiled and nodded without hesitation, "It's no problem at all Mrs Drake, I perfectly understand."

Mrs Drake smiled brightly upon hearing her words, "Thank you, you really are an angel from the heavens." She said gratefully as she opened the door and began to leave, "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

"Take your time, after all a proper procedure can't be rushed otherwise there'll be consequences." Cera waved with Miku hopping up and down.

"Hahaha well said." Mrs Drake chuckled, "Well take care now!" she said shutting the door behind her.

"Bye!" After she left the premises, and the sound of the family car starting up and driving away, Cera had noticed a to-do list Mrs Drake left them on the fridge as she took it down and read it through. She then smirked seeing they weren't too much trouble for her to handle though they were quite a lot….. "Quite a number of things to do for just 1 night." She thought before bringing up her dinoshot and dialling on it, I'd better check in with Reese and see when she'll be getting back." she said to herself as it rang a little and soon the call came through, showing Reese on the screen, "Hi Reese, you done with your work at the D lab yet?" Cera asked.

She however sighed and shook her head, "Not quite," she said, "I still have a few more tests to run on the android first and then a couple more records to archive before I close up for the day." she answered, "Then I'm going to be heading over to the mall the get a Christmas present for everyone." she then added at the end with a warm smile.

"Aww that's so sweet of you…." said Cera clapping her hands together feeling touched by her friend's kind generosity.

"Yes, though I may not show it I really do care about you all very much." Reese nodded, "And I want to take the time and effort to pick out something meaningful to show it as well."

"I understand," Cera replied nodding, "Take your time and don't rush it, all that matters is the careful thought you put into the gift and the spirit in which you give. That's what makes Christmas."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Reese chuckled as she prepared to cut the call, "Take care now." She said as the screen turned dark.

Seeing they were now on their own, looking ay the list Cera then smiled as she looked to Miku, "Well Miku, might as well get started on this. These chores aren't going to do themselves." She said as Miku squawked in excitement, hopping onto her shoulder as they went off.

The next couple of hours Cera helped to hang up the remaining decorations around the house including stockings and ornaments, while Miku settled for putting up the star ontop of the tree. She found climbing around it to be very enjoyable as she wrapped the Christmas scarfs, ornaments and angels around in different spots to balance it completely.

After that, they went to the animal holding pens to help feed the dogs and cats, while Miku chirped to the aviary area, which included some chickens, canaries and parrots, encouraging them to sing in their own Christmas animal carol to help liven things up a little. Later they went to the fish quarantine section giving the goldfish and guppies their Christmas dinner and then checking the heat lamps in the reptile section for the tortoises and lizards the make sure it was warm enough for them in the cold of winter. Finally after that they went to the large sections where wildlife rescues or even zoo animals were taken in, which included a few foxes and a couple of other exotic and unusual animals too. After reading them a 'Christmas carol', Cera seemed to have touched the animals' hearts as they soon settle down for a good night's sleep.

Seeing them all happy and peaceful made them both smile at one another for a job well done, a job either one of them wouldn't have been able to finish alone.

"Phew, looks like we've pretty much gotten everything sorted out Miku." said Cera with relief as she wiped some sweat from her brow after checking off the last item on their list. As she settled down onto the chair to catch her breath, Miku lay down flat on the table all poofed out but smiling with satisfaction. It was a lot of work to do on a holiday, but the experience of doing something wonderful for others was all the reward they needed as they sat back in enjoying themselves. As she was about to doze off in satisfaction, Cera suddenly recalled something important as she woke up and got out of her chair. Her moving it woke Miku up as she saw her partner grab her dinoshot from the table and dial on it.

Hopping over to get a look, she saw Cera was staring at it rather seriously which put her on alert as she dialled through several encryption codes on the screen, "Maybe I ought to check in on the alpha gang to make sure they aren't up to anything of the sort…." she said as she tried to hack into their live feeds. After she installed a link since the last time they entered Zeta Point, she made sure to relay her connection over various servers worldwide so they wouldn't be able to trace her. Since they discovered their home she couldn't take any chances, and on a holiday like this she wouldn't put it past them to try anything on a day like this.

As she did, a signal soon came on board as a few voices came over the com link, "We're almost there! The brats' hometown is just over this hill!" said Zander's voice from the other end.

"Oh great it's the 3 stooges…." Cera groaned while Miku hissed in agitation. "What are they up to now?" Cera narrowed her eyes, if they were doing something in their town on Christmas it couldn't be anything good….even if they were ti be giving out presents or sing carols she doubt anything they could come up with would be in the holiday spirit at all….

"First we'll get back Rod and Laura then later the cards! This is the easiest mission Dr Z ever gave us!" Ursula cheered as Cera hardened her expression at their despicable plan.

"Yup, we'll get back on his good side for sure with this!" Ed cheered on the other end.

"Say I just thought of something better!" Ursula then spoke out.

"Oh?"

"What's that?" asked Ed and Zander.

"From what the camera showed, apparently only 3 out of the 4 brats are at the house now, meaning no doubt that their last member, that other girl is alone by herself somewhere!" Ursula pointed out, "I bet she's at the animal hospital, the same place when we brought their house to our island!"

"I get it! We'll gang up on her and take her and her dinosaur by ourselves!" Zander gasped in excitement.

"Then the rest of those goodie two shoes will have no choice but to give into our demands! Ahahahahah! Sometimes I even amaze myself!" Ursula laughed deviously.

"In that case, plotting a course for Pet Town Animal hospital now!" Ed called out as the com then switched off.

As the feed ended, Cera narrowed her eyes seriously as Miku climbed onto her shoulder just as furious as she was. As if finding out where Max's home was bad enough, now they were going after her, "Trying to attack our unguarded house? What a perfect way to ruin the holidays…." she muttered as she stood up firmly, "If they think I'm about to give up without a fight they've got another thing coming….." he thought seriously looking around and remembering all the great things the Drakes did for her since she came here, "This is my home and I'll have to defend it….somehow….." she thought uneasily looking around, other than for the kitchen utensils she didn't really have anything that could be used to dispatch 3 burglars who could use dinosaurs…this was a tricky one, and if Rod and Laura were in the area she couldn't afford to call for help knowing that the D Team would need everyone present to stand a chance against them, no doubt they were on their own.

She almost resorted to call the police when Miku suddenly gained an idea and began chirping in her ear. After hearing it out, Cera's eyes brightened up, "Yeah! That could work!" she said smiling as she patted her partner on the head, "Good idea girl!" she praised as Miku fluffed up her feather joyfully.

 **(Later)**

About half an hour later, the A Team soon came upon the Drake residence at the front, peaking their heads around the corner with devious grins. "Alright here we are!" Zander called out loud as the stupid in front.

As Ed took a closer look, putting a hand over his eyes for a better view he saw no signs of anyone moving about inside through the front windows not heard anything, "Looks like the place is completely empty. They must have all gone out somewhere to celebrate." he said as Ursula snickered to herself.

"Hee hee, this will be easier than kicking a ball across the field! Even if we don't find the fourth brat we still have a whole house to loot!" she cackled as the others followed with her.

"Yeah, I think we might actually pull it off this time!" Zander grinned eagerly.

"But we're not actually going to barge in through the front door are we?" Ed then asked.

"Of course not, we'll surround it on all sides." Ursula corrected him as they huddled together for a plan of attack, "I'll go through the side." She looked to Zander next, "Zander you take the back." she said as he nodded before turning to Ed for last, "Ed you go in from the roof like Santa Claus."

He jumped back in surprise, "What!?" he cried out in alarm as he shook his arms out and his head, "B…But I'm afraid of Santa! I'm claustrophobic!" he whined as Ursula scowled at him while Zander shook his head.

"That's not what it means Ed…." he mumbled.

"Just do it and don't question me!" Ursula then growled suddenly which made them both jump up in alarm and stand tall like soldiers ready to obey!

"Yes ma'am!" They both shuddered before splitting up for their respective sides!

"Hee hee hee!" Ursula grinned widely almost like the grinch as she leapt over the hedge where the garden was before pulling up the window surprisingly with little effort, "Ha, they didn't even lock the windows." she snarked as she brought herself into the family living room. Only to splash down in a rather large plastic tub as she landed! She blinked her eyes in surprise as she looked down, "Huh? What the-" She froze stiff when she saw in the tub was a rather large electric eel slithering about in the water and around her legs! Before she could jump out she suddenly received a massive jolt of electricity which surged through every fibre of her being!

BZZT!

"YEAGH!" she cried out doing a jig with each jolt she received before falling out of the tub and on the floor unconscious! "Ugh…." She groaned as she face planted on the floor, while an african grey parrot felt in and landed on the table near where she was and began squawking at her while she was out cold.

"Squawk! You're an old lady!" It first screeched in Zander's voice, "SQUAWK! She's an old lady! SQUAWK!" the parrot then squawked in Ed's voice as Ursula gritted her teeth on the floor, tensing up her fist as a tic mark appeared on her forehead.

"Grrrgh….."

Outside, Ed had barely managed to climb up the ladder and get ontop of the roof, where the glass upper window was. As he did he gulped down hard and sweated anxiously before shaking his head clear and pumping his hand int a fist, "Alright, to beat my worst fear I'll have to become my worst fear!" he said sounding as brave as he could, mustering all his courage before swallowing down hard, "Gulp….here goes!" He declared as he opened the upper window and jumped in! "HYAH!" Unfortunately the square window was far too small for his large plump body as he ended up getting stuck halfway in the upper attic! "Uh oh…." he croaked seeing himself inside the dark dusty attic (filled with covered up old furniture and pet related items like spare food, shipping crates and supplies) as his legs shook outside upon being trapped! "Help! Someone get me out of here!" he cried out as he shook about and thrashed but to no avail!

"Poof….at least things can't get any worse…." he muttered before freezing stiff to see a pair of striped skunks walk up to him, hissing and flaring their tails at him! He began to sweat profusely as he held out his hands to them, "Err nice skunks…..pretty skunks?" They then turned around and aimed their tails at him and letting loose a noxious spray in his face, as he cried out in agony!

SPRAY!

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed as his cries echoed through the dark of the attic!

"Here we go." Back downstairs at the other end, Zander came in at the backdoor and entered through to find himself where the couch and seating area was. As he strolled in he then realised something, "Oh I just remembered! This also happens to be the very place my angel lives at!" He gasped before blushing red and spinning about like a drunk, "Oh my angel! Oh this is a dream come true! I really am in heaven!" he sang before scampering off, "Her room must be around here somewhere! I just know it!" he cheered with excitement as he scampered off forgetting about the mission.

"P.U….." Ed moaned in anguish after the skunks left, he was still hanging at the upper window and many tears were watering from his eyes, "I'm really going to need a shower after this….." he whimpered crying to himself wondering what he ever did to deserve this. His tortures were only just beginning, outside on the roof an african crested porcupine crawled up from where his bottom was, sniffing it then hissed viciously before striking with its tail! "YOW!" Ed cried out as the pain spurred him to pull himself in! Sending him tumbling down the attic trap door and then falling down to the upper floor of the house! "GAAAAAHHH!" he cried as he face planted on the floor! "Ouch…." he then groaned with a quill sticking out from his butt!

Nearby Zander came upon a door and sniffing it he then grinned and drooled upon recognising the scent of the perfume from it, "Hee hee….this must be it!" he said shadily as he reached out for the door knob, only to have his other hand pull it away. "Oh I shouldn't do this, this would be disrespecting her privacy, not to mention it'll make me look like some kind of creep…" he thought to himself as an inner war between his infatuation and his conscience was raging violently as he dramatically kept pulling his open hand away multiple times! "GARGH! I can't decide!" he cried out grasping his head in agony.

"Squawk! Ursula's an old hag!" the parrot continued to squawk downstairs at Ursula with the same voices as her teammates. Upon noticing she raise her head and her eyes were flaring red, the bird quickly flew away and out of sight as she punched the ground and pushed herself back up, snarling like a vicious lion ready to kill! "Right….that tears it…." she growled as she popped her knuckles and tensed up 1 fist, which had a serious tic mark, and she gnashed her teeth before storming off to look for the 2 bozos! "Grrrr…When I find them, that'll be the last time they ever utter a single word…."

Back upstairs Zander had calmed down and apparently had given in to his inner desires in the end, as he grabbed hold of the knob and began to turn, "Oh she doesn't need to know this, and I just can't resist!" he grinned and blushed red as he turned the knob. His nose even began to bleed a bit as he slowly opened the door, excited for what kinds of mysteries he would uncover in Reese's room. As he opened it fully, he was greeted by an unexpected guest inside, which snarled at him.

Hiss….

"Huh?" He blinked his eyes as the growl snapped him out of his fantasies. Looking again he froze and turned pale to see a large alligator growl at him before lunging out!

"ROAR!"

"BWAAAAAAHHHHH!" He screamed shutting the door quickly and feeling a huge thud at the door followed by multiple poundings from the other side! "Not my angel! Not my angel!" He screamed flailing his arms out as he ran off as far as possible from the door!

"Yuck, I really stink worse than Helga's atomic waste cooking…." Ed groaned plucking out the porcupine quill from his backside, as he stomped his feet crankily on the same floor, even holding in a hurl before letting it loose. To his luck as he opened a door he smiled to see the washroom complete with shower, bathtub and front sink. "Finally a bathroom….." he smiled gratefully as he opened the window to find all kinds of bathroom tools inside from toothbrushes, hairdryers, shavers etc. "There must be something in here that can help with this…." He muttered looking around for something he could use to help with the smell, before grabbing hold of 2 bottles, "Deodorant….cologne….it'll have to do…." he said reading it out loud before spraying himself all over and wiping it under his armpits. Sniffing himself while it wasn't a full proof solution it had to do for the time being. Looking to the side he saw the toilet bowl was closed as he raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Why's the toilet closed down? That's inconvenient…." he muttered as he opened it up. As he did, a cobra suddenly raised itself up till it could look Ed in the eye! He then sweated nervously as it opened its jaws and hissed at him. "AAAAAAHHH!" Ed screamed quickly shoving the huge snake back in the toilet then shutting the seat back down and running away in a panic! "What have these guys been eating!?" he screamed as he came down the hallway near the stairs!

"I didn't know my angel could keep such a monster as a pet!" Zander wailed as he and Ed crashed into each other!

"GAH!" They then tumbled down the stairs in a flurry before slamming at the door in a tumble! "Oof! Ow! Yowch!"

As they regained their senses, rubbing their temples and sore behinds they looked to one another groggily, "Oof….Where did you come from?" Ed asked.

"I could ask you the same thing….." Zander replied.

They quickly hugged each other in a fright as they looked around worried as to what other animal may jump out at them next! "What is this place!?"

"This isn't a house it's a zoo!" They each cried out in a panic!

"There you are….." A deep voice suddenly said to them from behind them which snapped them out of their funk. As they turned they saw Ursula was walking towards them, apparently with tightened fists and a shade covering over her eyes.

They both blinked at her, unaware of the sour mood she was in as she soon came upon them both, "Oh hey Ursula."

"How's-"

"Take that!" She suddenly cut them off as she delivered a swift knuckle sandwich to their faces causing them to cave in!

SMACK! POW!

"OW!" They yelped as they got a black eye and missing tooth each after pulling their faces back out!

"What did we ever do to you!?" They whined as she tensed and shook a fist at them!

"That's what you get for calling me an old lady you clods!" she growled before folding her arms and looking away from them, "Hmph!"

Rubbing his cheek sorely which was now bulging red after missing a tooth, "Is she still mad at us for that?" Zander muttered to Ed looking to him.

Ursula's ear suddenly pricked up and she shot a ferocious glare at them which made a lion look like a kitten! "So you do admit it!" she shrieked as her fingers began twitching, just waiting to grab hold of some nincompoop's throat and rip their heads off their bodies!

"Gah! W….We didn't mean it! We swear!" Ed and Zander both cried out shaking their hands in front while also begging them not to hit their face as she came closer and closer to them!

"I trust you guys as far as I can throw Tank in full size!" She then screeched followed by deep heavy breathing with each snarl. Unaware that a tarantula suddenly landed on her head from above.

"Ah!" Both men gasped in alarm to see the large hairy spider ontop of Ursula's head as she edged closer and closer, but she soon stopped upon seeing their expressions had changed.

"Hey, what's up with your 2 clowns now?" she asked suspiciously as she blinked her eyes.

"Ursula! Stop! Don't move!" Zander yelled out to her as he held a hand out while Ed went off to the side near the door.

She then gritted her teeth in annoyance and frustration, "Oh no you don't! You don't talk back to me when I-" She suddenly froze when Ed came back with 2 umbrellas, and he handed 1 over to Zander as they focused entirely on her. "Umm….what are you doing?" She then asked as a bead of sweat dripped down her cheek and the 2 men came walked up to her while holding up the umbrellas!

"Ursula….Do…not…move….." said Ed firmly eying above her.

"Stay perfectly still….." Zander followed as they raised up the umbrellas they held.

Ursula' heart began to race as she eventually found herself backed up against the wall with the 2 men cornering her ready to bash her head with he umbrellas it seemed! "Come on now this isn't funny…." she swallowed hard and tensed as they came within but a few feet of her, "Don't you-"

WHAM!

"YOW!" she cried clutching her head which now developed a huge bump after Zander and Ed both brought their umbrellas down hard on her! The spider however had quickly jumped off at the last second and scurried away somewhere and the 2 men got town on the floor looking for it.

"Where is it!? Did you get it!?" asked Ed frantically as he looked all around him ready to swat the spider the second it crossed his line of vision.

"It couldn't have gone far!" Zander followed.

"How….dare….you!?" Ursula growled in her most furious voice and tone of all! They turned pale and froze seeing she had recovered and had stood up again, popping her knuckles and developing a demonic aura around her! "You dare attack me!? I'll crush you!" She screeched as she leapt on the both of them and the 3 of them ended up in a vicious tussle!

"GAAAAAHHHH!"

Unbeknownst to them, Cera had picked up the tarantula which had crawled upstairs, which she then put into her pocket safely before snickering in amusement at the 3 stooges with Miku, before making her presence known to them, "My my you guys are sure lacking in the Christmas spirit this season." she said to them.

"Huh!?" They looked up from their fighting and widened their eyes to see Cera was folding her arms and striking at them rather smugly from the top of the stairs. "You!"

"You planned this all along didn't you!?" Zander accused as she shrugged her shoulders uncaringly.

"Now you realise it?" she sighed shaking her head, "Boy you 3 really are slow…."

Her snarky comments made the Trio growl and clench their fists at her cursingly, "Grrr…."

"Why you….."

"It's been fun messing around with you tonight," she said before folding an arm on her hip, "But I really have to get this place ready for Christmas before everyone comes home, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." she asked as politely as she could wheel Miku chirped in addition.

"Ha! You think we'll just go because you asked!? Fat chance!" Ursula retorted shaking her fist out at the little girl.

"After all you put us through it's pay back time!" Zander bellowed having lost all restraint and mercy.

"Our Christmas Present to you!" Ed concluded popping his knuckles as they began to climb up the stairs to where she was.

She however wasn't at all worried as she reached into her other pocket, "I thought you might say that." she said as she picked something from it and held it out to them, "Which is why I have this." She said holding what appeared to be a long metallic whistle with a dog bone key chain at the end of it.

The trio stopped upon sight of it, "A whistle?" Ursula questioned.

"Gah! What if it's an animal call or something!?" Ed gasped as the trio widened their eyes in alarm!

"AH!"

Cera snickered as she held the mouthpiece and took a breath before she put it in.

"EEP!" The Alpha gang covered their heads and closed their eyes unable to bear with it much longer. But after a few seconds they didn't hear any sound much to their surprise..

"Huh? I didn't hear anything…." asked Zander curiously as they looked back up to see Cera had blown on the whistle but no sound appeared to be coming out. When she stopped the trio grinned and snickered deviously seeing there was nothing stopping them now from getting well deserved Christmas revenge!

"Haha! Looks like your little animal call is bust!" Ursula mocked pointing out to her.

To her surprise Cera smirked back at them rather sinisterly as she took the away from her lips, "Oh it's not broken, it's working fine. Also it's not an animal call, it's a whistle." she corrected.

"A….whistle?" The trio said in unison, blinking their eyes curiously.

"Mhmm." she nodded, "This is a dog whistle, which makes a sound so high pitch that people can't hear but only dogs can." she said before grinning at the best part, "In fact this is a special whistle that attract every criminal's worst nightmare." She said as her eyes gained a rather dark look on them, "A pack of viciously trained police dogs." On cue, a doberman, rottweiler and german shepherd burst in from different corners of the house before snarling and growling viciously at the 3 intruders!

"GAH!" they cried out as the dogs were surrounding them on all sides as they huddled together in a panic at the dogs gnashing their teeth and foaming at the mouth, hinting possible rabies but they didn't want to find out!

"N…Nice doggies…."

"Sit boy…."

"Want a bone?" They each pleaded as the pack edged in closer.

The Trio turned pale as Cera held the whistle up again to her face as she gave out the order, "Alright boys, sick em!" she pointed out at them as she blew again!

The high pitch sound made the dog's ears prick up before they growled and charged ahead!

GROWL!

"BWAAAAHH!" They all screamed as the sounds of tussling and smashing soon came upon the house before the trio ran outside the front glass door with the 3 dogs on their tails!

"You stay behind Ed! You've got more meat on you!" Ursula cried out.

"Me!? But they want protein, I'm all fat and cholesterol!" Ed whined, "If it's bones they want they can just take Zander!"

"Oh no you don't! You have the right balance of meat and bones Ursula so you go!" He yelped as he jumped and the dog's bite barely missed!

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" They screamed in terror as they disappeared down the road into he snowy night.

"Merry Christmas!" Cera sang out to them as she waved her hands in the holiday spirit. "Phew, and that takes care of that….." she breathed in relief to see it was finally over and they could rest easy now. She looked down to her shoulder and smiled at Miku, "Great job getting the animals to cooperate, such a good girl." she praised as her partner chirped happily. They then turned around to see the alpha gang had left a bit of a mess in the house that needed some tending to and fast. Stretching out her arms Cera folded her arms on her hips, "Well, time to spruce the place up before they all get back." she said as she went back in the front to clean up.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In an open street further off from the animal hospital, the A Team came out of an alleyway all exhausted and out of breath as they limped out and nearly collapsed on the ground, "Huff….huff…..glad that's over with…." Ed huffed and wheezed before falling down to the ground.

"Yeah, it's a miracle we managed to get away…." Ursula groaned as she sat down at the wall of a building out of breath and energy, also barely recovering from the shock at nearly having her butt bitten off. She in fact was thinking of calling it quits and going home when suddenly-

"Hey look!" Zander pointed out ahead while lying down on the ground, when the others followed they widened their eyes in surprise to see a battle brewing!

"It's Rod and Laura!" Ursula gasped seeing they had Terry, Spiny and Tank out.

"And the brats too!" Ed followed as they had Chomp and Ace on their side. It was a rough fight but in the end despite being outnumbered, Ace was able to take all 3 of them out single handedly with a mayfly and the battlefield disappeared.

"Hoho, looks like they got their butts beat!" Ursula chuckled in amusement as Zander and Ed snickered seeing they could take advantage of the situation. "And it's up to us to save the day! Come on troops!" She announced plucking out their secret weapon from their pocket, the megalosaurus that Dr Z gave them, "Charge!" She then announced as the 3 of them ran ahead into battle!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the Drake residence, the front doors opened and the first to step in was Dr Drake with a large jolly smile on his face while dressed up in a Santa getup, even with a santa hat too. "We're home!" he hollered as he came in with a sack filled with his medical gear followed by Mrs Drake and Reese who were dressed as his helper elves. "Boy that sure was a handful wasn't it?" he said wiping some sweat from his brow.

"It sure was honey." Mrs Drake smiled.

"Just be glad the elephant didn't try to crush you after you gave it its' shot dad." said Reese pushing up her glasses. As they looked around, they found the entire house spotless and decorated with all kinds of christmas holiday decorations from wreathes on the wall, angels on the lights, the Christmas tree was flashing in many colours and it was even better than they had left it earlier!

"Wow, this place looks amazing….." Mrs Drake commented while her husband's jaw dropped in awe, needing her to push it back up to close.

"Yeah, it's….very impressive…." Reese admitted as she looked around, surprised that Cera was able to get it all done on her own without anyone's help. Speaking of Cera-

"Thanks." she said as she walked in carrying a freshly baked Christmas cake with Christmas berries on the top, before settling it on the table where Miku awaited with the turkey. As she did, the little raptor jumps up and down with excitement as she couldn't wait to take a bite out of the fresh poultry, "I put in a lot of work to get this place ready for the holidays. I even got us a cake ready too." said Cera to the Drakes who looked on in awe and amazement at her efforts.

"Oh it looks delicious!" Mrs Drake clapped her hands together.

"I call first dibs!" Mr Drake called out as he tossed his sack aside and charged for the table, followed by his older daughter who couldn't help but chuckle to see his jolly attitude, "Hahahaha, I'll help you cut it up dad." Reese laughed as she went to the kitchen to get a knife, while her dad sat at the table waiting excitedly to take the first bite of their Christmas dinner.

"Thank you sweetie." said Zoe's mom as she put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "I hope it wasn't too much trouble Cera dear. Having to decorate the whole house and watch it on your own." she said as Cera shook her head and smiled brightly, filled with the holiday spirit.

"Oh no, it was no trouble at all…." she said as the family sat down together to have a Christmas dinner they'd never forget.

 **Here we have Santa Saurus, wanted to have Cera celebrate with the Drakes and have more of a home alone vibe with it, hope it was entertaining especially with all the animals pitching in to help too. Sure I also had them use Spiny here too because when they were having fun at the D Team house in the anime, I didn't want him to be left out so just imagine he was there in chibi form with Terry and Tank during the celebration. In case any of you are confused as to the design of the Drake household, watch Vaccination Vacation again and you can get a full bird's eye view of the household.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **To Drew Luczynski-**

 **Thanks for the review, personally I feel Michelle kinda deserved it too. Also because they didn't end off the school in the anime that well, wanted to make it more meaningful and hope it didn't disappoint.**

 **I also hope to use some other arcade exclusive dinosaurs for the few remaining season 1 OC chapters but season 2 will remain quite close to the canon. Glad you enjoyed it.**


	16. A Cretaceous Cruise

Chapter 16

A Cretaceous Cruise

"Whoa!" The D Team gasped in amazement and awe as they all stood in the presence of an incredibly massive cruise ship!

The large base hull stood tall almost the height of several storey buildings, at 180ft and its' length was about the size of nearly 4 football fields! It was covered in an oceanic shade of dark marine blue and white, as steam fumed up from the upper chimney which sat upon layers of floors and windows lining it. A large stairway leading up to it at the side, the entrance sealed by a long red ribbon, holding back a massive line of rich people and celebrities who were going on board, some of which included the football stars Ricardo and Deckham, along with gameshow announcer Tommy K and even a few movie stars from the movie studios at Los Angeles!

"We're actually here at the Royal Prince!" Max cried out in amazement and his grin grew massively wide.

"That thing's way cooler than how we saw it on the brochure!" Rex gasped pumping up with anticipation and his racing heart could barely contain his excitement inside.

Cera gulped down and sweated, "Yeah no kidding, I feel so tiny just looking at it." she croaked feeling overwhelmed by the massive size of the ship which made them look like ants. In fact it would make even the biggest dinosaur look inadequate in comparison.

"Oh it looks so incredible!" Zoe teared cup with joy as she clapped her hands together, "I bet they must have all sorts of famous or rich people on board too! I can hardly wait!" she cheered making sure she had her autograph book with her.

"Ahahaha! Settle down kids, I know how hyped you really are." laughed Dr Taylor as he and the Drakes came up to the rest of the group from behind. "Because I really am too! Hahahahah!" he then laughed and jittered uncontrollably, "A 5 star cruise on the high seas is something I've wanted for a really long time now!" he bellowed out, "And now it's reality!"

"Hahaha, I can tell you all are really excited for this." Aki smiled as she and the Drakes were in a more modest manner but no less excited for their family night cruise experience.

"Can you blame them though?" Reese said to Aki with a smile, "They never expected to win special tickets on their very first try at that draw lot this morning."

 **(Flashback)**

Max and the others were having a stroll downtown in the city for one of their hangouts when they came by a stand where 2 men in blue and white striped salesman outfits and hats were holding a lucky draw lot where they had to draw a ticket to win at a big treasure, "Step right up for a chance to win free tickets on board the greatest cruise ship of all time! The Royal Prince!" The first man with a moustache called out.

"One draw per customer! This could be your lucky day!" The other followed.

Upon hearing their calls, Max's eyes brightened up with excitement and amazement, "WOW! I've heard of that!" he gasped clapping his hands together, "It's like one of the biggest and greatest cruise ships ever built since the Titanic! Didn't think it would ever be completed but now it is and we get a chance to ride! Yippee!" He cheered as he was about to run over for a draw, only for Zoe to grab him by the collar and hold him back.

"Oh come on Max, you don't really think you're going to win a ticket that easily do you?" she scoffed shaking her head in disapproval.

"Don't even bother, I bet these lots are rigged, I doubt they ever have something that valuable up as a prize." Rex shook his head shrugging his shoulders.

"Can't hurt to try now can it?" Max grunted as he shook himself free from Zoe's grip and he ran over to the front stall holding up his hand like an excited child hoping to be picked, "Over hear sir! I want to draw!" He said as the men rolled the draw lot and a ticket end stuck out of the ballot. Looking down to see Chomp at his leg he then smiled, "Hey Chomp, how about you have the honours of drawing us the tic huh?" He asked as Chomp wagged his tail and barked with enthusiasm. He then picked up his friend and held him up to the end of the ticket as he began to bite on it.

Behind him the others looked to one another raising an eyebrow at Max's decision to play, not fully approving of it themselves, "What do you think his chances are?" Cera asked.

Zoe then smirked rather smugly, "Heh, he doesn't stand a chance at all." she said shrugging her shoulders and holding her arms out, "With his luck there's no way he'd ever-"

"We have a winner!"

"Congratulations!" The men behind announced ringing their bells and whistling out to the entire street to hear.

"HUH!?" The others stared speechlessly as Max's apparent miraculous luck as he tossed Chomp into the air and caught him, "Woo hoo! We did it!" he cheered holding Chomp up high and spinning around with him, as he barked out happily and excited.

"Seriously!?" Rex and Zoe gasped as their jaws hung.

"Heh what are the odds?" Cera snickered folding her arms on her hips.

The 2 salesman then leaned in towards Max, "Young man you've just won 2 out of our 3 only grand tickets fit for 2 whole families!" One said holding out a pair of golden tickets with a cruise ship symbol on it.

"Now just enter your names and fill up these forms and you're all set for a deluxe cruise ride tonight on the Royal Prince's grand departure!" The other said holding out a pen and some forms for him to sign, as Max grabbed them out of his hand and cheered with sparkling eyes!

"AW YEAH!" he cried out, but before he could get to writing down, he looked behind to his teammates and called out to them, "Say guys, should I enter your names in?"

Zoe quickly rushed towards him grabbing his hand and kneeling down before him, "Oh please yes! I knew you could do it the entire time Max! In fact we all believed in you!" She cheered with glistening eyes, which was rather unnerving for Max but luckily she quietly turned back to Rex and Cera who stared at her fickleness, "Right guys?" she said through a rather hard smile, signalling she'd murder them if they said otherwise.

"Typical Zoe….." Rex sighed lowering his head in dismay while Cera chuckled covering her mouth with her hand as they went over to sign as well before handing them off to their families.

 **(Present)**

Which was what brought them all here before the Royal Prince today, as Aki covered her mouth doing her best but failing to suppress her own amusement, "Hahaha how true." she giggled before looking at everyone present, "If it wasn't for Max's stroke of luck we never would be able to have this wonderful time together." she continued, "Christmas may have just past but I'm sure this experience will help us bond together as a family."

"Shame Dr Owen couldn't join us since he's away." sighed Dr Taylor as he frowned lowering his head, flashing back to when he gave the news to his old friend hoping he could join. Unfortunately he was at a dig at Hell's Creek in America and couldn't make it, so the news made him burst into tears and needing his assistant Patrick to comfort him.

As everyone sighed feeling somewhat empty and missing 1 person, Mrs Drake stepped in to say her piece, "But that won't change the fact this will be a relaxing vacation without any worries." she added as she smiled warmly hoping to lighten the mood.

Everyone then smiled knowing they might as well enjoyed it, Dr Owen would have wanted them too.

Soon the sound of a megaphone could be heard from above the cruise ship, as a noise of a ship horn was heard followed by an announcement which was followed by an announcement by a man in a suit who stood by the stairway leading up to the cruiseship, "Ladies and Gentlemen." he said as his voice caught everyone's attention an they all ceased their conversations and looked towards him, "Thank you for your patience." He said with a glad smile and bow, "We shall now present the grand opening of the Royal Prince!" He proclaimed as he he used a set of scissors to snip the ribbon and on cue fireworks began firing into the sky and exploding in glitter and sparkles amongst the night sky and the cheers of excitement an pleasure echoed amongst the crowds! "Please step in orderly fashion and we hope you have a pleasant evening." He said, though ironically no one paid his words any mind as they all rushed in on board, some nearly fell off the stairway and into the water due to being overcome with excitement and adrenaline!

The children could hardly contain their own excitement as even they felt themselves caught up in the moment, "Race you to the top you guys!" Max cheered as he ran off ahead of the others!

"Hahaha, prepare to eat my dust!" Rex laughed as he followed.

"Oh ho! Don't leave your old man out!" Dr Taylor laughed as he charged after them, followed by the girls.

"It's incredible that they even allow pets on board!" Dr Drake gasped as he saw a few celebrity women carry chihuahuas in their purses while boarding, "Oh I wonder if I'll be able to meet any famous celebrities and treat their furry friends! With that the pet town hospital will sure grow in popularity and credibility!" He cheered with glee and his eyes glistened brightly, "Look out world here I come!" he said as he bolted up the stairs!

"Hahaha, I'd better go and make sure he doesn't go overboard." Mrs Drake laughed as she followed her excited husband to keep him in line.

"You all enjoy yourselves." waved Aki as they all went ahead and soon she went in at her own pace, "I think I'll go in and check out the banquet hall and see what they have to offer." she said thinking of enjoying something more quiet.

"I'm with you there." Reese added as she followed her closely.

As they all got on board, they looked around in awe and amazement at what their eyes beheld them, "Look at all this…."

"Yeah…." They breathed to see so many people gathered and spread out across the deck, enjoying banquets, having small parties and lively conversations or enjoying the activities the ship had to offer, including water volleyball, pool diving, hockey and many more! In the background further ahead they could hear the lively harmonics of an orchestra playing by the outdoor tables near the banquet hall and there was even an ice sculpture of a mermaid where the finest wine and beer was being served.

"This is like a dream come true….." Zoe breathed with glistening eyes.

"Ahahaha! This is going to be the best night ever!" Max cheered with his arms out as he ran off to go play and the others followed after him after they summoned their dinosaurs out to join them. As the stairway was taken away and the ship tooted, signalling it was about to set sail, Rex could feel the sea breeze blow in his face and hair and the night sky passing by them, as well as the waves brushing against the hulls of the ship as they moved calmly wit the current, "Maybe this is the day Ace will really get over his fear of water." Rex thought to himself feeling hopeful and assured, "No better time to do it than now."

Turning around, he saw Ace was frozen in place, as he could see the land drift further and further away, and they were surrounded on all sides by water and more water! He shook violently and codlin;t even more his head to look behind, as his eyes fixed unblinkingly at the ocean, his worst enemy as it looked like it could swallow them at any time!

Rex soon recognised what this was as he faceplamed in dismay, "Oh no….."

Unbeknownst to the whole group, down in the lower deck, in the empty air paces of the hull needed to keep the massive vessel afloat, a dinosaur card capsule rolled about as the ship turned, as it kept slamming into walls of the hull, it began to get looser and looser with every hit, meaning it and the dinosaur inside it could pop open at anytime.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Up onboard the ship, Dr Z laid down and sunk into the beach chair laid out for guests by the poolside, all dressed in nothing but a pair of ragged swimming trunks which apparently had a hole in it's side and other bits was wearing off. The rest of his body apparently was rather old, wrinkly, somewhat hairy with age spots around his body, something very few horror movies could match, "Aaaah, nothing like a relaxing quiet night on a boat to take your mind off the stresses of home." Dr Z said to himself as he kicked one leg up and used both his hands as a pillow while wearing a flowery eye mask as he took a nap to relax himself. Oblivious to the fact that many of the guests were avoiding him because of his hideous exterior, some were even whispering how he managed to get on board himself.

"He sure is enjoying himself now isn't he?" said Zander in flowery shirt and blue trunks as he sat by a desk reading a book while Ursula sipped on some lemonade in another beach chair in her usual white casual clothes and Ed sat at the side in a purple t-shirt and orange pants munching on some cake he got from the bar inside.

"Yes, and I think he deserves it for being such a wonderful and generous leader." said Ursula smugly as she took a break from her lemonade as she pushed down her sunglasses to get a good look at their leader looking so peaceful.

"Don't kid yourselves."

"You guys just brought him along hoping he'd forget about punishing you like you so rightly deserve." A pair of voices said from behind which surprised the Alpha trio!

"Gah!" They jumped in surprise, turning around to see Rod and Laura wearing casual wear themselves.

"Bet if you didn't by miraculous chance win that last grand ticket online earlier today, you'd still be at the end of him giving you the shock treatment." said Rod smugly as mixed expressions of guilt, spite and worry came upon the 3 members of the Trio.

"W….Well we can't deny that….." Ed muttered twiddling his fingers.

"But the fact we did it for him is what really counts!" Ursula then yelled shaking her fist at the obnoxious siblings.

"Yeah, because we care and not because we're scared of no punishment! That's all there is to it!" Zander followed tensing up and glaring at the kids who were undeterred.

"Right, keep telling yourselves that…." said Laura shrugging her shoulders before smiling brightly and with innocence, "Still it was nice of you to let us tag along too."

"Wouldn't want us to accidentally tell him that you lost megalosaurus yesterday now would you?" Rod followed as they all turned red and fumed at them.

"Grrr….." They gritted their teeth and it took every ounce of effort to keep them from going physical on the children, before Ursula quickly dragged the 2 men away and stomped off to blow off some steam.

"Come on boys, let's go enjoy the rest of the evening ourselves, no way am I letting those ankle biters ruin the rest of our vacation!" she grumbled as the 2 men brightened up at the idea.

"I'm all on it! I'm going to go have some fun at the pool." said Zander as he wrestled out of her grip and ran off to the pool, taking off his shirt and pants in the process.

"I can't wait to check out the buffet!" Ed's mouth watered as he rushed to the inside of the ship, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" he cheered as he disappeared inside, leaving Ursula by her lonesome.

She folded her arms crossly, "While you boys go waste your time on simple things, I'm going to go live it big and catch some moon rays!" she said as she went to sit at a chair which was lit by the moon's light with her sunglasses on, "Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get a talent scout to put me on the cover of next week's magazine! Ahahaha!" she laughed before soon dozing off.

"Moon rays? Is that even a thing?" Rod asked as he and his sister eyed the 3 adults go off to do as they pleased before going off to find something they could do for fun.

"We sure needed a break from studies and to get way from Helga," said Rod folding his arms behind his head, "for some reason she ended up making us do homework for the first time in a long while."

"Was really nice also for Seth to volunteer to stay behind and hold down the fort," said Laura with a smile before turning a little curious, "Though it seems rather unlike him, also did he really need to keep all the alpha scanners too?" She then asked feeling guilty, "I feel bad for not bringing Terry and the others along with us."

"Maybe he thinks we deserve a break after all we've done for him." Rod suggested, "Also he's gotta keep Helga in check too right?"

"Yeah, maybe…." thought Laura though at the back of her mind she knew something wasn't quite right.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Zeta Point, Seth was standing ontop of a floating platform before an experimentation room which was shielded by a see through glass protection barrier. At his console he placed in 2 alpha scanners into a pair of insertion ports which then glowed as they were synced in with the scanners' systems. He nodded seeing the system was functional, now to see how effective it was, "Alright, now to begin phase 1." He said as he slashed 2 dinosaur cards, materialising in the room was Ampelosaurus and Stegosaurus, as they both roared at one another as they circled and sized one another up looking for an opening.

Seth smirked seeing their behaviour was just as he had hoped, as he took out a pair of move cards, "Spike arrows!" he said slashing one move before looking to the next, "Engage shock wave!" He called out as stegosaurus' plates flared up as it glowed purple and fired out a barrage of arrows, which were easily repelled b the veil of water the ampleosaurus generated! Seth smirked seeing his test was a success, "Excellent, with this 1 person will be able to control multiple dinosaurs simultaneously." he said as his smirk soon became a sinister grin, "An excellent first step for what I have planned." He said as both dinosaurs charged at one another and met in a head lock!

 **(Back on the ship)**

Meanwhile back on the ship, the D Team and their families were already making themselves at home on the cruiseship and already were getting into the spirit of things on board. On one end, a pair of bodyguards wearing sunglasses and suits were dragging a struggling Dr Drake away, who was flailing and crying out like a child while his wife was bowing down frantically, apologising to a couple of rich people in fancy clothes, for her husband's thoughtless attempt to give their pet poodle and persian cat a shot!

Spike on the other hand was indulging himself at the dining hall, in a large meaty meat combo consisting of a huge ribeye steak and several large chicken drumsticks, unbeknownst to him that Ed was snacking on a huge pepperoni pizza behind him. While Dr Z was moving into a scalp rub, Zander was playing at the hockey table with some other tourists. Aki and Reese were relaxing in their bathing suits next to the pool while Ursula was reading a good magazine nearby from here they were.

After yanking Zoe away from harassing some big time celebrities at the VIP lounges, the D Team spent some enjoyable time at the onboard casino playing some games with one another, though making sure to avoid getting into gambling with the big time card sharks and high rollers. Fortunately for Rex the bright lights and music in the casino was enough to occupy Ace's mind off the sea, but he still sighed knowing he still needed to find a way to get through to him somehow.

Soon they found themselves lying at the beach chairs staring up at the sky and pointing out star constellations as well as the occasional shooting star across the night sky.

"Ahahahah this really is the best isn't it?" Max asked as a waitress passed him a soda and he sipped on it at a beach chair.

"You can say that again. I'm really having the time of my life…." a voice next to him replied.

Max suddenly opened his eyes widely upon hearing the voice, "Wait a second, I know that voice….." Turning around he was then aback to see it was Rod lying down on the chair next to him as the 2 of them jumped out and pointed at one another in alarm!

"Gah! YOU!"

"Huh?" Upon hearing their cries, the other members of the D Team and alpha gang all regrouped together and they all got the surprise of their lives when they saw their worst enemies happened to be on the very same cruise as they were!

"No way!"

"The brats!"

"The alpha gang!?" They all exclaimed in disbelief before glaring at one another and facing off for battle with spite and hatred on their faces!

"What are you doing here!?" Zoe cried out.

"Is there no place we can go without you always dogging us at every step of the way!?" Ursula pointed at them.

"I could say the same for you creeps!" Zoe retorted.

"I'm surprised you were even on the boarding list!" Rex yelled which infuriated their foes.

"Why you!" Rod grunted.

"We were having the perfect time of our lives to take our minds off your meddling!" Zander screamed.

"But now seeing you again is enough to ruin it!" Ursula growled as she shook a fist at them, "So let's settle things here once and for all!"

"Heh, for once I actually agree with what you say." Cera smirked with confidence before she turned serious.

Their dinosaurs all barked and growled showing they were ready to fight too!

"Bring it on!" Max then yelled shaking a fist at the alpha gang, "We'll send you packing off this boat before you ruin anyone else's day!"

"That's our line!" Laura retorted, but just as they were about ready to tussle-

"Hi kids!" a friendly familiar voice called out to them from behind.

"Huh!?" As they all turned around to look, they saw Aki was waving a warm smily face at them, with a towel covering over the top half of her body and bathing suit.

Max stuttered and sweated upon seeing her, "M….Mom!?" he croaked seeing she dropped in at a most unexpected and inappropriate time.

"Ah!" Rod and Laura too were rather surprised to see her on board too, after the impression they left her yesterday they couldn't just fight like that.

Aki then leaned in towards them all as they tried their best to avoid eye contact from her, unsure of how to respond to her in this awkward moment, "Having fun kids?" she asked, "I was just taking a stroll along the boardwalk and-" Looking to the side she covered her mouth in surprise to see Rod and Laura, "Oh my! It's you two!" she gasped before leaning in close to them, "What a fancy surprise seeing you here. Hope you've been doing well since your visit to our house yesterday."

They both swallowed hard unable to do anything against her kindness and warm hearted welcome, "H…Hey there Mrs Taylor….." Rod sweated scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

"So….nice to see you again…." Laura squeaked folding her arms behind her back and blushing red.

The A Team however simply stared and blinked in confusion as to what was going on now. "Hmmm? What's going on here?" Ursula then asked.

Zander shrugged his shoulders, "Beats me."

"No one tells me anything so don't ask me." Ed added at the end.

The D Team themselves were in the same boat as they were, as they leaned in closer to one another, "This is getting awkward….." Cera whispered.

"Yeah, no way we can fight with her around….." Max hissed under his breath.

"So what do we do?" Zoe then asked.

"That's…..a good question…." added Rex at the end.

Overhearing their whispering Aki then stepped back quickly, "Oh? Was I in the middle of something? Oh I do apologise." she said.

"It's…..alright mom…." Max gulped as he turned red and smiled nervously, "We were just….catching up on old times with Rod and Laura that's all…haha…." he laughed in embarrassment as the others quickly nodded, inside they were screaming their heads off wondering why did they have to pretend to like the alpha gang of all people.

"Catching up?" Aki baked her eyes before looking to both sides back and forth a bit, "Does that mean you all know each other?" She asked as they all stuttered in response.

"Urk…..In a way you could say that." said Cera softly.

Aki quickly looked over to Rod and Laura before noticing the tiro standing nearby them, who were staring at her rather blankly. "And are these by chance relatives of yours Rod and Laura?" She then asked looking down at the children again.

"Ummm….."

"R…Relatives!?" The trio all gasped in surprise, as Ursula prepared to give Aki a piece of her mind.

"Why we are most certainly-"

"Are!" Interruptted Laura as she spoke out.

"Huh!?" The trio gasped in disbelief at what she said.

Rod then nodded, "That's right!" He said as he walked over to the trio, "Allow us to introduce here is Uncle Zander, Uncle Ed." he said showing off the skinny and plump men.

"Huh?"

"Say what?" They each blinked.

"And Auntie Ursula!" Laura sang showing her off to Aki.

Ursula turned pale and her jaw dropped upon hearing her say such a thing, "Aun….tie?" she choked as she pointed out shakily.

As Laura nodded, the D Team couldn't help but snicker about it, which served to tick her off anymore!

She turned red and gnashed her teeth so hard they could almost crack under the pressure she was exerting on them! "Grrrr! How dare you say that!? Just how old do you think I am!?" she yelled which took Aki by surprise as well as shocking the others knowing she'd blow off their secret soon!

"Ah!"

"Being called old by those brats is one thing, but you 2 of all people-" Ed and Zander quickly covered her mouth and held her back with everything they had! "Mmph!"

"Now now Ursula!" said Ed quivering.

"Settle down, let's leave this to Rod and Laura before you complicate things!" Zander said nervously as they quickly dragged her away while she continued to struggle and thrash in their grip!

As they began to pull her further away, Aki couldn't help but stare and find the scene played out before her most unusual, "Okay…..they're a rather interesting bunch…." she said trying to sound polite.

"You can say that again…." Rex sweat dropped as the others nodded with him.

"You'll have to excuse them," said Laura covering up for them, "They're kinda socially awkward…."

"Especially Ursula, she's really sensitive when it comes to her age." said Rod whispering to Max's mom as she covered her mouth in surprise.

"Oh my, I'm sorry to hear that." she said before turning over to the D Team who shuddered as she turned her attention to them, "Kids, make sure you be nice to Rod and Laura's uncles and aunt now will you?" she asked gently as she leaned down towards them.

"Errr….." Seeing no other way to respond back to her, they then nodded uneasily.

"Y…Yes of course….."

"We promise to give them the respect they deserve." They said holding a promise sign up, but inside they were literally screaming their heads off inside.

"I'd rather get eaten by a dinosaur than ever be nice to those jerks!" The fact they had to be nice to the people they fought against for so many months was tearing them up form the inside out!

"They're the worst scum of the earth ever!"

"Why do we have to play nice with them of all people!?" Their internal rage intensified as Rod and Laura literally snickered in front of them knowing they could get away with it and they couldn't do anything about it!

Seeing she had taken up enough of their time, Aki then stood up and backed away, "Well, I've interrupted your time together long enough, let me leave you all to it now." she said as she waved to them, "Play nice kids."

"S…Sure mom of course!" Max croaked nervously.

"We won't be of any trouble…." Zoe followed at the end as they all waved to her with smiling facades.

"We'll be on our best behaviours too ma'am." waved Rod and Laura before looking over to the trio behind them, "Right auntie and uncles?"

"We sure will….." Zander and Ed smiled just as painfully while sweating immensely from fatigue at trying to restrain Ursula, who was still thrashing about as strong as ever underneath! She herself couldn't decide who to clobber first, the D Team, Ed and Zander for holding her back, or Rod and Laura for calling her an auntie. The thoughts of who to give a smackdown to was making her boil up inside till she could explode like a volcano!

Oblivious to what was actually going on, Aki chuckled joyfully and smiled at them all with warmth and kindness, "Well, I'm off to see what else this place has to offer. Enjoy your time making new friends now." she said as she turned around and skipped away, "Lalalalala….." she hummed as she soon disappeared from sight and the D Team all let out a deep breath they didn't know they were holding in.

"Phew, that was a close one." said Max with relief as the experience had him feeling more overwhelmed than any outing he had with a dinosaur.

"You can say that again…." added Rex as they all got back to the real matter at hand, as they glared back at the alpha gang and the trio ran back to where they were rejoining their earlier conversation.

"Grr you got lucky this time!" Ursula growled pointing out at them after finally wrestling out of Zander and Ed's loosening group as they panted deeply with exhaustion, "But don't think you can hide behind your mommy's back every single time!" She then grinned, "Bet if you couldn't fight maybe you'd send her to fight your battles for you! Same goes for all of you!" She then yelled pointing out too the rest of them.

"Hey! Don't you dare talk bad about my mom!" Max yelled taking deep offence to it.

"And nobody talks smack about my parents either!" Zoe added as she turned red and fumed,

"Yeah! Unless you really want us to let you have it!" Cera and Rex felt the most hurt of all, considering neither of them actually knew their own parents either.

"Grrrr!" Tension was peaking between the 2 factions as spite and hatred flared up on both ends. They just couldn't wait to cut loose, the only problem was that they had no way to take out their frustrations on one another without causing a scene on the cruise ship, so that made it all the more harder for them to show any self restraint as their anger became bottled up and would soon explode into something uncontrollable if something wasn't done soon.

Seeing no good would come out it if they were to settle things with a battle, Rod soon came up with an idea that could work out without either side having to resort to violence, "Say I've got an idea." he said snapping his fingers, "How we can all settle this peacefully."

They all turned to him with curious or suspicious expressions, "Hmm?"

"What's that?" Some asked.

"Peacefully? I doubt it…." Others doubted.

Rod then smirked as he had the answer already, "There's a whole bunch of activities this ship has out for guests to play and keep themselves entertained." he said as he brought them all in, "So here's the deal. We'll play against one another, best out of 3 wins." He then looked towards the D Team and smirked, "If we win, you keep out of our hairs this whole trip."

"But If you win, you can do whatever you want." Laura finished, "Sounds like a fair deal don't you think?" She added folding her arms and the trio then snickered seeing they could enjoy wiping the floor with the meddling kids at a game they could easily turn in their favour.

The D Team however hardened their expressions taking notice of their foes' snickers and grins. "Not interested, you'll obviously pull wool over my eyes like you did last time!" scoffed Max turning away and folding his arms still holding a grudge against them for the times they cheated them out of dinosaurs.

Rex and Zoe then smiled seeing he was taking this other maturely, "Yeah that's right!"

"You show em Max!" They cheered praising him as Cera smiled.

Rod then smirked rather deviously, "Heh, what's the matter? Too chicken to prove yourself a man?" He snarked as Zander and Ed flapped their arms like wings and made chicken noises while hopping around, mocking Max and getting on his nerves, even bending down to mimic how chickens peck the ground for food.

"Why you…." Max gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as a huge tic mark appeared on his forehead.

Rex jumped seeing he was getting edgy again and tried his best to keep him from falling for it, "Max…calm down now….we don't want to-"

"Going to run home to your momma and cry about it?" Ursula then mocked as she faked crying and whining too before grinning maliciously, "Bet you'd be nothing without her huh?"

That was more than enough to tick Max off as he wrestled out of Rex's grip and yelled at the top of his lungs! "That does it! Calling me a chicken is one thing, but no one ever talks bad about my mom and gets away with it! I accept!" he yelled shaking a fist and the Alpha gang all cheered in victory seeing they got him hooked.

Meanwhile max's teammates sighed and face palmed seeing Max let his temper and ego get the best of him again, "Oh boy….."

"This isn't going to go over well." They each sighed in disappointment, perhaps next time they shouldn't get their hopes too high for their friend.

First was ping pong, and Zoe and Cera were partnered up against Ed and Zander, with their trust and teamwork, the 2 girls had the 2 bumbling men overwhelmed as they helped cover one another' weak spots while they had their opponents bumbling about or even crashing into one another!

"Gah!" Zander gasped as he missed a ball.

"Huff huff…." Ed gasped in exhaustion as he put his hands on his knees gasping for air after a while, as Cera and Zoe high fived one another!

"Keep it up! You can do it!" Rex cheered as their dinosaurs barked happily on the sideliness.

"Come on you clowns don't let those runts beat you!" Ursula yelled out stomping her foot as the 2 men sweated profusely with exhaustion.

"Oh man Zander! Why did they have to pick us for this!?" Ed whimpered and they shivered as their turn to serve came, and it seemed like they were ready for it!

Zoe then smirked seeing they could win at any moment now, "Alright! We've got them on the ropes now!"

"Just a little more…." Cera thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes.

"Hey look! A dinosaur!" a voice suddenly shouted out as they all turned to look outside the window!

"Huh!?"

"Where!?" They gasped in alarm but saw there was no one outside.

"Gotcha!" Zander shouted as he served the ball which bounced past Zoe and Cera as they turned back too late!

"Ah! No!" The D Team stared in disbelief as Zander and Ed did a happy dance together and cheered!

"Aha! We win!"

"Heh, can't believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book." Laura snickered on the sidelines as Rod grinned and Ursula stuck her tongue out at their fooled foes, who hardened their expressions in anger.

"Grrr…." The D Team growled infuriated by having the rug pulled out from under them when they were so close, but the game was far from over.

At the pool table, Ursula laughed out cockily as she landed down to take a crack at the game, "Ahahahah, watch how a pro does it and cry your eyes out half pints….." she said leaning down and aiming the pole at the ball.

Seeing an opportunity, Max snickered as he found a way to get back at them for earlier, "Careful auntie, if you bend too much like that you might hurt your back!" he mocked as Ursula gnashed her teeth furiously!

"GRRRR! How dare you-" She said as she struck out with all her might, only to punch a massive hold straight through the table! "Gah!" She widened her eyes seeing she blew her chance and the D Team jumped up and cheered!

"Alright! That's score 1 for the D Team!"

"Woo hoo!"

The trio then glared at the children with immense spite, "Grrr!"

As Laura narrowed her eyes crossly, Rod then folded his arms and smirked with confidence, "Heh, well enjoy your victory now because it won't last." he thought as he looked outside where the final event was about to take place.

Soon everyone got to the poolside where the final event, a swimming race was about to begin and it was between Rod and Rex, as both contenders were warming up to to race one another for the fastest swimming time to the end and back, and the tension was peaking.

"You can do it Rex!"

"Make him eat your bubbles!" Max and Cera cheered out for their friend along with all their dinosaurs on the sidelines. Ace however, shivered as he hid behind Cera's leg upon sight of the large body of water in front of him.

On the other side, Ursula and the others did a rather embarrassing cheer which Rod paid little attention to, "R-O-D! What's that spell!? Rod! Go!" They chanted.

Though he did however focus on the support his sister was giving him, "It's all on you now Rod!" she cried out at the top of her lungs, "Show them what you're really made of!"

Taking off his shirt and helmet and changing into his swimming trunks, he got over to his side of the pool, "I'll go first! Cannonball!" He cried out as he jumped in, causing a rather large splash!

"Hey!" As Laura jumped out of the way, the trio ended up getting soaked in the process!

As they came out of it, their hair was all splashed down and they were very much displeased.

"Seriously?"

"My clothes are going to shrink in this…." Zander and Ed muttered in discomfort.

Ursula however took it far more seriously as her makeup became runny and her favourite casual clothes were all drenched, as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists yelling out in a flurry, "Why you! When this is over I'm going to spank you silly!" she cried out in discomfort stomping her feet.

"Whoa!"

"Take cover!"

The D Team however were able to back away in time, unfortunately one of them wasn't able to make it in time. As the wave of water came upon him, Ace froze in place, his legs shaking as he was paralysed by fear and unable to do a thing as it came down on him in a massive splash!

"Ah!" They widened their eyes to see Ace completely soaked as he then ran off in a frantic away as fast as he could from where they were!

Rex widened his eyes, "Ace wait! Stop!" His calls were unheard as Ace's thinking was overcome with fearful instincts, for Ace water triggered a horrific memory buried deep within his heart and he couldn't bear to even have so much a drop on it as it meant…..death to him…..

As he ran as fast as he could to get away from the pool, he failed to realise where he was going till he opened his eyes again and his heart skipped a beat as he found himself at the edge of a ship railing, leading down to a massive plunge below where the ocean's waves rocked the boat and splashed at the hull. Upon sight of the massive monstrous abyss deep below the blue waves, Ace froze and turned nearly pale, something which hadn't gone unnoticed by the D Team as they looked on.

"A…Ace?" Rex asked nervously seeing his friend had gone completely silent, as off his own soul had left his body and he was now but an empty shell….silent and still. When Ace soon came back to his senses he then cried out as he ran away without looking back much to Rex's alarm! "Ace come back!" he cried as he tried to follow him.

"Ah!"

"Wait Rex!" Before the D Team could follow after their friend-

"Hold it!" Rod yelled from the pool as they stopped to look back, "If any of you leave now, you're disqualified and we win." he said folding his arms and smirking rather smugly at them, much to their alarm and disgust.

"Why you….."

"How dare you!? That shouldn't count!" They yelled but Rod and the other members of the alpha gang were undeterred.

"You shook on it that you guys will be playing through the end," he replied, "If you leave now it basically means you're backing out, even you should know that."

"Yeah." The trio said to them in a mocking tone.

The D Team were stuck between a rock and a hard place, if they left they'd have to stay out of the Alpha gang's way for the entire night even if it meant they'd be plotting something, but if they stayed to finish their agreement Ace could get himself into trouble amongst the many other guests onboard, or worse, fall over board and they could lose him for good. The expressions of frustration and conflict was made apparent on their faces as they looked between their adversaries and back in the direction Ace ran off in.

"So what'll it be?" Laura asked as she shot them a taunting expression.

"Grrrgh!" Seeing no other choice, the D Team ran off ahead in pursuit of Ace as fast as they could, but not before they shot back a few words of spite behind them.

"We'll settle this later!"

"You won't get away with this!"

"We'll get you back and that's a promise!" They shouted out as they soon disappeared from sight and the Alpha trio danced about in victory.

"Would you look at that, they're turning tail and running away!"

"Ahahaahahah!"

"We showed them!" They laughed before sticking out their tongues and pulling down their eyelids mockingly. "Nyeh! Nyeh!"

"Looks like we've seen the last of their sorry behinds for a while now hahahaha!" Rod laughed as he and Laura high fived and then went to the pool for another dip.

Back with the D Team, Zoe glared at Max as they hurried along the boardwalk looking for the runaway carnotaurus, "Way to go Max, because of you now we can't do anything to stop whatever plan they have coming here!" she yelled angrily as Max gritted his teeth in frustration and pain.

"I'm so sorry guys….I really shouldn't have-"

"Save it Max," Rex interrupted him, "We'll worry about it later! Right now we need to get Ace back before something bad happens to him!" he yelled with desperation in his tone.

"We're on a ship, no way he could've gotten far." Max stated.

"You'd be surprised at how many places there are for a little dinosaur to hide on a ship." Cera replied as they continued on in their search for their lost friend.

Deep down in the hull below where the D Team were running past, as the ship turned, it caused the egg capsule to tumble across the floor till smashing open against a support. Inside was a water move card and a dinosaur card with a crocodile like head and red crest. Up above, a drop of water fell from a leaking pipe onto the cards, causing them to glow blue as they activated! The irritator let out a vicious snarl upon awakening, before sniffing the air and walking off sniffing the air and ground to determine its' surroundings and how it could get out.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the lab, Seth had just compiled together some data on a screen and slowly before him a move card was beginning to form on screen, it was going to be a new move card far more powerful than any other designed ever before, and any dinosaur that could master it would no doubt be fit to carry out his goal to create a new breed of evolved dinosaurs which he planned to repopulate the planet with. He smirked with delight seeing the fire card slowly take shape before eying Saurophagnax in the training room, which was panting with exhaustion and gasping for air, inside a very messed up room as a result of the dinosaur having been forced to train beyond its' limits, yet despite that the dinosaur was able to meet Seth's expectations, which made him Seth's prime candidate to be his pioneer of his new research and experiments.

Several thoughts and ideas were racing through his mind as his hands twitched showing how his body was unable to contain the many ideas and revolutionary theories exploding into existence within him, and how he couldn't wait to try them all out as soon as possible. It was only when a signal flashed on his computer, which brought his train of thoughts to a stop as he turned around to see the signal glowing over the water, "A dinosaur out at sea?" he raised an eyebrow with suspicion as he zoomed in on the location which pinpointed it to apparently a moving location. "That's where the royal prince is….." he then noted.

Upon cue, Saurophagnax let out an exhausted roar as he collapsed to the ground and returns to card form, which made him scowl somewhat, "How unfortunate saurophaganax, that I'll have to be cutting your time short a little early today." Seth muttered as he unplugged the fire scanner. He then flashed a sadistic expression as he turned it towards ampelosaurus and stegosaurus, who both shuddered and groaned in fear inside their glass beakers as he eyed them, "That means all the more time I can focus on you both." In their hearts they never met a human as evil or diabolical as Seth as they curled up and shivered looking away.

A small flying supply droid soon descended before Seth as he handed it the scanner, "Deliver this to Rod and Laura now." he said as the droid took it and beeped.

"DELIVER!" It said before flying away and out of Zeta Point across the sea.

As it departed Seth once again regained his maniacal expression as he pressed a button on his machine and turned up the dial to nearly full power, "Now, time to begin your next stage of evolution." he said as electricity surged through the beaker and into the bodies of the 2 dinosaurs as they roared and screeched in pain!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Ace wait!" Rex called out for his partner as he continued scurrying across the boardwalk and through the dining hall! The way he was able to run around tables, under chairs and quickly around people was something the D Team had to commend him for.

"Man he's fast…." Max grunted gritting his teeth and sweating tiredly with the others as they had a much harder time manoeuvring around themselves.

"Even faster when he's scared." Cera then thought to herself, wondering what is it about water that gets him so riled up and agitated.

"H…Hey!"

"Ah!" Various people cried out in alarm as he ran through their legs or entry tripped them over! Even tripping over a waiter and the food and drinks he was carrying onto some customers!

"S…Sorry!" Rex and the others had to quickly apologise to make up for the mess. Before they could continue, a head manager soon stepped up before them and eyed them seriously, causing them all to freeze in their tracks!

"Was that your dog sir?" he asked firmly.

Max and the others froze stiff at the man's piercing gaze, while Rex swallowed hard to force out the truth from his mouth, "Y…Yes he was….."

He then narrowed his eyes, "Well you'd better teach him some manners, if he makes another mess like that I'm afraid I'll have to report you to the captain and have you ejected from this cruise. Understand?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"Y…Yes sir, it won't happen again!" Rex nodded frantically as they quickly ran past. By the time they made it to the outside corridor where he ran off, Ace was nowhere to be seen in sight on both ends!

"Which way did he go now!?" Zoe cried frantically feeling worried.

Max gritted his teeth, "Let's split up! We'll find him easier that way!"

"Alright!" said Cera as she ran down one hallway with Rex, with Max and Zoe down the other.

As they passed by other passengers ,akin their way to the toilets or lower halls, Cera soon noticed Rex was growing increasingly frustrated and impatient, "Honestly, I'm getting sick and tired of Ace never getting over his hydrophobia for months now!" he hissed under his breath, which was beginning to worry her and Miku. "This time it's the last straw! When we get back home, I'm going drag him straight to the bath and make sure he doesn't leave till he gets over it once and for all!" he yelled gritting his teeth.

"Rex, don't you think you might be a little hard on him?" Cera asked as he looked to her with a serious expression which made her gulp in worry, "I mean, I'm sure Ace has his reasons for being afraid."

Thinking about it, Rex stopped run and sighed deeply, "I know that Cera….." he said before looking away, "But I can't keep letting him get away with it forever, he has to get over it sooner or later otherwise he'll be running all his life missing out on all the fun new things he could be enjoying with the rest of us." he said as he hardened his gaze, "Well enough is enough, I won't take it lying down anymore! I won't let him ruin our family vacation!" he yelled running ahead, "When I find him I'll be giving him a piece of my mind!" he cried out at the end before he disappeared, leaving Cera and Miku behind to contemplate what their eyes had just seen.

"I've never seen Rex like that before….." Cera breathed as Miku chirped in agreement wheel still staring speechlessly. She then shook "Well, even Rex has limits to his patience." Thinking it over she then began to understand that before she came on board the D Team, she was told there were times when we weren't able to fight at full strength because of Ace's fear of water. Because of that, Rex sometimes saw himself as a liability for letting the rest of us down when they could have used his help. "I understand now." she then said processing all of this along with Ace's fear of water.

Miku then chirped at her and she nodded back "I know Miku, Rex does mean well but I don't think he's using the right approach to it." she then put a finger to her chin in thought and closed her eyes, thinking it over carefully she then opened them realising what she could do, "Maybe we should get things from Ace's side of the story." she said to herself as she ran down the hallway and came to a map on the wall. "Now if I was afraid of water where would I go to hide on a cruise ship?" She asked herself as she narrowed her eyes at it looking over the possible places Ace could have gone. Looking at it Miku then chirped in her ear and she nodded in agreement with her partner's theory, "You're right Miku, somewhere inside would do." Scrolling over the map's interior areas she then focused her finger on a certain possible spot.

"This daycare area seems like a good place to start." she thought to herself as hurried in the direction of it. Soon she came upon a closed wooden door with a bright smiley face with rainbows on it. She opened it slowly and peeked in to find a play mat area with small playground equipment set up like mini slides and swings, along with a book shelf and several bean bags and pillows around to make the place comfortable. Strangely it was completely empty and devoid of laughter and excitement that a child's playroom would have. "Good thing the kids are all napping in the other room now." Thought Cera assuming that was the case as she stepped in. Looking around form where they were, Cera soon spotted a blue tail sticking out from under the slide, and she smiled with relief as she found the little carnotaurus had scampered off too. "Ah there he is." She said as she walked up to where it was. Looking under the slide she saw Ace was covering his hands over his head and shivering as if he was cold, terrified or maybe a little of both. "There you are Ace." She then said surprisingly him as he curled up inside and hissed defensively before shaking his head refusing to come out. Cera looked at him pityingly knowing what he was going through, but even so he caused quite a scare for them on the other hand. "It's alright Ace, I'm not mad nor am I going to take you back to Rex, at least not now." she said to him as he lowered his head shamefully, unable to look at her in the eye.

"But he is very worried about you, don't you think you should be going back to him now?" she then asked him with compassion though Ace refused to look back at her. Taking a chance she slowly reached out and petted him gently on the head to which he responded back by nuzzling in, feeling a warm pre scene emanating from Cera and feeling more at peace now. "I know Rex may seem harsh and forceful in getting you to overcome your fear, but I'm sure he's doing this because he cares for you." She said as she slowly ushered Ace out of his hiding spot as he looked up at her and Miku. "Maybe he just doesn't understand, it could help if you maybe tell us why you're so terrified of water in the first place?" As she asked that however, the little dinosaur shuddered and shook his head in refusal.

"I see…." Cera sighed realising that this hydrophobia of his must be deeply rooted. Still she couldn't just leave things the way they were, thinking it over she then looked over to her partner who was resting on her shoulder, "Miku, maybe you can talk to him, tell him what Max and the others think, maybe he'd be more open to talk." Miku nodded in response as she hopped down to Ace and then chirped. After a few exchanges in dino communication, Ace seemed more calm and willing to 'talk' now as he looked up at Cera anxious but trusting nonetheless. "Ready to talk now?" she asked as the blue dinosaur slowly nodded.

Miku then placed a hand on Ace's head, as if she was reading his very thoughts, and as Cera touched her she then glowed in a rainbow aura, as if she began to transfer those beer thoughts from Ace to her partner, as a vision soon appeared before her. The seven took place in prehistoric South America, near an ancient lake where dinosaurs such as patagosaurus went to drink and quench their thirst. Nearby, a mother carnotaurus stepped out of the brush for a drink followed by 4 hatchlings, which ere coloured, black, grey, brown and blue, the last one she soon recognised as Ace. While mother lowered her head down to drink, the young carnivores stayed near the edge of the bank, chasing after small flies that flew about, or even tried their luck with a scorpion! Ace, feeling bold tried to bite at it but it retaliated with a sting to his nose, causing him to back away. Shaking his head in disorientation he saw a dragonfly resting on a reed right above the water, thinking it to be an easier meal, Ace licked his lips and began stalking it slowly and carefully. He jumped up to grab it, but only succeeded in swallowing a mouthful of air as the insect took off before he could sink his teeth in it. Unfortunately his jump was a bit too strong as he ended up falling into the water! He then cried out and struggled immensely to keep his head above the water but his tiny arms and little legs couldn't do much to keep hm afloat! Every second as he lost energy he could feel as though the water was slowly beginning to swallow him whole and it would be the end of him soon, and seeing how his siblings were still on the banks playing and not realising he was about to drown made him feel abandoned and alone…..as his head slowly fell beneath the surface….. Luckily at the last crucial moment his mother heard his cries for help as she charged over and reached in, grabbing him with her teeth and bringing him back to shore in time! Nuzzling him at his chest he coughed out water violently and breathed deeply with relief to see she had come to his aid as she liked him all over dry. But the memory of his near death experience had burnt deep into his mind as everytime he looked at water all he could think of was death and its' slow, silent but deadly grip….Once it got you, it was over….

As the flashback ended, Ace looked down feeling horrible at reliving those thoughts and memories he tried hard to bury deep within him, but even the sight of water was enough to uncover them once again and he had never been able to move on since then, even a drop of it on his body would be like a poison to him even though it was what helped give him life too. "I see now…..I understand why you'd be so afraid of water now." said Cera sadly, "I mean, it's not easy to overcome a fear you develop as a baby." She said stroking his head gently as he remained silent. To his surprise, while he expected abandonment or scorn he saw Cera smile rather kindly at him, "It's fine though, there's nothing wrong with that, because everyone has something that frightens them more than anything else. I'm sure Rex deeps down respects and accepts you for who you are, it's what makes you well….you." she said to him.

"But the funny thing is, without fear, there can't be any courage." she added as Ace blinked and titled his head curiously. "From what I heard from the others, you've demonstrated it before in the past, and that really takes a lot of guts. Good on you." she said petting him as Miku chirped happily and Ace felt a little more confident in himself. After that her expression turned rather serious, "But facing your fear is one thing, mastering it is another." she said lifting his head up and looking him in the eye with both kindness and discipline, "Only the bravest and strongest of heart can do it, and after seeing you in battle so many times I'm certain you are capable of doing it too." she said with confidence. Ace's eyes glistened, amazed that she had such faith in him despite his weakness and trauma. Her nod then confirmed she meant what she said, "I mean it, why else would Rex and the others keep trying to help you overcome your fears? It's they believe in you and they'll never give up on you ever." she then brought him in for a hug, "Because they're your friends, and you aren't alone. They too have fears but they help one another overcome it, because they trust and believe in each other. Don't you believe in your partner at all Ace?" She then asked as Ace lowered his head down thinking it over carefully. In his mind he wasn't sure what to make of it, even if others believed he could do it, is it the same as him being able to surpass his own limits too? He wondered….

As he did, Miku chirped out loud and Cera nodded, "Miku's right." she said before looking back to him, "I know it's a lot to take in, but look at it this way." she explained, "Think of the water as….a whole new adventure like how you and the others go to all sorts of places no other person or even a dinosaur would go on a usual basis. You're always excited to learn and explore new experiences and sights, you've seen plenty of amazing things the land and air has to offer, so why not include the water too?" Ace stared with unblinking eyes, not once considering that possibility, "Think of it as something fun awaiting you as you step forth into an unknown world, instead of something to be afraid of. Maybe, try looking at it that way instead?" she said before gently patting him on the head, "You don't need to rush it either, you can take it at your own pace. One step at a time, we just hope you can at least try to make that first step." As she finished Ace then lowered his head down and began to contemplate over everything she just heard.

"Wow Cera. That was…..really deep…." Turning around, Cera was surprised to see the rest of the D Team were standing right behind her, apparently having heard her whole speech form start to end. Needless to say they felt impacted gy it as well.

"Oh there you guys are." she said standing up and picking Miku onto her shoulder again, "Sorry," she then added scratching her cheek, "I wanted to tell you guys sooner that I found him but well I…."

"It's cool no worries." said Rex understandingly, "In fact, I think it's best you didn't, because now I think I understand." Walking past her, Rex kneeled down to Ace's level and stroked his head. "Hey Ace." In response, Ace lowered his head and tried to turn away, but Rex made him look back at him as he looked into his friend's eyes with new realisation, "I'm really sorry buddy, shouldn't have been so hard on you, I had no idea it was really that bad." he said stoking him before smiling kindly, "You know Ace, friendship and trust does take a while and so does overcoming fears. If it's alright with you, I'm willing to start over with you and we can work it out again from the beginning." He asked as Ace blinked looking up at him. Rex then held out a hand, "So what do you say Ace? Are you up for it?" he asked. Looking to the hand, then to Rex's smiling hopeful expression and then to the same given off by the rest of the D Team and his other dino friends, Ace then nuzzled into Rex's palm answering him. "Haha, thanks Ace, that's all I can ask for." Rex laughed happily and also because Ace was tickling him.

"Aww that's just so sweet." Zoe teared clapping her hands together feeling touched.

"Yeah, it sure is." Cera added and Max smiled folding his arms feeling happy they worked it all out.

As Rex stood up he then turned around, "Say Cera?"

"Yes?" she blinked.

He held out a hand to her, "Thanks for that, I think I'll stop trying to rush things and take it a little more slowly from now on." he said gratefully, "I should try to consider Ace's feelings better too and try to understand him as my friend and not a pet."

Cera smiled gladly as she shook on his hand back, "I'm glad you realise it now." she said before looking down to see Ace, "I'm sure Ace knows how you feel too," the young carnotaurus wagged his tail and jumped up in excitement confirming her answer, "I have a feeling he'll be trying harder too from now on."

"That's all I'll ask for." Rex responded looking down to his partner and best friend who barked back.

"Phew, glad that's sorted out with." Max breathed with relief before grinning excitedly, "Now we can get back to enjoying ourselves an awesome cruise!" he cried out punching his arm out to the air. Though he ruined the moment the D Team did see he had a point on celebrating again as they nodded with him in agreement.

"Mhmm!"

Before they could head out again though, a familiar beeping sound soon came from their pockets catching them by surprise.

"Huh!?" They all took out hitter dinoholders and dinoshot and widened their eyes to see a signal on!

"A dinosaur!"

"It's here on this ship!?"

"No way!" They all gasped.

Max narrowed his eyes, "Of all the places one could show it had to be here, where there's tons of people about in the middle of the sea with nowhere to run!?" he exclaimed as the others looked to him realising the complexity of this situation.

"This will be tricky that's for sure….." Zoe commented scratching her chin.

"Well, let's just find it quick and hopefully it'll be in a place where there won't be so many people around." said Max shrugging it off.

He was about to turn and head out when Rex grabbed him by the shoulder, "But Max. Don't forget you made a deal with those alpha gang creeps remember?" he reminded him as he froze and stuttered upon seeing all their serious expressions.

"You even promised on our behalf without asking us first, that we'd stay out of their way didn't you?" Zoe added as he drooped down defeated.

"Oh yeah….sorry guys…." he muttered.

"Nothing we can do about it now…." Rex sighed shaking his head in dismay.

"What do we do then?" Zoe asked unwilling to give up like that but still saw no way out of this.

Thinking it over Cera soon came up with a possible loophole they could exploit to their advantage, "Technically it won't count unless we find it first." she said out loud as everyone looked to her, "If we find the dinosaur and they decide butt in, it means they're getting in our way which doesn't count."

"That can work." said Max seeing the logic in her words as Rex and Zoe nodded with a smile. "Also if we find it first before they do we might still have a chance!"

"Then let's not waste anymore time!" said Cera seriously, "Let's go look for it now before they do!"

"Right!" They all cheered as they left the baby play pen and split up in different directions to search for it.

As Max ran past a pair of beach chairs he didn't notice that his parents were relaxing there, with Spike wearing a pair of sunglasses while folding his arms as a pillow while wearing pair of swimming trunks and Aki was wearing a bath robe reading a book, "Ah, isn't this just the best Aki?" he asked dreamily as his wife smiled back at him.

"It sure is Spike, it sure is. Nothing can ever spoil this relaxing day." She said as she looked to the side to see Reese and the Drakes all relaxing too.

With Reese, Mr and Mrs Drake too

Below where they were however, the irritator had stopped sniffing and soon focused on a certain point on the wall in the hulls. Sniffing it and hearing a lot of pressure at the end, it realised it could maybe break free through here if it could focus its' attacks on that very spot. Raising out its claws and letting out a vicious hiss it began to slash away at the hull!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Aaaah this is the life." Dr Z hummed to himself dreamily as a masseur gave him a relaxing foot rub at the spa room, while he himself had face mask and cucumbers on his face, "I could get used to this forever…..If I had the chance I'd never go home….." he said before dozing off and snoring away.

Outside the Trio, now dressed in their usual alpha attire, relaxed easy in the beach chairs next to the pool feeling peaceful for the first time in a very long while.

"Ah this is the life, we finally got those brats kicked out of our hairs." said Zander kicking a leg up and resting his head in his hands like pillows.

"Oh if only our days could be like this everyday." said Ed with a big smile on his face.

"Let's just enjoy it while it lasts." Ursula muttered as she began to indulge in the moment, the only thing that would make it better was if they could do something about the other kids that were splashing about in the pool near them.

"Ahahaha tag you're it!" Rod laughed as he tapped his sister on her shoulder and he began swimming away while she tried to splash after him.

"Hee hee! I'm gonna get you!" she giggled as they splashed in the pool, before Rod suddenly stopped and looked up.

"Huh?" As Laura finally caught up to him she saw him staring up at the sky before he pointed out, "Hey look up there!" As she followed her brother's finger she saw it was a small flying droid which descended towards them before dropping off the alpha scanner, which Rod quickly responded by holding his hands up, "Ah! Got it!" He gasped grabbing it in time before it hit the pool. Already there was a call going on it, "Hmm?" Tapping it, the face of a familiar blue haired man appeared which surprised the siblings.

"Oh Seth, what's up?" asked Laura.

"You both might want to take a look at this." he replied as half of the screen shrunk down and revealed the map displaying a dinosaur signal at where they were.

Both Rod and Laura widened their eyes in surprise at the unexpected news, "Whoa! A dinosaur here on this cruise ship!?" Rod gasped.

"That's gonna be little tricky…." Laura muttered scratching her cheek in thought.

Seth smirked in response, "Don't worry, you'll figure out a way to get it, I know you will." he said which inspired some confidence in the both of them.

"Heh, you bet we will!" Rod smirked.

"Plus we managed to get the D Team off our backs tonight so this will be a singe!" Laura cheered holding a thumbs up and a big smile.

Seth nodded in acknowledgement of their efforts, knowing there was no way they could fail this time, "Very good then, over and out." he said as the screen turned blank as he logged off.

As he did, Rod looked over to his sister and smirked, "Alright Laura let's get to work!"

"Right!" She cheered as they both headed over to the edge of the pool to climb out, but as they arrived.

"We'll be taking that!" A claw suddenly shot out from nowhere, snatching the alpha scanner right out of Rod's hands!

"H…Hey!" he cried out seeing Zander grab the scanner with the claw and the Trio were snickering in their faces.

"Grrgh!" Rod grunted as he ran at them, "Give that back!" he yelled as Ursula held him back at the head with her hand with little effort!

"Tsk tsk tsk! Not a chance!" she said wagging a finger with her other hand, "You kids still have to go out and get changed, wasting precious time that could be used for finding the dinosaur."

"On the other hand we're ready and all set to go!" Ed added as he grinned widely.

"In fact by the time you're done we'll be back here with the card, or maybe even before that!" Zander mocked.

Both Rod and Laura sighed and shook their heads shrugging their shoulders knowing what they were really up to, "Don't tell me you clowns are still trying to get back on grampa's good side are you?"

"Just give it up already, it's obvious you'll fail." They said as the trio widened their eyes and they gasped in shock that they were found out so easily!

"EH!?"

"You're lucky grampa was willing to let you off easy just because you somehow managed to win these tickets." said Rod as he folded his arms and turned away from them.

"You're pushing it if you think you can pull it off," said Laura huffing, "Bet you wouldn't have won that bet against the D Team if it wasn't for us."

Their insults succeeded in infuriating the Trio as they gritted their teeth in anger and fumed red, "Grrr!"

"Oh well, at least we have more time to enjoy the activities they have here on board." said Laura as she hopped back into the pool uncaringly.

"So go on and knock yourselves out, don't think we'll bail you out again like we did yesterday." Rod concluded as he followed her.

Ursula clicked her tongue in annoyance as she shook her fist out at them, "Tch! We'll make you eat those words and teach you to respect grownups!" she yelled.

Laura couldn't help but hold in a laugh upon hearing her say that, "So you just admitted you're old then?" she snarked as said old lady turned pale and her jaw hung!

"Ack!" She picked it back up and turned red, steaming with rage as she shook her arms out, "How dare you!?" She screamed, lunging at the 2 kids only to be held back by Ed and Zander in time!

"Now now Ursula, let's just get a move on!" said Zander patting her on the back to calm her down.

"Time's a wasting!" Ed cried as she snorted in response.

"Grr fine, but when we get back with that card we'll see who's laughing then!" She yelled shaking a fist as the trio ran off to do their work.

Rod folded his arms and scoffed unbelievingly as they disappeared from out of sight around the corner, "That'll be the day….."

"Tag!" a hand suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh!?" The surprise made him jump as he looked around to see Laura waver her hands at him.

"Now you're it!" she giggled as she paddled away and her brother laughed in amusement before chasing after her!

"Ahaha! Hey no fair!"

As they enjoyed their fun in the pool, directly below them, several levels down the irritator was sniffing the air and the ground as the heat and stuffiness of the hull was beginning to irritate it very much, as it searched long and hard for a way to escape. Eventually, it came upon a part of the wall which had the faint scent of ocean water coming from behind it. Sniffing it, it's brain telling it was a hint of freedom though there was also the scent of danger too. Soon, the desperation for freedom drove it to to bet on its own instincts as it snarled out and began slashing at the hull, making deep incisions and cuts in the metallic hull. With each successive cut it could hear the growth in water pressure from the outside and before long freedom would be within reach.

Back on the upper deck, Ursula and the others, looked around for any signs of a dinosaur but all they saw were many celebrities enjoying the stars outside or the banquet on the inside, all in a calm mood with no topic of a dinosaur being brought up in the slightest.

"Okay then if I were a dinosaur on a cruise ship where would I go?" Ursula muttered putting a hand to her chin in thought, knowing they'd have to go somewhere less obvious to look.

"Well I'd go straight for the all you can eat buffet!" Ed cheered holding his hand up as his stomach began to rumble.

"Great, if only your brain worked as well as your stomach…." Ursula faceplamed. She then turned as she noticed Zander tapping her shoulder.

"You know Ursula, I was thinking maybe we should try looking in the last place we'd look on a ship first." he suggested to her.

"And where would that be Zander?" she asked.

Zander thought about it for a while, scratching his head in thought before speaking out, "Well maybe we could try underneath the ship, like in the lower decks or maybe even the hull!"

Blinking her eyes and taking it over, Ursula found some logic to his words, "That actually makes a whole lot of sense."

"Look!" Ed gasped pointing out to a door further down a hallway on their left, "That door leads to the lower levels of the ship!" he cried out as Ursula clapped her hands together joyfully.

"Good eyes Ed! You've actually done something useful today!" she cheered before shooting her arm out, "Let's go! We'll corner that dinosaur and it'll have no hope of escape! Plus when the brats show up they can't do anything about it either! Oh how I'm going to enjoy rubbing the card in their faces!" She said as the 3 of them grinned and snickered deviously as they skipped over to the door and went inside!

"Hehehehehe!"

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Urgh, still no sign of it anywhere…." Cera grunted in annoyance as she checked the far side of the ship which was out at the port hand where a number of rich people gathered together to do wine toasts, have lively conversations, or even make confessions and proposals under the night as some even applauded the acceptance of a couple as they kissed one another. Cera narrowed her eyes at the scene, "By now we would have heard a cry or scream yet all's normal….." Thinking about it hard it was clear the dinosaur couldn't be on the outer deck where anyone would see it. For it to have gone hidden so long and unseen, meant it had to be very small (which was unlikely since the smallest dinosaurs as cards were still largely noticeable) or that it was in an area of the ship which may not be visited by people often, "Wait, maybe it could be….." She then widened her eyes realising the best possible location as she brought up her dinoshot to contact the others, "Guys! I might have an idea on where the dinosaur should be!" she said over the com as she ran off.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back under the ship, the alpha trio were trekking through the vast but empty halls of the ship hulls, finding nothing around for miles, as the heat and stuffiness of the the interiors began to get to them as many beads of sweat began to drip down their faces, even drenching their clothes right after they changed from their soaked clothes not long ago.

"Urgh it's so hot in here, why did I let you guys talk me into coming here?" Ursula grumbled as she felt annoyed and agitated feeling sweat trinkle down her neck and making her skin all sticky and smelly. First thing she'd do back home is take a 2 hour long shower.

Zander and Ed weren't enjoying it as much as she did but they pressed on nevertheless, "Well we're definitely close according to this," said Zander as he eyed the scanner's map while a few beads of sweat fell on it. Looking up, the sounds of metal cutting echoed ahead of where they were, "And I think I can hear something over there." he pointed.

"Let's go check it out!" Ed cried as they hurried over to where it was coming from. Hurrying over to where the sound was coming from, they looked from around the corner of a support pillar to find something unexpected.

"Ah!" They gasped before covering their mouths and hiding behind the pillar, upon seeing the dinosaur was slashing away at the hull.

The dinosaur stopped upon hearing the gasp and turned around to look for where it came from. It then gasped and sweated feeling exhausted. but with immense determination pressed on! Now there was a massive incision in the wall it was cutting at, a few more slashes and it would be able to tear a hole through!

"What is that?" Ursula asked as she and the others looked out from the pillar, making sure to keep their presence hidden.

"I think that's an irritator!" Zander pointed out as they could see it was still tirelessly cutting away at the hull.

Ed blinked his eyes, "Why's he slashing the wall like that?

"Maybe he wants to get out of here badly like we do." Ursula thought before chucking rather sinisterly to herself, "Hehehe, well if he wants to get out we'll be more than happy to help with that!" she laughed as she abandoned her hiding spot and took out a card! "Alpha slash! Blaze Tyrannosaurus!" she chanted as Terry materialised and roared fiercely!

Upon hearing it, the irritator responded and quickly turned around and snarled at his rival!

Meanwhile above, the crowds and tourists were surprised to see the sky suddenly turn multicoloured, while they were unsure of what it was, the D Team, on each other separate searches soon caught wind of it and recognised it instantly.

"A battlefield!" Max gasped as he soon rendezvoused with the others.

"Alpha gang!" Rex grunted knowing there was trouble.

"Come on!" Zoe yelled as they hurried off together to try and look for it. Meanwhile however, Dr Z was dozing off quietly while Rod and Laura were enjoying a relaxing mud bath in the spa room, unaware of what was going on outside.

Below deck, Terry charged ahead baring his massive jaws ready to snap at the smaller spinosaur! It however was faster as it was able to sidestep in time before delivering a swift bite to his leg! The tyrannosaurus however shook him off with little effort as it slammed back into the wall. Shaking it's head in disorientation it found itself cornered as Terry edged closer and closer, limiting its range of movement while roaring fiercely. It soon realised that were it stood, now was heavily weakened by its' previous attacks and now it may have just the final push it needed to break through and escape. Lowering itself to the ground it snarled out a battle challenge as Terry roared back in acceptance.

"Oh, so it wants to play does it?" Ursula mused before laughing out snobbishly as she took out a move card, "Hahaha! Fine, lets play! Take it out with Volcano burst!" she yelled slashing it and Terry began to glow!

"Gah! Ursula no!" Zander and Ed both gasped too late as Terry began to throw a stream of fire at the irritator!

In a flash, the irritator managed to leap to the side in time as the burst of fire melted a huge hole through the weakened hull, revealing a large wall of water on the other side as it cleared.

Ursula turned pale upon realising the grave error of what she had just done, "Uh….oh….." Without warning, a massive torrent of water rushed in and began flooding the entirety of the hull, swamping every nook and cranny and eventually engulfing the Alpha gang and Terry in its' blue grasp!

"GAAAAAAAHHHHH!" They all cried as they were swept in by the massive power of the waves and they were soon swallowed up by the sea itself!

In the ship's control system, an alarm went off and the captain widened his eyes in alarm along with his men as they gathered round to see the source of it displayed on the ship's computer monitor, "Ah! What's this!?" They gasped in alarm to see water was filling up the hulls, once they were submerged the ship would slowly sink into the abyss below!

"There's a breech in the lower hulls! We're taking water fast!"

"At this rate we'll sink!" Men around the captain cried as he turned to them.

"Quick prepare the life boats! Sound the alarm!" he ordered as they saluted him in acknowledgement before carrying out his command.

"Yes sir!"

Down below, water was slowly creeping its' way up the walls of the hull and all was silent until the Alpha gang burst out of the water while riding on Terry, who was kicking his legs up as hard as he could to keep his head above the water and to keep himself from drowning.

"Air!" They all gasped in relief before slumping down on him in exhaustion. Earlier after being pulled under they miraculously were able to grab hold of Terry's tail before slowly pulling themselves up to his back where he just surfaced.

Looking around them they could see their situation had just turned dire, "Look what you did Ursula! Now we're going to sink to the bottom of the sea!" Zander yelled angrily shaking a fist at her.

"And I still don't know who to swim!" Ed then whined.

"C…Calm down!" she said nervously, "We can still make it to the exit on Terry here, and then-"

Without warning, the irritator then popped its head up from the water a little to the side where Terry was, catching them all off guard as it snarled and hissed a them!

"GAH! It's back!" They cried out loud in alarm as the water dinosaur flashed blue and shot out a huge beam of water blasting the alpha gang off Terry's back! "GAAAH!" They screamed as they were sent flying up to where the exit door was, now they were completely drenched and dazed as they lay on top of one another near the stairs.

"Urgh….We're all soaked…." They groaned.

With no way to defend himself, Terry soon found himself the target of irritator's fury as it shot a beam of water at him as well, he struggled and roared in pain at the immense pressure blasted in his faec before the spinosaur charged and grabbed him by the throat and dragged him under! Spinning in a death roll movement like a real crocodile, Terry lost consciousness and returned to a card which soon floated gently to the surface.

"I've save you Terry!" Zander cried out as he took out his claw gun and shot it out to retrieve Terry's card floating in front of them.

Victorious, the irritator let out a snarl as it shot out of the water again before diving back under to make its' escape to freedom, much to the annoyance of the alpha gang.

"It's getting away!" Ursula cried out.

"Dr Z's not going to be happy about this…."

"And Rod and Laura won't let us hear the end of it…." said Ed and Zander nervously, knowing not only did they fail but they endangered the lives of countless people onboard the ship, including their boss and his grandkids!

Ursula gritted her teeth and clenched her hair nearly pulling it out in frustration, cursing about her problems on both bad luck and being stuck with nitwits before yelling out what they should do now, "Grrgh, let's just save ourselves for now and worry about that later!" she yelled as they ran up the stairs towards the door in front of them, with the water steadily climbing higher and higher after them!

Back above, the D Team had just arrived at the entrance hatch to the lower levels of the ship and as they did, the skies returned to normal much to their surprise, "Hey the battlefield's gone…." Rex breathed looking around them. Thinking about it there could only be 2 possibilities, one the dinosaur won or that the alpha gang did, and the D Team were praying hard that it was the former.

"Did you guys hear that rumble?" Zoe then asked remembering she heard a loud noise which sounding like the echoes of banging and smashing.

Cera nodded in response, "Yeah, it came from here." As she reached for the door she looked back to the rest of the D Team as they eyed her firmly and nodded, showing they were prepared to face whatever was down there. Seeing how everyone was looking prepared, she reached for the door, but nothing would prepare them for what was about to burst through it.

"GAAAAAHHH!" The Alpha Trio cried out as they barged through unexpectedly!

"WHOA!" The D Team either had to jump out of the way or were shoved to the sidelines as their foes ran off in a hurry, leaving them behind without a backwards glance much to their surprise.

"Urgh…what was that…." Max groaned as he rubbed his head painfully after hitting it pretty hard on the wall.

"Yeah, for a second there I thought I saw the old lady and the alpha gang…." Zoe muttered as she looked up from the floor wth Paris.

"I'd pummel you for that!" Ursula yelled as she stopped in her tracks and shook her fist out at the disorientated D Team, "But right now our only concern is to save ourselves!"

"So if you kids have any sense you'd run too!" Zander cried as they made a quick turn around the corner in the blink of an eye, much to their surprise.

"What's gotten them all in a flurry?" Rex blinked as he and the others looked in. They soon widened their eyes to see water was filling up the inside of the ship much to their disbelief and horror! "WHOA!"

"Close it quick!" Cera yelled as she and Rex shut it and they locked it firmly. "Phew that was close….." she breathed putting a hand to her chest in relief.

"Not for long! Look!" Max cried pointing out at theatre already seeping through the small heaps in the door much to the D Team's alarm as they quickly backed away form it, especially Ace who put the most distance between himself and the door more than the rest of them!

"Oh no!" Rex cried out in alarm as their situation began to turn dire! "We're taking water!"

"And fast!" Max added at the end as it began to come across his shoes.

The sounds of an alarm echoed across the halls of the cruise ship, which was about to turn an excitable oceanic experience into an undersea nightmare.

" **Emergency! A massive leak has occurred in the Royal Prince's hull! All passengers please remain calm and make your way to the lifeboats while following the instructions of personnel! Evacuate immediately!"** it said. All around, the screams of panic and fear echoed throughout the ship as loud footsteps could be heard all around from the sounds of feet rushing out to the surface ad from the lower levels. The D Team also kept back in as crowds of packed tourists and celebrities soon rushed out in front of them in a flurry as they were heading towards the lifeboats and jackets.

The D Team widened their eyes and their hearts began to race as the message of the alarm began to burn into their minds. "Gah!"

Wasting no time, Rex quickly ran ahead and waved to them urgently, "Guys we have to move quickly or we'll get left behind!" he yelled.

Max blinked snapping out of his funk before looking back to the door, "But the dinosaur! It could still be-"

"There's no time!" Rex retorted, his face sweating profusely, "Our parents are probably waiting for us and they'll get a heart attack if we don't meet them at the life boats!" he cried as Max gritted his teeth in frustration before looking back at the entrance and then lowering his head down.

"Grrgh…." He couldn't bring himself to abandon a dinosaur in need of saving, but the fact that they needed to evacuate themselves was equally important. It was a hard decision tearing him up inside.

"Max." said Cera to him as he looked at her with sympathetic eye, showing she knew exactly how he felt, "I know it's hard but, this time we really don't have a choice….." she said looking away hard as Zoe and Rex soon sported a similar expression as her.

Realising there was no other choice, Max took a breath and sighed deeply, "You're right….." he said his tone feeling hurtful as he turned serious, "We'd…better get a move on now." They all nodded as they hurried off together for the evacuation point with their dinosaurs in tow. Taking one look back at the door, Max eyed it with deep regret feeling he had failed utterly and the worse part was that there was nothing they could do about it….

Down below however, the irritator had just escaped through the hole in the hull after fighting against the water pressure with all it's might. After escaping into the ocean depths it quickly sped towards a large shoal of fish, opening its' large jaws widely and snapping up a bunch of them, before noticing some strange objects floating up at the surface, which turned out to be life boats. With deep interest it then shot up towards them.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the other side of the cruise ship, Dr Z stomped his foot in frustration at Ursula and the others upon hearing their report about their unsuccessful capture attempt below deck, "You did what!?" he growled fuming red and veins popping out in his forehead! If there was one thing worse than the ship sinking because of them, it was them having to interrupt his massage session about the ship sinking and that it spelt the end of their vacation! "And you lost the dinosaur on top of that!?" he added to their list.

They all sweated anxiously as Ursula tried to speak up and defend them, "Technically it escaped from us but-"

"That's the same thing!" Dr Z interrupted yelling in their faces as they all huddled together like frightened puppies!

"EEEK!"

"Figures as much….." Rod shrugged his shoulders as he put on his regular shirt, cap and goggles..

"Told you guys that you'd mess it up." Laura shook her head in disappointment as she put back on her large shirt, "Just like how you lost megalosaurus yesterday."

They instantly turned pale upon hearing Laura blurt out the failure they wanted to hide most of all from Dr Z, "EH!?" Turning to him slowly they saw his eye twitch and he shook intensely before letting loose all he had!

"Gah! Say what!?" he roared as he jumped up and shook his fists like a child in tantrum, "You lost my megalosaurus!? After I gave you 1 last chance!?" he growled as his breathing became deeper, his teeth gnashed and he twitted his fingers unable to hold back his rage and desire to trounce them once more!

"Umm Dr Z, as much as you want to give us a good thrashing can't we save it till we get back home?" Zander quivered.

"Yeah we're taking water fast! This whole ship could sink to the bottom of the abyss anytime now!" Ed cried.

"GRRRGH!" he growled as he turned red and fumed!

"He's right grampa," said Rod patting the old man on the back, "That dinosaur is probably long gone by now and there's no way we can get it!"

"At least we can get out of here and save ourselves." added Laura as Dr Z clicked his tongue.

"Tch! I'll deal with you 3 clowns later." he hissed as he walked up to them and grabbed the scanner they had as he began to dial on it, "Right now I'm calling Seth, at least he's someone I can really count on." he said as he turned to them, "Maybe after today I ought to send him to collect dinosaurs instead of you clods!" he growled as they huddled together and whimpered like dogs under punishment!

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the emergency exit of the cruise ship, staff were ushering crowds over to the life boats as they allowed them in organised groups of equal numbers so that they wouldn't topple the life boats after getting in, while security was ensuring that the crowds didn't try to cut in line or push unnecessarily in the panic. Even though it was difficult to do so as some, driven by fear and desperation were able to push past and get on board in a panic as the boots then descended to the sea surface and moving away from the ship with the flick of an oar which came with each boat.

"Oh I do hope the kids are okay!" From inside the line, Aki looked around restlessly through the moving sea of people for any sign of their children, her heart racing ever faster as she could catch no sight of them, "What if they're lost somewhere on the ship or trapped!" She thought, as she envisioned the children, crying out for help as the water levels were rising high and Max even cried out for her pleadingly as the water swallowed him and Chomp up last! That was the lasts draw for her, "I can't stay here any longer, I'm going to look for them!" she cried as she tried to force her way out of the line much to Spike and the Drake's alarm!

"Calm down Aki!" her husband yelled grabbing her and holding her back with all his strength, "I'm sure they'll be here soon!"

"That's right," said Reese firmly, "We must have faith in them, they've been through far wor-" She then stopped herself realising she would blow their secret about their outdoor expeditions, "I mean they're stronger than we think, we must have faith in them." she corrected.

It did little to calm down Aki's nerves though, "But….but…." Before she could give into her worries again-

"Mom! Dad!" her son's voice echoed from outside. As they all turned to look they brightened up with joy and relief to see the children along with their pets run towards them waving their arms up to show they were there.

"Ah! Max! Rex!" Spike and Aki cried.

"Zoe! Cera!" The Drakes followed. They all rushed out of the crowd together, giving up the spots they got so they could embrace their loved ones closely to show they were there for them and that they were relieved to see them again after being worried.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Aki teared as she hugged Max and Rex. As they looked up to see her smile she then shot them a rather unexpected look of anger, "You really had me worried sick!" she cried out frantically as they were taken back, "Where were you!? When the alarm went off and you weren't anywhere to be found I….I…." she began to choke at the end as Max reached in and hugged her again to calm her down.

"It's okay mom! I'm fine!" he said to her assuringly,

"In fact we all are!" Rex followed as he joined in.

"Zoe!" Dr Drake cried out dramatically as he gave his daughter a big bear hug, "Come to daddy! Daddy's here don't worry!" he said nuzzling against her face as she turned blue from him suffocating her!

"I'm glad you're….okay dad….mom…Reese….I'm fine too…." she said patting her father on the back and waving at her mother and older sister, "But….not in front of so many people…." she croaked as she tried her hardest to push him away.

Cera smiled gladly to see the D Team and their families together so happily once more, they truly were lucky to be blessed with them. She would've enjoyed the moment a little longer, but a tremor occurring underneath her feet woke her up back to the present as she spoke up, "Umm as much as I enjoy this happy get together but shouldn't we get on board the lifeboats now?" she asked as they all can back to reality as well.

"She's right, we'll save this happy reunion for later." said Aki firmly as the others nodded as they headed over to the lifeboats. Thankfully the crowd had lessened slightly so going through was much easier.

"Alright kids, onto the boat now, one at a time." said Spike ushering them onto one. One by one they got on board, lifting their partner dinosaurs on board too, till Cera and Miku were last.

"I think I can handle this just fine," said Cera to him seriously, "You and the other adults get into a boat too."

Thinking it over, Spike could tell she was serious about it and after considering it carefully he then nodded, "Alright Cera, I'm trusting you to take care of everyone else." he said as he entrusted her with the heavy responsibility as she nodded back.

"I promise." She said as she got on and their lifeboat was lowered down.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ship, Dr Z was pacing back and forth restlessly while his grandchildren kept their eyes focused on the skies looking and waiting hopefully for their rescue to come soon. Just when they were about to panic, a pink and yellow jet soon descended from the clouds above and soon hovered right above where they stood.

"There he is!" Laura pointed out as Dr Z gasped and his eyes glistened filled with hope.

Rod then switched on the scanner and the screen lit up with Seth's face on it, "Phew, thanks Seth you came in the nick of time." he said with relief in his tone, but before he could continue, Dr Z shoved him aside, "Whoa!"

"Hurry up! Pick us up already! We're sinking fast!" he yelled frantically as his eyes widened showing signs of anxiety in them.

"Of course doctor." Seth grunted, disappointed this could've been the perfect opportunity to get the old man off his back for good, but with Rod and Laura present he had no choice, he'd have to wait for another chance. As he reached to press the button he then noticed 3 of them were missing from the group, "Where are the others?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Looking around, Dr Z and his grand children could find no trace of the trio anywhere in sight.

"I don't know, they were here just a minute ago." Laura replied as Dr Z soon exploded out of impatience.

"Gah forget them! They can swim all the way home like they always do! It'll also serve them right for bringing this ship down on us!" he yelled before pointing out at Seth, "Now get us out of here now!"

"Gee grampa," Rod muttered, "I know we're sinking but there's no need to get so hasty, help's already here….." he said as Seth sighed and pressed the button.

"Very well doctor….." The jet's lower compartment opened up and 3 claws dropped down picking up Dr Z and the 2 siblings before bringing them inside and turning around to leave.

Shortly after Seth took them onboard, the trio soon stepped out onto the upper deck, with Ursula and Zander scowling and glaring daggers at a panicked Ed, "Did you really have to go to the bathroom now of all times Ed!?" Ursula yelled as the fat man covered his head and shivered.

"I couldn't hold it anymore….." he whimpered as Ursula face palmed and Zander let out a deep sigh of annoyance.

"Well at least we won't have to worry about-" Looking up the trio then dropped their jaws as the pink alpha jet soon took off leaving them behind!

"H…Hey wait! You forgot us!" They ran out to the front too late as the jet soon disappeared behind the clouds of the night sky, leaving them to either sink or swim, neither option was one they were keen on taking.

"Great now what do we do!?" Zander gasped as he ran around in circles grasping his hair.

"This is all your fault Ed!" Ursula growled pounding him n the head and drilling a knuckle sandwich into his scalp! "All because of you and your wimpy bladder now we're being sunk!"

"WAAAAAH! I'm sorry! If we get out of this alive I won't drink ever again!" he cried out loud as he hugged in his legs and shed tears as large as pebbles from his eyes.

"Grrgh!" Ursula growled before smashing his face into the floor and storming off to look over the railings, to see the deep blue ocean below and a massive sea ahead to who knows where their home could be right now. "We'll have to get home on our own…..somehow…." she huffed banging her head with frustration into the railings, "Think! Think!" she screamed as Ed soon recovered from his faceplate and joined Zander running around and screaming their heads off in a panic!

"What do we do!? What do we do!?"

"I do not want my grave to be a watery one!"

Having enough of their bickering, Ursula reached out and grabbed them both by their throats and pulled them, "Be quiet you numbskulls I'm trying to think!" she yelled to them both with fiery demonic eyes that stared into her soils, as they gulped down hard and sweated profusely in face of her immeasurable rage! "And unless you guys can think of something smart we'll have to swim back home for the umpteenth time!" She threatened as Ed suddenly cried out loud

"But I can't swim!"

"Okay calm down everyone," said Zander as he tried to push down Ursula's hands down from his and Ed's necks so they could breathe, "Let's put our heads together-" he soon caught sight of their ticket off the boat as he pointed out "There! We can use that!" he cried as Ursula and Ed turned to look, brightening up as they saw it as a gift from the heavens.

"Perfect! Let's go for it!" she cheered as they rushed to it.

The ship's captain was loading some of his personal thing onto a personal life boat of his, complete with motor and engine to boot, "They say a captain should always put the needs of his crew and passengers first before going down with his ship," he said to himself before snickering deviously, "But from this moment on I'm no longer-"

"Out of my way!" Ursula yelled catching him off guard, kicking him away and over the railings!

"ARGH!" he wailed as he plummeted into the water below with a big splash at the end!

"Come on boys! Hop in now!" she yelled as she grabbed the key he dropped.

"Right behind you!" they both said as they got in with her, lowered the boat slowly down to the sea surface before jetting away in the direction the jet flew off in!

 **(Later)**

A while later, everyone had safely gotten onboard a life boat and were now pretty much stranded in the middle of the ocean with no way of knowing where to go, and even though some of them did they were rather reluctant to row all the way back to shore. While some of them grumbled and complained about their relaxing vacation or their honey moon now a complete mess, others were at least relieved to be alive. As the staff and rescue crew on their boat hauled up the now drifting sea captain on board, she of them were luckily able to get a signal on their satellite phone and were in the midst of sending an emergency distress signal, while a few others were able to salvage some flares and shot them into the sky hoping some passing by ships or helicopters would see.

Looking behind them, the D Team and their families looked behind to see the mighty Royal Prince eventually turn sideways and upside down till the rest of it was completely submerged except for the underside which was now flipped up. Max and the others gulped hard realising if they hadn't bailed they could have been underwater themselves. "Phew, thank goodness we all got out of that one." Aki breathed with relief putting a hand to her chest while sitting with the Drakes and her husband. "But I sure do hope Rod and Laura and their relatives all got out okay."

"I'm sure they're perfectly fine mom, no need to worry about them." said Max as he and the others smiled on nodded, though inside he was thinking otherwise, "It'll be a miracle if we don't see them again after today…." he grumbled on the inside, the next time they saw each other again would be too soon.

"I hope so….." Aki then sighed.

"How are you all holding up over there?" Max then asked feeling worried for his parents and also hoping to shift topics as their boats started to drift a little further away, prompting Rex and Cera to row a little faster to them.

"We're fine Max," said Spike, "Just a little shaken after that alarm we heard but mostly okay."

"Aww….I was really hoping to get a few celebrity contacts before we left…..that way I'd be able to advertise our clinic more…." Dr Drake then sighed covering his face with his hands crying dramatically, as his wife and older daughter Reese patted him on the back to comfort him.

"You'll get another chance dad….." said Reese with an 'are you serious?' expression.

"Are you all okay yourselves?" Spike then called out.

"We sure are dad." Max replied waving off to him before lying back in the boat to take a breather.

"It was really scary but everyone's fine at least." Zoe called out.

"Good to hear that!" Spike responded before turning over to talk to Aki.

Everyone smiled feeling a ease, till Max's expression turned rather downcast as he then muttered out, "Almost everyone…."

The rest of the D Team looked to him in confusion and surprise, "Huh? Who are we miss-" Cera soon picked up on what he was talking about, as they all looked back to the now overturned ship feeling rather sad themselves, "Oh…..yeah…."

"That dinosaur….it's probably still on that ship somewhere….or maybe the alpha gang grabbed it…." said Max out loud feeling like they failed either way, "No way we'll get it's card back now…." he said as Chomp nuzzled against him.

As everyone looked to him sympathetically, Rex moved over slowly to him, with Ace clinging on to his side while still terrified by the water surrounding them, as he patted Max on the shoulder, "Guess we'll just have to try harder next time, so that we won't let another dinosaur down." he said.

"Yeah…." Max replied without looking up to him, still dwelling on it and unable to move on. He would have stayed that way and passed it on to everyone else, had not a certain familiar noise beeping from his pocket gotten everyone's attention.

"Huh?"

Taking out his dinoholder, he widened his eyes to see it blinking red, "A signal!" he gasped as everyone gathered around to see it, while still making sure the boat was stable.

Everyone couldn't believe it either till they saw it with their own eyes, "No way!"

"It's actually still alive!" Zoe and Rex gasped.

"And it's…..right blow us?" Cera blinked her eyes in confusion to see it was indeed below where they were, where everyone from the ship was now.

Everyone fore as they saw a dark shadow appear right below the water surface under the light of the moon before disappearing deep again. Seeing it's movement, the dinosaur was no doubt circling them, hunting them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike…..this was a bad time to get careless, as they took positions eying the water on all sides, but for a while no movement, and that worried them.

"I don't like the looks of this…." said Rex uneasily as Ace clung tighter to his leg and the other dinosaurs were agitated, knowing a threat was near yet also unseen.

"Kids! Look out!" Spike suddenly yelled out and they turned to the direction he was pointing, as a large red 'fin' was charging straight at them!

"Whoa!"

"Move!" Max and Zoe cried out as Rex and Cera quickly pushed and got out of its' way in time! Barely avoiding it as the fin grazed against the side of their life boat! "Phew…that was close…." breathed Zoe putting a hand to her chest feeling at ease.

"Not for long!" Rex poitned out and they gasped seeing the 'fin' was now amongst the many other boats and people too, stirring panic and fear amongst the passengers as they were bumped or did their best to move out of the way!

"AAAAH!

"Is that a shark!?"

"That's no shark!" Various comments were thrown out from amongst the panicked crowds as they tried to row away in all sorts of directions, some were pushing others out of the way while others were pretty much stuck in 1 spot due to rowing in different directions!

"Over there!" A man yelled, as the fin reappeared further off in the distance! Soon however, they all realised it wasn't a fin, as it turned out to be the head crest of a large dinosaur which emerged with half of its body out of the water, screeching viciously and flaring its' claws out!

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"GAAAAHH!"

"It's a sea monster!" Screams echoed amongst the people as some even considered abandoning ship and swimming for their lives!

"Oh my!" Aki cried as Spike and the Drakes widened their eyes to see the dinosaur and that Aki herself could see it too!

"It's an irritator!" Max cried.

"A water dinosaur, no wonder it was able to escape the sinking ship…." breathed Cera, as good as it was earlier now that didn't seem like a good time. The water dinosaur quickly dove under water and sped underneath them, within seconds overturning a lifeboat or 2 and knocking the people off it!

"HELP!"

"I don't want to die!" They cried as they splashed for the nearest boat they could get.

"Stay out of the water!"

"SWIM!" Others yelled.

As the dinosaur appeared striking down on boats and snarling at hapless swimmers, Cera could tell it was toying with its' food before going in for the kill. "Guys we have to do something fast otherwise those people will end up as shark bait, or should I say dino bait!" she yelled.

"I know! We have to fight!" Max grunted swearing vengeance if the dinosaur decided to go after their families, who fortunately were rowing away on the outer end while the irritator was focused in the center!

"But there's no solid ground for miles!" Rex cried looking around to see no way they could fight properly.

"Maybe not, but we can use that!" Cera pointed out at the now overturned ship, which had a large enough base to use as a standing platform.

"That could work…." he said standing corrected.

"Yeah…." Max nodded before calling out to them, "Everyone! Row to the ship!"

"Mhmm!"

"Let's go!" As Cera and Rex began to row back, Rex noticed Ace was clinging rather tightly to his leg and shivering like an earthquake. "Ace….." he sighed, "I'm sorry buddy, but if we don't do this we're all going to become seafood for that irritator. I know you're afraid, in fact we all are right now." he said to his partner who looked back at him. "But I believe you can save us, you just have to believe in yourself too. Think you can do that….for us?" he asked with a smile as Ace hissed in frustration forcing himself to nod and wag his tail, as Rex scratched under his chin gratefully, "Thanks buddy." he said feeling assured he could count on him as they rowed towards the ship.

"WHOA!"

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"Here it comes again!" Some people screamed as the irritator charged and bowled over their boats into the water while others abandoned ship and jumped over board as it rammed them! As it raised its' head above the water it turned to the side and saw its' next victims!

"Gah!" Aki cried out as the ravenous dinosaur set its sights on her and the family and then made it's way over them! Till obi was looking over them opening its jaws wide and drooling saliva which leaked onto the boat.

Backing away as far as they could they soon found themselves cornered as the boat began to lean to one side, "N….Now now everyone," Spike shuddered as it reached them and was about tear their heads off! "Let's just stay calm and-"

"Hey! Over here you bully!"

"Leave them alone!" A set of voices shouted. As they all turned the irritator snarled seeing the D team on the hull of the ship and began to swim towards them, much to the alarm of Aki!

"Ah! Kids! What are you doing!?" she screamed grasping her hair frantically.

"Err Aki…." said Spike tapping her shoulder while smiling nervously, "You might want to brace yourself for this…." he said knowing there was no way out of this now.

As the irritator launched itself out of the water and landed on the boat, it roared ferociously as the D Team readied themselves for battle! "Altogether now!" Max yelled as they took their cards out!

"Dino slash!"

"Go triceratops! Roar!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" All 3 of their dinosaurs materialised on the boat and roared, staring down the irritator as the skies turned multicoloured! It was too far for others to see the children but they could see the dinosaurs from where they were, while others stayed to watch in awe, while others decided to get away as fast as they could!

One boat in articular did the opposite as they all did, "I….don't believe it!" Aki gasped speechlessly as her eyes widened, "Those dogs….were dinosaurs!?"

"Err…." She then shot a glare towards Spike as he turned pale seeing her, "Err hehe…surprise honey?" he chuckled nervously shrugging his shoulders, while Reese facepalmed in dismay.

"Oh dear, this isn't going to go over well…."

"Start rowing there, now…." she said menacingly as Dr Drake and taylor both lowered their heads in shame.

"Yes ma'am…" they muttered as they began rowing towards the boat!

"When this is over, we're all going to have a nice long talk…." Aki thought to herself as they approached the battle.

Chomp charged first, but eh irritator grabbed hold of his horns with his arms and held him back at bay! As Paris rushed in to assist him, he quickly threw the large ceratopsian at her, throwing her back! Ace quickly jumped out of the way but stumbled and stepped back upon nearly slipping into the ocean!

"Ace come on! Get your act together!" Rex called out.

"I've got this!" Max grunted as he took a move card form his dinoholder.

"Be careful Max!" Cera warned him, "If you use an electric move carelessly there you may end up shocking everyone!" she shouted as Max stuttered in response.

"I'll….keep that in mind!" he lied clearly having considering the possibility of collateral damage. His moment's hesitation gave the irritator the opening it needed to jump into the water and dive away much to the D Team's alarm!

"It's getting away!" Zoe cried. As their dinosaurs scanned their surroundings for any sign of their attacker, and without warning, like a crocodile, the irritator struck out nearby Chomp's foot, startling him as he jumped back in surprise nearly knocking Ace and Paris over! Sliding back into the water it charge out of the water once again, snapping at Paris as she reared up n her hind legs and slammed down, but the irritator slid back into the water out of harm's way.

Rex narrowed his eyes seeing irritator's mock charges were to startle and agitate their dinosaurs, either to corral them together or that they'd make a mistake and create an opening for it to strike. "Ace! I'm going to use cyclone! We'll flush it out like how we did with baryonyx!" He called out to his partner, but before he slashed it, the water dinosaur shot out of the ocean glowing blue and firing a massive beam of water Ace! The carnotaurus quickly leapt forward and evaded the beam in time, but not before stumbling at the water's edge again. "Whoa!" Ace quickly jumped back frantically as Rex gritted his teeth in frustration at their trickiest battle yet, this irritator was exploiting the environment to its' maximum advantage and putting them into a corner.

"Falling water….." Cera breathed as she and Miku saw it's new mock charge tactic involved spooking Chomp and the others with various blasts of water from long range now.

"Man, that thing's really fast in the water…." Max grunted.

"And with that long range attack we can't get close enough….." Rex followed.

"I think this should do it!" Zoe cried as she took out a move card, "Metal wing!" Paris roared and 3 pteranodons took tot he air and circled the ship, scanning the water surface, soon spotting the irritator's dark shadow and screeching to warn them of its' incoming! "It's coming from over there!" Zoe warned pointing out at the far side as the irritator popped out of the water it shot out another burst of water, they were bale to dodge it better this time though barely as Chomp and the others were beginning to tire from fatigue and tension.

"Man! We still can't get close enough!" Max yelled in frustration.

"If only we could somehow get it to stay still long enough for a clean shot…" Cera thought, but the condition of the battle was making it hard for her to think clearly let alone devise the right strategy.

Without warning, Chomp's back leg came too close to the edge, and the irritator lunged forward and grabbed it, catching the triceratops off guard and dragging him down into the deep!

"Ah!" The others gasped.

"Chomp no!" It was fortunate Max couldn't see, as the irritator clamped its' jaws on Chomp's neck and spun into a death roll motion as the ceratopsian lost consciousness and glowed yellow, returning to a card which floated back to the surface. "NO!" Max cried as he saw the yellow light and Chomp taken out of the fight.

The others stared in disbelief at what they saw, "He took out Chomp…."

"And he couldn't do anything…"

"That's one crafty dinosaur…." Cera muttered as Max used a metal claw to fish out the card safely.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance before looking around for any signs of it, "Tch! Where is it now?" The pteranodons then screeched and he saw a crest approaching them fast! "Paris behind you!" he yelled as everyone turned, too late as the irritator launched itself out of the air, firing a barrage of fallign water blasts which shot the pteranodons out of the sky before they could evade in time! As they returned to card form, the irritator dove down and grabbed Paris behind the neck in its' jaws before taking her into the water with it!

"Oh no!" Zoe cried out as the same process repeated for her as a green light shone from beneath the waves and her dinosaur's card floated up to the surface.

"I've gotcha!" Max cried as he shot out the claw to save her card and metal wing before return them to Zoe, much to their relief.

Rex gritted his teeth seeing they were now down to only one dinosaur now, as he hardened this expression and focused on Ace, who was turning around frantically, agitated and anxious, as the boat continued to sink and the ocean slowly covering the surface, he was finding less and less room to move without getting wet. Rex knew if he was so preoccupied like this, he'd be a sitting duck for the irritator now. "Ace! You'll have to trust me on this!" he cried out at the top of his lungs in desperation, "Ace come on! We need you!"

Hearing a splash, the irritator's crest popped form the water and charged straight at them before leaping out of the water ready to sink its' flags onto the D Team themselves!

"AAAAAAHHHH!" As they raised out their hands and covered their faces, Ace felt something snap inside his head, as if time was slowing down he saw his best friends about to be eaten alive before his eyes….looking down to the water seeing it standing in between him and his family, he then snapped back to reality and roared before charging forward! Leaping into the air he grabbed the irritator by the throat and knocked them both back into the sea!

As the D Team looked up they saw the irritator was fighting hard to shake Ace off its' back but the smaller and more manoeuvrable carnotaurus was able to stay out of its mobility range as it thrashed about helplessly!

"Alright!" Rex cheered as everyone smiled brightly to see Ace fighting his fear at last, "I knew you could do it!"

"ti's just like that time…." Zoe and Max noted and Cera folded her arms with a confident smile knowing this time it was for good.

Eventually Ace managed to bring them both back to the boat, but the irritator soon school him off before diving back in! This time however, instead of waiting to strike, it emerged from the water ready to fire falling water once more!

Ace however was ready this time as he narrowed his eyes and roared! "Now we've got it!" Rex yelled slashing the move card, "Mayfly!" Ace slammed his foot on the ground before rushing ahead across the water surface like a speedy ninja! As the irritator launched its' beam of water, Ace suddenly disappeared from sight and spun around it across the water surface. Looking around and lost sign of him, it was about to dive under again but a split second before it could, Ace struck out at it from all sides without mercy before returning back from the blur onto the ship's hull.

Exhausted and out of energy, the irritator screeched in defeat before sinking below the water and turning blew, reverting back to a pair of cards which floated gently to the surface.

"Alright we did it!"

"Nice work!" Max and Zoe cheered over their victory as Ace walked over to Rex, leaning down to him as he stroked him on the face gently.

"Ace, you really were awesome out there." he said petting him with an encouraging smile, "Thank you, I always knew you could do it." Ace then roared out feeling proud of himself as Cera smiled and nodded. As she looked to the side, she and Miku soon froze as she saw a set of faces who had just came up to where they were, and she was far from glad to see them.

As Max used his claw to fish out the irritator and water move cards, "Max…." a voice said to him from behind.

"Huh?" As he turned around he turned pale with Rex and Zoe as well to see Aki folding her arms with a crossed expression faced at them, with the rest of their family un the background on the life boat eying them uneasily.

"Uh oh…." They all gulped knowing they were busted now.

 **(Later)**

Hours later, rescue choppers and a coast guard ferry arrived on the scene to help all the survivors on board, as well as deploy boats to get closer to the people so they could help them on board more easily, especially the disabled, elderly or pregnant. As their turn soon came, Aki folded her arms crossly and turned her face away from the others, not giving them a chance at all to speak or apologise.

Seeing no one was willing to speak up because they were afraid or unsure of what to say, Max gulped hard as he began to open his mouth, "Hey mom…..we can explain-"

"I don't want to hear any of it." she said cutting him off before turning around, flashing a serious scowl which made them all jump and their hearts skip a beat, "Lets go home first. Then explanations can come." She said looking to each and every one of them, "From all of you….."

They gulped down and sweated hard before bowing in shame, "Yes….." they said as some guards came and helped them on board.

 **With chapter 16 the truth of the D Team is revealed to Aki at long last, something I wanted her to know about from the anime. This chapter was really long, took a while to put together but hope you enjoy it.**

 **What happens next, hope you stay tuned for it! This chapter may be a little out of place here and there being inconsistent but overall wanted Ace to get over his fear of water. Wanted to make it more detailed for some characters but figured it would be too long so hope you are happy with this. Also for pokemonking0924 hope you enjoyed what I did with irritator here.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **To Drew Luczynski**

 **-Glad you enjoyed the home alone chapter, couldn't have come up with some of it without pokemonking0924.**

 **To pokemonking0924**

 **-Jurassic park has been an inspiration for that chapter a bit and nice pointing out the I rex too. Yup wanted to end Michelle off a little better than the anime did. Yup wanted to make it more serious than fun and games too.**

 **Enjoyed your ideas too for that chapter.**


	17. Digging up the Truth

Chapter 17

Digging up the truth

The next morning, right when the whole D Team family returned home after their unfortunate mishap at the Royal Prince, where their cruise sunk to the bottom of the sea and their secret about being dinosaur hunters came out to Aki, now they were all present and accounted for in the Taylor house living room. They each took turns confessing everything to Aki, right from how they first found Chomp in the woods, to learning about the stones, fighting wild dinosaurs across the planet and even against the evil alpha gang for wanting to use the dinosaurs for sinister purposes. It all made sense why they always kept disappearing at the most peculiar of times, there wasn't any other explanation.

Upon hearing the entire story about each and every one of their adventures, Aki folded her arms crossly and raised a stern eyebrow at them, "Is this true?" She asked as Max and the other kids tried their best to avoid eye contact but failed, as her fierce scowl was like a magnet attracting their full focus and attention. Standing around were Spike and the Drakes, who really wished they could speak on their behalf but Aki made it clear that they stay out of it too, for she wanted to have a serious word with them as well. All they could do now was painfully watch Max and the others take their lumps.

"Y…Yes mom…every word of it." Max croaked painfully forcing out the truth from his very heart and soul. Zoe, Cera and Rex gritted their teeth feeling an immense weight on their shoulders having to do this.

"And who else knows about this?" Aki then asked firmly.

"W…Well Dr Owen does….." Max swallowed hard seeing he couldn't keep it from her.

"And Patrick…." Rex followed.

"My parents…." Zoe croaked as a bead of sweat fell from her cheek, "And Reese."

She then turned over to the Drakes as they turned uneasy when she faced her attention at them, "Y…Yes….every word they speak of is complete truth." Mr Drake sweated bullets as Aki's glare pierced through his very soul! His heart racing uncontrollably, if his blood pressure went any higher he might need to see a doctor of his own!

"I'm sorry you had to find it out like this Aki." apologised Reese as she bowed down in a mature manner as she looked up at Aki with firmly, "But let me say on their behalf they have done very well to save many people from dinosaurs and done an excellent job travelling around the world doing so." she said.

"I see….." Aki replied as she looked to each of them, as she moved from child to child, each one of them and their partners jumped or their heart skipped a beat. "So that's what you all have been doing whenever you have to leave so abruptly or have to make quick trips to the D Lab….is it?" She then asked.

They responded looking away whistling uneasily or shivering with fright.

"Err…."

"Well not all the time but eeeeeh…." some went tilting their heads or shrugging their shoulders

Reese sighed in dismay, seeing they were making fools of themselves as she decided to speak up on their behalf, "I won't deny it Aki." she said.

Cera soon saw Reese had the right idea, "We might as well come clean everyone," she said to them all seriously, "No way we can get out of this."

Reluctantly they realised there was no way out of this, only one way through like it or not, they had to fess up as they sighed in defeat, "Yeah you're right…." Max breathed as he stepped up to Aki first and then bowing down immediately, "We're sorry mom for sneaking behind your back all this time!" He said frantically.

Dr Taylor then jumped out and brought himself into a begging pose before his wife much to everyone's surprise, "We're really sorry Aki!" He cried out loud bowing down, "We wanted to tell you this sooner but well….we just…didn't know how or the right time." he whimpered as a puddle of tears began to form under his head.

"We were also really worried how you'd feel about Chomp and the others being dinosaurs and well, we didn't know how you would take it and all….." Max continued nearly mirroring his dad though he just knelt on the floor, "The point is we're really sorry and we're coming to you clean now!"

"But if you want to blame someone blame me!" Spike cried out from underneath, I'm the one who had us all keep this from you!" he admitted as the others looked to him and Max with rather distraught expressions at their exaggerated behaviour, "Now we promise we won't be keeping any secrets from you anymore! So please don't be mad!" he cried. A silence soon drew in, and as Spike and Max both looked up they turned pale as ghosts as they saw a shade cover Aki's eyes and she was shaking! Everyone believed it couldn't be anything but pent up anger and who could blame her for being lied to for so long.

"I understand." she then said as they all braced themselves or backed away waiting patiently and painfully for divine judgment to be casted on to them, every ounce of punishment Aki wanted to send their way, they were ready for it. Some (such as the children and their dinosaurs, even Spike) ducked for cover while the adults like Reese simply closed their eyes and looked away. What they heard next came as a complete surprise to them, as the shade dispelled itself and she smiled at them warmly like she always did, like nothing actually happened, "Oh it's fine kids, there's no need to be all flustered." She said to them before looking at her shivering husband who was peaking through a gap in his fingers, "The same goes for you too dear." she sang lovingly as they blinked or stared speechlessly at her sudden mood change.

"Huh?"

"Wh….what?"

"Not what I was expecting…." Varied responses came from everyone present in the room.

Spike's jaw dropped and he fainted dramatically from the overwhelming pressure he was suffering just now.

"I'm surprised she took it alright…..better than I thought…." Mrs Drake then whispered to her husband as he nodded uneasily.

"I'm very amazed at what you've all managed to keep hidden behind my back for so long, and what you've managed to accomplish too." she said clapping her hands together, "You children really are full of surprises."

Unsure of how to react, the res too the D Team either whistled uneasily or laughed it off anxiously, "Err….hehehehe….."

Aki then looked over to her son, he jumped at first but soon relaxed as she smiled, "Say Max, would you mind showing me how this…umm…dinoholder you called it? Works?" she asked politely, "I want to see it up close and how you do it."

"Why….sure mom…." Max sweated as he took out his device and showed it to her. "You see you just press this button and then-" Pressing the button Chomp glowed, returning to a card, "Chomp turns into a card again!" He said flashing the card like he was doing a magic show, "But slash him back-" He slashed the card and returned the dinosaur back to his small form as he barked and wagged his tail. "And he becomes a dinosaur again!" he cheered.

"Wow, a neat trick." Aki clapped smiling while closing her eyes, "So how do you make him full size then?" she then asked.

"Oh you just need to slash in the other direction." Max answered, he was tempted to do it but decided against it at the last second as he waved his hands out, "But let's not go there okay?"

"Of course not." she chuckled as she held her hand out to him, "May I try?" she asked.

"Haha sure of course mom." Max laughed seeing nothing wrong with it as he felt proud showing it off to her, "Here." he said handing her his dinoholder.

"Thanks sweetie." she replied as she searched for the button he pressed easier, "Now I just press this." She pressed it and Chomp changed into a card which floated to the ground gently. "Ah…." she said as she went and picked it up. She then looked to Rex and Zoe, "So it works the same for the others too?" She asked as they smiled and nodded.

"Yup."

"Sure does Mrs Taylor."

"Wonderful." she replied as she took them out of their hands, "Let's see." Repeating the same process she returned both chibi dinosaurs to cards and picked them up, before facing Cera last, who uneasily handed her dinoshot over to the older woman knowing she'd already ask for it. "How about this one? It looks different from the others." she asked eying it all around.

"Umm, that one's a little bit special Mrs Taylor." Cera replied scratching her cheek, "But it works about the same way."

"Ah, so I just push this button then?" Aki then guessed a button and seeing she had no reason to lie or keep any secrets, Cera sweated nervously as she nodded.

"Y…Yeah?" she said with her tone betraying her inside feelings as Aki pressed it and Miku on her shoulder turned to a card, which she soon picked up. Cera herself felt rather pained to see her partner taken away from her like that, even if ti was by family that didn't quite make it any better.

"Wow this really is amazing." Aki breathed as she looked all around it with interest.

"Glad you think so too…." Cera smiled uneasily, inside her mind she could tell that no matter how kind Aki was, even she couldn't have turned a 180 degree mood change so easily, while she didn't want to suspect anything of her she could tell something was up, also the way she was eying her device seemed rather exaggerated and forced. Something that Reese was quite aware of herself as she folded her arms and eyed the scenario carefully.

"Hahah you think?" Spike laughed having recovered from his fainting spell, "It really is almost like magic isn't it? To think living breathing dinosaurs that walked the earth long ago are now in the palm of your hand. Oh it's like a dream come true." he said proudly with glistening eyes as everyone else smiled and nodded proudly.

"Indeed," said Aki with a smile herself as she put aside all their devices and cards into a cardboard box nearby the floor, "The fact that they're all cards now, will make things easier for you all to say goodbye." she added at the end as she closed it up.

"Mhmm." They all nodded.

Spike grinned, "Yup it sure-" Suddenly they all came back to what she said to them earlier, about saying goodbye to their dinosaurs and devices.

"W…Wait what!?"

"Huh!?"

"Come again!?" They all gasped in alarm as they looked to Aki once more, freezing as her earlier serious expression returned, only this time harder than before. The Drakes were taken aback at how she was able to conceal her true intentions so well, though Reese and Cera had their suspicions.

"Hehehe, Aki you are funny sometimes, but really you shouldn't joke about things like that." Spike laughed nervously as he edged around his wife to the cardboard box on the table, "Now just hand those back to the children and-" As he reached his hand out for the box, Aki quickly grabbed it and pinched him hard in her grip, causing him to scream! "YOW!" he cried as a few tears were shed!

"You all heard me right." She said hardening her gaze before directing it to everyone else present.

"AH!?"

"Gah!"

Everyone gasped at what just happened, and froze as she turned to them all. Even Reese herself shuddered at what just happened, and Aki wasn't finished yet.

"I realise now that you all have far too much freedom." she then said while letting her husband go. As Spike began rubbing the pinch spot which was throbbing sorely she looked to them all seriously, "But not anymore…." she said as she put the box down on the floor and she stood in front of it, "I'm going to make sure none of you lay a finger on these devices again, nor your 'pets' anymore!"

The D Team cried out in alarm and disbelief, "HUH!?"

"That's insane!"

"N…No…." Seeing their friends taken from them like that was like having a piece of their souls being torn away from them forcefully, an experience overwhelming and one they couldn't easily take in.

Max shook emotionally and he gritted his teeth crying out, "Mom!" he ran to her, "You can't do that!"

"I can and I will Max." she said looking down and away from them, "This is all for your own good. Don't try to talk me out of it."

Even the Drakes and Spike too were taken aback by her going this far. "Aki! There's no need to be going that extreme!" said Reese, "The children are-"

"That's right! They're children!" she interrupted cutting her off as she turned to each of the adults in the room, "I can't believe you all just let them go around the world and fighting battles against giant monsters with giant monsters! What were you thinking!?" she cried as bitter tears began to form in her eyes as she looked to her husband who jumped back in a fright, "Especially you Spike! How could you let our own son and his friends go out into the world like it's some kind of playground!?"

Spike swallowed hard feeling guilty and shamed of himself thinking about what Aki said to him, her words pierced his heart like a dart on a bullseye as he lowered his head down unable to say anything back.

Seeing his dad couldn't find it in him to talk some sense into her, Max gritted his teeth as he stepped forward "Mom that's enough!" he yelled once more to Aki, "They're not monsters! They're our friends!"

"They're nice dinosaurs and they help us keep the wild ones in check so they don't hurt anyone!" Rex followed.

"And we still have a responsibility to make sure the dinosaurs stay safe!" Zoe added standing by her friends' side.

"Otherwise bad people will-"

"That's no longer your concern." said Aki cutting off Cera. Aki began to grit her teeth and her hands shook uncontrollably hinting immeasurable amounts of pent up rage, "I thought you all were responsible, but going out into the world amongst strangers, all the obvious lies that these pets of yours weren't dogs but actual living dinosaurs….Also, the times I saw you on the news, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me….the time I saw you in Barcelona….." She hissed as tears fell from her eyes as she then fell to her knees, covering up her face with her hands, with only the muffled sounds of her sniffling and weeping coming from her hands, "How could I have been so blind? What kind of mother am I to have let you all get away with it so long?"

With no way to respond, the others could only stare and watch helplessly, paralysed by Aki's heartfelt words which embedded within their hearts rendering them incapable of responding back to her, other than a few measly words they could only utter.

"Aki…."

"Mrs Taylor…."

She then removed her hands from her face revealing a hard expression underneath, "But now I've made up my mind!" Wiping her tears away as she stood up firmly to make an announcement to them all, "The fact that you all hid it from me all this time proves that I can't trust any of you with this anymore!" She then yelled, "From this moment on you're all grounded! No more adventures around the world! No more D Lab! No more D Team! And no more dinosaurs!"

Everyone widened their eyes in shock upon hearing her declaration.

"Say what!?"

"You can't be serious!"

"Mom please! You don't have to do this!" Max begged.

"Aki! Don't you think you're overreacting!?" Spike followed in agreement with his son.

She then shot a glare at her husband which took him by surprise, "Overreacting!?"

"Err…maybe that was a poor choice of words….." he croaked scratching his cheek uneasily, his heart racing uncontrollably. Never before had they ever seen her so angry before, and this new experience for them had left them at a loss for words and the right way to respond.

She then closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, "This is for the best," she said closing her eyes, "Like cutting off a video game habit, this will make sure none of you will get influenced or tempted to go out on an adventure that could get yourself hurt….or worse…." She added at the end, she shed a single tear imagining if something were to happen to any of them because they were young and could easily get hurt if they acted carelessly.

Max and the others were taken aback, understanding she was right in her own way, but still….

"But….to keep Chomp and the others away from us is like keeping us away from our best friends!" Rex cried out.

"Yeah Mrs Taylor! Can't you see that?!" Cera then added feeling torn on the inside herself.

As she was faced with all kinds of pleading expressions from everyone else, Aki then turned away from the all and sighed, "If that's how it must be then so be it…."

"Please Aki," Reese pleaded, "Try to be a little more reasonable."

"You'll all understand." she replied as she took her handbag from the chair near the door, "You can all get angry at me all you want but I'm just doing my duty as a mother protecting her children and his friends…." she added as she went to go put on her shoes, and everyone didn't bother trying anymore from then.

"Mom…." Max breathed feeling helpless, compared to being unable to do anything to help a dinosaur in need, this was far worse than anything he or the other members of the D Team felt before.

Everyone else was completely speechless.

"…"

"I'm going out for a while." she said having enough and not wishing to look at them in the eye again, "I need some fresh air and some time to clear my head a bit." she said as she reached for the door knob, but before she opened it she let out 1 final warning, "Until I get back do NOT leave the house at all under any circumstances!" she said strictly as everyone else nodded with painful reluctance.

"Y…Yeah…."

"We'll do as you say…."

She then turned to the adults present, "Spike, you and the Drakes will keep hold of those 'devices' of theirs," she instructed, "Lock them up in the safe and no one is to touch them at all, not even laying a finger on the safe. Understand?" she said narrowing her eyes at them.

"Y…Yes dear…." said Spike as he lowered his head, seeing neither he nor the others were a match for Aki.

Finally she looked over to the entire D Team, "And you kids, from this moment on you're all grounded on house arrest until further notice!" she said out loud as they nodded once more.

"Y…Yes mom…." said Max.

"We understand…." Zoe, Cera and Rex said in unison.

After that she closed the door behind her knowing full well they wouldn't dare go against her now.

A few minutes after she shut the door and knowing she was well away, Max and the rest of the D Team took their frustration out on Spike, "Dad!" Max cried out, "Why didn't you say anything!?"

"You know this isn't the way to go about it!" Zoe followed.

"Yeah Dr Taylor!" said Rex in agreement, "After everything we did we can't just-"

"Kids….." he cut them off looking to them all firmly with the Drakes and Reese, "When your mom gives that look, it means she's made up her mind and there's no changing it at all." he said. Deep down he too knew it was wrong, but he couldn't go against it after knowing who Aki was feeling on the inside, "Right now….she just needs some time to think it over. Until then you'll just have to do as she says, even if it hurts….." he said at the end as he took his leave and went outside to the garden to think things over on his own.

With him gone, Zoe then went over to her parents hoping they'd help, "Mom, dad, you both were okay with us going out to other countries for dinosaurs weren't you?" she asked as her parents looked to one another before turning back to her sadly.

Dr Drake scratched his cheek, "Well yes that's true….but…."

"I believe Aki is different." added her mother finishing for him, "While we believe you are grown up and able to handle yourselves just fine. Aki may not think the same though."

"Yeah, let's look at it from her perspective." said Cera as she stepped in catching her friends off guard.

"Huh!?"

"You're taking her side Cera!?" They yelled in exasperation and disbelief.

"I mean, we have been lying to her for a long time so she no doubt feels hurt," she explained, "Not just about the lie but also that maybe she feels that we can't trust her with the truth from the start." she said backing up her point as their anger began to subside understandably, "Also as a mom, if your child kept going off outside to a place where he or she might get hurt easily and doesn't listen to your warnings, wouldn't you do the same as she did?"

"But…." Max then held himself back realising if he continued to fight he'd only be denying the truth and make himself and the others nothing more than children rebelling against their parents. "No…you're right…." he added at the end as Zoe and Rex eyed him sympathetically, after all their past adventures they better than to continue to fight a battle they shouldn't win.

"Well put Cera." said Reese nodding in acknowledgement of her taking the situation quite maturely, "Let's just leave her be for now, she needs her own space to sort this out, it's all we can do and give her some time alone to think about it."

"Yeah I guess…." Max sighed lowering his head as he and the others went off around the house to try and find something to do, hoping it would distract them or keep their mind off Chomp and the others.

"Let's not give up on her though." Dr Drake then said with a smile, "I'm sure after we give her some time she'll come to understand."

"We can only hope…." Cera thought to herself, knowing Aki herself would;t be easy to convince after a drama like that.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further down the street, Aki stomped along the sidewalk with a very crossed expression on her face, apparently still feeling very bitter about the lies and trouble that had been going on behind her back for so long. It was clear she wasn't about to move on anytime soon as some people passing by moved out of her way or shuddered as she walked by, knowing she was in a bad mood and isn't one to be messed with, "I can't believe they all had the nerve to go behind my back all this time and lie to me…..how could they keep me in the dark like that….." she muttered to herself under her breath, "If only I had known about this earlier I would have grounded them all for this a whole lot sooner….." she said to herself making sure she wouldn't be so naive nor make such careless mistakes anymore, from now on she'd even consider banning the word dinosaur or even anything to do with palaeontology when she gets home.

Little did she know though, was that her problems with dinosaurs had only just begun. Nearby in a backyard she passed by, a white and brown cat had climbed up a tree and was stalking a rather fat bird sleeping in a nest. As it edged closer ready to pounce, the bird suddenly awoke and took off away much to the cat's frustration as it pounced ahead and only managed to swipe off a pair of tail feathers from the bird. Looking down into the nest it saw a rather large egg inside. Curious, it used its' paw to shove the egg out of the nest where it cracked open hitting on a rock in the yard and revealing a pair of cards, including a wind move card and a yellow dinosaur on the front.

As the cat hopped down from the tree to get a better look at what it found, a gentle breeze blew across the cards causing them both to glow blue before materialising as a medium sized theropod, yellowish with grey patches and underside as well as white splotches on its' back. The cat snarled and hissed defensively only to be driven away by the sinraptor's snarl! Leaping over the backyard fence it sniffed the air, catching scent of potential prey down the street. As it focused harder it caught sight of a lone woman with short brown hair with her handbag walking down alone in a bad mood. The carnivore licked its' lips knowing it found a target that was not only alone but also preoccupied somehow, as it shadowed her slowly, stalking her slowly while using corners as cover as it slowly edged towards its' intended victim.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Zeta Point, Helga was reading a list which displayed her set of chores to do for the day given to her by Dr Z, "Let's see now, dust the furniture." Rushing to the living room she saw the sofas and chairs was all dusty and messy, courtesy of her coating it all with Ursula's anti-rash dusting powder. "Check." She said ticking it off with a pen before moving onto the next, "Change the bathroom towels." Speeding to the bathroom she saw the bathroom towels were cut into all sorts of various zig zag shapes thanks to her handy scissor work, "Check." She ticked it off before turning to the kitchen where her last 2 chores were, "Measure rice." Looking at the table she saw a box of rice with notes on the weight of the rice by it. "Check." she said ticking it off, "Lastly, dress the chicken…." Looking up from her lists she saw the chicken to be cooked for dinner was now dressed in tuxedo and suit, as well as a tie on it! "All done." She said crumpling up the list and tossing it away in a nearby trash can.

She then overheard some noises coming from the main computer room, so she headed over there to find Ursula and Zander bickering with one another at the computer while Ed was typing on it, the screen however had a huge red skull with crossbones symbol on it.

"Argh! This all your fault Ursula!" Zander yelled shaking his fist at her in frustration, "You just had to be using the main computer for this!"

"My fault!? How am I to blame for all this!?" Ursula retorted.

"You're the one who clicked on that pop up add for that so limited time 'Wonderful Woman's Fashions'!" Zander cried out, "Everyone knows those ads always hide a virus in them!"

She then widened her eyes in shock, "Say what!? They can do that!?" she whined, "That should be illegal!"

"Don't worry you guys," said Ed as they looked to him holding a data drive proudly in his hand, "Once I get this anti-virus programme into the computer it'll clean out the systems completely." They then brightened up as he was just about to plug it in. Before he could though-

"Did someone say cleaning?" a monotonous voice suddenly asked catching the trio off guard!

"GAH!" they gasped as they turned to look to see Helga approaching them with a bucket filled with soapy water.

"H…Helga?"

"What are you doing here?" Ursula and Ed asked nervously.

"My job." she replied, in a tone which pot them all at unease, as she looked over to the main computer terminal and opened it up revealing all kinds of wiring and circuitry inside it, "Now I will clean up the systems." she said grabbing the bucket of water.

Realising what she was about to do, the Trio jumped out at her in alarm! "NO! Helga stop!"

SPLASH!

They came too late as she splashed the water all over the terminal, causing their hearts to skip several beats. Within seconds, the entire base surged with immense electricity all round it!

BZZT!

"GAAAAAHHHH!" The Trio hugged one another in terror as bad memories of a previous lightning storm surged back to their memories, along with the surge of energy which coursed through Zeta Point!

Blackening out Rod and Laura's study room and computers! "Hey! My homework!"

"Mine too!" They cried out in shock as their room turned dark.

Rod then slammed his fist on the desk in frustration, "Aw man! I spent hours on that essay!"

"And I was so close to finish my last question too…." Laura muttered.

"Ahahahaha this is the best show ever!" Dr Z laughed in his bedroom watching a TV show with clowns hitting each other with chickens. Suddenly the screen turned blank and his room turned all dark, as he froze stiff and turned pale, "GAH! NO!" he gasped grasping his face before crying into his pillow and pounding his fist into it.

Downstairs in the lab, Seth was gazing at a glass tube filled with liquid, and inside floated a fire move card one which had saurophaganax and a dark meteor on it. Seeing completion was at 80% he smirked sinisterly seeing it wouldn't be long now, "Alright, almost there." he said please, "With a little more fine tuning this move card will-"

BZZT!

Suddenly a surge of electricity coursed through the lab catching him off guard! "What's this!?" He yelled in alarm as suddenly his lab shut down and it turned completely dark. His eyes widened in shock to see the completion progress had been shut down. It was then he hardened his gaze and clenched his fist knowing already the source of this problem. "Helga….." he hissed under his breath. Perhaps leaving her in her current state to cover his tracks didn't completely tie up the loose end, perhaps he'd have to deal with her permanently.

Back in the main room, the Trio stuttered over to the computer to see it was now completely dead, as well as the base. They fell to their knees contemplating their life choices and wondering however they ever came to be this way and what they did to ever deserve it when they were once filled with hopes and dreams.

"Urgh….."

"Done." said Helga as she picked up the bucket and turned to leave, "Now if you excuse me I will be taking a well deserved break." She said as she exited the room.

"I almost want to break her….." Ursula said weakly as all sorts of emotions coursed right through her mind.

"Good luck with that." Zander muttered, "She'll turn you inside out the moment you try." He said making her slip down to the floor in defeat and despair.

"Urgh….this isn't going to go over well…." she said muffled through he floor.

"At least Dr Z can't blame us for this….." Ed muttered twiddling his fingers.

As if right on cue, "Ursula! Zander! Ed!" Dr Z's voice echoed through the hallways which caused them all to shudder and tense up.

"Or maybe he can….." Ed then whined as he and the others lowered their heads in defeat and headed out to take their lumps for the umpteenth time.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the cafe, Aki sat outside under a seat and table with an umbrella as the waiter handed her a slice of cherry cheese cake and coffee. Seeing she was still looking down and disheartened, he left her be, as she soon took notice of her order and began stirring aimlessly into the coffee with her spoon, "Oh…..why do I feel so awful?" she asked herself, feeling deeply torn on the inside. She felt did what she had to, because it was to keep her family safe and also they had to take responsibility for their lying behind her back for so long. On the other hand, she did in a way take away their pets, their closest friends too. Also she acted on emotion instead of thinking rationally, and she didn't quite hear their side of the story either. "I suppose I did take away their pets from them, and even if they are cards they are still technically living creatures…..Maybe I might have been a little too extreme….." she muttered to herself, "Also, I suppose thanks to those dinosaurs they have grown quite a fair bit and they are venturing out into the world, they'll have to leave the nest sooner or later…."

Widening her eyes she shook her head and smacked her cheeks clearing her thoughts and guilt out, "Wait….what am I thinking!? They're still in middle school for goodness sake!" she grunted grasping her head, catching the attention of other customers who stared at her awkwardly or backed away thinking she was crazy or something. "What if they go to the middle of some war zone, a prison or even some highly contaminated waste dump!? I can't bare to see my precious baby and his friends end up in the afterlife!" she gasped in a panic envisioning the children either getting poisoned in a toxic environment, being trapped behind bars or getting blown up by military gunfire, "Also those dinosaurs of theirs have been eating us out of house and home, with them as cards now we won't need to worry about buying so much to feed them let alone them eating us out of house and home." she cried out teary eyed before putting on a serious expression and standing up firmly, "That settles it, what I'm doing is just tough love and that's all there is to it! End of story." She decided as she sat back down to drink her coffee and take a bite out of her cake feeling much more clear minded, "When I get back I'm going to set things straight for them all and-"

"AAAAAHHH!" A lady's scream was heard from around the corner of the cafe catching her attention as well as everyone else's.

"Hmmm?" Aki blinked her eyes as she stood up for a look, she at first assumed it would be a mugger, but what happened next proved her very wrong.

"I thought those things were extinct!"

"Then that's 1 angry fossil!"

"RUN!" A group of teenagers ran away across the street as a car was suddenly flung onto the street and crashing down sounding its' alarm!

"AH!" Aki widened her eyes as others got up to get a closer look. Suddenly leaping onto the car itself was the sinraptor, as it roared out loudly people then screamed in terror as they ran away in separate directions!

"Run away!"

"Dinosaur!"

Aki however, froze in her tracks and could only back away slowly in terror as bad memories of the other night at sea came back to mind, only now….she was alone with no way of defending herself. The sinraptor then shot it's gaze at her and leapt off the car before approaching her slowly, with deep hissing as it bore its' fangs. Realising the gravity of the situation, Aki's heart raced as she turned around to run, "AAAAAH! HELP!" she cried out pleadingly as the dinosaur gave chase after her!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile back at the Taylor household, Mr and Mrs Drake had left in response to an urgent house call about a family who's pet cat got a hurt paw after stepping on a sharp rock, leaving Reese and Dr Taylor to look after the safe which they used to to lock up the cards and dinoholders, as well as the children, who needless to say were bored out of their minds.

"It's your move Zoe." said Cera rather emptily after she moved her bishop to corner Zoe's king in a game of chess at the table.

"Don't rush me….." Zoe muttered back as she rested her head in her arm with rather dead eyes while tapping her finger on the table. "So what do you think I should Paris?" She asked looking to her side, but instead of seeing her partner looking up at her she saw nothing but the floor as she sighed sadly. "Ugh….."

Cera looked to her now vacant shoulder as she let out a rather sad moan herself, "Oh Miku….." Her partner had been with her as long as she could remember, to have her gone like that was like having a piece of her own soul ripped out from her.

Reese and Dr Taylor looked on pityingly as they looked outside to see Max and Rex kicking a ball by themselves. Rex had just managed to steal the soccer ball from Max and was about to kick it to the side, "Hey Ace! Get ready to-" Where Ace once ran by to back him up, now was an empty patch of grass as Rex fell back into sadness, "Oh yeah…."

"Heh, an opening!" Max smirked seizing his chance and the ball from Rex before kicking it, "Hey Chomp! Dig fast-" Instead the ball flew hard and bounced off the fence before rolling into the tree as Max stopped in his tracks realising it too, "Oh….." It was at that point the D Team pretty much all gave up on what they were doing as they slumped down into emptiness, seeing everything was pretty much pointless now that their partners were no longer with them.

"Man I'm bored….." Max groaned as he slumped down to the ground.

"Same here," said Zoe as she lay down on the floor, "We've been with our dinosaurs for so long I almost forgot how to have fun without them….."

Dr Taylor looked away, finding the sight too painful for him, the children who used to run around enjoying life to the fullest with their dinosaurs now reduced to measly couch potatoes, it broke his heart to see them in such a state.

"I know it's hard." said Reese comfortingly, "But, please try to bear with it you four."

"Reese is right," said Spike finding his arms seriously, "What's done is done so instead of dwelling on the past try to move on from it, otherwise you'll get left behind and miss out on the present."

"Easy for you to say….." Rex muttered in response, "I'm sure even you're finding it painful to be without Chomp and the others to liven things up don't you Dr Taylor?"

Spike stuttered being Rex struck a cord and he couldn't deny it, "I…ugh…."

Cera however took his words to heart as she stood up and headed for the couch, "Maybe some TV should help out a bit." she said as she fished out the remote from inside it.

Seeing nothing better to do, the rest of the D Team decided to join her, "I guess….." said Max as he and the others gathered around to see what was up.

As soon as they switched it on however, "Breaking news!" A news alert came on with the anchorwoman onscreen, "We're coming to you live downtown in Sanjo City, where a vicious dinosaur has just appeared and is now terrorising the district!" She explained as the scene depicted downtown with overturned vehicles that were either on alarm or on fire! There were also ripped up lampposts, proper signs, fire hydrants spewing water out of them like fountains and several people running about in terror!

The news of a dinosaur on a rampage soon brought life and alarm back to the entirety of the household as they quickly gathered around to see, "AH!"

"No way!"

The scene then shifted to some police with riot shields or firing tasers at the large yellow dinosaur, "Authorities are trying their best to hold back the vicious animal but to little success!" Their actions hover only succeeded in angering the dinosaur as it ripped off the taser cords and bowled through their riot shields, even pouncing on them or grabbing cops who couldn't run in time and throwing them into windows and walls before roaring out fiercely!

"It's a sinraptor!" Cera gasped recognising the dinosaur as the others looked on in shock.

"Luckily there are no reported injuries, but if there is anyone present downtown this moment we urgently request you remain indoors!" The anchorwoman announced.

Reese then caught sight of a familiar woman running away from the attack, "Look! Is that-" She soon stopped as the woman turned to look back in terror, showing her face on camera and catching everyone off guard!

"MOM!" Max cried out.

"Aki!" Spike followed in horror, as the sinraptor caught sight of her and charged after her behind the corner of a building!

Everyone gasped, "Oh no!"

"AH!"

"MOM! NO!" Max cried hardest of all as he fell to his knees thinking the worst had happened.

"Grrr…." Spike gritted his teeth hardly as something inside him snapped. He then shoved the keys to the safe over to Reese much to her surprise, "Reese! Take this!" he yelled grabbing her hand and putting it in as he ran off.

"Wh…Where are you going Dr Taylor!?" she cried out as the others looked to him in alarm.

"What a husband should be doing, and that's to protect his wife!" he answered grabbing his lasso on the desk before heading for the door, "I'm not about to let some wild dinosaur make a meal out of my Aki! The meantime you watch the safe and make sure you watch the kids!" he said grabbing the handle of the door.

Max stood up in alarm, "Dad you can't be serious!"

"Yeah! You can't possible take on that dinosaur by yourself!"

"It's suicide!" Cera and Rex cried just as worried.

"Please think this through rationally Doctor." said Reese concerned as well, "I know you want to help but this isn't the way to go about it."

"Just let us do it!" Max then yelled, "Open up the safe and-"

"Not a chance kids!" Spike interrupted much to their alarm.

"Huh!?"

He turned to them with a serious expression, "No matter what happens, what your mother says still stands! End of conversation!" He said as he prepared to shut the door behind him, though before doing so, his expression turned rather conflicted and at the same time slightly hopeful before it closed behind.

"DAD!" Max cried out but was too late as his father had already made cup his mind. The very thought os his parents now being in danger made Max fall on his knees and grab his hair in bundles out of frustration, "I can't believe him, just what is he thinking!?" he then screamed.

"I'd say he's still going to honour your mother's word to the end, just shows….how loyal and faithful he is to the end…." said Cera feeling both touched and also conflicted at the same time.

"But still….." As they all looked to the screen again, seeing the massive chaos and destruction still on the news, they all looked to one another and nodded knowing what had to be done.

Standing up together they all looked to Reese, and already she could tell what they were about to ask her just by their expressions they were giving her.

"Don't look at me like that." she said to them folding her arms, "Max, your father was serious about not letting you guys go. If you put yourselves out there in danger you'll just be doing exactly what Aki was afraid you'll do."

"I know that Reese, we all do…." said Max as he clenched his fists and looked down.

"But still we can't just stand by and watch that dinosaur tear up our city and make a meal out of Mrs Taylor!" Rex retorted shaking a fist at her.

"That's right!" Zoe followed, "What if that was our mom and dad out there being attacked and you could do something about it!?"

Zoe's words to her sister made Reese widen her eyes and step back, knowing she hit her where it did hurt, "Urgh…." she gritted her teeth painfully and looking away.

"Think about it Reese," said Cera stepping up to the plate next, "I'm sure even you know what the right thing to do is."

"Come on sis…please…." Zoe pleaded as they all eyed her with determination and concern.

Looking to the safe where she and Dr taylor confiscated the D team's belonging, she then closed her eyes and smiled, feeling in her heart the children really were growing up and were willing to stand up for what was right, as she took out the keys from her pockets and began to unlock the safe.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Gasp…gasp…gasp!" Running frantically as fast as she could, Aki kept her eyes forward as she rushed down an alleyway, stepping over a puddle and past by some garbage dumpsters as she trued her best to put as much distance as she could between herself and the sinraptor in order to keep form becoming its' next meal. "This can't be happening…this can't be happening…." all she wanted was to take herself and her family out and away from dinosaurs once and for all, but now the dinosaurs have come back and now one was hunting her, "This has to be nightmare!" she screamed not looking back, each step she took she could hear the footsteps of the sinraptor from behind which spurred her to keep running forward and not look back! As she came into a corner she then took a step back in horror, "Gasp!" She realised she had come to a dead end, a huge brick wall in front of her with no ladders to climb up or anything to hie behind.

Separately she turned around to try and backtrack, but the sinraptor soon charged into view and caught sight of her! "Oh no!" She cried as the dinosaur flashed its teeth and closed in on her slowly, backing her till she was against the wall with no way to move or run. Tearing up bitterly she then cried out at the top of her lungs pleading for a miracle, "H…Help! Somebody! Anybody!" As the sinraptor saw that as a chance to move in, her prayers were miraculously answered.

"Over here you colossal fossil!" A loud yell shouted behind them.

Looking behind her attacker, Aki widened her eyes to see none other than her husband swinging a lasso which was connected to a handle shaped like a chameleon, "Spike!?" she gasped as the sinraptor turned its' attention to him, growling aggressively at the intruder on its' meal.

"Leave my wife alone!" Dr taylor yelled undeterred by he dinosaur's hissing threat, "Take this!" The rope then snared around sinraptor's jaws, shutting it close! It pulled back on the rope, causing Dr Taylor's feet to drag on the ground! After a fierce tug o' war he then used the momentum to propel himself right onto its back as got ahold of its' neck! "Woo hoo! Just like riding a bucking bronco on the wild west!" He cheered as the dinosaur thrashed about in annoyance unable to reach him while also slamming itself into the walls while trying to shake him off!

As Spike continued to bravely wrangle the sinraptor, Aki couldn't help but cover her mouth in surprise "Oh my….." even if it was indeed dangerous she couldn't help but be amazed by the performance herself.

"Ahahaha!" Spike laughed in amusement, riding on the back of a dinosaur was a life long goal he hoped to achieve and he was finally living in the moment! However, he soon got careless as he lowered his leg down and the dinosaur was able to grab it with it's arm and yank him down! "Huh? WHOA!" Spike cried as he was flung right off and onto the ground, splashing in the puddle causing his face to get all muddied! "ARGH!"

"Spike!" While the sinraptor was distracted trying to tear the cord off its' jaws, Aki quickly ran past it to her downed husband as she helped him stand up.

"Urgh how embarrassing…." he croaked blushing red in shame looking bad in front of his wife, before looking to her.

"Oh honey are you alright!?" she gasped looking all over him, checking for injuries.

He then smirked, "Heh, never better honey….." he chuckled before checking her next putting his hands around her, "Did that beast lay a claw on you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry." she replied taking his hands away to show she was fine. She then pouted rather crossly at him, "You had me really worried there, don't scare me like that again!" she grunted folding her arms on her hips as him as he scratched his head uneasily.

"I'll…try…." he said looking away while scratching his head with a cheeky grin, "Heh, can't make any promises though….adventure is in my blood after all!"

"Heh, I suppose not," Aki chuckled back in response, "Though I have to say, you looked really stunning out there." she said with a smile as she leaned in closer to him feeling much safer with him being close. "I don't think any other man would ever try to tangle with a dinosaur like that on his own." She added as Spike blushed red and chuckled in amusement seeing how lucky he was.

"Heh if you think this incredible you've seen nothing, the kids have done much better out in the field." he said as she blinked in surprise, "I know because I was there with them when it happened."

She then backed away from him in surprise, "You….were?" she breathed.

Spike nodded, "Mhmm." he was about to tell her more about the D Team and their exploits, when the sinraptor finally managed to rip off the cord around its' jaws before roaring at them in anger! "But let's not discuss it right now, let's go!" He yelled as he tugged at Aki's arm and ran with her!

"Ah!" She gasped as she was pulled and quickly the 2 of them ran as fast as their legs could carry them away from the sinraptor, which as they made a tight turn around a corner it ended up sliding fast and knocking into a dumpster which fell on it! Buying them some time as it tried to get the metallic continuer off it!

As they came to a 2 way path, Spike looked to the side seeing a way out and onto the open street again, "This way!" he cried as Aki followed him. They were able to make good distance but suddenly the sinraptor leaped out and landed right in front of the, cutting off their escape as it roared fiercely at them!

"AH!" Aki cried as Spike took her behind him.

"Get behind me Aki! I'll protect you!" he said firmly and she huddled back. Spike raised his arms out at the sinraptor, glaring a it with a firm expression showing he wasn't backing down one bit. Accepting his challenge, the sinraptor growled as it rushed straight at them, ready to pounce as Aki teared up and Spike closed his eyes gritting his teeth preparing to meet his fate, "Urgh….."

"Hey you!" A voice suddenly yelled which stopped the sinraptor at the last second, "Leave my parents alone!" It then turned around and growled as Spike opened up his eyes and smiled, inside cheering with joy how he was alive.

Aki widened her eyes recognising the voice all too well, "Huh!?" As she and Spike looked where the sinraptor was facing, they saw none other than their own son standing on the horizon with a serious expression on his face!

"M…Max!?" As she blinked her eyes and looked closer, she could see he wasn't alone, "Zoe! Cera! And Rex too!?" she exclaimed as they all stood together again the vicious dinosaur that was attacking her and Spike!

She at first thought they were mad, but then they each took out their dinoholders that she thought she had confiscated, "You're going down!" Max yelled.

"Altogether!" Rex followed as he, Max and Zoe took out their cards, "Dino slash!"

A bright light shone, as it dissipated, Chomp, Ace and Paris all appeared and stood together against the lone sinraptor which snarled at them all angrily.

Aki blinked her eyes in surprise to see their dinosaurs were out together, "Ah! Did they-"

"Mom, dad!" Max cried out to them, "You can yell at us later, but right now find some cover and fast! This is going to get rough!"

"O…Okay…." Aki nodded uneasily as Spike began tugging on her shoulder.

"Over there! Quickly!" He said as he pulled her away while the sinraptor was distracted, behind a large truck parked at the street and they hid behind it, "We should be safe behind here." He said sheltering her behind him and she nodded nervously as they both peered out to see the battle from the side of the truck.

Upon noticing its' prey had gone into hiding, the sinraptor roared in anger as it prepared to charge after them, but the D Team wasn't about to let out have its' way, "Chomp! Protect mom and dad!" Max commanded as his partner roared and charged ahead and got in the sinraptor's way and blocked it from getting any closer to the truck where his parents were.

"Don't give it any room to move!" Cera called out as Miku squawked on her shoulder.

"Right!" Rex and Zoe replied knowing what to do.

"You get in there too Ace!"

"Back them up Paris!" they ordered as they followed Chomp and they eventually had the sinraptor surrounded as it roared out in frustration.

Behind the truck, Aki stared and looked on speechlessly at what was happening before her eyes, "The kids….even after what I said to them they still…." she breathed in disbelief, despite everything she did they were out here trying to save her, with heir dinosaurs no less.

Spike then smirked, "Heh, just as I expected them to do." he said as Aki looked to her husband in confusion.

"Wh…What?"

"Take a good look Aki," he said gesturing her to look at the battle unfolding before them, "Even if it's going against what we told them they know what's really right in the end. If there's one thing all their experiences out in the world has taught them, it's how to stand up for what they believe in." He explained recalling all their growth and experiences that had taught them much the day they found Chomp. Also feeling relieved himself that the children went against him on their own as he had hoped, "It's natural you'd want to protect them, it's what every parent does." he said with compassion as he put an arm around her, "But there comes a time when we have to let them leave the nest and fly into the world so they can grow. It's an inevitability." He said sniffling slightly, knowing it was all true, and that they were already growing up before hitting puberty, "Take a good look and see for yourself how far they've already come on their own." He said to her once more as she continued to look on.

Chomp charged first but the sinraptor quickly leapt onto his frill and kicked off it like a springboard before landing on the other side, then swiftly swinging its' tail out to send Ace flying into a wall! As it regained its' balance, Paris then charged in and rammed it by its' side and causing it to fall at the ground with a large thud!

"Alright! We've got him cornered!" Zoe cheered as Paris roared in triumph seeing they had the sinraptor at a wall. However, as it kicked itself backup, it snarled viciously before glowing light blue! The light made Paris back away but as it died down she was taken aback by surprise that now there were 3 dinosaurs she had to contend with now! Quickly in unison they charged ahead and knocked Paris back and she skidded across the street in pain, "AH!" Zoe gasped.

"There's 2 more of them!" Rex gasped as Max widened his eyes in shock!

"That's split attack!" Cera yelled recognising the move as the 3 sinraptors rushed ahead and all pounced on Chomp, biting behind his neck, clawing his back or snapping at his legs as he roared out in pain!

"Chomp no!" Max cried in alarm.

"Help him out Ace!" Rex yelled as Ace got back on his feet and knocked away one dinosaur! "Take this! Cyclone!" Rex slashed the move card and Ace was enveloped in a large tornado before dashing out and ramming 1 sinraptor into a lamppost which fell on it and it roared in pain!

"Metal Wing!" Zoe followed up as Paris summoned the 3 pteranodons which slashed away at another sinraptor with their sharp wings causing it to fall to the ground! Both dinosaurs exploded into dust much to their surprise. "They just vanished!"

"Then that's the real one!" Cera pointed out, revealing the last one was biting Chomp's leg as he kicked it away! The sinraptor somersaulted backwards to prevent itself from falling to the ground, but it then reared up on its legs and roared, glowing blue before splitting into 3 again!

"It did it again!" Max grunted in annoyance as the dinosaurs switched to a divide and conquer strategy this time keeping all 3 of their dinosaurs occupied simultaneously! Chomp charged forward but his opponent met him head on! Ace and his foe chased one another trying to get at each others' tails, and Paris had her sinraptor leap onto her back and bite behind her crest as she tried hard to shake it off!

"This isn't good," Rex narrowed his eyes, "If we waste energy fighting clones and don't figure out the real one, it could get away and we'll never catch it!" He pointed out as they all hardened their expressions finding themselves overwhelmed now despite the initial advantage in numbers.

"Oh dear…." Aki breathed covering her mouth worried, but Spike patted her on the back reassuringly.

"Stay calm Aki, just watch. Have faith in them." he said to her calmly as he got her to focus back on the battle, unaware they were being stalked from behind.

Back at the battle, the D Team narrowed their eyes and hardened their expressions seeing the 3 sinraptors they were fighting had them all backed together. each doing a mock charge to drive them into a tight squeeze so they'd have much less room to move.

Cera however felt something wan't quite right, as she tried her best to think up a possible countermeasure they could use, "Each of them is acting like the original." she noted, "But surely there must be some way to tell them apart….." As she focused on that, Miku soon caught sight of a 4th sinraptor which was sneaking up behind Aki and Spike, as she squawked out in alarm and poitned out for everyone to see, and they widened their eyes in shock. "Mr and Mrs taylor! Behind you!" Cera yelled quickly.

"Hmm?" As they both turned around the sinraptor then flare out its claws and bore its' fangs at them before leaping at them!

"GAH!" Aki cried as Spike went to shield her with his own body!

"Ah! NO!" Max yelled while Zoe and Rex both gasped knowing they couldn't go after them in time.

Cera however, was a completely different story as she quickly took to her dinoshot and returned Miku to a card, "Stay away from them! Dino slash!" she yelled as Miku materialised in full size ontop of a lamppost right above the truck! Screeching out the sinraptor stopped and looked up at her distracted, "Miku! Shed some light on the situation!" Upon Cera's command, Miku cried out and glowed brightly in the secret dinosaur aura, as the blinding light caused the sinraptor to snarl and back away! Covering its' eyes it lost control of its' duplicates which soon exploded into dust as it stumbled about in confusion!

"Hey she did it!" Rex cheered much to Max's relief, "Now it's vulnerable!"

Shaking its head it then began to run away to find cover knowing it couldn't win in now, "It's getting away!" Zoe cried.

"Not on my watch!" Cera yelled as she looked to her partner up above, "Go Miku! Power Siphon!" the microraptor screeched as she swiftly glided down and latched onto the sinraptor behind its' head on its neck! Before it could have a chance to to fight back, she bit into it and glowed brightly, sapping energy from it as it shrieked in pain, thrashing about till she threw it into a wall! Jumping off quick it slammed its' head and fell back disoriented while Miku glided back to Cera and arched on her shoulder. "Alright! We've stopped it!" She cheered pumping up a fist.

"Then it's our turn then!" Max grinned as he grabbed a move card from his hand, "Lightning Spear!" Slashing it Chomp roared and surged with electricity as he charged ahead. The sinraptor had just gotten up to its feet, but before it could get the chance to limp away, Chomp quickly flipped it up into the air and as it fell he delivered a surge of electricity through its chest as it landed upside down on his horns before throwing it down! It growled and twitched as electricity coursed through its' entire body before finally glowing light blue and returning to both a dinosaur and move card.

"YEAH!"

"We did it!" The D Team cheered in victory and their dinosaurs all roared out together in unison.

"Wow….." Aki breathed in sheer amazement, clapping her hands together unable to comprehend what she saw. It was if the 4 children she was disciplining in their house earlier were now completely different people altogether, as they got together and high fived one another and praised one another in victory.

"See what I told you honey?" said Spike to his wife assuringly with a proud smile as he put an arm around her, "The kids really have grown up."

A small smile then came upon Aki's face Spike finished, knowing how right he was, "Yes…..it seems that way….." she admitted wiping a tear away with her finger, "Only they're not kids anymore…." She then sniffled.

Later, as then D Team returned their partners to their small forms and claimed sin raptor's cards, Max looked up and saw his parents together and he quickly rushed over to them, "Mom! Dad!" he cried out as he ran to them, "Are you alright!?" Hearing his voice, the others looked up and saw Max running to Aki and Spike and they followed to make sure they were fine.

Aki nodded, "Yes dear, we are." she said much to everyone's relief.

As Chomp ran up to his leg, Max then realised even if he did save them he had to break a few rules she firmly set up for them as he and the others bowed down, "Mom, I'm….I'm sorry that-"

"No Max," she interrupted using her hand to lift his head to her eyes, "I'm the one who should be sorry." she said as they blinked in surprise, "I was so caught up in protecting you I didn't realise I was actually caging you rather than shielding you." She admitted before smiling proudly at her son, "Now it seems you've broken out of that cage to save me…." She added at the end looking to Rex, Cera and Zoe rather guiltily, "Even after I was so harsh to all of you…."

"Of course we would mom!" Max cried in response, "You were in danger! We'd never let you get eaten by a dinosaur! Never in a million years!"

"We understand you were doing what you thought was right." said Zoe next as she then lowered her head, "And we admit we were wrong to keep you out of the loop for this long too…."

"But still, like you we thought we were dong the right thing keeping it a secret so you wouldn't be worried about us too!" Rex called out.

"We may have our responsibilities but even that shouldn't be an excuse to keep acting on our own without you knowing home everyone else did, it wasn't fair to you." said Cera firmly after them, "So even if you still think it's dangerous, we won't deny it, but we still have a mission to do."

"To protect the dinosaurs and people." Max concluded firmly, "And no matter what others think, say or do we're going to keep at it as long as we can. That's that." He said at the end as they all nodded together and looked at Aki and Spike in the eyes.

After they finished their heartfelt speech, Aki could;t help but feel very moved and touched at how far they would go for their beliefs or stand up against anyone for them as well. She could see great signs of maturity and growth in each and every one of them, "Your father was right, you all really have grown up, maybe going out into the world at such a young age isn't such a bad thing anymore….if anything, perhaps you all have learnt much more these past few months than Spike and I have in years." she said looking to her husband who blushed and grinned mischievously while scratching his head.

"Er hehehe…."

She then put her hand on Max's shoulder as she leaned in to him and the rest of the D Team, "I'll forgive you for lying and going behind my back," she started before bowing down herself, "If you can find it in your heart to forgive me for what I did…."

Max then grinned knowing the answer was obvious, "We already have mom." he said as looked to his friends behind, "Isn't that right guys?" in response they all smiled brightly having the same answer as him.

"Of course."

"Without question.

"You never needed to ask." They each said as Aki bowed down to them all gratefully, feeling an immense weight removed from her shoulders.

"Thank you….." she breathed as she straightened herself up again. "There's still one more thing I need to do." She added much to the confusion of the D Team as she walked past them.

"Huh?"

"I thought I was protecting you from the dinosaurs," she said leaning down to Chomp, Ace, Paris and Miku as they all looked up at her, "But to think they were the ones to protect me in the end…." she chuckled as she gently stroked each of them and they hummed happily, "Chomp, Ace, Paris, Miku….I'm really sorry for what I did to you." she said to them feeling guilty for what she did to them, "Now I see that you all protected my son and his friends this whole time, I was wrong to misjudge you….If it's alright…..maybe we can….start over? Could you….find it in your heart to forgive me?" She asked.

In a flash, the 4 dinosaurs all leapt onto Aki and began nuzzling or licking her, smothering her with not only forgiveness but also friendship and love too, a little more than she could take as she burst into uncontrollable laughter, "Hahahahaha! Stop that! That tickles!"

Everyone laughed with her knowing all was well at last, "Hehe, guess that's a yes!" Max laughed.

"Was there any doubt at all?" Rex followed.

"With all the good food you feed them how could they ever stay angry at you?" said Spike walking up to Aki and the 4 dinosaurs as the D Team managed to yank their partners off her and give her back her space.

"Hahaha, you do have a point." Aki laughed as she brushed off the dirt and spit from herself, "Say I know," she then said as an idea came to mind, "Instead of an apology, how about I whip us all up a very delicious lunch. That way we can forget that this whole mess started out in the first place."

Everyone's eyes brightened up, "That sounds awesome!" Max, Spike and Rex cheered with excited and glistening eyes.

"I'll invite my parents and Reese over too!" Zoe chipped in, "No way would they want to miss out on this!"

Cera folded her arms on her hips and nodded with approval, "Glad we have that all settled now."

"I do love a happy ending when everything works out." said Spike tearing up most emotionally as the 4 dinosaurs ran around them in excitement.

Looking to everyone she could see they were all in the same boat, and Aki nodded knowing she had a big job to do now, "Alright everyone, tine to head for the house. Hope your stomachs are empty because we'll be making a lunch fit for a whole herd of dinosaurs!" she proclaimed as they all jumped up with their arms held high!

"YAY!"

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back on Zeta Point, another family wasn't doing as well as the D Team however. While Rod and Laura were busy working on the main power grid, Ed and Zander, now with Ursula, were running frantically on the large hamster wheel (in sweatshirts or thinner layers) to generate just enough light for the kids to see and work.

Soon however, the trio began to slow down and gasp for air as fatigue and exhaustion soon caught up with them.

"Uff….I'm all tuckered out…." Ed whimpered.

"Gasp! I feel my heart's about to explode…." Ursula wheezed while Zander was beginning to turn blue form lack of oxygen.

Dr Z however wasn't pleased at all as he shot a piercing glare at them which made them all jump, "Keep running you numbskulls!" he ordered, "Or do you want me to give you a little more motivation!?" he threatened as he took out a large whip from his lab coat and cracked it!

CRACK!

The sound echoed through the halls of Zeta Point like a lightning bolt and it was enough to send a shiver down their spines!

"GAH!" The trio gasped as they instantly started running like the wind again! "We're going! We're going!" Running as if their lives depended on it the lights brightened up once more.

"And don't stop until we have power back on!" Dr Z yelled shaking his fist at them.

"B…But Helga's the one who did it, why are we doing this!?" Zander cried.

"Because we all know we can't do anything about her," Dr Z replied calmly folding his arm, "So I've decided to take out all my frustration on you instead!"

"How is that fair!?" Ed whined feeling he could burst into flames at any moment.

"On the bright side we could use the exercise." Zander mentioned which earned him some angry glares from Ed and Ursula.

"Hey! Are you calling me fat!?" Ed yelled.

"When I get off this wheel Zander I'll pulverise you into the ground with a pile driver!" Ursula screamed shaking a fist at him before Dr Z cracked the whip once more!

CRACK!

"GAAAH!"

"Keep running!" he screamed in annoyance as all 3 members of the trio began crying their eyes out at being treated like slaves, though considering all their failures the past few weeks perhaps this was their just punishment.

 **And thus concludes chapter 17, hope you all enjoyed this. Wanted it to be just between the family and the alpha gang would only complicate things more, still though they will play a serious role next chapter, or to be precise Seth will. Also wanted to showcase Helga still acting berserk and how she inadvertently kept the Alpha gang from interfering this time. As for split attack it shows in the anime how the dinosaur splits in 3 and attacks so thought I might make it better here.**

 **In case anyone was wondering, I intend to have a Lightning and Grass dinosaur appear in later chapters. Also ironic that in order to settle Aki's problems with the dinosaurs she had to be involved in an incident involving one herself. Also if Aki seemed like she acted out of character to some, let's take it as this is new for her.**

 **P.S-When the Drakes had to leave to tend to a cat, it was the brown and white cat the sinraptor chased off which then hurt its' paw running away.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Luczysnki**

 **-Aki feels it's a mother's duty to protect her family, which is why she did what she did, thinking that cutting them off from anything dinosaur related would keep the family safe, but she realises that to be an error as shown here. Don't worry about ampelosaurus and stegosaurus, they'll appear next chapter, hope you enjoy what I have planned.**


	18. D Team in Danger

Chapter 18

D Team in Danger

On a computer screen in Zeta Point's underground lab, it displayed the Red Sand Maunsell Sea Fort at the Thames Estuary. As Seth eyed it while standing onboard his floating platform, he then narrowed his eyes and scowled at it, "No…." pressing a button the screen shifted to depict the Flak Towers in Austria Germany, "Not that one either…." he then said shaking his head.

It was early morning, and Seth had worked double time to make up for the delays he experienced due to Helga's unfortunate accident. He had spent months preparing what he believed would be the perfect endgame for the D Team, especially since the appearances of new dinosaurs arose and the D Team's newest recruit arrived on the scene which further increased their strength greater than he imagined. But no more, once he put his plan into action, he was certain they would out of the way for good, and with their stones, cards and newfound knowledge in his possession, he could accomplish his goals without anymore possible hinderances or even take them behind what he initially envisioned. All his preparations were finally complete and that was left was to find the perfect stage to orchestrate it. Somewhere abandoned or not too frequently visited so that there wouldn't be any chance of outside interference.

The screen then depicted the Željava Air Base in Croatia and his mood lightened, "Close but that's not it…." he said pressing the button on his controller once more. Upon eying the next possible location on screen, he then smirked sinisterly seeing it fitted all his needed criteria, "Perfect." He said as he eyed his panels seeing the insertion ports for alpha scanners, "It may have taken me nearly all of yesterday to perfect after that unfortunate accident…." he said rather bitterly recalling how he would have been able to start much sooner had the accident not taken place before smirking once more, "But it'll be all worth it once I put this full proof plan into motion." he said darkly, "Soon I'll have everything I need to make my vision a reality." He said before looking to the side to see a pair of devices, a set of round mines with the alpha logo on it and a mech shaped somewhat like a flying saucer with an antenna sticking out from the top. "Perhaps this can also be a good chance to try out Rod and Laura's new inventions too." he thought as a group of super alpha droids came in to carry the devices over to the transport hangar. With that, everything was now in place as he took his leave.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile at the Drake residence, Cera was humming to herself in a mellow manner, and she had good reason to, now that Aki was alright with the dinosaurs and they now had her approval to continue other adventures. Now she was together with Miku, sorting out a number of cards at the desk from Zoe's dinoholder which was sitting nicely on the side. Cera and Miku had both sorted out her cards into a more organised pile, and was about to add a few new ones she acquired from the vault, which included emerald garden, atomic bomb, diving press and death grind. Considering that Max and Rex were the main fighters in the team, she figured Zoe could use a little additional firepower to balance the team a bit more, also she was doing it out of the kindness of her heart.

"Now where's that-" Looking to the side she smiled seeing the card she was looking for, "Ah there it is." she said picking it up and eying it, "Super impact sure is a really powerful move." she noted remembering full well its' power after she used it with Paris against Terry one time. It was at that moment that Miku came hopping up to her with a card in her mouth, which Cera soon took, "And so is big foot assault." she commented as she put both grass move cards next to one another and eyed them closely, "Imagine though if they were used together, imagine all the power these 2 would have when unleashed simultaneously." she thought to herself before chuckling in amusement, "Heh that could be something wouldn't it Miku?" she asked as her partner chirped happily and hoped over to look at the cards herself out of curiosity.

As she came close between the both of them however, she then began to glow unexpectedly much to Cera's surprise, "Wh…What the!?" suddenly she radiated in bright light which caused Cera to quickly shield her eyes as she cried out, "AAAH!" As it died down she saw it was safe to open her eyes again, but as she did she saw something rather shocking on the desk, "H…Huh?" Stepping closer was a single card that was still glowing in Miku's light, but as it died down it soon revealed itself as a single move card featuring both supersaurus and seismosaurus smashing a carcharodontosaurus between their necks! She blinked her eyes in disbelief, staring straight at the card for several seconds before turning to her partner who jumped back at the look she was given, "Miku…..What did you do!?" she cried out as Miku squawked and leapt back in alarm!

Cera then grasped her hair in a panic unsure of how to explain this to her friend, when all she wanted was to do something for her out of good intention, "Oh dear, oh dear, I was only trying to help, how did it end up like this!?" she said to herself sweating bullets. Personally she didn't know if this was good or bad, one thing she could tell was that the card now hosted the powers of both seismosaurus and supersaurus in it and was no doubt far more powerful than either of them put together. On the other hand she felt she shouldn't have touched Zoe's things without her permission, "If Zoe sees this….."

"Cera? Are you upstairs?" A voice then called from outside the room.

Cera widened her eyes and squeaked, "Gah!" frantically she turned over to Miku, "Q…Quick pack it up now!" wasting no time, they quickly gathered up all the cards and shoved them back into her dinoholder and closed it up like normal. Before she could settle it down on the table nicely, Zoe and paris then walked right in.

"Hi Cera." she said cheerily as her friend nearly jumped and turned around smiling nervously.

"Oh! Hey Zoe." she said trying to sound as normal as possible but failing as Zoe instantly knew something was up seeing Cera was breathing fast and sweating on top of that.

"What's gotten you all flustered all of a sudden?" she asked curiously before noticing she had something in her hand, "Hmm? What are you doing with my dinoholder?" She blinked before pointing out at it.

"Huh?" She then looked to her hand and widened her eyes realising she was still holding it the whole time, "Oh!" she then blushed red in embarrassment and began scratching her cheek, "Err…I was just taking a look through your cards and thought maybe I could help give you a little extra kick by giving you a couple more move cards I borrowed from the D Lab." she answered as a few drops of anxious sweat dripped from her cheek nervously, "Sorry about not asking you first but I kinda wanted to surprise you a bit hehe….." she chuckled swallowing hard while Miku shivered in the corner as Paris looked at her, tilter her head with curiosity at the raptor's behaviour, who then hopped around and turned away in embarrassment.

Zoe remained silent and narrowed her eyes at her red headed friend and feathered partner. Both sweated and their hearts raced in anxiety worried as to what divine punishment she would be delivering them at any second! To their relief however, she then sported a cheeky grin, "Hee hee….Is that all?" she giggled much to Cera's surprise and relief, it wasn't the type of reaction she was expecting but she was glad she was off the hook. "It's no big deal. In fact I appreciate the extra help." She then said much to her surprise.

"Hmm?"

Zoe then huffed a bit and folded her arms behind her back feeling slightly insecure, "It's just….lately, I've been seeing how Max and Rex have been putting in far more effort for fighting in the team while most of the time Paris and I usually hang back and support them from afar." she said drawing circles in the floor with one foot, "But lately, I've wanted to do something a little more than that." She then added at the end.

"More?" Cera asked as she blinked.

"Yeah, as in help out in the fighting too as well," Zoe answered, "After all we all need to do our part out there in the field. Seeing how they're so brave and willing to charge into battle, while sometimes I'm the one who needs rescuing too….so sometimes I feel I hold them back." She thought recalling how helpless and in need of saving she was during China being trapped under the great wall, being the first to be captured by the alpha gang on their first trip to Zeta Point, having her dinoholder stolen by Rod and Laura, or when she pretty much let the team down at Brazil all because of her own excitement over a celebrity.

She then shook her head sporting a more determined look, "Now I want to be able to take care of myself. And to be someone they can rely on, that way they won't have to worry so much about me anymore." she said before smiling at Cera, "I guess I kinda thought about that when I see you."

"Me?" Cera pointed to herself.

Zoe nodded, "Yeah, I mean you haven't been with us long but you've done so much for us these past few weeks." she said turning around and looking up in the other direction, "You're brave, smart, and really passionate about dinosaurs as much as we are. It's like an inspiration to the D Team, something we all can learn and benefit from." she said, "Something I want to apply more than anything else."

"I see….." Cera smiled feeling honoured herself as a few thoughts crossed her mind, "It's nice of her to care for the wellbeing of the team. It's almost like I do too." she said putting a hand to her chest before smiling, "Guess that means I'll have to continue to serve as a great role model for her." She then stepped forwards to Zoe and put a hand on her shoulder, "Well Zoe…." she started, "I'll have to say not many people out there would be care that deeply for their friends and take the necessary action to better themselves for it at the same time." She said patting her shoulder, "Keep at it, I'm sure you most certainly can and will. Max and Rex will no doubt be very proud of you for this too."

Zoe then smiled feeling honoured and appreciative, "Aww thanks Cera, that means a lot." she said before returning with a hug of her own, "And of course we'll continue to be at your side through thick and thin, till you manage to get back that memory of yours."

"Mhmm. I won't forget that." Cera nodded feeling mutual before remembering something she ought to be honest, about the move card she unexpectedly created, "Oh yes, there's also kinda something else too…." she then said choking up a bit while sporting an uneasy expression.

Zoe blinked her eyes, "There is? What is it?"

Cera swallowed hard as she mustered all she could to force out the words she wanted, "W…Well you see…." Before she could answer, her dinoshot on her bed started to blink and Zoe's dinoholder in her hand flashed red too catching their attention!

"Ah!" Looking to them they knew what that meant.

"Another dinosaur showed up!" Zoe cried before grabbing her dinoholder from Cera then grabbing her friend's arm, "Save for later, let's go!" She then said urgently passing the dinoshot to Cera,

"O…Okay…." Cera nodded as she helped Miku onto her shoulder and they both headed out to the D Lab.

 **(At the D Lab)**

The D Team soon setup at the D Lab and were now in the main computer room where Reese was typing away, with Johnathan at the far corner lying still on the research table.

"Hey Reese, where are we heading too now?" asked Cera as Zoe's older sister began to zoom in on the exact location, "Hmm…..let me take another look to make sure the readings are right…." After calibrating she then widened her eyes slightly in surprise when she got the result, "Oh my….."

"That doesn't sound very good….." Cera thought uneasily if there was a location that would worry Reese of all people, as they then focused on her upon hearing her statement.

"Umm where is it Reese?" Max asked uneasily.

She then brought it up on screen, "Apparently, the dinosaur signal is coming from the abandoned Saint Nazaire Submarine Base." she answered as they all blinked in confusion.

"Saint….Nazaire?"

"Submarine base?" Rex and Zoe each asked unsure of the location.

"That's one remarkable place you're heading off to now kids." said Dr Taylor as he stepped in eying the map's zoomed in location and they all turned to look at him.

"Oh hey dad." said Max waving to him, "So what's so remarkable about it?"

"Wait….Nazaire…." Rex brought a finger to his chin in thought before looking up, "Does that by chance have anything to do with the Nazis of Germany during the war?"

"Well said Rex." Spike nodded smiling proud at the boy's knowledge in history, "Indeed, in fact that very base, though now abandoned, was one of 5 large submarine bases that were built by the Nazis during World War 2 when the Germans occupied along the Atlantic Coast of France during their regime." he said while folding his arms.

"Whoa, now that sounds like a really hard core place…." Max breathed.

"To think we'll be visiting a place once used for military operations….." thought Zoe as she shivered, "Used by one of the worst dictator to ever walk the planet….." she added at the end while thinking of Adolf Hitler, unlike a t rex, this man was a true tyrant of the human age.

Seeing they were all became rather uneasy, "Well at least it's pretty much empty now and let's be glad we live in a much more peaceful time, right guys?" asked Cera to the others calming their nerves a little more.

"Mhmm…." they nodded, though feeling rather anxious and worried about the thought.

"For now yeah," said Rex, "But with a dinosaur loose there I don't think things will stay peaceful for long."

"Good point." said Cera after him in agreement.

"Well, time's a wasting, let's head out now." said Max as he headed over to the teleporter and the others followed.

"As usual take care kids." said Spike as they all stepped on together, "Wouldn't want to let your mom worry again after she trusted you all to look after yourselves now."

They all smiled and waved to him, "We will dad!"

"Tell her there's nothing to worry about!" said Rex.

"We'll be back before dinner time as usual!" concluded Zoe as they all smiled brightly and became enveloped in bright light.

Cera then looked over to Max feeling much more at ease knowing they managed to finally settle the dinosaur matter with her yesterday, "It's really great your mom's all good with the dinosaurs now Max." she said to him as he nodded back.

"Yeah, and let's make sure we don't let her down." he said as they vanished in the light.

 **(Later)**

Before long a bright light shone at an entrance to the submarine base which was overlooking the massive waterfront leading to the sea. As they arrived, the D Team all turned to stare at the massive line of entrances at the front where many submarines were once docked in the past before being retrofitted and rearmed for battle, "Here we are guys." said Max. Despite being abandoned and in the bright of day, the fact remained that this was a site once used for war so the D Team couldn't help but feel rather uneasy but the eeriness the place gave off.

"Man this place really does look spooky….." Max gulped uneasily.

"Yeah, to think we'd visit a place used for war in the old days….." added Zoe as she looked around nervously while Cera felt rather on edge, being in a place used to develop underwater weaponry to destroy, it certainly had a rather nasty vibe given off, which they could easily feel just by being near it.

"Let's not dwell in the past guys." said Rex bringing them back to the present, "Right now let's focus on finding that dinosaur."

"Yeah." They then nodded deciding to focus on the task ahead as they all went on inside the open entrance they were at.

As they started and passed by the river channel next to the path they were at, Cera then narrowed her eyes and stopped to look at it all carefully, "With all this water we can expect to be facing a water dinosaur." she suspected as the others looked to her considering her theory.

"Heh, good thing we have Chomp for that huh?" Max smirked as he rubbed his partner's head who barked back in enjoyment, "We'll give it a shock to remember by!" he grinned pumping up his fist energetically.

"Wow, Max is actually using his head for a change." Rex commented feeling rather impressed, "Must have been your influence Cera or maybe he couldn't stand losing to Zoe at chess 10 times in a row." he said cheekily as Zoe giggled in amusement.

"Hee hee…Who knows?" she said shrugging her shoulders as Max turned to them with a scowl on his face.

"I heard that…." he grumbled feeling offended, "Instead of focusing on me, how about Ace? Is he up for it though hmm?" he said grinning deviously at the little carnotaurus who stared back at him instead of running away at the word water.

"Oh we got that covered Max." said Rex holding his head up high proudly before leaning down to pet him on the head, "Ace, you're okay with water now right?" In response Ace nuzzled back in Rex's hand and began licking it, confirming his answer as Rex smiled, "Good boy." No doubt him overcoming his hydrophobia would prove to be a great leap for them in their future dinosaur expeditions for sure.

"Alright, if we're already let's get a move on." said Max as he ushered the others to follow him deeper inside the abandoned water base in search of the dinosaur they came here to find before the Alpha gang did.

As they continued on the path they were on, at the far back at the entrance of the waterfront where they came in from, a set of yellow spines peered out from the water surface before slowly then sinking back into the gloom, followed by a blue tail…..

Meanwhile the D Team continued traversing through unknown terrain, looking around them it was hard to believe this old shell of a military base once held great power and evil within its walls. As they all observed their surroundings they soon heard voices of angry shouts of german soldiers and scientific teams arming for battle or the sounds of submarines being deployed for battle. The experience and atmosphere was both eerie and unnerving, "Wow, when you walk through these halls it's as if you can hear the sounds of the past….like the old voices of war still echoing through the hallways…." commented Cera to herself as she narrowed her eyes, "But still, I can feel that something sinister is amidst."

"You know what?" said Rex looking to her and the others focused on Rex, "I think you might be on to something there Cera." He then looked down to their partner dinosaurs who seemed rather restless and on edge, even seeing Miku was on alert to danger herself, "Look at Chomp, Ace, Miku and Paris…."

"You think they don't like this place because of the vibe it gives?" Max then asked, hoping that was the case.

"Or is there something else?" Zoe followed as she looked about uneasily.

As Zoe and Cera went first in front of Max and Rex, a small rock soon fell from above and cracked in front of Rex and cracking into pieces which made him stop, "Hmm?" As he did, so did Max as they both looked up to see where it was coming from.

"What the?" The ceiling suddenly began to crack and break apart, till eventually a massive chunk of it came down to the D Team's alarm!

"GAH! Watch out!"

"AH!"

"WHOA!"

"GAAAAHH!"

They all cried as they leapt away or pushed each other out before the debris collapsed down and caused a massive cloud of dust to erupt as it landed!

After it was over, Max and Rex lay on their backs, with dust and small pieces of rock on them. Fortunately neither of them got hurt by the falling debris as Max soon began to stir first,"Urgh…what was that?" Max groaned rubbing his head sorely as he sat back up and Chomp got back up to his feet and shook his head clear.

"It came out of nowhere…." Rex moaned as he stood up and found Ace curled up underneath him. He smiled glad to see his partner was safe, and so was Max for the most part as they helped one another get to their feet.

They then both looked to the massive rock pile which formed a kind of block in front of them, as they widened their eyes or gulped nervously at the sight of it and how it stretched over the entirety of the walkway and into the channel.

"If we hadn't moved in time we'd be pancakes…." Max gulped.

"Yeah…no kidding…." Rex breathed as he sweated nervously. The 2 of them smiled with relief but soon realised they were only half a team as they widened their eyes in alarm.

"Ah! Cera! Zoe!" They both exclaimed in unison before looking ahead, "Are you guys okay!?"

"We're fine Rex!" A voice responded on the other side of the wall, where Zoe and Cera had just gotten back up with their partners, after their sudden experience with the collapse. Luckily neither of them suffered any kind of injury.

"That's good to hear!" Rex called to them.

"Man…..That was too close for comfort…." Max breathed clenching his hand on his chest to slow down his pounding heart. Picking himself up he brushed the dirt off his clothes and went over to the rubble pile, "This place must be getting old if it's falling apart like that." he said as he looked at the huge pile of rubble which now separated their team from each other as the regrouped on the opposite sides of the line.

"I don't know….." said Cera as she walked over to a wall and began to tap and press on it firmly. She then narrowed her eyes, "Some of this foundation and structure seems relatively stable….I don't think what just happened was natural…." she commented.

"So something caused it to fall on us?" Max asked.

"It's only a hunch….." she replied before shrugging off the thought and looking back to their teammates on the other side of the rubble wall.

"Well in any case, we can't get over it that's for sure," said Max as he then eyed the water channel near them, "And we can't get around it without getting into the water."

"Guess we're going to have to backtrack then." said Rex reluctantly as Max sighed.

"Looks that way….."

"Don't worry!" Zoe cried out to them, "We'll keep in touch over the communicators! That way we'll stay in touch and we can cover more ground more easily!" she said.

Rex and Max then nodded in agreement as they called back to them, "Alright then, take care of yourselves!" said Max as his side of the team ran back the way they came to find another way around.

As soon as they were left alone, Zoe looked over to Cera, "Come on Cera let's get a move on." she suggested.

"Y…Yeah…." Cera replied uneasily, still haven't yet shaken off the feeling that something clearly was amidst. As they continued on ahead, Cera took a little look back at the hole, to see the passing glimpse of a purple spiked tail at the opening before it vanished after she blinked. "Was that?" She shook her head shrugging it off, "Must be my imagination…." she thought as she and Zoe continued along their path.

Back on Max and Rex's side, as they trekked onwards with Chomp and Ace with them, they looked around uneasily within the barren and empty channels of the base.

"We've come in pretty deep and still no dinosaur in sight…." Max breathed, "Not even so much as a growl or footsteps…."

"Yeah, we would've at least found traces of it by now." thought Rex as he looks around to see almost no signs of a dinosaur being present. Ace and Chomp were barely picking up any signs of a dinosaur either as they sniffed the air but could find nothing for miles. "Let's see what the dinoholder says." he said as he brought it up and switched on the screen, only to find it all dark and static instead.

"Huh? That's weird…." Max muttered as Rex continued to dial more buttons on it but no signal came up.

"There's no signal on." Rex narrowed his eyes before putting it away seeing it couldn't help them now and they had to go in blind.

"Really?" Max then tried his too but the result was the same as only static came on. "Hey mine too." he said in annoyance smacking it and pressing more random buttons but still nor result.

Suddenly, Chomp and Ace picked up something in the wind as they became on guard and looked around frantically trying to pinpoint what they just sensed, much to the unease of their partners who could tell they were sensing something no doubt dangerous.

"Chomp and Ace seem to be on edge…." said Rex as he tried to make contact with their other team, "I'll go check in with Zoe and Cera and see if they have anything." As he tried the call function he saw there was no signal either for that, "I can't get a call either." he said uneasily which further worried Max and him knowing this couldn't be a coincidence, considering they were in abandoned base and no doubt all technology here must have been either moved or dead, which meant that someone was or maybe is here with them.

"I've got a bad feeling about this….." said Max as he narrowed his eyes looking around and a drop of sweat dripped from his cheek.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile as Zoe and Cera continued down the same hallway they kept a straight gaze forward, suddenly though, Paris then perked up her head and looked around them on alert. Zoe noticed this as soon as she stopped moving with them, as she looked back to see, "Paris? Is something up?" she asked uneasily.

Cera narrowed her eyes knowing what was going on, "She's sensing something…." she breathed before seeing Miku herself was on alert too, her feathers flared and her eyes become slit, "And so is Miku….."

Hearing her say that made Zoe become rather unnerved as Paris and Miku both tensed up agitatedly scanning their surroundings for any signs of trouble, yet they could find nothing, and that was worrying.

The channels were filled with the sounds of silence….almost too much of it…."It's too quiet….." Cera swallowed hard as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek, her instincts telling her something wasn't right. She heard a bubbling sound coming from the channel. As they both looked they saw a few bubbles pop up at the surface, it was too many at once to be a coincidental air pocket escape, it had to be coming from a living creature underneath the waves. As far as Cera and Zoe could tell, there could only be one possibility.

Zoe began to back away from the water's edge slowly and cautiously as Paris and Miku directed their attention and agitation at the water.

Cera had the same idea as she too backed away from the channel, slowly putting as much distance possible, calmly and quietly as she could, "We're not alone here." said Cera hardening her expression before grabbing Zoe's hand, "Quick we'd better-"

Without warning, a massive wave suddenly erupted and swept across the channel straight towards them! "WHOA!" Paris ran ahead but as she turned she cried out loud as she found her partner Zoe, unable to move and frozen in fear, her feet rendered incapable of taking another step!

"Zoe!" Cera screamed out but her words had no effect on her. Gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes tightly, she lunged forward, pushing Zoe out of the way in time!

"Ah!" she cried as she was shoved and then landing hard on the ground with a thud, "Urgh!" As she opened her eyes she then widened them as Cera and Miku found themselves swept in by the massive wave!

"AAAAHHH!" she screamed as the water swallowed her completely and she was dragged underneath the surface in an instant before Zoe's own eyes!

"Cera!" Zoe cried out as Paris screeched in horror to see them both get washed away into the channel! "Oh no! Oh no!" She got up to her feet and ran over to the edge railings, scanning the surface for any sign of her friend who was dragged beneath the waves! "Cera where are you!" she cried out as her heart began to race and panic, with Paris barking out in all directions and their mixed cries echoing throughout the empty hallways.

"GASP! Miraculously, Cera burst out of the water further off from the walkway taking a precious breath of air!

"Cera!" Zoe cried out in relief to see she was still alive, before turning serious again to realise she still needed to get her out of the water soon.

"Zoe! Help!" Cera cried splashing out frantically, with Miku just managing to climb ontop of her head to keep herself from falling back in. Right now she was all soaked and her feathers drenched to the point she looked like a saggy piece of cloth, as she cried out for help!

In response, Zoe reached over to the edge of the railings, "Quick! Get closer and I'll try to pull you up!" she cried out as she held out her hand and Cera nodded, swimming to it as fast as she could, focusing entirely on Zoe's outstretched hand! "Grab my hand! I'll-huh!?"

Without warning, suddenly Cera rose out of the water, riding ontop of what seemed like half of a pod where an engine thruster was erupting!

"Huh!?"

"Wh…What!?" Both girls were shocked at the unexpected development, but not as much when another half of the pod erupted out of the water and then landed ontop of where Cera and Miku were! "AAAAH!" Cera screamed holding her arms out before she was sealed them completely shut inside and the pod jetted away down the path of the water channel till it disappeared from sight, with only Cera's finally cry echoing from it, "HELP!"

"Cera!" Zoe screamed reaching her arm out! She ran after it but then slipped on the moist floor and falling forward! "AH!" As Paris quickly ran up to her side, Zoe could only look on hopelessly as the pod disappeared not the darkness ahead, along with Cera, "No!" she cried out in despair.

Nearby, Max and Rex both stopped upon hearing the echoing cries for help as their ears perked and they looked around on alert, "Hey Rex did you hear that!?" Max gasped in alarm.

"Sounded like Zoe's in trouble!" the blond boy turned to him as he pointed out ahead of them, "It came from over there! Let's go!" he said as they all rushed ahead to see what was up.

Back at where she was, Paris chirped sadly as she came up to Zoe's side, nuzzling at her hoping to give her partner some degree of security and comfort, but her expression and mood became more depressed when she saw her efforts had no effect as Zoe sat down on her knees in despair, shedding several deep tears which dropped onto the floor, "Oh no….Cera…." countless emotions welled up inside her heart, she wanted to protect her friends bu instead ended up letting one of them getting taken away. She also felt helpless and unable to do anything, a failure for letting down Cera and feeling guilty and hateful for herself for letting it happen.

She was about to become eternally trapped inside a prison of regret inside her own mind, when a pair of voices soon snapped her out at the last second, "Zoe!"

"Huh?" As she turned around her face brightened up with joy to see her 2 friends running up to her, "Max! Rex! There you are!" she cheered brightening up with joy as she got up and regrouped with them, "I'm so glad to see you guys!" she cheered with relief as they smiled back at her.

"Yeah, same here with us too." Rex replied with a smile as he and Max brought her in for a group hug.

Max soon noticed they were one person short as he blinked his eyes and looked around, "H…Hey where's Cera?" he then asked finding no trace of her anywhere near Zoe.

Upon being brought back to the horrendous experience she just witnessed, Zoe's expression turned downcast and heavy, as she lost the strength of her arms and they slumped forward, "She….She…." she gritted her teeth painfully and hissed out the words through her breath, filled with immense sorrow.

The boys were taken aback by her change in mood, and they could tell something went wrong no doubt. As much s they were worried to find out the truth, they knew they had to, "What happened to Cera?" Rex asked once more.

"Come on spit it out!" Max cried, their urgency spurred Zoe into screaming with tears,

"She….She was taken!" She yelled painfully before weeping bitterly into her hands as she covered her eyes much to the alarm and shock of Max and Rex!

"Huh!?"

"Say what!?" Chomp and Ace barked in alarm upon hearing the horrific news.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Urgh….what happened?" Cera groaned groggily as she soon came to her senses. As soon as she opened her eyes she caught sight of her partner who was drenched in water and almost chilled to the bone while nuzzled up in between her legs, "Miku!" she gasped widening her eyes as she brought her up in her hands to her face, "Speak to me! Are you okay?" she begged desperately hoping for signs of life. She feared the worst but miraculously, the little raptor looked to her and chirped making her much more at ease as she let out a deep breath of relief, "Phew thank goodness." she said putting a hand on her chest. As soon as she did, she realised she herself was completely soaked herself, from her hair and down to her inside clothes, "But we're really wet…." she then remembered earlier how she had to push Zoe out of the way of an incoming wave to save her from falling into the water herself.

"Also, where are we?" She then asked looking around, it was almost pitch black inside except for a small bit of light given off from but the smallest gaps inside in different areas, which were no doubt for ventilation purposes. She then pushed out around her but found it to be useless as she was completely encased inside some sort of…..compartment it seemed, "Urgh! It won't budge!" she grunted pushing at it with all her might but made no progress as she topped and breathed rather heavily, "No good," trying another approach she took out her dinoshot, which fortunately was waterproof as she dialled on it hoping to contact the others, only to find it gave off nothing but a static filled screen, "And I can't seem to contact the others either…." she muttered in frustration as Miku lowered her head in sadness, while Cera folded in her legs and hugged them in, "What are we supposed to do now?" she then asked herself.

"The answer is simple, you can't do anything." A rather sinister voice said from outside which caught them both by surprise!

"Ah!" Cera widened her eyes, "Who said that!?" she cried out looking around, trying to figure out which direction it came from. "Wait, that voice…." Cera soon began to recollect that she heard it somewhere before. It didn't take her long though for her to recall whom it belonged to, as her heart skipped a beat, "It can't be!"

"Oh it can." said Seth as he walked up to the side of the capsule and tapped it rather gently to show his prisoner where he was, "So nice of you to drop by right into my trap. I told you that I'd have you in my clutches one day, the only thing I didn't expect was that day to come soon." He said with a malicious grin and tone which infuriated both Cera and Miku inside the capsule.

"You….Seth!" She yelled as Miku flared out her arms and screeched!

"How nice of you remember my name." Seth chuckled in amusement, as he smiled mockingly on the outside at his helpless captive, "Feeling comfortable in there? Not that it really matters….." he said walking away to his floating platform and getting on, "Admittedly I had to take a little cue from Ursula and her 2 dimwitted underlings in order to orchestrate this little convergence." he said as he rose on it and then over her, "And soon your friends, who are on their way here right now to rescue you as we speak, will soon play into my hands."

Cera narrowed her eyes in thought, "So it was a trap like last time. I knew something wasn't right the moment we arrived here.…." she said recalling what happened on the day she first met the D Team.

"Correct, you catch on quite fast." Seth clapped praising her, "However, unlike the last time, the….surprises I've prepared for them are now heavily encrypted with the highest level of security possible." he said pressing a few buttons on his console where the 2 alpha scanners he brought with him were plugged in, "Meaning you won't be able to hack your way out of your little cage nor do anything to save your friends this time."

"Grrr…." Cera clenched her hand into her fist and gritted her teeth.

"Be thankful you wont be able to see what's going on." he said, "Although I'm sure being unable to see their torment won't matter if you'll be able to hear every one of their cries of pain and anguish wouldn't it?"

Cera widened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat at his words before she yelled out in defiance, "They won't lose! Whatever you have planned will fail! They'll stop you and get me and Miku out of this horrible trap! You hear me!? You won't get away with this!" she screamed.

Seth then smirked unconvinced, "Heh, we'll soon see about that shall we?" he said as he pressed a button causing her capture pod to rise up in the air, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have preparations to make, so sit tight while I prepare the perfect stage for your friends' defeat." he said as he took off in another direction till he was out of sight.

"Grrr!" Cera soon knew he was leaving to prepare upon realising the silence that came, "HEY! Don't you walk away from me!" she yelled banging against the sides of the pod with all her might an screaming out at the top of her lungs, "Let me out!" Her cares echoed from within her pod and barely through the room of the base…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Are you sure this is the way!?" Rex yelled out frantically to Zoe as she lead the boys down the straight pathway as fast as they could, in fact Zoe was running faster than normal that even Chomp and the others had trouble keeping up, and for good reason too.

"I think so, that's where I saw the pod that took her go." she said to Rex as she sweated anxiously, "It's a straight line so we should be on the right track."

"I sure hope you're right….." said Rex as he soon took notice of Zoe's guilt which was eating her alive from the inside out.

"Oh this is all my fault….how could I let this happen to her?" she breathed as Max came up to her as they ran.

"Easy Zoe, it wasn't your fault." he said.

"Yeah, none of us could have expected this." Rex followed, "Besides, you would have done the same if your positions were reversed right?"

"Yeah that's true…." she said lowering her head, "But if anything happens to her I can't ever forgive myself…."

"We'll find her." said Max to her assuringly as they soon saw a light up ahead. As they came through they found themselves in what appeared to be a docking area for submarines, with a large platform they were standing on leading to a set of stairs and higher platforms while the side was a large channel of water which lead out into the main bay and outside.

"Looks like this is the end of the road." said Max as they looked around to find it completely empty and nothing in sight except a barren area and water to their side of them.

"But still no sign of Cera anywhere….." said Rex as he and their dinosaurs too kept a sharp eye and senses on high alert.

Upon seeing the room was completely empty, Zoe's heart began to race and she turned weak and almost pale, "Oh no did she get taken….." she breathed falling to her knees in despair, as the others turned to her in alarm.

"Don't say that Zoe! We'll get her back!" Max responded as he took her by the hand and looked her in the eye, "I promise!"

"Max…." she breathed feeling reenergised with hope by his words as she stood up again with confidence and energy.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep boy." a voice suddenly said catching them by surprise.

"Ah!" As they all looked up at where the voice came from, they widened their eyes in surprise to see a hovercraft float down from a hole in the roof, piloting it was an all too familiar face….

"Nice of you 3 to drop by, I've been waiting patiently." said Seth with a sinister smile on his face.

"You!"

"Seth!" Zoe and Max yelled angrily.

"So this was a trap all along wasn't it!?" Rex added feeling on edge to see the evil man once more.

"Your friend picked up on that much quicker than you lot." Seth scoffed before sporting a rather unsettling expression, "Speaking of her though." Snapping his fingers, a large pink pod descended slowly from the opening in the roof, which had the alpha logo on it and was shaped with a rounded egg shape on top with 3 yellow spikes at the bottom with a engine thruster at the bottom which powered down as it landed on the ground gently.

Show the pod lowering down

"Ah! That's the thing that swallowed up Cera!" Zoe cried out as the others widened their eyes in alarm.

"Say what!?" Max and Rex gasped before turning to the pod in front.

"Cera! Are you in there!?" Max then screamed as loud as he could.

Inside Cera opened her eyes and blinked, "Huh? That voice…." She then banged on the side of the pod with her fists frantically, "Max! Rex! Zoe! Are you out there!?" she cried as Miku squawked as loud as she could in distress from inside!

"Ah! She's alright!"

"Why of course she is." Seth replied, "She's far too important to be wasted on the likes of you, that's why I've decided to take her, where I'll put her secrets to good use." he said raising out his arms, "To pave forth a grand future for dinosaurs and I'll be the one to usher in this new age!" he proclaimed loudly.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Max yelled shaking his fist in anger, "We'll never let someone like you use the dinosaurs as mere lab rats to experiment on!"

"And we'll never let you use our friend Cera for something so despicable!" Rex shouted.

"You better let her go right now or else!" Zoe threatened.

"Hmph, bold words." Seth scoffed in response, "Let's see if you can truly back them up." he smirked pressing a button on one of the alpha scanners, a burst of water erupted from the bay next to them! Rising out of the water and onto the land platform was a familiar blue sauropod with yellow side spikes sticking out!

The D Team widened their eyes recognising it instantly, "It's ampelosaurus!" Max gasped taking a step back.

Without warning a wall nearby was then broken down catching the D Team off guard!

"Ah!"

"What now!?" They quickly turned to look.

As the dust cleared, a purple plated dinosaur emerged from the whole created as it roared and flared out its' massive tail spikes fiercely! "And stegosaurus too!" Zoe gasped recognising it.

Both dinosaurs regrouped side by side with one another, as a pair of dark red alpha balls appeared out of nowhere and hovered around them both.

"So those were the dinosaurs the detector picked up…." said Rex as he clenched his fist and hardened his gaze seriously, "And our signals being jammed….no doubt it was because of him…."

"We played right into his hands…." Zoe hissed under her breath as Max gritted his teeth in anger and frustration.

"Grrgh…."

Seth then smirked seeing no doubt he had the upper hand this time around and he intended to press his advantage even further, "I'm feeling quite generous today, so I'll make you a fair deal." he said calmly to them.

Max raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Deal?"

"I don't like the sound of this…." said Rex out loud while Zoe narrowed her eyes. Cera could tell something bad was going on outside, and it frustrated her that she didn't know anything nor could she do anything to help her friends. TO be stuck helplessly as a hostage frustrated her deeply.

"For the past few days I've been enhancing these 2 dinosaurs with the most advanced modifications I've ever implemented, right down to the cellular level or perhaps even their bones." said Seth gesturing to his 2 dinosaurs as they roared out loud, "And now I see a perfect opportunity to test how far they've come." he then said eying the D Team.

The D Team widened their eyes in alarm, "Modifications!?" They exclaimed.

"How dare he…." Cera narrowed her eyes, thought they couldn't see anything she and Miku could barely hear the voices of the dinosaurs, in pain and suffering under the influence of Seth's experiments and the alpha balls used to prevent them from rebelling or going berserk. Truly out of all the alpha gang he was no doubt the most heartless of them all.

"If you can defeat these two, I'll consider releasing your friend back to you." continued Seth as he smirked in response, "Fail, and not only do I keep her, but I'll also get your dinosaurs and your stones too." He said using his arms out, "After all I'm always looking for new test subjects to improve upon and I'm more than willing to help even your dinosaurs unlock their true potential."

"Grrr!" That was the last straw for the D Team as they armed themselves.

"Forget it you maniac! That'll never happen!" Max yelled.

"We're not going to be taking part in your horrible experiment at all!"

"Yeah! Instead we'll be taking Cera back and those dinosaurs too!" Zoe and Rex followed as there dinosaurs became agitated and shook with rage, "You won't be hurting them anymore after today!"

They returned all their partners to their cards and slashed them in unison, "Dino slash!"

"Triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!" All 3 of their dinosaurs soon took to the field and roared at their opponents who readied for battle!

"Ready guys!?" said Max looking to Zoe and Rex, "Let's save Cera!"

"Right!" Rex nodded.

"Wait!" Zoe then yelled stopping the boys from charging in. She then hardened her expression mixed with guilt and anger, "I'm the one who lost her, so I'll do it!"

"Zoe…." Max and Rex eyed her understandably as Paris stepped forward while Chomp and Ace backed off.

"Sit tight Cera and Miku! I'll get you back!" Zoe swore out loud as she slashed a move card, "Metal wing!" Paris roared and vowed green as the 3 pteranodons swooped out and began to charge at the 2 enemy dinosaurs.

Seth grinned having anticipated this, "Nice try, but I can see that coming a mile away." he said slashing a move card on 1 scanner, "Spike arrows!" In response, stegosaurus roared as the back plates surged with energy and raising its tail it fired a rapid barrage of spikes from its tail! They shot out fast like a machine gun, quickly dispersing the 3 pteranodons before they could get into a dive bomb formation! They swooped around with speed and agility but the stegosaurus was relentless as it continued firing a never-ending barrage of projectiles! Eventually shining its tail around, the flurry of spikes shot out in all directions, shooting down all 3 pteranodons as they fell from the sky and returned together as a single card!

"Oh no!" Zoe gasped as her move card floated back down. Running over to pick them up-

"Zoe watch out!"

"Get back now!" He friends yelled frantically as she looked up to see the spike arrows coming at her next!

"Ah!" She ran back in time, but soon the stegosaurus aimed its' tail at Paris' feet and soon backed her up against the back wall with a barrier of spikes surrounding her on all sides to keep her at bay and preventing her from getting any closer! "Ah! Paris!" She cried out loud seeing she was trapped.

"With that we'll keep things fair." said Seth to them as Rex and Max eyed him angrily, "2 on 2."

Rex then narrowed his eyes, "Those spikes were moving way faster than the last time I remember…." he thought, "Seth no doubt must have made their moves stronger too…."

"How very perceptive." he answered proud of himself, "And now you'll see first hand how much stronger they have become!" he announced as Ampelosaurus charged ahead at Chomp and the stegosaurus at Ace!

The stegosaurus lashed out its' tail and Ace was only barely able to dodge the spiked end in time! The Ampelosaurus swung out its' tail and knocked Chomp over, but determinedly he pushed himself back up and charged again as the ampelosaurus rammed its head in between his horns as they met in a standoff!

"As they say nothing is perfect and there's always room for improvement." said Seth as he marvelled at the progress his dinosaurs were showing from a safe distance, "Although, with the way my research is progressing, perhaps perfection won't be a mere fantasy for long."

"Fat chance!" Max yelled shaking his fist at the blue haired man, "If anything what you're doing is tampering with nature and twisting it to suit the way you want it!"

"Tampering? I call it improving upon nature." Seth scoffed shrugging his shoulders, "Then again I suppose those with no vision can never comprehend such genius."

Chomp charged again, but this time the Ampelosaurus shifted sides and swung its back spikes at him as they both met in a tie, creating a shockwave which rattled the land and water! They did so again, colliding a second time, but Chomp soon began to push forward with all his might, determined to save his trappedfriends!

"Keep it up Chomp! You've got him on the ropes!" Max cheered joyfully.

Ace meanwhile leapt over the stegosaurus' tail then before it could bring it in again for another swipe, Ace swung out his own tail to knock his foe off balance as it stumbled back and shook its' head in disorientation!

"That's the way to go!" Rex cheered.

"You've got this you guys!" Zoe cried out as Paris bellowed a cheer at their end.

Cera smirked inside her pod knowing what those calls meant, "Heh, looks like Seth's plan isn't falling into place, it's falling into pieces now." she chuckled as Miku chirped in happiness.

Seeing how his dinosaurs were now beginning to lose, Seth then scowled in disappointment, "Hmph, enough playing the odds." he said as he began to type a few buttons on his console before his malicious smirk returned, "It's time to make and manipulate them." He then added before pressing a big red button. A set of floating spiked mines ejected from the lower compartment of his hovercraft which then moved over to where Chomp was, and a floating mech erupted from the water which flew on top of Ace!

The D Team were taken aback by the unexpected development, "Huh!?"

"What's that!?" Rex gasped looking to see the mech float ontop of Ace before firing a set of waves onto him! He roared in pain before suddenly turning into a small grey dinosaur plush toy with orange spikes on its' head! "Wh…What the!?" Rex exclaimed unable to comprehend what he saw.

"Typical Laura…." Seth mused bringing a finger to his chin in thought, "Unusual but no less effective." he then shrugged it off as stegosaurus swung out its' tail and sent the plushie into the wall and as it slumped back down, Ace lay down heavily battered!

"ACE!" Rex then screamed for his partner as the carnotaurus struggled to get back on his feet.

As Chomp charged and clashed in a tie with ampelosaurus once more, the bombs suddenly exploded in his face, using him to back away in pain as the ampelosaurus suddenly swept him off his feet and rammed him into the wall after charging at his chest! "Oh no Chomp!" Max cried out in alarm.

"Rod's invention however may prove useful yet." Seth thought pleased as Chomp kicked his legs out and swung his head forward, knocking his opponent back a bit!

The D Team then turned over to Seth angrily, "Hey! How dare you!?"

"Using your devices to throw us off, didn't think you'd play dirty like the other Alpha gang!" They yelled filled with anger.

"Dirty?" Seth questioned, "Ha, who are you to look down on me?" he then laughed in amusement, "Did you really think I'd leave things to chance and let you leave victoriously? You truly are children if you think I'd ever stoop low to your childish level of play." he said much to the irritation of the D Team as they eyed him with disgust and frustration.

"Grrr!"

"Unforgivable…." Though Cera couldn't see what was going on she could tell Seth was no doubt playing dirty, using the devices he said he encrypted no less. She knew she had to get out there, as she tackled the inside of her pod as hard as she could but to no avail, "GARGH! Let me out!" she screamed from inside.

As Ace began to stagger and the stegosaurus approached him, Rex gritted his teeth knowing he couldn't hold back anymore, "Then we'll just have to finish this now!" he growled taking a move card and slashing it, "Ninja attack!" Ace glowed and prepared to rush forward, but suddenly the mech flew ontop of where he was again!

"Can't have that now can we?" Seth snickered as he pressed the button once more, which turned Ace into a plush toy once more!

"Oh no!" Rex gasped seeing Ace was helpless again!

"You're done for now! Earthquake!" Seth yelled slashing the move card. Stegosaurus bellowed rearing up and slamming on the ground, creating a massive crack in the earth as the dino plush fell in between! As Ace tore himself out, it came too late as the chasm then closed in on him! Crushing him in between as he cried out in pain and turning back into a card!

"Ace! No!" Rex cried.

"Now for you!" Seth yelled turning to Max and Chomp.

"Grr!" Max gritted his teeth in anger seeing he and Chomp were alone now.

"Shockwave!" Ampelosaurus roared as a veil of water erupted and swirled around it before shooting it out and enveloping Chomp! Suffocating him as he struggled for air! "And aqua vortex!" Seth followed up as Ampelosaurus bellowed reading up on its' hind legs and causing a massive veil of water to erupt and swirl around Chomp! Twisting and turning him around before he lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground and returning to card form!

"Chomp!" As they both rushed in to grab their cards they quickly looked back in horror to see ampelosaurus and stegosaurus were now converging on the now trapped Paris!

"And then there was one….." said Seth darkly as his dinosaurs roared out fiercely and Paris was further backed into the corner feeling overwhelmed and fearful!

"Oh no!" Max gasped as he and Rex yelled out.

"Hey! Stop! Leave them alone!" Their cried fell on deaf ears as Zoe sweated anxiously and stepped back feeling trapped, helpless, terrified and unable to do a thing now….

"Nowhere to run now, you all might as well give up and surrender, you can't win!" he yelled as Zoe gritted her teeth hard feeling overwhelmed!

"Urgh…." Thoughts and fears of failing the D Team and that they were doomed now began to paralyse her from moving as Seth smiled darkly seeing he had her right where she wanted him!

Seeing how she was falling into despair, Max and Rex sweated and began to worry before trying to shout out to her, "N…Never!"

"Don't quit Zoe! We have to keep fighting for Cera's sake!" They cried hoping to motivate her to keep trying!

Seth however scoffed at their attempts, "Keep fighting? Ha! You can't even defend yourselves? What can you do on your own?" he laughed out loud with the intention of breaking their last hope's spirit, "Face it, you've failed!"

Max and Rex both felt their anger and spite for Seth reaching their peak upon hearing his mocking and how he intended to get away with what he had done to them and so much more, "How dare you!?"

"You're the worst!" They yelled, but tensed up as the enemy dinosaurs closed in on Paris, who looked around but saw no way of possible escaping from her predicament!

Meanwhile Zoe, who was kneeling down on the ground began to tear up and blaming herself for everything that was happening to them now, "It was all my fault we were in this mess….if I had looked out for myself….and Cera we wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place…" She sniffled bitterly as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, "Grrgh…" She was about to give up and believe all hope was lost, when-

"Zoe!" Cera then cried out from the pod catching her attention, "I believe in you! I just know that there's something you can do!"

"That's right!" Max followed supporting Zoe all the way, "We've been in tighter spots before and we made it out, this isn't any different!"

"We know you can do it! As long as one of us still stands there's always hope!" Rex cheered put, " And we're with you the whole way!"

"Now pick yourself up and kick his butt!" They all cheered in unison snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Ah!" She then opened her eyes widely, feeling inspired and moved, "Cera and others still have faith in me and Paris….they're really counting on us…." Her expression turned serious and filled with determination, "Then I won't let her down!" she cried out as Paris roared and broke through the spike arrow barrier before leaping onto the battlefield once more! As Zoe opened her dinoholder to pick a move card, she then saw one new one she hadn't seen before, "This card?" She picked it out and took a closer look at it, "I've never seen it before….wait!" before pondering over what it was or how it gone in her deck, she then recalled earlier in the morning how Cera was sorting out her deck…..

She was unsure what it could do, but the fact remains it was all or nothing now and her hand was no doubt forced. "I've got nothing left to lose now." She thought closing her eyes in thought, her instincts telling her to trust in Cera and play the card. "You asked what can I do on my own?" She said to Seth before yelling out at him, "The best I can! Go! Two Platoon crush!" She announced as she slashed the card with all her might! Paris then roared out enveloped in an aura of leaves, suddenly supersaurus appeared from one end of the room from the aura of leaves and seismosaurus slammed down at the other end! As they both came in, surrounding stegosaurus and Ampelosaurus they were backed up agint one another as both dinosaurs bellowed lowly shaking the entirety of the room itself and causing rocks to fall from the ceiling!

"Whoa!" The D team all gasped at the immense power before them.

"Seismosaurus and supersaurus together!?" Zoe knew the card was special but had no either it would yield such a result!

"AAAAAHHH!" Cera screamed inside the pod with Miku clinging onto her tightly as they were shaken up by the shockwaves from outside. Hearing the cries of supersaurus and seismosaurus from outside, she could only confirm one thing, "Did she play that card?" She asked herself before looking out, "Really wish I could see what was going on," she then smirked with confidence, "But I know it'll be something great."

Seth widened his eyes and gasped speechlessly at what he was witnessing with his own eyes, "Wh…what trickery is this!?" he stuttered feeling overwhelmed by the presence of both giant sauropods!

Both of them lowered their heads down and roared in anger at both enemy dinosaurs before slamming hard down on the ground! Their combined shockwave sent both stegosaurus and ampelosaurus into the air and as they were about to fall down again, the 2 of them were crushed in between both their long necks! The force of the impact shook the land itself as both enemy dinosaurs coughed out a final breath in defeat before falling back down to the ground, returning both to their dinosaur cards!

"I…I did it…." Zoe breathed in amazement as both titans bellowed out in triumph, "I actually did it! Way to go Paris!" she cried out as Paris trumpeted out loud in victory!

"That was…incredible…." Max an Rex were both speechless beyond belief at what they witnessed with their own eyes before leaping up for joy! "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Alright! Way to go Zoe!" Rex grinned knowing she could pull it off.

"They did it…." Cera smiled inside her pod knowing the cheers outside meant something great happened and that they won.

The only one in the room who wasn't pleased by the unexpected turn of events was Seth, who exploded in anger and rage, "NO! Impossible!" he screamed slamming his hands on the console, unable to comprehend how they could have overpowered his weeks of experimentation in a single move. He then took a breath and calmed down as he began to contemplate the situation a little more rationally, "Such power….They could never have acquired such strength on their own…." He then looked down to the pod where Cera was held captive inside, "It must have been her. There can be no other explanation…." he then gritted his teeth knowing despite losing the battle he was still the real winner here as he prepared to leave with his prize, "They may have won the battle but they-" Looking up he widened his eyes as a massive tail swing out at him! "AH!" he gasped as he swooped away from seismosaurus' attack on him in time, a second later and he knew his head would've been taken off!

As he recovered from his shock, he gritted his teeth in frustration at the D Team as they set their sights on him next!

"Now give us back Cera now!"

"We won, now hand her back or else!" Max and Rex each yelled, but Zoe had another idea.

"Actually on second thought, we'll be taking her back!" She raised out her arm as Paris let out a loud sonic boom from her crest which caused the rest of the tie bombs, as well as the dino stuffer mech to explode upon overloading! The sounds also began to short out his hovercraft, as he pulled away desperately to keep out of the noise range!

"GRRRGH!" he gritted his teeth as the sound rattled his ears, forcing him to retreat over the water surface where they couldn't follow!

"And these!" Rex yelled as he and Max ran over to grab the stegosaurus and ampelosaurus cards lying on the ground!

Paris' sonic waves also caused the locks on Cera's prison pod to short out, as it soon opened and Cera tumbled forward, exhausted and still drenched!

"AH!"

"Look!" They pointed out catching sight of their now freed friend!

"Urgh…." she groaned weakly with Miku pecking at her face hoping she would wake up.

"Cera!" They all quickly rushed over to her side upon seeing her now out!

Rex then got up to her face and checked her before sighing with relief, "She's alright…."

"Phew, thank goodness…." Zoe and Max felt a weight lifted from them knowing she was unharmed.

They all then sported serious expressions before directing their anger now on the man responsible for this, "Now for Seth." Max then pointed out at him, "You tortured dinosaurs then kidnapped our friend! Get ready because you're going to pay for what you did!" He yelled out as Paris let out a furious bellow, followed by both titan sauropods who were present with her.

"….." Seeing there was nothing he could do about the outcome of this battle, Seth calmly closed his eyes as his hovercraft backed further away from them so they couldn't reach him, "Very well then, there's no sense in fighting a battle that's already been lost." he said disappointed but calm nevertheless, "I'll let you go this time, but mark my words, as long as you have what I want, this battle was merely the beginning." He said sporting a sinister smirk at them before pressing a button on his hovercraft. "But for now, farewell." As he did, an alpha fish submarine with a large sharp teeth front emerged from the water as he entered through the top hatch and began to submerge again!

"Hey you get back here!" Max yelled angrily as he ran over to the edge, only to see the dark shadow of the submarine had vanished completely much to the D Team's frustration.

"He's gone…." said Rex narrowing his eyes as Max punched a fist in his palm.

"Rats…."

Zoe narrowed her eyes seeing that their enemy had escaped, but then smiled seeing they got what they came here for, being Cera back and the dinosaur cards. Before she could say anymore, the entire room began to shake and the ceiling began crumbling down!

"Huh!?" Looking around they could tell the floor was becoming unstable after the battle they just had and soon the whole base would cave in on them!

"Forget about him Max!" Rex yelled to his friend, "Right now we need to get out of here before it's too late!"

"Y…Yeah…." he said uneasily as they went back to regroup with Cera and Zoe, who had just recalled their dinosaurs back to card form!

"You okay Cera?" asked Max as he helped her stand up and she opened her eyes groggily.

"A little shaky after that experience…but okay…." she said weekly as the others nodded glad to hear that.

"Good, now let's get out of here." said Rex as they all pressed a button on their devices and teleported away in a glow of light, seconds before the entire ceiling collapsed on them and the floor cracked apart and became swallowed up but the water!

 **(Meanwhile)**

As Seth rode in the submarine back to Zeta Point his expression hardened rather seriously, "I may have lost 2 of my dinosaurs, but it's a small setback and nothing more." he said as he pressed a button on his screen which depicted recordings of the battle as well as the power levels generated by each of the D Team's dinosaurs, and even detecting areas of weakness in their formations and movements, "With the battle data I gained I'll be able to improve saurophaganax even further than ampelosaurus and stegosaurus ever could, so the experiment was still a success." he said to himself as another thought crossed his mind, "Also, there's that other matter to attend to…." He soon recalled knowing that the move card used to defeat his powered up dinosaurs at the same time exhibited far more power than any other move card that he had come across. Also, it was one he didn't know of, and he soon smirked sinisterly knowing full well the only explanation where it could have originated from, "That girl Cera may in fact prove more useful to my research than I first imagined….hehehehe….." he chuckled to himself in amusement.

 **(That night)**

Late that night, right after the D Team returned home after their near brush with defeat, they quickly rushed over to the Pet Town animal hospital where Chomp and Ace were resting rather peacefully on the medical beds as Mr and Mrs Drake were seen inside looking after them by tying bandages around their wounds or sore limbs. They all refused to come for dinner and said they'd rather stay and wait at Zoe's place till they were all better, even if it took all night, much to the relief of Aki and Spike after confirming that they were all safe with no injuries themselves. As much as they didn't want to keep secrets from their parents they knew full well if they told them the whole truth about Cera being kidnapped and the fight they had to go through to get her back. they knew it would crush them completely,which wasn't easy of them to hold in.

The one who felt most hurt though was Cera herself, as she stared through the glass teary eyed at what her friends went through to save her and Miku, how she brought it all on them and couldn't do a thing about it. Their partners had suffered deeply and now they lay to be operated on in the hospital room, as she and the others stared through the glass, Miku sat at the side in deep thought, with Paris pacing back and forth, stopping only to look at the medical door waiting for news about her friends in there before continuing again. Hours had passed and still they waited, not even leaving the window view for a second as they stayed by their partners' sides as they looked weakly back at them, feeling safe and secure knowing the D Team would never abandon them.

Before long as the 2 dinosaurs slept soundly under the blankets on the medical beds, both of Zoe's parents soon stepped out of the exam room and they all hurried to them, "Hey Dr Drake?" Cera asked with a heavy heart, something shared between her and the others, "Are they-"

Dr Drake smiled and shook his head, "They'll be fine Cera," he said as the D Team all let out a deep breath they held in, "After a good night's rest they'll be back to normal in no time. I promise you that." he said with an expression assurance.

"They're young and strong, they'll heal very quickly." his wife followed with a nod as Max let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness for that…." he breathed as the others mired his expression.

"You should be thanking Cera, in fact that new massage therapy she recommended to us the other day really does work wonders!" Dr Drake chuckled out, "Though it may potentially eliminate the use for my precious mega needle but all that matters is helping to treat sick or injured animals in need." he added before letting out a cough realising the situation at hand.

"We have to get something," said Mrs Drake as she and her husband started heading to the backdoor, "So we'll leave you alone for a bit."

"But do refrain from going into the operating room, Chomp and Ace are still recuperating, so we advise you not to awaken them." added her husband as the D Team nodded back.

"Of course Dr Drake." said Cera obediently.

Rex then bowed, "Thank you, we really wouldn't know what to do without you." he said gratefully as Dr Drake put a hand on the blond boy's shoulder.

"Don't mention it Rex." he said with a smile, "As a doctor it's my duty to help all animals in need. I'm only glad to be able to help you all in the end."

As they left through the door, Cera looked inside to see Chomp and Ace sleeping soundly, before being her chance to bow down to everyone apologetically much to their surprise all a sudden. "I'm so sorry you guys…." she said weakly and feeling guilty, "I….can't help but feel responsible for what happened today…."

Her friends' eyes widened in shock at her words, "Don't say that Cera!" Rex cried.

"Yeah, it wasn't your fault at all." Max followed.

"It's mine for letting you get captured earlier." said Zoe with a sad expression on her face, "If I had been more careful we wouldn't have had to fight to get you back." she clenching her fist and looking away guilty herself, as Cera sighed understandably.

"Zoe…." That still didn't change the fact they went through a lot of trouble because of her.

"No you're wrong Zoe." said Max firmly as they all looked to him, "If anyone's to blame it's Seth. He did this to our friends and he won't get away with it." he said gritting his teeth and punching a hand into his palm.

Rex narrowed his eyes firmly with Zoe, "Yeah, and you can bet on it." he said.

Cera then thought about it for a moment before speaking up, "He said that as long as he has what he wants, this was just round one," she said suspecting it was probably the cards or the stones, or maybe, after what he said to her during their past encounters ….her…."Whatever it is, no doubt he'll be back again…." she breathed at the end.

"And we'll be ready for him next time." said Max clenching his fist, "No matter what he has planned for the dinosaurs, we'll be there to stop him and the alpha gang once and for all."

"That's right, and as long as we stick together we'll never lose." said Rex firmly as everyone nodded together.

"Mhmm."

Despite their pledge together, inside her heart Cera felt very conflicted and responsible for everything today. In fact, it wasn't just her but Miku as well, as they looked into one another's eyes away from the D Team. Looking to each other, the pari felt that with the situation now dire, they may have only one choice now….

 **(Later)**

After a nicely cooked dinner courtesy of Cera and Mrs Drake, the entire D Team spent the night over at at the Drake household, wanting to be with their partners to the end. Everyone was sleeping soundly in pairs, with Max and Rex in the guest room and Zoe and Cera together in another. At least it seemed that way, as Cera who wasn't really sleeping, soon got out from under her covers. Looking to the desk where Miku's little bed was, she saw the little microraptor hop up and eying her firmly as she hopped into her hand and onto her shoulder and they went outside, quietly so they wouldn't wake anyone.

A little while later, the pair stepped out of the Pet Town animal hospital front entrance, with Cera carrying a backpack full of supplies. As they did, Miku sighed and chirped sadly lowering her head as Cera then stroked her gently, "I'm sad too Miku…." she said to her, "But this is for the best…." She then turned around to look at the veterinary clonic once more, with a heavy heart she took a deep breath as she said what might possibly be her final goodbyes, "I suppose…this may be the last time we'll see this house….this town…." she said as tears of sadness dripped from her eyes, but also of joy for she had no regrets at all either as the memories from her starting line in Sanjo City flooded back to her like a tsunami, to meeting the D Team and all the adventures, bonds and experiences they shared not only as friends or even a team, but as a family, "It seems like so long ago that we came here with Max and the others. "We've made so many memories here already, memories I'll treasure in my heart forever." she said as she nodded down with respect and gratefulness, "Thank you…and goodbye…You've been a fantastic home for me and Miku. But most importantly….everyone….You'll always be my most irreplaceable friends…." she said as she began to step away and walk down the street, "Where the road will take me now, I don't know….But I do hope, we may cross paths again one day…." she said to herself as she and Miku headed down the path to one final stop.

At the D Lab, the entire facility was shut down for the night to save energy, but the front doors soon opened, and stepping outside with Cera, holding her dinoshot as she began to dial on it, "Alright, now to see if this thing really works….." she said to herself before she started to glow around her, like they normally did at the teleporter as she smiled with happiness, "Yes….It does…." she said her final words in sheer joy before disappearing in the light and teleporting away.

 **And thus concludes chapter 18, Cera now realising her presence will be a danger to the D Team decides to leave for a while to go on her own path and journey on her own mini arc. Don't worry she won't disappear from the picture she'll still be around here and there too as you'll soon see. Since Seth never really used stegosaurus and ampelosaurus since he got them wanted to address their fate here before ending up on the side of the D Team better.**

 **Also wanted to introduce more concepts and throwbacks from the arcade, for example the tie bomb being Rod's invention and wanted to include dino stuffer too, made it Laura's since it kinda fits her personality. There will be more alpha weapons in a later chapter too. Also the red alpha balls for stegosaurus and ampelosaurus are the ones that appear in the arcade game 'Alpha exam'. The pod that trapped Cera was the same one used to capture Rex in D Team vs the Alpha Fortress.**

 **Wanted a military base to be the stage for this chapter and wanted one that would be water related too, hope I got my research right for the submarine base, correct me if I am wrong. Hope you enjoyed it!**

 **In response to reviews**

 **pokemonking0924**

 **-In terms of number of words, Game On! is actually my longest. But yeah this does come at a close second and took longer to write. Wanted to give development on Ace since he didn't show any fear of water in season 2. Hope you also enjoyed what Aki did upon finding out, wanted it to be a gradual development too. Also Helga's actions were taken from a funny book I read when I was a kid, called Amelia Bedelia, and it made me laugh too. Since Dr Z shocked the trio with lightning rods thought maybe he try something different but just as torturous too. They used the hamster wheel in Maui Owie as well.**

 **Drew Luczynksi**

 **-Glad you like the message, wonder how you'll be addressing her addressing her worries about the dinosaurs and the kids in your own story.**


	19. Hunters become the hunted

Chapter 19

Hunters become the Hunted

On one of the large volcanic islands of Indonesia, the island of Komodo to be precise, all was peaceful and calm as a deer browsed on a nearby bush and some wild boar nearby were foraging, digging up roots or grubs in the soil, till one of them managed to unearth an unusual egg shaped rock, except it was made of metal. One boar sniffed it before knocking it against a tree and it smashed open revealing a pair of cards inside, one being an ornithopod dinosaur. The smashing of the egg shook the tree, causing a few leaves to fall from it down to the floor, some covering the cards which then caused them to glow green in response!

The bright glow started the animals and sent them packing into the jungle, as a small green camptosaurus took form. Looking around it sniffed the air for food before settling to browse at a bush. As it began munching green leaves its senses became blind to danger lurking behind it in the underbrush, as a set of carnivorous reptilian eyes locked onto it while it was distracted. Locking onto their target, something large and fast darted out from the bushes, opening its jaws widely they snapped on the unwary dinosaur's leg!

As the sharp teeth sank into its' limb, the camptosaurus let out a holler of pain and agony, its echoing cries of pain sent several animals running in fear through the forest and out onto the open plains, and birds flying out from the forest!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Pet Town animal hospital, Max and Rex slept soundly in their guest room together under the covers. As Rex slept peacefully on his end on the bed, Max rolled over till his arm hung over the side and he was drooling while muttering out various words in his sleep, "Hehe…..yes mom I'd like a really big and juicy steak for dinner thank you…..Zzzzz" Little did either of them know, was that Chomp and Ace had both wandered into their rooms, having just woken up from a good night's sleep they were excited and couldn't wait to start the new day with their partners, who apparently were still tuckered out and in dreamland after their skirmish with Seth the other day.

Chomp jumped up onto the bed and began digging at Max who covered his head under the blanket, pawing on him but to little avail as it only served to make Max pull the covers over him more. Scowling in annoyance, Chomp leapt down to the floor and tugged at the blanket, urging Ace to help him as they both yanked the covers off, exposing Max lying on the bed with his butt sticking up! Seeing little choice, also feeling tempted himself, Chomp opened his mouth wide before taking a big bite out of Max's bare behind!

CHOMP!

"YOW!" Max screamed as he jumped out of bed and ran around rubbing his sore and throbbing butt, while Rex shot up straight out of bed in alarm!

"Huh!? Wh…what the!?" he cried out looking about frantically having been woken up suddenly and almost getting a heart attack!

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Max cried out, his face tensing up with pain and cringing deeply as he rubbed his sore backside, before an expression of rage and anger soon replaced it, "Who just bit me!?" he demanded as he looked down to see Chomp and Ace staring back at him, and Rex crawled out of bed to stand by his friend's side. Max then gritted his teeth angrily and tensed up "What'd you do that for Chomp!? I was in the middle of a great dream and-" his anger soon subsided when he and Rex suddenly widened their eyes in realisation, "Wait a minute, Chomp?" Max blinked his eyes before finally seeing his buddy was now fully recovered, as he ran around him and barked with excitement! "Chomp!" Max cheered with relief and happiness as he opened his arms widely and the yellow triceratops jumped into them! "Oh Chomp you're okay!" he cheered rubbing his face on his beloved partner's.

"He sure is Max." Rex smiled feeling happy for him, before realising he was forgetting someone important himself as he looked down, "Ah! Ace!" he cheered as Ace leapt into his arms and licked his face with joy, "Hahaha! Stop that! It tickles!" Rex laughed as he petted his partner's head gently.

"Oh buddy! So good to see you again!" Max laughed before looking back at Chomp with eyes glistening with hope before hugging him close, vowing to never let him go through something so horrible ever again.

"Glad you're back to your old self too Ace." Rex added feeling just as relieved as Max was for his partner as he let him down on the floor, "You really had us worried there…" As he finished both he and Chomp jumped up and down in excitement and barked before running around the room actively, leaving Max and Rex both at a loss for words, "Wow, Mrs Drake wasn't kidding when she said you guys would recover quick." Rex whistled impressed.

"Must be a dinosaur thing Rex." Max replied as his friend nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, maybe."

Right at that very moment, Zoe suddenly barged into the room, startling the boys as she panted exhaustedly, still in her PJs and with her hair still down and messy, "Max! Rex!" she gasped taking them by surprise.

Both boys blinked at her surprised to see her so uneasy and exhausted first thing in the morning, "H…Hey Zoe…."

"What's up?" They both asked.

Zoe however quickly ran straight up over to the brunette and looked him in the eye, "Max, it's an emergency! Have you seen Cera!?"

"C…Cera?" he gulped feeling uneasy to see her stare into his eyes so closely and he backed away, "Umm no I haven't. I just woke up." he responded scratching his cheek while Rex observed the situation carefully, feeling something was up.

"Go check the house quick! It's urgent that you do so now!" she then demanded as she turned to rush out of the room.

"Okay okay! Sheesh what's gotten you all so uptight this morning?" Max hissed in annoyance at her demanding attitude all of a sudden, and for ruining their moments with their now recovered partners.

Wha she had to say though caught them all by surprise, "Because Cera's gone missing!" she cried out as both boys widened their eyes in shock!

"Say what!?" they exclaimed together.

 **(Later)**

A while later, after the D Tea searched the house high and low they could find no trace or sign of Cera present no matter how hard they tried. Realising how much more significant the problem was, they then called together their parents who rushed over to the Animal hospital as fast as they could as soon as they heard the alarming news. Before long, everyone else soon gathered at Zoe's house and now they all sat together in the living room eying the D Team rather seriously or with concern, "Is this true Zoe?" asked Mrs Drake with sadness as the others all eyed her the same way.

Zoe lowered her head unable to keep eye contact with her mom, "Yeah…..I didn't want to believe it either but….it is…." she said choking with each breath, "At least that's the impression I got, when I woke up this morning to check in her…..only to find her room completely empty….." she then reached into her pocket and pulled out a scrap piece of paper which she unfolded, "Along with this note…." looking around to see she was the center of attention, she took a breath readying herself before reading out the letter.

" **Dear friends, no….everyone whom I consider family,**

 **No amount of thanks we can offer can ever be enough to repay you all for the kindness and experiences you have given us these past few weeks. Our time together was short and how much we truly wished it could be longer, but owe you more than we ever could. Which is why it pains us more than anything that we have to say goodbye, after our last mission together, I realise now I care about you too much to keep putting you all in danger.**

 **I've now decided to find my own path now, I understand if this is sudden and you may not be able to forgive me for this, but this is a decision I've made on my own. I sincerely hope our paths do cross again one day, but until that day comes…..I wish you all the best….**

 **Sincerely, Cera and Miku.**

"Cera….." She ended rather slowly and painfully before her hand lost energy and her grip loosened, dropping the sheet of paper as it floated to the ground and landed. The whole room was filled with stunned silence and sorrow was shared between every person present, feeling emotionally touched by Cera's words and unable to comprehend why she would do something so…unthinkable….

"Oh no….." Mrs Taylor covered her mouth in shock as Mrs Drake and Reese lowered their heads sadly looking away.

"Oh Cera….."

"How awful….."

A few of them, even the men were beginning to tear up emotionally after hearing Cera's parting words on the note, before Max however, stood up in anger and punched his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Argh! What was she thinking!?" he growled angrily which shocked everyone as they saw him gritting his teeth and breathing deeply, "How can she just up and disappear like that!? After everything we did for her…..she just leaves without saying goodbye….without saying a word to us….." he said stomping on the ground and then walking over to the wall to punch it, as his fist shook and a tear dropped form his cheek painfully like blood, as the others looked to him sympathetically. Even Chomp didn't have it in him to try and approach his friend in his current state.

"Max….." was all Rex could say as he looked away from his outraged friend and Ace could only look up at him, "If anything, I'd say what happened that day really must have affected her more than we thought…." he said as Zoe looked to him.

"I was here the whole time, if anyone should be blamed for her feeling like this is me." She said lowering her head and Paris went over to nuzzle her, though sensing her partner's sadness caused her to droop down in misery too, "Also, I was the one who made her get caught….Sniff….." she sniffled bitterly, every ounce of her being filled with remorse and regret feeling responsible for putting her close friend in that situation, as her friends Max and Rex came in to comfort her with their presence as well as close friendly embraces.

"There there Zoe…." said Max patting her gently on the back while she sniffled at him.

Rex then reached out and put a hand on her shoulder compassionately, "What happened was beyond our control…." he said wth a light smile, "We can't possibly blame you for what happened."

Zoe sniffled as she wiped away some tears from her eyes before some more filled in to replace them, "I guess but….sniff….it don't make things any better….." she wept before reaching out for a piece of tissue to blow her nose. Their 3 dinosaurs whimpered sadly feeling her pain, before giving way to Aki as she walked in towards her and embraced her in a loving motherly hug.

"It's alright, we're here now sweetie….everything will be alright." she said in a warm soothing tone which made her feel safe and secure, "I'm sure Cera wouldn't blame you either for whatever happened, I just know it." she said looking into Zoe's eyes, who sniffled before smiling lightly herself.

"Th…Thanks Mrs Taylor…." she said thankfully, feeling much better herself. Her change in mood brought smiles to the other members of the family around her seeing that she's already over it now.

Max too was happy for Zoe and the others for a while, before narrowing his eyes and tightening his fists slightly without anyone noticing. In his mind he realised the only one who truly was to blame for this was Seth, no doubt he set his sights on Cera for some reason, no doubt for the knowledge she has on dinosaurs. No doubt she had secrets that even she wasn't aware of, and knowing Seth he'd stop at nothing till he'd get them in order to further his own twisted goals of dinosaur manipulation. He was responsible for driving her to make this decision since she felt they would be in danger if she stuck around, and the thought of it was making him boil up inside as he gritted his teeth, "Grrr….." Chomp too noticed it as well as he hardened his expression in agitation, instincts telling him Seth was someone truly evil.

"What I'm worried about is will she be okay?" Aki then said catching everyone's attention as her own expression became filled with concern, "She's now all alone out there…..I'd hate to imagine what trouble she mouth get into." she added as murmurs of worry echoed between the other members of the family in the room.

Unwilling to give up nor let his friends and family fall into doubt themselves, Max decided to take action as team leader as he then stepped into the center of the group, "Hey," he said as they all looked to him as if he was going to give a big announcement. He then smiled with confidence, "We shouldn't doubt Cera that much, she's tougher than we think, not to mention she has Miku with her too, so she isn't actually alone." he stated looking on the positive side as he looked around to everyone else eying him, "Also she's lived all on her own before we met her, and in my book that's tough, so I'm sure she can take care of herself just fine." he said feeling confident and proud.

Thinking back on his words they all soon realised what he said was very much true, and that Cera was no doubt stronger than any one of them too, for her to make a decision like this meant her resolve and feelings for everyone's wellbeing were even stronger than what they first thought. Rex smiled in agreement with Max as he walked up to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, "You're right Max," he said feeling moved by his speecg, "We shouldn't worry too much about her, it's what she would've wanted from us."

"Yeah that sounds very much like her too." Max nodded.

"But still we should try and find her to make sure she's okay." Rex then spoke up out of concern as Zoe stepped up to the other boys.

"Yeah, I agree with Rex." she said still with some worry but significantly less than before, "In the end she's still 1 person and only 1 little dinosaur. Not that it's bad or anything but….well…." she stuttered looking away.

Unwilling to sit back doing nothing anymore, Aki then stood up before heading to the house phone, "I'll….go notify the authorities," she said walking over to it and dialling, "With them maybe we might be able to at least a better chance of locating her, maybe there'll be a witness who's seen her too."

"You do that Aki, in fact I'll help you out on that." said Mr Drake standing up next, "I'll go see if I can print some Missing Posters, with any luck someone might have seen her and then get back with us."

"I'll help you with that dear." Mrs Drake followed as they went upstairs to the computer to plan and design an appropriate poster, even considering whether a reward should be put up if Cera gets found by anyone else.

"In the meantime," Spike added as he got up feeling emotionally moved by the children's words and the drama that played out before his eyes, which were more emotionally filled and touching than any soap opera he had ever watched on TV before, as tears welled up in his eyes and he choked on each word he said, "You kids just…..do what you do best….even if it hurts….." he whimpered as he left the living room to find a place he could cry his eyes out in private, while the D Team looked on either happy or in embarrassment for his childish behaviour.

"You got it dad." Max nodded feeling pumped up and ready for action before looking to the rest of his teammates present, "Come on guys, let's all do our part to find her, and when we do we'll show her she's an irreplaceable part of the D Team and whatever problems that come our way we'll face together! Because that's who we are!" he vowed making sure they wouldn't rest until they had found and brought home their friend, no, member of the family back safely.

"Max….." His words had a show of charisma and inspiration for Rex and Zoe as they too felt their spirits lifted and feeling motivated too, knowing they cannot and will not ever give up.

"Whatever you have planned we're with you all the way!"

"Same here to the ends of the Earth!" They each said as Max smiled back and they did a fist bump together with each other.

"Thanks you guys." he responded back as their dinosaurs went in a circle and did the same, this time with head bumps, "For Cera."

"For Cera." They all said together in unison like the 3 musketeers in the book.

From the sidelines, Reese sat on the couch with a proud smile on her face at how much and far they had grown since finding the first stones and cards, only more so since Cera came into their lives, and everyone in the room no doubt had and was impacted by her in more ways than they could believe. "It's great to see them work together with a united purpose. Cera truly has been a great influence on them all." she thought to herself knowing she had a role to play as well. Standing up and walking over to them, "I'll do my part as well." Reese said as headed to the front door to put on her shoes, "Let's see if we can trace her from the D Lab." She said opening it and stepping outside.

Max nodded and looked to everyone else, "Right, let's go." they nodded with him and followed Reese out to the D Lab to get to work.

 **(Later)**

At the main room in the D Lab, the rest of the gang eyed Reese closely as she typed away at a screen depicting several algorithms and codes on it rather intently, "A while ago Cera and I were implementing a homing function in the dinoholders," she stated as she held up Max's dinoholder as an example, "That way we'll be able to pinpoint your exact locations in the event any of you were to get separated from the others or if you somehow lost your dinoholders."

"That definitely would come in handy." Max whistled folding his arms behind his head, also realign who they had issues with their dinoholders before such as it getting damaged because they accidentally dropped it, though it was mostly him.

"Always thinking for the wellbeing of the team." smiled Rex, "It's time we helped look out for her too." he added at the end as Zoe nodded firmly.

"With any luck we might be able to-" Reese suddenly stopped as an ERROR icon appeared on the screen which caught her by surprise, "Hmm? That's odd…." she muttered in annoyance as she typed again, going back a few codes and retyping the protocols only to end with the same result once more.

Judging from the screen and the annoyed expression on Reese's face, they could tell those weren't very good signs, "What is it Reese?" Zoe asked unsure if she wanted to know the answer herself.

Her sister then let out a deep sigh in disappointment, "I can't seem to trace or pinpoint her signal anywhere…." she said painfully thinking she had failed.

The kids widened their eyes at her words, "What?"

"How can that be?" Max and Rex asked in disbelief that Reese herself, the D Team's tech head, was stumped.

Reese then folded her arms and pushed up her glasses in thought, "If I were to guess, she must have activated the cloaking function for her dinoshot. The same programme she helped install into your dinoholders." she explained while putting a finger to her chin in thought, "With that it means even if she summons a dinosaur, the signal will still be blocked." she mused.

"That's very handy when you look at it…." Zoe admitted though not in this case.

Rex sighed folding his arms, "Guess that means she was serious about not wanting to be found." he thought knowing if she was so smart tactically no doubt covering her own tracks would be easy and that made things that much more difficult for them to find and help her if she would need it.

"Aw man! That stinks…." Max grunted punching his fist into his palm with annoyance and frustration before taking a breath and calling himself down looking at things on the bright side as she always suggested to them, "Well there is at least 1 good side to this."the said as they looked to him, "If we can't find her then the alpha gang surely can't either."

"I suppose that's a good way of looking at it." Rex thought before hardening his expression, "But they are persistent, especially Seth, knowing him he'll stop at nothing till he finds her."

"Then it seems I'll have to double my efforts then," said Reese in repose as she returned to the screen and began typing through recent events and activities, as well as hacking through police feeds and satellite tracking (something Cera had taught her a while back) "Hopefully I'll be able to trace her location before he does." she said narrowing her eyes knowing the tall order she had.

Zoe then cheered on her sister, "If anyone can find Cera, it's you Reese! I know you can!" she said with full faith in her tone.

"I'll do my best Zoe, no promises though…." Reese replied as she continued typing away.

Max and Rex nodded, "We'll take what we can."

"For now we-" before Rex could finish, their dinoholders suddenly flashed red and they all looked to it in alarm as it caught them by surprise, "A dinosaur!?"

"Now of all times….." Max gritted his teeth, this being the first time he wished there wouldn't be one.

"You 3 go on ahead, you have work to do." said Reese to them assuringly that she would get the job done, "In the meantime I'll stay here and try my best to decode and hopefully disable the cloak best I can." she said feeling hopeful in her own skills that she could pull it off, "After I ready the teleporter to send you of course." she added at the end as she switched screens and typed away.

"Okay…." Max replied knowing there wasn't much else they could do at this time now as he gestured his friends to hustle up, "Come on guys, let's go."

"Mhmm." They nodded as they ran over to the teleporter.

"So where is it this time?" Zoe asked as they got on board.

Reese then brought up the location on screen, "It's somewhere along the Indonesian Islands." she said, "The island of Komodo to be precise, it's somewhat populated but also has natural environments ranging around volcanic hills, savannah and forest. The coasts even have coral reefs and see grass beds, making the place a popular diving spot for tourists."

"Wow, sounds like a place I'd really love to go visit on holiday!" Zoe then cheered clapping her hands together in excitement while Paris chirped happily too with her.

"Except we're there on a mission remember?" Rex reminded her.

"Yeah yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to enjoy ourselves too." Zoe replied pouting her cheeks, "Isn't that what Cera once-" she suddenly stopped herself realising what she was about to say, knowing she'd only make everyone distracted if their thoughts would be focused on Cera and not the mission, "Never mind…."

"Let's just get this over with." said Max shrugging it off before calling out to Reese at the controls, "Fire up the teleporter Reese." he called as the blond woman finishing keying in the coordinates.

"Mhmm." she nodded pressing the activation button and the D Team were soon enveloped in light. After that Reese quickly shifted screens back to the codes only to recall there was something about their target destination that rung a bell in her mind, "Wait a minute, Komodo…." Immediately shifting back an zooming in on the specific island they were heading for, she soon widened her eyes in realisation of the dangers is posed, "You three wait!" Her warnings came too late as they soon vanished in the light and she couldn't stop it in time, "Oh dear they're gone…." she sighed as her expression became filled with concern and worry, "I hope they'll watch out for the local wildlife too, if I know anything about that place, it's that there are pretty much living dinosaurs on that place…." she thought putting a hand to her chest.

 **(At Zeta Point)**

At the Alpha gang's HQ, Dr Z jumped for joy and had an enormous grin spread across his face as a signal blinked over the Indonesian islands, "Woo hoo! Another dinosaur has just appeared!" he cheered in excitement while Seth narrowed his eyes at said location. Dr Z however paid him no mind as he turned around to pick the only 2 agents he could trust, "I'd better get Rod and Laura to get ready and-"

"I wouldn't recommend that Dr Z." said Seth which caused him to stop and look back at him in curiosity.

"What's that?" he blinked as he walked back up to his assistant who pointed out where the signal came from.

"Take a closer look at where the signal is originating from." he said seriously as Dr Z squinted his eyes at it.

Eying it and seeing there wasn't anything particularly special about it to him, he then turned to Seth, "So it's on an island, big deal we pretty much live on one!" he cried.

"True," said Seth putting his hands into his pockets calmly, "But this island may not be the most suitable place to send children to." he then took out a computer pad and typed on it before showing it to the old man, "Take a look at this and see for yourself." He said handing the tablet over to him.

As he began skimming over the notes and scrolling down, before coming to the main points Seth wanted him to focus on, he jumped in surprise, "Gah!" His jaw hung and he turned uneasily over to Seth while going pale, "Is this….for real?" he shook intensely.

"Would I ever lie to you Dr Z?" Seth smiled back at him as he closed his eyes and looked away, "I too care for Rod and Laura's wellbeing like you. It wouldn't be right for you to send your own grandchildren to a place like this, even if it was to capture a dinosaur." he said as Dr Z scorched his chin in thought and folded his arms.

"You make a good point." he replied tapping his foot on the floor before pacing back and forth, unable to come up with an idea he turned his attention back to Seth, "So what do you recommend then?"

The blue haired man smirked in response already having an answer, "Surely you haven't forgotten about your most loyal followers have you Dr Z?" he replied as the scientist looked back to him in confusion.

"Huh? Who could you be talking about?" He asked blinking his eyes. Though after giving it some careful thought he then widened them in alarm, "Gah! You can't mean…Those 3 nincompoops!?" he exclaimed almost speechlessly at the thought that Seth would actually suggest them of all people to undertake this task, "You expect me to entrust them with this mission after all their blundering failures!?" he yelled out in anger.

Seth looked back to him, "What other choice do we have doctor? Surely you can't expect droids to do the job either would you?" he replied calmly.

"Well, no….but why not you?" Dr Z then asked, "You've never disappointed me once so who better to send that you?"

Hs assistant smirked in response but turned around as he was about to take his leave, "I am flattered Dr Z, but…..I have matters to attend to regarding the time machine engine today." He said as he began walking away, "As well as Saurophaganax too…" he thought to himself before stopping to look back at the stunned Dr Z, "Also, this might also serve as a fitting punishment for their said failures as well, wouldn't you agree?" he suggested as he closed his eyes and folded his arms in thought.

"….." Tapping his foot on the floor for a moment and giving thought to Seth's words, he then opened them back having made his decision, "Grrgh….very well Seth, since you insist." he said deciding to take a gamble and trust in his most trusted assistant's words.

"Of course doctor." Seth bowed to him politely before leaving, but not before a sinister smirk came upon his face, "Once those 3 fail to return back to Zeta Point, it'll become that much easier for me to continue my work under Dr Z's nose, and then I'll have everything ready….." he said to himself as he disappeared into the shadows.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At a lodge further off in the mountains of Sanjo City, inside was now quite empty, except for a single bed at the window corner, a table and chair in the dining area right next to a kitchen side with stove and sink, as well as a refrigerator. But on the table though, sat a white dinoshot which was blinking red, before being picked up by a hand. The person who picked it up was wearing a rather drab cloak which covered their face, and began pressing some buttons on it before disappearing in a column of light.

 **(Later)**

A while later, a small blue dimetrodon themed jet was seen flying through the skies before coming through some clouds and the large island as depicted on the map came in sight and on screen as Zander grinned and made the announcement, "Here we are gang, Komodo Island!" he cheered out.

Ed then put a finger to his chin in thought, "You know that name does ring a bell but I can't seem to put my finger on it…." he muttered to himself out loud.

"Oh who cares Ed!" Ursula responded as she sat at the backseat as she shook out her fists, "This is our lucky break! After all those times we messed up we're given a chance to make up for them!"

"I knew there was still a reason why Dr Z kept us around!" Zander cried out as emotional tears ran down his cheek which was soon mirrored by Ed.

"He still has faith in us that we'll succeed, oh I'm starting to feel emotional thinking about it!" he sniffled as he used one arm to cover up his eyes and then wipe away the tears.

"Then let's prove to him his faith in us isn't misplaced!" Ursula [proclaimed as she pointed out at their target destination, and Ed and Zander acknowledged her orders.

"Right!" They said together as they pressed down the controls and they jetted in for a landing.

As they came in closer, Ed saw it as the right time to decelerate for a proper and safe landing procedure as he began dialling buttons on the controls and began to pull back on the controls, "Alright now to take us in nice and smooth…." he thought as he pulled up, but bizarrely saw no change in the speed they were descending. As he tried a few more times he turned pale and his heart skipped a beat, "Oh dear…." he squeaked as Zander and Ursula both looked to him uneasily.

"Umm Ed, we're coming in a little too fast, can't you pull us up?" asked Zander looking nervous.

The fat man turned to him uneasily and sweated anxiously, which put his flying partner off when he saw his nervous expression! "I'm trying, but the controls aren't responding!" he cried out as both his friends cried out in alarm!

"Say what!?"

"Not again! Just when things were looking up for us!" Zander exclaimed clenching his face in with his hands.

"Pull harder you nitwit! Or else we're all going under!" Ursula demanded as she began hammering his head with her fists!

"Yow!" Ed screamed as the pain spurred him tor try harder for their sakes, as the jet soon began to plummet out of the sky uncontrollably! "I'll try! HURGH!" he yelled out, turning red as he pulled up with all his might!

SNAP!

As he heard the sound, he opened his eyes and saw he had the entire steering control yanked out of the machine, "Uh oh…." he said turning to the others who stared stunned at him, before turning pale like ghosts and screaming out!

"EH!?"

"We're going to crash!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" They all cried as the jet spiralled out of control and crashed into the mountainside leaving a plume of smoke erupting from the crash site!

BOOM!

 **(Meanwhile)**

A bright light soon shone on a hilltop overlooking a grassy plain, as it died down the D Team stepped out of the light and onto Indonesian soil, "Well here we are guys." said Max as he and Chomp looked on and around in awe of the island's natural beauty and scenery. In fact, Zoe, Rex, Paris and Ace too were taken back by the open skies, warm tropical air and cooling breeze that blew across the field and over them. Looking down they caught sight of the island's first inhabitants.

"Wow, look at all those deer!" Zoe gasped as she looked down and saw a large herd of deer grazing in the lowlands below peacefully.

The others soon followed where she was eying they too couldn't help but be impressed themselves, "Yeah, never seen so many before." Rex whistled.

"And over there! Are those horses?" Max pointed out in surprise after catching sight of small group of large wild horses resting in the shade under some trees, "Aren't horses supposed to be in stables or being used by people for riding to racing?"

"Not these ones apparently." said Zoe as she eyed the group.

"I've heard of these," said Rex speaking up, "200 years ago this type of horse used to be tamed when people first settled on these Indonesian islands, now they live wild and free." he said, "Not only that, there are even buffalo and wild boar on these islands too."

"This sounds like one really wild place," Max breathed impressed as he soon noticed apart from the plains there was a large forest blanketing on the outskirts of the grasslands where they lead up to a few mountains further in the distance.

"Look all these grassy plains and forests that stretch really far, not to mention those mountains." Zoe pointed out the many different unique habitats spread out across the island, "No wonder this place is designated a national park."

"Yeah, it helps keep the peace at least." said Rex, "Indonesia does house some pretty rare and unique species not found anywhere else in the world, so it's good that the government helps preserve places like this."

The peace didn't last long though, as the echoing cries of an animal in agony echoed in the distance, catching the ears of the D Team and their partners as it put them on alert!

"What was that sound!?" Max exclaimed as Chomp and the others became on edge, Zoe and Rex were on alert seeing they seemed agitated, and even more so when the deer and horses quickly galloped away as fast as they could from the forest, as birds took to the sky where the noise echoed from!

"Whoa! Look at them go!" Zoe then gasped in amazement hearing the sound of the animals' thundering hooves.

Rex and Max focused their attention on the forest further in the distance, "Could be a dinosaur in trouble out there in those woods!" Max suggested seriously as Chomp hardened his gaze and barked in the direction the wail came from.

"Then we'd better go check it out!" Rex added as they carefully went downhill making sure not to stumble or fall amongst the rocky outcrops in the hillside, before arriving safely on flatter ground and making a run for trees, unaware that they were being watched from the tall grass by a pair of hungry reptilian eyes…..

As the D Team hurried as fast as they could, having their own partners act like compasses and lead the way through smell or hearing, a clearing in a grove of trees soon came into view from the trunks and branches ahead, and narrowing his eyes a bit, Max caught sight of what they were looking for, "Look over there!" he pointed out excitedly as they arrived in the glade, and in the center of it lay down a big green herbivorous dinosaur with a line of white stripes along its body and ending with a yellow underbelly. It was curled up in a resting posture and breathing rather heavily and the D Team held their partners back from rushing in, and they all approached it slowly and cautiously hoping not to awaken or alarm it.

"Is that a camptosaurus?" Zoe asked curiously.

"Yeah looks like it….." Rex nodded confirming it. As he eyed its rather large and bent body down to its tail, he widened his eyes upon noticing something terribly wrong with it! "Look at its' leg!" he pointed out as the others looked to it and gasped in horror!

The dinosaur carried a massive a set of lacerations and bleeding bite marks on its' right back leg, and the wounds around it were still quite raw and blood was oozing out of them and dripping onto the ground till it was nearly a small puddle! There were even flies buzzing around it and the leg twitched in pain, the camptosaurs let out a bellow in agony and pain as another surge of pain struck through its limb as it kicked out!

The sight of the raw wound was enough o make the D Team sick and make their dinosaurs feel put off by the sight as the backed away slightly, "Urgh, that's terrible," Max groaned covering his mouth to keep himself from hurling. Zoe had to cover her eyes and look away, while Rex gritted his teeth almost feeling that dinosaur's pain, while their partners held back uneasily, sensing whatever could have gave the dinosaur that injury was no doubt nearby but they were unable to tell what it was or when it might be back, and that worried them deeply.

Their human partners were unaware of this and kept their attention focused on the writhing dinosaur before them, "No wonder it's wailing in pain so loudly." said Rex feeling sorry it was suffering so much.

"I'm getting sick just looking at that wound….." Zoe croaked, she was used to seeing animals get wounds treated at the hospital but never anything like this, "What could have done something so horrible?" She said putting on her goggles and uneasily zooming in for a closer look, "It looks kinda like a bite mark doesn't it?" she asked.

Max and Rex squinted their eyes a little for look and soon saw it couldn't be anything else, "Now that you mention it, it does…." Rex replied in surprise.

"Let's take a closer look and see what could have done such damage." Max suggested as he walked closer to it, and the others followed behind him closely and carefully so not to startle the injured dinosaur they came to bring home.

It didn't take ling for the resting dinosaur to pick up their scent however, as it quickly reacted defensively, raising up its head and bellowing out loudly at them!

"Whoa!" They quickly stepped back as the camptosaurus got all defensive and agitated, their partners hiding behind their legs worried over what would happen.

Rex gritted his teeth and sweated uneasily, "Be careful guys, that dinosaur's agitated, it thinks we might be trying to hurt it!" he warned.

"Easy now, there's nothing to be afraid off, we're here to help you." said Max as calmly as he could as he tried to step forward with his arms open to show he was no threat, but the camptosaurus bellowed back at him, stomping out its arms at Max refusing to let him come any closer. Getting the message Max stopped in his tracks and turned around to Rex and Zoe hoping they might have an idea they could try out, "Ummm any suggestions guys?"

Unfortunately neither of them had one as they either looked away uneasily, "Not really….." said Rex shaking his head.

"We could turn into a card so it could heal hopefully….." Zoe then suggested before turning rather unsure of herself, "But the only way to do that is if it trusts us or if we battle it."

"As of now neither seems to be an option." said Rex observing the camptosaurus' behaviour, and they could clearly see it was no doubt aggressive and agitated because of the pain it was suffering, and they couldn't bring themselves to fight it when it was already in such a state.

The herbivore bellowed at them defensively once more as the D team continued to observe, seeing they were stuck between a rock and a hard place over what to do, "Doesn't look like it'll be letting us come any closer, I don't blame it for being wary after that injury it suffered." said Rex pityingly for the dinosaur's suffering and agony.

"But we can't just leave it here for the alpha gang to grab it." said Max in response feeling deeply concerned, knowing how despicable and unforgivable they were, he had no doubt they wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of a weak and vulnerable dinosaur, and this one in agonising pain would no doubt be no exception…..

"Or for whatever attacked it to come back." Zoe shuddered rather uneasily. Not many modern animals would be able to do this much damage to a dinosaur, even a rathe moderate sized one like camptosaurus, but if there was one out there, it was here in this very island and would no doubt be back soon to finish the job. What's worse, if it could do that to a dinosaur who knows what it'd be able to do to a human! Thinking the situation over as calmly as she could, Zoe quickly brightened up upon realising something they could try out, "Wait I've got it!" she cheered up as the others looked to her curiously.

"You do Zoe?" Rex asked as she nodded in response.

"Yeah, something I remember Cera did once." she said before looking down to her partner who looked back to her curiously, "Go on Paris, let it know we're okay." she said nudging her partner a bit, stroking her on the head and she chirped happily at being encouraged. Sporting a brave expression, the little dinosaur walked up to the larger herbivore, who eyed her warily but was more at ease since it was a fellow dinosaur this time. As they conversed for a while exchanging words in dino language, it wasn't long till Max and Rex both picked up on what was going on.

"Oh yeah….I remember this…." Max breathed remembering a while ago when they were with pinacosaurus, trying to help clam it down when it was trapped and agitated in the rockslide. Apparently Cera still was with them in spirit more than they first thought.

After Paris barked out, the camptosaurus breathed smoothly before nuzzling at her gently, and she giggled with joy much to the relief of the D Team seeing it trusted them now.

"Alright, looks like it's calmed down now." Zoe breathed as Paris barked urging them to come closer, and barking back at camptosaurus to let them know her friends meant it no harm, as it held back but calmed down more easily as they came within arm's reach of it.

"Phew, thank goodness for that." Max breathed with relief.

"If that didn't work I don't know what would." said Rex, his heart still beating rather quickly, worried the dinosaur might suddenly turn on them but thankfully that wasn't the case.

The camptosaurus looked to them all calmly but then moaned in pain as a sudden streak of pain surged through its bad leg once more making the D Team feel more sorry for it.

"I really want to help that poor dinosaur…." said Max sadly not wanting it to suffer anymore.

"Yeah but what can we do?" Rex asked unsure of what to do in this case, even with medical treatments it would still take a long while to patch up that bleeding wound and they didn't have that.

The D Team were stuck in a bit of a conundrum, till Zoe suddenly snapped her fingers realising there was something they could do, "I've got it!" she cheered as she took out her dinoholder and held out the move card nature's blessing, "Just what the doctor ordered!" She said proud of herself while her friends brightened up with joy.

"Oh yeah!"

"With that camptosaurus will feel better in no time!"

Zoe nodded, "Mhmm, now I'l just summon Paris to full size and then-"

"Not so fast there!" a female voice cried out to them from the underbrush which took them all by surprise!

"Huh!?" As they all looked, 3 figures soon leapt out from the bushes and stood before them with sinister intent on their faces!

"Hahaha, did you really think we'd just let you walk in and take that dinosaur hmm?" Ursula said smugly.

"This is payback for all those times you humiliated us!" Zander yelled out tensing up with anger.

"We're going to enjoy giving you a good thrashing!" Ed grinned popping his knuckles.

The D Team gasped in alarm before turning defensive at their old enemies, "Not you guys again!" they cried out as their dinosaurs barked out in anger.

"Ahaha! Oh yes us." Ursula laughed snobbishly before sporting a rather sinister smirk, "Now if you know what's good for you, you'll step aside and hand that dinosaur over to us now." she threatened as Ed and Zander began snickering.

"Grrr!" unwilling to abandon camptosaurus, the D Team quickly took positions, putting themselves between the defenceless dinosaur and their hated enemies.

"We're not going anywhere!" Max yelled shaking his fist out.

"Yeah, you creeps better back off this instant," Zoe then cried out, "Can't you see this camptosaurus is really hurt and in no shape to even move?!" she said as Paris barked out and the injured camptosaurus wailed out in pain, as it struggled to stand only to stumble back down weakly.

Taking notice of their injured target only made the alpha gang's grins widen, "Oh that makes it all the more easier for us!" Ursula cackled rubbing her palms together.

"Don't you worry, once we take it back home we promise to give it the best treatment it could possibly get." said Zander holding a thumbs up.

"We'll even throw in some tender love and care too!" Ed smiled clapping his hands together.

The D Team did;t buy a word they said as they only hardened their resolve, "Tch! Yeah right, not if we have anything to say about it!"" Max clicked his tongue.

"You'll have to go through us first!" Rex yelled defiantly.

"You're not laying 1 finger on that dinosaur!" Zoe concluded as their dinosaurs barked out before being returned to their card forms.

Ursula then grinned with delight hoping for this because it would make things all the more sweeter for them when they return home victorious, "Hehe then I suppose we'll just have to-" She suddenly stopped realising something was wrong with the picture as she blinked her eyes and squinted them at the D Team, "Say…." she then pointed out at them, "There's only 3 of you brats this time. Where's your friend?" she asked as the D Team then widened their eyes and gasped out loud.

"Ah!"

Ed and Zander soon followed an they picked up on it too, "Yeah come to think of it you're right Ursula." said Zander scratching his cheek with interest.

"Wonder where that red headed girl ran off too." Ed muttered as he looked around them to see if she was hiding nearby but saw no trace of anyone for miles, concluding it was just the 6 of them.

"Urgh…." The D Team members then sweated tensely wishing Cera were here, no doubt they'd have the numbers advantage and an edge over the alpha gang if she was here.

It was then Ursula grinned sinisterly as she thought of an idea to rattle them for the fun of it, "What's the matter, you 3 ditched her cos she was dead weight or something?" she pointed at them mockingly as the D Team gasped in shock.

"What did you say!?"

"Ah!" They yelled.

She then laughed out loud snobbishly seeing she was getting at them and she couldn't resist wanting to rub it in some more, "Ahahah! This will make things a whole lot easier for us!" her careless words served only to anger the 3 children even more so as they tensed up and widened their eyes with rage.

"Grrr!"

"Shame on you, we didn't think you could be as bad as us!" said Zander joining in.

"We didn't think you had it in you, guess you proved us wrong, you really are growing up aren't you?" Ed said complimenting them in a mocking kind of way, and that served as the last straw for them.

"How dare you say that!?" Max yelled out at the top of his lungs, making both Ed and Zander jump in surprise!

"GAH!"

"We'll make you wish you hadn't say that!" Rex growled as he gritted his teeth and tensed a fist out at them, "We warned you to back off but now you've made it personal!"

"Get ready you creeps! Cos we'll shut you down for good this time!" shouted Zoe at the end!

As Ed and Zander shivered and hugged one another in a panic, Ursula whoever didn't get the message as she began laughing out loud in response, "Oh? Did we hit a nerve? Ahahaha! Good!" she said intending to rub it in some more.

Her sidekicks then turned to her in alarm at what she was doing, "Umm Ursula, I think we shouldn't push it!"

"Yeah, they look like they're out for blood now!"

She paid them no mind however as she took out her alpha scanner, "If you kids thought that was painful just you wait! Because now we're about to bring in some real hurt!" She said with a smirk, before scowling at Ed and Zander who were both shuddering in fear, "Come on you two! Back me up will you!? Do I always have to think of everything!?" she yelled at them which made them jump in surprise!

"Ah! Y…Yes Ursula! Right away!" Both men stuttered as they took out their own scanners and readied themselves for battle.

"You asked for it!" Max growled swearing no mercy this time around, "Get ready to-"

The rusting of leaves in the underbrush around them made them all stop as they looked around curiously as it got louder.

"Huh?"

"Hmm?" The bushes and shrubs around the area soon shook even more violently, all around them the sounds of claws raking the ground as well as deep hissing echoed through the forest, putting them all on edge.

Sniffing the air the camptosaurus then bellowed out in a panic and writhed about restlessly hoping to get up and away, but still held down by its bad leg!

"Ah!" Zoe gasped in alarm to see it suddenly so agitated, before paling at the realisation that its attacker, or perhaps attackers had finally returned to finish the job! "Uh oh…."

"Guys," said Rex uneasily as the noise got louder and louder, "I think….we're not alone here…." As he finished his sentence a number of large lizards suddenly burst out of the brush and surrounded the group on all sides along with the weakened camptosaurus! They came out from everywhere and so quickly they didn't have time to react and were now trapped!

"Wh…What the!?" Max widened his eyes as Rex and Zoe stood with him back to back uneasily at the sight of the newcomers.

"GAH! Wh…What are these things!?" Ursula squared in disgust as Ed and Zander huddled around her sweating bullets.

"Whatever they are they've got us surrounded!" Zander cried out as his heart raced like a jack rabbit on steroids while Ed dropped his jaw and turned pale as a ghost!

Rex then narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth tensely seeing their escape routes were all cut off, "This doesn't look good guys….."

"Yeah, never thought I'd ever see lizards as big as a grown man." Max grunted while Zoe hung back eying the lizards closely and not taking her eyes off them for even a second, for if she did that would be the first and last mistake she would ever make….

"Wait! I remember now!" Ed suddenly gasped smacking a fist into the palm of his hand as a thought suddenly crossed his mind. Everyone else then focused on him.

"What Ed?"

"Remembered you left something back home?" Ursula and Zander each asked him.

"No! These lizards!" he pointed out while shaking uncontrollably with fear, "They're komodo dragons! The largest lizard in the world! In fact they're the top predators here! Capable of running down even the fastest prey on the island!" he cried out as the rest of the D Team soon picked up on his words.

"Thanks for the biology lesson Ed," Ursula muttered with sarcasm, "But any idea on how we can get out of this mess!?" she then screamed with her hair frazzling out in a panic!

"Err….working on it….." he muttered twiddling his fingers as the dragons hissed and lunged forward, making them jump as the lizards snapped at them!

"GAH!?" The dragons then drew back from their mock charge quickly, hoping to stir them up and cause them run away from one another's safety!

Rex eyed their attackers more closely as a recollection of something he picked up from biology class came back to him, "That's right! They're named after the island of Komodo! Which also happens to be the only place in the world they can be found!" he said out loud.

"Lucky us….." Zoe shuddered huddling closer to the boys and their dinosaurs too were on edge as the large lizards came in closer and closer to them! They barked out loudly but the dragons were undeterred.

"Tch! Looks like we stumbled right in the center of their territory…." Max clicked his tongue as a bead of sweat then dropped from his cheek and he tensed up on edge, "I bet these guys were the ones that gave camptosaurus all those nasty injuries!" he then cried out as he turned to see camptosaurus was bellowing out in a frantic, no doubt panicking in fear to see its predators had found it again!

"I don't doubt it….." Rex swallowed hard seeing they could be ending up as side dishes, "If they could do that to a dinosaur, I'd hate to imagine what they'd do to us…." As much as they all liked reptiles, the thought of getting eaten up by a pack of them was a completely different matter altogether!

Looking around a surge of horrible memories flooded the camptosaurus' mind, as the thought of it being attacked on the leg viciously earlier and then nearly being chased down by the large lizards caused its senses to be overcome by fear and adrenaline! Losing all sense it forced itself onto its legs and mustered enough energy to leap over the line of dragons before rushing ahead into the bushes with a handful of komodos on its tail!

"Camptosaurus no!" Rex gasped reaching his arm out as the dinosaur ran off into the underbrush.

"Wait! Come back!" Zoe cried pleading for it to stay but it was too late, despite its' wounds it was out of hearing range before long and it disappeared into the green depths of the forest!

"Hey the dinosaur's escaping!" Ursula cried out before pointing in the direction it ran in, "Quick after it!" She ordered Ed and Zander but before they could make a move they suddenly found their paths blocked! "Wha!?" More dragons soon burst out of the undergrowth and circled around the 6 humans on all sides and let out dancing growls and snarls while baring their vicious teeth at them while slowly closing in for the kill!

"Looks like they mean business." Zander croaked backing away.

"Please don't tell me what I think they're after!" Ursula whimpered as beads of sweat began dripping from her face.

"If you're not thinking they want to eat us then I won't tell you!" Ed cried out, "Then again, they've been known to eat people too so it's something to consider." he muttered at the end which earned him a whack to the head by Ursula!

"I told you not to say it! I even said please!" she yelled at him in frustration as he rubbed his sore bump.

"This is bad guys…." gulped Max seeing they had little room to run and that camptosaurus was completely helpless out there on its own now, "Like really bad….." he cried out as his heart began to race uncontrollably.

"No need to tell us twice Max…." Zoe sweated nervously and her eyes widened in fear with Rex's as they were surrounded on all sides! "Sure wish Cera was here, she'd know how to think up a good plan in the most urgent situations…" she thought to herself soon after.

As the kimonos closed on the alpha gang's side, Ursula suddenly realised something she could do as she burst out laughing evily, "Ahahaha! These little geckos want to mess with us?" she then took out her alpha scanner and Terry's card, "Wait till I bring out the REAL lizard king, then we'll see who's tough then!" she declared.

"No Ursula! Don't do it!" Ed suddenly grabbed her hand and stopped her at the last minute much to her annoyance.

"What now Ed?" she grumbled.

"These dragons carry a venom so potent it lets them take down huge prey as big as water buffalo!" he warned as everyone else heard it and their hearts either skipped a beat or their blood ran cold at his words, "Just 1 nip and you're done for!" he screamed out loud as he grasped his hair.

"Say what!?" Ursula exclaimed before screaming out loud and leaping into his arms! "Gah! Hold me!"

"Hey!" he gasped in a alma before stumbling and falling down! "Oof!

"If we summon Chomp and the others to full size we'll be making them an easy target!" Rex cried out realising that no matter what they did they'd still be at a major disadvantage.

"So what do we do then!? Sit around and let them make us entrees on a forest buffet!?" Max yelled loudly hoping he would have a solution, only to turn pale when his friend stuttered with no answer.

"I…I…." before he could finish the komod dragons finally lost all sense of caution and rushed in for a full on assault, catching the whole D team off guard!

"WHOA!"

"EEP! They leapt or jumped out of the way in time as the jaws of the dragons snapped close, only just missing their legs but as they stumbled away they ended up dropping their own dinoholders on the forest floor away from them!

"Gah! The dinoholders!" Max gasped in alarm as he tried to reach out for them.

"Forget them Max! We've got to save ourselves first!" Rex yelled in a frantic grabbing his collar and pulling him back in time just before a dragon snapped its jaws on his legs!

"But-" He had no time to resist as a bunch of them suddenly charged straight at them all full speed!

"WAAAAH!"

"Run for it!" Max and the D Team cried out fearfully as they rushed into the bushes hoping to lose their attackers in the trees!

Ed and Zander quickly saw them go and they had the same idea as they did,"It's every man for himself!" They yelped before running after them, throwing their alpha scanners at the dragons without hesitation before disappearing into the woods!

Seeing herself all alone and abandoned, Ursula turned pale realising she lost her only 2 human meat shields "H…Hey! Don't you clods dare leave me behind!" she demanded before seeing all the dragons swarm in at her in full force! "AAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed out loud before running in after them, dropping her scanner in the process!

"Gah!"

"WHOA!"

"EEEK!"

"WAAAAAHHH!"

Soon the forests were filled with the mixed sounds of human screaming and the snarling and hissing, the scene only obscured from above by the tree tops, concealing the carnage that was taking place deep down within before soon being replaced by sheer silence.….

A little while later, when the clearing was devoid of any life for miles around, the sounds of smooth gliding echoed through the forest, as a white microraptor landed gently on a branch above. Looking down to see the discarded dinoholders and alpha scanners, she then dropped and floated down gently to the ground, hopped put where they were before sniffing them closely. After that she lifted up her head to make sure the coast was clear, sniffing the air and eying the area carefully. After confirming it was indeed safe, she let out a loud cry, and before long a human figure, dressed in a drab cloak stepped out from the underbrush and came upon the 6 devices, looking down on them and eying each of them carefully, before scooping them all up in her arms.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Much further off in the distance, Max and Rex came to a stop in clearing surrounded by several large boulders and rocks where they took shelter behind to use as cover against the ravenous pack of komodo dragons. Looking behind the boulders to see they were safe and in the clear, they both let out a sigh of relief and fell down on their butts gasping for air in exhaustion and tried to still their racing hearts which were still beating hard from their brush with death!

"Huff….huff….think we lost them Rex?" Max wheezed a few words before falling down on his back and gasping for air like a fish out of water.

"Urgh….seems that way….." Rex grunted as he felt his own legs throb sorely after having run for quite a while without looking back, even recalling how his leg nearly got grabbed or bitten a few times, and having the warm breath of the large lizards breathe on his skin and their jaws nearly sinking into his flesh!

"Man that was a close one…." Max cringed sweating with exhaustion as he picked himself up, forcing himself onto his legs with all his strength.

Rex nodded, "Yeah, too close for comfort." he answered as he accepted Max's hand and helped himself up, "For a second I thought I'd be dragon food…."

"Well at least we're all okay," Max grinned looking on the bright side. Hearing some footsteps behind the boulder they were at, Max had a feeling who it was and smiled welcomingly as the person behind stepped out, "You doing alright Zoe?" Instead of her however, stepped out a green haired woman, one which the boys were shocked beyond belief to lay eyes on!

"Huh!?"

"You!?" They exclaimed at Ursula who stumbled back in shock at seeing them with her!

"What are you doing here!?" she gasped before glaring at them viciously.

"I was about to say the same thing!" Rex yelled back as he and Max got on the defensive ready to fight back!

Max soon however picked up on something serious which made him realise something far more important, "Rats, that means Zoe is out there on her own….." he grunted in realisation as Rex looked to him in alarm.

"Then we'd better find her before she becomes food for those komodos!" He exclaimed in horror at the thought of her being mangled in a dragon feeding frenzy!

"Yeah." Max replied in agreement as they both ran off, leaving the old lady hanging as she stared at them in disbelief at how easily they forgot her presence.

Taking offence to it she gritted her teeth and shook her fists out at them, "Hey! Don't you dare ignore me!" she yelled out, "Come back here! I'm not through with you yet!" she jumped up and down.

Max then stopped in his tracks and looked back, "Oh yeah? Well we've got a bigger problem to take care of." he said huffing uncaringly, though Rex had other ideas.

"Don't worry Max, the both of us can take her just fine." he said deciding not to leave anything to chance and knowing a loose end like her could spell disaster for them later if left unchecked or unattended to. He tried to reach to his back pocket to grab his dinoholder and Ace's card, he only grabbed hold of his backside. Feeling nothing but air as he waved it around, he looked down and turned pale seeing his device was gone! "Uh oh…." he croaked nervously turning pale as Max looked to him curious as to why he was quiet all of a sudden.

"Rex? What's up? Where's-" Max widened his eyes guessing the situation, "Wait…don't tell me-" he pointed out at his friend who turned to him nervously.

"Yeah…it is…." he croaked sweating anxiously.

"Oh boy…."

Ursula huffed and folded her arms feeling offended they were taking her lightly and ignoring her just because they had the advantage in numbers, "Hmph! You brats may have me outnumbered but I won't be out battled!" she yelled out as she tried to reach into her pocket for her scanner and card, only t fond they were missing from her possession too! "Ah! Where's my alpha scanner!?" she exclaimed as the boys looked to her and eyed her oddly. "Hold on, give me a minute…." she asked as she scuffled through her pockets hoping it was still on her.

"Hehe, fat chance of that happening." Max grinned realising she was pretty much without dinosaur too! "Guess that means we-" As he tried to reach for his own he realised he lost his too! "Ah! My dinoholder!" he screamed out loud as he put his hands all over himself to try and feel around for it to no avail, "Rats! We must have dropped them while we were running away from the dragons!" he gasped out loud as Rex sweated nervously as they now had another problem to worry about! Though apparently Ursula was on the same boat as they were as the 3 people present stared at one another rather awkwardly.

"So what now?" Rex then asked hoping anyone had an idea on what to do in this situation.

Ursula suddenly laughed out loud to their surprise, "Ha, what do you think twerps!?" she then began to pop her knuckles and grinned sinisterly as she began to approach them, "You naughty children are about to get a good spanking courtesy of Ursula the Great!" she snickered ready to get up close and personal with them, letting loose all the frustration pent up within he for so many long months!

Max and Rex both hardened their expressions with anger, "In your dreams old lady!" They each yelled which served to tick her off even more than she was!

"Why you!" she screamed out loud at the top of her lungs while stomping her foot on the ground, "How dare you call me that!?" Her screams were so loud they caused nearby birds in the trees to fly away. As she stomped her foot on the ground next to a large burrow under the boulder, a deep rasping hiss echoed from deep within it.

Hiss….

"Huh?" The very sound caused the 3 humans to skip a heartbeat as they looked down uneasily to it. Scraping sounds from inside it could be heard, and before long a mother komodo dragon's head popped out from it and snarled at them!

"WAAAAAHHHH!" They all screamed in a panic before running off together in the distance! As soon as they were out of sight the dragon lost interested and crawled backwards back into her nest to sleep.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Huff, that was the 2nd most horrible experience I ever felt…." Zander moaned sweating profusely all over as he and Ed came to a clearing which they felt was enough distance put between them and their hungry attackers.

"If that's the second I shudder to think about what took 1st place." Ed muttered as sweat dripped from his brow and onto the forest floor as he rested his hands on his knees.

Zander then smiled looking to his friend as he fell on his knees, "Well all that matters is that the 3 of us got away without a scratch Ed." He then looked over to his side where he felt a third person was leaning against a tree, "Right Ursula?" Upon closer look he stuttered back in shock realising it wasn't her but Zoe! "Gah!"

"She's not Ursula!" Ed pointed out in lame as he fell back on his butt.

Zoe looked around behind her and she jumped in alarm herself to realise who she needed up with in all the confusion! "Eeek! And you're not Max and Rex!" she cried out before hardening her expression and getting into a defensive posture, "Well if it's a fight you want then you've-" as she reached out to her back pocket to grab her dinoholder, only to be grabbing a handful of air instead! "Huh? What the?" Looking down her heart skipped a beat when she realised her device and Paris were missing, and that she was pretty much defenceless! "Uh oh…." she croaked turning uneasily to her enemies who were grinning sisterly and closing in on her!

"Hehehe, looks like we've got you right where we want you!" Zander cackled holding his arms up.

"Any other day you might beat us but this time you're all alone now!" Ed grinned popping his knuckles as he and Zander turned maniacal and continued their advance on Zoe, who sweated anxiously and stepped back.

"Ehehehehe!"

"Oh no…." Zoe croaked knowing she was lost and alone in the woods, with no way of fighting back or calling for help this time! She felt helpless, alone and weak as she continued backing away as Ed and Zander closed in on her.

"Say your prayers girlie!"

"Any last words?" They grinned as they came in closer and closer, enjoying every second of harassing their prey until she would be completely begging for mercy!

Zoe then gulped down hard, this could no doubt be her last moment, but she had no idea what to say in response to them, "I…I…." Without knowing as she took another step back, she stepped on a large tree root, only that it felt rather fleshy and thin. Pressing down on it, a large hiss could be heard from the bushes which caught everyone's attention! "EEP!" Zoe squeaked as she felt the root underneath twitch and she jumped off realising it was a tail and ran towards Ed and Zander to their surprise! As the 3 of them look closer, a large komodo dragon burst out of the bushes and snared at them viciously!

They stared for a few seconds before running away in a panic form the big lizard, erasing the lines between enemies and focusing only on survival! "EEEEK!"

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" The dragon was about to give chase but stopped midway, upon tasting the air and sensing a much more appealing meal nearby, as it stuck out its tongue tasting the air and turned in the other direction in search of this far more tantalising scent.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Max's side had just burst through a large group of bushes and came to rest at the center of a long game trial in the middle of the woods in order to catch their breath, "Huff….that was close…." Ursula wheezed as she fell on her backside and checked herself all over to make sure she was completely and fully intact, before checking out one of her legs and hugging it close to her, "I almost felt my own leg getting chewed off….Can't have that now can we?" she said in a strange motherly tone before nuzzling it and kissing it all over

Max and Rex both shuddered feeling disturbed as they turned away doing their best to ignore her.

"This forest must be full of komodo dragons." said Max looking around them, narrowing his eyes at the dense undergrowth which could easily hide a large monitor lizard with little effort.

"Yeah, no kidding….." Rex nodded in agreement before becoming concerned, "I just hope Zoe will be fine out there on her own."

"Same here….." Max replied feeling more worried about their own safety for the time being, especially since none of them had any dinosaurs to protect them.

Rex could tell what Max was thinking, before looking to Ursula and cringing hard knowing he was going to regret saying this seeing they had little options available to them, "Much as I hate to admit it, if we're going to have even the slimmest chances of surviving without our dinosaurs we'll have to work together." he said feeling sick just having to force those very words from his mouth.

Upon hearing his outrageous suggestion, both Max and Ursula widened their eyes, "Say what!?"

"You expect us to work with a creep like her!?" They exclaimed out loud together before snarling viciously with hatred and spite at one another.

"Forget it!" Max growled clenching a fist at her.

"For once I agree you little ankle biter!" spat back as her eyes reddened with veins, "I'd rather jump off a water fall than team up with the likes of you!" she screamed out loud causing Rex to smack himself in the face.

"You're right, what was I thinking? It'll never work out….." he groaned shaking his head, wondering why in the world would he ever think up something so ridiculous.

"Music to my ears." Ursula replied as she turned around and began to walk away from the pair of boys.

"Hmph…." Max huffed doing the same as Rex ushered him to stay close.

"Come on Max, let's just get a move on, she'd only us slow us down anyways." he said knowing they had far more important things to do now.

"Yeah, we'd be better off without her." Max replied to him in agreement, though their insults weren't unnoticed by Ursula, whose ears perked up their their comments behind her back.

"Better off without me!?" she cried out in disbelief before folding her arms on her hips and holding her head out high, "Ha! You twerps are dead weight for me to ditch when I feel like it!" she boasted while pointing out mockingly at them, "I'll find my own way off this horrible island all by myself and I'll be taking that dinosaur too!" she then cackled.

"Good luck with that old lady." Both Max and Rex said unconvinced as they walked on together without a backwards glance.

Their snobbish attitudes and shrugging her off like she was garbage served to anger her even more so, "Why you!" She hissed as she began to pop her knuckles and veins tensed up around her forehead, "Looks like I'll have to teach you some manners first!" Stomping forward towards them she was about to let herself loose completely in the 2 children while their backs were turned, intending to take them by surprise! When the sounds of a shrieking dear echoed through the forest, which made her turn pale and jump in shock! "EEEP!" Immediately realising she was still in the jungle filled with vicious predators she rushed forward full speed and sped ahead of Max and Rex taking them by surprise!

"GAH!"

"WHOA!"

As they recovered from their unexpected shock, Ursula then shot a rather spiteful glare at them both before swallowing her pride and screaming painfully, "Alright fine you win!"

"Huh?" They both blinked their eyes in confusion at what she meant.

"For now we'll hold the hostility and order a temporary truce!" she said as she held her hand out to them while looking away and avoiding eye contact with them, "Let's shake on it to seal the deal!" she said puffing up her cheeks and blushing red in embarrassment, feeling humiliated about having to resort to teaming up with her most hated enemies of all.

"…" Max and Rex too were rather hesitant about agreeing to this deal, knowing Ursula pretty much had the loyalty as a jackal and would no doubt try to sucker punch them when she was done or use them as scape goats at the first sign of danger.

"What do you think Rex?" Max whispered uneasily while turning an eye to Ursula who then fell on her knees flashing unnerving puppy dog eyes at them while holding her hand out now.

Rex sighed in disappointment, "She won't take no for an answer, even if we try to leave she'll just stick onto us like gum on a shoe…." he muttered feeling regretful about proposing the truce in the first place, though there was no turning back now.

"Ugh….you make a good point there." Max moaned before begrudgingly walking over to usual and shaking her hand while looking away himself, "Fine…..Not like we have any other options." he said pouting in annoyance and avoiding as much eye contact as possible before pulling it away.

As soon as they parted hands, Ursula suddenly stood up tall and laughed out snobbishly out loud, "Ha! A wise decision, you kids should be thankful someone as beautiful and talented as me is on your side!" she boasted before turning serious, "But when we get out of this, it's back to business as usual and we'll be taking that dinosaur out of your puny hands!" she stated out loud which made both boys narrow their eyes or harden in anger at the fact she was intent on doing just that when they were done and she thought she could get away with it too.

"Grr…."

"Till then we'll be setting some rules and boundaries! First we-" As she began on rambling out loud about herself and what they shouldn't do around her, the 2 boys slowly walked away from her, tiptoeing as quietly as they could while poking their fingers in their ears hoping to block out as much background noise as they could.

Max then leaned in to whisper to Rex once more for his opinion on the matter, "You don't actually trust her do you Rex?" he asked squinting his eyes back at Ursula who was still full of herself and indulging in self-worship, they never had met someone so narcissistic and vain in their entire lives and they hoped they never would have to again.

"Not as far as I can throw a full sized dinosaur." his friend answered mirroring Max's expression and feeling uneasy about this 'truce' himself, "But right now neither of us have a choice, though we'd keep a close eye on her in case she tries anything." he whispered back to Max as they both groaned and sweat dropped in dismay as Ursula continued to ramble on and on about herself as if she was the center of the universe.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Zoe's end they had just came to a clearing further away in the distance, where they came to a stop to catch their breath. While Zoe stabilised herself against a tree, the alpha duo with her were far more deprived of energy and fell down to their knees or face planted on the ground from fatigue! "Boy…that sure was close…" she panted placing a hand to her chest.

"Are they gone? Please say yes….." Ed whimpered as he gasped for air and slumped down to the floor in exhaustion.

Zander was resting his arms on his knees before looking behind them and taking a breather to see they weren't followed by any dragons, "Don't worry, we're in the clear for now." he said holding up an 'ok' sign to the fat boy who breathed a deep sigh of relief in response.

"Phew. For a second I thought we'd be history…." he said picking himself up, still feeling slightly shaky but mostly okay.

Zoe meanwhile gritted her teeth, feeling sick on the inside realising there was only one way they'd be able to have even the smallest chance of surviving in the forest with so many predators about, "It really ticks me off inside to say this but….urgh…." she swallowed hard and cringed painfully knowing she'd have to wash her mouth out as she prepared herself to utter some words she considered forbidden, "If we're going to survive we'll have to team up, I'm sure even you both know that's the only way." she forced out from her mouth before covering it feeling sick.

Looking to each other, Ed and Zander didn't see much choice and they couldn't afford to complain in their current situation, "She does have a point you know Zander."

"Yeah….." Zander nodded reluctantly before they both eyed her pleadingly, "Okay fine missy, we'll do it, but don't tell Ursula anything okay?" he begged clapping his hands together for mercy as Zoe sighed and shook her head, also cursing her dumb luck under her breath over how she'd end up stuck with these 2 goons, while hoping Max and Rex were having it better than she did.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Argh! This jungle is horrible! Not to mention it's so hot! I'm getting all sticky all over! Like eeew!" Ursula whined out loud as she began tearing up over dramatically as she refused to take another step further. Around her mosquitoes kept buzzing around her face and her hair turned oily after getting drenched in sweat under the tropical heat, as well as making her skin all slimy and moist too. Her clothes were also beginning to get soiled by dust and dirt, and her shoes suffered the worst, stepping in muddy dirt wherever she went was beginning to make her heels sore and some of it even got inside! To her this was pretty much a fashion disaster and her worst nightmare all rolled up into one mess! "Oh world how could you be so cruel to sweet beautiful me!?" she wailed out loud in her own version of agony and despair, as Max grinded his teeth nearly going crazy himself and dangerously tempted to go physical on Ursula himself!

"Ugh…..If I could just wring her tongue out…." he hissed under his breath as he pulled his gloves on higher, ready to get dirty himself before he was stopped by a hand on his back.

"Just ignore her Max…..play it cool….." Rex whispered to him, though evidence of him losing his own cool could be seen as his eye twitched and veins forming a tic mark on his forehead were popping out.

"How much further are we!? I don't want to walk anymore! I'm tired!" Ursula cried out loud as she began slamming her fists on the ground like a toddler rebelling against her parents.

Looking at one another and sweat dropping at the drama playing out, they were finding it hard to believe she was still the same old lady who gave them so much trouble time and time again in the past.

"And she calls us kids?" Rex muttered in disbelief sighing deeply and giving up on any little hope he may have had on her being useful to them.

"Must resist…urge to….strangle her…." Max hissed under his breath as he gnashed his teeth furiously, inside he was having an inner war between self restraint and his desire to let loose all his frustration and anger, and so far his desires were slowly beginning to take it over.

"Argh….my feet hurt! If this keeps up my soft feet will end up getting corns! Also my precious shoes are filthy!" Ursula whined out loud before tearing up like she had lost a loved one, though in this case the only one she loved would've been herself….

Taking a deep breath Max decided wisely that she wasn't worth it as he turned around with Rex, "Maybe you shouldn't wear high heels then." he muttered in annoyance as Ursula's jaw dropped at his careless comment.

"Ah! You take that back! These are limited edition!" she retorted flashing out her pink shoes before rubbing her temple, "Can't believe I'm saying this but I'm actually starting to miss Zander and Ed…." she muttered before screaming out and shaking her hands like a child throwing a tantrum, "They're never around when you need them most! They should be here carrying me or giving me a pedicure by now!" she cried out crocodile tears.

"Sheesh, I knew you were old but didn't think you'd whine so much like a little baby." Rex groaned face palming himself.

"Maybe she's a baby in an old lady's body." Max snickered in amusement and his friend soon joined him.

Hearing them snicker about her made Ursula shake a fist at them one more as she was boiling up in both blood and rage, "Watch it….don't start with me or I'll mangle you!" she threatened as she then hoisted herself onto a nearby rock and sat down comfortably on it, "But I'm willing to let it slide if you both give me a foot massage right the instant." She then stated casually as she took off her shoe and flashed her feet at them, which were now all mucky with bits of dirt and even a few small bus crawling in between her toes and nails! It was a sight that was even more scary than any horror movie the boys watched in their lives as they turned green and shuddered!

"Ugh! Gross!" They yelled out backing away from her quickly.

"Never in a million years would I ever do that! To your feet or anyone else's for that matter!" cried Rex at the sight of the abomination nearly made him throw up, but thankfully he held it in in time!

"You've got some nerve, just who do you think you are!?" Max growled pointing at her feeling outraged she actually had the nerve to demand them to rub her filthy feet!

"Hmph! Don't you know by now?" Ursula scoffed before striking an elegant pose to show off her slim body, "I'm the most beautiful woman in the world! Ursula the Great and head of the alpha gang!" she proclaimed striking a pose, "It's only natural for someone like me to be deserving of the finest royal treatment! You should be honoured I'm even letting you rub my poor feet sore from walking all over these hills and trails to who knows where! She said acting innocent and helpless like she was some movie star damsel in distress.

The boys raised an eyebrow at her before looking to one another, "I'm starting to wonder how those other 2 bozos put up with her." whispered Rex to Max.

"Yeah, they must be tough to endure this kind of attitude and treatment every day." The spiky haired boy nodded back at him, feeling sorry for her 2 sidekicks for having to put up with her ridiculous shenanigans pretty much every single day of their lives.

"That or they're such wimps who just do as they're been told." Rex added on.

Seeing her foot wasn't rubbed by human hands after nearly a minute, Ursula lost her patience and cried out in annoyance, "Hey!" she shouted as the boys looked up to her with narrowed eyes. She then clapped her hands, "Chop chop! Don't leave me hanging here! I gave you an order and I expect it to be followed!" she then demanded.

In an instant her words were enough to make both boys turn around without a backward glance, "Do it yourself." said Max uncaringly.

"Yeah, we're not wasting anymore time here." Rex followed as they both continued on down the trail leaving Ursula hanging back!

She blinked her eyes in disbelief at the disrespect they showed her before gritting her teeth and clenching her fist tightly she could squeeze the juice out of an apple! "How dare you!?" she screamed putting her shoe back on and hurrying after them, "Making me do things myself, you brats are such animals!" She growled as she caught up to them, "Haven't your parents taught you any manners? You're supposed to listen to grownups and do as they say! That's what kids do!" she yelled over their shoulders.

"Heh, yeah well it's natural for kids to rebel against adults too." Max smirked in response.

Rex the smiled and eyed her next, "Besides, since you're the grownup here shouldn't you be setting an example for us to follow hmm?"

Their snarky remarks were beginning to push Ursula's buttons more and more, sending her into a near complete nuclear meltdown, "Grrr….." she fumed red wondering to herself if this truce was worth holding herself back from clobbering the both of them and leaving them for the island scavengers.

"You even treat your friends like garbage," Max added as he glared at Ursula, "Like we'd ever want to listen to someone like that." he said as Ursula's rage then subsided slightly.

"Friends? You mean Ed and Zander?" she blinked her eyes in surprise at their statement.

"Well duh, you 3 always hang out like peas in a pod," said Rex shrugging his shoulders, "If you're not friends then I don't know what you are."

She then folded her arms and huffed, "Hmph! If you must know they're simply lackeys and grunts, they do as they're told and that's all there is to it!" she said firmly, "Also, they need to be put their place too! It's only natural, beneath the leader they're all lowly and inferior to you in every way!" she announced as Max and Rex scowled at her in disgust.

"Well too bad, that's not how it works in the D Team." said Max.

"Yeah, we're all equals and no one outweighs the other." Rex added, "We treat one another fairly and with respect, sticking up for one another through thick and thin." he said proudly as he and Max continued on their search for Zoe, "Then again I suppose a thug like you wouldn't understand." he said looking back at Ursula once more before ignoring her again.

"Grr…." The old lady gritted her teeth and huffed before stomping on after them refusing to say another word to them.

"Let's be glad Zoe's nothing like her huh Max?" Rex whispered to Max next to him as they continued onwards down the trail.

Max nodded in agreement, "Yup, totally." he said with a smile.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Keep back you guys, I don't want either of you breathing down my necks." Zoe threatened them as she walked ahead of them with her arms folded behind her head before sniffing the air and pinching her nose, "Nor do I want to infect me with your disgusting body odour, you guys really should get a shower." she said to them.

"Hey I showered this morning….." Ed pouted feeling hurt and offended.

"Hmph, why do you have to be in charge? Why not let us lead?" Zander pouted grumpily.

"Yeah, we're grown men compared to a little kid like you who hasn't even started high school yet!" Ed yelled in agreement as he tensed up and tightened his hands into fists.

"Fine, then you guys go ahead and lead." said Zoe in response as she looked back to them with an uncaring expression on her face.

Both men's faces brightened up with shock, joy and amazement at her words, "R…Really!?"

"You mean it?!"

She smiled brightly at them, "Mhmm, with you guys at the front you're sure to attract the attention of pretty much every dragon in the area, and while they're munching on you I'll be on my way home." she then added at the end as the 2 bozos then turned pale and speechless.

"Urk…." Losing their energy and at a loss of words to retort back with they then smiled and gave way to her humbly.

"On second thought you lead the way!"

"Yeah! You're way better at it than we are!" They each said praising her while she smirked deviously seeing it went exactly as she expected.

"That's better." She said cockily as she continued onwards and they trailed behind her.

"Aww…..Just when I thought we could finally boss someone around, then she ends up bossing us." Zander muttered.

"It's not fair!" Ed cried bitterly as he covered up his eyes with an arm.

Hearing their whining behind her back, she then turned around to look at them, "Why do you guys put up with that old lady anyways?" she asked with annoyance.

Suddenly to her surprise both of them flared up with anger and yelled back, "Hey! How dare you call her that!?"

"You take it back right now or else!" They threatened her with tensed fists and glaring murderous expressions, as she widened her eyes and her heart raced in a panic as they came in close to her, much to close for her comfort!

"Whoa whoa! Take it easy! I'm sorry!" she cried out apologetically whole shaking her hands in a frantic.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In another area, Max, Rex and Ursula were watching from within some bushes a pair of large male komodo dragons rearing up on their hind legs trying to pin the other down in a vicious wrestling match over territory, before one of them finally managed to pin the other and began raking his claws over his defeated rival.

"Whoa, would you look at that…." Max breathed in amazement, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer strength the giant monitor lizards carried within them.

"Such power too…" whispered Rex as he narrowed his eyes as he felt the wind blow on them, "Good thing we're downwind and they can't smell us, no way would any of us want to get in the middle of that." he thought.

Ursula on the other hand wasn't impressed as she let out a yawn in boredom, "Please, I've seen better moves on wrestling-" suddenly she widened her eyes sensing that someone had said the 2 forbidden words and she felt triggered, turning red and fuming with rage as she began to bellow out! "Gah! I'm not an old-"

"Ssh!" Max and Rex quickly covered her mouth in alarm as they sweated profusely and eyed her!

"Be quiet! Unless you want to make more noise and attract more dragons too us!" Max hissed as the green haired woman yanked both heir hands off her face.

"Tch! Get your filthy hands off me!" she hissed as she tensed a fist at them, "Do that to me again and I'll make you eat your teeth!" she threatened.

"Hmph, just you try it old lady." Rex scoffed as he and Max crawled away and Ursula fumed red and tensed up, doing everything she could to think happy thoughts and fight the temptation to clobber them best she could.

"Grrr!" she growled before following after them, in her mind she swore the second they were out of this mess or the first chance she got, she'd rip them apart with her bare hands and feed their corpses to the dragons!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"She treats you guys like dirt, why not just stand up to her? Also why are you standing up for her?" Zoe asked curiously as they stopped by the side of the game trail for a break, with her sitting on a rock while Zander and Ed sat on an old log on the opposite side from her.

"If you really must know, we and Ursula go way back to our childhood days." Zander replied grumpily folding his arms.

"Yeah we've been together as long as we remember." Ed added putting a finger to his chin in thought, "Sure we may have had our squabbles here and there but we're also kinda like siblings in a way too."

"So we're sticking by her side no matter what comes our way!" Zander pointed up to the sky with pride.

"Because we're the alpha gang!" They both chanted together with confidence and energy.

Zoe however sweat dropped unconvinced, "I bet you guys are just too scared to go against her aren't you?" she said to them as they lowered their heads down in defeat.

"Urk…."

"She got us good Zander…." Ed muttered.

Zander then buried his face in his hands, "I thought that would work." he said with shame.

Taking pity on them, Zoe then kicked herself off the rock and walked up to them, "If you guys don't like it, just stand up for yourselves and say no." she asked as both men gasped and hugged one another in shock, finding it hard to believe that Zoe was giving them advice, let alone she was asking them to do something that was equivalent to opening Pandora's box, "Much as it pains me to say this….Take my advice," she said closing her eyes and turning around facing away from them, "Unless you guys want to remain her wimpy boys the rest of your lives, do something about it or she'll keep walking over you." she said before walking off down the path once more, leaving the 2 men to contemplate their place in life as they looked to one another.

"Can we really do that Zander?" Ed asked curiously as Zander began to think about all the harsh times Ursula treated them like doormats and scapegoats, leaving them to do all the hard grunt work when she was no better than they were.

"She does make a point Ed..…" Zander admitted as they followed after her. Enemies or not, she did give them important advice, and no way would they ever want to be treated unfairly by Ursula for the rest of their lives, once they were out of this mess they were going to be an all new Zander and Ed!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off beneath a large rock formation was a large mud puddle which was still moist and partially filled with water in it, though it was dark and slimy, as well as smelling putrid and with several flies swarming around it. There, the camptosaurs, desperate to find relief to its bleeding leg wound and increasingly stinging pain, began to wallow in the mud pool hoping it would bring some relief, but instead its' efforts only served to cause it even more discomfort as it bellowed and wailed in agony.

Hearing the rustling of bushes around, it looked up and froze in fear as a group of dragons emerged from the underbrush and soon had it backed up against the rock and it had nowhere else to go! It tried to stand up, but it staggered and wobbled greatly, barely managing to stand straight let alone move as it bellowed out defensively, hoping o ward off its' relentless pursuers. The dragons however didn't buy it, as they opened their massive jaws and drooled disgusting saliva ravenously as they hadn't had a decent meal for weeks, and now was feeding time…..

They closed in, tightening their formation and edged in closer and closer to the helpless dinosaur as it was finally backed against the rocks unable to escape, paralysed by fear it could only bellow and wail out for help but to no avail….

The dragons licked their lips and hissed before charging in! The camptosaurs closed its eyes and looked away, unable to take it anymore and finally accepting its' fate….

SHRIEK!

A sudden shriek from above soon caught their attention, as the dragons halted their advance and looked up, and so did the camptosaurus as its eyes faced the direction where the new shriek came from. Sitting perched safely above the hunt was a white microraptor who flared up her wings and snarled while glowing brightly, causing the camptosaurus to look away as the light forced it to close its eyes, and the komodos growled in annoyance as the light disoriented them and drove them back into the bushes!

As the light died down, the camptosaurus looked up once more to see that its' attackers were gone, as it breathed slower with relief, before wailing out once again with a strike of pain coursing though its' bad leg! It slumped back down into the mud unable to move, feeling all hope was lost as it lay back in the soft mud pool which it felt was about to become its' death bed. The microraptor however, chirped from above to the sick dinosaur as it looked up once again, seeing its' saviour glide down gracefully till it landed on its side. As both dinosaurs locked eyes with one another, the raptor chirped calmly and they exchanged a few words in dinosaur speech before the raptor glowed brightly, sending some energy from herself into the green herbivore!

The energy transfer revitalised the camptosaurus as it mustered the strength to stand up strongly, though its wound still leaked blood and it felt rather numb and sore still. It was then a cloaked figure, stepping out from behind the rocks came over and stood before it. It then arched its back and growled defensively, till the raptor jumped off its back and glided onto the figure's shoulder, chirping at it to let it know all was alright as it calmed down, letting the cloaked person approach it close enough to gently stroke it on the face. After that, the figure took out what appeared to be a spray medicine bottle from under the cloak before lowering down to the bleeding and muddied wound on the camptosaurus' leg and preparing to spray it.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Zoe!"

"Hey Zoe! You there?" Max and Rex meanwhile shouted out at the top of their lungs hoping their lost friend would hear their cries, as they traversed deeper and deeper into the forest path they were on and to their disappointment their calls went unanswered….though not completely….

"Urgh give it a rest already, your voices are really beginning to burst my eardrums!" Ursula muttered feeling sick, while sticking her fingers in her ears hoping to block out their calling.

They instead scoffed and loomed away from her, "Hmph, well too bad, we're going to keep shouting out till we find Zoe!"

"So get used to it or you're on your own!" They each said ignoring her ranting before calling out for her again.

"Can you hear us!?"

"Where are you Zoe!"

As annoyed as she was she had to admit she was rather moved by their determination to find Zoe no matter what and they weren't planning on giving up anytime soon, "I can't believe how much they actually care for that pint sized runt of a pest." she said to herself in thought before looking up in thought, "I wonder if Ed and Zander are worried about me as much as they are about her."

 **(Meanwhile)**

"There's only 1 person we never have to worry about and that's Ursula!" Zander declared proudly and with confidence as he and Ed walked behind Zoe who was in the lead, as she folded her arms behind her head and looked back at them.

"Really? Not even a little?" she liked curiously.

"Mhmm!" Ed nodded with a confident smirk, "Ursula's as tough as they come! She can take care of herself just fine!" he boasted out loud putting a fist to his chest, "From our experience getting blasted by geysers, crashing down, falling off water falls she still comes out alright!"

"Very true, in fact, if she has a run in with those komodo whatever they're called, I'm more worried about them and not her." said Zander in agreement as Zoe sweat dropped uneasily.

"Whoa, those guys really have it rough….no wonder they usually aren't so right in the head…." she thought to heroes before looking back ahead and smiling lightly, "Still it's kinda nice they have such faith in her….." she then thought seeing that they did are for their teammate in a way at least.

"Actually I'm more worried about us." said Ed rather nervously twiddling his fingers as Zoe and Zander stopped to listen in to what he had to say, "From what I read up komodo dragons are really relentless when it comes to hunting." he said biting his fingernails and shivering with terror, "Like snakes they smell by tasting the air and they're really intelligent for reptiles and-"

"Would you please stop talking!" Zander interrupted covering his mouth while shaking like and earthquake and his teeth chattering uncontrollably, "The more you bring up about those oversized lizards, the more I feel like my heart's going to explode from all this pressure!" he squeaked looking frantically around the game trail they were walking upon to make sure they were alone, as well as the bushes and thick grove of trees that surrounded them on every corner.

Ed gulped realising he too was making himself anxious as he quickly shut himself up, "S…sorry…." he croaked with regret.

"Actually no." said suddenly which surprised the 2 men as they looked to her, eying her as if she was crazy.

"Hmm?"

She then focused her attention on Ed, "What else do you know about komodo dragons?" she asked rather seriously, "Maybe something you know can help us find some kind of weak spot on them so we know how to handle them the next time we come across them."

Ed's eyes glistened with joy and feeling appreciated by another for the first, "Hey that's actually a really good idea!" he cheered before gasping in surprise, "Huh!? Did you just ask something from me nicely!?" he exclaimed dramatically as he then became emotional, "No one ever does that…." he sniffled as tears welled up in his eyes.

His change in mood was enough to make Zoe sweat drop uneasily, "Okay….." clearly the alpha gang were way bigger nut jobs than she and the others gave them credit for.

"Hold it right there!" Zander interrupted suddenly as he waved his arms out before pointing at Zoe, "Why should we tell you anything!? We're mortal enemies, we don't need to be looking out for you!" he then demanded as Zoe stood firm.

Ed then wiped away the tears form his eyes, "You make a point Zander…..though do we really have to?" he asked feeling unsure of whether this was a wise move.

Zoe then shrugged her shoulders in response, "Fine then, sort this out yourselves then, I'm out of here." she said as she began to turn around and walk away from the 2 bumbling buffoons as Ed caved in almost instantly!

"Gah! Okay I'll talk!" he cried out as he fell to his knees begging her to stay!

Zander looked to him in alarm, "Ed?!"

The fat boy however flashed a glare at the skinny man as he was taken aback by surprise, "Look Zander, right now all that matters is getting out alive and I'll do anything for it!" he yelled back standing up to him while shaking a fist, "So if you got a problem you can go on your own then!"

"HUH!?" Zander turned pale as a result, both at Ed's threat to him and the fact he had the bearings to do it in the first place.

Even Zoe herself was quite impressed at the route he was taking, "Wow, he's actually standing up to him, not bad…." she whistled admittedly as Zander fell forward weakly in defeat.

"Urgh….Alright fine….." he whimpered seeing there was no other choice now. He then sat at the sidelines taking a back seat as Ed took charge and began to clear his throat and make his very detailed lecture on the biology of komodo dragons.

"From what I remember, they're hide is really thick and tough, kinda like chain mail in a way." he said, "Also those claws of theirs are really strong and sharp, don't want to get clawed by those things." he said shuddering a bit, "They can swim out to sea too, and like snakes, that tongue of theirs lets them hone in on prey up to 10km away! Not to mention they have really great eyesight, and can see things as far away as 300 metres!" he said really getting into it, "But that's not all, their venom acts like an anticoagulant! Meaning once it bites you won't stop bleeding for a while, till eventually the wonder animal bleeds itself out and-mmmh!"

He stopped as Zander jumped in and covered his mouth, shivering and sweating immensely as he eyed him like a fugitive hunted by the law! "Thanks a lot Ed for bringing up a hundred and one ways those lizards could make a meal out of us…." he hissed as Ed sighed with regret under his covered hand.

"S…Sorry…." he muffled.

Zoe blinked her eyes in amazement meanwhile, "You're quite informed on this, but is there anything that could help us?" she asked sounding much more polite than Zander was.

Ed then pulled his friend's hand off his mouth as he paced about in thought"Hmm….." he put a finger to his chin before an idea popped up in his head, "Oh yeah there might be a couple of things!" he cheered smacking his fist in his palm.

Zoe and Zander brightened up seeing there may be hope for them yet, "What's that?"

"Well they're reptiles so they need to be in the sun to keep warm in order to be fully charged and active!" Ed pointed out, "But if it gets too hot they need to cool down in the shade!"

Zander then gave it some thought, "Hmm….right now it's not that hot so that wouldn't help much." he said as Zoe looked up to see the clouds covering up the midday sun in the sky.

"Also what else….Oh right!" He stuck up his finger in recollection of another idea, "They may have good eyes, but they have poor night vision so they're only active during the day!"

"So we'll be safe at night then?" Zander asked.

"For the most part, but it's still a while till night so we can't have that either." he replied folding his arms, "But they can't see things that are stationary very well."

"Oh you mean like a t rex, where you stand still and it can't see you?" Zoe asked.

"That's only a myth, believe me we tried that before with Terry once," Zander replied as he and Ed lowered themselves downcast.

"Big mistake, we ended up with getting our bare behinds bitten off." Ed whimpered rubbing his back side as an old scar from Terry's bite began to throb the moment he remembered that life scarring moment.

"But it's still something we could try out at least." Zoe suggested while ignoring that last part.

"Now let's see…what else…" Ed began again, "They're large and heavy, but they can't climb trees! At least, not adult dragons." he said as he then brightened up with an idea, "Hey that could work! We'll just stay in the forest and avoid the open grasslands where they'll easily run us down!" he called out opening his arms widely, "And with so many trees around we'll escape them easily!"

"That could work." Zoe smiled knowing he could do it while Zande rushed in and hugged him gratefully.

"Oh Ed I take back everything I said! You're a genius!" he praised as Ed blushed red feeling honoured and also a bit embarrassed.

"Ahahahah! Well I do have my moments." he chuckled as they both held hands and spun around in a jolly dance while Zoe smiled feeling happy for them both despite them being enemies with one another.

"Well at least these 2 get along fine…." she thought to herself before sighing with concern, "Hope things are as peachy on Max and Rex's end." she said to herself as she looked up to the skies hoping they were fine wherever they were.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"I'm getting worried, I hope we find Zoe soon." said Rex with concern as he and his group traversed through the jungle trail which was beginning to grow thick and slightly sticky as the ground grew moist and muddy.

"Same here Rex…." Max replied as he kept reaching to his back pocket and kept grabbing nothing but air, before shivering with anxiety, "Man I feel almost naked without my dinoholder." he sighed deeply lowering himself down, feeling his spirits being brought down, even if they got out and met up with the others they still had to find their cards and devices, which would means searching the entire island for who knows how long, and then the dinosaur….they were used to braving big challenges but he wasn't sure if they were up to the task this time.

"Me too…." Rex sighed his heart feeling heavy at the massive wall of an ordeal presented before them now. "I never imagined how helpless we really are without our dinosaurs." he added at the end, being reminded of an incident at camp not long ago, except they had Cera to bail them out that time, but now…..

"Goes to show how wimpy you kids are without your precious dinosaurs to hide behind! Hahahahaha!" Ursula laughed pointing at them while holding her head high.

Max clenched his fist and gritted his teeth at her throwing such insults so casually at them, "Grr!" he was tempted to give the old lady a piece of his mind, when Rex stopped him last minute.

"Ignore her Max." said Rex tapping his shoulder before hushing. "Ssh! Look." he then whispered pointing ahead of them through a bush. As Max popped his head through it along with Ursula, they both tensed up as a large dragon came into view, tasting the air in search of prey and on the prowl. It lifted up its head and hissed having caught scent of something, as the 3 humans quickly pulled themselves back in and crouched low so their scent wouldn't get blown by the wind and give their positions away.

All they could do now though was huddle low and wait for the danger to pass…..though it didn't seem like that would be a viable option as the dragon held its position and looked around scanning its surroundings.

"What do we do now?" Max whispered hopefully at Rex, who shrugged his shoulders uneasily.

It was then they both focused their gazes at Ursula who stuttered when they asked, "Got any ideas?"

"You're looking at me?" She blinked her eyes in surprise, in an effort to hide her lack of an answer she quickly shook her fist out at them, "Do I have to think of everything here!? Weren't you the one that suggested we team up!? You figure it out!" she hissed as the boys sighed in dismay.

"Grrgh, guess we were kidding ourselves to expect anything from you." Rex muttered and Max shook his head.

"Let's see…we've gotta hide our scent somehow…." Looking down to the ground Max noticed his shoes were sinking into the ground slightly, and that it was moist and darker than it was before. Scooping up some of it, he saw it was mud and that was when an idea lit up in his head! "Wait I got it!" He said brightening up and the others looked to him.

"What Max?" Rex seemed a little put off when Max scooped up 2 handfuls of dirt and directed his attention at him.

"Sorry about this Rex." he said apologetically in advance before suddenly splattering it on the blond boy's clothes much to the latter's alarm!

"H…Hey!" Rex gasped as Max began smothering not just his shirt but also his pants and even some parts of his face in mud!

"If we're going to hide our smell this should help." Max explained as he soon did the same with himself, even putting some mud on his face like paint.

Rex himself felt slightly sick at the smell of the mud, but Max did have a point on where he was going and they didn't really have any other options to work with, "Ugh…okay fine…." he then sighed with discomfort as he began to put some mud on his own face like face paint too.

Ursula felt almost like throwing up after seeing the 2 boys play in the dirt like pigs, but she shuddered when they both grabbed handfuls of mud and then grinned at her directly! "Alright your turn!" They each said as she slowly tried to back away from them and their ideas!

She turned pale and shook out her hands in a frantic, "Oh no! Don't you dare-" Without warning they began throwing mud pies in her face as well as pelting her clothes all over with dirt and soil! "ACK!" Her voice became muffled as more and more mud became piled on her all over! In fact each throw was even delivered with a hint of spiteful intentions too, which made the act a lot more enjoyable to them while they tried and failed to hold back any laughter.

By the time they were finished nearly her entire being was completely smile, as pulled off a large chunk off it off her face she huffed and snared deeply with rage, her eyes turned dark red demonically and even her nails and teeth looked as though they sharpened into claws and fangs ready to sink in! "How….dare….y-" Before she could unleash her primal rage on the 2 miscreants who dared to show her such disrespect, Max and Rex quickly brought her down and covered up her mouth much to her surprise! "MMPH!"

"Sssh!" They both hissed at her with an alarmed expression while holding fingers to their lips. Peeping through the bush once more, the komodo was still looking around for any signs of prey, before turning in a other direction and lumbering off into the bushes, the spectre of death passing by as the 3 humans felt a wave of security and peace wash over them.

"Phew…it's gone now…." Rex breathed as Max let out a gasp of relief which he had been holding in.

Ursula however wasn't all that grateful for what they did as she threw off their hands on her face and hissed at them, "Grrr! I swear when I get out of this I'll pay this back 10 times over!" she swore under her breath pointing at them, vowing to avenge her now tainted fashions the second they got out of this mess and back to business as normal.

"Stop your whining, just think of it like a mud bath or something." Rex grunted while Max huffed in annoyance, nearing the end of their tolerance of the overbearing old lady as she held her head up high snottily.

"Hmph! Who are you to talk so lightly about mud baths? Do you lot know so little about spa treatments?" she snorted as she began to trot off, "Consider yourselves lucky I'll let you guys live for now, maybe you'll prove to be useful meat shields." she said snobbishly as the D Team boys grunted and picked themselves up before continuing down the path with her, hoping they wouldn't need to put up with her for much longer.

"Hmph…"

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Phew…I thought going out into the open is a bad idea." Zander asked breathing heavily and sweating deeply as he hurled himself up a steep ledge at a hill side which was outcropped with large stones, clumps of grass and mud scattered around the area, with Ed wheezing and lying on his back gasping for air, putting his hand on his chest feeling his heart about to explode at any second!

Zoe on the other hand found climbing the hill much easier compared to them, as she looked down from the higher ledge she was on, "Yeah, but if we can get to higher ground up that hill there's no way they can follow us up." she explained, "Also, from what I remember as long as we go against the direction of the wind, it won't carry our scent for them to pick up on." she added as she slumped up and grabbed another overhanging ledge as she pulled herself up further, putting much greater distance between herself and the lower levels.

"If you say so…." Zander muttered uneasily, as he grabbed onto another ledge and hoisted himself up. Ed on the other hand struggled greatly as he could barely keep up with Zander, lagging behind as he jumped up and down unable to reach the spot where Zander pulled himself up from.

"Urk…" he began to panic seeing he was almost going to be left quickly behind as he called out for help, "Umm Zander? A little help here?" he pleaded as Zander looked down from the edge he was at.

"Ugh…." he groaned in dismay, face palming and shaking his head wondering why he had to be stuck babysitting their team's liability. As tempting as it was to leave him he couldn't help but pity the poor fat boy for being so weak, though at the back of his mind he knew they would never have gotten this far without him so this could be the least he could do for him. As Zander lowered his hand enough for Ed to grab it, he felt a massive weight pull him down and he could feel his won ribcage being crushed against the ground as Ed pulled down on him from below! "Urgh! Would it kill you to lay off the candy once in a while!?" He screamed as he pulled back as hard as he could, turning blue as he held in his breath but also feeling his arms being wrench out of their sockets slowly!

"Hey!" Ed cried back taking offence to his words, but before he could retort back at him, a menacing hiss was soon heard from below which made his heart skip a beat.

Hiss….

"Huh?" As the 2 of them looked down they saw a pair of large dragons climbing up the hill towards the both of them!

"WAAAAAHHHH!" They both then screamed being overrun with fear! As a result Zander accidentally dropped Ed as he felt back down on the ground!

"WHOA!" he gasped as he landed back on the ledge and looking down he could see the huge lizards were coming at him! With their massive claws they made climbing up the steep hill look easy, as they set their sights on their now cornered and juicy prey! "GAAAH!" Ed screamed out loud at the top of his lungs as he tried jumping up and down to reach where Zander was, still missing the part where he could grab! Looking back down and turning pale with the lizards advancing every second, he cried out loud for help, "Z…..Zander! Help!" he begged as the dragons managed to catch up to where he was, their heads only popping up on the edge where Ed was standing! He then tensed up and froze stiff as the began to flick out their tongues and pick up his scent!

Zander too felt his blood run cold seeing his friend was in danger and about to become lizard lunch meat, "O…Okay Ed! Stay still, don't move and I'll think of something!" he cried out frantically waving his arms hoping to calm him down, but deep down inside he too was a nervous wreck as he then clenched his face unable to concentrate and think up a rescue plan! "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" he cried out as the dragons reached where Ed was and began smelling him all over!

Ed sweated profusely and was on eat verge of wetting his pants, frozen in fear and unable to move a muscle he pleaded to himself inwardly hoping the dragons would back away or lose interest. Unfortunately, the dragons could see him perfectly well as a helpless and juicy morsel as they opened up their massive jaws, baring several sharp serrated teeth while hissing, ready to sink into their next meal, and all he could do was whimper, "Mommy…." closing his eyes and beginning to cry out his last few moments of life as one of them began to strike out at him! "WAAAAHH!"

Zander wailed out in despair as he was about to see his best friend get eaten alive before his own eyes. He was about to jump out in a last ditch effort to get Ed out, when a stone from out of nowhere was flung forward and struck the dragon on the head, knocking it off course and only to bite the other! Before they both snarled and growled at one another, distracted.

"Huh?" Zander looked up in surprise, and so did Ed, and they both gasped to see it was none other than Zoe who had come to their aid! "Back off you overgrown iguana! Shoo!" she cried out as she grabbed a handful of stones and skidded slowly down to the lower levels from up high, before throwing more and more stones and pebbles, bonking the 2 big lizards at their heads or bodies, before they realised this meal wasn't worth the trouble and they quickly beaten a hasty retreat into the long grass below the hill.

Both men were speechless at what just happened, as they looked to Zoe and then down at the fleeing dragons a few times before pointing out at her, "Did you just?"

"Hey, you going to just stand there?" she interrupted raising an eyebrow at them, "And are you just going to sit there and let them come back for seconds?"

They then widened their eyes in realisation at what she said, "Oh! Right!" They gasped as Zander lowered himself down for Ed, but as he struggled to hoist up his fat friend, Zoe sighed taking pity on them as she lowered herself down to help Zander hoist Ed up to the higher level of the hill, it wasn't an easy task but they managed to accomplish it together.

As the 2 of them gasped in exhaustion and relief, Zoe just brushed away some sweat from her brow, "Phew, glad that's over with…." she muttered to herself feeling proud of what they accomplished.

"Say…." Ed then asked catching her attention, "Why did you save me? Thought you hated our guts." he asked curiously and with interest.

"Even I'm speechless." Zander followed feeling he was in the same boat as he was.

Zoe then blinked her eyes and gave it some thought, why did she reach out to save them? She could've left them to their fate and then be rid of them for good in the future, as well as for all the trouble they put her and the D Team through, but deep down, she knew what truly was the right thing to do in the end as she smiled lightly back at them, "As much as I dislike you creeps, even you don't deserve to be mauled by a dragon." she answered as the 2 men looked to one another.

"Ursula would just leave us to fend for ourselves…." Ed then muttered looking down on the ground with guilt and remorse.

"Very true indeed…." Zander followed in agreement with him.

"Well I'm not her, in fact we do this for one another, that's what a real team does and what makes us strong." she replied with a smile as she continued on upwards to the top of the hill, "Maybe if you guys did that you'd be better off." she said giving them one more word of advice as she continued on without a backward glance.

As they observed her pressing on and persevering despite the dangers they faced, as well as her words for advice to them, they couldn't help but feel a little more respectful towards her as a result, not to mention seeing her as far better role model than Ursula ever could. They looked to one another contemplating everything they experienced and heard from Zoe before moving upwards together.

 **(Meanwhile)**

For Max's side things had turned for the worst unfortunately….

"Run for it!" Max cried out as he and Rex ran as fats as they could, with Ursula suddenly zooming ahead of them with teary eyes!

"WAAAAHHHH!" she screamed loudly like a little girl as a large pack of dragons were suddenly hot on their heels!

Moments ago the 3 of them had stumbled across a dead buffalo carcass being mauled in a Komodo feeding frenzy, a sight far more gruesome and horrendous than any they had saw on a nature documentary. They intended to sneak by them quietly, but Ursula couldn't hold it in as the sight of the mauled buffalo and dragons ripping away flesh from bone was more than she could take, as she turned green and suddenly threw up where they were! The sound and smell was picked up almost instantly and having noticed intruders on their territory the dragons quickly gave chase after them!

"You 2 hang back there!" Ursula screamed loudly, "There's more of you for them than me!

"No way!" Max yelled back in response as he saw a dragon about to bite his heel! "WAAAH!" he screamed jumping up and missing the bite in time!

Looking around frantically for any kind of escape route, Rex quickly saw their ticket out! "Over there a tree!" he pointed at it and they all turned to see a fairly reasonable sized tree, large enough to hold them and with branches close enough to grab on to! "Quick climb!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Ursula squealed as she quickly scurried up the tree with little effort, driven by fear and adrenaline she made up to some of the higher branches first before hugging onto them like a frightened cat!

As Max and Rex climbed up as fast as they could midway, a stalk that Rex grabbed hold of suddenly snapped and he lost his balance causing him to fall back! "AH!"

"Rex!" Max cried in alarm as he quickly reached down and grabbed his arm in time! "I've got you!" His friend's weight was beginning to pull him down slowly, as he gritted his teeth in frustration and pain at having to hold onto the branch and his friend at the same time! "Urgh…." he grunted as Rex looked around, hoping to find some sort of leverage he could secure himself to, but the nearest branches were out of reach for him as he took tensed up with frustration.

Looking down below, Rex paled as one dragon stood up on its legs and leapt up to snap at him, only just missing his foot as he lifted it up in time! "Whoa!"

"GAH!" Max cried as the sudden jerk caused him to slip slightly down! As more and more dragons began copying the first, rearing up and lunging up at the tree, Rex tensed realising that the branch Max was on was slowly beginning to crack and snap, unable to support their combined weight! Before long they both would plummet to the ground and end up as dragon dessert! Unwilling to pull his best friend down with him, he decided there may be only one way out of this.

"Max! You have to let go!" he demanded willingly.

His friend however wasn' about to have any of it, "NEVER!" he screamed back in anger, "Rex, you and I are more than buds, ugh…we're a team!" he grunted defiantly as he hang on, "If you fall then I'm falling with you!"

"But Max-"

"Say no more!" Max interrupted, "I'll get us out of this, that's a promise!" he yelled as his face turned red with pain as he pulled up on Rex's arm as hard as he could.

"Max…." Rex sighed feeling touched at his loyalty, but seeing his grip was beginning to loosen, the branch slowly cracking apart and the dragons snapping below, he closed his eyes and taking one more breath as he raised his free hand and attempted to make Max let go by force…..

Up above from her personal spot, Ursula grinned to herself with delight seeing an opportunity better than any other. With a simple kick she could be rid of 2 of her most hated thorns in her side forever! The thought of it ran through her mind like a freight train as she snickered sinister, moving away from her spot on the tree before slowly and sneaking up behind Max who had his hands completely occupied at the time.

She was just about to give the final shove, when she recalled what they said earlier, how their loyalty for their friends was truly what made them strong as a whole, their self sacrifice and determination to keep one another going through thick and thin…..and seeing it before her eyes made her feel…touched….she couldn't explain it but suddenly she lost her desire to do the deed, no she couldn't do it at all….even she couldn't comprehend why either…..

Shaking her head clear she then gritted her teeth furiously to herself as she swallowed her pride, "Oh I'm so going to hate myself for this…." she muttered to herself as she grabbed hold of Max from behind to his surprise!

"Huh?" Looking up he was surprised to see it was Ursula thing hold of him!

"Hold still, you can do that right?" she asked him firmly. Before he could finish, mustering all her upper body strength she yanked the 2 boys up and pulled them to higher levels of the tree much to their surprise! Both at her strength and what she was doing for them!

"WHOA!"

"AH!"

Pulling them up, the branch Max was at soon snapped and fell ontop of the head of one dragon, which caused the rest of the group to back away cautiously.

After settling them on a much sturdier branch, she then began gasping for air to catch her breath while Max and Rex stared at her in disbelief.

Max pointed out at her, "You….saved us?" he asked unable to comprehend what just happened, he knew they alpha gang were crazy nuts but this was beyond what they expected from them. He and Rex were beginning to think maybe there might have been some small hints of good inside their crooked hearts….

She then looked up was them with a hard scowl, "Don't flatter yourselves, now we're even." she huffed looking away from them, "Besides, I still someone to get me out of here…."

"That's reassuring." Max muttered taking back what he said while Rex frowned in disappointment.

A while later they stay high above the frenzy below, but after a while the dragons realised there was no way they'd reach the 3 humans anytime soon, so they turned around and retreated back into the brush much to the humans' relief.

"Looks like they're giving up." said Rex but they still held back out of caution fearing it may be a trick of trap, recalling the night with the szechuanosaurus, after that experience they wouldn't take chances so easily. After a few moments, they could confirm it was safe and clear.

"They're gone," said Max as he looked to Rex and Ursula on his side, "Okay let's move before they come back."

"Mhmm," the both nodded as they began to lower themselves slowly bit by bit down the old trunk of the tree.

"Hey guys!" A familiar voice soon called out to them from below as they were climbing down.

"Huh?"

"Was that?" As they looked down they all brightened up to see it was none other than Zoe, along with Ed and Zander too who were awaiting them and were as glad to find them alive and safe too!

Max and Rex quickly brightened up, "Zoe!" they cheered before leaping down to the ground and running up to her.

Ursula on the other hand slipped and fell on her butt! "YOW!" Cringing with pain and rubbing to sorely, Ed and Zander came around her to pick her up.

"Man are we glad to see you!" Max cheered and Rex smiled before looking over their friend to check her for any injuries and they breathed calmly seeing she was fully intact.

"You okay there?" Rex then asked out of concern hoping she didn't encounter any trouble while she was out alone with the 2 Alpha clowns.

"Sure am, thanks." she smiled with relief that she was alive and well herself, and so were her friends, "Same to you too. Glad you both are-" She then blinked her eyes eying them oddly noticing they were covered in dirt and grime all around their clothes and faces, and the smell was way worse than how they looked, "Sniff…Ugh….Also why do guys smell like you came out of a pigsty?" she muttered pinching her nose and looking at them in disapproval.

"Long story….." Max sighed lowing his head down.

"Your parents aren't going to like it when you come hoe all filthy like that…." said Zoe looking at them all over with disapproval, thinking only kids would play around in the dirt like animals.

"We know…." sighed Rex in agreement.

On the other side though it wasn't as happy or rosy a reunion with the Apha gang, the second Ursula regrouped with her henchmen she began berating them almost instantly. "Where were you 2 clowns!?" she demanded, "All this time I could have used your help stuck with those horrid ankle biters and you guys were having a tea party with brat girl!?" she growled as Ed and Zander looked away fearfully, twiddling their fingers or lowering their heads down in defeat.

"It's err….complicated Ursula…" said Zander unable to confess the truth, while Ed just whimpered.

She then folded her arms and rubbed her temple calming herself down seeing the bigger picture now, "Well whatever, now that we're together again we can focus on getting our alpha scanners back and then we-"

Hiss…

A deep menacing hiss echoing from the bushes soon stopped her, followed by the rusting of bushes everywhere around the big tree which put everyone on alert.

"Huh?"

Max and the D Team tensed up as the ruling become louder and echoed from all around them this time…almost like earlier…. "I've got a really bad feeling about this….." he said under his breath as he gritted his teeth tensely.

"I think we'd better-" Before he could finish the entire pack of dragons, ranging from full grown adults, juveniles and adolescents soon surrounded them on all sides, this time completely cutting them from any and all escape routes this time! Some had even got close to the base of the tree trunks where they all stood, meaning even if some were lucky enough o get on others definitely wouldn't! This time it really was curtains for them all as the dragons hissed and snarled viciously before closing in without fear!

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" The Alpha gang all screamed as they huddled up together and shaking in terror!

"There's so many of them!" Zoe gasped in alarm, way more than any they've ever seen before since they set foot on the island!

"Any suggestions guys?" Max quivered seeing some of them were really close to tasting his shoes as they flicked out heir forked tongues at him, "I'm open to them!" He then screamed looking to Rex as he gritted his teeth anxiously.

"Working on it….." he gulped turning pale, as he held out his arms to keep Zoe and Max behind him as they were backed further and further away from the safety of the tree as the dragons began to circle around like sharks, waiting for an opening to strike!

"Come on you lamebrains!" Ursula cried out to Ed and Zander whose teeth began to chatter, "Can you think of something useful for once!?"

"It's not so easy when you're about to become part of some all you can eat buffet!" Zander wailed clenching his face.

"It's been nice knowing you guys!" Ed cried out loud as he opened his arms and hugged both Ursula and Ed close to him so that he wouldn't get eaten alone.

"Urgh…." They groaned before shoving him off and then turning pale with the giant lizards coming closer within striking range at their legs! A few even attempted to toy with them by lunging in with mock charges to make them jump too, which made the situation far more agonising and dire for them before both teams were eventually cornered back to back with one another on all sides!

As the 6 humans found themselves at death's door, Ursula then looked to the side to see the D Team still together refusing to turn tail or run, deciding to stand up for one another. Inside her heart seeing as they were all doomed now, she decided now would be the time she confessed what was on her mind as she swallowed up the last of her pride, "Hey you." she said to Max and Rex who were behind her directly.

"Huh?" They turned their heads slightly around to see her as she closed her eyes seriously. Even Zander, Ed and Zoe were eying her to see what she had to share with the group before their last few moments came.

"Your names and Max and Rex right?" she asked before smirking slightly, "I've got to admit, even though we've been enemies for a long time, I never thought I'd say this, but it's been a pretty swell and I may actually….sorta respect you a little now."

Zander and Ed were taken aback by what she said, "Huh!?" At first they assumed she had given in to madness because of their dire situation, or then again it could be truth too….Ursula usually was rather fickle in her mindset at times.

They looked to one another thinking over what she said to them, "Gee….I don't know what to say about that."

"Me neither…." They said to her feeling unsure and slightly conflicted about being complimented by their enemies.

"Well if we're being honest here." said Zoe deciding to join in as she took in a deep breath and looking behind her to Zander and Ed, "Our time together may be short, but I have to say, maybe you guys aren't that bad….."

They both sniffled before deciding to say what was on their minds too, "Well in that case, I've gotta confess, we kinda sorta, always respected you kids!" Zander cried out.

"Too bad it isn't going to do us any good now…." Ed whimpered as he began to wet his own pants as the Komodos now had them completely surrounded and cornered!

Despite being faced with overwhelming odds, Max hardened his gaze angrily with determination, "Well I'm not going down without a fight!" he yelled out as he grabbed a nearby stone and he waved it warningly at the huge lizards, "Bring it on you oversized salamanders!"

"Max….." Rex breathed before smiling at being inspired by his courage, "Well if you're fighting then I am too!" he said with determination as he pumped up his fists ready for a fight.

"I won't quit either!" Zoe added as she grabbed a nearby stick and waved it like a bat ready for battle!

"Don't just stand there you buffoons! Grab a stick or something!" Ursula then demanded as Zander and Ed both nodded without hesitation.

"O…Okay!" They said before grabbing any sharp rock or stick they could use and then tossing it over to whoever didn't have a weapon on them!

The dragons held back, snarling menacingly as their prey tensed up, armed and ready to fight to their last breath! Both sides stared down one another and the tension was peaking, the first who made the wrong move would no doubt be the one to lose in the end…who would it be?

Neither side got the answer though, as a loud bellow could be heard not far from where they all were, which caused several birds to fly out from the canopy and over the kids and making everyone look above and around them curious as to what just happened, "What could have made that sound?" Zander then asked.

"Whatever it is it's coming in fast!" Max pointed out as the sounds of trees being knocked down and foot stomps were approaching them quickly! As they all turned to look, the camptosaurus suddenly burst out of the the brush and bellowed loudly as the komodo dragons all turned to face it head on!

Everyone couldn't believe their eyes, "It's camptosaurus!" The alpha gang gasped in surprise to see their saviour turned out to be the dinosaur they came to capture, or more in fact, the helpless dinosaur they intended to take while it was suffering earlier.

"Did it come to save us!?" Rex gasped in surprise.

"Run!" Zoe cried out to it pleadingly, "You don't stand a chance being all wound-" Upon closer look at the leg where the dinosaur's wound was, she was taken aback by what she saw, "Hey look! It's leg's all bandaged up!" she pointed as they all saw a set of white bandages were wrapped tightly around the leg.

"Yeah…..you're right!" Max gasped, "But still, what's it going to do?"

As the dragons snarled fiercely and began lunging towards the camptosaurs, it suddenly glowed green and an aura of leaves surrounded it before it reared up on its back legs! The grassy leaves then seeped into the ground before it and as the dragons crossed over that spot, it suddenly began to gave way and a massive pitfall opened up and swallowed the pack in!

"WHOA!" Everyone gasped in alarm at the camptosaurus' surprising counter attack and the hole it generated grew in size too!

"Get back!" Rex yelled holding his arms out as they ran back putting as much distance between themselves and the camptosaurus' move which soon began to suck in more and more of the dragons into the pit!

Soon nearly the entire pack fell into the deep dark pit which also had a number of green roots and tree vines sporting out form it, their shrieks and growls dying away as they fell into the darkness, and the ones that did manage to avoid the hole or climb out in time quickly scurried away realising this was one prey they didn't want to mess with. "No way…." Rex breathed in awe as the camptosaurus on its own managed to scatter the entire dragon pack after being hunted down as the prey not long ago, now it was able to turn the tables on its predators. Before long the vicinity was clear of the large carnivorous lizards and the battle was one as camptosaurus reared up on its legs and bellowed in triumph before slamming back down.

"Whoa….that's a big hole…" Max breathed in amazement as he and the D Team walked closer to the dark pit before them before stepping back away from it for safety after looking down into the deep darkness inside it.

"Woo hoo! We're saved! We're alive!"

"Ahahahah! That showed them that dinosaurs are the real lizard kings!"

Approaching the D Team who had earned her trust earlier, the camptosaurus now stood before the 3 children with a calm expression. Zoe then stepped out feeling it was safe as she bowed down respectfully to their saviour before putting her hands on her snout, "Thank you, you saved us…." Zoe said gratefully to the dinosaur while stroking her, as she then moved in and brushed up against her face and even licked it with affection, "Hahaha, such a friendly dinosaur isn't she?" she giggled as her face became wiped over with dino slobber.

"Yeah…." smiled Rex with Max as they came in to pet the dinosaur themselves too and she nuzzled into them. Now that left only one more loose end to tie up….

"But….what do we do now?" Max asked as they all gained unsure expressions on their faces.

"Good question." said Rex folding his arms on his hips as the dinosaur bellowed calmly at them, "Even if we wanted to turn it into a card, we can't. Not without our dinosaurs or stones."

"This is a pickle….." Zander muttered scratching his head wishing for a solution himself. If they couldn't battle over the dinosaur they had to find another way to resolve this, not to mention they would need to go find their missing devices too.

"Shall we decide with rock, paper, scissors then?" Ed asked raising his hand out though everyone paid him no mind much to his sadness.

At that moment, the camptosaurus turned around and flicked its head forward, urging them to follow it as it trotted calmly into the brush and the 6 people eyed it curiously. "Is it asking us to follow?" asked Zoe.

"Well, it did save us so I guess we can trust it." Rex added as he and the D Team followed it.

"What have we got to lose?" Ursula muttered seeing no point in worrying about it as she and the Alpha gang trailed behind the D Team at a walking pace, keeping together so they wouldn't get lost or separated again.

As the 6 humans followed behind the camptosaurus for a little while, they soon came to a small cave at a rocky wall at the edge of the forest. Inside it was a small nest made of twigs and large leaves, and settled gently in them were a set of small devices that brought joy and hope to the Alpha Gang and D Team as they brightened up in amazement upon sight of them!

"Ah!"

"No way!"

"Our dinoholders!"

"And our alpha scanners!" They all cried out before rushing in and grabbing their respective machines with their hands and then hugging them closely with deep joy.

"Awesome!"

"It's a miracle!"

"Oh how I missed you so much!"

"I'll never let you out of sight again!" They all said feeling more appreciative of them now and that they finally had the means get off the island and go home at last.

Before that though, the D Team quickly took out their dinosaur cards and slashed them gently up and materialising before them were 3 of their partner dinosaurs who wagged their tails happy to see their owners as they came in to lick or cuddle against them

"Chomp! Oh I'm so glad to see you again!" Max cried out in joy as the young trike leapt into his arms and began nibbling on his face as he always did, "Ahahaha!"

Rex lowered himself down to his knees as Ace began licking his hands and face, "Hey there Ace, you're safe now don't worry." he said stroking the carnotaurus' head nicely.

"You too Paris, oh I missed you…." Zoe sobbed as she hugged in her partner who hummed in enjoyment feeling warm and safe in her arms. As she looked up, Zoe saw the camptosaurus who seemed to be pleased that they were reunited at last with their close friends. She nodded gratefully before reaching out and petting the green herbivore on the nose, "Thank you very much." she breathed as the dinosaur let out a deep hum in response. Rex and Max soon heard it as they went over to it and began thanking it themselves too.

Meanwhile the alpha gang were doing a ring around the roses dance with one another to celebrate the occasion, laughing and giggling with glee or shooting their hands out like this was a momentous celebration, "Woo hoo! This is the best day ever!" Ursula cheered before she stopped in realisation, "Wait a second, since the komodo dragons are gone and we're back together…that means…." she then turned serious and yelled out pointing out at the D Team, "We can now take that dinosaur card from you!" she declared catching the D Team and even her own teammates by surprise!

"Huh!?"

"You're kidding!"

"Say what!?" Max and the others gasped in disbelief, even the camptosaurs was taken aback by Ursula's sudden declaration of war immediately after she and her gang got their things back.

"Hey she's right!" Zander gasped smacking his fist into his palm, "Now that we're together again that makes our truce officially over!" he announced joining Ursula's side without hesitation.

Ed not wanting to be left out, reluctantly sided with them thought a part of him didn't really want to, "Umm….No hard feelings?" Ed shrugged his shoulders feeling slightly guilty about it and hoping the D Team wouldn't take it too personal.

The camptosaurus sensing danger quickly took shelter behind the D Team as they stood their ground firmly ready to protect it with their own lives.

"Hey! That's just low you creeps!" Max cried out feeling disgusted tensing his fists at them.

"Yeah! Camptosaurus saved us all and this is how you repay her?" Rex yelled in anger.

"Err let me think…." went Ursula as she pretended to think it over before sticking a tongue out at them, "Duh! You brats are now basically standing there begging for us to take your cards!"

"So what better chance than now?" Zander grinned eager for a fight.

"I don't really know about this but okay….." said Ed at the end deciding to go along with it, since this was bound to happen eventually so might as well go on with it.

"Sigh same old Alpha gang." Rex sighed face palming himself, wondering how he could have been so stupid to expect anything from them.

"Guess it's too much to expect from them huh?" said Zoe shaking her head in disapproval while Max tensed up furiously.

"Alright since you insist then here goes!" They then returned their partners to their cards and slashed them!

"Dino slash!"

Altogether their 3 dinosaurs appeared in full size and roared out at the Alpha gang.

"Haha! Bring it on!" Ursula laughed pumping her arm up, "We'll be taking that camptosaurus and your dinosaurs!"

"And there's nothing you can do about it!" said Zander mockingly pointing at them.

"No hard feelings kay?" said Ed quietly as they all flashed out their alpha scanners.

"Let's go!" Ursula chanted as she prepared to summon out her dinosaur! Pressing the button to eject the card out, she then widened her eyes at something she didn't foresee, "Huh!?" her eyes widened in alarm and her heart skipped a beat seeing that her card slot was empty! "Wh…Where's Terry's card!?" she exclaimed out loud in disbelief, "It's supposed to be here!"

"Say what!?" Ed and Zander then gasped in disbelief.

"Gah! Spiny's missing too!" Zander cried out in shock to see his card slot was empty too.

He and Ursula then focused intently on Ed as he stepped back nervously at the pressure now on him, "Ed, please tell me you have Tank at least?" They asked him hopefully.

Shaking uneasily at being their only hope left, Ed did the same and checked his scanner, and he turned pale and gulped down painfully hard at what he saw next, "Uh oh….." he muttered in response seeing all their hopes now snuffed out. Turning over uneasily to their waiting and paranoid expressions he smiled nervously, "Umm…..I can imagine I have her, does that count?" he chuckled as his friends croaked in defeat.

"Urk…."

Overhearing what the Alpha gang were blabbering with one another, the D Team then smirked with mischief seeing they caught a really lucky break this time, "So you guys still want to go at it?" asked Max feeling rather gracious as Chomp, Ace and Paris roared out at the 3 stooges catching them off guard!

ROAR!

"Aaaah!" They screamed in terror before scurrying away like rats into the forest!

"We'll get you next time you brats! This isn't over!" Ursula cried out swearing revenge as they disappeared into the green depths and out of sight.

Before long sunset came upon the island of Komodo, with the daylight fading the D Team wasted no time in returning their partners to card form and then with the push of a button so did the camptosaurus, with it in their hands the D Team could rest easy knowing it'll recover completely inside the card and it'll no longer need to suffer anymore pain.

"Phew, despite what happened today, I'd say it was a pretty good experience." Max breathed wiping sweat from his brow finally easing up and believing the worst was over at last.

"Guess that means we ought to train ourselves better so we wouldn't be helpless next time we end up without our dinosaurs." Rex thought knowing this was one lesson he learnt from today and it was a lesson he'll be putting into practice without a doubt.

"Yeah," said Zoe in agreement as she folded her arms behind her head in a relaxed manner, "Also, it was kinda fun hanging out with the alpha gang, maybe a little," she admitted looking away, "But something I won't recommend trying out again."

"True." Max and Rex added in agreement.

"There's still something I don't understand though." said Zoe after that as she recalled something strange from earlier.

Her friends looked to her curiously, "What's that?"

"Camptosaurus' leg was bandaged up when it came to help us," she said turning to them and they all remembered the huge ties of white cloth and strips around its' bad leg from before when it came to save them, "Could that mean that someone is around here on the Island besides us?" she then pointed out as Max and Rex drifted into thought.

"Good point Zoe." said Rex folding his arms.

"Could've run into a friendly villager who pitched in to help it out." Max suggested while scratching his cheek.

"I guess….."

Max then folded his arms behind his head deciding not to think about it and focus now act they already accomplished, "Well all that matters is that we have the card now and without a fight, so now we can finally get out of this nightmare." he said before dialling on the dinoholder as fast as he could, wanting to get back to civilisation and into a nice hot bath.

"Agreed," nodded Rex as he and Zoe did the same, "When we come home I plan on having dinner and not be someone else's." he said.

"Tell me about it." Zoe giggled as they soon became enveloped in glowing light and were about to be transported safely home. At the last few seconds though, as Zoe looked up at the evening sunset which bathed the sky in a mixture of bright orange agsint the dark blue background of twilight, she marvelled at its beauty and treasuring it for as long as she could before they would go hime….when a four limbed figure, feathered with a long tail glided across the sky fr a split second, a shape which was almost too familiar and even flashed white!

"Huh?" Blinking her eyes in surprise and rubbing them she saw it was gone, but Zoe could've sworn she saw something and it almost looked like….an old friend of theirs from somewhere, "Was that?"

Max heard her and he looked to her with interest, "Something up Zoe?" he asked as Rex followed his friend's gaze at her.

She then shook her head shaking it off as nothing, "N…No…." she said in response, "It's getting kinda dark now, I think I was just seeing things….." she said as they then disappeared in the light and went home.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the beach, the alpha gang burst out of the forest in a panic, before coming to a stop near the edge of the water they dropped down either panting on their knees or slumping to the sandy ground with exhaustion, "Huff….huff….you think we lost them?" Zander asked pleadingly before falling flat on the sand.

"Looks that way…." Ed muttered looking behind and taking a breather to see they were in the clear.

Ursula however was far from pleased, as she instantly exploded with rage and turned it over on her 2 cohorts, "GRRRGH! This is all your fault you morons!" she yelled pointing to at them.

"EH!?"

"How is this our fault!?" They each exclaimed.

"If you hadn't dropped the scanners we never would've lost our cards in the first place!" she answered back gritting her teeth and shaking her fists, "Now because of your blundering buffoonery, not only are we returning home empty handed but now we'll be showing up without Terry, Tank and Spiny!"

It was at that point both Ed and Zander lost all ounce of self control, having all they could take from today and after hearing what Zoe had to say to them about being lapdogs and doormats they finally had enough, "Alright that's it!" Zander screamed out as veins tensed around his forehead, "Who are you to be putting the blame on us!?" he pointed back at her.

"Yeah, you ran away too!" Ed followed up tensing up his hands into fists as well, "And you lost Terry! You're just as responsible for this mess-up as we are!"

"Admit it!" They both yelled in unison together.

Urusla's jaw dropped and she stepped back in disbelief, unable to comprehend how in the world would her 2 punching bags of friends ever had the nerve to stand up to her, let alone talk back and get angry! She then tensed up her fists and yelled back at them, "What was that!? I dare you to say that to my face one more time!" she demanded as she gained a tic mark and began popping her knuckles.

"Oh yeah!?" Ed and Zander marched up towards her and they were about to engage in a 3 way battle royale brawl to decide things once and for all! Before they could start though, they heard the sounds of deep hissing happening right behind them which snapped them out of their moment.

Hiss….

"Huh?" Turning around they suddenly turned pale and froze stiff to see the pack of komodo dragons from earlier had all emerged out from the undergrowth and bushes and now had them completely surrounded on the beach with nowhere else to run!

They huddled together like lambs for the slaughter as the huge lizards tightened their formation and corralled them further back at the water's edge before lunging forward!

"WAAAAAAHHHHH!" The trio screamed shaking their hands out before jumping into he sea and swimming for their lives! "Here we go again!" They cried out loud as the dragons snarled and dove into the water swimming after them, hot on their tails into the sunset!

Further off at a glade hidden by several trees surrounding it, the cloaked figure stood there with the wind blowing against her, revealing her legs which were covered by a set of long pants and a skirt ontop. Looking up, the white microraptor soon perched herself on a branch near her after landing gracefully, before launching herself down and landing on the figure's shoulder. She then scratched the raptor's chin, who then cooed with enjoyment before she returned her to card form by pressing a button on her dinoshot which she took out from under her cloak, then slashed the card again to turn her to a small form. Removing the hood from her cloak she revealed herself to be one other than Cera, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out 3 dinosaurs cards from inside it as she narrowed her eyes at them, "You 3 won't be causing anyone any more trouble for a while." She said to Terry, Tank and Spiny as she held 3 of the D Team's enemies in her hand and they were at her mercy. "Now what to do with you?" She then asked herself at the end before pressing another button and disappearing in light once more.

 **And here's chapter 19, quite a comedic chapter which encourages the D Team and Alpha gang to put aside their differences at least for a while, got the idea from the pokemon episode Forest Grumps, as well as an episode for them to try and survive without their dinosaurs. As for Cera, this proves she'll still be keeping an eye on her friends from the shadows in this small mini arc which will be around 3-4 chapters, as for what she'll do with Terry, Tank and Spiny, wait and see. This idea came from the fact that the Alpha gang somehow manage to miraculously get their cards back after a loss, so thought to see what happens when they fail for once.**

 **Also the camptosaurus' move was chaos green, a DS grass move that gives a status effect to an enemy, but here it just used the hole to deal with the komodo dragon pack which then climbed out of the hole angrily and then chasing after the Trio in vengeance!**

 **Some of the ideas for this chapter were also thanks to pokemonking0924 so thank you. Lately I've been feeling less motivated to write since I am still doing this whole story on my own and having recent commitments come up which makes progress slower, still hoping if someone would be interested in joining me in writing this story if they are interested.**

 **In response to reviews**

 **Drew Luczynksi**

 **-Glad you enjoyed it, don't worry Cera has her signal cloaked so she can't be tracked down. Also, her solo arc will play an important role down the road.**


	20. River of Peril

Chapter 20

River of Peril

It was a bright day over the city of Venice, with people either standing out at their balconies either to look upon the city or at its' lovely canals, saying hi to their neighbours and friends below or across them, or to do their daily chores out the windows such as hanging up laundry. At 1 house balcony, a man had his arm deep inside a pipe on the wall and he grunted and tugged with frustration trying to yank out what was clogging his water for days. Finally, with one last tug and a yell of anger, he pulled it out! "YARGH!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Looking at it he blinked in surprise to see it was a egg shaped object covered in grime and muck all over, and no doubt it smelled as horrendous as it looked as he cringed. "How did this get in my pipe?" he muttered to himself curiously before shrugging his shoulders, "Oh well, time to dunk this where I throw all my trash." He said plopping it into the canal below. As it did, it opened up revealing a pair of cards inside, as they both glowed blue under the water surface.

"Hmm?" Noticing the blue light just before going back inside, he went out again to see what was going on. He got the shock of his life as a massive long necked head, grey with teal like patterns similar to a glistening water surface, emerged and stretched out to look at him in the eye from below! The man stared speechlessly for several seconds before the cetiosaurus bellowed in his face which caused him to turn pale and scream! "GAAAAH!" He quickly ran back inside and locked the balcony doors behind him, "I'll never litter again!" He said from inside as the cetiosaurus dove back under water and went someplace else.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back on Zeta Point, it was late at night and streams of smoke were drifting up from a clearing at the island. There, a large barbecue was being set up as dinner for the alpha gang, and on the menu were 3 special dishes being prepared as carefully as possible.

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Zander screamed out loud turning pale and sweating bullets, as he was tied to a skewer over a furious burning flame and a droid was turning him round and round above it!

"MMMMMHHHH!" Ed screamed through his muffled mouth with an apple in it, decorated in garnish and several vegetables while being hoisted up by a pair of droids to a giant flaming oven!

"AAAAAH! Dr Z! You can't do this! Please!" Ursula screaming pleadingly as she was tied up in a large pot of hot soup as droids surrounding her were busy cutting vegetables, stirring the soup or pouring gasoline over the base of the cauldron before trying to light up a match and set it on fire!

The 3 members of the Trio were in hot water after they brought news back from Indonesia of how not only they lost the dinosaur card there but even lost Terry, Tank and Spiny! Having had enough of the three's blundering failures and extreme screwup for losing their own dinosaurs, Dr Z felt it was high time he dealt with them as he should the long ago! "You 3 have failed me for the last time!" he screamed out loud, boiling with rage while at the same time grinning with a sadistic smile, bulging veins and maniacal eyes that took the phrase mad scientist to a whole new level! "Losing dinosaurs we've gathered is one thing, but losing Terry, Tank and Spiny!? That crosses the line!" He screamed jumping up and down and steaming hard! "As of this moment you're fired and deserving of a punishment fit for you lot!" he yelled pointing out to them, "Goodbye and you won't be missed!"

"WAAAAAHHH!" They screamed as Dr Z cackled maniacally!

"Eeeheeeheee!" seeing himself finally about to rid himself of the banes of his life and he could hardly wait or contain his excitement as he rubbed his fingers and grinned eagerly for the night's dinner, "Let's hope you 3 don't taste as bad as you fail everything else!"

"Dr Z!" Ursula cried out with tears of desperation watering from her eyes as their boss turned to her with a hard scowl, "I admit we failed miserably and we feel personally responsible for this!" She cried out shaking hard inside the pot, "But we swear we'll find our dinosaurs and get them back no matter what it takes!"

"Even if we have to wrangle a dinosaur with our bare hands or even sell our souls to a demon we'll do anything!" Zander gasped out while Ed nodded frantically with the apple still in his mouth.

Dr Z folded is arms unconvinced, "I've heard that before." he was about to issue the order when a blinking light came from his lab coat, "Hmm?" Taking it out and revealing the alpha scanner glowing red, the Alpha trio brightened up seeing they were saved at last!

"Ah!" they gasped with glistening eyes of joy and hope.

Looking to the scanner and each member of the trio who were about to get their gooses, or more precisely themselves cooked, "You said you'll do anything? Here's your chance to prove it." He said flashing the scanner at them, "After you bring me back this new dinosaur you'll be spending every waking moment of your miserable lives searching the globe for our dinosaurs! Even if it takes forever you will get them back! Do I make myself clear!?" he yelled as nodded frantically without hesitation.

"Yes sir! You won't be disappointed! Thank you so much for your kindness! You have our eternal thanks!" Ursula chanted as Zander and Ed followed suit.

"Alpha droids! Take them away!" Dr Z commanded as the droids lifted them all up and carried them out of his sight.

CARRY! CARRY! CARRY!

He then folded his arms and scoffed, "They would have given me food poisoning anyways." he said, "Also them trying to wrangle dinosaurs with their bare hands should serve as the perfect punishment their bumbling failures deserve." he snickered after.

Meanwhile in the control room, Seth was busy typing on a computer pad which depicted shifts of the global map on the big screen, working tirelessly to search for any trace of their missing dinosaurs, with Rod and Laura standing by his side. "Oh Seth, is there really nothing we can do to find Terry and the others?" Laura asked worriedly as he sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"I'm afraid not, the detectors aren't able to locate cards so there's not much that can be done." he admitted as Laura lowered her head.

"Aww…." she said feeling depressed as her older brother clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Tch! I knew Ursula and the others were screw ups but to lose our dinosaurs!? I didn't think they'd be that careless!" Rod yelled angrily as he tensed his fist up.

Laura sighed deeply before looking up at Seth, "Well….at least we still have 1 dinosaur right?" she asked looking at things on the bright side.

Seth narrowed his eyes in response, "If you mean saurophagnax then yes we do," he said closing his eyes calmly, "But never in a million years would the thought of handing it over to them would ever cross my mind." he said looking away and returning to the global scanners "After all their past failures it stands to reason that giving them dinosaurs is like giving pearls to pigs, especially if they're so incompetent as to lose our own."

"You make a good point there Seth." Rod replied folding his arms behind his head, "Also, if it's our last one then no way can we ever risk it out in the field, we'll just have to find another way we can get more dinosaurs without using dinosaurs." he added before looking back down to see Laura all sad and down.

He sighed knowing how much Laura was already missing them, and what's worse was that they couldn't really do anything about it now. He then put an arm on her shoulder to comfort her as she looked up to him, "Don't worry Laura, I promise we'll find them no matter how long it takes or where they've ended up." he said patting her shoulder.

She sniffled and wiped her nose with her finger before nodding reluctantly, "Okay Rod….." she said before lowering her head down sadly, "But still I'm really worried." she said as her eyes started to tear up slightly and she put her hands to her heart in worry as memories of their fun times with Terry, Tank and Spiny flooded her mind, "Those 3 out there all cold, lost hungry, itchy, needing to go to the bathroom…..Who knows what kind of trouble they're in now…." she thought solemnly as she looked up.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the old lodge in the mountains, as Miku sat on the table eating some freshly dug up worms and grubs from a small bowl, Cera sat at the other end with a mixed meal on her plate which consisted of vegetables, rice and chicken. But it wasn't her food nor her partner she was focused on. She smiled happily at 3 new guests they recently took into their home and they seemed to have settled in nicely as they ate their own dinner.

Right in front were 3 bowls and from each one was a dinosaur eating from them. Spiny was chowing down on some fresh fish from the nearby lake, Tank was munching down on some leaves and mixed fruits in her bowl, while Terry was chowing down on a large piece of steak. Each of their bowls also had a side of dog food in them too which made their meals a lot more satisfying as they indulged themselves in their evening meals.

"Enjoying your food you guys?" Cera asked as they all looked up to her and barked happily with bright smiles. She then smiled back herself feeling glad they enjoyed it, "I'm glad to hear that." she said as Miku looked up from her bowl and chirped happily. It was then that she wiped away some sweat from her brow she let out a sigh of relief, "Phew, after what happened earlier today you wouldn't think this bunch to be the very same 3 troublemakers we took in huh MIku?" she asked looking to her partner who slumped down to the table in agreement.

 **(Earlier)**

That morning, after Cera had brought back the 3 alpha gang dinosaurs with her from Indonesia back to her lodge, which she chose as her temporary home for the time being since she had nowhere else to go to after deciding to split off from the D Team, she decided to bring them all out hoping to get acquainted with them or maybe even become friends. Unfortunately for her, none of them seemed to be very cooperative nor interested in making peace with her.

Sounds of wrecking, loud barking and smashing soon echoed from the cabin, the destruction and chaos inside hidden only behind the wooden walls of the cabin. "Now now guys! Let's be reasonable here!" Inside Cera looked around frantically trying her best to maintain her composure and to stay calm, but it wasn't easy seeing the hyperactive dinosaurs run around destroying everything in sight! Terry was ripping down some of the curtains before stomping on or tearing them up like paper, Spiny was gnawing on the table legs and door frames leaving behind big indentations and bite marks in it before moving on to snap at other things too. Tank meanwhile was bouncing up and down in ball form on the bed, messing it up before rolling over to knock over a desk with a flower pot on it causing it to tumble down and smash! Other signs of their destructive impulses included trash littered on the floor and footprint marking everywhere they went. Miku squawked out loudly begging for them to stop and listen but her cries only fell on deaf ears.

Cera clearly had her work cut out for her, she knew about pets being rebellious and misbehaving but this was on a completely different level! Her eye was twitching and her hair was become frazzled after having had a scuffle with a few of them after just managing to grab hold of them, only for them to bite and scratch her which forced her to let go. Even her normally smooth and clean clothes had footprint marks and scrapes over them, this clearly wasn't her day…..

She did know for a fact that the A Team never had any emotional bond or connection with them, in fact the 3 dinosaurs didn't really seem to like each other all too much either, no wonder they weren't so disciplined and acted so violent and out of control like they were now, as Spiny, Tank and Terry all tugged at a piece of cloth refusing to share before shredding it in 3 pieces! No doubt this would be her greatest challenge yet.

She then sighed shaking her head, "Okay this isn't going to work out….." she moaned face palming herself seeing her attempt to help them get along through sharing failed horribly. Looking down to Miku, she then thought of another 'therapy' idea which might help them try to bond a little, or so she hoped, "Miku, think you can talk to them dino to dino?" Her partner gulped, looking down to the shredded cloth she paled with anxiety before shaking her head and putting on a more determined expression. Hopping down to the floor she walked up to the 3 dinosaurs who looked to her as she began chirping and squawking.

As she continued, she eventually stopped and froze in terror as Terry began eying her rather sinisterly, walking up to her an clicking his lips he then opened his jaws wide and lunged forward!

Cera widened her eyes and quickly responded, "MIKU!" she screamed, grabbing her partner out of harm's way and only barely managing to sea her from the t rex's snapping jaws! Looking to the title dinosaur in her palms with concern and worry, "You okay?" she asked as she shivered nervously and curled up in a fright. It was then that she had just about had enough and all she could take, settling down Miku on the desk safely out of harm's way, a dark aura began to form around her, once which the other dinosaurs tense up and stutter.

She clenched her fist and shook with rage uncontrollably, as they backed away slowly their instincts screaming for them to turn tail and run post haste, Cera however didn't give the the chance as she quickly spun around and yelled at the top of her lungs! "THAT IS IT!" she shouted so loudly that her voice caused the whole lodge to shake slightly, the ground and water vibrated and several birds were scared out of the trees and flew off in the distance! The 3 dinosaurs huddled together and shook with fear as she loomed over them with eyes red with rage! "Messing up my room and misbehaving so much is one thing, but trying to eat Miku crosses the line!" She said furiously, baring her teeth and her eyes widening with rage and anger as she directed it towards the 3 alpha dinosaurs who were stunned beyond belief at how quickly she changed from being meek to aggressive in an instant! "I took all 3 of you into my home when you were pretty much left behind like garbage because I cared about you!" she continued folding her arms on her hips crossly and with disappointment before heading to the door, "But if this is how you plan on behaving you can just march on outside that door and don't come back again!" she yelled opening it and pointing to the outside urging them to leave and not come back again.

Terry, Tank and Spiny were stunned beyond belief at the fact Cera not only stood up to them, but she was even demanding that they go away too, how she had no fear in her eyes and wasn't about to give way to them at all now, for them the world had just been turned upside down and they had no way of responding back. Before long, tears began welling up in their eyes and they began to sniffle.

Noticing it Cera's anger eased slightly and she blinked her eyes in surprise, "Huh?" Suddenly the 3 of them began bawling their eyes out uncontrollably, wailing out like children being disciplined by their parents before huddling together scared and sad at the same time. Bringing a finger to her chin and feeling slightly guilty about her actions, "Did I go to far?" she then shook her head knowing she had to dot it, "No, they needed this." she convinced herself knowing it was tough and necessary love. The fact they didn't socialise much or even had fun at Zeta Point most of the time resulted in them being violent, disobedient and unpredictable, but it was because of that she had to speak her mind. Kneeling down, she knew this was a good start as she finally had them under control and she just had the right measure to touch their hearts next, "There there, it's alright you guys come here." she said holding out her hand and waving her fingers ushering them to come over.

They stopped sniffling but huddled together at the corner nervously, worried that it could be a ruse or trick to get them to lower their guard as they got on the defensive. Cera then smiled undeterred as she went up to them, "It's okay I won't hurt you, I promise." she said to them as she bravely held out a hand to Terry who backed away but was prevented from doing so as Tank and Spiny shoved him out to dry while they shivered in the back. He felt tempted to bite in order to defend himself but he was worried she'd snap again and she may ended up throwing them out herself. But on the other hand, she did have a good point too, one that he was only now beginning to realise that they were in the wrong, being unappreciative and rude after she took them in. All he could do was close his eyes and shiver, fearfully waiting for her to punish him in the worst way possible. "You're not bad dinosaurs, you just have bad owners who make terrible decisions." she said gently stroking his head much to his surprise as he held in place and let her gentle hand stroke over his face and scales. As Spiny and Tank looked up they couldn't help but blink in surprise too, "I think you guys are special. You just need a big hug." she then said as she brought in the red dinosaur for a hug!

Terry then growled in annoyance as he tried to pull away, thrash about and tried to scratch at her while struggling to break free from Cera's embrace, which was rather warm, comforting….safe…..till eventually his resistance lessened and he felt himself feeling light hearted and peaceful, as tears of emotion welled up in his eyes and he started to sniffle before eventually bawling his eyes out and hugging her back. "There doesn't that feel better?" she said to him in a soothing motherly tone, stroking his back as Spiny and Tank stared in disbelief to see their usually tough and ferocious friend reduced to a big softie in an instant. For Terry to open his heart completely to a stranger, they knew that moment that Cera was no ordinary human for sure, not even Rod or Laura were that connected with them, as Miku looked back at them and smiled. "Well, don't just stay there, come cover too, it's no fun to be left out right?" She then asked urging them to join and not feel left out. Looking to one another and seeing how comfortable Terry was with her, Spiny and Tank soon decided to join their friend in a warm embrace with Cera and even Miku as she hopped down from her safe spot on the table and joined them.

"Doesn't that feel nice?" She asked stroking them all gently and they seemed to even purr and nuzzle further in to her as she looked into their eyes kindly, "I promise everything will be okay, we're all cool now." she said before looking to her partner, "Right Miku?" the microraptor nodded and chirped in agreement feeling much more at ease with their new guests at last. Terry then walked up to her, lowering his head apologetically, it was painful for him to admit he was in the wrong which severely hurt his pride but he knew he and the others were in the wrong as they soon joined him and lowered their heads submissively to her and Cera.

Cera then smiled seeing all was good now and tensions were now lifted between them all, as she lowered herself down to pet them all nicely, "There, see? It's more fun to be friends than enemies right?" she asked as they looked to her, "I know we may have had some differences in the past but now we have a chance to start over? What do you say?" she asked. Looking to one another, the 3 alpha dinosaurs soon looked over their options, true they may have gone through some tough times before because of the D Team, and she happened to be one of them too, so they couldn't help but feel a little distrustful of her. On the other hand, it wasn't like they had anywhere else to go since the Trio had pretty much left them like garbage without hesitation and she did save them in the end…..

"Or, if you want to go home to the alpha gang, I underst-" before she could finish, they quickly pounced on her and began licking her all over affectionately, as she laughed out loud being tickled by them, "Hahahah! I take that as a yes then." She said helping herself up, taking their behaviour as not wanting to go back to the alpha gang at all, which would make things much better for everyone else. As she did she looked around to see the place still in shambles, as she folded her arms on her hips, "But first, I think we all should learn a little lesson in responsibility," she said narrowing her eyes at the 3 troublemaking dinosaurs, "Like cleaning up after ourselves?"

They groaned in dismay before heading off to take their lumps like they should. At first they got in one another's way when helping to push up tumbled furniture or sweep away messed with their tails, but thanks to Miku supervising them, they quickly made amends and slowly even began to help one another in the chores like pushing some of the heavier objects out of the way for instance. Eventually, Cera smiled warmly seeing that signs of friendship and trust were slowly beginning to form between them all as she continued scrubbing away at the dirty footprint marks with a brush and soapy water.

After the chores were done, she settled to give each of the dinosaurs a gentle and relaxing massage each hoping to make them feel less tense and ease up to her more. Later on she even began to play outside with them, such as tossing them a ball or frisbee for them to catch out near the lakeside. Even spending time harvesting edible plants from the woods with Tank, fishing with Spiny and going down to the nearby town market with Terry to pick up supplies for dinner, before finally finishing off with a nice dancing moment at the lakeside in their full sized forms, which even they had to admit was quite amusing and fun, nothing they ever experienced back home which involved training and fighting and nothing more. It was the start of a new friendship and life with them all.

 **(Present)**

After dinner was over with, Miku went over to play with the other dinosaurs as well as to supervise them while Cera went to wash up their plates at the sink. After coming out she had them over to the bathroom to brush their teeth before preparing them a nice basket for them to sleep in, with a towel and a few pillows so they'd at least feel comfortable. "Alright guys, we've had quite a full day today, but I'm sure we can have all sorts of fun tomorrow." she said clapping their hands and everyone headed over to their corner to turn in for the night. Before they got in though, Terry, Tank and Spiny looked to one another and let out a small whine as they got into the covers, one which caught Cera's ears as she looked over to them.

"Terry, Tank, Spiny? What's the mat-" She stopped as soon as she saw their expressions were now rather sad, with a hint of loneliness, or to be precise, home sickness. Despite the good times they had in the day, they couldn't ever forget their actual home and despite being abandoned by the trio they still felt rather tied to the alpha gang and had some loyalty left to them. But only to a pair of individuals whom they treasured more than anyone else, and Cera herself knew whom they meant, "Oh…..you miss Rod and Laura don't you?" she asked as the 3 dinosaurs nodded answering her. Sitting down where they were, and Miku looking over the side of her bed to see them, Cera then lay down on the floor to look at the 3 dinosaurs face to face as she asked them out nicely, "Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to know what makes you all like Rod and Laura so much, if it's okay?" she asked with interest.

Looking to one another, they then huddled in and communicated through barking with one another, apparently in discussion over whether they should tell her everything about Rod and Laura, till eventually, agreeing on it as they hopped out of the basket and began barking back at her. Listening in to everything they had to say about the 2 siblings, how they took care of them dearly like true pet owners and bonded with them through play and cleaning, which made her smile and nod in acknowledgement "I understand…." she said now seeing that her suspicions about them having good in their heart really were justified, and that they were kids and couldn't possibly have done the same kind of evil acts as the other members of the alpha gang unless they were blind to it. She also began to realise that if she kept Terry and the others away from them, when they wanted to go home, would make her no different from the Alpha gang themselves.

Opening her eyes firmly she then stroked or nuzzled their chins gently before making a proposal with them, "Tell you what you guys, if we ever come across Rod and Laura, I promise to give you back to them." she said as they all jumped up with excitement. "Though I can't say the same if we run into the 3 stooges though…." as she said that they scowled and hissed and growled, which made Cera and Miku both chuckle in amusement, "Haha, guess that means you won't want anything to do with them, guess that makes things a little easier." she said as she stood up, "Until the time comes for me to return you to where you belong, you're welcome to stay here, and when we go out we stick together and look out for one another like we should? Okay?" As she asked that the 3 dinosaurs looked to one another before nodding in unison and smiling back at Cera, which made her feel that much better knowing she could rely on them for the time being as well, until the day they'd have to part.

"Alright everyone time to hit the-" Before she could finish, her dinoshot suddenly began to flash red catching everyone's eye, "Huh?" They all focused on Cera as she headed over to the table to look at her dino detector, which marked a new dinosaur in Europe, or more specifically, "Venice….." Cera breathed. Looking to the clock to see it was around 10:30pm or so, she narrowed her eyes thinking about the D Team, "Right now the others might still be sleeping, so I guess it shouldn't be a problem if I go." she thought thinking this may be a great chance for her to get out of the house and go adventuring again without being seen by them, though since she was still on the run she'd have to be careful about it too if the Alpha gang were to be involved..

"Better get prepped up, it'll be a little cold there this time of year." She thought as she went to pack a few more things in her pack before putting it on. As Miku hopped over to the edge of the table, Cera hoisted her onto her shoulder. Before she could press the teleport function, she saw all 3 dinosaurs were huddling around her, looking up pleadingly as they wagged their tails in excitement, "You guys want to come too?" Cera asked. As the 3 of them began to shine puppy dog eyes and whimpered, she then giggled in amusement, "Haha sure why not?" She replied as they all jumped up and down happily. Pressing the button, they were all enveloped in light and disappeared.

 **(Later)**

A light soon shone at a small bridge over at a large canal between 2 large stretches of buildings and stepping out from it was Cera, Miku and their 3 new friends Terry, Tank and Spiny, who looked around in awe, "So this is Venice…." Cera breathed taking in the view as she stepped outwards to one of the larger main canals to see a number of motorboats parked at the docks but also a handful of gondolas being driven with several tourists inside them. "Look at all those Gondolas, the perfect way to travel in a place which has canals instead of streets." Cera smiled with Miku before seeing that Terry, Tank and Spiny were fixated on the new sights and smells all around them, staring unblinkingly around them. She could tell that they clearly haven't been out of their cards much except during battle or on Zeta Point so they didn't really have the chance to explore, experience or enjoy like Chomp and the others did, which also hinted how little the Alpha gang may have trusted and cared for them to be out living like dinosaurs instead of just cards.

Seeing them run out in excitement Cera could see this as the perfect chance for them to finally get out and experience the world like they should, till Spiny suddenly headed over to the edge planning to leap off! "Whoa! Spiny wait!" she cried out in alarm as she jumped out and grabbed him just before he hit the water's surface! "Phew…." she breathed a sigh of relief while Spiny huffed in disappointment. She lifted him up to her face, but instead of a frown or scowl she instead giggled much to his surprise, "Haha, I know you want to go swimming, but maybe afterwards okay?" she suggested as he thought about it and nodded rather obediently in response. Settling him down on the ground again, the others soon gathered around her awaiting her instructions which she acknowledged, "Alright, now to go find that dinosaur." she said as they all barked and followed her.

"You guys keep your eyes peeled for it." she instructed them as she went ahead. However, as the other dinosaurs followed along they caught sight of something interesting in the distance and the 3 of them wandered off. Still looking around and seeing only people passing by either on the streets or on boats there were still no signs of any dinosaurs around much to their annoyance, "No sign of it here….." said Cera before looking to her partner on her shoulder who was still scanning the scenery with piercing eyes like a hawk, "Any luck Miku?" Looking to her she shook her head in response before letting out a sad chirp. "I see…." Cera sighed deeply before looking down, "Hey, you guys see any-" Her eyes widened realising that Terry, Spiny and Tank had all gone missing when she wasn't looking! "Oh no where did they all go now?" she gasped looking around frantically but saw no trace of them for miles as she slumped forward in discouragement, "Urgh, I knew I shouldn't have left them out of sight….Now we've got 3 more dinosaurs to look for…" she groaned face palming herself before taking a breath and rubbing her temple to calm herself down, "Sigh, no point in whining, we'll have to go look for them….." she huffed before calling out their names, "Terry! Tank! Spiny!" she cried out as she walked off with Miku scanning their surroundings once more for them.

Meanwhile the 3 dinosaurs had noticed several couples having romantic moments in boats either hugging each other closely, putting arms around one another or even kissing each other, as they followed along the pier curiously as to what the humans were doing, to them they still knew little about the new world where humans ruled over and now may have been a good chance to see how far the world had advanced and evolved since the time of the dinosaurs. Taking interest in the boats the humans were riding in, they could tell it looked fun, and seeing one at the end of the pier that tied to a pole they couldn't help but want to try it too! Jumping in it excitedly they bounced in it up and down several times hoping to get to move along the canals, but after several tries seeing nothing happen they scowled with disappointment before hopping out of it begrudgingly, only to realise they were lost! They looked around worriedly and began barking out loud before heading off to try and find Cera and Miku.

"Are you guys here!? Hello!" Cera cried out having ran out of a corridor to a rather quiet alley way and a small canal running through it. She was out of breath too, both from crying out and from running around looking for the 3 runaway dinosaurs. She huffed and panted rising herself on her legs before pushing herself back and looking around hoping to find a trace of mischief they might have caused, "Now where could those little rascals have run off too?" She then widened her eyes realising she had a far easier way to bring them back, all it would take was just the push of a button! "I know! With this-"

"Hey there little miss." a male voice interrupted her just before she could reach her pocket. Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw 2 rather large roughneck men, one with blond hair, sunglasses and a rough jacket, and the other with short spiky hair, piercings and a sleepless jacket, with a big skull tattoo on his arm, both also wore rather ragged jeans too showing they were tough street thugs no doubt. "Wanna come hang with us? We've got a special gondola fit for a pretty princess like you." Said the blond man showing off a gondola which was resting nearby at the edge of the walkway.

"All you gotta do is hop on." The other grinned.

Cera could tell these 2 were bad company, swallowing hard uneasily she shook her head as politely as she could, "I'm sorry fellas, but I'm a little busy now." she said respectfully, "I"m looking for some…friends of mine." she added as she was about to turn away.

"Oh is that so?" She suddenly felt her arm get grabbed from behind and her heart skipped a beat realising her situation.

"Huh?" She looked around to see the man with sunglasses grinning at her while his friend was walking up to them snickering.

"Then surely you and your little pet there wouldn't mind making a few new friends now would you hmm?" He said.

Cera shook her head, "N…No I'd really shouldn't-"

"Oh come on, don't be stick in the mud!"

"Yeah, it'll be fun, come on it'll be fun!" They each said as they tried to yank her away to their boat.

Cera gritted her teeth in frustration as she tried to tug and pull away but no matter what she tried the brute's grip on her arm wouldn't loosen, and she felt herself dragged further away with each resist she tried! "H…Hey stop it! That hurts!" she cried out, but paled slightly seeing there was no one around….or so she thought.

Terry, Tanka and Spiny came out from another corridor on the same pathway upon hearing the familiar cries of Cera, and when they saw she was being picked on by 2 larger men, they felt a rather protective instinct being stirred in them, as well as rage and anger build up as they growled and charged ahead into battle!

The 2 thugs had just reached the gondola, and were about to throw Cera inside it, as she made one last ditch attempt to break loose! "Let me go!" She screamed tugging away. Miku having enough, screeched vicosily and snapped at the guy's hand, catching him by surprise and forcing him to back off!

"Oi!"

"Hey!" They both gasped as Cera went back and rubbed where her hand was gripped, which was now throbbing red and sore.

"Phew….thanks for the help Miku…" she breathed thankfully for her friend who went up to her arm and licked the sore where it was. She didn't have much time to rest though, as the 2 thugs soon came back and were about to gang up on her much to her horror!

"Why you little pint sized pigeon! I'll clip your wings with my barehands!" The blond man growled as he and his friend lunged forward!

"AH!" she yelped covering Miku with her hand and lining herself into a defensive posture. She narrowed her eyes as the 2 thugs were backing her up against a wall, knowing there may have been no other way out but to defend herself.

Before the 2 men had a chance to act though, Spiny and Terry had just lined Tank up as she curled into a spiked ball. Taking aim the 2 of them swung their tails and sent her flying with full force till she smashed the side of the man with sunglasses' face hard they flew off and he stumbled back! "WAAAH!" He screamed tripping behind over the edge of the pier and falling into the water with a big plop!

Splash!

"Huh!?" His friend gasped as he ran and looked over the edge to see bubbles popping at the surface where is friend fell! Even Cera herself was a little surprised by the turn of events, as she looked to the side she smiled with relief seeing her 3 little saviours running to her and Miku's aid in time. "What the?" As the other man turned around, he was caught off guard by Terry and Spiny charging head and ramming him in the gut, sending him backwards over the edge too! "GAAAH!" He screamed falling in! As the other man's head popped up through the water for a gasp of air, he widened his eyes to see his friend's body fly over the edge and onto him!

"WAAAH!" he screamed as another big splash soon took place!

Splash!

"Phew…." Cera breathed a sigh of relief seeing they were safe. She then narrowed her eyes seriously and looked down to Terry, Spiny and Tank who jumped a bit at her glare when they were expecting thanks. "Where were you 3!? You had me worried sick!" She cried out with a mix of anger and worry. As she said so, they huddled up together and whimpered sadly realising they did end up making her worried and also were partially responsible for getting her in trouble earlier. They waiting anxiously for her to give them what they deserve, but instead she smiled gently and leaned down to pet and stroke them instead much to their surprise, "Aww, I can't stay mad at you…." she said to them nicely, "True you did run off but, I guess I owe you this time, so we'll call it even okay?" she suggested before folding her arms on her hips and looking down at them like they were her own kids, "Next time don't run off behind my back okay? I don't want to lose any of you." she said to them with authority and in response they all nodded back at her obediently before nuzzling up at her legs.

Seeing that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside as she brought them in closer to her. It was then she then had a flashback of how Max and the others once told them how they often had mishaps of Chomp and the others often ran off out of curiosity and excitement because of the new world and for all the new things they could experience first hand, "Wow, I'm starting to get how Max and the others feel…..Wonder if they miss us Miku…" she thought out loud in realisation before looking to Miku on her shoulder who seemed to know what she was thinking herself. Shrugging it off when she saw Terry, Spiny and Tank eying her curiously she shook her head and headed off in another direction down the street, "Let's just go on and search somewhere else….." she said to them as they followed after her, thought she made sure to keep a much closer eye on them from now on so that they wouldn't repeat what happened just now.

Back at the canal, both roughneck men popped their heads out and spat the water they swallowed before fuming red with frustration, "Wait till I find that redhead again, I'll mess her up real good for humiliating me!" The blond man yelled.

"Yeah same here!" Growled his partner gritting and gnashing his teeth, bit not before feeling something brush against his legs, "Say? Did you just feel something burst against your leg?" he asked curiously to his cohort who thought about it and shook his head.

"Huh? No why?" he asked as the other man shrugged his shodulers.

"Must be my imagination…." he muttered as they swam off for the nearest ledge they could grab onto and pull themselves up. Unaware of the cetiosaurus that was swimming underneath where they were, heading for the main bay area through the canals.

Later as Cera and her team of misfits crossed over another bridge in a darkened alley above a different canal, Terry soon stopped in his tracks and looked over the railings and he blinked his eyes before focusing at something coming to view from the other end of the canal. As he bared his teeth and growled angrily, Tank and Spiny heard it and joined him. As they saw what he caught sight of they too growled rather aggressively too, which caught Cera's ears as she saw them all fixated on something through the bridge. "Hmm?" Walking over to where they were, she took a closer look in the direction they were gazing, "Is that?" She narrowed her eyes as they came clearer into view, "It's them…." she said, "Can't let them see you," She quickly ushered the 3 dinosaurs to stay low, hidden and quiet as the Alpha trio passed under them in a small boat, with Zander and Ursula at the front and Ed rowing them forward.

"Alright, you guys, keep your eyes peeled!" Ursula ordered looking side to side though all she saw were walls enclosing the canal they were travelling in, "There's no way a dinosaur can go unnoticed in a place like this." she said covering over her eyes for a better look.

"Yes ma'am!" Ed and Zander both said in unison.

"But when we find it how are we supposed to grab it without our dinosaurs?" Ed then asked curiously as Ursula stuttered.

"I…uh…." she paused unable to say another word, as Ed and Zander raised an eyebrow at her in suspicion.

"You don't have a clue do you?" Zander muttered.

She then turned red and shook a fist at both men, "Do I have to think of everything!? I don't see you clowns coming up with any bright ideas yourself!"

"Ugh…." They both moaned lowering their heads in defeat.

"We'll just make it up as we go! Now quit whining and start looking!" she ordered once more impatiently as she maintained vigilance around them while Zander focused on in front and Ed looking back behind them once in a while.

"We were really fortunate we got this gondola really cheap huh guys?" said Ed as he pushed once more not he oars and propelling them forward.

"Lucky for you we put it on my card as usual….." Zander muttered

As the trio soon passed ahead of them, Cera breathed deeply seeing they were in the clear for now though she didn't want to push her luck, "We should probably go-" As she tried to move on, she felt an unexpected tug on her shirt which stopped her, "Huh?" Looking down she saw Spiny was the one pulling at her shirt while Terry and Tank both were flashing rather hostile growls and hisses at the now departing Alpha gang. Looking to them and to their enemies and back a few times, she then smiled rather mischievously realising what they wanted to do, "Hee hee, you want to say hi don't you guys?" she giggled as they all nodded at her with excitement.

She brought a finger to her chin in thought, "Well it'll be a bit much if you all were to greet them together." she said thinking about it before looking down at the spinosaurus, "What do you think Spiny? Feeling up for it?" she asked as he jumped up and down excitedly and nodding like an excited dog. "Okay then." She said tapping a button and returning Spiny to card form and then slashing him! "Dino slash! Gush out Spinosaurus!" A dark shadow soon appeared under the water and slowly crept up on the alpha gang, a large purple sail emerged from the water drifting towards them like a shark's fin, and the rest of the gang snickered eagerly for the fun about to take place.

As the alpha gang maintained a vigilance in front of them, they suddenly felt a nudge which made them all fall forward a little into the boat!

Bump!

"Gah!" They all cried falling down like a stack of dominoes!

While Zander rubbed his head sorely which bumped on the edge of the boat, Ursula pushed Ed off of her as she got up and looked around frantically but could see nothing but walls and water, "Did you guys feel that?"

"I sure did Ursula." said Ed looking behind but to see nothing but ripples on the water surface, "You think we hit something?" he asked.

"I think something hit us!" Zander yelped looking to his friends behind, fearing they may have found the dinosaur and they still didn't have a plan of action!

Ed then froze turning pale as he pointed out weakly in front, "Wh…What's that?" he shivered as his friends turned around nervously to see a large sail sticking out of the water in front.

Zander blinked his eyes recognising it almost instantly. "Hey doesn't that look like-" Before he could finish a large mass soon emerged out from the water and towered over them, revealing itself to be none other than Spiny! They stared in shock and disbelief at what they were seeing as the spinosaurus lowered his head down to them, before suddenly roaring out ferociously at them!

"GAAAAAAHHH!" Ed jumped in a fright, as he fell back in his massive weight caused the boat to fall backwards, sending him and the rest of the alpha gang plummeting into the water below! "WAAAAAH!"

SPLASH! Glub Glub Glub…

As quickly as he made his appearance, Spiny quickly shone blue before returning back to Cera's hand on the bridge and she slashed him, returning him to chibi size at her side and they all burst into uncontrollable laughter, "Hahahahah! That was just priceless!" Cera laughed as the other dinosaurs either fell on their bellies or on their backs gasping for air. After enjoying the moment a bit and seeing the Trio cling on to the remains of their gondola grumpily and paddle away, she then ushered the others with her, "Come on, let's go before they come back out of there." she said waving to them, "Though after that experience I doubt they'll be bothering anyone for a while." she thought as they went across the bridge to the other side.

About an hour or so had passed and no luck for the new D Team, as Cera sat over at a bench overlooking a central bay area which had docks and boats around, "It's been a while and still no dinosaur in sight….." she sighed in disappointment seeing they hadn't heard so much as people screaming for help or even caught any signs of it at all. Leaning back into the bench while resting her head in her arms she drifted into deep thought to contemplate the situation. While she did that Miku, Terry, Spiny and Tank were looking over the edge to gaze at the glistening waters of the bay as well as the many boats that were passing by. She smiled seeing how happy they all were getting along and enjoying the outside world for the first time in their lives.

It was then that they kept staring at the water's beauty and cascading shine, along with the boats sailing across the surface, that she soon got an idea on where to look, "Wait…what if….." Standing up, the 4 dinosaurs quickly rushed over to her, looking up at her pleadingly before looking over to the docks at an unattended gondola tied to the post. Seeing how eager they all were, she smiled knowing she had a weakness for animals in need and she just couldn't say no to her friends, "You guys wanted a ride that badly huh?" She said to them before chuckling in amusement, "Well alright then." She said as they all followed and barked with excitement as they headed down to the docks and got on board the the others hopped in, Cera untied the rope to the post and using the oar she pushed herself away from it as she brought them all out across the bay to get a new view of the city around them.

Around them, were men riding motorboats carrying supplies, or couples on their honeymoon with a single boat driver as their chaperone. The dinosaurs however were looking overboard and wagging their tails in amazement, seeing the fish swim under the waves and the wind blowing in their faces was an experience unlike any other they had experienced. They never felt so alive before and they couldn't contain it as they began bouncing about in the gondola and rocking it about unsteadily, "Hahah take it easy, wouldn't want any of you falling overboard would we?" Cera chuckled as they all settled down. Looking down to them and them looking back to her made her feel relaxed and at peace, "You know, you guys aren't so bad yourselves." she said as the silhouettes of Chomp, Ace and Paris soon appeared over them all, "In a way, you almost remind me of….." widening her eyes in realisation, she quickly shook her head clearing her mind.

As they eyed her curiously she looked away avoiding eye contact with them, "It's nothing…." she said softly as they looked away uneasily, knowing she didn't want to share it with them so they decided to respect her space. As she looked away and up tot he sky, the images of Max, Rex, Zoe and their parents could be seen amongst the clouds in the blue sky. Trying to deny it as much as she could, she could never forget them and now her guilt at running away from them was beginning to eat away at her heart, feeling second thoughts over her decision yet believing it to be the right one. Inside she was going through several inner conflicts, unable to decide what was right or wrong now, and worrying whether it would be too late to change and go back….as these thoughts raced through her mind, a series of shouts around her soon snapped her out of her funk.

"Hey! Is there something in the water!?"

"Looks like it!" Some people on the water screamed as Cera blinked her eyes and looked where they pointed, where a large collection of bubbles were blowing at the center of the bay. Leaning forward a little for a closer look, she could see that people were beginning to grow uneasy, and the dinosaurs with her were growing rather agitated and on alert knowing something was out there, and she had a feeling what that something was, "This could be it guys, get ready…."

Everyone murmured or panicked as the bubbles intensified, and soon erupting out of the water was a massively long neck, grey with a touch of teal splashed around it, as it bellowed out loudly sending screams echoing throughout the walls of the city!

"AAAAH!"

"What is that thing?!" Some civilians screamed before even diving off their boats or pedalling away as fast as they could from the massive sea monster that just emerged!

"Swim!"

"This isn't how I wanted to spend our honeymoon!"

"A cetiosaurus…." Cera narrowed her eyes seeing it was rather riled up, thrashing violently and sending huge tidal waves which washed across the streets, washing people into walls or back into the bay as it bellowed out! "Guys, we'll have to do something quick or else more people will get hurt." She said as the dinosaurs with her grew agitated, but were also rather unsure about how to react to this. They were so used to attack the enemy and ask questions later regardless of their surroundings or anyone else getting caught in the crossfire, for Cera to be telling them to protect innocent people was a completely new experience for them….one they'd have to do no doubt seeing how serious she was, not to mention they all were tuned for a fight.

"You up for this Spiny?" she asked looking down to the purple spinosaurus, who barked and wagged his tail eagerly for battle. She smiled glad to have his support before looking to the others, "Alright Miku, Tank and Terry, you stay in here and keep low." she said as they whined and barked in disappointment, "I know you guys want to fight, but in this environment, Spiny's the most adept at fighting and you know it. Hope you can understand." she said hopefully they would understand. They were reluctant but seeing she was right and wasn't going to give way for them, they then sighed and backed away a bit allowing Spiny to walk up to her, "Thanks you guys." She said sounding appreciative before turning serious, "Okay, let's do this!" She said firmly as she pressed a button on her dinoshot returning Spiny to a card in her hand! "Dino slash! Gush out Spinosaurus!" Spiny emerged from the water and roared fiercely at the massive sauropod as the sky turned multicoloured signalling the battlefield. Wasting no time, both dinosaurs charged one another, but as Spiny was about to lunge forward and bite, the cetiosaurus quickly swung its' massive tail forward, only barely missing Spiny's head as he ducked down in time! "Spiny! Avoid attacking directly! Wait for an opening then strike!" Cera warned as he nodded back at her in acknowledgement, while Terry, Miku and Tank cheered for him.

The cetiosaurus swung out its tail under the water, sending a large wave over Spiny's way! "Dive quick!" Cera instructed as he dove under water and avoided it in time, as it rocked against the piers and boats nearby, sending a few onto dry land. The large sauropod noticed a dark shadows in front of it, only to be taken by surprise as Spiny lunged out and grabbed it by the neck!

"Alright! Keep at it Spiny! It'll tire out eventually so hang on!" Cera cheered standing up on the boat while the 2 dinosaurs clashed, trying to gain the upper hand over one another with Spiny trying to maintain his grip on the cetiosaurus' neck and the cetiosaurus trying to break free! Little did anyone know though, was that their battle was about to have an unexpected new arrival, as the waves washed over a small fishing boat, washing down a basket filled with fresh fish and another egg capsule. As it washed down into the water below, it opened up revealing a dinosaur and 2 water move cards inside which both glowed brightly. Meanwhile Spiny who was still fixated on the battle in front, failed to realise in time a dark shadow beneath the waves was approaching him from the side, before rushing him from the side in a wave of water and knocking him away!

"Another dinosaur!?" Cera exclaimed as she turned to see a brownish yellow sauropod with greyish black stripes emerge from the waves and bellow out loud as it stood by the cetiosaurus! "This time it's a titanosaurus!" She gasped as the 2 sauropods quickly surrounded Spiny on both ends as he got himself back upright in the water. Looking to both sides of himself he felt overwhelmed at the fact he was put heavily outnumbered. "2 against one aren't the kinds of odds I enjoy…." Cera clicked her tongue and she widened her eyes as the titanosaurus glowed blue, causing dark rain clouds to form over the city of Venice and it began to pour hard in a short period of time, becoming almost like a maelstrom as the winds howled violently and the water patted down on them all almost as hard as hailstones! The water levels around the canal basin were rising dangerously, soon swamping onto the streets and climbing over windows, causing some of nearly crack under the immense pressure!

"This is bad!" Cera gasped as Miku his under Tank desperately to keep dry, while she and Terry huddled together anxiously seeing the waves were growing more violent and strong! People still on the water tried peddling desperately to get top shore while others were suing up stairways and across bridges frantically hoping to get to higher ground as soon as they could! Eying the battle Cera noticed that both cetiosaurus and titanosaurus were both getting stronger from the rain apparently as she narrowed her eyes seeing they were going to be working together now. "Grrgh, I didn't want to endanger anymore of you guys," she grunted looking down reluctantly to Terry and Tank as she sighed, "But I guess I don't have a choice but to call in backup." They both nodded understandably, and Miku too stating they were ready to do what it takes now to protect each other from this raging storm.

Pressing a button she returned them to their cards, not just so she could summon them but also so that they'd stay safe and wouldn't fall overboard into the rough waters below. She then stood up firmly prepared to slash again, "Alright, time to-huh?" She stopped as soon as cetiosaurus bellowed out loud and glowed blue! Water soon began to gather around the giant behemoth from the channel, before it rushed forward full force slamming into Spiny! Sending him flying back and smashing hard, generating a massive wave which rose over Cera and her boat! "AAAAAAHHH!" she screamed out loud as the wave soon engulfed her and washed both her and the boat down under the torrents! As Spiny rose out of the water again, he looked back to see if Cera and the others were fine and he widened his eyes to see the red haired girl splashing further off, struggling to keep her head above the water but feeling herself losing energy fighting against the rising currents and slowly being pulled under the waves every second! "HELP!" She cried out before swallowing a mouthful of water and drifting under with her arm sinking in fast!

At that moment, Spiny's pupil's became slit as he roared furiously, charging straight at her and diving underneath! Moments later the water surface surged and turned under the power of the heavy rains and the presence of cetiosaurus and titanosaurus, who bellowed loudly feeling victorious, and were prepared to move on when suddenly Spiny shot out of the water once more roaring fiercely at the 2 sauropods, taking them by surprise! Looking down to where his sail met his neck, he saw Cera was lying against him, completely drenched and almost motionless. He began to fear the worst but was soon relieved as Cera stirred and began coughing out water violently, "Cough! Cough!" Shaking her head and wiping her face, she slowly opened her eyes and her vision soon cleared, "Gasp…huh?" She took a breath of air and was surprised the first face she saw upon her recovery was none other than Spiny, and she soon pieced together what happened while she was out under the water, "You…saved me…." Spiny let out a low growl showing he was glad she was safe. Cera then smiled back and stroked him on the snout, "Thanks Spiny….Guess I owe you this time huh?" she said as he headed over to the docks and carefully set her down where she would be safe from harm's way.

"Remind me to give you and the others a nice massage when we get back." She said stepping off his back and petting him for good luck as they both turned to face the 2 sauropods who now bellowed angrily and were raring for round 2, "For now let's take care of these 2 before they sink the entire City and its' people." she said as Spiny nodded back before roaring and charging back into battle, this time with the aim of not merely getting the cards, but for the first time, to protect the innocent! Titanosaurus roared once more, glowing blue and summoning even more rain which poured down harder than before, and cetiosaurus bellowed as it glowed blue and water began to gather around it once more as it prepared to launch river of infinity once more!

"Here he comes again!" Cera warned as the cetiosaurus charged forward with full power! This time Spiny stood his ground, putting his trust in his partner knowing she had his back, "Not this time! Shock wave!" She yelled slashing the card, causing a veil of water to erupt and swirl around the spinosaurus, which knocked back the cetiosaurus and sent him on top of titanosaurus and they both crashed down under the waves! As they emerged from under they were groggy and shaken, which Cera saw as the perfect opportunity, "Alright, they're off balance!" she cheered taking out a move card, "Now to finish them off! Falling water!" Spiny then charged up an orb of water in his mouth before firing it out at full force at Cetiosaurus! The force of the water beam shot it into titanosaurus, causing them both to be knocked against one another and they both sank beneath the waves defeated once and for all as a pair of blue lights shone from underneath, and 5 cards soon floated back up to the surface!

"We did it!" Cera cheered jumping up and down in excitement and Spiny roared out triumphantly before being returned to his card. As the battlefield disappeared, so did the rain clouds in the sky as they drifted apart revealing the now clear blue sky, "Looks like with these 2 now as cards the water should settle down now." she noted seeing the water levels were receding and everyone was safe now. Looking to the card in her hand she held to closely to her chest with gratitude in her heart before mouthing off a thank you to Spiny, "I heard how you've been mistreated plenty of times before...I promise that won't happen as long as I'm here." she said to him who no doubt could hear her from inside his card.

A little while later, Spiny in his chibi form popped out of the water holding the cards of their defeated foes in his jaws as Cera took them all in. After that she began dialling on her dinoshot and focused intently on the buttons she was pressing on it, "This new function I developed should allow me to send these cards over to the D Lab's vault without having to go there." She said before pressing the final key which sent the cards away in a beam of light. "Alright, that should do it." Cera smiled before looking down at Spiny whose head still popped above the water, "Well done Spiny, you're a real hero today, you saved many lives today. Congratulations on you." she said as she gave Spiny a gentle pat on the head praisingly as he smiled and barked with joy, wagging his tail under the water in enjoyment. Looking to the 2 dinosaurs with her she then nodded proudly at their hard work before keying in on her dinoshot once more, "Well, time to get home and hit the hay." She said as they vanished in light back home.

 **(Next morning)**

" **After the defeat of the 2 mysterious dinosaurs that appeared in Venice by the hands or better yet claws of another dinosaur, the weather patterns have appeared to have stabilised around the country and thankfully no serious injuries or casualties have been recorded. Further investigations are currently being conducted and-"**

"Unbelievable!" Dr Z screamed throwing a wrench into the monitor causing the screen to crack and fuzz out. After receiving news from his henchmen that not only did they fail once again but the news report about Spiny being the one to defeat the 2 new dinosaurs that appeared was even more aggravating, especially since he wasn't under their control this time. "Not only did we lose our dinosaurs but now those bratty kids are using them too!?" The thought of it made Dr Z boil up to critical levels as he even resorted to pulling out his hair to take his mind off the news, though it didn't seem to help as his rage and frustration made him completely blind to the pain, "GRARGH! This is exasperating!"

Seth then brought a hand to his chin in through as he processed the situation, "If I were to guess, considering the other members of the D Team don't possess the ability to summon dinosaurs from fire, water or earth attribute, no doubt this has to be the work of their 4th member." he said.

"I'm just hurt by the fact Spiny didn't miss us at all!" Ursula cried as she and the others limped in, now completely soaked and drenched.

"After all our times together he just treated us like…garbage! WAAAAA!" Zander wailed face planting on the floor, as a puddle of tears formed underneath his head.

"Oh world how could you be so cruel….." Ed whimpered.

"Grrr! Enough whining you three!" Dr Z shouted which made them all jump, "This is all your fault to begin with!" he screamed pointing at them.

"HUH!?" They all exclaimed with widened eyes.

"Because you lost our dinosaurs, those brats are now using them against us!" Dr Z screeched, "And what's worse, we now don't have the means to secure any more dinosaurs to use! And without more dinosaurs I'll never be able to become Dinosaur King!"

"Gah!" They all gasped.

Unbeknownst to them, Seth turned around taking his leave, smirking to himself that Dr Z apparently forgotten about Saurophaganax, and it was best it stayed that way for he himself had plans for the fiery jurassic dinosaur and he wasn't about to let anyone stop him.

Meanwhile Dr Z's anger was completely fixated on the Trio, who were shaking their arms out at hi pleading for mercy for the umpteenth time, "D…Dr Z rest assured we will bring them back home!" Ursula cried.

"We won't fail you again!" Zander and Ed cried together.

"You'd better not!" Dr Z threatened, "In fact you have until tonight and no more!"

They then blinked at his words, "Tonight?" They asked together in surprise.

"But…isn't today New Years Eve?" Ed then asked.

"Amazingly for once you're right." Dr Z scoffed folding his arms before shooting a glare at them, "Mark my words if you return empty handed by midnight tonight, I swear I'll tie you all up and toss you into the sea with a boulder around your waists!"

"Y…Yes Dr Z!" They yelped standing straight like pencils before running out of the room in a hurry.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Max's house however, the D Team were at the living room watching the very same news report that the Alpha Gang had just saw, and needless to say, they didn't take the news well either themselves.

"Rats! I can't believe we lost not 1 but 2 dinosaurs to those rotten alpha gang thugs!" Max growled punching his fist into his palm in frustration.

"We were all sleeping and there was nothing we could do about it." Rex sighed shaking his head, "That'll make things a little tricky for sure….." he then added thinking there might even be a chance in the past the Alpha gang may have gathered dinosaurs while they were sleeping before without knowing about it.

Max grit his teeth and shook his fist in anger and determination, "Grr, just you wait you creeps, we'll get those dinosaurs back no matter what it takes…." he swore under his breath with Rex nodding firmly with him.

Zoe eyed the situation seriously before sighing deeply with worry, putting her hand on her chest in thought, "Wherever Cera is, I hope she's okay….." she breathed looking outside the window hoping wherever their friend was she was safe.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the lodge, Cera was stretching out herself along with Miku in a downward dog pose, while Terry, Tank and Spiny wagged their tails out near the lakeside as they stretched out their joints in enjoyment before standing up straight and holding their pose.

 **And thus begins Cera's bonding with the alpha gang dinosaurs, this will play a role in her part when she goes into season 2. Also I figured the alpha gang dinosaurs don't go out that much on adventures even with Rod and Laura, so I figured Cera should help them live and experience the world like dinosaurs should, free from their cards.**

 **The dancing and yoga bits from Terry, Tank and Spiny you can take from the japanese endings, also Spiny scaring the A Team came from the Venice setting in the OP, as well as that part in Jurassic World 3 as well. As for the move cards titanosaurus had, they're technical rain and magic shower, good for strengthening and healing the team while also becoming a hazard for the environment by causing flooding too. Also the Dinoshot teleporting cards is something from the DS game which happens after you are supposed to lose to Seth. Part of how Dr Z was about to cook the trio was inspired by pokemonking0924.**

 **Spiny here returned the kindness Cera gave him, and when she said about being mistreated she refers to how he often gets beaten up most easily whenever he was used by the A Team.** **Terry and Tank will soon return the favour next chapter, but the way Terry will do it should surprise you. As for the moves, they came from the move card folio which depicted several copies of the alpha gang's moves like neck crusher and dino swing, also she'll be using some of the other fire, water and earth moves collected too from other dinosaurs later on.**

 **Hope you enjoy it and stay tuned (Will only be for 2 more chapters before everything goes back to normal)**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Sometimes the most dire of consequences will force enemies to team up in desperation. As for what will happen, stay tuned.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-The pirates will come in season 2**

 **pokemonking0924**

 **-Yup Seth sure knows how to exploit situations in his favour, will see what happens down the line with Cera too. Wanted to have the DS game idea of teleportation too with the dinoshot, also she'll be back eventually. Hope you enjoyed what she did here too.**

 **-I noticed the mistake and I too loved that pokemon episode too. Also Zander trying to get on Zoe's good side, why didn't I think of that...**

 **Enjoyed writing about the komodo dragons too, I think very few animals today can take on a dinosaur and these definitely count. And yeah the Alpha gang is the alpha gang so the truce only last as long as it was needed. Hope you enjoyed the punishment Dr Z tried to serve them here.**

 **darkblade2814**

 **-It's okay no worries, I hope I get more motivated too, still looking for more writers who would be interested in helping me with this story.**


	21. Divide and Conquer

Chapter 21

Divide and Conquer

It New years Eve and Sanjo City was getting into the festive mood as the end of the year celebration dawned upon Japan, with all its people in the country and city preparing for the new year as well as giving honour to the current one before moving on for the future. Downtown various fairs and stands were being set up which included stands selling charms or serving New Year Sake or Toso, and the tea sets to go with them. Others were also busy setting up bonfire stands around the town's bell shrine as well as around the stairs and walkways leading to it where people will no doubt be waiting all night in the cold, so that they wouldn't feel chilly while waiting. Volunteers were also busy sweeping up the place of dust and leaves to make sure it was presentable for the guests that would be present for the night as well.

In the big city, Year end sales were being held at the mall and shopping districts as crowds of people gathered together in line and excitement hoping to grab the cheapest and best offers, or to get their hands on the limited time items only on sale for 1 day only. People were lining up to buy new year cards or more traditional things like kimonos or yukatas to wear out. Even offices and stores were decorating their workplaces such as placing kadomatsu at the entrances or hanging shimekazari as well to get into the spirit of things. It was a complete hustle and bustle as the sounds of joy, excitement and energy for the anticipation for the NewYear filled nearly all of Sanjo City!

Well…almost all, except for 1 particular household in the suburbs, belonging to the Taylors….

The mood in the house was rather down and lacking in the festive spirt, let alone energy, as they just switched off the News regarding to the recent incident in Venice and the D Team were reminded of the fact that dinosaurs were still out there in the world, more than they first imagined, and now Cera was out there all alone too. They still hadn't received any word of their friend either and the lack of news brought a damper on their usual youthful spirit, even their dinosaurs too lacked the energy to play or run around as they normally did. The longer it dragged on the more their worries about their friend grew and soon they couldn't think of anything but her and wanting her home safe with them nearly the whole morning…

"It's almost the new year kids!" Dr Taylor suddenly jumped in unexpectedly out of nowhere, as he began jumping out about energetically hoping to bring a smile to the kids' faces though they didn't really bother to look at him, "Come on! I want to see some smiles and cheer!" he cried out loudly as he began blowing some party favours and throwing around salt too. He then pouted seeing their spirits still weren't quite lifted yet, in fact they didn't even acknowledge that he was in the room! Nevertheless, he refused to give up and so he kept trying, "We should all be thinking up new resolutions by now! Reflecting on our accomplishments and mistakes we made and considering how we can be better next year!" he continued cheering loudly, "As children you should be really excited and fired up for the festival tonight and the amazing adventures yet to come tomorrow! And-"

"Honey…." said his wife putting a hand on his shoulder stopping him before he could continue.

"Hmm?" He then turned around to look at his wife who was looking back at him with an expression of concern on her face, "Yes Aki?" he asked curiously.

"I know you want to cheer them up," she said with a sigh, "But, you can't force them to do it, you know they've been through a lot these few days."

Spike then lowered his head in sympathy, "I know Aki…." he said softly before looking at the kids with a pained expression, "It's just….well…."

"Thanks dad." said Max cutting him off from his negative thinking as he looked back up at the 3 kids who were now smiling lightly to his surprise!

"Huh?"

"We know you're just trying to help, and we really appreciate it a lot." said his son as he picked up Chomp and settled him in his lap, "We just haven't gotten used to having another of the family….missing….." the said looking on the small chair where Cera usually sat with the group whenever they came to the Taylor residence.

"Not just in the family, it's like a piece of our own lives has been taken out too….can we really move on to the new year with an incomplete life?" added Rex in the end feeling pained at each word he uttered, "It doesn't feel right, I don't know if we can celebrate a new year without every member of the family…." he said as Zoe just lowered her head down and Paris hummed in a sad tone.

Spike folded his arms on his hips with sadness too, "I know it's hard children." he said feeling pained before turning serious again, "But you can't keep dwelling in what can't be helped." he said feeling hard too. "Cera….made her choice and there was nothing we could do to change it." he said looking away unable to look the children in the eye.

"We know…." said Rex in return before sighing deeply and looking down at the floor, "But…that doesn't make it any better."

"True." Dr Taylor nodded in agreement before looking at them all firmly, "But, would she want you all to keep staying down in the dumps forever?" he then asked as they looked to him and his serious fatherly tone, "How would she feel if she knew you all were still dwelling in the past because of what she did? Something she did with all her heart and considered right, don't you think she'd feel terrible herself too?"

They widened their eyes, "That's…." They soon began to realise Cera's reasons were far from being self centred or selfish, she did it because she cared for them as much as they did for her. They then began to realise how hard it must have been for her and Miku as well to even consider making this decision, and this was her own choice in the matter too, and like it or not, they had to respect it as well…..

"I'm sure all she needed was some space herself too," he said at the end before smiling with confidence and positivity, "And I'm certain once she gets her thoughts straightened she'll come back before you know it!" he said with a grin and a thumbs up.

Looking to one another, the D Team soon smiled and chuckled in agreement with him, "Yeah….you know what Dr Taylor….you're right…." said Zoe as he then blinked in surprise at the unexpected reply.

"I am?" he asked pointing to himself in confusion, he didn't think they'd get over it just like that, but what they were about to say net proved it was far more than that.

Max nodded, "Uh huh. I think we get it now." he said looking to the others around him, "Knowing Cera, she'd…still want us to move on, stay safe and strong."

"No matter what comes our way even if she isn't around anymore she wants us to keep living while honouring the memories we had with her while she was with us." said Rex in turn, "I'm sure she'll soon realise that she needs us too as much as we need her."

They all then looked to one another and nodded together feeling assured of themselves and of this, "So yeah, after the New Years Festival is done, first thing we'll aim for is finding Cera and bring her home!" said Zoe pumping up her arm

"Say what!?" Spike gasped in shock while Aki covered her mouth just as surprised.

They nodded firmly at them, "We want to be there for her, show her she isn't alone and doesn't need to be anymore." said Rex.

"We'll be willing to brave any kind of danger thick and thin for one another, and for her." added Zoe, "She may be doing this to protect us no doubt, now we want to show her that we're strong enough to protect her too."

"We'll spend every single day looking for her even if it takes us until the end of time we won't give up till we find her again and tell her how we feel!" Max concluded clenching his hand into a fist, "And if she really doesn't want to come back, we'll be happy to support and respect her decision."

They looked to each other seriously and smiled, "After all we've been through we can't just let things end like this without saying a proper goodbye." said Rex.

"She's not just our friend, she's family, and we'll show her we'll always have her back no matter where she goes or what path she chooses." Zoe concluded in the end as their dinos all barked together in agreement with what their owners said.

Aki covered her mouth speechlessly at the moving speech they all made, it was something she never expected to hear from young children. Spike on the other hand had a shade cover his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly, "Kids….." he said in a deep tone as the kids and their dinosaurs all stood up uneasily at his strange and unnerving behaviour!

"D…Dad?" Max croaked uneasily unable to understand why his dad would get angry all of a sudden, but what happened next was something they didnn't expected in the slightest!

"I'm so proud of you!" Dr Taylor wailed at the top of his lungs as he rushed in and scooped all 3 kids and their dinosaurs into 1 big hug!

"WAH!"

"H…Hey!"

"OW!"

"Your speech has moved my aged old heart! I've never heard such words of passion and emotion before! Not even that letter I wrote to Aki could ever compare to what you said in a million years!" he sang as he swung them around with joy while putting all his emotion into his loving embrace! "Come give me some love! Hahahaha!" he laughed boisterously as his squeeze was beginning to tighten on the children and their partners, turning them dangerously blue and their vision blurry!

"Ack! Dad…you're choking us!"

"Too much love…."

"Please let us go now…." They all croaked painfully and softly, as even their dinosaurs' struggling became weaker and weaker, going almost limp and lifeless with their souls being squeezed out of their own bodies!

Realising it just in time, Spike quickly dropped them all down and he scratched his head in embarrassment, "Whoops, sorry got a little carried away there that's all hehe…." he chuckled nervously as the D Team scrambled away to catch their breath, narrowly escaping their brush with death before casting angry glares at the older man!

"Urk….a little?" Zoe croaked rubbing her back painfully while Paris shook her head.

"A little harder and we'd be gone like the dinosaurs…." Max muttered rubbing his neck while Rex fell down on the couch in exhaustion, with heir partners slumping to the floor gasping for air.

While Spike went into the corner twiddling his fingers in shame, Aki then stepped into the middled of the living room before the 3 members of the D Team and smiled at them proudly, "You've handled this more maturely than I expected." she said as she stroked Max on the head with a gentle hand, "You all really are growing up into wonderful young adults." she said as the others felt touched by her words as they all focused their attention on her.

"Thanks mom…and dad…." said Max bowing down while his friends all nodded too.

Aki then smiled brightly, "Well, if we're going to get excited for the New Year Festival tonight, I have a little surprise for you all." said Aki as she skipped along to another room and the others turned in her direction as she left. The sounds of rummaging were heard and before long she returned with a bright smile on her face, doing an adorable spin and flashing them a white and red shrine keeper outfit at them! "Ta da!" she sang as they widened their eyes and gasped in amazement.

"AH!"

"No way!" Max, Zoe and Dr Taylor gasped speechlessly.

"Wow! You've been chosen for this year's shrine maiden!?" Rex exclaimed.

"Hee hee, I sure have Rex." Aki nodded, "After weeks of mailing postcards back to the local committee they finally elected me out of all the eligible candidates out there in Sanjo City!" she sang doing a cheery spin once more as Spike teared up joyfully and jumped up and down energetically.

"This truly is a New Years Blessing!" he proclaimed before dancing about and the rest of the kids shouted their praises to her.

"That's awesome!"

"Way to go mom!"

"Great job Mrs Taylor! You'll fit the role just fine." They each said complimenting and praising her sincerely.

"Amazing! Aki you've made me the happiest and luckiest palaeontologist ever!" Dr Taylor proclaimed as he knelt in Shakespearan style, "You can be sure I'll treasure this moment and occasion in my heart for all eternity! Even longer than the time dinosaurs have been on the planet!" he announced the very thoughts from the bottom of his heart.

"Oh you all flatter me…." she chuckled blushing red in embarrassment at all their compliments, "Well, I'd better go rehearse my roles, wish me luck everyone." she said as she ran upstairs to go practice her dancing in private.

"You'll do great mom I know it!" Ma cheered waving to her.

"See you tonight!" Zoe cried out as she and the others waved to her and she waved back.

"Thank you all very much, you're all too kind." she replied as she headed upstairs leaving her husband with the children.

"Well kids, let's leave your mother to it for now." he said facing them, "In the meantime, I'm heading down to the mall to go pick up a few things from that big New Year end sale going down! Hahahahah!" he giggled with glee and excitement, "I hear they even have a new limited edition dinosaur themed kotatsu for sale today too!" he said at the end before rushing out the front door and shutting it behind!

"See ya dad!" Max waved as he looked to the rest of the D Team, "Well guys, let's just focus on down what we can for now." he said feeling his spirited again.

"Yeah, and get into the spirit of New Years Eve." said Zoe, "Setting up decorations, getting everyone a yukata or kimono for the occasion, make new resolutions."

"Then after that starting tomorrow, we'll be heading out into the world to find Cera and Miku." concluded Rex pumping up his fist with confidence as their dinosaurs all barked in agreement and excitement, "I'm sure wherever they're doing is perfectly safe and fine." he said at the end as they all headed outside the door too.

 **(Meanwhile)**

High in the mountains in Peru, at an ancient Incan citadel known as Machu Picchu, a saichania was running about in excitement over and around the walls of the ancient civilisation stretching her legs and tail before coming to a stop at the open square in the center. Awaiting her was Cera, with Miku on her shoulder, as she stood before them and roared out happily as Cera reached out and stroked her on the head gently, "Isn't this exciting Tank? Bet the alpha gang never took you out on excursions like this before huh?" asked Cera with a smile feeling glad the ankylosaur was happy and more peaceful now that she had something to de-stress herself. As Tank wagged her tail out joyfully, Cera folded an arm on her hip as she looked around and whistled in awe at the ancient grounds they now stood within, "Still, this place really is amazing….to think this place once used to be a royal estate…." she breathed as Miku let out a squawk in amazement herself.

Tank roared out once more energetically as she spun around in joy, unaware that her tail actually smashed into a large wall nearby and then causing the entire structure to crack and then fall down!

"Huh?" As Cera looked back she widened her eyes to see the massive wall of stone and rock crumble apart before crashing down upon her! "WHOA!" she cried out in alarm as she held her hands out and crouched down as the rocks suddenly came down upon her in an instant! She closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth tensely, anticipating herself getting crushed into bits by the rubble, but after a while past she felt nothing, except a massive presence right above her though it didn't feel like rocks either. "H…Huh?"

Opening her eyes slowly and nervously, she soon widened them when she saw it was none other than Tank who had jumped in time and used her own armoured back as a shield to protect her and Miku from the falling debris! She looked down and eyed them with rather caring eyes as she let out a cry of concern, as Cera and Miku both gazed upon her in awe over the selfless act she just did for them, "Tank? You saved us?" she asked as the saichania lowered her head down to her chest and hummed calmly to her response. Cera then let out a deep sigh of relief, "Phew, thank goodness….." she breathed before chuckling in amusement, "Heh, it's kinda strange, not long ago we were on opposite sides, and now…you're here saving me and Miku." she said as Tank barked at her nicely and Miku chirped back with joy and gratitude, "They say saichania means beautiful one." Cera continued as she stroked Tank's chin gently, "Now I see you're beautiful both inside and out…." she said in a calm gentle tone which put Tank at ease, making her feel warm and fuzzy inside, as if her aggressive nature had been tamed by this human, she couldn't comprehend how or why, but she didn't care one bit as she nuzzled in at Cera once more for the enjoyment of her company.

Cera then reached out her hand and began stroking the ankylosaur's head gently with a warm smile, "Thanks. I owe you for this." she said before Tank shook her head and breathed on her, which Cera seemed to understand since she accidentally caused it in the first place in her carelessness, "Yeah you're right, guess we can call it even then." she said patting her head before looking around to see the 3 of them were all pretty much buried under a huge pile of rocks, with only small beams of sunlight penetrating through the very small cracks around them. Seeing the instability of the rocks, a sudden move or shift could cause the entire pile to fall down on and crush them in an instant, so they had to be smart about this, "We can't get out through brute force that's for sure." she noted as Miku looked up at her partner with concern and Tank let out a low growl in sadness ad guilt for being responsible for this.

Thinking for a bit she then brightened up as she had the solution, "But maybe this might help." she thought as she reached into a pocket and pulled out her dinoshot and an earth move card, "Stay close Miku." she said firmly to her little partner who chirped back and clung on to her neck. She then looked up at Tank seriously, "You ready Tank?" she asked as Tank nodded and roared out with confidence. Nodding in acknowledgement she then got under the huge dinosaur as she prepared to get them out, "Aright then, mole attack!" She declared slashing the card and causing Tank to glow! She then curled up into a spiked ball, shielding Cera and Miku in her embrace before tunnelling underneath the ground and the rest of the rubble collapsed down on them!

A little while later they emerged on the outskirts of the Incan civilisation as they popped out of the ground and landed outside safely as Cera took a breath of fresh air and holding her arms out to bathe in the warm sun. Looking back to see the mess made she then turned to Tank who looked back at her, "I came out here to get you some exercise but none of expected that huh?" she said as Tank looked away bashfully before being returned to a card, "Well, time go home now." She then said pressing a button and then teleporting away in a beam of light.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the Netherlands, at a field of many beautiful flowers blowing in the wind, there were also 3 large windmills stationed in the background spun their blades in the breeze. Sliding off them at 1 windmill was an egg capsule which tumbled down and smashed against a rock down below in the field before the cards inside, a grass dinosaur and a normal move card, were flung into the center of the flowery field. Within seconds a green light glowed and took form, revealing itself as a plump purple ornithopod dinosaur known as brachylophosaurus. Sniffing the flowers and determining them to smell sweet, it began to munch down on them and graze like a large cow.

At Easter Islands where the large statue heads were standing tall where they have been for many years, one of them eventually cracked away after a long period of erosion and weathering by wind and rain. Inside was another capsule, which slipped out of the hole after a piece fell out, causing it to break open as it hit the ground on one if the jagged pieces of rock. Inside was a dinosaur with an earth move, and after they coming into contact with the stone of the state head, they glowed purple before materialising as a swampy green stegosaur with a pair of blade like spikes protruding out from its front flanks! The gigantspinosaurus bellowed out loudly before trotting off to explore its strange surroundings, before sniffing one head and smashing it down with a swipe of its' spiked tail!

In Sanjo City's power plant, the workers were busy trying to install a new power generator into the plant's systems hoping to bring more energy to the townsfolk who were in need of it. At first after connecting all the necessary components to the main grid the generator showed promise as the workers all smiled proudly at their success. But their joy was short-lived as the machine's turbines suddenly became jammed and the sound it generated began to die down much to their surprise.

"Huh?" One worker wearing a safety uniform and helmet mused as he went up to it. Checking it he could see that the parts seemed to be stuck in 1 place, "Hey what's going on with this thing?" he grumbled in annoyance smacking at it bit to no avail.

"Is there something jamming it?" Another man asked as a few more gathered around the machine. As one of them looked inside through a gap he could barely make out some sort of egg shaped object clogged inside the rotors preventing them from turning.

As another looked at the readings he widened his eyes uneasily at what he saw, "Whatever it is it's causing the generator to overload!" he gasped as the generator suddenly began to surge with electricity which fluctuated all around it as alarms went off sending the men into a panic!

"WAAAAAHHH!"

"Run for it!" They screamed leaving the room as fast as they could!

Inside the generator, the jammed rotor under huge stress and pressure soon cracked the egg capsule inside and it was surged with electricity, causing a yellow glow and an explosion!

BOOM!

Destroying the generator and leaping out into the room was a small purple zuniceratops, which cried out in a fright after awakening in what looked like a massive cage to it, as it thrashed about, kicking and bucking, ramming through other computers and machines destroying everything in a frenzy before charging out through a wall and running away into the city below the hill where the power plant was at!

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Zeta Point, Dr Z had just received an update on the dino detector on his computer, and after seeing the results it brought up he widened his eyes in amazement before yelling out at the top of his lungs, "Ursula! You and your stooges get down here this instant!" he cried as his voice echoed through nearly all of Zeta Point.

It didn't take long for the bumbling trio to bounce right into the control room as they assembled in a straight line side by side, "On the double Dr Z!" Ursula cried out as she stood up straight reporting for duty.

"What's the situation!?" Ed and Zander saluted as if they were soldiers about to receive orders from their general.

He eyed them seriously before turning to the computer screen in front, "Look!" he pointed out as they all followed, only to widen their eyes in surprise at what was displayed.

"Whoa! Is this for real!?"

"3 dinosaurs!?"

"In Sanjo City, Netherlands and Easter Island!" They each gasped in disbelief.

"How convenient, one for each of you." Dr Z chuckled in amusement, "And with 3 separate locations no doubt those bratty children will have to split up too, which means the odds will at least be 50-50."

"Yeah!" The trio then cheered together with excitement and they began dancing about with one another, seeing their chances were no doubt far better than they could ever hope for, or so it seemed as Ursula soon came to realise.

"But wait…." she then said stopping her celebration and Ed and Zander looked to her curiously wondering why she stopped, "Without our dinosaurs, what can we do against those juvenile delinquents or dinosaurs?" she then asked as the 2 men hung their heads low in disgrace.

"Oh…."

"Good point…." they muttered with despair and hopelessness.

"That's where I come in." said a voice behind them as they all turned to look and saw Seth walking towards them calmly.

"Oh hi Seth…."

"What are you doing here?" Ursula and Ed asked curiously as he folded an arm on his hip.

"The unfortunate loss of Terry, Tank and Spiny has left us….shorthanded." he said sounding concerned while shaking his head in disapproval. The reminder of their biggest mistake yet made the A Team lower their heads in shame and guilt as Dr Z squinted his eyes at them. "Which is why I took the liberty of developing some new dinosaur catching equipment and gadgets for you, which should make your task of capturing dinosaurs….at least somewhat easier, per Dr Z's request." Seth then added as they looked up and their eyes glistened with hope and excitement at the new toys they were about to get from their adoptive father.

"New gadgets!?"

"New playthings!?"

"For us!?" They each asked joyfully.

Seth nodded in response, "They're waiting for you in the flight hangar, I trust they will suit your needs."

"You lot should be grateful," added Dr Z firmly as he shot them a serious glare, "In fact if it wasn't for Seth vouching for you I would have gotten rid of you all yesterday!" he yelled as the trio jumped in shock at his sudden threat at them, "Now stop dawdling and get me those dinosaurs! And don't forget to bring back Terry, Tank and Spiny!" he then demanded stomping his feet and they quickly stood up straight ready for duty.

"Yes sir Dr Z!" They all said saluting their leader.

Ursula then turned to the rest of the gang as she raised her arm out as if she was issuing an order, "Come on team! It's time to divide and conquer!" She proclaimed powerfully as she charged out of the room.

"Alright!" Ed and Zander responded with confidence as they followed her out of the room, leaving Dr Z and Seth alone inside.

The old scanties then nodded seriously as he folded his arms behind his back, "With 3 dinosaurs out there, there should at least be at least 1 success out of them all." he said before opening his eyes with anger, "Because if not, it's down to the abyss for them!" he yelled out loud at the top of his lungs.

Seth meanwhile narrowed his eyes with interest at the sight of the blinking dinosaur signals spread out across the globe, "3 dinosaurs appearing in 3 separate locations almost at the same time….Chances of that happening randomly are extremely rare…." he thought to himself seriously before a sinister smirk spread on his face, "Perhaps this can prove to be a useful opportunity." he thought as he left the premises to make preparations for a new plan, one which he knew couldn't possibly fail.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back in Sanjo City, the D Team had gone about their day doing their New Year eve activities with their parents including setting up new year decorations, hoping to get into the festive mood and to prepare for the up coming New Year celebration. Max and Rex, along with Chomp and Ace had a ton of fun chasing Dr Taylor around with salt and beans while he was wearing an oni mask, while Zoe stayed home with her mom helping to bake New Years sweets with Paris humming in the background. Now the 3 of them were heading together as a group over to the D Lab along with their partner dinosaurs who were hopping along beside them.

Max and Rex noticed Zoe was in a smiley mood as she was also carrying a colourful lunchbox in her arms, as they eyed it curiously, "Wow Zoe, what'cha got there?" Max asked pointing at it as she looked.

She then smiled in response, "Oh, these were some special mochi my mum made earlier this morning." she then opened the box and revealed several white, pink and yellow mochi sweets shaped like bunnies and little chicks inside and they all looked appetising to the taste and appealing to the eye. Chomp and Ace's mouths were also starting to drool as the smells of the candy made them feel rather ravenous.

"Wow, not bad…."

"They look pretty cute and colourful." Max and Rex both complimented as Zoe smiled feeling proud of them and grateful for their kind words.

"Thanks," she said, "I came to share a few samples with you guys at the D Lab, afterwards tonight we're planning on having a game where we try to pick out the mochi which has the strawberry inside." she said as the boys brightened up with excitement.

"Hey that sounds like fun!" Max cheered pumping his arm up as he had a few ideas of his own to offer, "Maybe have others be like landmines, fill them up with durian paste or something nasty to make the game all the more fun and exciting huh?"

Rex and Zoe then sweat dropped at the brunette's enthusiastic ideas, "Err let's not go too far….though that does sound like fun." Rex chuckled nervously.

"I'll….see what my mum can cook up." Zoe mired his expression as they all laughed together joyously like great friends always did.

The moment didn't last long, as their dinoholders soon began to flash red and beep, catching their attention.

"Hmm?"

As they took them out they widened their eyes, "A signal!" Rex gasped as Max turned serious.

"Come on to the D Lab!" He said out loud as his friends nodded and they rushed over as fast as they could to the lab.

They then came in through the front door where Reese was still typing at her computer intently, "Where is the dinosaur this time Reese?" Max asked as the older woman stopped what she was doing and turned around to them firmly.

"Actually, it's where are the dinosaurs this time." she said pushing up her glasses much to their surprise.

"Huh?" Max went blinking his eyes in confusion, "What do you-" As they turned to look at the map they were taken aback to see 3 glowing red signals on the map! "Whoa! 3 dinosaurs!"

"One in Netherlands, Easter Island and here in Sanjo City!" Zoe gasped.

"Guess that means we'll have to split up this time." Rex narrowed his eyes, "Not the way I was expecting to celebrate New Years Eve….." he said at the end.

"But we've still got a job to do and we'll do it!" said Max pumping his arm up ready for action as the others nodded with him in agreement.

"Mhmm."

"If we're splitting up that means the alpha gang would be doing the same." said Rex thinking the situation through.

"Would that really be okay?" Zoe asked with worry, "No doubt they'll try a lot of sneaky tricks but would we be able to handle them on our own?" she asked, though neither of the boys seemed deterred by her concerns.

"It's a risk we'll have to take guys. There's no other way." said Max bravely as he tensed up his arm.

Rex nodded in agreement with him, "Max is right, we'll just have to take our chances, but if anything comes up we pull right out or call for backup." he said to them all as they nodded back at him.

"Okay." said Zoe as she looked to the map and after going over all 3 options she pointed out the one she wanted, "Ladies first! I'll take the Netherlands." she announced as Max squinted his eyes in annoyance as to why she got to pick first.

"Ace and I will head for Easter Island." added Rex seizing the chance as Max sighed in disappointment.

"Looks like we're stuck home huh Chomp?" he muttered to his partner, he was really hoping to get out of town and see the world again, guess he'll have to be quicker next time.

As Reese began typing in the coordinates for the Netherlands, Zoe stood on the platform with Paris as she waved out to them,"Wish me luck guys!" she said as the boys waved back.

"Take care Zoe!" said Rex as she vanished in glowing light. After that he quickly boarded with Ace, "My turn!" he said firmly and ready as Reese nodded before typing in the coordinates. As the teleport's light began to envelop him he looked over to Max and shot a thumbs up at him, "See you home with the card Max." he said with confidence as a wink while Max grinned back at him with faith in his success.

"Looking forward to it." he said as Rex vanished in the light. After his 2 friends were gone he then looked down to his partner who had his game face on, "Alright Chomp let's go get that dinosaur!" he cheered as they both rushed out the doors and headed for where the signal was.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at her lodge, while Terry, Tank and Spiny were busy chowing down on their breakfast kibble from their bowls, Cera and Miku were both at the table checking on the dinoshot which had just started blinking red signalling a dinosaur appearance. But when they checked it, they were surprised at the results, "3 dinosaurs at once….that can't be good…." said Cera narrowing her eyes at the 3 blinking dots on the map. She knew full well that while the Alpha gang would be forced to divide their forces to pursue all 3 dinosaurs simultaneously, that meant Max and the D Team would need to do the same, and comparing the strengths and weaknesses on both sides, while the D Team still had their dinosaurs the Alpha gang no doubt would play dirty and take far more underhanded measures to make up for the lack of theirs, and that worried her knowing the D Team might still be at a disadvantage if they weren't careful.

"I'd better go check them out just in case." She then thought as she got her pack ready and strapping it on her waist. As Miku hopped onto her shoulder and she headed to the door, Terry, Tank and Spiny looked up with interest as she looked back at them with a smile, "Come on guys, ready to head out for an all around the world adventure?" she asked as their eyes brightened up and they jumped up and down with excitement and anticipation before running up to her begging her to take them. She then chuckled at their enthusiasm as she gave them each a pet on the head, "Okay then, let's go." She replied as she returned them all to card form and after dialling on her dinoshot she teleported away in a glow of light.

 **(At the Netherlands)**

A light shone right next to a windmill and as it dissipated, stood Zoe and Paris as they widened their eyes and gasped in amazement at the beauty of the surrounding landscape, "Wow, look at all those pretty flowers….." Zoe breathed in awe before taking in a deep breath of air, the scents making her feel light and fuzzy inside, "Oh it smells so heavenly here…." she said so calm and full of serenity before taking in another breath, "And the air is so fresh isn't it?" As she said that she notice Paris hopping down to the flower field and she began to munch on some of the colourful red flowers, gulping them down she barked and wagged her tail in enjoyment as Zoe walked up to her with a smile.

"Haha, I guess flowers are like candy to herbivores huh?" she giggled petting her partner on the head before hearing a low growl on the other side of the windmills! "Hmm? Could that be the dinosaur?" she asked herself as she headed around with Paris following cautiously in case it could be a predator. As they looked around the corner, Zoe gasped as she caught sight of the dinosaur they were looking for, which was grazing away at another section of the flower field, leaving behind bare grass patches where it went as it focused entirely on food, "That's a brachylophosaurus…." Zoe noted, "Oh just look at it all peaceful and calm…." she said feeling happy to see it happy, though the people who lived in the area probably wouldn't like it if they found their flower patches completely eaten up she realised. "Well since it isn't causing any trouble, I guess maybe I could try to approach it nicely….like Cera said…." she said to Paris who hummed in response.

Slowly, the 2 of them began to tiptoe carefully through the tulips, making sure to put their feet carefully so they wouldn't step on any twigs an startle the herbivore. They also made sure to go in the direction against the wind and behind the dinosaur so it wouldn't smell them and get alerted to their presence either. Soon they got quite close to it but before Zoe could say a word out, it suddenly perked its head up and began sniffing the air and looking around on alert, which took Zoe a bit by surprise, "Uh oh, did it smell us?" she cringed holding herself back and freezing still, holding her arm out to Paris to stop her from moving too. "Or is there something else?" It was then she could tell something was up and that it had to have sensed something amidst but none of them could tell what or where it was, till it suddenly revealed itself.

"Congratulations winner!" a familiar skinny man with sunglasses suddenly popped out of the flowers which both surprised the brachylophosaurus and Zoe!

"Huh!?" Rubbing her eyes and taking a closer look she recognised who the man was, "Is that Zander? What's he doing?" she asked herself raising an eyebrow seeing he seemed to be doing all sorts of strange and unusual dance moves in front of the dinosaur who just stared at him in confusion. In any case she knew he was up to no good for sure…..

"You've just won a special prize Mr dinosaur!" He said out loud raising his hands to the sky, "The chance to compete in our one of a kind lucky game show! And as the special guest we insist you take part!" he grinned deviously as he snapped his fingers, causing several alpha droids to pop up surrounding the brachylophosaurus on all sides so it couldn't escape! The feeling of being cornered and their surprise appearance made the dinosaur rear up on it legs and bellow out in a panic.

"Ah!" Zoe gasped in alarm herself as Zander proceeded to begun his flashy dinosaur capture gameshow.

"Now let the games begin!" he announced as he raised his arm to one side where an Alpha droid was walking in while carrying a large dice, "First off, we'll begin with a special dice roll!" As the droid stumbled forward it ended up tripping over a stone in the tulips, releasing the dice as it tumbled down to the ground, "Now what shall it be!?" The dice then stopped on a number 4, "It's a 4! Now you win 4 special presents!" Zander cheered clapping his hands as the die opened up releasing 4 bombs similar to Rod's tie bombs which then floated over to the brachylophosaurus! Exploding on contact it roared in pain before falling down! "Ahahaha! Now wasn't that a surprise!?" Zander then laughed snobbishly before snapping his fingers, "How about another!? Let's give it up for our special guest!" He announced as the brachylophosaurus struggled to get up and the alpha droid which tripped then grabbed the large die again and prepared to roll it once again!

Zoe meanwhile stood on the sidelines and clenched her fist in anger, "That creep! How dare he do that to a dinosaur?!" she growled in disgust as Paris narrowed her eyes and grunted, "Come on Paris, let's go stop him!" she said as Paris barked in acknowledgement and they charged out into the battlefield! "Hey you creep!" She yelled angrily out to the Alpha gang thug.

"Hmm?" he turned to see Zoe and Paris charging straight at him!

"Leave that dinosaur alone and shut down this tacky show of yours right now or I'll do it for you!" Zoe screamed as she returned Paris to a card and slashed her! "Dino slash! Spring up Parasaurolophus!" She chanted as Paris appeared in full sized form and bellowed out loudly!

Zander however remained undeterred, but instead began snickering instead as a large grin spread across his face, "Well well, what do we have here!? A special lucky contestant has just arrived on our spectacular dino game!" he announced rubbing his hands together eagerly, "In fact, I have a special surprise just for you!" He said as he held out another remote which he took from his coat.

Zoe gritted her teeth in response, "Forget it! I'm not playing any of these silly games!" she yelled defiantly.

"Oh but I must insist!" said Zander as he pressed the button, causing a massive spinning dartboard to drop from the sky after being carried in by a pink alpha jet!

As it landed it shook the ground and nearly knocked Zoe and paris off balance! "Whoa!" She gasped before stabilising herself. She then eyed the huge mechanism with unease knowing there was something wrong with it for sure, "Huh? What's this?" she asked uneasily.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Zander then snickered deviously, "In fact, we're just about to begin! Spin the penalty wheel!" He announced as one droid spun the wheel and another carried in a large dart, "And now, for the main event!" he declared as the droid threw the dart onto the board and it began to slow down. "What's it going to be!?" Zander then said sounding as ominous and mysterious as he could, while Zoe and Paris observed carefully not wanting to rush in and do anything rash till they knew what they were up against.

As the dart slowed down it showed it stopped on what looked like a white dish, then the alpha jet flew down from the sky once again dropping a large metal dish on Paris' head much to Zoe's alarm! "Ah! Paris!" she cried as Paris began wobbling in a slight daze after suffering a huge sudden blow to her head!

"Oh my, who would've seen that coming!?" Zander announced sounding shocked and surprised before sporting a large grin seeing it was going as he planned, "Let's see if our contestant can get something different this time!" He said once more before flashing over to the brachylophosaurus which was still roaring and thrashing about, only kept in place by the alpha droids, "As well as our special dino guest too!" The alpha droid then threw a die while another through a second dart on the spinning board, The die soon slowed down and stopped on the biggest number of all, "It looks like we've rolled a 6!" Zander gasped in amazement before turning over to the the board which began to slow down and eventually hit the big exclamation mark, "And the board's about to stop on our special mystery prize!" Zander cheered with excitement and anticipation over what wonders and surprises were in store.

Zoe however, had just had all she could stand and take, as she flared up with rage and impatience before exploding! "That's it! I don't know what corny ploy this is all about but I'm stopping it now!" she yelled slashing a grass move card, "Egg attack!" Paris roared loudly as 3 oviraptors jumped out of the brush and took aim, with Paris sounding the attack signal they fired a barrage of egg bullets from their mouths at the dice and alpha droids causing them to explode instead!

BOOM!

"Gah!" Zander gasped clenching his face in terror seeing his Alpha gameshow was about to get cancelled!

Zoe however was only getting started and intended to make sure that his scheme ended off with a big bang! "Now metal wing!" She declared as the 3 pteranodons took to the air before swooping down slicing the high dart board into pieces before swooping down as a single dive-bomb and bowling through the remaining alpha droids and finally into Zander himself!

"WAAAAAAHH!" He screamed trying to run away, but soon he was knocked away hard by the combine sped and strength of the pterosaurs before falling down and face planting hard on the ground with the droids scattering around him, twitching as if they were dead creatures with muscle spasms. "And that's all folks….see you next time on our alpha game show…" he muttered with his face still in the dirt as he held up a weak thumbs up before falling back down in defeat.

"What a weirdo….." Zoe muttered uncomfortably before hearing a loud angry bellow. "Huh?" Looking around she widened her eyes to see the brachylophosaurus began thrashing about, roaring in anger as it stomped on the remains of the alpha droids which were taunting it before rushing over to ram into the windmills while ripping up the flower beds in the process! Zoe stepped back nervously at the sight of the dinosaur's rampage, "Oh no now's he's gone and made that brachylophosaurus mad!" she cried backing away near to Paris as the angry dinosaur saw them ad began to charge at them and the sky turned colourful!

Zoe then gritted her teeth in frustration seeing she had to fight now, "Sorry Paris, but it looks like we'll have to fight now…." she said reluctantly as the Paris stood her ground and faced off against their smaller foe and growled at it, causing it to back away cautiously upon sight of a larger foe! It suddenly glowed and leaping out of the flowers were a trio of small but strong stegoceras! They all barked out at Paris who then raised up on her hind legs and bellowed out at them!

"Whoa stegoceras!" Zoe gasped unexpectedly at the fact a wild dinosaur was calling on allies to aid it in battle! Rushing forward, 2 of the pachycephalosaurs first attacked Paris' legs forcing her to rear up and roar in pain! After that they unleashed a barrage of headbutts into her legs and underside before the last one rammed her dead in center and sending her back and then slumping to the ground in pain! "Oh no Paris!" she cried out in horror as brachylophosaurus and its gang of stegoceras closed in on her, ganging her up on all sides! Zoe then gritted her teeth angrily deciding the gloves were off now, "You want to play that way!? Fine! Let's play!" She growled before whistling out and the 3 pteranodons returned and flew overhead, circling the stegoceras trio, "Go get em boys!" she cried as the pterosaurs swooped down together as a single dive bomb!

The stegoceras leapt up together in a single entity preparing to meet the pteranodons in a head on collision! Unfortunately as they collided the pteranodons won out as they were all blown back and knocked out before returning to a move card. Reacting quickly Zoe ran up and grabbed it before letting out a sigh of relief, "Phew that was close….but that takes care of these guys." she said smiling before eying the remaining dinosaur, "Now for brachylophosaurus." As she said that the purple herbivore backed away nervously before turning to run! Unwilling to let it get away, the 3 oviraptor leapt out of the flower beds ahead of it, catching it off guard as it stopped in tis tracks and roared out at them while they hissed and snarled keeping it still as Paris got back up!

"Sorry about this but there's no other choice now…." said Zoe with a hint of regret as she held a grass move card and then slashed it, "Emerald garden!" Paris then glowed green with energy before firing an energy ball of grass energy which then caused a garden to sprout around Brachylophosaurus' feet! The plants began to sap away at its energy before it eventually lost the ability to stand, collapsing down and losing consciousness before returning to a dinosaur card and the skies returned to normal! After that the pteranodon and oviraptors returned to Zoe's hand and she and Paris walked over to the brachylophosaurus as she leaned down to pick it up, "Don't worry, you'll feel much better now that you're with us." she said to it nicely before putting it into her pocket. Looking to her side she saw Paris bellow out a victory cry as she leaned down for Zoe to stroke her head, "You did good Paris, good job." said Zoe praising her before turning to eye the field of tulips now blowing in the wind nicely. "Maybe we should stay here and enjoy the view a little," she giggled mischievously, "It's not like Max and Rex will find out right?" she added thinking she could take advantage of the moment too for once.

Little did they know was that Cera was actually watching her the whole time from behind a windmill with a glad expression seeing she emerged successful in her side of things, "Looks like Zoe's got everything sorted out here." she said with relief as Spiny poked his head around the corner and Miku appeared on her shoulder. After that she began to type on her dinoshot some new coordinates, "Time to see what's up at Easter Island." she said as she vanished in a beam of light.

 **(At Easter Island)**

As Rex and Ace appeared on the outskirts of the Island they looked around to see nothing was in sight for miles except for some scattered Easter Island heads around the area, meaning they had to go searching for it on foot much to their annoyance, "Alright, now where to find that dinosaur…." Rex muttered seeing there was no getting around it as he and Ace headed off to the hills thinking it would make a good vantage point for them to get a view of the place. After a while of walking through the large hilly landscape he soon took notice of something coming in from the sky. "Hmmm? What's that?" he muttered looking up to see a strange object approaching in from the sky, he squinted his eyes as the sun was still shining bright and he couldn't see properly. It wasn't till the clouds began to cover the son and lessen the glare that he soon realised it was a missile heading for them!

He widened his eyes in alarm before grabbing Ace and running away! "Whoa! Run!" he cried out loud as he jumped out of the way in time and the missile struck dead center at the spot he was at! As Rex landed on the ground with a loud thud, the missile suddenly exploded sending him and his partner flying away a coupe of feet!

BOOM!

"WAAAH!" he cried out loud before landing and skidding across the ground only to stop at an Easter Island statue head! "ARGH!" he grunted smacking his back hard against it but using his body as a shock absorber to shield Ace inside his arms. Opening his eyes painfully while gritting his teeth he saw Ace was shivering inside his arms frightened as he looked up to him slowly, "Grrgh….you alright there Ace?" Rex asked groggily as the pain was coursing its way through his back. Ace blinked at him before clicking his face and putting a smile on his partner's face to see he was alright, "Thank goodness…" he breathed a sigh of relief as he forced himself back up onto his feet, before gazing at the massive crater the missile left behind, "Wonder what that was all about…." he muttered in thought knowing it was intended for them and they were lucky to get out in time.

"Darn it! I missed!" a male voice yelled angrily which caught their attention.

"Huh?" Looking around them, they saw Ed stomp out from behind an Easter Island Head further away from them in anger, fuming red and gritting his teeth in frustration, "Why'd you have to move so fast!? You would've been dust in a crater if you hadn't gotten out in time!" he yelled shaking his fist at Rex while in his other hand he held a yellow console with a big red button and black skull on it.

"You!" Rex yelled angrily at the Alpha gang member, "So you were trying to blow us up!? That's just low!" he yelled.

Ed then smirked in response at his enemy's frustration, "Heh, well if you think that's low just you wait till you see what else I've got in store!" he said before whistling and a several droids surrounded them on all sides after popping out from behind Easter island heads scattered around the area!

Seeing they had no way of escaping Rex knew there was only one way out, "Grr….Guess we've got to fight our way out Ace…." Rex grunted in frustration as he returned Ace to a card and slashed him, "Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Ace appeared and roared out angrily as he charged out at the Alpha droids in front of him! He charged forward but one of them then came in carrying a large banana peel with an Alpha logo on it before throwing it out at Ace! The carnotaurus then slipped over it rather comedically before landing hard on his head and falling to the ground! "Ace!" Rex gasped in alarm as his partner struggled to kick himself back up due to the pain in his head!

"Hahah! Now he's a siting duck!" Ed laughed as he took out his remote control console, "Here goes, there's no way I'll miss now!" he smirked as he pressed the big red button on his remote once more!

At the missile site further off, which was a large missile silo in the shape of the Alpha Logo in the ground. It was about to open, but the gigantspinosaurus, which happened to be passing by was startled by the roar and rumbling it made as it raised up its tail and smashed down on the hatch before walking off uncaringly! It caused the opening to be jammed shut and unable to leave its' pod the missile then faced immense pressure at being contained by the seal and being force upwards by the button command!

A little while had passed and yet the missile still hadn't arrived yet much to Ed's surprise, "Huh?" Looking up at the sky he saw no sign of any incoming missiles. Thinking it may have been a malfunction in the missile command, he pressed the big red button once more, yet still nothing. Getting impatient he then slammed his fist on it a few times, "Why isn't it working?" he muttered, unaware that back at the launch site the pressure was building up immensely inside the missile holder. Ed meanwhile had lost all his patience and was gnashing his teeth angrily as he even resorted to jumping on the remote control! "Come on! Come on! Work already you piece of-"

BOOM!

An explosion suddenly wen toff in the distance catching Ed's attention as he looked up, "Huh!?" He gasped in alarm to see a plume of smoke erupting further off at a hill and he turned pale realising his weapon was now out of commission! "Ah! No! Not now!" he cried out loud as he began biting his fingernails while the Alpha droids all gathered around him.

As soon as Ace recuperated and got back up on his feet, Rex narrowed his eyes getting serious and having had it with the Alpha gang's antics for 1 day, "I don't know what your game is," he said angrily before pulling out a move card from his dinoholder, "But it ends now! Mayfly!" he yelled loudly as he slashed the card with all his might! Stomping his foot on the ground, Ace roared out loudly as energy surged through him before rushing forward in a blur, smashing through the wall of droids and then surrounding Ed and the droids as they looked around in a panic seeing their imminent doom!

Ed's heart began to race non stop as he waved his hands out frantically, "Gah! Wait! Can't we talk about this!?" he pleaded but they fell on deaf ears as Ace rushed in and bashed through them all like bowling pins and then sending them all flying into the sky! "NOOOOO!" He wailed as he shot into the air and then disappearing from sight behind the clouds.

As their enemies vanished in the sky's deep blue horizon Rex could only look up at the sky and stare at it with disapproval, "I swear, those guys just get weirder and weirder each day…." he muttered as Ace walked up to him. "Now to go find that dinosaur…." he said pulling himself onto his partner's back, with the distraction now out of the way they could finally focus on their real mission and that was finding that dinosaur, as Ace roared loudly and ran up to the top of the hill, to find a large plain of many Easter Island Statue Heads scattered throughout it.

Getting off Ace's back, Rex took a look around the area to see if he could find any clues they could use to track the dinosaur they were after, something he recalled Cera do back in the Sanjo City woods in Halloween. He soon took notice of an Easter Island Statue being knocked down into rubble nearby followed with some tracks leading away form it, as he knelt down for a better look, "Looks like we're in the right place Ace." he said to his partner as the carnotaurus went close to sniff it, "Should we go looking for it or wait for it to come back?" he then asked pioneering over it. Looking up Rex could deduce that this was recent and the dinosaur couldn't have gone far. His answer was soon proven as it wasn't long before a loud bellow was heard in the distance, which caught their attention.

Roar!

"Huh? Could that be it?" Rex stood up and appearing over the horizon was a large green stegosaur with a pair of large spines sticking out on its side as it waved out its tail flashing its spines aggressively, warning Rex and Ace to get out of its' territory immediately while Ace roared back in defiance. "A gigantspinosaurus! Wow!" Rex breathed in amazement at the dinosaur's impressive arsenal of spines around its' body. He didn't have much time to ravel in it as it suddenly glowed purple, causing 4 large crystal spikes to rise out from the ground around it, before taking aim and charging forward carrying them like lances in a joust and the sky turned colourful! Reacting quickly, Ace roared fiercely before rushing forward, "Alright Ace! Fight back with cyclone!" Rex yelled slashing the card. Wind surrounded Ace as he lunged forward, but unfortunately he was overpowered and the crystal spikes rammed him back through an Easter Island head as he tumbled down heavily damaged!

"Oh no!" Rex gasped in alarm before gritting his teeth in frustration back at the gigantspinosaurus which bellowed a victory cry, "Grrgh, looks like the direct approach would be suicidal….." he grunted. Suddenly the large herbivore roared before generating more crystals from the ground and then rushing forward towards Ace who barely managed to stand straight after the last attack! "Get out of the way Ace!" Rex warned as the carnotaurus opened his eyes in time to see the incoming attack! Leaping out of the way in time, the gigantspinosaurus rushed and smashed through another Easter Island head in its way before skidding around to face Ace once more who roared at it!

Seeing the situation they were in, Rex held back and narrowed his eyes trying to assess the situation calmly, "Hmm, let's see….like Cera said we'll have to fight strategically…." he thought as he decided to check the dinosaur for any weaknesses he could exploit. Noting the huge tail it swung out at Ace who jumped back in time, "Can't attack it from the front or back…." he thought seeing how it could shift sides quickly, also its crystal crusher move would no doubt eliminate any chance of attacking the head. Running around to the side, Ace lunged in hoping to bite his enemy's flank, only for the the stegosaur to lunge at him with its side spines and knocking him back a bit!

"The sides are shielded too…." Rex noted also seeing crystal crusher also kept it protected as well. Looking up he narrowed his eyes, "Those plates on its' back would get in the way….that dinosaur's like an impregnable fortress…." he noted seeing its defences were almost greater than any dinosaur they ever faced. He almost thought it would be hopeless to find any weaknesses, till he took a closer look and widened his eyes in realisation, "So the only place left is under!" he gasped before narrowing his eyes, "But how do I…..Wait I got it!" he then realised as Ace heard and looked to him seeing he had a plan no doubt.

Meanwhile the gigantspinosaurus glowed purple once more before roaring and charging forward once more into battle with crystal crusher! "Get ready Ace! Here it comes!" Rex warned slashing the move card, "Dino illusion!" Ace then roared as he glowed white momentarily, before the gigantspinosaurus struck him directly and sent him flying across the field and crashing to the ground! It then stepped toward where he was, and as it reared up on its hind legs ready to slam down and finish Ace off, he then exploded in a clod of dust revealing a tree stump in his place much to its surprise! "Ha ha! You fell for it!" Rex laughed in amusement as the gigantspinosaurus turned around to see Ace charging in close! "Now to finish it! Tornado toss!" Rex yelled slashing the card, causing Ace to run around in a circle, generating a huge tornado which carried the stegosaur into the air before it began to fall back down to the ground out of control!

"Follow it with cyclone!" Slashing the next move, Ace summoned the power of wind once more before using all the strength in his legs he launched himself into the air and struck dead enter in the underbelly of the gigantspinosaurus! It then coughed out in pain before slamming down hard into the ground, returning to its cards and the skies returned to normal while Ace landed back on the ground without much difficulty and roared in victory! "Alright! Way to go Ace! Hahahahah!" Rex cheered jumping up and down praising his partner before running over to collect the cards.

As he began petting Ace on the head praying him for his efforts, neither of them noticed Cera and Miku, along with Tank at her side, were watching them proudly from behind a large Easter Island Head rock, "Rex is doing fine himself too." Cera said feeling at ease knowing that the second of her friends was not only doing just fine but even taking what she said to heart and putting it to practice, "He and Zoe sure have learnt a lot since last time I saw them….." it just showed how much they were keeping her alive in their hearts even despite leaving them and that warmed her own heart. Seeing enough she then turned around and began typing on her dinoshot before light began to envelop her next, "Well, time to see how Max is faring. Though I doubt he'll really need any help." She said with confidence before vanishing.

 **(At Sanjo City)**

Meanwhile back at Sanjo City, Max was rushing out to the bay area in the main city with Chomp as the dinosaur signal appeared to have moved there since departing from the D Lab. He soon came to a stop near a car park area as he rested his arms on his knees gasping for air and sweating somewhat from fatigue. "Huff huff….This should be the place…." he wheezed catching his breath as he looked up and around where they were only to find it really quiet and peaceful, "But still no sign of the dinosaur for miles…" he muttered using his hand to cover above his eyes. Chomp too who was looking around couldn't make out anything from the ordinary as he sniffed the air and didn't detect anything strange.

For a while nothing happened, till the sounds of footsteps slamming the ground and screams soon came up!

"AAAAAHHH!"

"Huh!?" Turning around both Max and Chomp were surprised to see a crowd of people running away towards them from there the overlook was! "Whoa! Let's get out of the way!" he cried as he and Chomp dived behind a nearby car and out of the way from the thundering crowd and barely escaping getting trampled!

"Run away!"

"It's a dinosaur!"

"It's going to eat us!" They cried out in terror as they passed by leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

"Man they sure are in a hurry…." Max muttered as he and Chomp popped their heads out from behind the post to see the crowd pass by them. Looking out in the direction where they came from, Max narrowed his eyes firmly, "Guess that means it's close by." he thought as he looked down to his partner, "Come on Chomp, let's go!" he said waving his hand as he pulled himself out of the bush and ran ahead, with Chomp barking back and hopping after him. As they ran, Max narrowed his eyes, "From the way everyone's running off in a panic, looks like we might be dealing with a meat eater…." he thought cautiously as he soon reached the area where the water met the railings overlooking the bay and the rest of the city's reflection glistening in the water's surface under the deep blue sky.

As he came out to that spot he soon felt the ground itself beginning to vibrate as some was approaching! Turning around he saw a large dust cloud building up in the distance signalling the approach of a large creature, no doubt the dinosaur, as he and Chomp got into a battle stance preparing themselves for battle! "Well whatever's coming our way, we're ready for it!" he thought firmly narrowing his eyes as Chomp tensed up and growled. As the dust cloud approached Max arrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth preparing his opponent to show themselves to him, as his finger reached out for the button on the dinoholder to send Chomp into battle mode!

What he didn't expect was that the dust cloud soon dissipated, and inside it was the silhouette of a much smaller creature than he first anticipated! "Huh?" As it cleared up it soon revealed a rather small dinosaur, not much bigger than a cow, walking slowly and panting heavily before falling down on its belly exhausted! Max blinked his eyes surprised at what he was seeing, "A zuniceratops….It's….smaller than what I thought…" he said to himself as he began to approach it carefully, "I guess to people any dinosaur would scare them off…." He then eyed it with sympathy seeing it was very tired and no doubt scared itself too as it began to curl up and hide its face away, "This guy looks like he's been given a big fright too….." he noted observing its behaviour and see it reminded him of one time with an anchiceratops in Paris.

"Poor guy….maybe I should-" As he tried to reach out and pet it on the head, it suddenly opened its eyes and growled at him fiercely! "AH!" It got back on on its 4 legs and lunged at Max suddenly much to his alarm! "WHOA!" He cried as Chomp quickly jumped and knocked him out of the way as zuniceratops skidded away and slid to the railings till it was near the bay! Feeling itself backed into a corner it then stomped its foot and growled as Max struggled to get back on his feet, with Chomp barking at him urging hit hurry! "Urgh…thanks Chomp…." he said petting his partner on the head before turning around to face the now agitated ceratopsian! "Great…now what do we do now?" he wondered. He could see it was cornered but that no doubt would make it far more prone to fight for sure, his point proven as it suddenly glowed bright yellow and the sky began surging with yellow lightning ready to go off at any moment!

Max widened his eyes and took a step back in fear, "Oh man that looks like a super move!" he gulped seeing it could strike down at any moment, in fact by the time he returned Chomp to a card he'd be brunt to a crisp, or maybe even before that! He gritted his teeth and sweated, paralysed by fear knowing his own life could be ended at this very moment if he made 1 wrong mistake! He panicked at first as his heart began to race out of control, but not before his eyes widened in realisation at Chomp's incredible talent, at bonding with others of his kind….

Slowly he looked down to his partner who was also shaking in terror, but they were out of options, so Max gulped down hard and mustered all his courage to whisper over to Chomp, believing a loud sudden shout would startle the zuniceratops and force it to fire at them. "Chomp…" he whispered as the yellow trike shakily looked up to him and croaked, "This might sound crazy but, you think maybe you can go up to him and tell him we mean him no harm at all?" he asked as Chomp barked back in shock. Max cringed painfully but continued, "I know you're good with your cousins, and if anyone can calm down a frightened ceratopsian, it's you!" he said with a confident smile as a sweat drop of anxiety dripped from his cheek seeing the zuniceratops was still on the defensive, so they had to act now or they'd lose their chance, as well as their lives.

"So what do you say? Think you can do it for us?" Max asked once more. Chomp turned over to the zuniceratops and looked at Max's eyes once more seeing they were full of hope and faith in his abilities. He then sported a more courageous look as he slowly but cautiously walked up to zuniceratops who looked down on him and let out a low growl as a warning. Chomp swallowed hard before barking out to it trying to reason with his cousin as best he could, and after a while the zuniceratops seemed to calm down as the surge of electricity soon shorted out and after finally calming down and being more at ease the skies soon calmed too, as it walked over to Chomp and nuzzled at him, who barked happily before licking it back.

Max let out a deep sigh of relief as he fell to his knees feeling overwhelmed, "Phew, looks like we're all good now." he gasped putting hand on his chest to still his racing heart before walking over to the zuniceratops and Chomp. It looked to him with suspicion, lowering its horns and scraping the ground ready to thrust out at him as he then stopped and waved his arms out in a panic! "Whoa! Whoa! Easy there! We're cool!" he said nervously before looking down to Chomp, "Tell him we're buddies, that we're all friends here." Chomp barked to the purple herbivore once again and after hearing him out it calmed down and lowered its head though not without some degree of suspicion.

Max soon mustered the courage to walk up within arm's length of the zuniceratops and began petting it nicely on the head before stroking it too, "I know how you feel, you're scared and confused. But don't worry, you're in good hands now, I promise." he said with kindness and compassion in his words as the zuniceratops looked back to Chomp, who barked happily with encouragement as it then moved in closer to Max and nuzzled at him. The brunette smiled seeing they were all good now as he gently stroked it on the face near its eyes and horns next, "I'll take you somewhere safe, I promise." he said happily as he hugged it in too, while the zuniceratops closed its eyes calmly, feeling peaceful in the boy's warm embrace while Chomp looked on, smiling an dragging his tail happy to see they were all friends now.

The moment however didn't last long, when a pillar of water suddenly erupted from the bay nearby! "HUH!?" Max, Chomp and Zuniceratops were taken aback by the sudden development and when something massive shot out of the sea and then landed with a massive thud on the ground before them! It was so huge and heavy it cracked the ground as it landed, shaking the surroundings before standing up! It was a large alpha droid, almost as tall as a full grown dinosaur, in red metal plating with huge bulky arms and legs, along with a pair of vents on its back which erupted steam after tensing up and staring down the trio who were taken aback in shock!

"Wh…What the!? What is that!?" Max gasped feeling overwhelmed and tiny at the sight of the metallic monstrosity!

"Hahahahaha! So sorry to spoil to your happy ending, oh wait no I'm not! Ha ha!" a female voice laughed out from it.

Upon hearing it Max gritted his teeth in annoyance, "Oh great it's the Alpha gang…." he grunted.

"Ha, you're only half right, or should I say a third." Ursula snickered from inside the robot's control cockpit. "Zander and Ed should be doing away with your petty little friends by now," she said before grinning at Max and his 2 dinosaurs eagerly, "As for me, I have you and that dinosaur all to myself hehehe…."

Max gritted his teeth in frustration, "Fat chance of us losing to you!" he yelled in defiance, "And what's with that robot? Is that supposed to scare us?"

"Oh this? Hahaha how thoughtful of you to notice." Ursula chuckled before tapping the control modules lightly, "How'd you like my new toy? It was specially made so that this will be the last time I'll ever see your dirty little mug brat! Now prepare for a rumble you'll never forget!" she yelled as the robot began stomping towards them while holding its arms out!

Max clenched his fist in frustration, unwilling to take that threat lying down, "No way are we losing to an oversized scrap heap like that!" he yelled back before looking over to their friend, "Zuniceratops! Go over there and hide!" he said firmly as the smaller herbivore quickly ran away to hide behind a parked card further off. "Chomp, let's turn that walking pile of nuts and bolts into scrap metal!" Max yelled to his partner who narrowed his eyes and growled with determination, ready to fight as Max returned him to his card and slashed him! "Dino slash! Triceratops! Roar!" Chomp appeared in full sized form and roared fiercely as he began scraping the ground with his foot before preparing to mount a full force ram!

"Go! Electric charge!" Max then yelled as he slashed the move card, casing the thunderbolt to drop down from the sky and super charge Chomp! He roared out surging with power before charging straight into the robot, only for the robot to hold out its massive arms and grab him by the frill, stopping him with little effort and his electrical attack did next to nothing against it! "WHAT!?" Max gasped in horror and alarm as giant droid quickly slammed Chomp down on the ground!

"Hahaha, that didn't even tickle." Ursula laughed snobbishly from inside her mech before grinning sadistically, "Too bad the same can't be said for you!" As Chomp got up, the droid quickly delivered a massive punch to his face, causing him to roar out painfully before it delivered a flurry of rapid blow to his head and then knocking him back across the walkway!

"Chomp!" Max yelled running over to his partner's side, getting down to his level on the ground, "Get up quick!" he cried out as Chomp's eyes grew droopy and weak. But seeing Max there for him spurred him to try again, as he struggled to force himself back onto all fours with a groggy head.

"Haha! You're wasting your breath!" Ursula laughed snobbishly feeling safe and tucked away inside the layers of metal armour, "Not even your strongest moves could ever put a dent in this majestic mech!" she boasted which further served to tick Max and Chomp off!

"Oh yeah! We'll see about that!" he yelled back in defiance before punching out with determination, "Chomp go get her now!" Chomp roared and charged ahead, this time aiming for the robot's leg as he successfully bypassed the punching arm and then ran over the leg, causing Ursula to topple forward and faceplant on the ground!

"WHOA!" she cried banging her head on the console as she toppled down with a big thud! It even caused several cracks to form underneath her! "Argh! You'll pay for that!" she growled rubbing her head where a sore red spot was. She then gnashed her teeth and veins popped up from her forehead as she lost all self control. Pressing a button the robot punched the ground so hard it caused a massive hole to form as it forced itself back up onto its 2 feet! "That's it, the gloves are off now!" Ursula yelled pressing a blue button inside the robot's controls.

The ground began to rumble catching Max by surprise, "Huh? What now?"he turned around and widened his eyes at the sight of an alpha droid being built into a miniaturised tank and with a satellite dish built into it. "Gah! Wh.…What the!?" Max gasped as the dish suddenly began absorbing power before firing negative waves at Chomp causing him to roar and thrash in pain before collapsing to the ground! "Oh no Chomp!" he cried before yelling out in anger at the old lady, "Hey! How dare you!?"

"Hahahah! Bad little children get spankings!" Ursula laughed snobbishly before grinning sadistically, "But since you've been really naughty brats, I'll make an exception and send you into the afterlife!" she yelled as the massive droid charged forward! Chomp too rushed forward after getting back up but as his horns collided with the droid's fist he was sent flying back with ease before tumbling across the ground and lying down nearly beaten!

"NO!" Max cried in alarm as he began running over to Chomp!

"Ahahaha! It's almost over now!" Ursula cackled as Max turned to her and clenched his fist in anger at her.

"Grrr…"

"Aww how cute, did you get your little feelings hurt?" she said to him mockingly, "Good! Because this is only the beginning of what I've got in store for you!" she added popping her knuckles, "When I'm done you'll get more than hurt feelings, you'll be extinct like the dinosaurs!" she said as the giant droid began stomping over to Chomp and Max menacingly while holding its arms out ready to seize them!

"Grrgh…." Max gritted his teeth feeling angry at Ursula doing something so horrible, but more so at being helpless and unable t do anything about! Nevertheless he refused to leave Chomp's side as he stood his ground and hald his arms out defensively, willing to risk his own life if he had to protect his partner, who groaned weakly at him wanting him to get out of the way. Chomp struggled but still couldn't muster the strength to get back to his feet, and Max was unwilling to leave his side even with his own safety at risk!

From the sidelines, zuniceratops observed and was deeply moved by their actions not only in protecting him but also each other from this evil intruder. Unwilling to sit back any longer and feeling a protective instinct calling out from within it, it bellowed out loudly before rushing out from its hiding spot bravely as everyone turned to see it! "Zuniceratops!" Max gasped as the little herbivore put itself between the now injured Chomp and old lady as she approached him!

"Oh? Now what's this? We have a hero here!" she smirked in amusement before grinning mockingly at it, "Think you've got what it takes? Hahahah! Give it you best shot!" she laughed as the zuniceratops glowed yellow, raising itself on its hind legs the skies crackled with yellow lightning before dropping a huge thunderbolt from the sky which struck the robot directly causing yellow electricity to surge around it!

"Alright! Direct hit! In your face!" Max cheered with a grin before widening them in shock, "Ah!" To his and zuniceratops' surprise the yellow lightning soon flickered away and the giant droid flexed out its arms unfazed!

"Hahaha! Surprised? Did you really expect a teeny static bolt like that would do anything?" Ursula laughed once more as she patted the control panel in front of her, "This new battle droid of ours is designed to withstand any kind of attack from any dinosaur element there is!" she boasted loudly, "So you can shock us, blow us or spray us for all we care and you won't even put a dent in it!" she announced as Max's jaw hung in disbelief at the sheer power they were facing! Even zuniceratops was beginning to back away fearfully too as the menacing metal robot soon stepped forward towards him and Chomp! "But enough talk! It's time to take care of business!" Throwing a huge punch she smacked zuniceratops and caused it to turn around facing tis tail to her! Grabbing it she then swung it around like dino swing before throwing it at Chomp who had just gotten back up! The force of the throw and zuniceratops' weight smashed right into his face causing both dinosaurs to be thrown back feet away and as they crashed to the ground they both turned back into their cards!

Max widened his eyes in horror at what he saw, "Chomp no!" he cried out as he rushed over to the cards, "I've got you both!" he said scooping them up in his hands, but freezing in place to see Ursula's giant mech stomp before him and the Alpha droid tank to ride up behind him, cornering him in a pincer attack!

"Hand those cards over right now, or you'll be a roadkill pancake!" Ursula threatened as the tank droid prepared itself to roll forward!

"Grr! Why don't you get out of that hunk of junk and fight fair you dirty old lady!" Max yelled.

Ursula cringed and flared red at the insult but quickly breathed in and out before clammy reigning her composure seeing there was no way she could lose now, "Oh I'm hurt, after all our time together you still don't know a thing about me." she said doing a fake pout, "I mean hello!? We're the villains! Since when do we play fair!? Hahahaha!" she then laughed before glaring furiously at him, "And besides, who are you to talk about playing fair!? Your red headed friend even had the nerve to go stealing our dinosaurs! Sure you cause us trouble every day of the week but that crosses the line!" she screamed at the top of her lungs much to the boy's confusion.

"Your dinosaurs!?" He echoed in confusion, "What are you talking about!? Your old age must be getting to you! We didn't steal any dinosaurs from you!" he yelled back, "And how dare you accuse Cera of something like that!? She'd never do something so dirty!" he screamed shaking his fist out, "You're going nuts that's what! Not to mention the dinosaurs don't belong to anyone! Especially not you! If I could still fight I'd give you the beatdown you deserve for badmouthing my friend!" He added taking huge offence for the thoughtless insults the old lady ruled at his friend.

"Tch! So you want to play that way do you?" Ursula spat clicking her tongue before popping her knuckles, "Fine then! I'll beat the truth out of you and those cards out with my own cold steel hands!" Pushing a lever forward and pressing a few more buttons the robot steamed and fumed as it and the tank droid pressed their advantage forward about to crush Max into jelly! "But first, you're about to become roadkill!" She cackled as the tank rushed forward full speed ahead about to flatten Max into a pancake!

"Gah!" He turned around and tired to run, only to trip over a stone and fall forward on the ground! "Urgh…" Turning over he widened his eyes as the tank came within seconds of flattening him completely! "Oh no!" he gasped as his life pretty much flashed before his eyes.

"Hahahaha! Say goodbye! It's been real fun but all good things must come to an end eventually, especially you!" Ursula laughed maniacally with anticipation as she rubbed her hands together grinning eagerly for the day she eliminated the bane of her existence once and for all!

Helpless, Max gritted his teeth in frustration at how weak and helpless he was now, as he slammed his fist into the ground, "This…can't be it…." he hissed before tearing up with regret and closing his eyes, "I'm sorry everyone….." he breathed as he waited patiently for his fate to be decided.

Hidden nearby though, was Cera who narrowed her eyes and glared furiously at the situation that was unfolding before her eyes, "Grr, how dare she do something so disgusting…." she hissed under her breath feeling the Alpha gang had crossed the line using a mechanical contraption to capture dinosaurs so disgracefully, the feeling was shared with Miku who snarled angrily and also Terry. As much as he enjoyed seeing Chomp getting thrashed about it was something he wanted to do himself, also for them to use a robot was most unsporting and without honour in his opinion.

"Also Max….." Looking over to Max, Cera saw how much he was still sticking up for her till the very end had touched her heart deeply and words couldn't explain how much moved she was by seeing the actions of each of her friends too, despite leaving them it only served to make their feelings for her that much stronger. How much they still honoured her and wanted her back, she could see it in each of their eyes and actions. It was then she realised she couldn't sit back in the shadows any longer as her gaze turned serious and she hardened her fist with determination seeing Max needed help more than ever, "I've got to do something." she then said to herself as she closed her eyes in thought, "But….what….against that monstrosity, I don't think I-"

She soon opened her eyes in realisation as she looked down to her side, at the only who may have had a chance at tearing that robot to pieces, "Terry," she said as the little t-rex turned to her upon hearing his name, "I hope you don't mind me asking you for this favour but it's really important…." she said taking a breath and closing her eyes calmly as Terry awaited what she had to say. She then opened them firmly, "I need you to save Max and Chomp." Terry gasped in shock before shaking his head in refusal, "I know you don't like them that much after what they did to you and your friends so many times….." she said to him before looking to the situation with worry, "But, they're my friends," she said before looking back to Terry pleadingly, "Sure you both may be on opposite sides before, but in the end you're all dinosaurs right? So shouldn't it be right for you to stick up for one another instead of fighting each other all the time?" she asked as Terry looked away uneasily, feeling conflicted between his pride and the debt he owed her.

"I'm sure someday you both can make amends and even become friends too, I just know it." she said with compassion as she began stroking his head gently, "But for now I beg you, please? And I can't abandon them….like how I couldn't abandon you or the others too…." she asked once more. Terry looked back to see Max lying helplessly as the tank was almost about to crush him completely. He had to admit while there was no sport in it, he was hesitant to help the one who kept zapping him time and time again. Seeing this, Cera then spoke out to him a suggestion he couldn't refuse, "Look at it this way though, if you let them get crushed like that, then there won't be any rematch between you both right?" Widening his eyes Terry then growled with determination as he looked back at Cera with an affirmed expression showing he was willing to go through with it now.

She and Miku both then smiled feeling glad to have his support, "Heh, you know tyrannosaurus rex means tyrant lizard king….." she smiled as she began rubbing his head and he nuzzled back into her hand, "Sure you may be savage at times, but you're no tyrant. In fact, I think you deserve to be treated like a real king at that." she added before smiling with confidence, "Unlike your old owner, I'll be with you every step of the way in this. We'll fight together." She said to him assuringly as he then growled loudly with determination. "Thank you, I couldn't have asked for anything more." she said gratefully before turning serious, "Now let's go!" she said firmly as Terry growled in acknowledgment before being returned to a card and being slashed! "Dino slash! Flame up Tyrannosaurus!"

"Say goodbye twerp! Ahahahah!" Ursula laughed triumphantly as the tank was within seconds of rolling over Max and ridding her of her most hated of the 3 kids once and for all.

Max closed his eyes and held out his arm screaming loudly unable to bear with it much longer, "AAAAHHH!"

"Fire cannon!" A large fireball suddenly shot out and incinerated the tank! Blowing it up into pieces!

BOOM!

Ursula widened her eyes at what just happened, at first she stared in disbelief and her jaw hung before she shook her head seeing it was no illusion! "Wh…What the!?"

"H…Huh?" Max opened his eyes uneasily and was surprised to see the tank that was about to roll over him was now a molten pile of slag! The ground soon shook and without warning something large charged in and rammed Ursula's mech and sending her back a couple of feet!

"GYAAAAAHHH!" she cried as she was sent flying back and she skidded across the surface of the ground before stopping near the railings over the waterfront! "Grrgh…." she grunted in annoyance rubbing her forehead before getting back up, "Hey! Who did that!?" she yelled out shaking a fist in anger, "I swear when I-Huh!?" She widened her eyes in surprise to see a familiar red tyrannosaurus rex stand before her who then roared out ferociously at her!

Both Max and Rex stared in disbelief at the new arrival, with Ursula first cheering out in sheer and utter joy, "TERRY!" she cried out with her eyes glistening with hope, while Max on the other hand felt rather heavy and in despair to see their biggest enemy had appeared and he was now defenceless himself!

"Uh oh…..things just gone from bad to worse….." he croaked uneasily, though this time, he soon began to feel that something was….different this time, but he couldn't figure it out.

Ursula on the other hand was completely obvious to this as she was indulging in the moment shouting praises of joy for this momentous occasion, "Oh Terry you've finally made it back! You have no idea how worried sick we were without you! Not to mention Dr Z had kept grinding our backs for so long too." She said before crying out tears of joy from her eyes, "But now that you're here we can finally put an end to all those horrible tormenting!" she sang before looking over to Max with a grin, "And you can start by pummelling that brat into the ground and get his cards!" she ordered pointing at the helpless boy!

Terry looked down to him and growled as Max began to back away and sweat nervously, "Urk…." he soon became paralysed by fear when the rex stared at him, locking eyes and holding him in place! But unexpectedly, Terry then turned his attention away from him and instead growled at Ursula instead as he bared his fangs at her! "Huh?"

GRR!

The old lady became uneasy with her dinosaur's sudden change of moon, "T…Terry? Why are you looking this way?" she asked uneasily before turning bubbly, "Oh I get it! You miss me that's why!" she smiled loudly, "Hahahaha! Is that all? Tell you what, we can play catch up later, but right now you-" Before she could finish Terry suddenly charged and butted her in the chest sending her back!

WHAM!

"GAAAAHH!" she cried as she dug in her heels and held still, not before Terry charged in past the huge arms and clamped his huge jaws on her mech's shoulder!

"WHOA! Didn't see that coming!" Max gasped in amazement and disbelief to see Terry protecting him instead of attacking him!

Ursula on the other hand was furious as she regained her composure and gritted her teeth, "Argh! How dare you!? Get off me you ungrateful lizard!" she yelled as she grabbed hold of the tyrannosaurus' head and yanked him off with little effort, leaving one of his teeth embedded in the armour as well as a few small puncture marks too!

"Hmm….looks like biting isn't going to cut it…." Cera narrowed her eyes observing the situation from afar as she had Terry back away cautiously.

As she looked to see the damage done, Ursula then paled, "Ack! You scratched my paint job!" she gasped before crying out sadly, "How could you Terry!? After all we've been through!" she wept bitterly before fuming red with rage! "Grr, I don't know what's gotten into you but you clearly need to be punished for this!" she yelled out loud as her mech bashed fists together and fumed as it powered up! "So bring it on! After I'm done disciplining you, I'll deal with the brat myself!" she yelled as she charged ahead and Terry roared before charging forward himself! Both titans meeting in a standoff as Terry bared his jaws wide and Ursula used her huge arms to hold them back and keep him from biting the head!

Both struggled for a while before Ursula's droid was able to throw him back once more, so he had to dig in his toe claws to stabilise himself before roaring out in anger! Max meanwhile had just gotten back up to his feet and took shelter evident the corner of a nearby building as he observed the fight from afar. "What's Terry doing? Why's he attacking her and not me? Shouldn't he be going after the dinosaur cards first like he usually does?" he asked himself puzzled, "Not that I'm complaining but…it doesn't make much sense…." He then smirked soon after, "But hey, might as well root for him then! Go get her Terry!" He cheered out loud before hurling a few insults at Ursula's way! "Ha! Maybe he's gotten tired of you mistreating him, he decided to side with us instead!"

"Grr! Put a cork in it you juvenile delinquent!" she yelled shaking a fist at him, "As soon as I'm done here I'm coming for you next! A hundredfold!" she threatened as she then turned to see Terry charge again! She threw a fist which bashed him hard and causing him to stumbled back and he shook his head disorientated.

He planned to do so again, but a voice called out to him from inside his mind, "Terry wait!" He then held back his advance at Cera's words, "That thing's armour and power is too great up close, avoid direct attacks for now." she said with caution as he narrowed his eyes and she slashed a card, "Fire cannon!" Terry raised his head up high gathering fire in his mouth before blasting a fireball Ursula's way! She then crossed her arms forward as the fireball connected and exploded causing a huge cloud of black smoke to erupt!

BOOM

Terry stood his ground focusing hard only to gasp when Ursula emerged unscathed! "Hahahaha! Nice try but that puny cinder isn't going to get you anywhere!" she laughed wagging a finger tauntingly at him.

Cera narrowed her eyes seeing that strategy didn't work either, "Even that didn't work….this will be tough…." she grunted.

Max meanwhile gritted his teeth in frustration at how annoying and silent the Alpha gang's battle droid was, "Grrgh…I'd help Terry out but…." looking to his dinoholder he saw Chomp's energy was still in the red, "Chomp's in no condition to fight…." he said as he reluctantly held back and observed first.

"I'm going to teach you who's boss now! Maybe then you'll learn to respect me!" Ursula screamed having lost all patience as she charged forward!

"Get ready Terry, here she comes!" Cera warned as the t-rex held his ground and braced himself for her incoming attack, when she suddenly stopped!

Inside her cockpit the alarms were flashing red much to her annoyance, "Grrgh! Overheating now?" she yelled in annoyance before reaching for a yellow button, "Activate heat dissipation now." The robot then held still for a while as it tensed up erupting steam from its arms, head and back before fully releasing the heat from its body and returning to 100% efficiency!

"Look at that steam….." Cera noted before realising, "Wait, that could be its weakness!" she gasped before narrowing her eyes in thought, "Guess I'll just have to make it even hotter, but first-"

"Alright! Now where were we?" Before Ursula could react through, Terry rushed in and using his tail he swept her off her feet causing her to fall forwards! "WAAAAH!" she cried waving her arms forward before face planting on the ground!

BOOM

"Grrgh! I'll get you for tha-wha!" Without giving her a chance to react, Terry quickly stepped on top of her before stomping down on her hands and then moving on to her back's steam vents as he stomped on them repeatedly till they were crushed in! Eventually he moved on to stepping on her face! Each foot stomp began shaking up her cockpit violently as she held herself together! "GAAAAAHHH!"

Max heard her screaming from inside the robot and he cringed nervously at what he was seeing, "Whoa now that's brutal…" he admitted feeling almost sorry for her, as well as thinking Terry must be taking out a lot of frustration on her for sure.

After enough repeated blows Ursula soon lost all self control as she fumed, her eyes turning red and veins popping up all over her face in primal rage! "GRRRR! That tears it! No more Ms Nice Ursula!" she screamed a the top of her lungs! "Get off me!" grabbing Terry's foot she effortlessly threw him off her and he landed on back with a huge thud! He quickly kicked out and got back up before roaring out in anger at the huge droid which too got back up on its feet as well!

Seeing the damage done Cera saw this as her chance, "Let's try this then! Volcano burst!" she said slashing the card as Terry gathered fire in his mouth and fired out a stream of flames which rushed towards Ursula!

"You really never learn do you!?" she screamed loudly was the flames enveloped her, "Fire as much as you want, you'll get nowhere except the detention center back home when I'm through with you!" she then stepped out of the flames and stomped towards Terry, grinning maliciously ready to take out all her months of frustration by both the D Team, Dr Z and even by Terry on the very dinosaur she was fighting now! Forgetting about the times they were together, he had now made it personal for her and had to pay the price! She prepared to charge up her most powerful punch attack of all, before realising something odd, "Huh?" the temperature of her cockpit was beginning to heat up, till it was squelching hot inside like a steam room or sauna! Sweating like a sunbathing sasquatch she found it increasingly difficult to breathe and her vision began to blur!

"It…feels like an oven in here!" she cried seeing the readings her heating up to dangerous levels and her systems beginning to fuzz out! "It is too hot!" she gasped in alarm before reaching for the controls, "Quick! Dissipate heat now!" pressing the buttons there was no response much to her surprise! Pressing more and more buttons randomly there was still no response as she began to grow increasingly worried! "Gah! The controls are stuck! WAAAH!" The control panel then exploded in front of her due to the heat and alarms went off all around her! That wasn't the worst of it, as she felt sweat in nearly all parts of her body much to her annoyance and horror, "All this heat and sweat is about to get really nasty on my beautiful skin!" she gasped realising what it meant for her complexion, "EEK! Not only will I smell horrible, I might even get zits all over! Help! Get me out of here!" she cried out bashing against the hatch only to find it was steeled shut after Terry smashed on the head! "HELP ME!" she screamed from inside!

Outside the robot was fidgeting and frazzling up, as steam began to blow out from many corners of its body under the pressure and head, even sparking violently before spinning about out of control! Cera narrowed her eyes seeing it as the chance she had hoped, "That's what we're waiting for! Go for it Terry!" she yelled out as Terry roared and charged ahead and she slashed the move card on cue! "Fire bomb!" Gathering fire in his jaws Terry launched himself into the air and did a spin before clamping his huge jaws on the top of the robot, before causing a massive explosion to erupt from where they were and they both were engulfed in a pillar of fire!

BOOM!

"WHOA!" Max cried as he held out his arm and braced himself while Cera did the same too on her side with Miku holding on!

"GYAAAAAAHHHH!" Ursula screamed as she was sent flying out of the dust and then splashing into the bay!

The dust soon cleared as Terry stepped out standing triumphant over the charred remains of the giant alpha droid before roaring out in triumph while Cera and Miku cheered on the sidelines, "Alright! We did it!" she said before deciding it was best that they high tail it out before she would attract any unnecessary attention.

"Terry…saved us?" Max breathed as he stepped slowly out from his hiding spot till he was before the red tyrannosaurus, who looked down at him in the eye. Max didn't know what to think of it, for so long they had been fighting one another and now he was saved by him, it was an all new experience he couldn't describe, "I would't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes…." He didn't know how Terry would've gotten here without being summoned, and if it wasn't the alpha gang who called him out, "Does that mean-" Before he could finish Terry suddenly flashed red before flying off somewhere as a beam of red energy signalling he was returned to a card! "H….Hey wait!" Max cried as he ran towards the direction the card went in! By the time he got there behind another building all he saw was some fading light, resembling a teleport's, and nothing left after that. He then stood there staring in disbelief and unable to comprehend or make out anything from what he witnessed today, "What was….that all about?" He then asked himself.

 **(Later)**

"Phew….that was some day….but glad everything turned out alright in the end." Cera breathed in relief after having just finished cooking dinner, being a bowl of soup and some cooked fish for herself and giving the dinosaurs their daily dose of kibble. "Thank you for the food." She then said gratefully, even Miku and the others joined her politely in giving thanks for their meal before digging in to their hearts' content. It was late evening and Cera and her pack of misfits had just gotten back home after an all around the world trip watching over her friends on their missions to retrieve the 3 dinosaurs that appeared. They had grown stronger no doubt, but the greatest fact of all which moved her was how much they still cared for her deep down and wanted nothing more than for her to be back home where she truly belonged….with them.

The thoughts and realisations to her kept her from eating much of her food, till she simply just poked at it with her fork or just nibbled on whatever little scraps she did pick up, "They all….still care about me even after what I did…." she mouthed out softly, which Miku noticed as she looked up from her bowl of food. She then widened her eyes and jumped back as Cera suddenly scrunched up her hair in her head and she gritted her teeth in frustration, "Oh what have I done?" she said to herself painfully as Terry, Tank and Spiny looked up in surprise as well to see her sudden mood change, "How could I have been so blind and selfish, why didn't I see this before?" she hissed as a few large tears dropped from her eyes at the realisation of her mistake. Her behaviour unsettled the 3 alpha dinosaurs as they kept their distance not having the heart nor the courage to get near her.

Out of sympathy, Miku hopped over to her partner's side and nuzzled up against her gently, making her look into the little raptor's eyes who sparkled with hope and life in them. Chirping to her what seemed to be words of encouragement and hope, it helped put a smile on her face as she stroked the feathered dinosaur's head with her finger, who then cooed in enjoyment. Terry and the others smiled more at ease to see her in a much lighter mood herself now as they went back to eating as usual. Cera meanwhile stood up firmly as she wiped away the tears from her eyes before smiling back at her partner, "Thanks Miku….." she said gratefully as she closed her eyes before opening them firmly again, "I think I know what I must do now." she said with full assurance of herself which caught the other dinosaurs' attention. "Tomorrow first thing in the morning, I'll go home and I'll apologise to them all for what I've done, I thought I made them suffer by being around them, but it seems it was a grave error in my part….I now see clearly what I must do to make things right." she said as Miku chirped and jumped up and down in joy.

She then looked down to Terry and the others before smiling at them, "You're all welcome to come too, I'm sure you'll all get along with the family." she offered. In response the 3 dinosaurs smiled happy for her and appreciative of her offer, but then looked to one another feeling conflicted over this choice Cera intended to make and what it meant for them. Noticing this Cera then stood back to give them their space, "I'll give you time to think it over, I don't want to force things on you if you really don't want to." she added at the end as she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her words made them feel a bit more at ease realising they still had a choice in the matter, and that whatever they picked she would be fine with it. In their minds they were thinking perhaps it may not be such a bad idea, at least for a while. They were about to run over to her and give her their answer when suddenly-

KNOCK KNOCK

"Huh?" Cera looked out from the room with an odd look on her face, seeing that the dinosaurs were all looking in the direction of the door with curiosity. "That's strange, how can there be anyone living up here outside in the middle of nowhere?" she asked feeling suspicious and sensing something amidst that she couldn't tell. She then waked out from the bathroom to the living room, halfway to the door, "Could it be Max and the others?" she then shook her head, realising that if it was them, she'd hear them crying out for her before they knocked.

KNOCK KNOCK

A second set of knocks made her narrow her eyes knowing she couldn't just leave whoever was at the door hanging forever, "I'd better check…." she decided as she walked up tot he door, but before she could grab the handle, she noticed Terry, Tank, Spiny and Miku already walking up to her as she stopped then with a hand, "Hide you guys, I don't want whoever's out there to see you." she whispered with a firm expression. Though reluctant, the 4 dinosaurs realised there could be someone dangerous behind the door so they quickly ran back to hide behind the bathroom door, under the bed or in the bottom cupboards only peeping out slowly so they wouldn't be seen.

Carefully lifting the peephole at the door, she widened her eyes and backed away, covering her mouth and hiding a loud gasp upon seeing 2 large Super Alpha droids right on her doorstep! As if they were waiting for her to answer so they could grab her the second she opened the door! "How did they find me?" she asked herself as her heart began to race uncontrollably. She didn't have much time to ponder to over it, when suddenly both droids punched down the door with sheer strength before rushing at her!

"AAAAAHH!" she screamed trying to run but they caught up with her quickly before grabbing hold of her and restraining her! "Help!" She scream out 1 word before they covered her mouth and restrained her in their iron grip! The harder she struggled the tighter they held on, as they lifted her up and carried her outside to where Seth's black jet was awaiting, hovering above!

"Excellent work," he said to the droids at their catch, "Bring her in." He then added as a back end of the jet's cargo hold opened up and the 2 droids hopped inside before it shut closed!

The 4 dinosaurs, were alarmed at what just happened before their eyes as they came out of their hiding holes. Miku, narrowed her eyes unwilling to let Seth get away with it, as she turned over to her fiends and squawked firmly asking them for their help in saving her best friend. Looking to one another and recalling all the kind and selfless acts she did for them, the 3 alpha dinosaurs nodded firmly at one another without hesitation before crying out in unison, bringing a smile to Miku's face, as she hopped on Terry's head and they rushed out the open door!

Outside, Seth had just turned his jet around preparing to zoom away back to Zeta Point. Looking on screen and seeing Cera was now out cold in the cargo hold he then smirked sinisterly seeing she was now in his clutches, "Finally, this time you won't escape me, and now all your secrets will be mine." He said as he fired the thrusters ready to ignite! Unbeknownst to him, Terry, Tank and Spiny has quickly jumped up high and clamped onto the jet's wings with their teeth, and Miku clinging onto Terry's head, as they held on for dear life when the jet finally reached ignition and sped off into the night sky! As Zeta Point came into view down below, they each had hardened expressions of determination, even if the alpha gang were their masters, there was no way they would ever let them do what they wanted with Cera who put her life on the line for them, inside their minds they were determined to do everything they could to make sure she stayed safe and they weren't about to let any of them stop them.

 **And thus concludes chapter 21, and how Terry and Tank both return kindness to Cera, and now it's up to the 4 chibi dinosaurs to save her from the malevolent clutches of Seth! Will she remain a prisoner of his forever or will they succeed in saving her!? Stay tuned! Also, the move used here by the brachylophosaurus was triple headbutt which summons 3 stegoceras and zuniceratops' move was counter blitz.**

 **In case anyone was wondering, after Santa Saurus which was Christmas December 25th, this is how things had progressed:-**

 **Chapter 16-December 26th**

 **Chapter 17-December 27th**

 **Chapter 18-December 28th**

 **Chapter 19-December 29th**

 **Chapter 20-December 30th**

 **Now this chapter 21 and the next will be based on December 31st to January 1st. Stay tuned for the New Years Eve celebration to come!**

 **I wanted to write a chapter where multiple dinosaurs appeared in different locations and have something of a divide and conquer episode, also the D Team all went to places as shown in the Japanese OP and Tank and Macchu Pichu as well. The place when Max fought Ursula is the bay overlooking Sanjo City in the OP as well. Also wanted to showcase the other alpha moves (such as ACT missile, banana surprise and the alpha trooper move card) used by the Trio as they try to fight without dinosaurs only to fail miserably, as usual….**

 **Also firebomb was never used successfully to wanted that to be the finisher move here.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Yeah, hope you enjoyed what happened here too and what they'll do later on for Cera.**

 **pokemonking0924**

 **-Glad you enjoyed this funny moment too, also considering the alpha dinosaurs have lack of a bond with the A Team it's natural she'd have challenges but she no doubt was up to the task. Also enjoyed using that idea with Spiny, and the be more season 1 OP references here too. Also Reese doesn't check the vault too much so she won't notice till later.**


	22. The Caged Queen

Chapter 22

The Caged Queen

"Urgh…..my head…..I feel like I just got run over by a mad bull." Cera groaned as she slowly came to her senses. She then worked herself up straight against a wall of some sort, with some unusual difficulty as she couldn't quite feel her arms and legs as they normally were. As her eyes slowly began to open, her vision was still blurry and yet when she tried to rub them she felt her arms to be restrained back behind her for some reason. "That's odd…why can't I reach my head?" she muttered to herself feeling disoriented and dazed. By the time she shook her head clear and got the feeling of her limbs again she widened her eyes to realised they were tried together by a strong rope! "Ah! My arms!" she gasped in alarm before seeing the same was done to her legs! "My legs too…they're tied up!" She then gasped before blinking her eyes and eying her surroundings uneasily, "Where am I?"

Looking around she saw herself being inside some sort of holding cell, which was an empty room with dim lighting and a set of bars at the front and nothing more, not the most cosy of accommodations she could tell especially since the bars were very close to her and she didn't have much room to move around even if her legs and arms weren't bound. She looked around in a panic at first, her heart racing as to how she became a prisoner in the first place and even fearing that she wouldn't be able to go home anymore. She soon however took a breath to calm herself down as she decided to take the situation one step at a time, "What happened to me?" She then widened them in realisation. "Wait a sec, the last thing I remember was….."

It was at that very moment a door she couldn't quite see in front of her through the darkness suddenly opened up, surprising her as she quickly turned to look, "AH!" she gasped as a tall male in a trench coat stepped inside and walked right up to her till he stood in front of her at the bars. As his full figure came to view in the light, Cera widened her eyes in shock before hardening her expression bitterly at Seth as he stood before her smirking disgustingly, "You….."

"I certainly hope you've had a good nap." he said to her cruelly "Feeling comfortable? I do apologise if you're not, but things didn't have to come to this if you'd just given me what I wanted in the first place." he added at the end in a mocking tone.

Cera said nothing but continued to shoot a fierce glare at Seth in anger, "…."

Undeterred Seth simply leaned in to get a closer look at his captive, like a rat trapped in a cage and at the mercy of the trapper, "You're a piece of work I'll give you that." he said with a hint of complimenting her, "It wasn't easy tracking you down since you've done an impressive job at covering your trail, and I'm not sure how you pulled it off, but your little system hack did quite a number to our reactor core." he said, "You've been a lot of trouble and costed me much in time and effort, but it should please you to hear that you've been well worth it."

"Grrr….." she gritted her teeth in response at how casually he was throwing his words at her.

"Now now, there's no need for hostility." he said with a calm smile, "We may have had an unfortunate start, but now we have a chance to talk in a more civilised manner." he said with a smirk while she turned away in response.

"Not interested." Cera huffed before opening only a single hard eye at him, "Though I am curious to know, how did you manage to find me?" she then asked, "I was certain I kept my hacking connection clear the entire time the last time I came here with Zoe."

Seth smirked. "A good question indeed." he replied as he paced back and forth at the front of the cell, "Believe it or not, since I couldn't trace back to you I had to rely on more….primitive and unrealistic methods." he explained, "By going back to previous records I was able to determine the location where you and that microraptor first surfaced. Surely you remember this place don't you? Where you met those children and dealt away with Ursula and her team. How ironic my search would actually take me to the place you first began." he said as Cera flashbacked to the time she first met the D Team, was when she stepped in with Miku to save them from the Alpha trio. The thought of him using that very moment when she met her first ever friends to his advantage to capture her filled her with resent towards him as he smirked sinisterly seeing he was rattling her just as he had hoped for.

"I simply had a hunch that somewhere within that area, would be your former base of operations before you met with the D Team, perhaps you may have left behind a clue as to how to find you." he continued, "So I took the liberty of investigating the area earlier today when 3 dinosaurs had appeared, knowing there was a chance you couldn't ignore them and wouldn't be present." He then stopped pacing and looked to her completely, "And my hunch had been justified, when I discovered that cabin hidden in the forest glade, as well as evidence that it was recently used." he said, "I'm not sure what compelled you to break away from your teammates, but I consider that to be the perfect opportunity to capitalise on."

He continued to rub in his insults of tarnishing what may have been Cera's most treasured moment and memory of all in her current life, like salt in an open wound, further angering her as he soon came to the point he was hoping to get to the most, "It was then simply a matter of patience and waiting for when you might return, when your guard may be down." He concluded before grinning with malice at Cera, "Which brings us to here right now."

It was at that point she could feel a chill in the air, her instincts telling, no, screaming to her that Seth was no doubt far more dangerous than she first imagined, and now he no doubt had plans to use her for his own diabolical gain! Her heart began to race anxiously, as she desperately yelled out in defiance, "Tch! Mark my words you won't get away with this!"

"Heh, we'll see." Seth chuckled unconvinced, "I will say this, I know for a fact that your being here and the mysterious appearance of several new dinosaurs can't possibly be isolated incidents. The fact you hold a device capable of summoning dinosaurs without a stone and are in possession of an unknown dinosaur yourself is also something that can't be overlooked." he said, "Yet you say you really know nothing at all about yourself or about how you possess such skill in mastering dinosaurs yourself." He then leaned in to the bars at the front of the cell where he was now less than a few feet from where she was lying on the ground, "Do tell me, who are you really? Where did you come from? And what is it you are keeping from me and your precious little friends hmm?"

She narrowed her eyes and looked away, "Hmph! We've had this conversation before you pscyho." she huffed unwilling to say a word, "Even if I did know anything I'd never talk."

Seth then frowned in disappointment as he stepped back then, "Hmph, I figured you would say that." It was then his expression turned psychotic, as if he expected or worse, hoped she would resist, "Maybe with a little persuasion you'd see things my way." As he said that Cera's heart skipped a beat as she turned to look at him in alarm, senses on alert knowing someone as unhinged as he was would try anything underhanded or despicable to get what he wanted, "As far as I am aware of, your team is your strength not doubt but can also be your greatest weakness." he said as he recalled the time when he had her in his clutches back at the Saint Nazaire Submarine base days ago and how the rest of the D Team were thrown off balance because of it, so perhaps that event was what lead up to this very moment, "I only need one of you to make the others surrender, you can agree with that now can't you?" he said smirking at her.

"Grr!" She gritted her teeth angrily at what he was intending to do, and was about to yell back at him in defiance when he cut her off.

"But I am rather short on time at the moment," he said as his hand began reaching into his trenchcoat suspiciously, "So I'd rather get what I want right here and now, with a far more persuasive and sadly less civil method of doing so." he said as he pulled out a lightning rod from his sleeve, which he switched on and then began sparking with blue lightning all over it!

"Ah!" The sight and sound of the crackling electricity surging through it caused Cera's eyes to widen and her heart to race out of control, as fear soon began to course through every corner of her soul!

Seth noticed this and he grinned almost maniacally as he walked up to her, unlocked the door and opened it as shellacked herself against the wall feeling trapped, "Maybe this should make you more cooperative, or perhaps jog your memories, either way works for me as long as I get something out from you, though if you cooperate nicely it'll be far less….unpleasant for you." he said to her as she began to sweat profusely!

Words couldn't describe how scared she was, and yet she was unwilling to yield as she flashed him a fierce glare, "You wouldn't dare….."

"Hehehe try me….." he chuckled as he raised the voltage to a much higher level than it was making the previous sparks look like simple static electricity in comparison!

Seeing she had no way of escape, Cera took a breath and glared back at Seth preparing herself for whatever torture he would administer yet unyielding to him still, "Go ahead, do your worst, I can take it." she breathed while Seth could only smirk at her bravado thinking it would break easily.

"As I scientist, I enjoy disproving a flawed hypothesis, and now I'm about to do just that." he said as he swung down the rod on her, sending surges of electricity through her as she writhed and screamed in pain and agony!

BZZZT!

"AAAAARARRRRGGGHH!" her cries could only be barely heard from outside the door as she lit up blue with the electricity coursing through her veins and she soon slumped down to the floor weakened and almost out of breath! "Urgh….." She groaned with pain and exhaustion as she struggled to keep her eyes opened, only to see Seth was simply staring down at her with sadism, as if he himself was enjoying the torture he was delivering to her, which made her all the more spiteful of him as she hissed out through her teeth, "You monster…"

Seth ignored her words and instead shut down the power to the rod, "Now, am I to assume that you're ready to speak?" he then asked calmly.

"Grrgh!" She gritted her teeth and spat back at him in anger, "You're no scientist….you're a maniac! You'll get nothing out of me! Willing or otherwise!" She yelled in defiance, "I'll never cooperate with someone like you who wants to twist the dinosaurs to suit his own selfish purposes! Never!" she swore as Seth gained a scowl on his face.

It was from those words he could hypothesise that her spirit was far stronger and more stubborn than he first anticipated, at this rate if he were to continue her own life would give out long before he would get anything out of her. He sighed in disappointment that children could never accept when they were beaten and that it was pointless to continue fighting for a lost cause which they were blind to. His grip on the rod tensed as he held himself back from acting out of anger, before calming himself with a breath to remind himself that in the end Cera was still human, and like all other people she'll break eventually, he just needed to be patient and find the right way to get at her.

He was about to consider kidnapping one of the D Team as a bargaining chip, till he noticed something clipped to her side which caught his eye and interest, "On the contrary, I will be getting from you a far more reliable source than you ever could be." he said as he reached down and took hold of her dinoshot while she was still weak and on the floor!

"AH!" The sight of her device being taken before her caused a burst of energy to revitalise her as she forced herself to sit back up as Seth held up the dinoshot at her, waving it mockingly.

"Hehehe….Perhaps by studying this fascinating device of yours it'll provide some insight into its origin or maybe your own." he chuckled in amusement, "Or maybe it might hold secrets even you are unaware of yourself. I'll certainly be able to maximise its full potential soon enough." he then said as he began stroking it in his other hand.

"Don't you dare! That dinoshot is all that remains of the life I once had! You have no right to take it!" Cera screamed as she forced herself up to her legs to try and to get at Seth, "Give it back!" she tried to jump out at him but with little effort Seth pushed her back down with his other hand as she fell back to the ground back to where she started! "ARGH!" she cried out in pain before glaring back at Seth who had just exited her cell.

"And now it'll serve as a contribution and a sacrifice to the future of dinosaur evolution." he said to her casually as he shut the cage door back at her before she could jump out at him once more, only to hit the bars hard!

"NO!" she screamed out both in pain and frustration before looking up at Seth with spite as he turned his back to her uncaringly.

"You should be honoured I'm putting it to use for such a noble cause." he said flashing it to her, giving her one last good look at it before opening the door to exit.

Cera gritted her "You're despicable…..I swear when I get out of this you'll pay for everything!"

He looked back to her and smirked undeterred, "Say what you want, it will do you no good." he scoffed seeing her display to be nothing more than empty threats, "In the meantime I do hope you'll be own your best behaviour," he said as he opened the door and began to close it behind, "It would be a shame to have to eliminate of someone as valuable as you are. But I won't hesitate to do so should my hand be forced." he said darkly at the end as the door closed behind and Cera was left behind in darkness once more. Inside all sorts of hateful and bitter emotions welled up deep inside, as if buried memories of dinosaurs suffering or being used as tools for evil purposes were beginning to resurface at the back of her mind. She couldn't understand what they were but this man Seth, whose heart was no doubt darker than the abyss itself, was just like the ones who gave her those memories in her past somehow.

"Grr….." she gritted her teeth hard and a single tear of bitterness shed from her eye as she wept painfully while still bound up in her dark cell which was like a pit no one could ever escape from….to her, hope seemed almost impossible now…her cries for help would go unanswered, and now….she was alone and lost…..never again would she see the light and love of her friends…..what a fool she was to have thrown it all away….her hope of even reclaiming the memories she had lost prior to meeting her irreplaceable friends was lost as well….to her….it was…over…

Or so she thought…..

As Seth exited the room in a more pleased mood and carrying a smile on his face align with he dinoshot in his hand, a certain girl soon stepped out from the side and walked up to him from behind, "Umm….Seth?" she said tugging at his coat.

"Hmm?" His smile vanished as he realised he wasn't alone. Turning around and looking down he blinked his eyes in surprise to see it was Laura who had come to him from out of nowhere, "Laura? How long have you been there?" he asked curiously, wondering how much she had picked up on.

Laura then gulped down nervously as she twiddled her fingers and looked away, "Umm….from the moment I saw you take her into that room." she said nervously before looking back at Seth, "What were you doing in there?"

His expression turned serious before looking around to make sure it was just them listening in. With Ursula and the others out and Dr Z sleeping, he only had to worry about Rod and from what he could tell he was nowhere to be found so that meant he was in the clear for the time being, "You didn't hear anything did you?" He then asked.

Laura shook her head in response, "N…No I didn't…honest…." she lied, in fact she heard Cera's cries of agony knowing Seth had did something to her inside there.

He looked back at her with unblinking eyes for a few moments, as she stepped back a bit feeling nervous he then shrugged her off as someone he should;t have to be concerned with, "I see….." he then replied calmly as he then put on an encouraging smile, "I was simply….interrogating her as to the whereabouts of Terry, Tank and Spiny." He then frowned slightly, "But sadly she is unwilling to part with that information. How unfortunate she is holding them captive somewhere like prisoners….." he said at the end in a facade of sadness, where in fact he didn't completely care.

Laura on the other hand was unaware of this, in fact she began to feel conflicted herself, while Cera no doubt was the one who took Terry and the others from them, she questioned herself whether Seth really had to go that far to get the truth out from her.

Looking down at her a thought soon crossed Seth's mind as he smirked at her, "Actually, I just thought of something." he said catching her attention, "Laura I'd like you to go and treat her with hospitality, give her some food and water, perhaps then she'll be more willing to comply."

She blinked her eyes in surprise, "M…Me? Treat her with hospitality?" she asked as she pointed to herself.

Seth nodded, "Yes. Considering she isn't willing to trust my words I believe she'll be more willing to open up with a young child like yourself." he said as he leaned in and stroked her on the head, "Our guest needs a trustworthy friend, someone to share secrets with."

"I take it….you want me to pretend to be friends with her so that she'll talk right?" Laura then asked as Seth smirked at her answer.

"Indeed, I'm counting on you for this, if anyone can get her to speak it's you without a doubt." he said patting her on the shoulder as she looked away momentarily, before tightening her hands into fists and hardening her expression.

"I'll…..do my best Seth." was all she could say knowing that's what mattered the most to her now, as Seth smiled back pleased at her answer.

"I know you will." he said as put the dinoshot into his trenchcoat and began to walk away, "In the meantime, I'll take this in my lab for safekeeping, that way it should also get her to behave herself so she wouldn't cause us anymore trouble."

Laura herself could feel that Seth was indeed hiding something not just from her but even from the rest of the Alpha Gang, and that made her feel quite uneasy. Nevertheless she knew Seth did make a good point on getting Cera to talk so they could get their dinosaurs back, as she walked off down the opposite direction to the kitchen to get some food and water.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile at the transport hangar, Terry, Spiny and Tank had just dropped down from Seth's jet and had just managed to work their way out of the garage and exit from the room. Looking around and scanning the corridors for any sign of danger, Miku's eyes turned feral and her feathers ruffled up sensing danger in the air. Terry and the others held back anxiously, feeling unnerved by her sudden aggression, either because she was back in enemy territory or that her partner was taken from her and now in danger, either way she had good reason to be agitated and on guard. As they looked around themselves they felt slightly uneased themselves despite being back home after sometime. Though they couldn't tell what it was, perhaps it was the feeling of wanting to rescue Cera that made their old home seem like a villain's den in a way.

On instinct, Miku sensed that something terrible was happening to Cera, as if she could hear her cries of pain and agony from somewhere inside Zeta Point. Quickly turning over to the other 3 dinosaurs she snarled out angrily as they widened their eyes and jumped in shock! As she began chirping out what seemed to be orders they then lowered their heads accepting her as alpha, which was both humiliating and bewildering considering she was barely half their size yet showed the ferocity of a cornered rat! After squawking out to them a bit more, Terry lowered his head letting her get on as they both hurried on down the pathway deeper into the Alpha stronghold.

Sniffing the air hoping to pick up Cera's trail, they held their noses to the ground letting their senses of smell guide them while Miku kept a look out for any danger. They soon passed by the kitchen entrance and looking in they turned pale at the sight at what Helga was busy cooking. Though they couldn't what was in the pot, by the smell they could tell it was horrible and little did they know it was about to get much much worse….

"First some sugar…." said Helga monotonously pouring in a large cup before grabbing a bag of salt, "Then some salt to balance it out." she said grabbing a solid chunk and then dumping it in! The worse was yet to come as she soon began to add curry, wasabi, mustard and chilli before cooling it down with some mayonnaise and soy sauce! The sight of her chaotic mish mash of ingredients made them all shiver in horror at the monstrosity of a meal she was cooking up as she began stirring the sinister stew with a spoon! It then began to bubble out and suddenly an explosion erupted from the pot which blew back all 4 of the eavesdropping dinosaurs into the back wall!

BOOM!

As they slowly got back up and opened their eyes, looking in they turned pale and their jaws dropped in shock and disbelief to see the kitchen now looked like a war zone! The walls, tables, cupboards, everywhere was charred to a crisp and even some of the plates had fallen down cracking up too! What was even more bewildering was Helga still stirring the stew like everything was still fine, despite being charred black all over herself! Inside the pot was a swirl of purple and brown with chunks of meat or potato floating at the top! It was enough to make any person hurl at first sight or even smell of it! The dinosaurs, who had far better smell than humans did, were on the verge of throwing up themselves the instant they got a whiff of the foul pungent scent of the 'stew'!

Unaffected by it, Helga stuck a finger into the vile brew and tasted it, smacking her lips and waiting for a few seconds she then eyed it with a blank expression before giving her personal feedback on it, "Perfect." Was all she said in her usual robotic tone. At the sound of that, the 4 dinosaurs shuddered and saw that as their cue to leave as they scurried past the door as fast as they could before she would get any ideas of cooking them!

Meanwhile Rod was minding his own business walking down a corridor, folding his arms behind his head and whistling with boredom as he looked around seeing nothing but bare emptiness and silence around him, "Man, it feels so awfully quiet without Terry and the others to liven the place up." he sighed sounding depressed and already missing them more than he first imagined. Like Laura they weren't just friends, they were family too, and to be without them was like missing a piece of himself too. "Not quite the way I wanted to spend New Year's….." before he could finish the chibi dinosaur suddenly ran past him which made him smile lightly in response, "Oh wait there they are, what was I worrying about." he then scoffed with a smirk, before suddenly stopping in his tracks. Blinking his eyes he quickly turned around in alarm, "Wh…What the!?" he saw the hallway was now empty and he shrugged his shoulders thinking he was just hallucinating, "Urgh….man I must be seeing things…." he then moaned rubbing his eyes and blinking them a few times before walking away, "Maybe some homework should keep me busy a bit, should also keep me up till midnight too." he said to himself.

 **(Meanwhile)**

As Cera still lay down on the floor, trapped in a pit of both despair and regret, she almost felt like giving up all hope of her ever seeing Max and the others again, let alone escape, the worst of it all was that she believed she'd never be able to apologise to them for everything they've given her since the day they first met, as countless memories of their times, experiences and adventures together began to course through her mind, which made her grit her teeth in frustration and weep bitterly. Her moment was interrupted however as she heard the door open and the light from the outside corridor shone in causing her to open her eyes and look up.

Stepping inside was none other than Laura, who carried in a tray with water and some cut fruit in a bowl as she walked up to the front of the cell. Her appearance though didn't make Cera feel any better as she looked away from her in spite, "Oh it's you….." she scowled, "How nice of you to pay me a visit. Come to gloat I assume? Or enjoy the sight of your enemy suffering and in degradation?" she then asked bitterly.

Laura then hardened her expression as she closed her eyes and breathed, "Don't flatter yourself." she said, "I only came here because I thought you might like some food and water, and that's it." she said at the end before looking at Cera rather pitifully, "Even if you did cause us a lot of trouble I can't help but feel sick at seeing you like this." she said admitting what was on her mind as she settled the tray down nicely, "I don't think anyone, even you or the D Team deserve this."

Cera blinked in surprise at her words, from what she could tell Laura was being sincere with her and that was what surprised her most of all, "If that's true, then what do I owe the honour of your company?" she then asked raising an eyebrow at her still feeling suspicious of her intentions.

Had to admit even if she caused them so much trouble this was going too far, but felt it had to be done

Laura closed her eyes in thought, inside she was feeling quite conflicted over what was right or wrong. While it was true that Cera and the rest of the D Team had caused them plenty of trouble for the past few months, even she felt their enemies didn't deserve to be subjected to such harsh treatment, but the fact that they did take Terry and the others from them, she did kind of understand that Seth had to use such extreme measures. Shaking her head and clearing her doubts she then put on a rather tough face best she could, "I'm afraid you only have yourself to blame for the state you're in now." she said firmly which put off Cera as she said those words, "We did try to warn you and your friends to stay out of our business, if you had just left us alone and get back all the dinosaur cards we lost then it wouldn't have come to this." Laura added shaking her head in disapproval before opening her eyes, "And I suggest to you start talking,"she then said, "Tell me where you're keeping Terry, Tank and Spiny! Unless you want to make things worse for yourself!" she demanded.

"Worse for myself?" Cera repeated before gritting her teeth furiously and shouting out at the top of her lungs, "How can things be any worse!?" she yelled losing all sense of restraint as the dim light from the upper ceiling shone over her arms and legs, which now had several injuries around them as a reminder of the shocks that she suffered from the Lightning rod earlier!

At the sight of the horrendous wounds she suffered, Laura's heart skipped a beat on sight. This was more than crossing the line, Seth couldn't have done this much just to get their dinosaurs back, and wondered whether that there was something more to this than she first thought.

"As if torturing dinosaurs and experimenting on them wasn't bad enough, I didn't think you people would ever get this low….." Cera continued hissing through her teeth, "You don't deserve any answers. If keeping quiet means they stay out of your slimy hands then I'd rather suffer like this than hand over those 3 or any other dinosaur to disgusting villains like you to experiment on too!" she yelled.

The moment she finished uttering those words, Laura stared speechlessly for several seconds before clenching her hands into fists and shaking them with immense anger, "How dare you….." she breathed as she began gritting her teeth and began shedding a few hateful tears herself.

"Huh?" Cera blinked her eyes in Laura's sudden mood change.

"How dare you say such things!? Never in a million years would we ever do anything like that to Terry and the others!" she screamed, "Don't talk like you understand us!" Cera herself dropped her jaw in shock at the response the little girl threw back at her, "All me and Rod ever wanted was to go home, to our parents…..more than anything in the world….." Laura then sniffled as tears began falling from her cheek to the floor, "And right now, the only one we can count on for that is Seth, he promised us as soon as we get all the cards back he'll take us back!" she cried out loud.

"Seth….said that?" Cera breathed in surprise. Hearing her say that made her ponder over just who the Alpha gang could possibly be, if their technology was greater than anything the world could ever produce now could it be possible that they may not have even come from this world?

"Right now we have no one else to turn to, he's all we have left….." Laura continued bitterly as her fists tightened and shook, "And you and the rest of the D Team continue to keep us away from them by getting in our way and taking our dinosaurs! Now you even have the nerve to steal our 3 best friends!?" she cried out loud, "Everyday we've worried sick about them, every waking moment we couldn't sleep or rest knowing they were out there, then to hear they were stolen by you to be used against us! You don't know what it's like! To be kept away from your family for what seems like forever! You dare to say we're despicable when you keep our friends away from us like prisoners!? What a laugh!" she shouted as tears continued to fall from her cheek and splash to the floor filled with emotion, "So don't talk like you know us because you don't know anything!" she concluded before turning away and folding her arms

"Friends…." Was all Cera could mutter unable to say anything back to her. From each word she uttered, she could tell they were all sincere and filled with genuine sorrow in them, as much as she was feeling now. A feeling she never thought she would experience from any member of the alpha gang at all. It was then she was beginning to realise that to them, Terry and the others were just like how Chomp and company meant to Max and the D Team….there was no way a child like her s pure and innocent could ever harbour malice or ill intent in her own heart, and that she and her brother Rod were more than likely doing what they each sincerely believed was right. It was then with guilt in her own heart, she began to realise that she and maybe even the rest of the D Team were taking them the wrong way, as she took a breath and sighed deeply, "I'm sorry…..I didn't know…." she said looking away while Laura still huffed uncaringly, though what she said next was about to change her mind, "Still, compared to me you're actually lucky." she then said at the end which surprised the young girl as she turned around in confusion.

"Wh….What?"

Cera then curled in herself and lowered her head down in sadness, "Unlike you I don't even remember who I am or where I came from to begin with. I only came upon the D Team by chance one day, and they were kind enough to take me in when I had no one else." she explained, "We've grown together these couple of months and we've been close but never as close as a true family." she said with a short smile before it passed and was replaced with sorrow, "And yet, because of something Seth did I was forced to part ways with them so that they wouldn't get hurt because of me." she said sounding depressed and regretful of her actions. Something which Laura herself didn't know how to respond to properly as she listened, "Now I see I was wrong about that, and I'm in my position now because of my mistake…I turned away from them an now I don't really have anyone else to go back to…." Cera then sniffled as the feelings of regret were starting to eat away at her own heart, as she tightened herself before looking up at Laura, "At least you and Rod, you both have a family to look forward to coming back to in the end while I don't."

Laura said nothing back to her but listened.

It was then that Cera opened her eyes seriously to Laura as she began to say her point, "But, one thing I do know is that I can't allow innocent dinosaurs to fall into the hands of anyone that would abuse them or see them as nothing more than animals or worse tools." she explained, "You said you were willing to let Seth alter the dinosaurs so you could use them to get others back. But wouldn't that also mean your own dinosaurs could also be experimented on against their will too? Would you want that at all for them if you really cared for them that much?"

Her statement caught Laura completely off guard as she couldn't find anyway to disagree with her logic, "Th…That's-"

"It's because of that I thought that they were suffering under your ownership, and that's why I chose to save them when they were abandoned." said Cera next which made Laura blink her eyes in confusion.

"Saved…them? Abandoned? What are you-"

Cera then forced one of her hands into her back pocket despite the difficulty and strain the ropes put on her she knew she had to show Laura the truth as she finally got ahold of what she needed inside it, "Urgh…." she grunted writhing and wriggling with determination before pulling out a couple of what appeared to be small photos which she then placed on the floor, "Here, maybe this should change your mind." she said sliding them to the bars, as Laura curiously reached for them and picked them up.

As she looked through them her eyes widen in shock and surprise at what she saw, "Ah…" each photo depicted the many fun things Cera and Miku had been doing with their 3 dinosaurs within the past few days that they were under her care, how they played and bonded with one another and had each others' backs. It was the kind of fun that Laura and her brother often had when they played with them, or perhaps, maybe even better too. What she saw was irrefutable proof that Cera was indeed telling the truth, because the expressions on their faces in each photo was heartfelt and genuine, "They're so…..happy….." Laura sniffled feeling touched by what she saw, feeling emotion well up from the bottom of her heart, all this time she believed that Cera had kidnapped their dinosaurs against their will and may have been mistreating them, but what she saw was the complete opposite of everything she thought she'd be…..

"If anyone's to blame it's Ursula and those 2 buffoons." Cera explained, "They ditched them in Indonesia in order to save their own skins. If it wasn't for me they'd still be abandoned all alone on that island by now." she said as Laura's mouth opened widely and she gasped speechlessly at this newfound revelation.

"….."

"In the end you're still right Laura….I don't know anything about you guys at all. At least, not all of you….." she said painfully before looking up at her, "But I do know that you can't do this. If your parents realised what you all were doing to dinosaurs, to people too, have you thought about how they would feel if they knew the truth and what was happening now?"

"Ah!" Laura's eyes widened in shock at the thought.

"Would you ever be able to look at them in the face again?" Cera then asked once more as Laura herself felt even more unsure of herself and conflicted, even starting to regret some of the things she and Rod did to the D Team before….

As she said that, Laura then lowered her head in defeat, unable to say anything in her defence and only now realising that what she and Rod had done and always aimed for was in a way selfish, if their parents ever found out the truth of what they did they'd never be the same again as when they first left….."Urgh….." she sighed feeling guilt and regret in her own heart over what they did this entire time.

It was then that Cera lowered her head in humility as she began to confess that she herself may have been in the wrong to some extent too, "I'm sorry for not understanding, and I'm more sorry for not being able to help you and your brother see your parents…." she admitted before looking up at Laura with a smile, "But I can help reunite you with your dinosaurs if that's what you really want." she then said.

"H….How?" the pink haired girl asked curiously and also with suspicion.

Cera's expression then turned serious, "Help me get out of here and I'll give them back to you. I swear on every fibre of my being." she said firmly

Laura said nothing at first as she stared back at Cera for a few seconds before sensing that there was a chance Cera could keep her word, "Do you…really mean that?" her expression then narrowed, "How do I know if this isn't some kind of trick?" she asked with suspicion.

"I promise it's nothing like that in the slightest." said Cera back to her, "I can't prove it now, but once I get my dinoshot you'll have them back before you know it." she said before smiling at her, "Besides, I know now you and Rod are good people and that this isn't right." she said shaking her head before eying her seriously, "And that I'm the best chance you have at getting them back…." she concluded at the end with a firm expression to show was dead set and serious about this.

At the end, after processing everything she witnessed and heard from Cera's side of things as well as reflecting upon what she and Rod had done too, Laura then looked to the captive member of the D Team before her eyes as she gave her answer to Cera, "I….."

 **(Later)**

Not long after, Seth was walking down the corridor towards the prison holding cell with a disgusting smirk on his face, feeling most confident and full of himself having made a breakthrough in his research due to a small sample of data he had just acquired from a special source, and his imagination was running wild excitement over the new potential leaps he could achieve given the time. Now though, his mind was more focused on another matter that needed tending to, "By now Laura must have been able to have gotten at least a bit of information out of that stubborn girl Cera." he thought to himself as he unlocked the doors and it began to open, "Being such a young and innocent child, I have faith in her talents that she should-" As the lights went on in the cell he widened his eyes slightly in surprise at whom he saw behind the bars!

"MMPH!" Laura cried muffled through a piece of cloth covering up her face while HER own arms and legs were now tied up in rope!

The sight was something Seth didn't expect in the slightest! "What!?" Recovering from his initial shock he quickly pressed the open switch on the wall to unlock the cell doors, as he went in and quickly removed the cloth covering her face, "Laura! What happened!?" he demanded with a firm and angered expression, out of concern for Laura but mostly out of frustration as to how she had let Cera get away from her when she was helpless.

Laura was taken aback by Seth's sudden outburst, before tearing up slightly and choking on her breath as she tried to force out the words she wanted to say, "Sh…She tricked me Seth! Then she left me in here before running out! I…I'm sorry!" She said in a pleading tone begging for mercy.

Seth himself gnashed his teeth angrily, and was tempted to take his frustration out on the young girl, only to hold himself back at the last moment as he calmed himself down with a breath, "I…understand….." he said calmly as he stood up, realising Laura in the end was still but a child and young, so it shouldn't have been surprising she'd have been deceived herself.

Laura felt more at ease seeing he was in a better mood, but nevertheless she could sense there was no doubt something wrong and unsettling with him. Something she was only beginning to realise but had a feeling Seth had kept to himself for a long time…..

He then turned to her and smiled with reassurance, he held a hand to her and she closed her eyes fearing the worst, only to see him put a hand on her shoulder to her relief, "Don't fret about it, she won't get far, in fact she won't get off Zeta Point at all." he said before a slight smirk came on his face, "Not while I have anything to say about it." he said in a rather malicious tone which made Laura's heat skip a beat as he walked out of the room and she nervously followed him. Stepping outside he pressed several command codes in a controller, activating several droids nearby and putting them on alert as they began patrolling the hallways searching for the escapee.

"You should go and hide somewhere, leave this to me." He then said to Laura looking down to her, "Rest assured I'll make sure she tells us where she's keeping Terry and the others captive, you have my word." he said as she nodded uneasily.

"Y…Yes Seth….thank you…." she said as she turned around and began to trail off back to her room. After putting enough distance between herself and Seth, she then swallowed hard and closed her eyes, "I sure hope I don't regret this…." she thought to herself as she looked back down the hallway, in which Cera had left…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Alright, Laura said the closest entrance to Seth's lab should be up ahead…..I just hope she isn't lying and that this isn't a trap…." Cera on the other hand meanwhile was racing down as fast as she could down the hallway in the directions she was just given and in her heart she prayed hard that this wasn't a trap or any kind of trick, but this was her only chance she had if she was to get her dinoshot back from Seth and whatever plans he had for it and her. Her expression hardened with determination as the corridor lightning became darker and darker till eventually she came upon an elevator door. Observing it carefully she then narrowed her eyes at what she found, "This looks like it…." she thought to herself. She reached for the button to open the doors but hesitated for a moment, having second thoughts before shaking her head clear and wiping out all doubts she had, "Made it this far, might as well go through." She said to herself pressing the button, causing the doors to open and she stepped in before they closed again and began to descend.

As the doors opened Cera widened her eyes as she stepped into the lab, for the second time, and saw that her dinoshot was hooked up to several wires with data being transferred out of it and into another computer! "There it is!" she widened her eyes as she quickly rushed over to the console. Eying the machine carefully to ensure there weren't any booby traps or alarms rigged into it, she reached her hand out and carefully began disconnecting the wires one by one, till she slowly took her device back from it. "Alright got it…." she breathed cautiously with relief after checking it and seeing there wasn't any kind of damage to it at all nor anything out of the ordinary either. Looking over to the computer she narrowed her eyes seeing that despite her best encryptions and firewalls Seth did manage to get a handful of data from it, data she didn't even know was inside, and she narrowed her eyes knowing in Seth's hands they couldn't be anything good in the slightest, so she couldn't just leave it as it was, "Now to-"

 **INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER!**

Turning around she widened her eyes to see an army of alpha droids of different varieties soon entered the lab room nearly from all entrances and had her surrounded like a pack of wolves to a deer with no way of her to escape! "Oh man this is just what I don't need…." she said tensely as a drop of sweat dripped from her cheek with anxiety! They then raised up their arms and held them out, stepping in closely and menacingly towards her, as they continued to tighten their formation around her! Cera gritted her teeth in frustration as she found herself cornered and her enemies closing in on her with every passing second! "These things are everywhere, just how do they keep building these things, and from what?" she muttered to herself cursingly. Realising she couldn't do anything about the data Seth stole from her, she realised all she could do now was to save herself, and without her dinosaurs to protect her she knew she only had 1 option left to her as sh got into a defensive stance and held out her fists ready for a fight as she gritted her teeth in frustration, "Grrgh, guess there's no choice but to-"

SQUAWK!

RAARGH!

"Huh!?" The sounds of familiar cries echoed through the lab as the droids turned around and jumped out of the way of Terry, Tank and Spiny's charge at them! Clearing a straight path to Cera they all barked and wagged their tails happy and relieved to see her safe and alive, most of all Miku as she hopped down from Terry's head and squawked with joy opening her arms wide open to her! "Miku! And Terry, Spiny! And Tank too!" Cera cheered as she picked her up and hugged her closely to her cheek while the little raptor nuzzled back at her, "Oh you don't know how happy I am to see you again…." she teared up as they looked into one another's eyes before she put her partner back on her shoulder where she belonged. After that she looked down to the other 3 dinosaurs as they looked up at her and she smiled gracefully as she kneeled down to stroke them all, "You came back….." she said feeling touched and relieved to be with them again as they nuzzled up against her and they cooed.

They didn't have much time to enjoy the moment, as the droids soon regrouped and surround the bunch once more, this time rushing at them all at full force! Seeing it, Cera quickly put on her game face as she stood firm, no longer afraid now that she had her friends by her side, "Let's save the reunion for later, right now we've got to get through." she said looking down to them, "You guys okay with this?" Without hesitation they all barked eagerly, also believing this was a good chance to finally take out their frustrations on the metallic morons at last. Cera grinned seeing she had their full support as she returned them all to their cards, "Alright then, let's do this! Dino slash!" Miku soon materialised on her shoulder in full form while Terry, Spiny and Tank appeared as well and roared ferociously causing the droids to panic and back away!

"Miku! Energy equaliser!" Cera commanded as she tossed the microraptor up into the air and she let out 3 streams of energy from her body which then entered into Terry, Spiny and Tank as they all surged with power and roared out in anger before charging forth and scattering the droids! "Alright! Time to clean house!" She grinned as she pointed ahead and the dinosaurs charged out, flattening or bowling over any droids stupid enough to get in their way, and that was a lot of droids that were soon smashed into pieces underfoot, sent flying by tail swipes or crunched up in massive jaws! As they punched a massive hole through the lab with little effort they soon made it out into the hallways and as they rushed forward they were met with more bulkier super droids which then rushed out at them!

Yet the team stayed strong, powered up by determination to protect one another and their trust in each other, inspired in them by Cera, they ploughed on through the droids with little effort despite their enemies' numbers! "Alright! Keep it up you guys! We'll get through this!" Cera cheered them on while Miku kept squawking out at them on her shoulder spurring them to keep going. Suddenly a pair of droids sidestepped away from Spiny's foot as they tried to jump at Tank while she was off focus! Luckily Cera noticed this as she quickly reacted, "Tank! On your right!" she warned as the saichania heard her and quickly swung her tail at the incoming droids sending them into the wall and smashing against it!

Later a bunch of droids suddenly jumped out at Spiny, and with their combined weight and power they smothered him before bringing him down to his knees as he roared out in pain! "Terry! Go help Spiny!" Cera yelled and Miku squawked as he turned around to see his comrade being under attack! Roaring ferociously he then charged ahead and with a sweep of his head he bashed out a number of them allowing Spiny to shake the rest off before they began stomping on or crunching up the droids that were scattered! "Terry! Watch out!" Cera cried out as a droid jumped up to dry and deliver a swift punch to Terry's face, luckily Spiny returned the favour for Terry's earlier rescue as he pushed Yerry out of the way and swung out his claws and cleaved the droid in half! "Nice move Spiny." Cera cheered holding a thumbs up as he roared out and the 3 of them continued to take out the trash!

Unbeknownst to her, Laura was watching the entire battle unfolding from a corner behind them, as she stared in awe and amazement at what see was seeing, "I don't believe it….." they open their hearts and trust to her, also unified with one another in heart, mind and soul. Something she had never seen before even when she and Rod used them, "The way she's commanding them, supporting them…how she got them all to be working in such harmony with one another….." she breathed staring speechlessly at how efficiently they fought in sync with each other and how they obeyed Cera without question and almost perfectly too, "Terry and the others don't open up to just anyone, I think I understand why Seth was so interested in her, she was a way with the dinosaurs I don't think anyone else has ever reached…." she then realised.

 **RETREAT! RETREAT! THEY'RE TOO STRONG! TOO STRONG!"** The remaining droids all cried out in a panic backing away from the carnage and wreckage of their fallen brethren while the 3 large dinosaurs snarled menacingly at them. Realising they were outmatched and outgunned in every way possible they all retreated and out of sight as the dinosaurs all roared in victory and Cera took a sigh of relief as she wiped some sweat from her brow, "That should take care of them for now." She said believing the worst was over as she pressed a button, returning the 4 dinosaurs to cards before slashing them into their chibi forms. As Miku materialised on her shoulder and the others in front, they ran up to her and barked with excitement and joy to see her in 1 piece as she smiled warmly at them and knelt down to pet them all on the heads, "You all did great, thank you. I wouldn't have made it out of that jam without you guys." she said as they bean licking her face with affection, "Hahaha, I'm alright thanks." she laughed in a jolly mood as the group celebrated their moment of victory and peace at last, unaware that someone was walking up to them from behind.

"Umm…Terry? Tank…Spiny?" a rather shy and quiet voice squeaked catching their attention.

"Hmm?" As they all turned around, they were surprised to see none other than Laura, who was twiddling her fingers together as she felt a bit guilty for intruding upon their moment but couldn't contain herself from wanting to see them again, "Laura!" Cera gasped as she stood up. The 3 dinosaurs with her were shocked as much as she was to see the little girl once more, also unable to respond properly to one of their owners seeing them fight alongside someone who should be their enemy. Seeing no point in beating around the bush, Cera then stepped forward and showed them to her, "I promised you'd see them again like I said." she said

"Y…Yes you did…" Laura nodded uneasily before looking down at the 3 dinosaurs who staring back at her awkwardly, "But….." she looked to them hoping they'd come back home. The dinosaurs could tell what she was thinking, and in their hearts that's what they wanted for a long time….and yet now that it had arrived, they didn't know if they could go through with it. Looking to Cera, they were eternally grateful for everything she had done and given them, and they knew going home would meant they'd have to fight her again on opposite sides, and they weren't sure if they could handle that. Inside their hearts an inner struggle over what they should do was warring within them. As they looked to Cera and Laura unable to decide what they should do, because either way it was a hard choice to make and they couldn't make one without feeling regret for not choosing the other. On their faces came expression of pain and conflict as they kept looking to each side continuously, while Laura herself was feeling anxious over what they would decide for themselves….

Seeing how they were feeling, Cera and Miku looked to one another and nodded, realising this was it. With a smile and a single, almost unnoticeable which shed from her eyes, Cera ushered the 3 dinosaurs to move as she gave them each a slight nudge and they looked back to her in surprise. "Go on you guys. Go back to her, I know you want to more than anything else." she said to them as they gave out sad whimpers in response before looking back at Laura then to Cera again, "You always belonged here with Rod and Laura, you know this was bound to happen eventually." she said smiling at them warmly as tears were beginning to form in her eyes as well as Miku's

"H…Huh?" Laura herself looked on puzzled as to what she was doing, till Cera turned her back to the 3 dinosaurs unable.

"Please, just go….the longer you stay the harder it'll be to say goodbye….for all of us…." she said to them painfully, gritting her teeth and also clenching her fist. Like Max and the others she too had grown attached to Terry and the others, having developed a newfound respect and even a bond with them over their short period of time, only now she knew where their true place was and the right thing to do as well. "Go on, all that matters is that you're happy, and your real owners too." she sniffled, "And I do know that nothing makes you all happier than to be with them."

As she said her last words, the 3 chibi dinosaurs soon began to realise that they'd only make her even more sad if they were to stay longer, and finally with a heavy heart, after honouring and treasuring their last few moments together they turned around and raced back towards Laura whose eyes widened, "Ah!" opening her arms wide open she welcomed them into her embraced as they jumped on and nuzzled in closely to her, "Terry! Spiny! Tank!" she cried out joyful tears as she welcomed them all home, before laughing out at them tickling her all over as they began licking her face all over, "Oh how I missed you 3 so much….welcome home…." she then sniffled emotionally before hugging them in, "It's a miracle….."

Meanwhile Cera felt her heart touched to see such a warm reunion between family, which reminded her that that was something she had to do as well with her own. Smiling and wiping away one last tear, she and Miku nodded at one another as they turned around to leave them be. She was about to begin dialling the teleporter on her dinoshot when Laura spoke to her, stopping her at the last minute,, "Thank you….you really did keep your promise…after everything…." she said with gratitude before a confused expression came on her, "But still….You're returning them to us…..just like that? Even if that means we'll be enemies again?" she asked.

Cera nodded back, "I gave them my word too." she said as she end the 3 dinosaurs in Laura's hands, "I heard their side of the story, they really love you guys so much they could never dream of parting ways with you ever." She then closed her eyes and shook her head, "It just wouldn't be right if I were to be against their deepest wishes, I'd be no better than a thief if I didn't respect them at all." She explained as Laura stared speechlessly at Cera's words and also how selfless she was towards the dinosaurs, to just her own but even ones that were once enemies, in the end it didn't matter, she saw all dinosaurs as equals and as sign as they were happy she'd be happy with whatever choice they made too. "Just promise me one thing." She then said at the end seriously.

"What's that?" Laura then asked curiously in response.

Cera then smiled, "Promise me you'll take good care of these 3." was all she said which surprised the young girl, "They're all very special dinosaurs, it would destroy me if anything bad were to happen to them." she said nodding at the 3 of them who looked back at her, before she turned her attention to Laura, "Promise that you'll protect them no matter what, don't let them under any circumstance get mistreated in any way by anyone else, that's all I ask from you in return." she then asked seriously.

"I….." Laura then shook her head shaking off whatever doubts were in her mind as she nodded firmly back at Cera, giving her word to her, "I will…..you can count on it." she said as Cera nodded back with a smile acknowledging the promise as genuine. "I guess I was wrong about you too…..maybe the same can be said for your friends as well…." said Laura after as she looked away with embarrassment.

"Heh, that makes 2 of us." Cera chuckled before looking back at her 3 friends who were feeling rather hurt to part ways as they eyed her with sadness before running up to her to Laura's surprise. They looked up at Cera and barked pleadingly, but she then shook her head and smiled at them with reassurance, "Terry, Tank….Spiny….you know that this is where you belong. And like a really fun ride, as much as you enjoy it, it has to eventually come to a stop at the end." she said kneeling down to them, "Even though our time together was short, Miku and I enjoyed every second of it with no regrets." she said as she began stroking their heads one by one, developing a deep connection with each one as they made contact with one another, "I sure do hope we meet again, even if we are to be enemies again, I sure hope we can at least stay friends in each others' hearts." As she said that they each barked and wagged their tails happily as she chucked in response. "I'll take this as a yes." she said as she typed a button on her dinoshot and she began to glow in light. As she did, Laura went up to the 3 dinosaurs as they began to say their goodbyes to one another, "Take care you all."

"Mhmm." Laura nodded as she waved out to her, "Goodbye! Have a happy new year! And thank you very much!" she said while Terry, Tank and Spiny barked out, "Whatever happens now, I do hope you find what you're looking for."

"You too." Cera nodded before finally vanishing from sight in light. The 4 of them stared at the spot Cera had just vanished, and her last few words continued to echo within the depths of their hearts and minds, words that they would treasure and honour for a very long time.

"Laura!" a voice suddenly called out to them, interrupting their train of thoughts and catching them by surprise.

As Laura stood up and the 3 dinosaurs hid behind her, she widened her eyes at the person walking up to her, "Ah! Seth!" she gasped as Seth came upon the scene, shocked to see the huge mess and remains of metal scattered around from the aftermath of the battle just now. Seeing nothing but damage and destruction around he then looked over to the young girl with a somewhat angered expression, "What happened!? Have you seen where she went?" he then asked in a rather demanding attitude.

Laura gulped nervously, worried about what Seth would do to her if she tried to lie to him, and after remembering his previous immoral acts of torture to Cera just now she had a feeling that he might even do something like that to her or the others in the Alpha gang without hesitation too. Seeing no other way she decided to admit the truth as best she could without giving anything away, "She….got away with her device Seth….I tried to stop her but couldn't….I'm sorry….." she said meekly.

Seth stared at her firmly as she sweated nervously at his pricing glare which was enough to chill anyone's soul. After a bit he then calmed slightly as he closed his eyes, "I see….." he then said in disappointment.

"But-" As she said that Spiny, Tank and Terry ran out from behind her and they barked out which surprised Seth unexpectedly as he stepped back, "I did manage to get Terry, Spiny and Tank back! Here they are!" she cheered and smiled as the dinosaurs looked up at the blue haired man with suspicion sensing there was indeed something up with him like Cera felt instinctively.

The news of their return brought a small smile to his face much to her relief, "I see, that's great news indeed." he said.

"Yeah, so there's something to be happy about right?" Laura grinned keeping her facade of joy up.

"Yes there is….." he nodded as he reached down and stroked her head, "Good for you Laura, I'm certain your grandfather will be overjoyed to hear this news." As he said that, Laura felt uneasy about him putting his hand on her, the very same hands he used to torture an innocent person not long ago. "Run off and tell him, and don't fret about our escaped…guest….there will be other chances, for now let's just celebrate the return of your dinosaurs and for the New Year to come." he then said to her.

Without hesitation she nodded, "Sure! Will do! I'm sure Rod, Ursula and the others will be so happy to hear this too!" she cheered as she looked down to Terry, Tank and Spiny, "Come on guys, let's give grampa a big surprise!" They then barked happily as they ran down the corridor towards Dr Z's bedroom. Though in fact, she was hoping to get away from Seth as fast as possible, while also processing everything that happened within the pas tour, and the revelation that was brought to her as well, "After everything that's happened….I don't know what to think anymore…." she thought looking back to see Seth walking away, "He's up to something…but just what?" she thought with suspicion narrowing her eyes as he disappeared into the darkness.

Not long after Seth soon reentered his lab and scowled seeing the data download from Cera's dinoshot was less than 20% as he began to type away at it in annoyance over the failure when he came so close, "Cera escaped somehow….how unfortunate….perhaps I can't rely on anyone but myself it seems…." he said to himself in a rather disappointed tone before calming himself with a breath, "No matter, with the data I acquired from her device I'll definitely be able to make some monumental leaps in my experiments from here on." Typing a few more keys the screen lit up displaying several formulas and data he had just acquired from the dinoshot and one of which depicted the possibility of reviving dinosaurs from fossils and another even being able to implement the same dinosaur summoning function as the stones without requiring the need for them!

Something even he couldn't imagine was possible as he could potentially give life back to dinosaurs that have perished and even have them reborn in ways that would surpass any naturally evolved life form on the planet! The thoughts coursing through his mind caused him to widen his eyes and grin maniacally, "Very soon, I'll usher in a new age of dinosaurs with an entirely new superior breed, and then they will take back their rightful place as the world's true masters! AHAHAHAHAHAH!" he then laughed out loud as his sinister voice echoed through the halls of his laboratory as soon his experiments would give rise to a forbidden power the world has never seen before….

 **(Meanwhile)**

As a light shone on the hill overlooking Sanjo City, Cera and Miku stepped forth onto the city's soil, feeling the cool breeze of New Years blowing on them, as if they were welcoming the 2 of them back home after a long journey. "Here we are Miku, I never thought coming back here would be so good." said Cera as she began step further out, enjoying and treasuring each step she took and feeling a sense of serenity wash over her, that a weight was lifted from her heart and shoulders knowing they could return home and be safe at last with their friends and family. Looking down they could see the many lights of the city shine brightly all around as they heralded the arrival of the New year which was to take place in less than an hour.

To Miku and Cera they could see it too as the city welcoming them back with open arms as they smiled feeling joyful at long last, "Well, Max and the others have probably been waiting for us for a very long time, let's not-" Before she could finish her sentence a massive explosions suddenly flared up from the streets down below! It caused a plume of smoke and fire so large they could see it from the hill above!

BOOM!

"What the-!?" The explosion sent a shockwave so powerful they could feel it rumble beneath their feet! Widening their eyes in shock and horror they could hear the sounds of destruction, people screaming and even a loud roar echoing from down below as a few more smaller explosions began trailing off from the main one they saw! One they they could tell, was that there was trouble in their city home now and it would be a matter of time before the New Year being welcomed would be one of chaos and fire! "This is bad….." Cera said to herself before putting on a more serious expression and running down the hill towards the fire, unwilling to let it or its people suffer a second longer.

 **And there goes part 1 of the end of the year arc, stay tuned for part 2 for what happens on the D Team's end and hope you enjoyed this. Also it's through scanning the dinoshot, Seth gained the knowledge to revive dinosaurs from fossils, like in the DS game, which will play a role in season 3 when it comes, as well as the data he needs to make copy stones too. Also wanted to make it more meaningful too on the reviving dinosaurs from scratch idea too which the anime didn't address. Also wanted Laura's suspicion and distrust of Seth to grow gradually as well, with this being the one to peak at it before going on to Full Scheme Ahead.**

 **Next chapter will feature what the D Team were doing during Cera's short timespan of being Seth's captive and the trouble they now got themselves into. Stay tuned as the New Year End special draws to a close!**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-** **Well Terry and the others been with Rod and Laura a lot longer than Cera has and they can never be replaced in their hearts, it's natural they'd want to go back to them at some point knowing they will take care of them even with the trio and Dr Z, but there has been some development shown here before they part ways and will play a role later on in season 2. Seth actually used the trio as a way to distract Cera so he can track down her location.**

 **pokemonking0924**

 **-** **Glad you liked it, also same goes for Rex at Easter islands and Max at Sanjo City bay.**

 **What Seth actually did was track down the location Cera once did when she first appeared with Miku on the day she first met the d team and while the 3 dinosaurs were out he did some scouting and after finding the lodge he waited for the right moment to seize her after she came back.**


	23. New Years' evolution

Chapter 23

New Years' evolution

 **Several hours earlier….**

After their all around the world adventure earlier in the day, D Team regrouped with one another after returning with the dinosaurs they gathered on each of their missions. They didn't have much time to discuss what had happened as it had just turned evening and they each had to rush home to prepare themselves for the festivities and family fun the New Year Eve fair was about bring them. The boys got into quite a frazzle back at the house, as Aki had left early to practice at the shrine as well as get the place ready with the other maidens and caretakers, forcing the boys to scrape together anything they could get their hands on from the drawers that seemed acceptable enough for the winter night festivities, which was pretty much simple thick jackets and long pants. Max's was red and orange while Rex wore dark and light blue. Chomp and Ace now sported a warm wooly scarf each to keep them warm while Dr Taylor put together his own thick winter clothing which was a brown and black winter breaker jacket with thick pants and boots.

They then waited at another part of the town, near the traditional japanese plaza where most of the festivities were held as well as the crossroads leading up to the shrine, where it was closed off till preparations are complete. Right now the boys were waiting for the Drakes to meet with them where several street lights glowed, the cool winter breeze and snow blowing across the night sky as passing pedestrians let out pour from their breath which soon dissipated in the cold night air. Banners were also set up with lanterns to set the mood as people passing by wore mainly traditional clothes like yukatas or kimonos decorated in various patterns or symbols, even the footwear too was traditional.

As some time passed, they grew impatient and tired of standing in the same place through the cold night, as bits of frost even began to form on their faces and their hands got so chilly they had to keep them in their pockets. Spike could be seen yawning quite often as he stood behind the boys near the stairs to the shrine, Max looked around frantically, tapping his shoe on the ground repeatedly while Rex tried his best to keep Chomp and Ace in line, "They should be here by now….." said Rex as he looked to the opposite direction Max was facing.

"Yeah what's taking them so long….." Max muttered in annoyance before sighing deeply, "Must be a girl thing if you ask me. Man I'm bored….."

"Now now boys," said Dr Taylor to them as he put a hand on each of their shoulders, "We know you just came back from a mission and the Drakes had a few last minute appointments to make, so let's be patient and give them some time." he said calmly to them, though inside he was screaming loudly for the Drakes to show up soon because he could hardly wait to get through the gates and indulge in the festivities! "Oh please be here soon! I'm so hungry and thirsty! At this rate I'll never be able to try out that Amazake!" he thought tearing up.

"I guess," Max muttered as he huffed and folded his arms grumpily, "But still they could've at least given us a phone call or something to let us know that they'd be late." he grunted as a tic mark formed on his forehead.

"Hee hee! I think you mean fashionably late." a familiar female voice giggled behind them.

"Huh?" They all turned to look and saw the entire Drake family had just arrived on the scene. All of them wearing rather traditional outfits, while the girls wore flowery themed yukatas (Zoe wearing yellow, Reese with green and Mrs Drake with orange), Mr Drake sported a simple brownish kimono tied together by a black waist cloth. Zoe also had her hair neatly done with hair pins and combs while Reese and her mom had their hair held together by a butterfly themed hair clip each. Needless to say the entire Drake family had gone traditional, expect for Paris who wore a warm scarf around her neck so she wouldn't catch cold.

Seeing them, they all brightened up glad to see them, "Hey Zoe! There you are!"

"Reese and Mr and Mrs Drake too! Welcome!" Taylor wave

"Haha! We knew you'd come!" hide behind

Zoe then smirked at Max at his statement, "Oh really….." she said grinning cheekily at him as he blushed red in embarrassment.

"Y…Yeah of course we did! We never had a doubt!" he laughed scratching his head before elbowing the boy next to him, "Right Rex?" he said with a forced smile as the blond haired boy rolled his eyes.

"Urgh…Y…Yeah that's right…" he grunted while Zoe remained unconvinced as she folded her arms.

"Right….."

Not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer, Max then smiled and clapped his hands together, "Say you look really nice in that." he said complimenting her outfit as Rex put a finger to his chin and looked up and down Zoe.

"Yeah, that kimono looks really good on you too." he nodded before smiling happy for her.

"Hee hee, why thank you. On a special occasion like this it's only natural you look the part too." Zoe smiled response as she did a playful spin, flashing off her kimono before winking at them. Eying their outfits her smile turned into a disappointed frown, "Sure wish I could say the same for you 2, what you're wearing doesn't get into the spirit of New years." she muttered as the boys took offence to her rude comments.

"Hey, we were in a big hurry okay?" Rex replied.

"Yeah, at least we're out here early, you could have shown some courtesy and let us know you'd be late!" Max cried back.

"That's enough you 3." Reese said firmly as she cut in before they could start a fight, "It's New Years Eve, so let's not spoil the evening okay?" she said to them all with a serious expression which made them all lower their heads in shame and submission.

"Yes Reese…."

"You're right…."

"Mhmm…." They each said to her before looking at one another and apologising.

Meanwhile the adults were having a much more welcoming conversion between one another, as Dr Drake laughed boisterously while patting Spike on the shoulder, "Congratulations Spike!" he bellowed out loud, "Fortune smiles upon you to grant your wife the chance to take part, no, to lead the ceremonial dance of tradition performed here in our homeland since the day it was first settled."

"Hahaha, oh I don't know about that….." Dr Taylor grinned and blushed red thinking about how proud and embarrassed he was to be the center of attention tonight.

"Aki sure is lucky isn't she." Mrs Drake smiled clapping her hands together, "Shame I couldn't get in but my duties as a vet do come first." she pouted slightly at the end.

Spike noticed her mild disappointment as he put a hand on her shoulder, "Oh don't worry about it Mrs Drake." he said with confidence, "There's always next year and you know it." he replied as she chuckled back at him.

"Hee hee, I suppose so."

Spike then moved to the center of the 2 families and called out to them all, "Well gang, now that we're altogether we still have some time before the bell ring event comes around." he said before punching up his arm to the sky with energy and enthusiasm, "So until then we'll party to our heart's content all night long!" he bellowed out loud and they all roared and cheered with energy!

"YAY!" The spirit of New Year dawning filled them all with excitement as they all headed for the plaza to take part on the traditional themed festivities and activities, treasuring the last night of the current year before moving onto the next in a couple of hours.

Max's energy however, didn't last as long as everyone else's as he then let out a somewhat depressed sigh at the end as they passed through the gates, which he kept hidden to himself from everyone as they all split up, with Chomp following him.

Around them the plaza was filled with the sounds of chatter and laughter, with the lanterns hanging down from above lighting up the streets and walkways, the air was soon perfumed with the smells and scents of various japanese delicacies and dishes being served piping hot from grills at stands for fired chicken, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and other delicious dishes too. Some were also giving out sweet pastries too such as japanese sweets like mochi or cream puffs too, with children and adults alike lining up to buy them.

"I can't wait to try out this once a year special Amazake!" Dr Drake cried out in a jolly manner as he grabbed a paper cup filled with the special rice beverage and then huddled over to the side where the other adults waited for him with theirs.

"You tell me!" Spike grinned as he gazed upon the drink with glistening puppy dog eyes, "Every year I can hardly wait to indulge myself in this delectable beverage and every year it tastes just as great, or maybe even better!" he sang with teary eyes as the 2 men began to sip it down, before they both blushed red.

"Aaaaaahhhh….it feels like heaven….." They said together.

"Careful boys, wouldn't want you to get hooked on it now would we?" Mrs Drake chuckled as she and Reese sipped theirs in a more civilised and lady-like manner.

At the children's side, Max stood staring in the same spot for some time, with his mind completely unaffected by the temptations of the food and games around him, as he was currently dwelling on the event that took place earlier in the afternoon, how he almost lost Chomp and Zuniceratops to the old lady and how Terry of all dinosaurs was the one to save them. It was a lucky break and at the same time he knew something was off, and he couldn't shake that feeling since then preventing him from getting into the festive mood like everyone else around him. Chomp himself drooled hungrily after smelling the scents of unique food around them, and kept tugging at Max's pants hoping to get him to come with him but to no avail as he whimpered sadly looking up at his partner's blank expression. He also tried running around in circles in front of him, barked out loudly or tried nibbling on his leg too but to no avail.

He would've stayed in the same spot all night, had a hand hadn't tapped his shoulder nor a voice spoke out to him, "Hey Max?"

He then jumped startled, "Whoa!" he gasped in alarm before fuming at Rex and Zoe, who were carrying some takoyaki on a skewer with Paris and Ace down by them, "Don't do that guys!"

"S…Sorry about that…." Rex sweat dropped nervously at Max's aggressive response before asking out of curiosity, "You are kinda spacing out, is something wrong?"

"Yeah, thought you might be in a really partying kinda mood seeing all this food and fun around us, yet from the moment we got here you've just been staring into space." Zoe added feeling just as concerned as he was, "Is something wrong?" she asked once more as Max gulped down nervously.

"W…Well it's just…." he muttered twiddling his fingers before scratching his cheeks, fidgeting out of anxiety as everyone focused their attention on him, "Err…." Looking to the side he quickly saw a game stand on the side booth which would make the perfect excuse for him, "Hey look Chomp! There's a shooting game over there! Let's try it out!" he called pointing out to it as he rushed over to play and Chomp trailed after him leaving his friends behind.

They both narrowed their eyes with suspicion at him, "Something's on his mind, I know it." said Rex already seeing he was hiding something underneath his goofy smile as he began shooting down some rubber ducks at the other end with the toy gun he was provided, while Chomp patted at him with his paws wanting to see.

"Yeah it's as plain as the stars in the sky tonight." Rex sighed folding an arm on his hip, before realising it was no doubt about Cera.

Zoe too had the same idea as her expression turned downcast. Looking to the side she lightened up slightly upon seeing something which caught her eye as she walked over to the stand.

Taking notice she wasn't where she stood earlier, Rex turned to see her already making a purchase at a stall with various charms, dreamcatchers and even soul banishing arrows on display. There was also a big fortune telling stand where customers had to shake the lot and get the result as it came out the other end. "Hey Zoe? What are you doing?" he asked as he walked up to her before noticing the sign on top of the stand booth, "Charms, mystical items, fortune telling and the supernatural?" he read out loud with a raised eyebrow before eying Zoe who had just paid for a draw, "I thought you didn't believe in all that superstition Zoe?" he asked as she blushed red in embarrassment.

"I…I don't!" she waved her arms out before scratching her head, "It's just well….A little good luck for the new year can't hurt right?" she replied looking away from him while twiddling her fingers, "Especially when…you know…." she croaked rather softly.

It didn't take long for Rex to pick up on what was on her mind as he nodded in response, "I understand Zoe." he said before smiling back at her, "Go ahead then. Ace and I will go check out the other stands too. We'll all meet up later at the shrine to see the fireworks kick off and the bell ring too." he said waving to her at the end.

"Mhmm…" Zoe nodded in response as Rex and Ace both turned around and headed off in another direction to have fun. Looking back to her shake box lot, she took a breath and eyed it firmly. While she herself didn't believe in superstition and preferred to make her own wishes come true on her own will, she felt a little good luck wouldn't hurt, and with everything that had happened so far the past few days she felt the family would need it more than ever. Taking a breath and a leap of faith, she shook the lot till a result came out from the bottom. Picking it up and unfolding it she began to read it out loud, "Miracle….." she breathed as Paris came over to listen in, "When all may seem lost and the future seems dark, as long as you continue to hold onto faith, a bright light of hope from the past will shine through, carrying on your wishes to the end of time." she said before smiling pleased at it, "Seems like a great one huh Paris?" she said to her partner looking down who hummed happily, causing her to giggle looking at things on the bright side and to never give up always.

Later on the rest of the family continued to get along just fine with the local festivities, as Rex tried is best to hold back Ace from diving head first into the goldfish scoop ponds while some children were trying to with their parents supervising them, for once may have wished Ace still was afraid of water. Max kept stuffing his face with meat balls on skewers while Chomp was gorging on a big juicy chocolate banana. Zoe stared all bright eyed and amazed at some jewellery and treasures at a stand with Paris standing by waiting patiently for her to finish so they could move on. The adults were having fun trying to make one another laugh with some oni masks at a mask stand, while the ladies decided to put on masks that seemed to fit their feminine nature such as smiling faces, kyubi or tanuki themed.

Hours later, near to midnight, some men who were at the shrine stairway began ringing out some bells signalling it was time for the ceremonial dance, and before long crowds of people rushed out of the plaza before heading up the large stone stairway to Sanjo City's bell shrine. Up the long stairway were a pair of red gates marking out what looked like checkpoints till the highest plateau at the top rested a large sacred shrine with a Shinto theme, with a pair of lion statues near the front of it and a few bonfire lamp stands laid out to keep visitors warm. Rested in the middle of an open set of doors leading inside was an ancient looking bell and the pole was being set by the shrine keepers dressed in their traditional clothes of white and blue robes, while also sweeping away the last few specks of dust as visitors soon began to climb up the stairs in excitement.

Before long a massive crowd had filled up the space from the base of the shrine temple all the way to the bottom of the stairway! As some tried pushing and shoving about just to get to the front, Max and the others were lucky to have secured themselves a good spot at the front where no one could get to them due to a special 'VIP' condition Aki sorted out for them luckily. Nevertheless, it wasn't perfect as they were still people crowded around them, squishing some of them into other or breathing on them too. Fortunately they were able to keep their dinosaurs up at the front so that they wouldn't cause a scene, though they still felt put off and uneasy with so many people gathered as many voices of anticipation and excitement echoed at the front, while murmurs and grunts were heard behind them out of annoyance for being late or unable to see the show.

"Ugh….ever heard of personal space?" Zoe muttered as she felt herself sandwiched between Max and Rex as she pushed them away much to their annoyance, "You're squishing my kimono! Don't you know how expensive this was!?"

"Well excuse me princess….." Max muttered feeling ticked off himself feeling stuck and stiff himself with people shoving around him too as he then looked around, astonished by the sheer mass of people that had gathered for the New Year even performance, "Wow, look at all these people dad…." Max breathed in amazement to Spike who stood just next to him.

"Yeah, we were lucky to be able to get a front row seat to this because of your mom." he nodded ignoring the crowd around him as his mind focused on 1 thing only, "Not to mention we'll see your mother dance all so gracefully before us all like an angel and be the one to ring the shrine bell in sync with the fireworks display down by the park too!" he cheered in anticipation before tearing up emotionally with glistening eyes, "Oh Aki you've made me the happiest man alive!" he sang.

"Mhmm, I can't wait to see how well she'll do Spike." Dr Drake nodded with confidence as he folded his arms.

"I'm certain she'll do just fine." Mrs Drake smiled as Reese nodded next to her.

That thought alone was enough to keep the D Team's spirits high and to put up with the other people around them who kept talking and shoving close to them, though it could've been better for them when they realised there was still a rather open spot nearby where their 4th member should've taken had she been around. Eying it before it flooded in with people they sighed as it closed up completely.

"Sure wish we had Cera here to join us though….." said Max sadly as Rex sighed with him.

"Yeah…..same here."

Zoe then patted them both on the shoulder, "Let's just….be happy for her, it's what she would want too." she said to them as they sighed still and looked ahead, and right on cue some of the keepers came out on the side of the stage where people could see, carrying wooden drums or flutes as they sat down cross legged and prepared to perform, catching the sight of everyone in the vicinity as they quieted down.

"It's starting!" Max gasped clenching his hands into excited fists and smiling wide.

"Oh this is so exciting!" his father repeated mirroring his son's behaviour and action which earned them a firm shush from the people around them, including their friends!

"Ssh!" They sealed their own lips not wanting to get another from them, as the musicians played a moving song piece, several kabuki performers wearing white and red face paint or masks in all kinds of colourful outfits leapt out and performed while some even held out prop weapons and pretended to engage one another in swordplay! Others also held out umbrellas and did rather gentle swaying movements while spinning umbrellas in their own performance. Before long, the main event the crowd, though mostly the D Team, had been waiting for soon arrived.

"Here come the shrine maidens!" Rex pointed out as the group fixed their eyes on the center stage, as a group own young or mature women, dressed in white and red robes came on stage as they fanned out their fans elegantly in the wind that blew in, and the entire crowd was mesmerised by their charm and grace.

As impressive as they were, the D Team were hoping for a certain lady to make her appearance soon, "But where's-" before Max could finish, some other onlookers cried out in surprise.

"Look!"

"AH!"

They didn't have to wait long as the maidens gathered in center, joining their fans together before unveiling them and revealing Aki Taylor in the middle of the stage, dressed in a far more regal set of rides, which shared the same white and red as the others, only her's had floral patterns and on her head she wore what looked like a wreath with flowers and ribbons around it and in her hand she carried a stick of bells which she rang in perfect sync with the music performers in the background.

Everyone widened their eyes speechlessly at her performance which was far beyond anything they had ever imagined, "Whoa…."

"She's beautiful…." Even their dinosaurs couldn't help but be captivated by Aki's performance as she danced around ringing the bells in sync with the other dancers, creating a stunning masterful piece which captured the hearts and minds of every person present.

"She dances just like an angel…." Dr Taylor breathed, feeling overwhelmed at the fact the angel before him was his wife.

"Yeah, I almost find it hard to believe she's still the same mom who cooks and cleans after us every day of the week." Max added in disbelief that she'd be able to pull off something so spectacular. They both found it excruciatingly painful to hold themselves back from cheering but reminded themselves of the fact the crowd would smite them if they did anything to distract or disturb the dancers and their performance.

"Maybe another new years resolution would be to be more helpful," suggested Zoe as she playfully elbowed Max, "Maybe pitch in and clean up after ourselves to show how much we appreciate her."

For once instead of talking back to her, Max simply smiled as he looked back to the dance in front and he felt in his heart Zoe may be right, "Maybe…." Rex then nodded with him as the rest of Sanjo City looked on proudly at the dance which was to honour both the current year's final moments and give honor to the new one coming soon. Little did anyone however know, was that it would indeed be a new year they would never forget, but not the way any of them would have ever envisioned.

Somewhere within the front of the crowd, near a bonfire stand at the edge, a young man noticed something brush against his foot as he looked down to see what it was. Picking it up it appeared to be a small stone in the shape of an egg, it was still a bit too dark for him to notice that it was actually metallic and not stone, "Hey what's this?" he asked himself eying it closely. Even with the light of the bonfire it was still covered in black soot so he assumed it to be part of the fuel for the bonfires around that must have been left behind. "Must be a piece of charcoal they meant to put in the bonfire but it fell out." he assumed as a breeze blew him making him hug himself feeling cold, "Brr it is kinda chilly though….maybe this wouldn't hurt." he thought as he tossed the dino egg capsule into the fire next to him.

As the capsule landed in the fire, it cracked open exposing a dinosaur and 2 fire move cards to the flames! A bright red light suddenly erupted from the stand catching everyone by surprise as it toppled down and spewed hot cinders, burning fuel and flames out!

"HUH!?"

"What the!?" Everyone backed away in shock which soon turned to terror as the bright light took the form of a large theropod dinosaur! As it died down it revealed a bright red tyrannosaur with maroon splotches on its body and face, along with white markings around its eyes and bottom jaw! As it fully materialised it stomped its foot on the ground hard before roaring out to the sky and causing a set of hot cinders from the ground to fly up and light the sky from the force and wind it generated from the roar!

ROAR!

Upon sight of the massive behemoth that appeared before them so closely, the people soon screamed out in terror and shock before running around in a panic! "WAAAAAAHHH!"

"Run for it!" Screams issued as they scurried like ants as the as the dinosaur roared out impatiently, unable to isolate a single target from the crowd as it stomped around in confusion and tried snapping at the people who barley managing to duck or jump out of the way of its' massive jaws!

Meanwhile, D Team regrouped together outside of the chaos next to the shrine where it was secluded and safe, making sure their families were safe before turning around to see the party crasher that had arrived unexpectedly on the scene.

"AH!"

"No way!"

"An albertosaurus!" The D Team each cried out in shock while their parents held back either gritting their teeth tensely or looking on in worry for the people caught in the chaos! Repeatedly the albertosaurus kept lunging at the crowd and snapping its jaws but still only succeeding in scattering the group, luckily there were no casualties yet, but luck was running out as the crowd soon began to thin making it easier for the large carnivore to make a choice as it kept a firm gaze slowly weighing its options and surveying the situation.

"Oh dear….." Aki sighed with worry as she put a hand to her chin in sympathy,"Of all the times a dinosaur had to come….why did it have to be tonight of all times…." she thought to herself feeling worried and pained to see panic and destruction on the biggest day of celebration for every year, as the cries of frightened people followed by the sounds of their feet patting against the ground as they ran from the roaring dinosaur before them all.

Spike gritted his teeth seeing the situation was getting serious and far too out of hand, "Kids!" he yelled turning to the D Team and getting their attention.

"Dad!" Max cried as they looked to him.

"You've got to stop that rampaging beast before it hurts someone!" he pointed out to the albertosaurus ahead of them as it stomped down and nearly flattened a couple into jelly!

"Yeah! You can count on us!" Max grinned with confidence as he and Chomp felt fired up for a battle.

"Meantime you all go somewhere safe!" Rex said to them in concern.

"Will do Rex." said Reese in response.

"Do your thing Zoe and kick some butt!" Dr Drake responded with a confident smile and thumbs up, to which Zoe smiled back at.

"Be careful boys." said Aki with a worried expression as Max and Rex nodded and smiled back at her.

"We will mom, don't worry." said Max firmly with assurance.

"Mhmm." Rex nodded, "For the record you were really great out there." he said holding a thumbs up as Aki blushed red feeling appreciated.

"Thank you." she smiled as she and the other grownups got up and left the premises, leaving the 3 kids to do their job one more time.

"Come on Chomp, we've got to stop that dinosaur before it wrecks New Years!" he said to his partner as he retuned him to a card, "Dino slash! Triceratops! Roar!" Chomp appeared by Max's side and roared out as the skies turned multicoloured with the battlefield.

Before long the albertosaurus singled out a middle aged man who strayed from the group as he charged ahead towards him! "Help me!" the man screamed as he ran for his life only to trip and fall down before he could reach the stairs! "Urgh…." As he tried to push himself up he felt being grabbed by the back of his jacket and yanked up high by the albertosaurus as he struggled and screamed his head doff trying to break free! "WAAAAHHH!" He cried seeing his own life flash before his eyes, but Max wasn't about to have any of it.

"Leave him alone!" he yelled angrily at it! After it paid him no mind, he decided to use some force, "Go Chomp!" he cried holding his arm out as the triceratops charged ahead and scooped up the albertosaurus in his horns catching the predator off guard and making it drop the man who then ran off! Chomp then flung the albertosaurus into the shrine's bell, sending it into the solid metal piece creating a rather loud sonorous ring while also smashing some of the wooden pillar supports. The impact also it weakened the pole which was still hanging above causing it to fall down and slam into the dinosaur's chest as it roared out in pain!

"Hah! That'll teach ya!" Max smirked as the rest of his friends ran to his side ready to back him up!

Angered, the albertosaurus opened its eyes and glared at them before roaring furiously! Grabbing hold of the pole it tore it out with ease before kicking itself back up and smashing down the shrine's bell with a massive swipe of its tail, causing it to fall down and crack the ground as it landed! Soon the rest of the shrine began to crash down with it, much to the horror of the D Team who were the only people remaining there now!

"Gah! The shrine!"

"No the bell!" Max and Zoe both exclaimed in alarm while the others gasped speechlessly at the sight of their city's sacred site become ruined and become almost reduced to complete rubble! The carnivore's rampage was far from over, after getting back up as it stomped the ground and roared at Chomp angrily, flashing red as it charged ahead wrapping itself in flames, spinning almost like a fiery meteor straight towards them all!

"Whoa!"

"Get out of the way!" Rex and Spike warned as they, including Chomp, all jumped out of the way of the albertosaurus' explosion attack as it zoomed past them, shooting high into the sky above the stairway before heading downtown where countless more people had already gathered!

"It's getting away!" cried Rex as the meteor soon died down somewhere in the park where they couldn't see from where they were at the shrine.

Meanwhile, Max's mom walked slowly and weakly over to the now ruined shrine, seeing it to be now reduced to rubble she fell to her knees and almost teared up at the sight it was in now, "Our shrine's bell….." she sniffled as the other grownups gathered around to comfort her broken heart, "Awful….." she breathed seeing how their night was ruined and the honour she had been given and worked so hard to achieved had now gone to waste.

Seeing how much it spoiled their big night's event and how much it saddened his mother, Max then clenched his fist in anger, "How dare it ruin our town shrine?!" he yelled swearing vengeance for the dinosaur ruining their City's landmark as well as ruining both their New Year celebration and his mom's big night which she worked so hard to earn, "It's not going to get away with it!" he growled looking to his teammates as they turned serious as he was, "After it guys!" he pointed out and they nodded in response as they returned their partners to their cards and raced off after the albertosaurus into the main city!

"Be careful!" Aki cried out to them as the children soon disappeared from sight, as she began praying for their success and safety while the other grownups gathered around to comfort her.

 **(Later)**

Down at the park grounds, a pair of men were busy setting up a large line of fireworks to light up and send into the sky to mark the beginning of the new year. They were excited themselves and looking forward to kick off the new year celebration and farewell to the current one with the best quality fireworks they could put together for Sanjo City. They had just set up everything and were getting ready to light the colourful rockets when a tremble suddenly shook the ground making one man drop his lighter.

"Huh?" As the rumbles grew closer and stronger, they could feel it coming from a certain direction behind them. Turning around the albertosaurus appeared! Pushing down and snapping a pair of trees like they were toothpicks before roaring out at them in fury!

The 2 men dropped what they were holding upon sight of the large dinosaur before waving their arms out and screaming their heads off! "GWAAAAAHHH!" One man fell down and crawled backwards as the dinosaur leaned in to sniff him! He shivered in terror but quickly noticed one firework rocket next to him! Quickly grabbing it and the lighter his friend dropped he set it on and then fired it at the dinosaur's face!

POP!

The small colourful explosion hit directly on the dino's nose, causing it to roar out in surprise before leaning down and baring its fangs, growling and flashing its teeth!

"EEEP! Bad move buddy!" The other man screamed wetting his pants before running off! "WAAAAHH!"

"W…Wait for me!" the other man yelped as he scrambled to his feet in time before the carnivore's foot nearly stomped down on him! "EEEP!"

"GWAAAAHH!"

They cried as they narrowly avoided the beast's snapping jaws and tail slam as it then pursued them across the park grounds and onto the streets after smashing through the gate!

"Run away!" They yelled out to people on who were either walking by or driving on the roads. As others looked up they screamed in terror as they ran away in fear! As the albertosaurus charged into the street it knocked over an oil tanker, the driver just barley managing to jump out in time as the entire vehicle exploded causing a massive plume of fire and smoke, as the dinosaur stomped through it all undeterred and continued to terrorise the people around it by knocking over cars or swatting away incoming vans with its tail before roaring out loud!

"Drat! We lost it!" Meanwhile at another end of the city, the D Team were all riding their bikes as fast as they could through the streets, while keeping an eye out for any signs of the dinosaur that escaped from them. They each kept looking side to side scanning the streets for it only to find they came up with nothing.

"Where did it go now?" Rex muttered uneasily considering they hadn't picked up or heard any trace of it for a while.

"For something so big it's actually pretty fast…." Zoe commented.

Max then brought a finger to his chin in thought, "Yeah, albertosaurus is a smaller and more lightly built relative of t rex, also it enjoys running down prey so it's natural it'd be fast…." he breathed in thought before closing his eyes, "But still how will we-"

"WAAAAAAHHH!" A scream suddenly alerted them as they looked ahead in alarm, seeing several people running down another street ahead of them, along with a tossed away police car too! The sounds of loud police sirens, cries in panic and soon gunfire echoed throughout Sanjo City as panic soon amassed across the people present!

"There!" Max cried pointing out before racing ahead as fast as he could on his bike with the others in tow! If they heard gunshots they knew a fight was going on, either way things wouldn't work out for the police or the albertosaurus, perhaps even less for the police….

At the street, a group of police began firing out their pistols at the albertosaurus' face, but they barely fazed the ravenous dinosaur as the bullets began bouncing off its' tough scales! Annoyed, it roared out fiercely before rushing ahead, scattering the cops as it swung its tail out and sent several police cars flying into nearby buildings or crashing into the path of panicked civilians who were desperately trying to get away from the carnage!

"AH!" A woman and her young son stopped in their tracks as a car flew in front and landed in their path, forcing them to stop in their tracks! Looking around quickly the mom saw an alley way close to them as they quickly ran towards it! "This way quick!" she cried out in a frantic, rushing towards it on sight! As they ran down it they realised their judgement to be a grave error as it soon turned out to be a massive dead end as they came to a large brick wall towering over them! "Oh no!" the woman gasped as she turned around to lead them out only to find their escape route blocked by the approaching albertosaurus! Saliva drooled from its jaws which opened widely as it prepared to sink its teeth into a pair of helpless victims!

"Mommy!" The boy cried in fear as his mother pulled him behind her.

"Get behind me sweetie!" she cried out to him as she stared back at the incoming dinosaur, opening her arms wide in a futile gesture to protect her son, knowing they were done for either way…..as the carnivore reared back and opened its massive jaws ready to snap close on them! Within seconds before it could make contact though-

"Hey you big bully!" a voice cried out behind the dinosaur as it turned its head around to find none other than Max, Rex and Zoe on their bikes facing off against it as the mom and her son widened their eyes at their unexpected saviours who turned out to be kids!

"Pick on someone your own size!" Zoe cried angrily shaking a fist at the albertosaurus.

"Yeah! Like this!" Max added as they all pulled out their dinoholders and cards!

"Dino slash!"

"Triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow him away!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!" Their 3 dinosaurs took to the field and roared out at the albertosaurus, which answered back with a roar of its own as the sky turned multicoloured with the battle field!

The woman and her son both stared in amazement at the sight before them, both contrasting from each other yet still stunned beyond belief, "I don't believe it…" she breathed while her son then grinned and cried out loud in excitement.

"Whoa….more dinosaurs! Cool!"

Chomp charged forwards and with a single swing of his head he threw the albertosaurus over the 2 civilians as it then landed with a loud thud on the other end!

THUD!

"Wow!"

"Incredible…." they both said still speechless before Max called out to them.

"You guys better go quick!" he yelled out as they turned to him, "This is only going to get way more ugly than it already is!"

"Y…Yeah!" The son then nodded uneasily remembering that this was a life and death situation as his mum brought him to his feet and they ran past the D Team as fast as their legs could carry them.

"Thank you very much!" The mother cried out to them as they both got out of harm's way without looking back, bringing ease to the gang knowing they saved 2 civilians from being caught in the crossfire.

They then eyed each other seriously as they turned back to battle, "Alright, now to take care of business." said Max as Chomp stood his ground against the albertosaurus which got back up to its feet! Furious at having its meal stolen from it a second time it roared out in anger before rushing forward and meeting Chomp in a head clash with one another, while Paris and Ace held back on the outside, for the alley was too small for them all to squeeze into so until they got the albertosaurus into the open they were going to hang back in the reserves till they were needed.

As Chomp thrushes forward and pushed the albertosaurus back it then retaliated by swinging its tail out, sending Chomp flying out of the other end of the alley at the D Team!

"Gah!"

"Get out of the way!" Rex yelled as they and their dinosaurs jumped out of Chomp's path as he then slammed into a building wall and slumping down to the ground heavily battered!

"Oh no!" Max cried as the albertosaurus roared out and charged in for a full on assault!

"Oh yeah?! Let's see how it likes this!" Rex responded as he took out a move card and Ace rushed into battle, "Cyclone!" he announced slashing it! A whirlwind was summoned from the sky which enveloped Ace as he rushed forward in full force at the incoming albertosaurus! In the blink of an eye he lunged ahead and smashed right into the larger carnivore's face causing it to be knocked back and fall to the ground with a massive thud! "Yeah!" Rex cheered punching his fist up to the air.

"Awesome!" Max grinned seeing things were looking up for them now.

"Ha ha!" Zoe cheered as she clapped her hands together.

Refusing to yield, the albertosaurus stomped its foot on the ground as it got back up again. Taking its head groggily it then hardened its gaze at the carnotaurus before roaring out at it! Seizing the opportunity Ace rushed in and leapt out, delivering a blow to the bottom jaw of the albertosaurus and then kicking out at it, causing it to slam into the side wall! Before it could recover Ace then swung out his tail delivered a swift blow to its head while its guard and balance was off! The red tyrannosaur then swung its tail out but Ace jumped out of the way in time before grabbing it and slamming it to the ground!

"We've got him on the ropes now!" Max grinned.

"You can do it Ace!" Zoe cheered.

Their moment of victory was cut short as the albertosaurus unleashed a surprising counterattack, kicking up while it was on its back and then stomping down one Ace! The smaller dinosaur roared out in pain as a massive force was sent onto his back bringing him down! Before he could do anything to fight back, he was grabbed in the albertosaurus' jaws before being thrown into the side wall and then slammed into it with a headbutt and then falling to the ground!

"Oh no!" Rex cried in alarm and shock to see how easily the enemy dinosaur had turned the tables on them in an instant! "Ace get out of there!" he cried out, but unable to respond in time, Ace could only look up weakly as a large tail was brought down slamming him onto the ground! The albertosaurus then kicked out at him, punching him into the back wall of the alley before it rushed in to deliver a merciless barrage of kicks, stomps, head butts and tail slams! Each blow packed the force of being slammed with a wrecking ball and they kept on coming as Ace's vision soon began to blur! "NO!" Rex yelled in horror turning almost pale at the relentless assault his partner was taking and how he was unable to do a thing about it!

Max and Zoe looked on in horror, before Zoe gritted her teeth seriously and called out, "Paris! Get in there!" she yelled as the parasaurolophus bellowed and rushed forward to save her teammate!

Turning an eye to her, the albertosaurus grabbed Ace in his jaws and threw him into the air before sending him flying at her with a tail whip! Speeding at her like a bullet and unable to find enough room too turn around, Paris failed to stop in time as she was speared by her own partner and shot back out towards the D Team to their alarm!

"AH!" They all gasped with widened eyes.

"Move!" Max yelled as they all leapt out of the way from the 2 speeding dinosaurs! Chomp who had just managed to work himself to his feet looked up only to see Paris and Ace being thrown into him as the 3 dinosaurs slammed into the building wall once more and fell to the ground heavily battered and almost out of energy!

The D Team looked back up and widened their eyes to see all 3 of their partners hurt badly as they got back up to their feet!

"Chomp!"

"Paris no!"

"Ace you alright!?" They cried out in concern as they tried to run to them!

ROAR!

Before they could though a loud roar from behind them caught their attention as they turned around, "Huh?" As they looked they saw the albertosaurus running straight at them in full speed, roaring at the top of its lungs with jaws wide open ready to snap shut on them all!

"GAH!" Overcome by fear and adrenaline, the D Team quickly scrambled to their bikes before pedalling away as fast as they could down the street!

"RUN!"

"AAAAAHHH!" They all cried as they cycled downhill from where they were, hoping to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the giant predator! The albertosaurus made a turn out of the alley as it ran after them, with the intention to kill on its mind.

As they slowly came to, Chomp, Ace and Paris could only look on to see their owners disappear from sight ahead, followed by the relentless predator intending to make a meal out of them! They struggled to get back to their feet, only for their injuries to overcome them and make them slump back down heavily to the ground! They looked up and cried for help and in despair, unable to to a thing to save their friends' lives from certain doom…..

Little did the 3 of them know, was that a guardian angel had soon descended on them all, as a bright light shone above their heads making them look up in curiosity. They narrowed their eyes at the gleaming rainbow light in the night, as it died down they were taken by surprise to see a white microraptor sitting calmly on a lamppost right above them, followed by the sounds of incoming footsteps. Stepping into the scene from out of nowhere, was a familiar face, which caught them all completely off guard and silenced them completely, with a gesture she commanded the mircoraptor to glide down to just right above them and use energy equaliser to heal them all.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Get out of the way!" Max screamed out waving an arm to people ahead as they turned to look. Speeding past some of them, he almost ended up running over some people who were about to yell back at them in frustration and anger before Rex yelled out to them next.

"Very large and hungry dino coming through!" he warned as he and Zoe passed by some people in their cars or walking the crosswalk as they turned back and screamed in terror as the albertosaurus charged into view! With a swipe of its head it flung out vans and small trucks out of the way, stomped down on smaller cars and leapt over large vehicles with ease! Panic swept across the streets in Sanjo City as many explosions either from flung or crushed vehicles erupted downtown, people running out of the way or abandoning their vehicles in time in order to avoid getting crushed into jelly! Some drivers swerved out of the way in time while others had to jump out of their incoming cars before they got crushed underfoot!

Seeing the carnage ensuing behind and the albertosaurus having no intention of slowing down anytime soon, Rex couldn't help but be both admired and annoyed with its persistence, "Man that thing's fast and relentless!" he yelled in frustration as he began to sweat from exhaustion, unable to keep his speeding pace on the bicycle for much longer! Beside him Max and Zoe too were beginning to feel the heat, as they began to slow down and the albertosaurus was gradually catching up to them with every second! Their hearts beating anxiously and with fatigue as they slowly began to ran out of breath.

Looking around and seeing people running for their lives and still with many cars coming ahead of them, "We've got to get it away from all these people!" Zoe then cried out her concerns.

"Yeah but where!?" Rex then yelled hoping for a way out soon.

Max gritted his teeth thinking as hard as he could, despite all that was going on, he was thinking of continuing to pedal as fast as they could and hope the albertosaurus would give out before they did, which was unlikely since it was an active hunter with high stamina which enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and running its prey down, so it was obvious in a contest of speed and stamina they'd lose one sidedly. It seemed almost hopeless till he closed his eyes and thought as calmly as he could, remembering what Cera did, as he widened his eyes in realisation, "Ah! The park! It's got plenty of space for us to use all our moves together and take it out fast!" he cried.

Rex and Zoe brightened up at Max's suggestion, "Good idea! That way we'll keep collateral damage down to a minimum!"

"Then let's hurry before he makes a meal out of us!" They said to him as he grinned back at them.

"Good thing I know a shortcut! Follow me!" he said to them as they quickly made a tight turn in time at the alleyway! The albertosaurus tired to follow but only ended up slamming its head at the narrow alley they passed through! It shook its head in annoyance before snarling in anger and running around the side, unwilling to let its quarry escape so easily.

Max's shortcut gave the D Team a much needed head start, and before long after passing through much more open and free streets, their destination was within reach. "The park's just up ahead!" Max pointed out as they saw the park up ahead and the open gates too! "Come on guys we're almost there!" he said to them looking back to see their were tiring and almost out of breath, "A little while longer and we'll be able to fight to our fullest without anyone getting crossfire!" He said to them encouragingly which helped light up their spirits as they nodded back at him.

"Alright Max."

"We're right with you all the way!" They said with determination as they put their backs into it and gave their legs one more hard push to the finish line!

Max narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, feeling the pain surging through his legs but his determination soon won out over his pain as he yelled out at the top of his lungs, "Here we go!" he screamed as they passed through and came to a stop near a clearing right above where the fireworks setting was further downhill.

"Phew….We made it…." Zoe wheezed placing a hand over her chest trying to still her beating heart which could explode at any second. She also felt rather uncomfortable sweating profusely in her expensive kimono, no doubt she had to give it a good rinse when this was over, not to mention it was winter so it was freezing.

"Yeah…." Rex breathed in exhaustion considering he and Max were wearing thick clothing so they were boiling up on the inside. Waving his hand to fan himself, he soon turned around and widened his eyes recognising something incoming and fast, "And not a moment too soon! Here it comes!" he cried pointing out as the albertosaurus came back into view, running across the street and smashing through the fences with ease and then comings straight at them!

As it got closed, Max narrowed his eyes as he took his dinoholder out along with Rex and Zoe taking theirs', "Alright guys, it's time to-" He then widened his eyes upon realisation of something horrible and unexpected, "Gah!" An expression soon mirrored by the rest of his teammates as they realised they didn't have their dinosaur cards with them! "Oh no we forgot our dinos!"

"Oh no!" Zoe cried in horror covering her mouth as Rex gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Drat! Of all the times….." he hissed before widened his eyes at an idea, "Quick call them back to their cards now!"

Max nodded without hesitation, "Good idea! Let's do that!" As he tried to reach for the button to recall back Chomp, a loud roar caught his attention stopping him at the last second!

ROAR!

Looking up they all turned pale as the albertosaurus rushed inwithiin feet of swallowing them whole, as it peeped its jaws wide enough to eat a cow in single sitting! "WHOA!" The kids stumbled back off their bikes and fell to the ground as the huge carnivore lunged at them, its jaws wide open baring several razor sharp teeth and drooling saliva as it prepared to sink into them!

They could only cover tehmsleevs sight their arms out and scream in terror, as they awaited their incoming doom, "GAAAAAH!"

"NOOO!"

"HELP!"

ROAR!

Another roar soon sounded, as another large dinosaur soon rushed in and rammed the albertosaurus at its side the last second, sending it flying into a nearby tree and then crashing down with it!

"Huh!?"

"Wh…What the?"

As they turned to look they saw it was none other than Chomp who had come to their rescue in time! As he stood his ground and stomped his foot roaring out fiercely defending his friends, the albertosaurus got back onto its feet and roared back at him in frustration. "Chomp!" Max cried with joy to see his friend had come through for them in the nick of time, and he was;t alone, as Ace and Paris soon arrived on the seven and stood shoulder to shoulder with their brother in arms ready to fight the dinosaur who threatened their precious partners.

"Paris and Ace too!"

"You're all okay!"

Max grinned with relief and excitement, which soon faded slightly for a moment, "I don't get it," he then thought curiously, "Just now they were really beta up pretty badly, not that I'm complaining or anything." he then smirked with confidence, "Heh, guess we underestimated how strong they actually are." he thought as he punched out his arm cheering for them, "Go get em you guys!" he cried out as their dinosaurs all roared out together.

Ace lunged in first and opening his jaws wide he latched onto the albertosaurus' leg as it roared out in pain as Ace's teeth continued to dig into it! It then lunged back hoping to grab Ace and throw him off, but he jumped out in time and all it managed to bite was a mouthful of dirt! Seizing the chance, paris rushed in lowering her head like a battering ram she slammed into its side as it roared in pain, before Ace rushed in and did the same at the other side! Their combined pincer attack knocked it off balance as it staggered back weakened! As it roared in pain Chomp rushed in and using his large head he scooped up the massive body of the theropod before throwing it into a nearby tree and sending it crashing down!

It then forced itself back up but began to breathe heavily as it staggered and struggled to keep itself up on its legs, which made the D team all brighten up with hope. "Alright! It's almost out of energy!" Zoe cheered.

Rex nodded, "One more good attack ought to do it!" He called out as Ace rushed in being the fastest, head on towards the now weakened fire dinosaur, unaware he was rushing into a trap as the enemy dinosaur suddenly glowed bright red! Roaring out ferociously, the albertosaurus lowered its head at the incoming carnotaurus and flung him into the air much to the D Team's alarm!

"Ah!"

"No way!"

It was far from finished as it turned round, its' tail enshrouding in flames before it speared straight through Ace's body from his back up through his chest! He roared out in pain at being consumed by the flames eating away both inside and out as he struggled about hoping to get away but to no avail!

"Oh no Ace!" Rex gasped as he and the others couldn't believe their eyes.

"It had another super move!?" Zoe exclaimed as Paris bellowed out and rushed in on her own initiative, "Paris wait! Stop!" she tried to call her off but it was too late as her momentum drove her within striking range, as the albertosaurus swung out Ace at her! As he slammed into her body causing her to stop, the albertosaurus then slashed out its fiery sword tail at them both, causing them all to roar in pain as the flames covered them in a blanket of fire and pain before they succumbed to it and fell to the ground defeated as cards!

"Paris!"

"Ace!" Rex and Zoe ran out to get their cards back as the albertosaurus turned around to focus its' attention on its only remaining rival, Chomp, as he and Max hardened their expression knowing it was all on them now, the last line of defence between the carnivore and its New Year's eve fiery buffet!

"Looks like it's up to us Chomp….." Max grunted gritting his teeth seeing that the albertosaurus no doubt was both clever, fast and strong, a triple threat which would have their work cut out for them, "This is going to be rough….." he thought to himself as both dinosaurs stared down one another. Chomp lowered his head and swung out his horns as a threat display while the albertosaurus growled before paced back and forth looking for an opening. Isolating Chomp's weak points it leaned in ready to go in for a full frontal attack, a sign which Max and his partner took note of as Rex and Zoe took cover behind him.

They tension peaked for both sides as the albertosaurus roared out at the top of its lungs, shaking the earth itself, scraping the ground with its foot, it began to glow red as it prepared to charge forward with its move! "It's all or nothing now!" Max thought as he took a move card ready to slash it, hoping it would work. But before he could though, the sound of some leaves rustling in the tree tops in a tree right near the albertosaurus caught its' attention, as well as the other members of the D Team.

"Huh?" As they turned to look they were surprised as a bright rainbow coloured light began to peer out from the gaps between the branches and the leaves!

"Is that a light?" Rex asked puzzled along with Max, as even Chomp turned to look too.

"What could that be?" Zoe narrowed her eyes before recalling a similar situation like this taking place some time ago which made her widen her eyes in realisation, "Could it….be?"

All of a sudden, a white microraptor screeched fiercely as she leapt out of the tree branches and landed on the albertosaurus' face, causing it to roar in pain as its energy began to sap away from it and into the raptor clinging to it like a parasite!

The new unexpected arrival made the D Team widen their eyes in surprise, "Ah! Is that-"

"It can't be!"

"Miku!?" They each cried finishing each others' sentences, "Then that means….."

Miku then leapt off the albertosaurus before it could slam her against the tree, causing it to snap and tumble down like a domino block. She then glided safely over to Chomp, who lowered his head allowing her to glide past his frill and land on his back, as she began transferring energy into him as he roared out powerfully!

Shaking its head and regaining its focus, the albertosaurus roared out as it rushed ahead and leapt into the air, spinning like a torpedo before cloaking itself in flames preparing to unleash one final explosion! Max then held out his move card ready to meet its challenge, "Alright then, let's wrap this up one and for all!" he announced leaping up and somersaulting while slashing the card, "Thunder bazooka!" Chomp roared out as he rushed ahead and spun like a torpedo, Miku leapt off in time and glided to another tree as the triceratops began cloaking himself in thunder as the 2 dinosaurs met in a fierce clash with sparks and cinders shooting out in different directions!

"Urgh!" The D Team had to cover their eyes with their arms to due to the glaring light as the 2 dinosaurs met in a head on battle, each struggling to gain the upper hand, when the albertosaurus soon began to give way, and Chomp eve tally managed to overpower and push it back! Striking it directly in the chest, it roared in pain as it flew out away, before crashing down at the fireworks site while still covered in flames! The resulting fire from it then lit up the firework rockets as they all began to fire off all at once into the night sky, exploding in a bright array of colours and sparkles as the city's people, including the D Team's parents from afar, dropped all their worries and discomforts from the dinosaur earlier and began clapping, cheering and screeching with excitement, as they welcomed the New Year at long last…..

As the albertosaurus groaned in pain, it soon collapsed down to the ground before glowing red, returning to 3 cards which floated to the ground gently as they were swallowed up by the black smoke of the fireworks downhill.

Max then punched up his arm in joy and excitement knowing their victory was a great one to remember the year by and to end it off with, "We did it!" he cheered as he returned Chomp to chibi size as he then jumped up and down while barking in excitement at the fireworks display above.

"Yeah! Good job Max!"

"Woo hoo!" Zoe and Rex both cheered in excitement too as they summoned back Ace and Paris before running up to Max who folded his arms behind his head feeling proud of their achievements this night.

"We did it guys, we saved New Years Eve and made it in time for New Years too." he said to them.

Zoe and Rex nodded at him in agreement, "Mhmm."

"Yeah."

"And we couldn't have done it without-" As they turned to look up, to their surprise Miku flared out her wings and launched herself from the tree branch, as she glided along the cool air currents further off downhill to where the albertosaurus had landed earlier, and she disappeared within the cloud of smoke!

"Miku!?"

"H..Hey wait! Where're you going?"

"Come back!" The D Team all cried out as they ran after the small feathered dinosaur, rushing down the steep hill with their partners behind them, as Max held a determined expression on his face.

"If Cera is there…..there's no way we're going to lose her again!" he grunted to himself as they neared the crash site, where a bright light had suddenly shone. Before long, the sounds of footsteps approaching from inside the smoke, which made them stop in their tracks.

"Ah!" As a female silhouette soon began to appear from inside the smoke, they stopped and stared, narrowing their eyes through the thick smog to get a better look at things.

"Could it be?" They all widened their eyes as the smoke cleared, staring speechlessly at a young red haired girl, with a small microraptor chick perched on her right shoulder, and in her hand she held 3 fire cards, a dinosaur and 2 move cards. She stepped forward towards them with a light smile

They all looked as though they've just seen a ghost, and for several seconds neither side said a word nor moved an inch, till Max broke it first, "Guys….are you seeing who I'm seeing?" he asked looking to Rex and Zoe next to him, "Tell me…I'm not seeing things….."

Cera shook her head in response, "You're not guys." she said to them as she handed them each one of the albertosaurus' cards, "It's me…..I'm home….." she said as Miku cooed after her.

"Cera….." The D Team were at a complete lost for words, after several days missing, their friend whom they've worried about for so long and have been searching for the entire time….was now standing before them like a blast from the prehistoric past…..no words could describe the rush of emotions that were flooding their entire being that moment.

"This….isn't a dream is it?"

"It's real right? I mean….very real?" Was all Zoe and Rex could utter out in their amazement after having just recovered from their initial shock.

Her smile soon vanished as she realised what they were going through and she then sighed reluctantly, "I don't know what it'll take to prove to you guys I'm the real deal, but, it really is me." she said with guilt in her tone as a light smile came upon her face, "And I couldn't be happier to be back too."

Silence soon descended upon the newly reunited D Team, but it wasn't quite the reunion any of them had hoped for. Cera felt herself being entirely responsible for causing this mess in the first place and to have been the one to put them through so much worry and suffering for so long….as she lowered her head sadly, "I know what you all are thinking…and what you might say….." she said as the D team looked on at her and Miku, with shades covering their eyes, "No words can ever express how much I….I….really am sorry for…..for everything….." she then teared up sensing what might be resentment and bitterness towards her for what she did, and for that she knew it was right that she took ownership of it, "I know you guys probably wouldn't forgive me for what I did, and that….you probably wouldn't want me or Miku around again after what we put you through….so we under-"

Before she could finish, the 3 kids then ran in and hugged her close catching her and Miku both completely off guard, "H…Huh?" she blinked unable to comprehend what they were doing, as her old friends began to tear up and weep emotionally.

"Cera…..It's alright, we understand completely." said Zoe.

"What happened in the past will stay in the past, we promise." Rex followed with assurance.

"Just promise…..you'll never do that to us again." Max sniffled painfully in conclusion as their 3 dinosaurs ran up and nuzzled at Cera's legs.

Feeling overwhelmed by their strong bond and feelings towards her, she soon felt overcome with emotion, joy and sadness as she returned the hug to all of them, "I promise…." she breathed as tears dropped from her eyes as she hugged closely to them, knowing she felt safe with them now, and that she didn't have to do things alone anymore.

As the D Team treasured the moment between them all deeply, storing it in their hearts for years to come and to always appreciate, Zoe smiled feeling most at peace knowing the wish she made at the fortune telling stand earlier had came true, a real miracle indeed to end the hardships they suffered the past year and to begin anew.

 **(Later)**

A little while had passed as Cera began to explain her story from start to finish, it was most painful for her to confess and reveal what had drove her to making her decision on leaving the D Team believing it may have been the best and only way to protect them, that she didn't to drag them into even ore danger because of her. A decision which she had now come to deeply regret, and realise she herself may have also been selfish at the time without taking into account what they would think or feel. She then went on to how she was able to acquire Terry, Tank and Spiny and how she used them to help out in various situations too as well as keep an eye on the D Team early the whole time since they parted ways.

"And that's the whole thing." she said at the end, leaving the D Team nearly speechless at everything that she had revealed to them all. The fact she was able to survive so long on her own and be the one to handle situations with dinosaurs effectively on her own without their help was even more mind-blowing to them. The only matter she left out was regarding Seth, as she felt that was something they didn't need to hear about for their rosy reunion.

"Whoa, that's some adventure you've been on." Rex whistled impressed as Zoe and Max nodded in turn.

It was then Zoe then said out loud, "I knew you hadn't completely left us from the very beginning." she said with confidence as she and the others began to recall how they knew it somehow that Cera was always watching over them like a guardian angel.

Rex having seen Miku at Indonesia, Zoe noticing the bandage on camptosaurus' leg and from Max knowing that Terry saving him from Ursula wasn't a coincidence after all.

"Whoa! You really had Terry, Tank and Spiny with you!?" Max then gasped in surprise before grinning and patting her on the shoulder, "I'm impressed you actually managed to get them to follow you too." he said complimenting her as she blushed red in embarrassment.

"Hehe, yeah…even I didn't think I'd be able to pull it off….." she said sheepishly.

"We always knew you were special." said Rex in agreement with Max, considering this may be the last they hear of the Alpha gang now that their dinosaurs were safely with them and out of the picture, or so they thought.

"Best part, we now won't need to worry about the alpha gang getting in our way anymore!" Max cheered as Rex and Zoe smiled in enthusiasm with him, "We'll be able to save the rest of the dinosaurs out there and then when we go back to their island someday to rescue the other cards they've got there's no way they'll-"

"No….not quite…" Cera interrupted cutting him off at the last second much to the D Team's surprise.

"Huh?"

Zoe and Rex blinked, "What do you mean?" they asked as Cera looked away uneasily, hoping to avoid eye contact, worrying that they may not like the truth.

"Well I…you see…." shaking her head and sighing with a deep breath she soon decided to confess the truth to them seeing there was no way around it, "Believe it or not Terry and the others….actually enjoyed being part of the Alpha gang, well mostly with Rod and Laura and they wanted nothing more than going home…." she said almost painfully as the rest of her friends listened. "So the next time I saw them well….I gave them back because they wanted to go home more than anything." The D Team said nothing as she continued to admit everything, which was hard and painful considering she may have crushed their hopes, "And I….even though I couldn't bear to give them back to those creeps, they really cared about them too…and I….I also couldn't….I….I'm sorry…." she sighed at the end while Miku let out a sad hum.

Silence descended upon the D Team after hearing what their old friend admitted to them, as they looked to one another quite seriously before eying her, causing her to lower her head submissively, hoping they wouldn't hold anything against her.

"Cera…." said Max to her as she looked up nervously.

"Y…Yes?" she croaked weakly turning pale with anxiety as she met face to face with her friends. They looked at her firmly, but soon their expressions turned to light smiles as Max put a hand on her shoulder encouragingly.

"You did the right thing." he said as Zoe and Rex both nodded in agreement, "For that we're really proud of you."

She blinked her eyes in surprise at their unexpected response, "H…Huh?"

"Even if we were enemies, had we been in your position, we would have done the same thing as you did too." said Rex admittedly.

"If we took Terry, Spiny and Tank from the alpha gang against their will, then we'd be no better than those creeps themselves." said Zoe before shaking her head and smiling lightly, "But let's not look back on what's been done. All that matters is that now you're home safe and sound again."

"Yeah, it's now a new year, a new tomorrow and a new beginning." said Max in agreement as he tensed a hand into a fist, "And this time we'll face it together to the end." he added with confidence before holding out a fist to her, "That's, if you still want to come back to the D Team that is?" eh then asked feeling hopeful, as he, his friends and their dinosaurs looked to her awaiting for Cera to make her big decision.

As she eyed Max's fist and to the hopeful expressions of the D Team and their partners, it didn't take long for her to smile back at them and nod, "Nothing would make me happier." she said returning the fist bump to Max.

"Hooray!"

"Awesome!"

"Welcome home Cera."

They all said as the entire team did a fist bump together, as their bonds of friendship grew even stronger that night on the first day of the new year.

Before long they heard voices, and looking in the direction they came from, their parents and family were running out waving their arms calling out for them, and they ween't about to keep them for long, not with a surprise to show them all.

"Come on, let's go home everyone." said Max ushering them to follow as they ran after him towards the adults, Cera herself feeling most happy and relieved of all to know that her long journey as a loner finding her place in the world had ended, from now on, she'll be among friends and family, facing all trials and challenges together with them and journeying on many new adventures to come, as a member of the D Team.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Zeta Point, even the Alpha gang were having a time to celebrate with the arrival of the New year, and they had good reason to considering the recent return of their 3 treasured dinosaurs Terry, Tank and Spiny. Droids began lighting fireworks across the island which then exploded into a spectrum of sparkles and colours across the dark starry night sky outside, while Rod and Laura gazed up in awe while helping themselves to some delicious Osechi Ryori which they put together.

Back inside, Dr Z laughed maniacally as he had 3 droids force feed Ursula, Zander and Ed, who were strapped helplessly to a chair, the very same disgusting stew that Helga had whipped up earlier in the kitchen while they cried out in pain and agony having the vile stew being shoved down their throats for their failures! His moment of satisfaction was short lived though as the 3 dinosaurs suddenly jumped on and tackled him before playing a triple tug o war at is beard while he screamed his head off in pain, even wishing they were still gone!

Nevertheless with the old year behind them they now had a new one to look forward to and new adventures awaited for everyone.

 **And thus concludes Cera's solo arc and her return to the D Team. After next chapter will feature the season 1 finale arc with Seth and Black T Rex, stay tuned as season 1 draws to a close! Also albertosaurus' moves were the DS moves explosion and overheat.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Was any of the 2 things you expected used here? Also season 2 will involve the alpha dinosaurs making a bigger contribution like they should.**


	24. Vile Valentine

Chapter 24

Vile valentine

The season of love had come upon Sanjo City and like with other holidays before, everyone was getting into the mood, which involved nothing plenty of sweet talk, romance and lots of love. Many of the town buildings had begun hanging up pink or heart themed decorations around their homes or workplaces, such as balloons, banners and pink and red heart shaped bows too. Children at school were also giving out cards and chocolates to people they liked as friends or had crushes on. The same could also be said at offices and workplaces too, where some people were working up the courage to ask others out for dates. Others also ventured into florists or candy stores to pick up gifts such as bouquets and chocolates to impress their dates, or to pick up cards so they can write out love letters or invites to them too.

Some people who got lucky cheered for joy when their invites were accepted, while others had their hearts and hopes shattered after getting rejected as they then cried their eyes out. People were also sending gifts or parcels to their dates through the post office, acting as secret admirers so they could surprise them at another time. But the most prominent factor was the Valentine's fair which had finished setting up at an old amusement park at Sanjo City's outskirts, and people were riling up to go inside looking forward to spending the day with their dates and loves, and the streets were filled with cheers and excitement when the red ribbon to the entrance was cut and they all rushed in to try out the special attractions set up for that day.

Overall the town had been very peaceful, not a dinosaur sighting for months nor even a peep from the Alpha gang since Cera's return to the D Team, so they all enjoyed a nice well deserved welcome relief of peace and quiet…..or so they thought, for like every calm before the storm, a new bluster of trouble was soon about to blow over and make this year's valentine's a day to never forget.

At the taylor household, Aki and Spike were acting lovey dovey over a slice of rich chocolate cake the 2 of them bought the other day and were saving for this very moment where they could now take turns feeding each other bites of it while looking into one another lovingly. "Here you go Aki, the last slice just for you." Spike offered as he pushed the plate with the last piece of cake over to his lovely wife.

She smiled in response and shook her head, "Oh no Spike I couldn't possibly." she chuckled playfully before pushing it back to him, "Here you have it."

"Oh no, I insist you have it." Spike replied blushing red and grinning like an idiot as he pushed it back to her.

"Oh I couldn't possibly." Aki giggled as she slid the dish back to her husband, who finally had the perfect idea to settle this.

"Oh let's just share it equally." he said as he divided it in half with the side of his fork into equally sized pieces. Both parents poked the 2 sides of the cake before holding it out to the other, "Say ah honey." said Dr Taylor as his wife did the same.

"You too…" she sang as they fed each other the last bite of cake so everyone could be happy….or so it seemed.

"Eww gross…." Max groaned sticking his tongue out as he and Rex observed from the couch just by the dinner table.

"That time of year again Max?" Rex sweat dropped with a smile at him as Max sighed deeply and lowered himself forward.

"Yup, the time of year when mom and dad act weirder than usual." he said as Chomp and Ace looked up at him curiously. He then noticed the soccer ball nearby as he picked it up and headed for the glass sliding door, "Come on let's get out of here and have some fun."

"I'm with you there." Rex nodded with him agreement as they went to go play ball in the backyard, hoping it would be enough to keep their minds off the mushy mushy love atmosphere the house was getting infected with.

Little did they know, they couldn't escape from the festive mood so easily as Spike took notice of them so he called out for them, "Say Max! Rex!"

They both stopped and looked back, "Yeah dad?"

Spike went rummaging in the drawer a bit for something, before passing them to the boys, "You sure you wouldn't want to take these with you?" he said. As they looked in their hands their eyes widened and their jaws hung in disbelief to see they were a pair of pink cards with red heart themed patterns on them! They even had a cupid angel with a love arrow dead center of it! "You know, for those special somebodies you keep dear in your heart but never tell anyone else?" he snickered teasingly while clapping his hands together.

Both boys quickly turned red and dropped the cards while waving out frantically at him, "N…NO! Of course not!"

"Yeah! No way we'd ever get into that soppy mushy mushy stuff! Yuck!" they said blushing red and all flustered before looking to one another in a hurry.

"Come on Rex, let's split before we get infected!" said Max as he rushed off through the back gate so they could escape the clutches of Spike's love themed teasing!

"Yeah, wouldn't want the love bug to bite us too." Rex added as he, along with their dinosaurs who were still clueless as usual, ran out after them before shutting the fate behind.

As they left, Aki and Spike both stood out the back door smiling happily knowing what was in store for them down the road in their youthful lives, it was an inevitably in the end but it was still amusing to see how long they could keep it up, "Hehehe, boys will be boys." Aki giggled as she smiled closing her eyes, "They can deny it all they want but they'll come around eventually,"

"And when they do…sniff…oh they'll grow up so fast….they'll understand the joys and wonders love can bring them….sniff…." Spike sniffled as he pulled his hat down in salutations while hiding childish emotional tears under his eyes.

Aki smiled at her husband playfully before patting him on the back, "Oh they will dear, they will." she said to him as he began to blush red like a tomato himself.

"Ehehehehe….."

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Pet Town animal hospital, Dr Drake hummed to himself in a rather jolly manner as he began rummaging through his closet in his room for something presentable yet also not too fancy, "Hmm hmm hmm…." As he began throwing random clothes out of his closet, Zoe and Cera overheard him as they passed by his door and walked down the stairs to the dining table, while Paris hopped after them and Miku sat on Cera's shoulder as usual. "Your dad's in a good mood today Zoe." said Cera curiously as Zoe giggled back at her.

"Hee hee, why naturally." she replied much to the latter's confusion.

"Huh?"

As they sat down at the table Zoe leaned in to whisper in Cera's ear what may be one of her parents' biggest secrets of all, "Valentine's day is the special day of the year where dad saves up enough money takes mom out on a special annual animal themed honeymoon." she said proudly as she held her head high and proud, "Last year dad took mom out to the zoo! And the year before that they went to the aquarium! AND the year before that they went out to a cat are with so many cute and fluffy kittens!" She said growing all the more excited with each one before reaching to the main point she was saving up to, "This time they're going out to sea whale watching and they'll be sailing right off into the sunset." she concluded rather dramatically as her eyes began to sparkle and she blushed red, "Oh how romantic….how I wish someone could do that for me one day…" she said with a warm smile herself as she clapped her hands together feeling happy for them while also fantasising about the day she would meet her own dream man one day.

"Right….." Cera replied back, not feeling too big or keen on romance herself. She then smiled encouragingly feeling happy for her, "Still it's great your mom has a really caring husband, not to mention extra reliable and devoted to his work too." she said complimenting her parents before looking to Zoe with approval, "You're really lucky to have such wonderful parents."

"Hee hee thanks Cera." Zoe giggled feeling touched by her compliment as Paris ate her vegetables from her bowl on the floor while Miku helped herself to some worms on the other side of the table.

As the 2 girls made breakfast for themselves, being some pieces of toast and orange juice, they settled down nicely as things always did. "I've wondered, how did your folks meet in the first place?" Cera then asked out of curiosity, which made Zoe grin rather cheekily.

"Oh it's a really romantic story." she giggled before leaning in close to her friend's ear, "You see-"

Whisper Whisper

After she explained the entire story, Cera felt her heart touched as she clapped her hands together, "Aww that's so sweet…." she said feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

"I know right? Hee Hee…." Zoe grinned feeling proud of herself, "I bet my dad will even give Dr Taylor a run for his only in the field of romance."

"I'm not sure if we should be turning love and romance into a competition though…." Cera then sweat dropped at her remark as they went back to having their breakfast.

"Zoe! Cera!" Dr Drake's voice then echoed from the other side of the house catching their attention.

"Huh?" Both girls headed to the front entrance to see Mrs Drake just entering the car, in a wooly sweater and long jeans, while her husband wore a thick jumper along with baggy pants as well, "Yes dad?" Zoe then asked him.

"Your mother and I are just about to head out to the pier in a couple of minutes, so you 2 watch ourselves now while we're away alright?" he told them both as they nodded back at him firmly.

"Sure thing dad." Zoe replied.

Cera then eyed the car was just starting up and raring to go, "Heading out already?" she asked Dr Drake as he smiled to her in response.

"Yup! It's a long drive down to the pier after all," he said turning over to his wife in the car waiting for him, "We wouldn't want to miss our ride now would we honey?"

"Of course not dear." she smiled back at him, "Those whales aren't going to watch themselves now are they?"

"Hahaha no they won't." he laughed before heading up to the car's other door at the front. Before going in he waved to the 2 girls once more with a bright smile, "Well you both behave yourselves!" he said to them as the car began to drive off.

"You can count on us!" Zoe cried out while Paris stood on her legs and barked out to them.

"Of course." Cera nodded calmly with Miku still on her shoulder.

"Take care now! Bye!" Dr Drake called out to them once more waving out the window at them before the car disappeared around the corner of the street.

After the parents disappeared from sight, Cera and Zoe with went back inside the house. Thinking about what Mr and Mrs Drake had planned, Cera then turned to Zoe, "So, got any plans for Valentine's today yourself?" she asked as Zoe looked back at her, "Like anything special with Max or Rex?"

A moment of silence came upon the 2 girls, before Zoe began to snicker much to Cera's confusion. She did her best to hold in her amusement, but failed shortly as she began to explode into laughter, "Pfft! Ahahahah! You're funny you know that Cera?" she giggled while also trying to catch her breath, "Those 2 boys are like little kids, they'd be lucky to find dates who are as immature as they are, let alone someone who can put up with their antics every day of the year." she said at the end.

"Y…Yeah they sure would be…." Cera replied back feeling somewhat letdown by her answer, since she was pretty much friends with the both of them for so long she expected her to have at least a hint feelings for one of them. In fact, her instincts told her that deep down under Zoe's big talk she did find some charm in the boys' behaviour and may actually have some feelings for them beginning to sprout somewhere. She then smiled lightly knowing that there may be hope yet if she just be honest with herself….which would be a while given her somewhat snotty personality.

As they walked by one of the rooms, Zoe took notice of her older sister Reese who was typing away at the family computer and seemed rather focused on it. Grinning mischievously to herself and deciding to tease her a little, she skipped right in and leaned in playfully, "Hey Reese, do you have any valentine's plans yourself?" she asked while flashing a playful look at her, "Like having a secret special somebody you haven't told anyone about hmm?"

Upon hearing her snarky remarks Reese turned her head to her cheery younger sister and raised an eyebrow at her, "You're joking right?" she asked in an 'are you kidding?' tone before returning to her work on the computer, "I've outgrown all those silly childish things like cards and chocolates a long time ago back in middle school." she said simply, "Besides, I'm far too busy with work today managing the hospital while mom and dad are out, and would appreciate it if you go play somewhere else for the moment." she said sounding serious.

"Hee hee, we'll see about that…." Zoe giggled playfully as she skipped out of the room towards the stairs where Cera and Miku were waiting for her and Paris.

"You sure you should be saying so blunt in front of her like that Zoe?" Cera asked her uneasily as they went up, leaving Reese all alone downstairs.

While still online, she went to clearing out the family's junk emails as well as responding to any queries pet owners may have had about their animals, as well as giving advice to those who seemed worried about them falling sick. At the back of her mind despite being expressionless and serious most of the time, deep down she may have had a slight interest on romance a bit, but usually was rubbed off at being cold so no one ever gave her a chance once, so she may have felt slightly lonely at times. In fact, only 1 person was able to see past this and like her for who she was, and that thought had been engraved deep into her mind, the idea of Valentine's Day made her think about that person slightly more than she did normally and she couldn't quite shake it off, so she busied herself with whatever work she could find hoping to bury said feelings in the ground knowing it wouldn't work out even if she tried. Little did she know, was that today Valentine's Day had a special plan for her and that special person too.

"Alright, that's the last one." she breathed in relief as she replied back to the last email. Feeling tied she popped her fingers and rested them behind her head while she laid back a little in her chair, only to hear an alert sound coming from her computer which made her wake up. "Hmm?" Edging closer she saw it was a new email from an anonymous sender, "What's this?" Clicking on it, the subject revealed itself as, "From a….secret admirer?" she blinked her eyes in surprise and narrowed them to make sure she was seeing it right, and indeed she was, which made her feel suspicious, "Sounds fishy….." Clicking on it and scanning it for viruses to proved to be clean, "Seems safe though…." she mused but that still didn't make it feel that much better. In fact, she wondered who could've gotten her own personal email so easily, as far as she knew she didn't share it out to anyone she didn't know, so somehow they must have gotten ahold of it. After contemplating over it for a while she decided to give it a look at least, "Might as well see what it's about…." she said as she opened it. When she did, it turned out to be a very long, but also very deep and dramatic love poem!

"Oh my angel, long has my heart ached for you. Your heart is as golden as your hair, your shining eyes brighter than any sparkling jewel! No words could ever describe how pure and true my feelings are for you! I couldn't summon my courage to confess to you before, but cupid's arrow has struck my heart, giving me love for you so strong not even the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs could keep me down!" Reese at first felt somewhat suspicious, but with each word she read she felt herself drawn deeper in by the heart conveyed words, and she couldn't bring herself to pull away from them, "My heart cries out to you, I feel we have a connection, no…an unbreakable bond even! One so strong it ties us together through the ages like it was destiny to be!" It said deeply before ending off with a rather anonymous tip at the end, "Meet me at the Valentine's fair being held at the old amusement park in Sanjo City at 10:00am today, where our destiny awaits my angel!"

As she read out the last line she put a finger to her chin in serious thought, "Sounds a bit fishy…" she mused to herself before reading over the poem he sent, "But whoever this secret admirer is…..what he wrote is quite….romantic….." she admitted feeling quite warm inside. Whoever wrote this did it from the passion and emotions deep in his own heart, it came from someone who knew her yet she didn't. Thinking it over carefully she felt that someone who could write this well couldn't have been a man with ill intent, as she got out from her seat and decided to at least check it out, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to at least see who this is, he did went through the trouble of writing something so sweet and sincere after all….though I can't help but feel whoever wrote this sounds….familiar…." she thought carefully before sending in a reply to that person saying she would be there.

She then left the room and headed upstairs to her room, closed the door behind her and began cleaning up in the showers to make herself more presentable since she was going out to meet a secret admirer. She also made sure to brush her teeth and comb her hair, eliminating all trace of bed hair before changing into a more presentable outlook, being a greenish inner layer, coupled with a long sleeved wooly outer layer, while wearing a long dress like skirt underneath. Feeling good enough about her look she headed out her room and towards the stairs.

Meanwhile, Cera and Zoe were both enjoying themselves in Zoe's room, with Zoe reading a gossip magazine and Cera doing a little tweaking on her dinoshot, while Paris and Miku were taking a nap near the bed. Upon noticing Reese walk by the front of the open door, Cera looked up and blinked her eyes in surprise. "Hey Zoe look." She said as the pig tailed girl looked up too.

"Hmm?" Zoe blinked her eyes wondering if she was seeing things so she decided to see for herself. As they both looked out the door, they confirmed it was no trick their eyes were playing, "Huh? Is that….really Reese?" Zoe was deeply taken aback at seeing how neatly her sister was dressed before she stepped out through the door after putting on some classy high heeled shoes.

"Think she's going out somewhere?" Cera asked curiously as Zoe began giggling cheerily to herself.

"Hee hee, it's a date, no doubt about it!"

"How can you be so sure?" Cera asked raising an eyebrow, knowing from Max and Rex how quickly she jumps to conclusions and the trouble they got her into.

Zoe then gnashed a sudden glare at Cera which made her step back in surprise, "Because my sister never dresses up so fancy like that unless we're having family functions, and since we aren't having any at all, it can't be anything but a date!" she said before quickly shifting to a serious fired up look, "My sisterly instincts are all fired up now! There can be no other explanation for that!" she cried out making Cera sweatdrop uneasily.

"I see….."

"This is big, like really big!" Zoe yelled out at the top of her lungs before clasping her hands on her face as she processed the situation more carefully, "GASP! Wait a minute! My sister has a boyfriend none of us knows about! This is a red alert emergency! This needs looking in to!" she exclaimed as her heart began to race over the many horrible things that could go wrong with this picture, after having gone through a large collection of romance movies and books over the past couple of weeks.

Cera raised an eyebrow at her in suspicion, "Since when did that happen?" she asked as Zoe cried back to her dramatically.

"Since just now!" she yelled before suddenly turning aggressive and firing up, "There's no way I'll let any man have Reese without my approval!" she declared as she pointed up to the sky, "For all we know this man could be pulling wool over her eyes or taking advantage of her as we speak!" She then put her arm to her chest like a soldier saluted his commanding officer, "It's up to me to make sure she's safe! For my duty as a sister demands it!"

Cera shook her head in disagreement at Zoe's logic, "I'm pretty sure Reese is old enough to look after herself Zoe, not to mention she's way more level headed too." she said calmly.

A tic mark appeared on Zoe's forehead upon hearing that statement, "Are you saying I'm nuts!?" she screamed as her eyes reddened and she tensed a fist with a bulging vein on it and flashed it at Cera!

The red haired girl turned pale and waved her hands out frantically, "N…No of course not Zoe…..it's just-"

"Good!" Zoe cut her off in a firm tone, as she went back down the stairs while dialling on her dinoholder, "Now get prepped up! I'm calling Max and Rex and we're getting to the bottom of this and I won't take no for an answer!" she said firmly before clapping her hands, "Now chop chop! Don't make me repeat myself!" she growled staring tensely at Cera, who lowered her head and sighed deeply knowing this could only go wrong in so many ways.

"Sigh…..Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" she muttered as she went to her room to get her dinoshot and their dinosaurs ready, while Zoe rang up the boys and began nagging at them.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Zeta Point, a hatch opened up on one side of the island and ejecting from it was Seth in a pink and yellow jet, which fired off at full speed towards the skies, intending to recover whatever remains of Alpha vehicles he could find. With his newest project of dinosaur revival was reaching its final stages, he intended to harvest as much alpha metal as he could from the remains of their fallen devices and vehicles, knowing they could still be of some use even in their decrepit state.

Deep inside at the living room, Ursula was going through the current month's woman magazines, usually reading through the hottest gossip and fashion trends put her in a good mood, but today's theme was all about valentine's, love and romance both like in celebrity couples, themes in fashion and gossip! Not a single page gone by without a hint of love on it, and seeing it all made Ursula's blood boil! A tic make appeared on her forehead and she shook with immense rage and jealousy to hear about how much luck many women out there in the world had dream loves of their own fulfilled while she was still stuck single for many years! Unable to take it a second longer she crumpled up the magazine and snarled deeply like a raging beast, "Grrrr….." she growled gnashing her teeth and taking her frustration out on her own chair by kicking it against the wall!

"Umm Ursula?" Ed spoke up as he sat at the couch on the other corner eating a bag of crisps.

"What!?" she snorted like a mad bull which made him drop his goodies all over the floor!

"Gah!" he gasped holding his hands out, "I…I was just wondering, what's gotten into you all a sudden? I mean Zander and I haven't gone anywhere near you today so I don't see why you're so uptight."

She scowled at him and clenched her hand into a fist which shook immensely with rage as she looked away from him, "Ed….do you even know what day it is today?"

"V…Valentine's day?" he squeaked nervously, "But, I don't see what-" Before he could finish she grabbed hold of the chair she kicked and then tossed it at the wall with all her might, causing it smash apart into pieces like glass!

SMASH!

"WAAAH!" he screamed jumping off the couch he was at, which was enough to jolt a bit of memory back into his noggin, "Oh yeah, I remember now….." he gulped.

"Every year, when this 1 day of the year comes, I only get reminded….of the pain utter humiliation I suffered on my very first….." she breathed deeply as she flashbacked to her youth, when Ed and Zander offered her cards and chocolates to make her feel appreciated one time on her very first Valentine's day, everyone then turned to laugh at her thinking she was into dorks, which made her turn red with embarrassment and she hadn't been able to live it down since. Since then she had been singled out as the odd girl of the class which stretched on from kindergarten to even high school. She never got the attention she wanted, as all the boys in class that she dreamt of going out with often had dates and not one of them asked her. Every Valentine's day served as a reminder of what she could never have or find, and each year passing made her grow more spiteful towards the day since it never gave her what she wanted.

"And since then each and every Valentine's was exactly like the one before it!" she cried out loudly shaking her fists in a flurry while pulling on her hair, "GRRRGH! Why should everyone else be happy and I don't!? It drives me insane!" she growled gnashing her teeth out of envy and anger which made Ed cower back nervously!

"If it helps though, Zander and I never get any dates on Valentine's Day, or any day at all…." he muttered painfully while twiddling his fingers before crying his eyes out upon remembering the many times he tried to ask a girl out only to be utterly rejected, "WAAAAH!"

Ursula scoffed uncaringly as she turned her head away from him, "That's because you guys are naturally born losers compared to me, a beaming beauty." she scowled folding her arms before yelling out at the fat man, "For someone of my caliber to not even get so much as a card is unthinkable!" she growled at the end sounding offended.

"Gee thanks…." Ed pouted feeling that he was hurt needlessly at her careless remark, like she was intending to rub salt in his old wounds.

Blinker her eyes and looking around she took notice that one member of their group was missing from their trio, "Say, where is Zander anyway?" she then asked as Ed turned to look too.

"Now that you mention it….."

The sounds of loud cheering from the outside corridor caught both their attention, "Woo hoo!"

"Huh?" They both looked out to see Zander was skipping along the hallways, like a joyful idiot without a care in the world while singing at the top of his lungs, "She said yes! She said yes! Whoopee!" he announced doing a spin like a ballerina before continuing on his way towards the fight hangar.

Both his friends stared back weirdly at him as he disappeared from sight, "What's gotten him in a peppy mood?" They both felt he was sick or something because no way was he ever that happy unless-

They both widened their eyes and looked at each other, "Wait a sec, did he just say-"

"No way…." They quickly ran to his room to see the computer he left on inside. Checking it and saw his email was still open, they widened their eyes at their starling discovery inside, "Gah!"

"He has a date!?" They both exclaimed in disbelief seeing the email reply saying she sender was agreeing to meet Zander at the amusement park earlier in the afternoon!

Seeing this made feelings of rage and envy build up within Ursula as she fumed red and exploded, "Argh! How dare he get a date instead of me!? It's….it's…..unacceptable!" she snared demonically as she began pounding Zander's desk in frustration.

Curious, Ed then clicked on the email and as it opened he turned pale at what he found, "That's not all! Look who it is!" he called out to Ursula as he pointed at the screen seeing who he called out to, which depicted a young blond haired woman with glasses and wearing a lab coat, "Reese….Drake…." upon reading the name, Ed's eyes widened and his heat skipped a beat, "Gah! She's that wacky doctor's older daughter!" he exclaimed in alarm while pointing at the profile of her onscreen, "Who also happens to be the big sister of that annoying brat girl!"

"Say what!?" Ursula exclaimed in alarm as she leaned in closer to the computer. Seeing the woman's face made her grit her teeth and snarl viciously, "How dare she seduce Zander like that!?" she hissed twiddling her fingers, thinking in her mind that there was absolutely no way someone like her could ever think of having anything to do with Zander.

"For all we know Ursula, she might even get him to spill the beans about our plans right?" Ed suggested, though her mind was on something different from him.

"How could someone a beautiful as me get outshines by a man as skinny as a skeleton!?" she wailed falling onto her knees and feeling betrayed.

"Err…..good enough I guess…." he sweat dropped at her antics.

She then began popping her knuckles vowing vengeance for this indignity, "Grrgh! I swear when I find him I'm going to-" Her rage quickly subsided when she noticed an unusual tab that Zander had also stored on another side of his computer, which she curiously clicked and it opened up to show a webpage filled with red and pink borderlines and a pair of big hearts in the center of the screen, "Hey what's this?" she asked curiously as Ed came up beside her to see too. The title of the page soon popped up showing off a pair of cupids holing it in a banner, "Match in the making?" Ursula read out loud before shrugging it off, "Pfft! That's the lamest name for a dating website I've ever heard." she said snarkily before noticing the pictures of several hunky men on the page after that, some of which had gnarly beards or tough guy motives, while others seemed like the kind family man type. "Oooh there are a lot of manly hunks on this here site." as she passed through the choices Ursula felt her heart soar through the skies of heaven, and her mind wandered off into several fantasies over her potential future with the men displayed onscreen.

"Oh! Maybe I do have a chance to finally find the man of my dreams!" she cheered with sparkling eyes, taking back what she said about the website earlier before rushing over to the computer and beginning to create a data file based on her! "Okay, I'll just have to make myself appear extra attractive and I'll have more than enough men grovelling before me, begging on their knees to ask me out! Hahahaha! It's pure genius!" she snickered to herself as she added a photo of herself and edited it out with an altering feature to remove any wrinkles, make herself look more slim and elegant, "Alright a little of this…and a bit of that…." she said before adding into her profile plenty of amazing things about herself which included being a super model celebrity and being the leader of a charity that saves orphaned children and animals.

"Umm Ursula?" Ed tapped her on the shoulder while she grinned sneakily at the screen while she continued to add all kinds of lies about herself to make herself look good, though Ed himself didn't think that was such a good idea, "Are you really sure you're allowed to do that? I mean this is the internet, you should watch what you post you know? With all kinds of shady characters skulking about and all."

"Oh please Ed," she muttered back to him while still focused on the screen, "I'm a grown woman, if anything people out there should be worried about me!" she cried before adding the final touches, "And…done!" She said clicking the enter button and creating a full profile about herself that was guaranteed to attract men by the millions to her in no time! Feeling proud of herself she clapped off her hands, beating off any dust on it, before folding her arms on her hips seriously, "Alight, now let's go tail that double crossing Zander and stick him in his place for good!" she said firmly as she fired up with anger and jealousy, "He'll see what happens when he steps out of line and gets what I don't!" she declared as she rushed out towards the vehicle hangar.

"Y..Yeah…sure Ursula…." Ed muttered as he walked after her feeling rather unmotivated, knowing this would come to bite them in the butt sooner or later.

 **(Later)**

At the entrance to the amusement park was a rather attractive fountain in the shape of a flower squirting out water from the center of it. Sitting by on the edge of it was Reese, who was surveying her surroundings and keeping an eye out for the anonymous sender who asked for her to meet him at this very spot and at this very time. So far she had been sitting there for nearly 10 minutes and saw no one who seemed to be the one who emailed her earlier in the morning, as nearly everyone who passed her was already part of a couple eager to get inside and have fun. She sighed to herself feeling that this may have been a prank mail to her and was even about to consider leaving, but decided at the lasts second to wait a few more minutes first.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being spied on by 4 young kids who popped their heads from behind a bench some distance off from where she was, "There she is!" Zoe pointed out as the others turned to look at where she was focusing on, though not as enthusiastic as she was.

"I feel like a criminal doing this….." muttered Max feeling guilty as he felt they were eavesdropping or meddling in private matters they shouldn't get themselves involved with.

"I think the term was called….stalker I believe?" Cera then stated.

"That sounds way worse…." Rex sweat dropped at the remark.

Grumpy because they got way better things to do-wanted to get away from love but now forced to get involved with it

"Shush!" Zoe hissed holding a finger to her lips as she shot them all furious glares which silenced them, "One more word out and I'll sew your mouths shut!"

Her 3 friends sighed deeply, "Ugh….Fine…." clearly they felt being forced against their will to do this, not only did they feel like eavesdropping was wrong but some of them wanted to have nothing to do with Valentine's and love, and now they were being forced to get fully involved with it today.

"But at least tell us again why we're doing this Zoe?" Rex then asked.

"Yeah, care to explain why you dragged us all the way out here?" Max pouted crossly.

She turned to them with a serious look, "It's to protect Reese you guys!" she cried all paranoid, "Don't you see? Reese usually coops herself up in the lab or at home at the computer so she doesn't go out much! For all we know this guy she met online could be some kind of hoodlum just waiting to make easy pickings of her!" she then firmly put a fist to her chest, "As her sister it's my job to look after her like every other good family member should!" she said like it was her sworn duty, as the others squinted or raised an eyebrow at her.

"I think you watch way too many tv shows Zoe…." muttered Rex feeling annoyed while Max moaned seeing this scenario was exactly like that time she jumped to conclusions with a pilot at the airport months ago.

"Reese is a grownup, she can handle herself just fine." said Cera after recalling her strangling Dr Taylor one time, "She's responsible enough to make her own choices and decisions, it's her own life and we shouldn't decide for her." she added, "In fact, I'd be more worried about any thug who even thinks of messing with her, they'll gave themselves beaten to a pulp in less than a minute."

"Urk…." Zoe croaked having forgotten that part about her sister, but she shook her head in defiance and refusing to admit her mistake, "Well maybe she'll meet someone completely sneaky and rotten to the core who'll catch her off guard! You'll never know!" she cried out to them as the others sighed or groaned in dismay at her stubborn attitude.

"Oh yeah? Name one person who can do just that to Reese." Max replied snarkily.

As if right on cue, "My angel!" A familiar voice suddenly rang out in the distance, making Reese and the D Team focus in the direction it came from. Running towards her with a waving hand and a big grin on his face was none other than Zander of the Alpha Gang! "Ahahahahah!"

"Oh?" Reese mused in surprise.

"HUH!?" The D Team gasped in alarm as their eyes made contact with the person who apparently was the one who called Reese out here! This set off many red alerts in Zoe's head while the others still were stunned in disbelief at what was going on.

Blinded by love and excitement, Zander paid no attention to his surroundings as he ran, before long he ended up tripping over and uneven tile which made him fall forward and his face planting on the ground! "WAH! Oof!" His epic fail was enough to make Max and Rex snicker in amusement, while Zoe kept her guard up thinking it could be an act.

"Ah! Reese gasped with concern as she got off where she was sitting and ran to him, "H…Hey are you alright!?" she asked out of concern.

"Urgh….." he groaned painfully with his face still on the ground, but as he looked up to see Reese's face he brightened up with joy as a huge smile came across his face, "Oh! I knew you'd show up! I just knew it!" he cheered happily as he suddenly spring back up to life and on his feet, much to Reese's surprise at his fast recovery, "I was so nervous when I sent out that email, I thought I sounded like a weirdo and that you might just send it to the trash. But when you replied back to it I-"

Reese blinked her eyes at his last words, "W…Wait, you sent that email?" she asked as Zander nodded back at her.

"Yup, that's me!" he grinned pointing a thumbs up to himself.

Reese then frowned slightly at him in response, "The sender address was labelled anonymous amour….that sounded quite fishy to me, and a bit uncomfortable to say the least."

Realising the error in his actions, Zander then chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head, "Err hehe sorry about that…I kinda thought that if I used my real address you'd be put off by it after you knew who I was."

"Heh, well using an anonymous address doesn't help much either though." Reese chuckled back at him.

"I'll be sure to….remember that next time. Heheh…." he then laughed to himself in embarrassment.

That aside, Reese then narrowed her eyes rather suspiciously and folded her arms, "So then, why did you call me out here?" she then asked him as he gasped in alarm.

"Oh yes right! Of course! I almost forgot! Please forgive me umm…Your name's Reese right?" he stuttered somewhat.

She raised an eyebrow in turn, "Yes…it is." she replied back uneasily to his question.

"Alright then here goes….Ahem!" said Zander clearing his throat at last. A moment of silence passed between both of them, and mustering all the courage in his heart and soul Zander quickly clapped his hands together in a pleading position, "Will you please go out with me!?" he cried out loud before uttering a silent prayer deep inside his heart that she would accept.

As he asked her out in such a blunt and direct way, Reese covered her mouth with her hand in surprise at his sudden and unexpected request, "Oh my…."

Nearby the D Team were flabbergasted at Zander's intentions too, "Huh!?"

"Say what!?"

"Is he nuts!?" Max, Rex and Zoe went in surprise as they widened their eyes in bewilderment.

Cera then gulped nervously "I knew the alpha gang were loonies, but this guy may be the biggest nutcase of them all."

"I'm actually surprised he's willing to be serious about this." Rex added while Zoe gritted her teeth and growled in anger.

"He's got some nerve thinking can ask Reese out of the blue like that, knowing who she is and think she'll accept! Just who does he think he is!?" she yelled popping her knuckles as she stood up preparing to step right in, "Why I oughta-" Before she could march in and give them both a piece of her mind, her friends quickly grabbed hold of and held her back!

"Ssh! Not now!" Rex hissed as he covered her mouth with his hands while Max and Cera tried their best to restrain her thrashing arms and body!

"Control yourself Zoe!" Cera cried out pleadingly as they barely managed to bring her down and behind the bench again and out of sight!

"Like I said in my email to you, I've wanted this for a long time but never had the courage to do it till now! I've spent several weeks straight planning ever single word of that email and mustering up every ounce of whatever speck of courage I had in me to be truthful to my feelings and confess how much you truly mean to me my angel!" Zander proclaimed out loud as he knelt down on one knee to Reese as a show of respect and formality, "And now….I think now is the perfect time to be honest with you and myself!" he concluded at the end in a Shekespearan sort of manner.

Reese blinked her eyes in surprise at everything Zander said and done just to arrange this meeting between them both, she had to admit it was quite commendable for him to be truly honest with her, "I'm…flattered by you asking me out like this….." she said feeling touched before thoughts of worry and insecurity came upon her due to him being a member of the Alpha Gang, "But well…." she began to look away from him slightly, which he soon picked up on.

"Oh! If you're feeling suspicious of my motives well don't be!" he said as he opened all his pockets on his coat and pulled them out, showing he had nothing suspicious of the sort inside, "Look see? Nothing on me! Not devices, no gadgets, and certainly no dinosaurs! Heh, as far as I know none of my teammates know anything about our little rendezvous here." he chuckled before getting back to the point at hand, "So please? Will you be….my valentine?"

Reese sweated a little nervously as she began to contemplate this important decision that could maybe even decide the fate of the battles between the Alpha Gang and D Team, "I uh….well….." she said uneasily while looking around in various directions further highlighting her insecurity.

In the background behind the bench Zoe began biting her nails in anticipation of her answer, "No Reese, don't do it!"

"Ugh, no way is this going to work out." Max groaned as he and Rex were starting to feel sick at the thought of Reese and Zander going on a date.

Cera noticed her friend's concern over her sister's decision as she smiled and patted her on the back, "Relax Zoe, you're overreacting she'll turn him down without a second thought." she said having full faith in Reese's judgement.

Max then nodded with Cera and smiled at Zoe together with Rex, "Yeah you can relax, before long she'll be saying-"

"Since you went through a lot of trouble to arrange this….meeting with me….I suppose it wouldn't hurt a bit…." Reese then added at the end blushing rather shyly. Her statement brought a set of mixed reactions from everyone who was watching her and Zander.

"AH!" Zander gasped all bright eyed and filled with joy as he blushed red and filled with hope.

On the other hand each of the D Team felt their hopes shattered and their minds blown beyond belief! "Eh!?"

"Wha!?"

"No way!"

Cera widened her eyes realising they were being too loud as she grabbed them all and forced them to lay low and hide, "Gasp! Get down!" she hissed bringing finger to them as she had them all lowered to below the bench so they wouldn't be seen as Reese and Zander turned around.

"Did you just hear something?" Zander asked curiously feeling certain he heard a voice, or more precise a few voices.

"Maybe it was from somewhere else…." Reese then assumed shrugging it off as nothing.

With negotiations out of the way, Zander then coughed and cleared his throat before holding out his hand in a bashful manner, "So umm…shall we?" he croaked as his hand shook with embarrassment and worry.

Finding his reaction to be amusing, Reese couldn't help but giggle herself, "Hee hee, alright then." she said as she took his hand, much to Zander's joy and excitement, as they both walked over to the park entrance to buy tickets.

As the D Team looked up from their hiding spot behind the bench, they could only stare unblinkingly at the scenario that was playing out before their eyes.

"Th…They're actually…." Max pointed out weakly with a shaky hand.

"Going out….." Rex finished for him.

"I can't unsee this….." said Cera feeling the world had just been turned upside down, "This must be a sign of the apocalypse for sure…."

"I thought….I'm seeing a nightmare….but if you guys can see it too…." a mad grin came across her face as she flared up in a demonic purple aura, "Then it's time to kill him!" she cried out loud psychotically, which was truly frightening even for her friends who cowered back in alarm at her declaration!

"Wha!?" As she stood up and stomped out preparing to give Zander a piece of her mind, Max and Rex, shocked that she literally meant what she was going to say, ran out ahead and held their arms out trying to stop her!

"Easy now Zoe!"

"You're not thinking clearly! Don't do something you'd regret!" They cried out but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Out of my way guys!" she growled threateningly which made them turn pale, "That creep put a spell on Reese for sure, and I'm going to make him extinct like the dinosaurs!" she said popping her knuckles, "And you guys too if you don't get out of my way!"

"Urk…." They both croaked and gulped nervously realising she was serious and she'd do it without hesitation.

Not wanting things to escalate any further, Cera then decided to say her own piece, "M…Maybe Zander's really taking Reese out on legit date and he isn't up to anything at all?" Cera then stated bluntly, which earned her some funny looks from max and Rex, as well as making Zoe's evil aura flare up even more so! "You're right, what am I thinking? He's rotten to the bones and you can never trust the alpha gang as far as you can throw them." she sighed eventually relenting to the others and also realising how ridiculous her own statement was too.

Zoe then punched a fist right into the palm of her hand, "We'd better nip this forbidden love in the bud before it blossoms into a nightmare that would doom the world!" she announced firmly before eying the rest of the D Team present, "It's now or never guys! Are you with me!?" she then yelled shooting a piercing glare at each of them, saying she wouldn't accept no even if they begged her to, much to their chagrin.

"Guess we don't have a choice now…." Rex sees have to save Reese

"After all Reese did for us it's natural we look out for her too."

"Come on let's go and get this over with fast…." Max want to hurry up so he can go home and watch tv

"But we need to stay quiet, don't want any of them to find out we're tailing them too."

Nearby, hiding in some bushes were both Ursula and Ed, who poked their heads out from their hiding spot and using some binoculars to zoom in on everything Zander said and was doing with Reese. "This doesn't look too good Ursula…." Ed muttered feeling worried about Zander was getting hooked by a member of the D Team, "At this rate, he'll blurt out every one of our secrets! Or wore, he might even leave us of good and join up with them! That's just horrible right?" He asked looking up to Ursula but stuttered when he saw her grip tightening on her own binoculars so tightly that they were beginning to crack apart!

"Grrrgh! How dare he get a date on Valentine's day instead of me!?" Ursula she hissed filled with envy as her eyes turned orange demonically! "That hussy must have put some kind of love spell on him or something! And I'm going to set him straight and show him whom he should be worshipping!" she growled as she shook with rage, "The one and only me! No one's going to take away my henchmen from me! Nobody!" she shouted out to the sky as Ed gulped down hard.

"Whoa you do care….in a way…." he then muttered, "But how are we going to do that?"

"Well we-" Before she could finish her sentence a ringing sound came on her alpha scanner which caught their attention.

RING! RING!

"Hmm?" As she took it out of her pocket and switched it on, she blushed red and went all teary eyed when she saw the notification she received, "Ah! A date request for me!?" she squealed in a fangirl manner that someone had responded to her profile and now had just invited her out for a date!

"Really?" Ed mused raising an eyebrow at her suspiciously, "Didn't think anyone would actually get back to you with all those lies you fed into your profile."

Upon hearing his snarky remark Ursula tightened and shook a fist at him, "What was that?" she threatened as he covered his head in a fright!

"N…Nothing!"

Ignoring his whimpering she looked back at the profile of the person who accepted her date request, which had no picture displayed though, as she began to read it out loud. "It says it's from a man named Fossil Hunting Hero….very strong, loyal and brave, the adventurous kind who'll brave deserts, swamps and bogs just for me!" she said giddily as she felt she finally found her dream man whom she always longed for when she was a little girl, "Oh it's like he and I were a match made in heaven…." she said before blushing red and drooling at the fantasies of her being carried in the arms of a super muscular man with wavy golden hair, with rocky abs and guns the size of mountains, dressed in a loincloth while also sporting a flashy grin which made her nose bleed! "Aaaah….." she said dreamily as she hugged her alpha scanner to her chest.

"Urgh…." Ed moaned feeling both sick and weirded out, more than usual, knowing this could end badly in so many ways he couldn't count that high.

"Ed, change of plans!" She then said suddenly as she shoved him her alpha scanner much to his alarm!

"Wha!?" He gasped as she stood up and began to hightail it back to the alpha jet they took which was further off!

"You go take care of Zander! I've got a date with destiny! Yippee!" she squealed with excitement and anticipation as she hopped into the cockpit and began powering it up!

"W…Wait a minute! Come back here!" he cried out to her, but his words fell on deaf ears as she quickly took off into the sky leaving him behind! "Oh boy not again…." he then groaned in annoyance before facepalming himself at the fact that this was happening again for the umpteenth time, only this time it was all on him to make sure nothing went wrong, which as usual, was impossible.

 **(Later)**

Around nearly every corner of the amusement park had been designed perfectly for dating or married couples, some of the rides such as tea cup spinners and haunted house were designed in a way that girls could cling onto their dates if they were ever scared. Other activities included trust falls, sack races and 3 legged races too which helped in getting pairs to bond closer to one another. On occasion there were a few unusual stands, for those unlucky enough to be stood up or broken off by their dates, which provided unusual goods such as love potions or even cursed rings to make others fall in love with them or get others to break up with the person of their dreams.

One couple however didn't seem particularly engaged or interested with any of these activities, as they both sat at a cafe table together under an umbrella staring at one another awkwardly. As they sat there doing nothing practically but look away from each other, unsure on who to go about their 'date' there were some passerbies who made gossip remarks behind their back which luckily they couldn't hear.

"Ugh, she's got awful taste in men…."

"How'd a loser like him get hooked with someone as cute as her!?"

"I wish I was him.…"

"Should I call the cops on that guy?"

"Maybe we should dump some hot glue on him…."

For several minutes nothing happened between them, and feeling they wouldn't get anywhere unless someone started a conversation, Reese decided to break the silence first. "So umm…how's things going on for you.…you know being in the alpha gang and all….it must sound….rough?" she asked.

"Oh it's not so bad." Zander replied, "We live on an island after all, so the beach is pretty much a minute walk from home, not to mention there's plenty of fresh ocean air to wake up to every single day of the week. It certainly helps take your mind off the stress of work and abuse from an ungrateful boss too." He answered simply as Reese nodded in acknowledgement.

"I see, that's looking at things on the bright side…."

"Mhmm….." he nodded back at her, "So…how are all the dinosaurs and cards you've taken from us?" he then asked sounding awkward, "You are looking after them right?"

"Well we….make sure they're safe and well cared for." Reese answered uneasily, since they pretty much looked the cards in the vault and not actually take care of them literally, it would be far too costly and too much trouble for them all. Reese however became somewhat suspicious at his question and narrowed her eyes at him, "Though I hope you're not asking me for any favours."

Zander stuttered and waved his arms out in a frantic, "N…No! No! Not at all! Just asking that's all heheh….." he chuckled nervously, "In fact, we should't be talking about being on opposite sides or about dinosaurs at all today, it's just us and no one else!" he cried out, "But since you are a vet and take care of animals, taking care of dinosaurs must be a singe right?"

"Ehehe…In a way…." Reese chuckled uneasily back at him, before the silence descended upon them both once more.

As Zander whistled to himself he then screamed inside his head to himself, "Come on Zander think! You can do better than this! This is the moment you've dreamed of! To spend some one to one time with your angel and impress her! Right now she's only getting a bad first impression!" he yelled to himself as Reese looked away from him, which he took as her wanting to try and get away from him for being such a screwup.

"Are you…okay?" Reese then asked him seeing he was fidgeting about and sweating profusely.

He quickly turned to her in response, "S…Sure I am! Haha!" he laughed taking a napkin from his pocket and wiping himself dry, "It's just that, it feels very hot today and I'm sweating like I'm being cooked in an oven!"

"Haha, well they did say tomorrow there will be some heavy showers coming in." Reese chuckled.

"Hehe, well that's a relief, I'm sweating so much right now even my socks are getting drenched now." Zander then croaked realising he said something rather disturbing and he couldn't take it back, "Gah! What am I saying!? I'm such an idiot! It's not like we are actually an item or anything!" He cried on the inside as his eyes began twirling around in confusion making him feel rather dizzy and unable to straighten his thoughts properly.

Seeing he wasn't feeling quite himself, Reese felt that he probably needed some time for himself, and she also saw this as a chance for her to get a little space for herself, "Umm Zander?" she asked standing up.

He looked to her, "Y…Yes ange-" He shook his head stopping himself from saying something awkward in time, "I mean Reese! Anything you want I can call for it!" he said with a nervous smile.

She then pointed to the side with a finger, "Actually I need to go to…powder my nose…." she answered as he turned quiet at her.

"Oh you mean the bathroom?" he replied before nodding politely to her, "Okay then sure, go right ahead. I'll be right here waiting…." he said quietly as she slowly began to pace away from him.

"Thank you. I need to go an…wash up a bit." she said as she walked off in the direction she had pointed in.

The moment she was out of sight, Zander began banging his head on the table repeatedly, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" he cursed himself believed to have scared her off and this had to punish himself for this indignity! "Why did I have to go running my mouth like that!? I've gone and scared her off and now she's never going to come back!" he cursed himself inwardly before planting his face on the table, with a river of tears washing out over the edge of the table down to the floor. His behaviour was so bizarre it put off a number of people walking by or sitting near him. Raising his head and sporting an expression of determination he then tensed up unwilling to give up hope just yet, "C…Calm down, it's not the end of the world yet, maybe she will come back and she does need to wash up….." he said positively before his tears began to well up in his eyes once again, "But what if she doesn't? WAAAAAHHH! It's not fair!" he bawled falling back into negativity once more and at losing all hope.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Reese headed into the ladies room further off where a set of food stands for snacks such as popcorn and cotton candy stood, along with a grab bag stall. As she went inside the washroom, she quickly took off her glasses, turned on the tap and smashed water on her face a few times as she took a deep breath to clear the many thoughts of confusion and anxiety which were running through her mind at the time. She didn't how to explain it, not once had she felt this way in her entire life, for her to be acting in such a manner was unlike her, she barley knew Zander except for being a member of the alpha gang, and yet he was being genuinely nice to her and had no ill motive in the slightest. The many thoughts of conflict began warring against one another inside her mind and heart, whether to be wary because he was with the enemy and could easily turn at anytime, or that she should give him a chance.

As drops of water began dripping down from her face she let out a deep sigh as she stared down into she sink for several seconds while trying to process these thoughts of hers carefully like a scientist would….but to little avail, "Sigh…..This isn't working out….." she muttered to herself, "Zander worked so hard to set this up for us, and yet I don't seem to be giving him the appreciation his efforts deserve….." she said feeling guilty about herself, "It's just, we're on opposing sides and yet at the same time…..I just don't know what to do…." she added at the end feeling torn. As such as she wanted to, she didn't have the heart to leave after hearing all the effort Zander mustered into arranging this moment for months since their last encounter, she not only felt obliged, but also deeply touched by his actions too, "I just wish I could do something to make him feel a little bit better….if only I could reciprocate his feelings and give him the experience he had hoped and worked so hard for." she thought to herself with a deep sigh. Little did she know though, was that her wish about to be granted in a way she would never see coming.

Just outside where the restroom was, a young man kneeled down before a young woman as he held up a small box to her in his hand, "My dear and lovely Iris." he said bowing down before opening the box, revealing a gold ring with a small but sparkly jewel embedded in it! The sight of it was enough to make his future finance widen her eyes in shock at both his proposal and the gift he was presenting before her. "Will you….marry me?" he then asked as he looked into her eyes with a most hopeful expression and emotion in his eyes.

The woman was at a loss for words and breath, as her heart raced and pounded inside her, as a sense of feeling overwhelmed and moved took over her, "Ah…Oh Bobby I…I…."

Next to them though, a teenage boy and his date were at the grab bag stall, as the boy reached into the large brown sack and rummaged around inside it till he got a hold of what seemed to be a nice gift for his girlfriend. Grinning eagerly he yanked it out but stared at in in surprise and curiosity to find it was a metallic egg shaped, "Hey what have we got here?" he asked as he looked all around it trying to determine what it was.

"Oh! Open it up and see!" his girlfriend then urged him as she shuddered with anticipation over the goodie that was inside it. Upon her request her boyfriend opened it, only to find there was a single card inside, with a golden border and a picture of an ankylosaur like dinosaur in the front. "Is that a….card?" she asked.

"Weird….not what I was expecting at all." The boy blinked his eyes before frowning in disappointment, hoping it was a special gift or at least some chocolates he could give for his date.

Before long the sun shone through the clouds above, as a beam of light pierced the gem encrusted ring, it caused a spectrum of rainbows to erupt in many directions causing the couple nearby to cover their eyes!

"Ah!"

"My eyes!" A stray rainbow beam shone on the card in the other pair's possession, causing the card to suddenly shine too much to their alarm!

"Huh!?"

As it died down, 3 pawpawsaurus appeared in the area! A large brown male with black stripes, an equally sized female which was yellowy orange, and the last one being a pink juvenile! As the family appeared before the people who were in the area, they all screamed in alarm and terror as they all ran in separate directions in a panic!

Summons 3 dinosaurs

"WAAAHH!"

"Dinosaurs!" The man dropped his ring in the panic as he and his fiancé split up from each other.

"Dinosaurs!"

"Run away!" The couple too became separated in the flurry of panicking people as the 3 dinosaurs became disorientated and panicky themselves being surrounded by so many people at once as the bellowed out in agitation before charging off and bulldozing over stands wherever they went!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Argh! Where'd they go now!?" Zoe screamed in frustration as the D Team came to a lot in the park near the lake where some people were hoping to get out on pedal boats together. They tried to follow Reese and Zander all over the park but despite their best efforts they ended up losing their trail and now they were lost in the park themselves without a clue on how to find them now.

"Huff….we've been walking for hours Zoe…." Rex and the others panted after she dragged them all over the place for a long while, but she didn't pay them any attention as her shape eyes continued scanning their surroundings for any signs of a blond haired woman with glasses or a skinny man in an ugly coat.

Cera looked around her side to find a few game stands which included ball toss or cupid's arrow archery where men were trying impress their lady friends with their skills or win them over, but none of them were Reese or Zander, "No sign of them anywhere….." she said disappointedly

"How did we lose them anyway?" Rex sighed deeply as he leaned against a nearby cosplay changing booth, which also doubled as a photo booth where couples could dress up as their favourite TV or game characters and pose together for cool shots.

Zoe gained a huge tic mark on her forehead as she gritted her teeth and fumed red, "Maybe if someone didn't stop to buy hot dogs at that stand earlier we might have caught up to them by now!" she yelled directing her anger on Max who went to the corner twiddling his fingers in shame.

"Hey I was hungry….." he said feeling guilty of being the one responsible, but he couldn't bear to go a second longer on an empty stomach. Without warning, Zoe suddenly grabbed him by the collar much to the others' alarm as she glared into his eyes! "ACK!"

"How about I give you a knuckle sandwich!?" she hissed pulling back her arm and tightening her hand into a fist ready to let loose at any second! "Will that be filling enough for you?"

"Gulp!" Max swallowed hard as his heart skipped a beat as he stared back into the menacing eyes of Zoe which looked almost like a berserk gorilla ready to go primal on him at any second! "N…Not the face!" he yelped covering it with his hands hoping he'd be able to protect some of his teeth from getting knocked out of his jaw!

Cera then stepped in and tried to pull her away from the poor boy, "Come on Zoe, give Max a break," she grunted in annoyance noticing Zoe's grip was really tight and stubborn as she was, "I'm sure he didn't mean it! Just let it go!" she wheezed as she tried hard to pull them apart.

Rex then joined in, jumping in between Max and Zoe as he was able to wrench him away from her much to his relief, "Plus you're kinda making a scene." he said at the end, looking around them onlookers backed away nervously or began gossiping about Max and Zoe being something like a breakup gone terribly wrong, it was really embarrassing….

That however wasn't enough o deter Zoe as she continued thrashing her arms out while still in Cera's grip, "I don't care!" she yelled fuelled by frustration and impatience, even Cera felt her strength giving out clearly underestimating the other girl's tenacity before she finally broke loose! "It's because of him that we've lost Reese and now she's all alone, easy pickings for that…that slime ball!" she yelled pointing at Max who cowered behind Rex, before she fell to her knees crying her eyes out, "Oh who knows what kinds of horrible things he's going to do…..WAAAH! I'm so sorry sis…."

The others looked at her and sweat dropped at her childish behaviour, even raising an eyebrow at her too, "You really don't Reese at all do you?"

"And you're supposed to be sisters too…."

She then regained her earlier angry look as she stood back up and flared up with rage, "Grr! I swear if he tries anything on my sister, he's gonna-"

BEEP! BEEP!

A familiar sound cut her rants off short and in time, "Huh?" As they all looked on their devices they widened their eyes at what they saw.

"A dinosaur here!?" Max gasped in alarm before the sounds of panicked screams and cries for help echoed at the further side of the park, where everyone else was turning to look out of curiosity.

"It's nearby too!" cried Cera upon hearing a bellow in the direction the screams came from too.

Zoe then clenched her hand into a fist in anger, "I bet it's the alpha gang, it can't be anyone else!" she yelled before becoming concerned, "But that means Reese is-" in her mind she began worrying over Zander using Terry about to eat a defenceless Reese who fell on the ground running away, Spiny who was dragging her down into a watery grave or Tank about to squash her with her tail while he laughed out loud maniacally! "Quick! We've got to go now!" She yelled to her teammates as they nodded firmly with her in agreement.

"Right!"

"On the double!" Rex and Max nodded as the 4 kids charged in the direction of the screams.

Further off, Ed had just came out from the snack stand carrying a load of treats in his hands which included popcorn, corndogs and cotton candy. "Hehehe! Now we're talking!" he chuckled greedily to himself as he poked his head through his snack load as he began turning around looking for any sign of Zander or Reese, having lost them after being distracted by food, "Now where did they go off to? They couldn't have gone far…" he muttered to himself as his eyes scanned his surroundings hoping to pick up a trace of either of them, only to come up with nothing much to his disappointment. "Oh well…at least I get to spend time with you guys." He said looking on the bright side at his one true love, food! His mouth began to drool as he began to think over which he should try first, so many snacks so little time, maybe he should take them all in at once!

He was about to do that when he heard a blinking sound coming from his pocket, "Huh?" Dropping all his goodies on the ground to free his hands he reached into his pocket to take out his alpha scanner which was glowing red. "Whoa a dinosaur! Talk about a lucky score!" he grinned seeing it was nearby. He then remembered what he was doing earlier as he looked out feeling conflicted, "But Zander….." he quickly shook it off knowing what took priority, "Nah, he can take care of himself, first thing's first!" He then dialled on the scanner to call for backup, "Hey Ursula! Come in-" His voice came out from the other scanner in his other pocket, which snapped him back to reality as he recalled what happened earlier, "Oh yeah right….." he sighed deeply, "Sigh…guess it's on me today…." he muttered at the end before trotting off in the direction the dinosaur detector pointed him in.

Just as he left the premises, Zander stumbled in, with the front half of his body leaning forward as if he was in despair or very weak and unmotivated himself, "Oh what am I going to do….because of me my angel's gone….spirited away and never to return….." he whimpered wallowing in self pity and in his insecurities over his failures. Suddenly the sounds of bellowing and screaming woke him up from his fuzz, "Huh? What the?" as he turned to see a number of people running out fleeing in terror from something no doubt, "Ah! That sounds like trouble!" he gasped before scrunching his face in realisation, "But that's where my angel went!" He then pointed out to the sky firmly with strength and confidence, "Never fear! Your knight in shining armour is here to save the day!" he declared as he ran off towards the chaos without fear or any sense of caution at all.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the sight of so many people screaming and running about around them, the 3 pawpawsaurus grew increasingly agitated as they barely managed to move or step around without realising at the last second they were going to squish a person! The situation was so bizarre that the youngster cried out in a fright as it ran off, splitting away from its parents much to their alarm as it bulldozed over several stands and stalls in a panic! The parents cried out wanting it to come back but the screams of so many people blocked out their cries to it, and the people running around screaming their heads off kept them from going after their child!

"EEEEK!"

"It's going to eat us!" Cries of terror echoed through the park side as the bonds of love were being tested for many couples present, both young and old. While some held on to their partners refusing to let go of them, others were not so lucky.

"Get out of the way!" A man yelled shoving some others aside leaving his date behind!

"H…Hey! Are you just going to leave me!?" she cried out offended before noticing the male pawpawsaurus was stumbling by and about to squash her underfoot! "WAAAAHH!" she screamed a she scurried away before the foot stomped on the ground and leaving a huge crack in the ground!

Meanwhile Ed had ran in on the scene seeing so many people running and screaming for their lives. He smirked seeing he was on the right track, and then saw a pink tail sticking out from behind some bushes near a park bench, "Aha! There you are!" He cried out pointing at it, his voice startled the young dinosaur as it quickly abandoned its hiding spot and barked out at Ed defensively, while he stared back at it curiously, "Huh? A pawpawsaurus? Didn't the brats get that one from us a while back?" he asked himself wondering how this was possible before he shrugged his shoulders, "Oh what difference does it make, I've got myself a dinosaur to wrangle and I know just the dino for the job!" he said grinning eagerly as he took out a card and an alpha scanner, "Alpha slash! Blaze Tyrannosaurus!" Terry soon appeared on the field, stomping on the ground and roaring ferociously, as the skies turned multicoloured in the battlefield! People further off who could see his massive red build widened their eyes and ran off in a panic!

"Ehehehe! Gotcha now!" Ed grinned as Terry lowered his head towards the terrified baby dinosaur and snorted in front of it, as it cowered against the corner of the wall, scared stiff, but not before letting out a cry of help! A cry which echoed across the field and was soon picked up by its parents, which were nearby as they both turned around and started barreling towards their child!

As it continued to cry for help, Terry halted his advance at the last second, before gazing upon the helpless baby dinosaur with sympathy….as it curled up defensively and barked out in a futile defiance he couldn't help but be reminded about how Cera had taught him to stand up for the weak, now….he couldn't bring himself to harm to such a young dinosaur as he took a step back.

Ed couldn't believe his eyes as he stared speechlessly for a few seconds before yelling out in frustration, "Wh…What are you waiting for Terry!? He's right there for the taking! So get him already!" he yelled out impatiently. Terry looked to Ed again unsurely and then back to the pawpawsaurus a few times, unable to decide what to do, for he knew no matter what choice he made he'd come to feel some kind of regret on the inside later on. He didn't have to worry much about making a decision for long though, as the vibrations surged through the ground and the stands around them shook violently as the earth trembled! Looking around Terry tried to pinpoint where it was coming from till he focused in a single direction, to see a large dust cloud approaching in fast ahead!

"Huh? What's that?" Ed muttered as he put a hand over his eyes for a better look.

To his and Terry's surprise, the 2 adult pawpawsaurus barged into the scene, bulldozing over several stands and trampling over them as they took positions in front of their young, with the mother holding back to shelter it while the father stepped forward and bellowed defensively at Terry who took a step back started by the unexpected arrivals!

"Gah!" Ed gasped jumping back a bit before slowly chuckling nervously, "Er….Hehehe, 3 dinosaurs for the price of one? Looks like my lucky day!" he snickered trying his best to act tough, "Go Terry! Take them all down!" he cried out punching his arm forward. Shaking his head clear of doubts, Terry roared out loudly as he charged ahead to meet the male pawpawsaurus in a head on fight!

It was at that point the male shone a bright rainbow colour and bellowed out, calling his mate to take a stand beside him. Together they leaned in and kissed, generating a gigantic pink energy heart to shoot out towards Terry!

"WHA!?" Ed's jaw hung in disbelief at what he was seeing! Terry widened his eyes as he realised he was charging straight into an attack, and what's worse his momentum kept him going and he was unable to stop, slow down or turn around in time as the heart hits its mark! He roared in pain as several other hearts erupted from the big one before falling down forward and collapsing on the ground, the impact causing the other hearts to fly out in separate directions! "GAAAAH!" Ed screamed as he jumped into some bushes unwilling to let even a single one hit him! Meanwhile the hearts began to spread around the park, hitting their marks on several people who were still in the vicinity, either hiding, fainted or still hadn't managed to escape yet as they began to glow in pink energy while crying out loud with the surge of energy flowing through them!

Reese soon stepped out from the washroom nearby the battle, the noise having caught her attention as she stepped out to investigate the cause, "What's going on out here?" She then widened her eyes to see a stray energy heart was shooting straight towards her, "AH!" she gasped as she froze in place and she widened her eyes unable to move in time as the heart quickly enveloped her in pink light! "AAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed out loud as she felt a surge of energy course through her! So much that she eventually collapsed on the ground and fainted!

Nearby, Zander was running in a straight line when he heard the scream much to his alarm, "That voice!" he gasped before gritting his teeth, rushing on determined to find and protect his darling angel from whatever dinosaur was wreaking havoc on this beautiful day, and ruining the date he worked so hard to plan! Coming to the open area he widened his eyes to see Reese lying down by the restrooms, "Gah! Reese!" he gasped as he rushed over to check her. Before he could examine her more thoroughly, a bellow nearby made him look up and he turned pale and cringed to see 3 pawpawsaurus were facing off against a downed Terry! "Uh oh, looks like a battle!" he gulped before looking down at Reese who was still breathing thankfully, but unconscious, "This is no place for an angel like you to be!" he said scooping her up into his arms like a princess carry. Mustering all the energy he had in his arms he quickly ran out of the area, taking Reese with him to a much safer place to wait out the battle, "And we're out of here!"

As they disappeared from the scene, Ed popped out his head from the bush as he looked around cautiously, checking the coast to make sure it was clear, "Is it safe to come out now?" he asked himself as he looked back, widened his eyes in shock at what he saw next, "Gah!" Terry stomped his foot as he forced himself up to his feet though groggily! As he opened his eyes he then widened them as all 3 pawpawsaurus suddenly glowed rainbow in unison! They all then lined up and leapt into the air, grabbing onto one another's tails before forming a perfect circular wheel with heir own bodies! They spun rapidly, coating themselves in several pink energy hearts before rushing forward, grinding away at Terry's back as he roared out in pain! He tried his best to hold his ground but eventually the continued shredding by their spikes and the force of their armoured bodies pelting him repeatedly caused him to give out as they sent him flying back over Ed's head!

"Oh no Terry!" Ed cried scrunching up his face in horror as the red tyrannosaurus landed hard on the ground! He tried to get back up again but soon gave in to fatigue as he collapsed on the ground losing consciousness and returning to a card! "I've got you!" Ed cried as he ran out of the bushes and snatched the card on the ground. Looking back to see the pawpawsaurus family bellowing and barking triumphantly before waddling away, completely disregarding him seeing the danger to have passed. Ed gritted his teeth and shook a fist at them with spite, "Grr! This isn't over! You hear me!?" he yelled cursingly before realising something else that was off, "Huh?" As he looked around he saw several couples get together unexpectedly, as they gazed into each others' eyes as if they were completely head over heels for each other! "Wh…What the…?" he gulped uneasily.

"Will you go out on a date with me?" A young man asked as the woman nodded eagerly with joy.

"Oh of course I will!"

"In fact let's get married right this instant!" The man then asked as his date grinned and nodded with excitement.

"Oh yes! Yes! Yes! I do! I do!"

Around Ed came the sights and sound of young couples filled with young love as they were bathed in a pink aura of hearts and energy, "You're my sweetie pie!"

"You're the apple of my eye!"

"Honey bunny!"

"Smoochy poo!" Came various sweet talks and compliments between couples, some of which seemed to have huge age differences between each other too!

The scene was far too much for Ed to handle as some of them even began to hug or kiss each other with passion as well, "Yeesh….creepy…." he shuddered feeling weirded out. As much as he once hoped for love himself, he didn't want anything like that to happen to him, it'd be too much for his pure and innocent heart to take. "I'd better hightail it outta here because things get even weirder….." he thought to himself as he quickly ran off, not wanting to take any chances before one of those crazed love puppies might come after him!

 **(Later)**

"Urgh….my head hurts…." Reese groaned as she slowly came to her senses. As she did she cringed hard as a surge of pain coursed through her head, and she wasn't quite sure how it happened to her. She would've thought about it a little more, had not a familiar voice suddenly called out to her in relief.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake!"

"H…Huh?" As she opened her eyes and her vision became clear, she came face to face with a relieved Zander, who had her resting on his lap on a nearby bench after having brought her to safety out of harm's way. "Z…Zander? Wh…What happened?" she asked as she looked around to find herself near the ferris wheel of the amusement park. "And…how did I get here?"

"Oh, I found you knocked out nearby the washroom just now, next to a really big and nasty dinosaur too!" Zander answered her before helping her sit up on her own, "But don't worry, you're safe now and that's all that matters."

Reese then blinked her eyes in surprise at his words, "Wait so…you saved me from the dinosaur?" she asked feeling somewhat amazed and in awe.

In turn, Zander blushed rather red feeling sheepish as he scratched the back of his head, "Well in a way you could say that haha…." he chuckled feeling proud of himself before clearing his throat and becoming normal again, "But really it's no big deal, you saved me once in the desert so now we can call it even haha!"

As he finished, Reese for some reason began to feel her heart thumping hard against her chest, as if she had a deep longing for the man who saved her life! She couldn't explain how or why, but she could feel her own body heating up warmly and her eyes began to glisten as she began blushing a deep red herself! "Oh Zander…." she breathed in a tone which made the man feel slightly concerned.

"Umm….Reese?" He then asked uneasily taking her sudden signs as being ill, "Are you okay? You're not sick are you?"

"Oh Zander….." Without warning she suddenly reached in and wrapped her arms around him in a close hug!

Her sudden actions caught him by surprise and he flabbergasted, "H…Huh!?" Unable to respond or think properly he could only stare at her speechlessly and do nothing as she hugged him closer and tighter to her! "Wh…What are you….Wha!?"

She then looked into his eyes filled with excitement and happiness, "My hero…..no…my guardian angel." she breathed as Zander began to sweat anxiously.

"G….G…Guardian angel!?" he exclaimed as he tried to wrestle his way out of her grip, "R….Really it's nothing!" Before long he began to enjoy her being so close to him so he gave up on resisting her, and decided to just roll with it, "But still does feel nice haha….."

"Hey Zander?" she then asked him in a sweet soothing tone.

"Ah! Y…Yes?" he then gasped as she suddenly leaned in on him directly till she could look at him in the eyes, "GAH!?"

"Can I ask you for a lit-tle favour?" she asked as she began twiddling his chest playfully with her finger.

The sensation was so new and unexpected, he felt his own temperate rise up a couple of degrees as he began sweating profusely from excitement, "S….Sure of course! Anything you want!" he said heating up while his heart began to race.

She then looked into his eyes, "Would you mind….singing me that wonderful love song you did for me the first time we met?" she asked him as his heart skipped a beat at her most unexpected request, "I hope it wouldn't be a problem would it?" she added at the end with sad puppy dog eyes, which were more than enough to win the hearty man over.

"Oh why….why certainly not! It would be my honour!" he said without hesitation as he stood up straight and cleared his throat, "Ahem!" Doing a few spin dances he then let out every ounce of passion from his soul, "Oh my angel! I love my dinosaur! But when I look into your eyes I think I love you moooore!" he sang at the top of his lungs with passion and pride, "Be my jurassic valentine! Falling deep into your eyes! I love the way you archeologize! Angel stay with me forevermore! And love me like your dinosaur!" He concluded striking a pose at the end.

"Oh that was just beautiful." Reese applauded before clapping her hands together and smiling lovingly at Zander, "I hope you would consider doing an encore." she then asked hopefully.

The man then blushed bright red and he grinned eagerly with excitement, "Oh why certainly!" he bellowed out before doing the same thing again with the intention of pleasing his angel.

While they did that, they were unaware that further off on the outskirts of the park, the 3 pawpawsaurus were making their way through the downtown area of the city, heading for the river bank hoping to find water and food. Unbeknownst to everyone, they were also giving off an aura of rainbow light and heart energy which was sweeping through the streets, covering over people who were unaware of it or couldn't get away in time, as they soon got back up and fell in love dreamily to the first person they locked eyes with!

 **(Meanwhile)**

As the D team ran to another area of the park, the skies soon retuned to normal signalling the end of the battle and bringing disappointment to them, "Oh no the battlefield's gone now…." Max grunted in annoyance that they lost the trail.

Rex narrowed his eyes at the only explanation there could be, "Guess that means the alpha gang beat us to the dinosaur." he said seriously.

"Great….just what we don't need," Zoe muttered, "They're always doing what we don't want them to do."

Cera then placed a hand on her shoulder hoping to bring in some words of encouragement, "Well there's always the chance that they failed right? Hopefully the next time we see it the dinosaur's worn out and easier to capture to." she said hoping they'd look at things on the bright side.

Zoe thought about it for a bit before sighting with her, "Let's hope so," she said before looking around, "And hopefully we find it quickly before-" Suddenly she caught sight of something she didn't thought possible. In an instant her heart skipped a beat and she turned pale like a ghost before screaming out at the top of her lungs, "GWAAAAAAH!" she cried before fainting on the ground!

Her friends quickly turned to her in alarm, "Huh!?"

"What is it Zoe!?"

They asked as they helped her sit back up and she opened her eyes weakly.

"Did you see the dinosaur!?" Rex cried out to her up front.

She shook her head to Rex's question, "No…something…way worse….and scarier!" she cried out as she pointed ahead.

"Huh?" They all then followed her finger and looked, "What are you talking abo-"

Soon they all widened their eyes and their jaws dropped in bewilderment at what she saw, "HUH!?"

"EH!?"

"SERIOUSLY!?"

Ahead of them, was Reese and Zander, smiling and laughing together like they were having the best time of their lives ever. And what's worse, they ere actually close to each other, holding hands….The sight was something that none of them thought would ever happen, and yet…it did….as the world was flipped upside down before them.

"Is that-"

"They're holding hands…." Max and Rex mouthed out with unblinking eyes.

"I see it….but I can't believe it…." Cera muttered feeling stumped of the first time in her life. Everything she thought she knew about Reese, now was flushed down the toilet…..

"I must be in a nightmare…." said Zoe weakly as she turned pale and life seemed to fade from her eyes, "No way…..Oh poor Reese what happened to you….." she whimpered falling on her knees and forward, drowning in a pit of despair and her soul seemed to have left her body for good. As the couple passed on by them, Zoe quickly regained her senses and flared out with beastly red eyes and a mad aura around her! "That snake….he must have drugged her! That's the only explanation! Big sis would never do what she's doing right now!" she growled clenching her hand into a fist before smashing it down into the ground, causing it to crack under the force she exerted!

"Gah!"

"WHOA!" Her friends jumped in shock and backed away from her, as Zoe began to breathe deep and heavily, he4 fingers itching to grab hold of a certain man's neck and snap it like a twig! "If you even think of getting close to sis I'm going to pulverise you!" she hissed immensely as Cera, Rex and Max huddled together worriedly for their lives, as well as for what she might do to Zander or Reese even!

"I don't know if she's joking or not…." Max sweated anxiously.

"Let's not stick around a second longer." Rex as he turned pale like a ghost too.

Slowly Cera ushered them to tiptoe away carefully and put as much distance between them and the ticking time bomb that was Zoe, "Yeah, let's hightail out of here and-"

"Come on team, we're going to put a stop to this right now!" Zoe yelled as she turned over to them in a flash, and throwing their plan to get away out the window! For her sneaking around and watching from afar was out of the question, now this was personal!

"W…Wait, what about the dinosaur that's still on the loose?" Max then asked anxiously.

"Dinosaur! Schminosaur! We can deal with a dinosaur anytime! Saving my sister from that….that…..disgusting slime ball comes first!" Zoe retorted much the dismay of the others, even if it was to protect her sister she was definitely pushing it if she was going to completely disregard the wold dinosaur on the loose.

Rex then raised his hand out offering a suggestion, "Umm….How about we split into teams and we-"

Zoe then shot a fierce glare which silenced her, "Oh no you don't!" she growled as she reached out and grabbed them both by the collar! "You're all coming with me! I'm not about to let my snuggle up to that creep like a shameless hussy! And you guys are going to help me!" she hissed as she dragged the 2 boys with her like a mother with her naughty children.

"H…Hey you're stretching my collar!"

"You're…choking me!" They cried out loud as she struggled to pull away from her but to no avail. Cera was about to try and sneak away, but that plan turned to a bust when Zoe suddenly focused her attention on her!

"You too Cera! NOW!"

Sweating nervously and not wanting to test her patience, Cera cracked in defeat seeing she had np other choice now, "Y…Yes ma'am….." she said as she followed them after Reese and Zander.

Not far away, Ed had actually stumbled upon Zander walking together with Reese, and he was eying them through his binoculars from behind a corner, "I'm impressed Zander, I didn't think you'd be able to win her over that easily." he whistled impressed, having underestimated his capabilities, maybe he ought to ask him for tips on how to win over the ladies next time. Taking out his alpha scanner for a moment he saw the signal stating the pawpawsaurus were still not eh move, "Sure those dinosaurs are still on the loose….." looking at it and then at Zander up ahead, he then shook his head deciding on what he really ought to do first, "But as his best friend it's my job to see this through for him first!" he announced firmly as he trotted off after the couple while remaining hidden from sight.

The pair soon stopped by the tunnel of love, which was a small river like ride going through a dark tunnel where the entrance flashed with a bright heart shaped light show, and couples sat inside white swan shaped boats which were carried along by the man made currents through a dark magical experience inside where both sides could enjoy being close to one another the entire trip. The perfect place for every dating pair to try out on, and a big must in Zander's book as they stood before the entrance booth to the ride.

"Here we are my dear angel." he said showing off the lovely and flashy attraction to his date, "The perfect ride for young couples! It even says so on the sign there." he then said pointing out at the sign depicting a man and woman closely hugging one another in the swan boat while surrounded by many cupid angels flying around them.

Reese then looked to him feeling rather nervous, "A…Are you sure Zander? It's just so dark and spooky inside too." she said feeling worried and concerned.

He then grinned in confidence before holding his head up high, "Never fear! I Zander shall be here to protect you at all times! You can count on me!" he boasted out loud with much bravado.

"Oh hearing you say that makes me feel that much safer…." she then said with a bright smile which further fed Zander's ego.

"Hahahah…." he chuckled feeling proud of himself as they went past the turnstiles and then went into a boat which made its way slowly into then dark tunnel.

Before long the D Team just managed to arrive in time to get a glimpse of both Reese and Zander go in through the tunnel only to be swallowed up by the darkness inside, "No! He's got Reese! We have to go after them!" Zoe cried out in worry.

"But it says couples only Zoe…." Cera pointed at the sign which was marked by a big red highlight on it. Moving in closer to read it, Zoe's eyes narrowed and she scowled at it, finding the tule to be rather ridiculous and unfair.

"Yeah, just how do you plan on going in there anywho?" Rex then asked. He was soon about to regret asking, as the pig tailed girl then looked behind to the 3 of her friends carrying a rather mischievous smile on her face which made them all gulp nervously.

"Wh…Why is she looking at us like that?" Max asked as she started walking towards them.

"I don't know and I don't like it already…." Rex croaked as he took a step back.

Meanwhile on Reese and Zander's end, the couple rode along the dark halls of the tunnel which soon began to lit up with various pink shaped hearts or outlines of cupids too, with smoothy jazz music being played in the background to try and make the atmosphere more romantic for the pairs participating in the tunnel ride.

"See this isn't so bad Reese, nothing to worry about." he said to her as he put an arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"Oh but it's still pretty dark…." she then said before suddenly latching onto his arm tightly! "Hold me close will you?" she asked looking into his eyes as he squealed out loud!

"WHA!?" He could feel his heart beating against his chest and slowly bullets of sweat were trickling down from his forehead all the way along his back too, unable to find the right reaction or response to this! "What the heck's going on here!? Why's my angel clinging onto me like it's for dear life or something!?" he screamed to himself in disbelief while feeling the words being taken out from his mouth and leaving him speechless, "This can't be real! Is this a dream!? Yes that's it! This is all a dream! Maybe Dr Z will yell at me and I'll wake up!" he thought to himself inside his head, hoping it was a dream and at the same time hoping it wasn't.

Noticing him to be spacing out, Reese then spoke up to him with concern, "Zander?"

"Eh!?" he jumped in surprise at the sound of his name being called. Looking down he blushed red and became deeply flustered as Reese continued to nuzzle playfully against him!

"I'm sorry, but I feel I really need to be close to you," she said looking up to him scared, "The dark can be really scary, you don't know what's lurking out there and I need a big strong man like you to protect me." she said as she rested against his chest and leaned on him much to his dismay and chagrin!

"I…I…I…." he croaked weakly and began to sweat with anxiety, especially when she looked up at him in the eyes.

"Is something wrong? You're sweating profusely and you're breathing heavy." she asked with concern before putting a hand on his forehead, "Are you sick? Do you have a fever?"

"Gah…." his jaw hung speechlessly as several dirty thoughts began to run through his mind and it took every ounce of self control and mental discipline he had to fight against them.

Oblivious to this, Reese continued to make further advances on him as she edged closer and closer, "Because if you are I can take care of you, I am a doctor after all. Well technically an animal doctor but I'm sure I can nurse you back to health too." she said at the end with an angelic smile.

The thought of it made him gulp nervously at the thought of her being his personal nurse in bed, feeding him grapes and taking his temperature for him. He grinned cheekily to himself at the thought of such a dream, "Ehehehe….."

Seeing his face was nearly drenched, "Here let me get that for you." she then said reaching into her pocket and taking out a handkerchief which she then used to pat him dry, "There doesn't that feel better?" she asked with a bright smile as he then blushed a deep red feeling he was indeed in heaven.

"Well if this is a dream, don't wake me up…." he thought to himself before fainting!

As he fell unconscious, Reese widened her eyes and cried out in concern, "Zander!? Oh what's wrong!? Are you alright!? Say something!" she wailed with teary eyes as she leaned in closer to him for a better look, "Speak to me! Zander!"

Right behind her, Zoe was spying on them using her special zoom in goggles which were pretty handy in the dark, but what she saw them was beginning to push her even further one the edge as she snarled viciously, "Grrr! Why that slick talking weasel….." she growled while gripping onto the neck of her swan boat, which was slowly beginning to snap!

Max shuddered at her immense strength as he sat nervously next to her, if she could do that to a piece of wood, there was no telling what she might do to a human neck! Paralysed with fear, he said nothing if it meant he'd keep his neck from getting wrung.

Behind them, Cera whistled nervously as she looked away from Rex as they sat in the next boat together, "I feel awkward sitting in this…." Rex said as he tried his best to ignore the fact that this was a ride for couples and Zoe pretty much forced them into these pairs against their will, and also at how awkward it was to convince the man at the front to let them in since he saw them as rather young to be dating already.

A little further off, as Zander and Reese's boat passed by, a snorkel tube popped up and squirted out some water, as Ed surfaced from underneath. Usually he was afraid of water but the boat ride had a rather shallow depth so he could wade in just fine, "Man why does Zander have all the luck with the ladies?" he pouted feeling jealous before feeling something coming up behind him. "Eh?" As he looked around he widened his eyes to see the next swan boat coming straight for him! "WAH!" he cried waving his arms out before it smashed right into his face and scuba mask before he sank to the bottom like an anchor!

BANG!

Glub…Glub….

 **(Later)**

After that, Reese and Zander were standing before a theater which had been set up for the famous play Romeo and Juliet, where many couples were already going in to witness the reenactment of one of the greatest masterpieces of all time. The sight of the many people entering made Reese's heart flutter with excitement as she breathed deeply with joy and peace, "Oh Zander that looks lovely." she said before looking at him pleadingly, "Can we see that?" she asked him as she flashed a set of puppy dog like eyes at him which he couldn't say no to.

"W…Why of course! Anything for you!" Zander chuckled in agreement as Reese smiled back in relief.

"Oh you certainly are the sweetest." she said snuggling up to him as he blushed red and laughed out loud in pleasure.

"Ahahahaha!"

As the D Team ran into view, with Max, Rex and Cera panting with exhaustion after Zoe had dragged them all over the park while tailing Reese and Zander, she could only just see their 2 targets just enter the theater room past the entrance, "There they go guys! After them!" she pointed out, but no one responded to her, "Hmm?" Turning around she noticed that they were starting to sneak away, which made her puff up her cheeks crossly. "Hold it mister!" she growled as she then grabbed hold of Max by the collar once more!

"Wah!" Max croaked as he turned around nervously and froze when he came face to face with a sinister smile from Zoe, with plenty of evil intent behind it!

"Where do you think you're going?" she giggled before turning furious and making his blood run cold, "Don't forget! You're my date now come on!" she yelled as she began dragging him to the front of the theater entrance!

"B…But we're not even dating! Let me go cut it out!" Max cried as he squirmed about trying to break free but to no avail. Looking ahead to see Rex and Cera were still there, he then cried out to them pleadingly, "H…Hey guys! Help me please!" he wailed out desperately as they were his last hope.

Looking to one another and weighing out the risks of going through an angry Zoe to see him, and deciding it was;t worth risking their necks the 2 of them both smiled and waved to him in response, "Good luck Max!"

"You both enjoy yourselves now!" they congratulated as his jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Say what!?" he cried out loud as he shook his arms out, "You traitors! Wait till I get my hands on you!"

"Don't worry about a thing!" Rex replied to him encouragingly, "We'll be sure to get the dinosaur!"

"In the meantime you both have fun!" Cera added at the end as they turned around to leave. Unfortunately the 2 of them weren't about to get off as easily as they thought.

"You're staying too!" Zoe yelled out to them, her words making them freeze in their tracks seen there was no way out of it.

"Ugh…."

Inside the theatre room, as the play had just began, dozens of people had gathered inside the seats till they were nearly filled up to the brim and right now they began murmuring with one another over how it would go, some of them already tearing up at hoe emotionally moving the scene was to them. Girls crying tears of joy and sadness while their boyfriends either let them cry on their shoulders or handed them hankies to blow on.

Reese and Zander both sat in the middle of the audience as they saw the scene where Romeo was proclaiming his love to Juliet. "I'm so sorry to be taking you everywhere on such short notice." said Reese to Zander feeling somewhat insecure about herself being selfish, though fortunately for her the man himself was quite forgiving himself being a fool for love.

"Ahahaha! I…It's nothing at all!" he laughed waving his hand at her like it was no big deal, "Stuff like this is really no trouble at all! Besides, as long as you're happy, I'm happy and that's all that matters!" he said.

His words made Reese smile once more, "Oh Zander…." she said clapping her hands together before leaning against his shoulder a bit, which made him blush red and heat up once again for the umpteenth time!

"Wha!?" he gasped as she began looking directly into his eyes again,

"You're such a romantic you know that?"

"Y…Yeah you really think so?" he grinned nervously before scratching his head and looking away, "Hehehe…."

A few rows behind them, Zoe gnashed her teeth violently while gripping her chair's arms as she spied on them using her goggles. Every second that passed with Reese clinging onto one of their worst enemies ever made her desires to do something drastic grow even more so, "Grr! Reese would never go out to watch something like this! No doubt he poisoned her or something!" she growled viciously as her chair's arms began to crack slightly under the pressure she was exerting on them, "I swear that guy is really pushing my buttons…..the first I get I'm going to completely pulverise him!"

Sitting a few chairs beside her were Max, Rex and Cera, who eyed her carefully and saw her gaze seemed fixated completely on what was in front of her. Seeing what may be their chance, Cera looked to Max and Rex and nodded, giving them the signal, "Alright she seems distracted." they thought as she slowly got out of their chairs and began to sneak away from her, "If we're quiet enough maybe we can tiptoe out of here and-"

"You guys stay put." She suddenly grunted which made them freeze!

"Ack!" They croaked uneasily before instinctively sitting back down again.

"Seriously?" Max pouted crossly seeing they were so close to the doors yet so far too….

She then turned a bloody red glare at them which made their souls want to try and escape their bodies on sight, "If I see any of you missing from your seats, I swear I'll make you regret it the next time I see you, got it?" she hissed in a deep voice as they nodded with reluctance.

"Yes ma'am…." They groaned, finally giving up all hope of escape for good….

The play soon hit its' midway mark and Reese clapped her hands together feeling turned on by the mood the play was bringing in, "Oh this just lovely." she said as her eyes glistened brightly. While Zoe kept her eyes fixated on them both, and the rest of her friends bored out of their mind as Max and Rex had already fallen asleep and era was struggling to keep her eyes open, only waking up again after her head hit the back of her seat another time.

"Yeah…it sure is…" Zander replied finding it to be rather moving himself. Thinking about it both families were in a way like the Alpha Gang and the D Team, being hated rivals always at one another's throats, and the feud could possibly end at the hands of a romantic relationship between 2 of their members. He then shook his head worrying about the chances of him and Reese ultimately facing a horrific end, as a theatre usher stepped up to where they were seated.

"Your refreshments sir." he said handing Zander 2 cups of canned soda as well as a large box of pocky sticks, which was served instead of popcorn.

"Oh thanks." He said taking them out of the usher's hands and then handing Reese one of the drinks, "Here you go." he said passing it to her as she took it with gratitude.

"Oh thank you, such a gentleman you are." she said gratefully as she opened it and began drinking it.

As Zander did the same and began drinking out of his cup, he felt Reese tugging at his sleeve as he turned to look.

"Hey Zander?" she asked holding out her open cup to him, "Would you like to try some of mine?"

Zander nearly choked on his own drink and coughed out a bit before dropping his jaw, "Huh!?"

"I can't finish it, if you like you can have it." she asked flashing puppy eyes while hiding out her can to him.

Zander gulped down nervously, pondering over the fact that Reese really meant what she said about being unable to finish her beverage, or that she was aiming for something else from him, "Umm…err…." he replied anxiously while scratching the back of his head. He wanted to run away but his feet felt glued to the spot so he couldn't get away!

His delayed answer made her heart sink as she frowned, "Or do you not want it?" she said sadly as Zander stuttered uneasily, knowing he had to make an answer soon.

"I…I…"

"Ah!" Zoe widened her eyes in alarm as the rest of her friends sported mixed but equally worried and concerned looks on their faces.

"Oh boy…."

"I can't watch…."

"This isn't going to go over well…" They each said as Zoe waved her arms out frantically.

"No big sis! Don't do it!" she cried out before being hushed by some of the other people sitting near her!

As Zander stared at Reese's drink, paralysed by his inability to decide, Zoe then gnashed her teeth viciously and hissed under her breath, "You creep! You wouldn't dare!"

Hidden at the back after miraculously sneaking past the front, Ed remained tucked in and out of sight at the corners as he shook his fist out encouragingly, "Oh yeah Zander! You have her in the palm of your hand! Go for it!" he cheered inside his mind rooting for his friend to go all the way!

Looking to Reese's sad expression and the drink she held up to him, Zander gulped down hard as he tried his best to think rationally and logically as his heart began to race and many voices started screaming off inside his head, "Could she be setting me up for something?" He then grasped his head tightly and pulled his hair in frustration, "Argh! Why do women have to be so complicated!? I can't take this pressure!" he cried out using his inside voice before accidentally knocking the can out of Reese's hand! "Ack!" he yelped seeing the whole thing spill on the floor underneath his chair, much to his relief and Reese's disappointment.

"Aww….." she sighed sadly as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"S…Sorry about that….." Zander sighed at letting her down, though at the same time he was also relieved himself that he was able to make it out of that one unscathed.

"It's alright…." Reese pouted feeling disappointed that her advance tactic failed.

The D Team all let out deep sighs of relief at what may have been Reese's lucky break, "Phew thank goodness….." Cera breathed putting a hand on her chest on relief.

"That was cutting it a little too close for comfort." Max muttered leaving back in his chair while Rex just nodded.

"Smart move you creep, if you did take it I'd have stomped you into jelly."

Ed meanwhile rubbed his watery eyes painfully, "Waaah! How could you tease me like that!?" he whispered to himself feeling betrayed.

As the played continued on and neared its climax, the D Team each took turns in giving reasons to leave early, "Umm Zoe?" Mind if we…go outside for a bathroom break?" Max asked as she muttered back to him.

"Hold it in." she grunted without even turning to look, making Max click his tongue in frustration.

"Can I go stretch my legs a bit?" Cera asked.

"Deal with it." she replied.

"I can get us some refreshments." Rex raised his hand, before getting shut down like the others.

"No thanks, stay put."

"So much for that idea…." Cera sighed as the 3 of them lowered their heads and fell forward in dismay.

Eventually as the play was about to reach the final scene, Zander then lowered himself forward almost out of energy, having to fully recovered form his close shave just now and still in conflict with himself, "What is going on today?" he thought to himself wondering how things had gotten so out of hand and out of the blue. He then shook his head and smiled lightly, "Maybe I should worrying and just enjoy the moment. Yeah that's it! I always wanted my angel to return my feelings and here she is doing it now! I should be happy!" He told himself that he should be happy with how he was making his dream girl even if it did feel somewhat rushed and sudden, "Is it because I saved her from that dinosaur earlier that she's so grateful and all heads and heels over for me?" he then asked himself.

"Maybe I just wasn't prepared to go through with it all." he told himself after calmly as he took in a breath and let it out calmly, "I've got to calm down." As he said that though, Reese shifted her hand to move over his as he shivered nervously and gulped down, "Gah!" he gasped as he turned to look, seeing Reese was feeling more at peace and secure being by his side. "Oh get a grip Zander! It isn't like you to be all confused and all! You should be enjoying this!" he yelled to himself before looking down to see the box of pocky sticks inside, "Perhaps some snacks will help take my mind off things." he thought to himself as he took one out and began biting on it. As he looked back to his side to see Reese staring at him he then took another out and handed it to her, "You want one Reese?" he asked while still sucking on the one he already had.

Reese smiled as she shook her head, "Oh that's fine, we can just share." she said as she opened her mouth, "Aah." and then clamped it onto the other end of Zander's biscuit stick!

"EH!?" he gasped through his teeth as Zoe suddenly stood up from her seat and cried out loud!

"GAH!"

Max and Rex shuddered knowing this could only ned so badly, "Urk!"

"Oh dear…." Cera gulped realising this may could be the trigger to wha may be a Valentine's doom bringer about to befall them, as she nervously turned to Zoe whose aura was flaring up even more so with her sheer shock and spite!

As Reese began walking her lips up the pocky stick, Zander shivered paralysed with excitement and anxiety! He wanted to bite down on the biscuit and break it fast, yet for some reason he couldn't find the strength to do it! "What do I do!? What do I do!? This is like that scene from the comic books I was reading the other day!" he screamed to himself as Reese's lips neared making contact with his own!

Zoe, unable to take it a second longer finally snapped as she took out her dinoholder much to everyone's alarm, "Over my dead body!" she screamed taking out Paris' dinosaur card!

The rest of her teammates cried out to her, "Zoe wait!"

"You can't do that here!"

"Somebody stop her!"

"Is she nuts!?" Ed cried out in alarm as he bolted for the door without hesitation!

"NO! STOP!" Her friends all yelled as they jumped at her, but their cries and efforts came too late as she slashed the card!

"Dino slash!" A green light shone and Paris took full sized form as she let out a loud bellowing sound which shook the entire room!

ROAR!

Her appearance caused all the people inside to cry out in terror as they began running for the exits! "AAAAAHHHH!"

"It's a monster!"

"Run for your lives!" They all screamed out loud as they ran for their lives in the midst of Paris' rampage, as she charged around, knocking down the sets with her tail and head, as well as driving the actors off stage as she screeched loudly in her search for Zander and Reese!

As she let out a sonic screech from her crest it caused the entire structure to begin collapsing down on everyone! "WAAAAAH!"

"That creep's getting what's coming to him!" Zoe cried out in a blind rage, disregarding everyone else in the room, all that mattered to her was taking care of Zander once and for all!

Max and Rex were able to find each other despite the many people running about, pushing and shoving them aside but they managed to regroup outside as they fell to their knees panting in exhaustion, "Huff….You…okay Max?" Rex wheezed whole on one knee, looking at his friend who was on all fours as he looked up to him.

"Barely…." he breathed in exhaustion before turning around to sit on his butt. Looking ahead to hear sounds of roaring and smashing inside he hen gritted his teeth in frustration at how much Zoe had lost it this time, "Tch! I can't believe her! Is she nuts?!" He hissed as he sat up and began popping his knuckles having lost any sense of self restraint and patience himself, "She's gone too far now! I'm going in to stop her now!" Max grunted as he began marching towards the theater once again.

"I'm with you this time, she has to stop one way or another…." Rex huffed in agreement as he followed Max having all he could take from her shenanigans for one day. Friend or not, she had to be taught a lesson. Before they could take out their dinoholders and their cards, Cera suddenly ran out in front of them and waved her hands.

"Hang on guys! This might be your only chance!" she cried out to them hoping it would get them to stop, and luckily for them it did as they blinked their eyes in confusion.

"Huh?"

"What to you mean?" They both asked her.

She then eyed the seriously, "Right now may be your only chance to get away from Zoe, capture that dinosaur as soon as you can!" she said before hearing the sound of Paris roaring inside and turning around to look for a moment and then facing back at them, "Meantime I'll stay here and keep her occupied, maybe even throw her off your trail too!" she said, "So hurry and go now!"

"Urgh…." seeing there was no point in arguing a second longer, also realising that Cera was making more sense than Zoe did, Rex and Max both nodded at one another in agreement before looking to her with affirmation, "Alright, we'll leave you to take care of Zoe, we're trusting you!" said Rex to her firmly entrusting the with the task, as she nodded back at them.

"Also look out for Reese too if you can!" Max cried out, "We'll be back before you know it too!" he concluded, as they both ran off towards the direction which the dino detector pointed them in.

Cera then waved her hands out, "Please hurry, I don't know how long I can keep her busy, so come as soon as you can, maybe sooner!" she called out to them at the end.

 **(Later)**

It was evening and many of the park's visitors were beginning to leave with their dates before it got dark, while the few remaining were hoping to watch the sunset together or to wait till night time hoping to catch some shooting stars under the sky.

Reese and Zander managed to meet up soon after, after Paris' unexpected appearance at the play theatre and ruining the entire show for everyone, and they were walking along the path near the riverside which had railings on the sidelines to prevent anyone from falling in by accident. As Reese came close to Zander, he grew increasingly flustered and short of breath as she tightened her grip on his arm and leaned in. "Wh…What's going on today?" he screamed inside his mind sweating like crazy while also turning red feeling all flustered and turned on, "Why am I so uneasy? I should be happy yet I can't feel it too." he then turned his head uneasily to Reese who was looking at him with glistening eyes and with a blushing red face too. "She just keeps staring at me, she'd never have gone this far before. Could she be sending me some kind of hint or message?" he thought to himself looking away and avoiding eye contact, his heart pounding hard and fast against his chest unable to handle his his warring emotions running wild within him, between self control and his excitement he gritted his teeth tensely as the 2 sides of him clashed heavily with one another!

"Zander?" she then asked as the man suddenly let out a gasp of air he didn't know he was holding in!

"Gah!" he choked before taking in a few quick breaths of air and then quickly turned to look at Reese before she could worry, "Y…Yes Reese? What's up my angel?" he asked her as she hung close to him and looked around them as people walked past or stood on the sidelines.

"When people see us, do you think they can tell we're a couple?" she asked him.

"Err…." he scratched his chin looking away, trying to think carefully how he could answer her properly without hurting her feelings while also remaining perfectly honest himself.

Reese however took his action the wrong way as she leaned in closer to him with sad eyes, "What's wrong? You don't want to be seen with me?" she sniffled.

Zander jumped in surprise at her words as he waved out his hands frantically, "N…No that's not it at all!" he cried out sweating bullets, "I didn't say anything like that! Ahahahah!" he then laughed nervously with a forced smile, which put a pure one on Reese's face much to her relief.

"Oh thank goodness!" she cheered clapping her hands with joy, which made him sigh with relief himself.

"Phew….for a second there I thought I was toast." he wheezed before taking a breather thinking the worst was over, unfortunately he couldn't be more wrong.

"Then it's okay if we get close like this right?" Reese suddenly asked as she wrapped her arms around him!

"GAH!" he gasped to his alarm as another rush of emotions flooded his mind, his heart once again pounded hard inside his chest, as if the ribcage containing it could crack and split open at any moment! Both form his heart and Reese's unusually strong grip on him! He steamed red before pushing her away as hard as he could with all his strength and determination, before managing to wrench himself free from her grip!

"Ah!" she gasped covering her mouth in shock that he was rejecting her. She was about to burst into tears when Zander spoke out to her.

"Reese, I'd actually like to make a….trip to the bathroom a bit," he said thinking up the first excuse that came to mind, "I'm all drenched and sweaty after today's events so I need to wash up a bit!"

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Reese asked pleadingly, clapping her hands together and staring at Zander with shining eyes almost like a puppy's! "I can help clean you up and give you a new set of clothes if you like?" she offered.

He tensed up feeling his heart could literally explode at any moment, as he yelled out at the top of his lungs, "N…NO! NO! I can do it myself!" he yelled declining her 'generous' offer as he turned and ran off as fast as he could, making sure to avoid eye contact with Reese, as she called out to him.

"Please come back soon!" her voice echoed to him as she put a hand on her own chest, feeling her own heart feeling light and warm, which made her smile a pure angel smile, though little did she know was that this smile of hers' wasn't 100% pure…

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Alright, where did that slime ball go?" Zoe grunted stepping out from the theater entrance as she looked around her surroundings, her eyes piercing like a hawk's predatory gaze searching for Zander and her sister who was no doubt under some kind of love spell, after having realised they weren't inside anymore and they somehow slipped past her. It was then she soon realised she was on her own and her friends had all abandoned her, as she widened her eyes in disbelief, "And where did they all run off too!?" she exclaimed seeing even Cera had abandoned her too. Soon her anger was amplified a hundredfold, her hatred towards Zander combined with her frustrations at the disloyalties of her 'friends' as she fumed red and gnashed her teeth with fury! "GRRGH! Unbelievable! I can't even count on my own friends to help me with this emergency situation! Talk about unreliable!" she screamed her head off at the top of he lungs, so loud that people around her backed away nervously or pretended they didn't see her as they walked away cautiously.

She then began breathing deeply, her eyes reddened and she began popping her knuckles, "Guess that means I'll have to straighten them all out myself too, but first things first!" she then grinned maliciously as she begun plotting something diabolical, "When I see him, I'll have the pteranodons drop him off a cliff into a chasm of spikes, no, I'll have seismosaurus stomp him into jelly! No wait! The oviraptors should pelt him with rotten rock hard eggs!" she cackled to herself almost sounding like an evil mastermind, "Oh I just can't decide!" She suddenly widened her eyes in realisation, "Wait….maybe I'll just use them all at once!" she gasped before rubbing her hands together, "Hee hee hee! It's perfect, too perfect! It'll also serve as a warning to any man who even thinks of making a move on sis! And then-"

WHAM!

"OW!" She yelped as a sudden blow to the back from out of nowhere took her by surprise! Losing consciousness and her eyes turning blank white losing their pupils, she fell to the ground and face planted, while her fingers and legs still twitched with muscle spasms making her look almost dead!

Cera then stood above her, shaking her head in disapproval at her about to take things too far, "Ugh…That's it…." she mumbled as she grabbed her legs and began dragging her off, "We're going home now….." she said as she took her unconscious friend out of the park where she couldn't harm anyone anymore for the rest of the day.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Zander gets away-says best day of his life, didn't think it would be fast but not complaining (About to confess and propose)

Further off in the distance, in an open area of the park, where some men were offering to take their dates home in a fancy ride back, Zander stopped by near a bench at a flower bed to catch his breath and still his racing heart over everything that had happened. It was far more than he could take, personally he'd prefer fighting dinosaurs than going through so many close encounters with his angel like that, made evident as he knelt down and placed a hand on his chest to catch his breath, "Phew….I finally managed to get away from her….as much as I love my angel even I can't take in so much of her at once…." he wheezed while still sweating rather profusely. "I didn't expect her to be so hasty like that, it's like she's an entirely new person from the angel who saved me in the desert a while back." he said as he stood up and looked back the way he came from, "Not that I'm complaining or anything, that doesn't change the fact that I'm finally having the date of my dreams! This is the best day ever!" he then cheered shaking off is concerns instantly and jumping up and down like an excited child ready to receive a new present.

He was so into himself and his blessed luck that he failed to notice someone had just walked up to him from behind the flower bushes he was at, "You sure are a lucky man huh Zander?"

"GAH!" Zander jumped in a fight before turning around to yell at the person who started him, "Don't do that!"

"WAAAH!"

Taking a closer look, Zander soon recognised the fat purple haired boy who had snuck up on him surprisingly well, "Huh? Ed?" he blinked unexpectedly as his friend was now lying on the ground after being startled himself by Zander's screaming..

"H…Hey there buddy…." Ed waved back at him nervously.

"What are you doing here?" Suddenly Zander began to suspect him of ill intent as he scolded hard at him, "Wait….don't tell me you were actually spying on me!?" he yelled as he leaned in and stared at Ed with a terrifying expression!

Unable to lie to Zander's scary serious face, Ed then held out his fingers together, "Err….maybe a little?" he laughed nervously.

Zander gained an angry tic make on his forehead as he grabbed Ed and pulled him up! "You've got some nerve!" he yelled out loud in close range of his face.

"GAH!" he screamed in a panic as the taller man stared at him with a menacing look!

"I don't know what your game is but I'm not about to have any of it!" he growled menacingly at Ed before shaking him violently, "Now fess up, what are you doing here or I'll feed you to Spiny when I get back home!"

"Gwaah! Okay I'll talk! I'll talk! Just stop shaking me!" Ed screamed as Zander loosened his hold on him and Ed managed to yank himself loose. After that he explained from the very beginning how he and Ursula were following his tail after his departure from Zeta Point, and then later there was a dinosaur that appeared not far from this area. Ed then mentioned how he tried to capture it but it got away from him so he had been trying to follow it but ended up losing its trail, only to find Zander actually scored a date with Reese much to his surprise. And after that he was following him since.

"I see….." Zander scowled at Ed folding his arms and tapping his foot while Ed grovelled down on the ground in begging dog position.

"Sorry for not telling you anything Zander," he apologised feeling a bit guilty for his actions, "I wanted to make sure you were okay, and seeing how much fun you were having I didn't want to spoil your little date too." he said, "Even though it really tears me up inside…" he thought to himself painfully on the inside over how Zander was able to get a date when he couldn't.

His friend fortunately forgave him with a light smile as he patted him on the shoulder, "It's okay Ed, at least you didn't do anything to mess up our date." he said before stretching his arms wide and jumping for joy like a lunatic, "In fact, it's been the absolute best! I've never been so happy in my life before! I feel like cupid's arrow has hit dead center of my heart and Reese's! It's as if fate had tied some sort of red thread of fate between us and our destinies are now intertwined with each other!" he sang as he skipped and danced about, making onlookers back away nervously from him, "I've had the best day ever and soon it may even be my best life ever!"

"Oh yeah that's right, good for you buddy! I'm so proud of you I could just cry." Ed praised him as he applauded his efforts too, even tearing up slightly like a parent to a child the just grew up, "Maybe we should be thankful that dinosaur played a little part in it too, now you both can be happy forever." he then stated rather carelessly, which brought Zander's happy parade to a sudden stop.

"W…Wait….what?" he mouthed weakly, feeling the world had just stopped still for him upon hearing those very words.

"Oh didn't I mention it yet?" Ed replied, "The dinosaur that showed up earlier was a shiny pawpawsaurus! To be precise 3 of them! In fact they used some kind of weird lovey dovey attack that made everyone else around them go all goo goo eyes for each other!" he said all excitedly and filled with energy. His news however seemed to make Zander lose his as the ugly truth became known to him, he said nothing as Ed continued to explain what he witnessed up close, "In fact that girl Reese, I think, was acting almost the same as they were, guess she must have got hit by a stray blast or something."

"I….see…." Zander croaked as he lowered his head down, inside emotions of conflict warred within him, as he began to contemplate over the day's events with Reese. It all made clear sense to him now….the Reese he knew would never act the way she did, she would never fall for him so easily like that, she was under the influence of the dinosaur….as much as he wanted to deny it, in the end all of that wasn't real….and now he felt his heart had been toyed with, as it slowly cracked apart inside him under the weight of betrayal.

"Some might think it's unlucky, but I call it super lucky!" Ed then cheered before elbowing him playfully oblivious to his true feelings, "Because now you'll have the best date of your life and after that-"

"No….I won't accept it." said Zander cutting him off much to Ed's surprise.

He blinked for a few seconds before dropping his jaw, "Huh!? Wh…Wha!?" he exclaimed in disbelief thinking is friend may have lost his marbles, "Have you lost it Zander!? Passing up this chance to get informa-I mean! You've got the girl of your dreams eating out of your hands, all yours and crazy over you like a lovesick puppy!"

"Yes, and that's why I can't do it." his friend said to him as he turned to him seriously. Looking down at himself and thinking it over carefully he then took a serious breath, "The love between us…isn't real….and right now….she isn't my real angel….." he mouthed out painfully at the truthful realisation, "As much as I love her, I don't want it to be like this, I want to win her over through my own effort and not by some trick. Maybe if it was any other day as part of the alpha gang….but not now….." he said, "I want her to love me back too for who I really am as well, not because she fell under a dinosaur's spell….." He then looked over to Ed who was eying him with concern and thinking over what he said and the choice he was making, "I'm sorry Ed, but I just can't go through with it like this…..I hope you can understand this much at least…."

"Zander….." Ed breathed feeling moved by his deep speech, and also filled with understanding over why he would believe that too. With that, he couldn't see any reason why he shouldn't support his choice or go against it.

"Go….I want you to take care of that dinosaur for good." he said to Ed as he looked away from him, "If it goes back into a card maybe she'll snap back to her normal self, and Reese can be my true angel once again….." he said with a painful smile.

Ed was about to walk away but he stopped in his tracks and looked back to him, "Are….you sure about this buddy?" he asked, to which Zander nodded back at him with a firm look on his face.

"I am." he said with a nod, "I may not be an expert on how to be a good date, but I do know what love is….and I want to show her that and set things right once and for all." he said as he began to walk away himself and smile lightly, "I guess I should be thankful for you telling me this Ed….before I realised the ugly truth of this when it was too late…." he concluded wanting to be honest with himself and Reese, otherwise he'd only be hurting them both.

Feeling touched himself Ed nodded and smiled back at his good friend, "You're a real man you know that Zander?" he said before grinning with a thumbs up at him, "You can count on me to get the job done! Your right hand wingman is on the case!" he said before running off somewhere else to look for the 3 pawpawsaurus that were still running loose somewhere.

As he left, Zander took a deep breath with a new clarity in his eyes as he looked up to the sky which was beginning to turn orange with the sunset, "Well Reese, it's time I became honest with myself….and showed you my true feelings!" he announced out loud as he headed back the way he came, ready to face the truth like a true man would.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"We've got to be on the right trail Max." said Rex to Max beside him as the 2 boys were running tirelessly across the river bank which cut through the city.

"I hope we find it soon….ugh….I don't know how much more I can take…." Max groaned feeling sick, after what they witnessed earlier they knew they had to find the dinosaurs soon otherwise it could be the end of Valentine's Day and all of sure love before they knew it!

 **(Flashback)**

Earlier after splitting off from Cera and Zoe, the 2 boys went over to the edge of the park where the dinosaur's signal originated from. When they got there they were greeted with a number of unsettling sights. Several couples present there were lost in love with one another, as if nothing else in the entire world meant anything to them except to be with the person they were lost in love with.

"I love you."

"No I love you."

"I'll do anything for you."

"No I'll do anything for you." They said to one another either standing near broken down stalls, sitting at benches or sitting at tables, before leaning in to one another and kissing passionately while embracing each other closely. The sight was something the 2 boys would only see in one of Zoe's romance movies which she forced them to watch against their will, but to see it up close in real life was far more nauseating to them as they turned green with churning stomachs ready to burst at any moment!

"Ugh gross…." Max moaned as he covered his mouth and his cheeks puffed up, doing his best to hold it all in before swallowing it back down uneasily.

"Yeah let's go focus on finding that dinosaur before things get…..I don't want to say it." Rex added feeling sick as the 2 of them covered their eyes and ran in another direction as fast as they could without looking back. Unfortunately for them, what they saw was merely the beginning of horrible things to come.

Before long they saw a rather crazed and horny punk teenager (in a hard rock getup with tattoos on his arms and ripped up clothing and a mohawk hairstyle) jumping up at a tree where a young girl was clinging onto for dear life as she kicked out at his face! "Get away from me you animal!" She cried in horror as her kicks from her high heels, along with her handbag slaps did little to nothing against the mad lust driven beast that was trying to get at her!

"AHAHAHAHAH! Come to papa!" he laughed maniacally as he got back up instantly after being kicked down the tree, seeing her efforts to resist him as playing hard to get!

"EEEEK! HELP MEEEE!" she squealed.

At another side, a young nerdy boy with glasses breathed heavily and deeply, gasping for air as he was backed up against a wall with a woman pressing against him while playfully tickling his chest with her finger, "Umm…sorry but I don't know you.…and this is all so sudden but-ah!" he was cut off as she leaned in to his face and she smiled rather mischievously as she eyed his face, or more precisely-

"Those freckles all over your face look so much like delicious chocolate chips…." she said rather seductively as she leaned in really close for his comfort, "Mind if I peck at them a bit?"

"I…I…well….uh…." The boy's eyes twiddled around in confusion and anxiety before he mustered all his willpower and strength to push her away from him! "Sorry I gotta go now!" he cried out loud running away as fast as his legs could carry him, leaving behind the flirtatious woman on the ground as she raised her arm out for him.

"Wait! What about my feelings!" she cried out tears of heartbreak, "We were meant to be together!"

As Max and Rex continued along their search for the dinosaur, best they could without paying too much attention to the fiasco around them, they soon came across far worse scenarios starting with a man eying dreamily at a young girl waiting by the bus stop while on her phone, "She's the girl of my dreams….." he said unaware his girlfriend was standing right behind him, and she was far from pleased at the words which left his mouth.

"Oi! How dare you!?" she screamed in anger as she used her handbag and swung it down on the man's head with all her might!

WHAM!

"OW!" he cried as he face planted on the ground, leaving a huge imprint of his body on the sidewalk!

"That's it we're through! Hmph!" she huffed bitterly stomping away while her ex-boyfriend twitched while still on the ground unconsciously.

At another end, a blond hunk man and a slim elegant woman were holding hands with each other while their secret crushes in the bushes, being a somewhat nerdy girl and average looking boy respectively, were crying their eyes out over having their partners of their dreams being in love with someone else, "Oh love how could you be so cruel!"

"Life isn't fair!" They each cried feeling devastated beyond belief.

Things got even weirder when a group of ladies had gathered around a single young man as they were arguing over who would get him, "Hands off my man!"

"No he's mine!"

"Get away from him you thieving cat!"

"Hmph! All's fair in love and war ladies!" They each yelled as they tugged at his arms or tried prying one another off, not that the man minded as he closed his eyes and laughed dreamily to himself at his blessed luck.

"Ehehehe….."

The worst of it all was when a young teenage girl in a frilly skirt was seen running away screaming her head off in a panic, "AAAAAHHHH! GET AWAY FROM ME!" The sounds of the ground trembling followed her, as a huge wave of crazed men and boys charged after her with love in their eyes!

"WE LOVE YOOOOOU!" Their voices echoed together as they charged relentless after her into he streets!

After seeing all sorts of scenarios that could only be found in anime series, Max and Rex didn't know what to believe anymore, "Man are we having like a love epidemic or what?" Max gulped nervously seeing so many different love related incidents around them before shivering, "I hope it isn't contagious….brr!"

Rex gulped uneasily, feeling worried about the thought too, before recalling something familiar about this, "Say…..isn't that what's going on with Reese just now?!" he cried out smacking a fist into the palm of his other hand, as Max widened his eyes.

"Hey you're right!" he gasped, "I'll bet it was the dinosaur that did this to these people! There can't be any other explanation!"

"A dinosaur being able to make people fall in love? That's new…..and really weird…." Rex mused before shaking his head and turning serious, "But yeah I agree, no way would Reese ever swoon over Zander like that….let alone any guy in particular." He said. While he knew the old Reese was strict and scary at times, in the end she was their Reese, and it was up to them that they get her back to normal before she does something she won't be able to take back. The same could be said for all the people who were infected by the love plague that surround them both now.

"Maybe if we turn the dinosaur back into a card everyone will go back to normal again!" Max assumed.

"I hope so, if not, we can at least save others from falling under anymore…ugh…love spells…." Rex muttered uneasily as he heard cries of heartbreak or maniacal laughter all around them, making the 2 boys feel more put off and uneasy, as well as reminding them of how serious this mission had just become for them.

"Yeah, who knows how messed up things will get if we don't stop it in time." said Max as they hurried along, following the trail of 'love' left out before them which the dinosaur had paved out, vowing to put a stop to this madness before things got even more worse than it was now.

 **(Present)**

The 2 boys had pressed on for a long while, and they were beginning to tire after a long run ahead with nothing turning up, the sight of so many innocent people under the evil influence of false love and their desire to fix things kept them going for a while but even that was reaching its' limit as they were on the verge of returning home and trying again later. That was, until Max began to catch sight of something up ahead of them, "I think I see something up ahead!" Max cried as up ahead, 3 large figures were soon coming into view. As they got closer they couldn't believe I when they saw 3 dinosaurs together, "Whoa! Check it out!"

"Pawpawsauruses." Rex followed as they calmly observed from a safe distance, a large brown adult and another, an orange one of similar size, were drinking water from the river while the smallest individual, a pink one, was munching on some grass nearby from where they were.

"3 of them too. Looks like a family." Max noted as they observed the adults finish their drink before walking over to the youngster and nuzzling it gently, "Those 2 must be mother and father…."

The small pink one then barked and wagged its tail happily in response, "And that one must be the baby." Rex concluded. The mother then began digging in the ground and plucked out some roots she found inside before dropping them off near the baby. It then sniffed what she brought it before graciously eating it all in one gulp, while the father nuzzled his son and licked him affectionately, "Aww, they look so happy together." said Rex feeling quite moved by the scene.

"Yeah, they sure do….." Max nodded, smiling like his friend did, before it became replaced by a frown upon realising what they had to do, "But…if we leave them be they'll just end up causing more and more trouble for couples and families everywhere." he said before shuddering uneasily, "And we….wouldn't want Reese to stay all messed up as she is now right?" he asked as Rex's optimism vanished too.

"You're right Max…." he sighed heavily before looking up to see the mother pawpawsaurus pluck out some leaves from the bush before handing them over to the youngster as it began to munch on them, with the father observing them in the background, "I don't want to ruin a happy family moment but….we've got to do what we've got to do." he said knowing the right thing they had to do now.

Max then became conflicted and unsure, "But how are we going to fight them anyway?" he then asked Rex hoping he had an answer, "No way we can just charge in head-on like we always do right?"

"Good point there." Rex noted. He put a finger to his chin in thought, hoping to figure out the best solution to deal with the dinosaur family without having to resort to fighting and hurting the needlessly. Before he could think up such a plan, a familiar voice suddenly called out to the both of them and interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Then why not you just leave to me!" A voice echoed from above which made them look.

"Huh!?" They gasped to see it was none other than Ed, who stood above on a higher ledge ledge from where they were at, smirking at them while folding his arms!

"Hehehe!" he snickered looking down on them before sliding down it and placing himself between the D Team and the 3 pawpawsaurus who took notice of him, and became defensive and on alert.

"YOU!"

"Alpha gang…." said Max and Rex in frustration since he came to ruin everything.

"If you can't decide, why not just leave it to me then?" he said to them in a mocking tone before pointing to himself with his thumb, "I'm taking these 3 dinosaurs with me whether you like it or not!" he grinned taking out 2 dinosaur cards and an alpha scanner, "Alpha slash! Gush out Spinosaurus! Clobber them Saichania!" Spiny and Tank both appeared in full sized form in front of him and they roared out furiously raring for a fight! Their appearance startled the pawpawsaurus group as they looked up from their feeding.

The boys then narrowed their eyes in anger, "Oh yeah!?" Max growled clenching a fist and punching it out at Ed.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Rex followed as they both took out their cards and slashed them out.

"Dino slash!"

"Triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" As Chomp and Ace appeared in full sized forms they roared out at their opponents, who answered back with roars of their own! Both sides stared down as the skies turned multicoloured, while the pawpawsaurus family held back, the male urging his mate and young to get behind him as he remained on alert.

Ed knew as much as he wanted to go after the family of dinosaurs there was something he had to take care of first, "Spiny! Tank! Take them down!" he ordered as they both roared and lunged out at Chomp and Ace!

"Go Chomp! Protect those pawpawsaurus!" Max cried as the triceratops growled and charged ahead at Spiny!

"Get in there too Ace!" Rex commanded as Ace rushed in to deal with Tank!

As Chomp charged towards Spiny, the spinosaurus quickly used his large arms to hold Chomp back! He felt his toe clown scrape against the ground as the triceratops slowly began to push him back! He snarled and hissed in annoyance before deciding to assess the situation carefully realising the brawn was lacking he had to use brains. Looking carefully and calmly, he soon noticed a spot behind Chomp's frill he could take advantage of! He then loosened his grip and let Chomp thrust out only to sidestep it in time and then delivering a swift bite behind his frill, as his opponent roared in pain!

"No Chomp!" Max cried out in horror.

Tank swung out her tail but Ace swiftly dodged it by leaping out behind her before turning around and then snapping at her legs! She jumped back in time and then remembered a new move she had learnt recently as she quickly curled up into a spike ball and rushed straight at Ace catching him by surprise! The massive force combined with her hard armour and sharp spines felt like a huge spike mace being swung out at Ace's face as he was sent flying back and he landed with a hard thud on the ground!

"Ace!" Rex gasped in disbelief before seeing Spiny throw Chomp out to the side.

"Nice work you guys!" Ed cheered deeply impressed before taking out a move card, "Now take this brats! Shockwave!" Slashing the move, a veil of water erupted around Spiny which he then shot out at Chomp, causing him to be deeply submerged in all the water as he tried desperately to escape but to no avail! Seizing the chance, Tank roared as she spun around and swung her tail with full force, the club driving straight into Chomp's chest as he coughed out painfully and staggered back heavily battered!

"Oh no Chomp!" Max gasped as Rex widened his eyes speechlessly at what he just witnessed.

"Ah!"

"Hooray for teamwork!" Ed jumped up and down cheerfully as Spiny and Tank both roared out in triumph.

As Chomp struggled to get back up on his 4 legs, Ace rushed in to help him while Max held back and clicked his tongue, "Tch! Can't believe they got us like that." he hissed in frustration.

Rex narrowed his eyes, "Hate to admit it…but that was pretty good.…." he muttered, "When did they learn to fight together like that?" he then wondered. Rex didn't have much time to think about it though, as Spiny and Tank pressed their advantage without hesitation, as they rushed ahead towards Chomp and Ace for a full on assault! "Here they come again!" he cried as Max gritted his teeth and hardened his expression.

"Grrr….."

"Ahahaha! We've got you now!" Ed laughed snobbishly holding up his head and folding his arms, but his moment of glory was cut short when a loud bellow sounded behind him! "Hmm?" Looking behind he widened his eyes as the male and female pawpawsaurus began to glow brightly before leaning in and kissing each other, causing a huge pink heart of energy to form before it shot out straight towards Ed and the alpha dinosaurs! "What the!? WAAAAH!" he cried flailing his arms out as he jumped out of the way, as the heart struck Spiny and Tank both in the back causing them to roar in pain before crashing to the ground!

Max and Rex stared in disbelief at what they witnessed, as Chomp and Ace regrouped by their side and out of the firing lines.

"No way…." Max blinked his eyes speechlessly.

"They say love is the most powerful thing of all but I didn't think it could be used like that….." Rex breathed admitting that the move was quite impressive.

Ed however didn't share Max and Rex's admiration, as he gritted his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist spitefully, "Grr! That was just sneaky! You'll pay for that!" he yelled out shaking his fist before turning back to his dinosaurs who were groaning deeply and only just managed to regain their senses. "Spiny! Tank! Get back up and take those 2 down!" he demanded impatiently as they soon got back up on their feet.

"Get ready Rex, they're getting back up again…." Max warned as the 2 boys and their dinosaurs prepared themselves.

Luckily for them, Tank and Spiny were still rather dazed and shaky as they stood up uneasily and their vision was still rather blurry too, "Come on you guys! Get a grip on it! We cans till win this!" Ed shouted out at them as they groaned in a dazed manner, becoming slow and sluggish as each step they took caused them to stumble about.

"Looks like they're still under the after effects of that love attack Rex." said Max feeling relieved.

Rex then smirked, "Yeah, and now's our chance to take them by surprise!" he said to the brunette who grinned back at him.

"Yeah you're right!" he cheered in agreement as he took out a move card, "Lightning spear!" Max yelled slashing the card! Chomp surged with electricity as he rushed ahead fully charged as he took Spiny by surprise! Ramming him up into the air and spearing him with a huge jolt of electricity before tossing him back down to the ground! As Chomp landed on the ground without any trouble, Spiny crashed down hard, shaking and spasming with electricity before retuning to a card!

"Wah!" Ed exclaimed as his jaw hung out and he scrunched up his face.

Tank turned around slowly and groggily, too late to respond as Ace quickly rushed in front of her! "Now it's out turn! Mayfly!" Rex declared unleashing Ace's strongest move! The carnotaurus stomped the ground and roared before rushing towards Tank and disappearing in a blur before spinning around her and striking her from all angles in a flurry, causing her to collapse down to the ground in defeat before returning to a card!

"Awesome!"

"We did it!" The boys cheered in victory while Ed scrunched his face and pulled his hair in shock and disbelief.

"GAAAAAH!" he screamed before stomping his foot out in frustration, "No fair! No fair!" he cried out as he ran over to pick up both dinosaur cards, "I'll get you guys back for this! Make my words this isn't over!" he swore looking up at Max and Rex with spite before turning tail and running away!

"That takes care of the alpha gang." said Max with a smile seeing they were finished with one problem now.

"Now for the pawpawsaurus family." Rex added turning serious as the 3 dinosaurs growled agitatedly as they faced off against Chomp and Ace who roared back at them! The large male stepped forward and bellow aggressively as the female and baby held back behind him, which made Rex narrow his eyes firmly, "Looks like that one's the leader." he said.

"Maybe if we take him out the other 2 will be easier to handle." Max suggested, "Me and Chomp will take him, in the meantime you hold back the other two." he said to Rex who nodded back at him in agreement.

"Gotcha!"

Chomp roared as he lowered his head and charged straight into battle! The male pawpawsaurus bellowed as he rushed forward and head butted Chomp in between his horns as the 2 ended in a stalemate! Backing up the 2 dinosaurs rushed in at one another again, colliding in a tie once more before pushing and shoving at one another aiming to throw the other off balance!

The female and baby lumbered in hoping to back up the male, but Ace leapt in front of them blocking their way! He lunged forward and snapped at the baby, forcing it to back off a bit. Nevertheless he refused to back down and he barked out in defiance. Ace hesitated attacking at first, as he stepped back unwilling to cause the youngster any harm, only to be blindsided when the mother rushed in and struck him on the side sending him back a few feet! He roared in pain but dug in his claws as he gripped the ground and stabilised himself so he wouldn't fly off!

"Oh no…." Rex muttered uneasily as Ace roared out against the mother and baby pawpawsaurus who stood shoulder to shoulder against him! "Man, the baby's using himself as a shield to protect the mother while she goes in for the attack…." He noted knowing he didn't want to hurt the baby more than he needed to, so the mother would take advantage of his hesitation. He also had to admit the courage and bond both parent and child had with each other was a very strong weapon and wouldn't be easy to break, as the baby lunged in at Ace with mock charges, pushing him back while the mother kept trying to strike him from his side! He barely managed to dodge in time before he landed on the ground, only for both dinosaurs to surround him in a pincer attack! "Urgh…that's some teamwork they've got." Rex muttered seeing he was in a tight spot now.

"Guess a family that sticks together, fights together too." said Max having overheard him. Chomp however managed to get a lucky break as he was able to jump out of the male's way in time, before making it to his side and flipping him onto his back! "Alright I've got him!" Upside down and helpless, the male could only struggle in vain as Chomp began using his forelimbs to pound at the ankylosaur's soft underbelly repeatedly! "Keep them off my back a little longer Rex! We can win this yet!" Max called out to Rex who nodded back at him.

"I'll try!" He replied turning back to Ace who still had his claws full with the mother and baby pawpawsaurus circling him! The male then bellowed out a cry for help which made both dinosaurs turn to see him being attacked by Chomp! Angrily the female bellowed as she rushed ahead towards them, as Rex widened his eyes realising what she was attempting to do, "Ace stop her now!" he cried, but as the carnotaurus tried to chat after her, the baby jumped in his way, using his body to trip him up as he crashed down to the ground! "No!" Rex then turned to Max in alarm, "Max watch out!" he warned as the brunette looked.

"Gah!" He widened his eyes to see the female within seconds of reaching his partner! "Chomp behind you!" His warning came too late as the female pawpawsaurus knocked him away, seeding him flying across the field and slamming to the ground hard! "Oh no!"

"Ah!" The boys gasped seeing their opening had closed, as the female lowered her head underneath the male, using all the strength and determination she had she flipped her mate back right side up! He shook himself groggily before nuzzling his mate gratefully. The sweet moment didn't last long as they turned and focused their attention on Chomp, who was now vulnerable himself!

"Man that's some teamwork and trust they have…." Max muttered in annoyance seeing that Chomp's energy meter was reaching the red zone now.

Rex gritted his teeth in frustration before calling out to his partner, "Ace! Chomp needs some help! Back him up!" he cried. Responding to his call, Ace forced himself up to his legs and rushed out to Chomp's side. Unfortunately this proved to be an error, as the pawpawsaurus family all growled in unison while glowing rainbow!

"What are they doing!?" Max gasped taking a step back as the 3 dinosaurs quickly surrounded Ace and Chomp on 3 sides to their alarm!

"It must be another move!" Rex suggested, as they powered up with energy and charged ahead, delivering a triple sided head slam, crushing Chomp and Ace together as they roared in pain! Hearts also erupted from the impact as both dinosaurs slumped to the ground heavily battered!

Both boys gasped in shock at the triple play the dinosaurs did, "Ah! Chomp!"

"ACE!"

They gritted their teeth seeing the 3 dinosaurs were backing away, preparing to unleash another paw paw rush! As they glowed rainbow, they cried out desperately, "Ace get up quick!"

"You can do it Chomp! I know it!" They cheered on at the top of their lungs! Their eyes opened quickly, as their words reached their ears and hearts. Responding quickly in time they jumped out of the way in time as the 3 pawpawsaurus ended up crashing into one another! They then bellowed out in pain as they became dazed and disorientated!

"Alright! They're still in this!" Max cheered feeling hopeful as Chomp and Ace regrouped and roared out fiercely!

"Yeah, thank goodness." Rex breathed in relief before looking to Max, "Now let's show them a little teamwork of our own!"

"Mhmm!" Max nodded seeing they had the perfect opportunity right in front of them now, this time they won't miss! "Rex! You first!"

"Alright! Ninja attack!" Rex slashed the move and Ace rushed ahead splitting into 6 clones of himself as they quickly surrounded the 3 dinosaurs, striking out in many directions as once! Slowly he began tightening their formation, packing them closer to one another as he closed the gap between them, before they were corralled together in a single area and unable to move! "Let em have it Max!" Rex then yelled seeing that as the perfect opportunity to get them all at once.

"With pleasure!" Max grinned seizing the chance as he jumped into the air and slashed down the move card, "Lightning strike!" Chomp began charging a huge sphere of energy between his horns as a yellow aura erupted around him, staying on his hind legs he threw out a huge bolt of electricity towards the 3 pawpawsaurus, striking them all together at once as they bellowed out in pain and retuning back to their dinosaur card which floated gently to the ground!

"We did it!"

"Aw yeah!" Max and Rex cheered high giving one another while their partners both roared victoriously, as they did the battlefield disappeared and the sky returned to normal.

After returning Chomp and Ace to their small size, Max walked over to the dinosaur card and picked it up he looked at it with sympathy, "Sorry you guys, but you left us no choice." he sighed as Rex walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder with compassion.

"Yeah….But at least with them as a card they can't cause anymore trouble," he said with an encouraging smile that made Max smile too, "Plus everything should go back to normal."

As they slowly went back home, back the way they came they came across by the very same people they passed by along the way, and what they saw was a completely different picture from earlier.

"Huh? What the? What am I doing here?" A young woman blinked her eyes in confusion before noticing the fat bearded trucker she was clinging onto. Upon sight of him she turned pale and screamed in terror, "Eww! Get away from me you hairy ape!" she squealed smacking him in the face a few times before running away!

"Huh!? But you just said you liked me!" The man cried out feeling devastated before desperately trotting after her, "Come back!"

Some on the other hand had it much worse, "Honey please I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't know what came over me! You're the only one I love! Honest!" A teenage man pleaded to his wife who folded her arms and scoffed unconvinced looking away from him.

"Hmph!"

As they continued on the stretch of misguided love and broken hearts, Max and Rex both couldn't help but feel very sorry for the couples whose relationships were messed up or those who were simply chasing a fantasy of love that was never meant to be, "Scratch that….Almost everything will be back to normal…." Max groaned as he lowered his head in dismay.

"Yeah…." Rex nodded in agreement while Chomp and Ace followed them from behind. They that some broken relationships may be irreparable, and if not, really difficult to rebuild. Despite, Rex soon caught sight of something on the lighter side which made him smile with relief, "At least not all of them though. Look!" He said pointing out as Max turned to look too.

On the other side of the road some dating or married couples were able to fix their relationships in no time, while others, ironically had their ties made stronger as the pawpawsaurus' love influence had managed to get some of them to be brutally honest with one another, and those couples now officially began dating each other without any insecurities or worries.

"Wow, guess they actually did something good after all…" Max whistled impressed.

Rex nodded, "Even if the love they spread around was fake, those dinosaurs had a love between them stronger than other I've ever seen," he said recalling back to the battle and how difficult it was to beat all 3 dinosaurs who were tied together deeply, "How they were willing to go through anything for each other to the end, even I didn't think we'd pull it off."

"Just shows how love really is something that should never be toyed with." Max mused.

"Yeah…." Rex breathed as he folded his arms behind his head as they continued home, "I wonder if we'll ever find love like that Max." he then muttered out loud, which made him stop in his tracks along with Max. They both looked at each other and stared blankly for several seconds before grinning childishly.

"Nah! Hahahahahah!" They said together before exploding into uncontrollable laughter over how ridiculous that would be.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the park, Zander noticed the sky turn multicoloured from where he stood, as he gulped down seriously and nodded in affirmation knowing that it was time now, "Good luck Ed…." he said wishing his friend luck as he took a deep breath, "Alright….it's time to do my part….and make things right." he said as he walked towards the pier side where he broke away from Reese not long ago. Soon Reese came into view, where he left her at the railings overlooking the river side where she rested her head on an arm on the railings looking dreamily as she was before.

"Oh I do hope Zander comes back soon." she said taking in a breath and letting it out nicely, "I can't wait to tell him how much of an excellent wife I'll be for him." she thought with joy and excitement as she imagined cooking for him, washing his back or letting him lie down on her lap when he was all worn out from fatigue. Looking up to the sky she then smiled every more brightly than before, "The sky's all beautiful now…." she thought oblivious to the fact there was a battle going on, "Perhaps it's a sign Zander and I truly are meant to be….." she breathed at the end blushing red.

Zander, having overheard every word she said, sighed hard and painfully. As much as he would enjoy what she planned to do for him, he knew better than that and what the right thing to do was. Swallowing hard and putting on a firm expression, he then called out to her, "Hello? Reese?"

She turned around and she brightened up to see Zander approaching her, "Ah! Zander you're back!" she cried as joyful tears were welling up in her eyes, "I was so worried when you were gone for so long, I couldn't bear being a second longer without you….." she said sounding hurt as she placed her hands over her chest, "But now that you're here, I can finally-"

"No." he said firmly cutting her off, already knowing what she was about to say.

For Reese, time felt as though it had stopped and her heart skipped a beat, "Wh…What?" she croaked feeling very weak and bewildered over what he said to her.

Zander gritted his teeth knowing it was painful for him too, but it had to be done, "I said…no…Reese." he said back to her firmly, "I'm flattered and touched by everything you've said and done for me today, and I did enjoy our outing too….." he smiled lightly a bit before shedding a tear from one of his eyes, "But I'm very sorry to say this….but we can't keep going on like this." he said looking away, which was no doubt the hardest and toughest thing he ever did his whole life and career as a member of the Alpha Gang.

His words were like a dozen daggers striking out and piercing her delicate heart, and like the pain from physical wounds, many heavy and bitter tears began to well up from Reese's eyes as she cried out painfully, "Wh…Why?" she wept feeling devastated beyond belief, "Why not!? Are you saying that you don't care about my feelings at all!? That you don't love me at all?!"

Zander quickly waved his arms out in response, "No of course not! I always have and will love you with all my heart, soul and being!" he cried before lowering his head, "The real you that is….which you aren't now…."

"Wh…What do you mean!?" Reese asked confused, "This is the real me! This is how I always-"

"No." he interrupted her once more, "Right now you aren't thinking clearly, you're under a dinosaur's spell!" he answered her before taking her hand and looking into her eyes, "But I know the real you! You're kind to everyone and every animal in need, you give them tender care and heart in your actions to help them." he said, "The same way you saved me in the desert weeks ago, out of the kindest of your own heart…that's the you I've always loved!" Reese went completely speechless and her eyes widened in shock at what he said to her. "That's what makes you truly special to me! That's how I want our relationship to be! So please my angel! Come back to your senses! Come back to me!" he cried out to her with every last ounce of passion and emotion from the bottom of his heart and soul to her.

Reese's jaw fell and she was at a loss for words, all she could do was croak out a few measly words, "Zander….I….I…."

As she said that, the skies suddenly returned to normal catching Zander's eyes, "Ah!" he gasped as the many colours faded away to be replaced with the orange sunset as normal. As he did, he widened his eyes seeing Reese was losing her vision as she slowly fell forward, her sight and energy leaving her as she collapsed!

"Ugh….."

"Reese!" Zander cried out as he reached out for her, the last thing she could see before her vision blacked out.

A while later, Reese twitched and she moaned groggily as she slowly began to stir, "Urgh…."

"Reese! Wake up! Please say something!" a familiar voice echoed inside her head. As she slowly began to open her eyes, her vision blur at first soon began to clear, and as it did, she came to she found herself in Zander's arms while at a bench.

"Z…Zander?" she mouthed weakly as her eyes met his relieved face.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake!" he breathed feeling an immense weight lifted from his shoulders, "I don't know what I would've done if you were unconscious and would never wake up!" At the back of his mind he was also hoping she wouldn't be like a sleeping beauty where he'd have to wake her up like the prince did.

Looking around to find she was near the entrance to the park and that there were no people around either meaning everyone had gone home, "Wh…What happened to me?" she asked, "Last I remembered was seeing a dinosaur out from the washroom and then-" her head began to throb, forcing her to clutch onto hit with her hand, "Ugh….it's all a blur now…and my head really hurts."

"Take it easy now, I'll help you up." said Zander as he slowly helped her up, using himself to support her as she shook about unsteadily.

"Maybe I might even need to see a doctor myself…." she thought to herself before smiling at Zander for his kindness, "Th…Thank you." she said as he grinned back at her, "Wow, you're a real gentleman Zander….thank you very much." she said almost forgetting that he was even a member of the Alpha Gang.

"It'll be my pleasure." he said bowing to her.

As she looked up at the sky she saw the stars were beginning to come out and the sky was turning rather dark too, "It's getting late now." she said frowning at how much time had passed and she didn't know anything about it, "I don't remember too much about our day together….I'm sorry…." she said feeling guilty about not being able to give Zander the experience he was hoping for, the last thought which crossed her mind before she passed out.

"It's alright Reese, don't fret about it. Just rest and take it easy now." he said calming her down while patting her hand, "All that matters is that you're safe and back to your senses. That's all that matters to me." he said taking it and looking into her eyes.

"Sure….although…I do feel as though…we did have quite an experience."

He then blushed red and snickered, "Hehe, you can say that again." he thought it best he kept that a secret, otherwise she might never be able to live it down. "I can take you back home if you'd like, I'll drop you off at your place." he offered her, but she shook her head politely and pushed his hand away.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm good. I can find my way back home just fine, thank you." she said feeling grateful before rubbing her head a bit, "I think I might need the time and space alone to…get my thoughts straightened out a bit too."

"Alright then." said Zander respecting her choice as she slowly began to walk away, stumbling a bit at first but she soon got a good pace going as her senses started retuning back to normal. He then widened his eyes in realisation of something he almost forgot, "Oh wait! I almost forgot!" he then called out to her making her stop to look back at him.

"Hmm?"

Reaching into his pocket, he plucked out a purple tulip flower and handed it over to her while kneeling down, "Here." he said as she took it and eyed it with admiration, "I….wanted to give this to you much sooner today…but I just couldn't find the right time and place for it….and now seems like a better time than any other." he said twiddling his fingers shyly while blushing red sheepishly.

"It's lovely." said Reese sniffing it and finding its' scent to be rather captivating. She then smiled warmly at him, "Thank you….I love it very much." she said with gratitude from the bottom of her true heart.

"Ahahaha I picked it out from so many others, I think it suits you perfectly." he laughed proudly while scratching his head.

"Mhmm." Reese then nodded as she kept it in her own pocket, "I'll take extra special care of this one, I promise." she said at last before bowing down politely, "Well then, it was a nice day with you. I won't forget this." she said to him as she turned around to leave.

"Bye bye my angel! Till we meet again!" Zander waved to her as she walked in the direction of the park entrance, and as she slowly disappeared from sight, Zander then sniffled heavily and blowed his nose with a hanky he pulled out form his other pocket.

While he was dwelling in the pain of his heart having made what may have been his hardest choice his entire life, Ed soon trotted in from behind, patted him on the back and smiling considerately to his best friend. "You're a real man Zander." he said complimenting him proudly, "You did the right thing…sniff…and I'm…really proud of you!" he sniffled feeling moved himself as he wiped his eyes with his forearm.

"Sniff…Thanks Ed….for understanding!" Zander sniffled with a light smile before letting out a deep sigh of pain as he soon came to a realisation of a hard truth, "Also….we're of 2 different times….it may seem impossible…." he sniffled heavily before tensing up his arm tightly as a fist, "But that doesn't mean I can't try!" He cried out to the sky as he took a firm stand and let out every ounce of emotion and passion deep from within his heart and soul, "Oh my angel! It's more than I can take. Without you by my side, my heart will break! Oh it's you that I adore! Say you'll love me like you love your dinosaur!" he sang loudly.

Ed clapped eagerly when he finished, praising Zander's performance, feeling inspired and moved himself to never give up either.

As Zander then turned to look back at him, he then asked curiously upon noticing something, or more precisely someone was missing, "Say…where's Ursula? Isn't she with you?"

"Y…Yeah you're right…Can't believe I forgot…" Ed then blinked his eyes realising he hadn't noticed for a while, "Come to think of it….." he muttered putting a finger to his chin as he remembered what she said to him before they split up.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"This looks like the place." said Ursula as she looked at the noted address on a sheet of paper, looking up she widened her eyes in amazement to see it was a fancy seafood restaurant in Paris, "Woo, it's a fancy restaurant in the middle of the city of love too! Perfect for my very first Valentine's Date!" she jittered with excitement and joy as she capped her hands together and drifted off into wonderland once again, "This is just like that dream I had, when the man I've been waiting for my whole life has foamily come to meet me…." she said dreamily before snapping back to reality and looking through the windows, to see many of the tables were already occupied with either couples or families, "But how do I know where he's-"

Her eyes soon caught sight of a table for 2, and in it was a person who had the menu covering up his face. Upon sight of him, Ursula blushed bright red and her eyes glistened, "AH! That must be him!" she cried out loud filled with emotion, "Oh dream man and life of eternal happiness here I come!" she went as she ran inside like a child. Halfway there she slowed herself down, "Okay now Ursula, calm down, you don't want to give the wrong impression…." she told herself thinking carefully as she calmed herself with a breath, though love and excitement was still on her mind as with each step she took her heart began pounding within her chest even harder, screaming for her to reach out to the man of her dreams without hesitation. As she came before him and sat down at the chair in front, "Excuse me," she then swallowed hard and sweat dropped nervously before asking, "Are you by chance….Fossil Hunting Hero?"

"Hehehehe, so you've received my invitation as I expected." the man behind the menu chuckled which made her squeal with joy and excitement that he truly was the one!

"AH!"

"I knew the moment I met you online that it was fate that we'd meet right here at this very moment, my lovely Ursula." he said in a deep manly voice which made her heart flutter.

"Oh! I knew you'd get me!" she teared up clapping her hands together, "I feel I could die of happiness right now! If this is a dream don't wake me up!"

"Indeed, this was destined to be! It was written in the stars and along the chronicles of time itself! All the choices we've ever made were to lead us to this exact place in time!" The man proclaimed, continuing to pour heartfelt words and each one was making Ursula's heart race with excitement at each one, "And now-" He then lowered the menu to reveal his true self, "We can finally settle down and get married!" Dr Owen cheered as he held his arms out to her.

In an instant, Ursula's fantasy shattered like glass and her heart almost stopped as she tuned pale, in realisation that the man of her dreams turned out to be the man of her worst nightmare! "EEEEEEKKK!" she screamed out loud like a damsel in distress would in a horror movie! So loud that nearly everyone in the restaraunt turned to look at her oddly.

Dr Owen didn't care however, for all the mattered to him was that the woman he had eyes for had finally come to accept him and his love! "Ahahahah! I'm so touched you're finally being honest with yourself my lovely Ursula! Sure it took you a while to realise you can't fight destiny but all that matters is that we can tie the knot and seal our intertwining fates with each other once and for all hahahahah!" he laughed out loud as a shade went over her eyes. He then grinned cheekily and leaned in closer to her face, "Come on now, admit it, you know you want to." he said with a bright smile. Suddenly, he was met back with a furious glare which made him sweat drop nervously, "Huh?" In the blink of an eye, he was sent flying with a single punch to his face as he flew up tot h clinging and slammed into it! "ACK!" Before falling back down to the floor and smashing onto the table again! "AAAAAH!"

CRASH!

As the dust cleared Dr Owen's face was seen swollen, battered and bruised with broken teeth and a bloody nose with broken glasses to complete the look!

"GRRRR!" she growled stomping her foot on the ground and steam snorting from her nostrils like a bull! Which was enough to make some of the customers clear out in a panic!

"E….Excuse me madam, are you ready to-" she then delivered a swift kick to the waiter nervously asking for her, striking him straight in the gut as his eyes widened in pain! "OOF!" he croaked before clutching his stomach and falling down on the ground out of commission!

"That's it! I'm so done with love and men!" she screamed out loud as she stomped herself out of the restaurant, intending to erase her profile once and for all from the dating website once she got home.

Back with Dr Owen, his limbs were spasming and twitching as he let out one last word of pain before passing out, "Urgh….."

 **(Later)**

That night back at the D Lab, Zoe lowered her head shamefully towards her big sister, who sat in her chair with one leg over the other, folding her arms and staring at her with an emotionless yet piercing stare! "You were spying on me the entire time Zoe?" she muttered crossly while raising an eyebrow.

Zoe shuddered in response as she quickly got down on her knees, "B…But it was for a good reason sis! Honest!" she begged as she clapped her hands together pleading for mercy, "I was trying to keep you safe like a good sister should! That creep Zander could have done something horrible to you while you were still all….lovesick because of those pawpawsauruses!" she stuttered uneasily at the end before looking back to where her friends were with a hopeful expression, "But in the end we're really glad everything worked out and no one got hurt! Right guys!?"

Max, Rex and Cera however weren't amused either, and had no intention of playing along with her innocent act this time, "We would have been able to deal with those dinosaurs much sooner if you'd let us go earlier." said Max in a rather angry tone.

"Now I feel bad about all the messed up relationships we could've prevented," Cera sighed deeply when she thought about all the unfortunate tragic love stories that were made on this very day, "This is no doubt the worst valentine's day for so many heartbroken couples now." she said shaking her head.

"And we all know who to blame for that." said Rex as they all focused their gazes on Zoe who turned pale being the focus of everyone's anger and blame!

"H…HUH!?" she cried in disbelief and shock, as her jaw hung and she slowly slumped to the ground in defeat knowing she was the cause of the heartbreak of so many innocent people today, "How dare you!? T…Traitors! You're supposed to back me up! And you-" She then began shouting out at her friends at them leaving her out to dry.

As Max and Rex both argued with her over who was right and wrong, each side trying to put the blame on the other while trying to defend their own sides, Cera sighed shaking her head in disapproval as she walked off to find some peace and quiet, unwilling to play referee this time.

Reese too had the same idea as she turned around in her chair back to her work, though her mind was more focused on other matters for the time being. She then rested her head on her arms as she leaned down on her desk in deep thought, her memories slowly had been coming back to her after her walk home to clear her mind, and after recalling every single detail and even that transpired, she couldn't help but feel rather embarrassed and disgusted at how she behaved, "I can't believe all the things I did because of those 3 pawpawsauruses, I won't be able to live this down for a while…." she grumbled to herself before turning her head back to see her sister still quarrelling with her friends while their dinosaurs just stood and watched. "Perhaps I should thank them at least for caring…." she then chuckled as a smile soon came on her face as she looked to the new flower she got from Zander on her desk, which she had put in a vase and further in and out of Paris' reach so it wouldn't get eaten like her last. As she looked at it intently she smiled dreamily as she became reminded of Zander's heart-moving speech which helped in snapping her out of her love sick craze….the words he spoke and the emotion he conveyed were forever embedded in her heart, whether she might return this feelings on her own or not, she couldn't deny that she would never forget this day, as she smiled and hummed his signature love song to herself, which she had to admit was starting to rub off on her.

 **And thus concludes chapter 24, a valentine's day themed chapter fitting of the secret dinosaur pawpawsaurus and its loved based attacks. Hope you enjoyed the humour that ensued here, most of it came from ideas of an episode from Ah my Goddess which I found humorous too. Also if I'm not mistaken, Zoe's english VA also played in that series too as one of the main characters. In case anyone was wondering, the first battle happened at the further edge of the park so the rest of the people who were further inside didn't quite hear about the battle. Part of this chapter's idea was also thanks to pokemonking0924.**

 **Took the opportunity to give Zander a little more character too, he can be honest and good when it comes to Reese and make a little a little humour with Ursula and Dr Owen too. If it seems out of character for Reese and Zander here, let's just say its' the dinosaur's influence for the former and the latter wanted things to be honest and sincere, he does know the meaning of true love which he showed involving the saurolophuses. Also on a side note Terry and the others still are influenced a bit by their time with Cera, such as Terry being more sympathetic, Tank curling up into a ball mid fight like how she normally does as a chibi, and Spiny fighting smarter while noticing Chomp's weak points too.**

 **As for how Zoe's parents met, will leave it up to your imagination.**

 **Stay tuned for the finale of season 1 now approaches.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-** **I once thought of a government action chapter but realised it would span into an arc and it would take too long. The D Team is also very forgiving and understanding and all they cared about is having her back, and the fact she never truly left them also helped too.**


	25. Full Scheme Ahead

Chapter 25

Full Scheme Ahead

It was morning, a new day had come upon Sanjo, everything was calm and smooth as the people went about their daily activities and routines. But little did anyone in the city know, was that it was going to be a day that nobody would forget for a long time.

Over at the D Lab, Cera and Reese were both working tirelessly over at the work table, where the android whom the D Team found at Russia, was being operated on. After the 2 girls finished adding the last few touches on opposite sides of the robot, when a spark flickered from his chest and his eyes opened, "REBOOTING! ONLINE!" he said loudly which made Miku at a nearby desk squawk and jump surprise as she shed a few small feathers.

"I think we've repaired him!" Reese smiled with relief while Cera nodded before going over to comfort her partner with a headset.

"RUN SCAN! ACQUIRE DATA!" the robot man then said in a deep loud mechanical voice as both Reese and Cera looked to him with concern.

"I hope there is data….." said Reese.

"Same here."Cera added, ever since seeing him get torched by Terry in Moscow, she couldn't stop worrying about him because he was the man who helped give her a home when she was lost, and also was there to help the D Team time and again, overtime she felt they've developed a kind of connection too and she felt she owed it to him to make sure he walks fine again.

A little later when the D Team were given the news, they hurried over as fast as they could. When they arrived they found him dressed in a proper uniform as he stood before them all to introduce himself, "MY NAME IS….Johnathan." he concluded in a regular tone. As Chomp and the other dinosaurs hopped up to where he was he then turned around to begin piecing together a disassembled theropod dinosaur fossil, looking over the bones and carefully fitting them nicely with both speed, skill ad precision.

"What's he doing?" Max asked curiously as he and everyone else looked on with interest.

"It looks like he's assembling a fossil model." Spike breathed in amazement with others.

"Well its possible he was programmed to be an expert on dinosaur bone structure." Reese stated observing the situation carefully.

"An android dinosaur expert huh?" Rex muttered feeling impressed.

"We weren't able to get him completely back online though." Reese added at the end as the others looked to her and Cera.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked, "Is he still all messed up?"

"A little." Reese answered, "We did the best we could with him but….Some of his systems are more advanced than what current Earth technology could have produced." she said at the end after a pause..

"Yeah, even we don't fully understand what some of his components functioned as," Cera continued as she folded her arms in thought, "Considering man of his gears were torched to a crisp, we had to make do with the best substitute parts we could get our hands on." she added.

"So like he came from outer space?" Max then asked.

"Not necessarily," Reese replied, "But definitely some futuristic technology."

"From the future?" the 3 kids parroted in surprise.

"Say kids," Dr Taylor then asked in interest, "Didn't you say that the Alpha Gang's base had some futuristic looking stuff?"

"Yeah." Max answered, "And they had an android there too named…Helga." he said having finally remembered the female android's name right.

"Can't forget about her." Cera said to herself still shuddering at the fact of how berserk she was when she went toe to toe with a pentaceratops and even began cooking up dishes that could melt a tank one time!

Dr Taylor then folded his arms, "Seems to be me that Johnathan was built by the alpha gang." he theorised.

"Wouldn't be surprised if that was the case…." Cera then added at the end.

"But if this android is part of the alpha gang too then why did he save me and Rex?" Zoe then asked puzzled, "He threw himself fright in front of the fire move."

"That's true." Rex replied as he flashbacked to back in Russia when the robot jumped in to shield himself with his own body from Terry's off course volcano burst! An experience they couldn't forget.

Cera then closed her eyes in thought, "Well….they do tend to built rather unstable or faulty devices so he could have malfunctioned….." she then assumed before shaking her head, "But somehow I don't think that's the case." she then said having remembered him to have done so out of true intention and not out of a mere malfunction.

As they looked ahead they saw Johnathan had fully assembled the model t-rex skeleton and was now having fun petting all 4 of their dinosaurs who had gathered around him, feeling at peace with his company as if their instincts told them they could fully trust in him, as he stroked them all around gently and they hummed in enjoyment.

"I don't know what his relationship is with the alpha gang, but it definitely has got something to do with dinosaurs." Reese stated.

Thinking about it, Cera could tell it made sense since he did show up several times when dinosaurs were present, and on top of that there were occasions when he had dinosaur cards on him. As far as she could tell that could;t have been a coincidence.

"Hey little guy, come on up here." said Johnathan nicely as Chomp patted at his legs, prompting the mecha man to pick him up and hold him close to his face, "You're Chomp aren't you?" he then asked.

"Hey he remembered his name." Cera pointed out which made Max smile happily.

"Yeah." he nodded only to cringe a bit when Chomp began niggling on his beard and wouldn't let go!

"Ahahahahaha….." Johnathan laughed in amusement as he tried to pull the young trike away, only for him to accidentally fling Chomp away and unintentionally flip his head 180 degrees, till it resembled an entirely new face! All his lower face features like his beard and moustache became hair and eyebrows, while his previous eyebrows became a new moustache! As it did, his eyes turned yellow and it seemed as though he was rebooting again!

"Whoa look at that!" Max breathed in surprise as everyone looked closer.

"His head…"

"It turned upside down!" Max finished for Zoe who was just as surprised as she was.

After tightening his head on a little more, Johnathan looked around in confusion, "What's this? I have no idea where I am…." he said to himself eying his surroundings with curiosity while the dinosaurs looked up at him. "Or who all of you are!" he then gasped out loud as he turned his attention to the entire D Team.

"My name is Max." Max then introduced himself.

"I'm Cera." the red haired girl went next.

"And I'm Zoe so do you remember your name?" the pig tailed girl then asked.

The man then bowed politely before them with deep respect, "I am Johnathan nice to meet you." he said, "But you sure already know that since one of you is my creator." he added at the end which surprised them.

"No….not one of us." Zoe replied puzzled.

"We did fix you up though." Cera then added hoping that would suffice.

"I will run a scan to determine which of you…uh…matched my parameters." he then said as he went looking over each of the humans one by one, while they looked back at him strangely, "How odd….my memory seems to have been…partially erased…." he then breathed in surprise himself, before finally focusing on Rex, a scan awakened an old memory file in his circuits which revealed a much younger blond haired boy resembling Rex, in the hands of a kind looking man with brown hair, "Identity confirmed!" he then gasped as Rex blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Huh? Who me?" he asked as Johnathan began to utter an unfamiliar name.

"Dr Ancient…."

"No! Uh umm…my name is Rex Owen." Rex said back to him.

"Maybe his creator resembles Rex?" Cera asked, realising his tone had no hint of deceit in them, meaning he was absolutely sure Rex was his master or maybe looked like him.

"Who's Dr Ancient?" Max then asked.

The man then blinked a bit before acting all puzzled, "Err….I don't know…."

"But you just called me that name so you must know who he is." Rex replied.

"I have no recollection of having said that." said Johnathan in response, "You must be mistaken." he said sounding as respectful as he could.

"You don't remember what you've just said?" Zoe asked.

"Oh boy…." Dr Taylor muttered seeing they were in a bit of a pickle and at a dead end for answers, "There's been some major damage to his memory."

"Must be really bad at that…." Cera whistled knowing it must have been really bad.

"So Johnathan, is that your real face or is the other one?" Reese then asked curiously while trying not to sound rude.

"Whatever are you referring to?" the man robot then asked.

"Your head just turned upside down." Max answered rather bluntly.

"Oh that explains the post nasal drip." he replied before the D Team muttered feeling disgusted.

"Ugh….."

"For a robot he definitely exhibits very deep human-like traits," Cera thought to herself intently, "Far more advanced than any robot built in the word today that was for sure. In way he seems almost human himself, like Helga too….his memory lost too is rather peculiar, almost like mine….could it be a coincidence?" she wondered before shaking her head and shrugging it off.

"Well no point in worrying about what can't be done." muttered Spike, "All we can do now is wait and hope he gets his memories back soon." he said as the others sighed in disappointment hoping to learn more from Johnathan only to come up with a dead end.

"Guess so…."

"That's too bad I guess…." the rest of the D Team muttered.

"In the meantime I'll inform Dr Owen, no doubt he'll want to know about this." said Spike as he headed over to make an important call on the phone with Reese accompanying him.

"Man is stinks not knowing anything, especially what's most important." Max muttered as he folded his hands behind his head and walked to another part of the lab, with Zoe, Rex and their dinosaurs following him seeing there wasn't much point staying here for the time being.

"Yeah, I know how that feels….." Cera thought to herself hearing his words before looking over to Johnathan, who was still looking around aimlessly as if trying to figure out his won place in the world, "Johnathan, maybe you should go and take a walk or something, that could help you jog your memory a little." she said to him as he put a finger to his chin in thought.

"Hmm…yes…I will do just that." he nodded after pondering it over and then heading outside the door to survey the surrounding environment.

As everyone began leaving the premises, Cera narrowed her eyes with Miku, who had just perched on her shoulder as she began to go over everything that had transpired so far until this very point, she wasn't sure what was going on….but no doubt there was something big coming, and whatever it was, no doubt it would change their lives forever.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Zeta Point, Seth was busy typing away at his computer with a rather serious expression. "That was close….." he thought to himself having realised his cover was almost blown before smirking to himself in amusement, "It's fortunate for me that Laura is so naive, she doesn't suspect a thing." he said having figured he may have thrown her off his trail, seeing her and Rod to be kids it was so easy to get them to do his dirty work and manipulate their thinking too. He however then narrowed his eyes knowing because he was almost found out he had to make his move now, "Though I can't leave anything to chance, not when I'm so close." he said as his computer screen lit up showing various windows depicting dig sites around the world which included England's Jurassic Coast, the Jiufotang Formation in China and Hell's Creek in the US.

"Apparently there's only so much living dinosaurs can accomplish…..no matter how much they evolve and grow they always limits in the end." he said to himself having realised that each and every living dinosaur he had experimented on always hit a breaking point, which is why he was going to resort to something completely new as he smirked sinisterly at the many ideas that came streaming through his evil mind, "So perhaps….I'll need to make an entirely new dinosaur, one whose growth and potential knows no bounds, the perfect ultimate dinosaur of all!" he said as his smirk turned into a psychotic grin as he looked behind, "And luckily, I have just the machine to do it." as his eyes met with a newly constructed machine he developed aside one of his lab's chambers, one which he was able to design thanks to a certain idea he acquired from a…..reliable source.

"All that's left now, is to find some worthy candidates….." he then said as he pressed a button, sending off several vehicles via remote control, carrying a cargo of super alpha droids, hoping to bring back a high quality dinosaur fossil which he can utilise or even play God with, soon his brain child of a world where dinosaurs walked the earth once more would come to pass as he smiled with dark intent with each vehicle taking off to different corners of the world. Having taken care of that matter, hearing a beeping sound on his monitor he pressed the button, causing a nearby compartment to open up. It steamed hard and as it cleared it revealed what appeared to be a black dinoholder, which a nearby assistant droid picked up and hand to him. He smirked at it seeing the project was a success and now he had the means of summoning a dinosaur without the need for an actual stone inside, another monumental feat accomplished thanks to said reliable source.

Reaching into his pocket he picked out his new move card, he then narrowed his eyes at it, "Since Terry is currently out of commission….." he smirked before reaching into his pocket again and picking out a fire dinosaur card and focused on it, "You will have to do." he then said hoping that saurophagnax could hear him. Walking up to a huge holding beaker he slashed the card summoning the fiery jurassic dinosaur who roared angrily and clawed at the glass in agitation, which did little to deter Seth as his smirk darkened, "Do not worry, you should be honoured my friend, for your contribution to this experiment will be the first step in bringing your species back from extinction!" he proclaimed as he hit a button, causing lasers from the top of the holding beaker to fire down streams of energy into the saurophaganax! As it roared in pain and anger, slamming against the glass but to no avail, and Seth eyed it with dark intent.

To him he didn't care if it suffered or even died, in the end no matter the outcome he stood to gain something, either knowledge or a stronger dinosaur either way he couldn't be stopped now. Eventually, the saurophaganax's mind soon began to blank as its own will weakened till fully submitting to the mad scientist's full power and command, as it quieted down and relented, "That's much better." said Seth smiling pleased as he eyed the move card in his hand, which he knew would finally be perfected now that there was a dinosaur capable of handling its power, "As for this move card, I think I'll call it….fire scorcher." he said darkly at the end.

 **(Later)**

Later in the day, while Max, Rex and Zoe were playing with their dinosaurs at the playroom nearby, Cera and Miku were looking over some of the cards they gathered so far which included a few dinosaurs which included 2 types of allosaurus (fragilis and attrox) as well as 2 types of lambeosaurus (lambei and magnicristatus). Dr Taylor and Reese were busy observing Johnathan as he seemed to be boiling some hot water nearby, and were taking notes on his every action and behaviour, when a ringing sound beeped from the main computer.

RING! RING!

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the screen, as the noise caught their attention.

"Hmm?"

"What's going on?" The kids asked as they and their dinos hurried over to the big screen to meet with Cera and the adults, with Reese already typing away at the keyboards.

"It's an urgent call from Dr Owen." she blinked her eyes upon seeing what it was.

"Huh? My dad?" Rex blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Could be important let's go find out." said Max with a serous gaze as everyone else nodded with him in agreement.

"Patch us in Reese." instructed Spike as she typed away, eventually the screen lit up to show Dr Owen's concerned expression, "Yes Dr Owen, what's the emergency?" Spike asked him with concern.

"Well suddenly I've been I'm getting reports of these robot raiders tearing up fossil excavation sites all over the world." the other palaeontologist answered back sounding rather worried.

"Robot raiders?" Cera parroted as she blinked her eyes and then narrowed them, "Alpha droids no doubt…."

"What do they want?" Rex asked.

"They seem to be looking for something." his adoptive dad answered back.

"Maybe they were sent to look for more cards." Zoe suggested.

"But I thought all the dinosaur cards had already been found." Dr Taylor then replied sounding confused.

"Yeah we thought so too." said Rex before folding his arms and closing his eyes in deep thought, "But then we've been finding a lot more than just 37 cards….." he said as his friends nodded in agreement.

"True….." Zoe replied, as they recalled the times when they began encountering more than 37 dinosaurs, with new examples such as tarchia and gigantspinosaurus showing up, in fact, Cera's microraptor Miku too was still one mystery they haven't yet solved. Perhaps Rod and Laura may have been lying about the number of cards there were, but that possibility was soon ruled out when Cera arrived on the scene, with her own dinosaur, her own device capable of summoning them and her skill and mastery of using them, yet also having no connection to the Alpha gang at all. In the end they could only speculate from the very few clues they had and the only lead they put together so far wasn't as reliable ass the had hoped.

"What else could they be looking for?" Max then asked out loud, and no one answered back for they didn't know what the answer could be, and that worried them. For the droids to be acting up now, it meant the alpha gang were no doubt plotting some new diabolical scheme, one the D Team had no idea of, meaning they were pretty much in the dark and would be at a disadvantage once their foes did make their move when fully prepared.

"Dr Owen," Cera then asked him sensing something wasn't quite right, "Did the droids take anything at all in particular?"

"Hmm…." The older man muttered as he folded his arms in thought, trying to remember best he could what his workers and associates witnessed around the world as a result of the droids invading their digging activities, "Well if I remember correctly…they did make off with a couple of fossils from each dig site." he said, "One in particular being a tyrannosaurus skeleton that was recently uncovered, in near perfect condition but other than that nothing more."

"Fossils?"

"A T-rex skeleton?" Cera and Max asked surprised at what they were after.

"What would they want with that?" Zoe then asked as she looked to them both, who then shrugged their shoulders.

"Maybe they think there's dinomond in it like how you found it in the seismosaurus skeleton." Rex then suggested as his dad nodded.

"That could be a possibility." he said putting a finger to his chin.

As everyone began speculating over what the Alpha gang would be after, Cera then narrowed her eyes and folded her arms in thought, "Or maybe…..something different entirely…." she thought to herself. Suddenly a thought soon coursed through her mind, as a certain vision flashed through. It depicted several shadowed human figures, wearing lab coats or goggles, surrounding a large theropod fossil inside a glass casing. As the people began dealing on the keyboards around the machine, bright beams of light shot down from the upper part of the machine, illuminating the fossil in bright multicoloured light before it changed red and eventually took form as a full sized giganotosaurus, which stomped its foot down and roared ferociously upon its awakening, and the scientists around it began clapping or cheering with joy and amazement.

"Ah….." Cera quickly blinked her eyes and shook her head before rubbing her temple as her mind began to throb as that vision of hers passed, "It couldn't be…..also…what was that?" she wondered, dinosaurs being revived from fossils? Even that seemed rather farfetched. But still, how come she know about this? Also could Seth actually accomplish this himself she wondered.

While everyone still pondered over the alpha gang's intentions and Cera was trying to regain her composure, Johnathan soon dropped into the scene as he handed the group a tray with a tea set inside, "I'm sorry to interrupt but perhaps you could use a break." he said carrying freshly brewed tea and catching Dr Owen's eye.

"Is this the android you told me about?" he asked in surprise and amazement, seeing the man robot to be far beyond what he first assumed.

"Yes," Dr Taylor nodded with a smile before looking at Johnathan rather proudly, "His memory's been damaged but he sure makes a good cup of tea."

Cera smiled happily at how polite he was as the others observed, till the sound of Reese's handphone ringing caught their attention.

RING RING

"Yes? Oh hello dad." Reese answered before the reply at the other end soon caught her by surprise, "What? Who's there?"

"Hmm?" everyone blinked their eyes or narrowed them knowing that reaction couldn't be anything good.

"We'll be over there shortly." she then said as she switched of her phone and then hurried over to grab her things on the desk which she began putting into her lab coat.

"Is something up Reese?" Zoe asked curiously as her older sister turned back to her,

"Yes, apparently Rod and Laura just dropped by at the animal hospital just now." she said seriously which caught them all by surprise.

"Say what!?"

"Rod and laura?!"

"AH!" They all based or exclaimed in alarm at the 2 unexpected names who showed up at Zoe's house.

John than however blinked his eyes in surprise, feeling as though he heard those names before somewhere but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, till an old memory flashed in his own memory circuits, "Rod and Laura….." he breathed as a flashback of them being respectful to a certain older man at the halls of Zeta Point, and smiling and laughing with a young infant who was being carried in the hands of a blond woman wearing glasses.

"Dr Owen, I'm afraid we'll have to continue this later." said Dr Taylor politely as he could to his colleague knowing they had to finish their discussion another time due to the unexpected news brought up.

Fortunately the other palaeontologist was respectful of his reasons and nodded, "I understand, do what you must." he said, "In the meantime I'll keep you up to date until further notice."

"Thanks dad." said Rex gratefully as the screen turned blank as the call ended.

With that out of the way, Max turned to everyone firmly, "Come on guys, let's pay Dr Drake's a visit." he said pumping up his arms seriously knowing with Rod and Laura in their town it could mean trouble was brewing and they would have to put a stop to it.

"Yeah, and go kick out those 2 uninvited guests before they cause any trouble." Zoe said with determination as they all hurried out to the car. As they did, Cera's face gained an expression of conflict and insecurity, worrying about what might happen when they get there, also knowing Rod and Laura were both good kids….so to fight them would be rather painful for her to go through with, though somehow she was hoping that wasn't the case….

 **(Later)**

As the truck arrived over at the entrance to the Zoe residence, the gang could see the Alpha jet parked nearby which was a sure sign that they were inside. Max and the D team charged in anticipating the 2 kids were probably up to no good, maybe planning another attempt on their cards as they charged in through the door ready for battle!

"Hey! What are you doing over here!?" Max yelled angrily as they arrived on the scene at the examining room, but very soon their anger and agitation turned to sympathy and concern when they saw what was going on. Rod was eying his sister with concern while Laura carried a very sad expression on her face. Looking to the side they could see why. Terry lay on the medical table, looking deeply exhausted and drained of every last ounce of energy, appearing to be almost dead! Despite being their enemy even they couldn't help but feel worried for him.

"Oh dear…." said Reese sympathetically and with worry.

"That doesn't look good…." went Dr Taylor with concern.

"What….happened to him?" They each asked, Cera most worried of all, being the only member of the D Team to have had a short but good relationship with the fire dinosaur, to see him like this worried her deeply. If there was a bright side they could at least confirm that they wouldn't be expecting any fighting at this point.

"Pardon me." said Johntathan as he dropped in while still carrying the tea set in his hands, "Tea anyone?"

Sadly none of them were in the mood to pay him any attention, as they were either fixated on Terry or the alpha kids.

"Tell me what's wrong with Terry." Rod asked Laura once more much more firmly.

"But Seth made me promise not to tell you." she said sadly which made her brother blink in surprise at her words.

"What does he have to do with it?" he then asked, not liking the sound of that.

Laura then turned to her brother painfully as she forced out the words from inside her, "He said that something bad would happen to grampa if I told anyone." she said tearing up

Rod widened his eyes, "Seth told you that!?" he exclaimed in alarm, to him this was the first he'd ever heard of Seth doing something so awful. Of all the times he was so kind and helpful to them, to think he would do such a thing.

"AH!" Cera felt her heart skip a beat upon hearing that name. And as she fixated her gaze on Terry, she then began to piece things together, realising that no doubt he was the one responsible for doing this to the poor dinosaur. She then clenched her fist and hardened her expression, him experimenting on other dinosaurs was one thing but to do so with the Alpha gang's own dinosaurs….that truly crossed the line….violent emotions began erupting inside her as she did her best to keep it to herself and to hide it from the others.

The rest of the D Team were beginning to feel on edge after hearing the kids' side of things, "Hey, what're you guys talking about? What's going on?" Max asked feeling uneasy about where this conversation was taking them, knowing it may concern them a lot more than they first thought.

"Who is this Seth person? Spike then asked not wishing to kept out of the loop.

"He's one of the alpha gang." Rex answered as the others soon began to recall first meeting him at the iron refinery, having modified a trio of velociraptors and being proud of it too.

"He's the one re-engineering dinosaur dna!" Max said out loud angrily at how he was looking at dinosaurs to be no more than tools or lab rats to manipulate.

Cera on the other hand….had a more traumatising memory come back to her which took place several weeks ago, one which continued to haunt her nightmares time and again, unable to move on from them, the fact that this revelation was brought up once more was like having salt rubbed in an open wound as she gritted her teeth.

"I always felt like he was the worst villain of them all in the alpha gang!" said Zoe as she and the others began feeling more on edge.

"The worst villain?" Jonathan breathed in confusion, before an old memory of his came back. Back at Russia, when Seth sucker punched him when his guard was down, and his precious data entrusted to him by Dr Ancient was stolen by the madman himself before being tossed off the train like garbage. "The worst villain!" His expression hardened, filled with bitter anger towards him and having recalled what Seth also did prior to his memory loss before slipping out the front door unnoticed by everyone else.

Meanwhile the rest of the D Team were still hoping to get more information out of Rod and Laura, "So did Seth do something bad to Terry?" Max asked feeling worried.

"He said it was just a new move he was working on…." Laura answered softly, sounding almost terrified at the move she saw him working on, not even Dr Z would go so far to push dinosaurs to such an extent.

"What kind of a move?" Rex asked.

She then turned to them tearing up with fear and sadness for her family, "I'm afraid that grampa's gonna get hurt!" she cried as the others gasped in alarm.

"Ah!" It was then they knew it was really that bad, and far more worse and serious than they first anticipated. It was at that moment that everything began to take sense for Rod, knowing their grandfather he would never risk them going on such dangerous field missions where they could get hurt badly, that was what Ursula and her bumbling buffoons were for. All those times that Seth told them everything was for them….for Dr Z's dinosaur kingdom….was nothing but a lie….

The sound of a roaring engine outside soon caught their attention as they turned around and quickly headed for the doors. As they ran outside and looked up to the sky they were surprised to see Johnathan was taking to the air inside Rod and Laura's own jet! They didn't know what was more surprising, the fact that the android was taking off on his own to who knows where, or that he somehow knew how to fly a jet!

As Rod and Lara both took a closer look at the one hijacking their ride, their eyes widened in amazement at what they saw, "Look!" Rod gasped as they caught sight of a face that they hadn't seen for so many long months.

"It's Johnathan!" Laura breathed in awe and amazement, a statement that had not gone unnoticed by Cera as she quickly looked back at them.

"Wait, you know him?" she asked as the rest of the D Team and then looked to them in surprise.

"Ah!" A sentiment shared by Dr Taylor and Reese when they came out of the the animal hospital.

"So then…..he's part of the alpha gang too!?" Max exclaimed which made them both turn their attention to the D Team.

"Not….exactly….more like….a friend….." said Laura scratching her cheek.

Rex blinked his eyes in surprise, "Friend?"

Rod then shook his head and gritted his teeth seriously, "Look there's no time to explain! Knowing him he's no doubt heading for where Zeta Point is!" he said before pointing out at him, "And since he took our jet we'll need to use your ride to get back home!"

"Say what!?" Rex exclaimed while Max and Zoe became on edge.

"Yeah right, this is probably some big scheme you're plotting!"

"Why should we help you!?" They each said angrily, having an history of bad blood between them for sometime now, the last thing they'd ever do is drop their guard around these 2 members pf the alpha gang, for all they know this could be another scheme to get into their base and get another crack at their cards!

While Reese and Dr Taylor both held back, unsure whose side to take, Cera seeing the sincerity in Rod and Laura's hearts this time decided to take a stand as she held her arms between them.

"Guys calm down…." she said to her friends firmly which quieted them down as they, along with Rod and Laura, eyed her in surprise of her unexpected behaviour.

"Huh?"

"C…Cera?"

She narrowed her eyes seriously, "I understand we all may have some bad blood between us….but…." she then looked to the alpha gang kids, finding their intentions to be genuine and truthful, "Do they have any reason to lie to us now?" She said at the end before lowering her arms. "Besides what choice do we have? We have to go to Zeta Point now, which is no doubt heavily guarded and the only way we'll be getting there is with their help." she said at the end.

Realising that something was indeed going on at Alpha gang's headquarters either way, and that Johnathan was no doubt going there for some reason, they realised she did have a good point there. Rod and Laura were both rather surprised too at the fact Cera was willing to stand up for them despite being on opposite sides, though Laura on the other hand had a feeling she knew why….

Seeing they wouldn't get anywhere if they argued and fought now, Rex and the others sighed with reluctance, "Yeah good point…."

"I don't like it too much either," added Cera at the end expressing her own since doubts bout this too, "But our options are limited now." she added at the end.

"Fine," Max gritted his teeth huffing before narrowing his eyes, "But we're keeping a close eye on you guys just to be sure!" he added at the end.

"Fair enough…." Rod shrugged his shoulders.

As he finished, the sounds of an engine rumbling made them turn to see Reese and Spike already in the truck and starting it up, "Come on, I'll bring us back to the D Lab post haste!" she said to them as the gang quickly ran inside and buckled up.

"Wait!" Dr Drake's voice yelled from behind them as they turned to look.

"Huh?"

"Don't forget Terry!" he cried out as he ran out of the front doors as fast as he could, carrying the little red dinosaur in his arms, which shocked both Alpha kids a bit.

"Ah! But shouldn't he be-"

"Don't worry," he said to them with a big comforting smile, "I have just given him a potent vitamin dose so after some rest he'll be back to normal in no time." he said with assurance and an encouraging expression on his face which provided some relief to both Rod and his sister, who took Terry into her arms and hugged him closely like he was an irreplaceable friend.

As she nuzzled against the sleeping dinosaur's head, Rod turned back to Zoe's dad as he bowed down with respect, "Th…Thanks doctor…." he said feeling a little insecure about being all humble before the father of one of his enemies, but at the same time eternally grateful for him saving their dinosaur's life.

"Don't mention it. I'm just doing my duty as a doctor." he replied back humbly while doing a short bow himself, "Now run along, you've got things to do no doubt so don't let me keep you." he said with a smile which made the 2 kids smile too, feeling glad they nodded back at him and ran to the truck.

As everyone too their seats, Spike looked to the back where they all were, "Alright, everyone buckled up?" he asked as they all nodded and replied back.

"Mhmm."

"All set."

"Ready to rock!"

Reese then smiled before turning serious as she pressed the accelerator pedal, "Then let's move!" she said as the truck spewed exhausted and sped along the driveway towards the D Lab, while Dr Drake waved goodbye to them from the front of the animal hospital.

 **(Later)**

After the truck pulled over at the D Lab, everyone stepped in, with Laura and Rod marvelling in awe at the D Team's own HQ, admitting that for a place where their rivals used as their base of operations, it was rather functional and cosy despite being several times smaller. Since they had to get to Zeta Point, Rod volunteered to get the teleprinter prepped for bypassing the island's defences since he knew the place better than anyone else present. As he worked tirelessly away at the computer, which was slow and steady considering the technology he was using was a little less advanced but still proceeding smoothly no less. "Rod, you're great at this." Max complimented him feeling impressed seeing several lines of code appearing on the main screen.

"Yeah, maybe you should take a lesson Max." Spike mouthed out to his son which made him stutter.

"Oh….."

Cera couldn't help but snicker a bit at his reaction a bit before looking back to the main screen. She had to admit for someone so young he was gifted, no doubt he must have studied from a very high class facility wherever he came from, not even she would have been able to work as effectively as he could.

Feeling curious and interested herself, Zoe walked over to where he was working, "Hey, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Hacking the island's security." he answered her before a big smile came upon his face, "I've shut down Zeta Point's forcefield!" he said proudly as the map lit up on the main screen, with a red blinker on it too.

"As soon as you did a dinosaur appeared!" Rex gasped.

"And look at that," Spike pointed out at its location, "It's blinking where there's no land."

"Then it's for sure Zeta Point!" said Laura knowing it couldn't be anything else.

Cera then turned uneasy, "I'm worried….." she said putting hand over her chest while everyone looked to her wondering what was wrong, "Way I see it Johnathan may have run into trouble there with Dr Z no doubt." she said knowing that he met be up against a dinosaur without a doubt.

Rod however smiled back with confidence and patter her on the back, "Don't you worry a thing." he said, "Jonathan's way tougher than he looks, in fact I'd be more worried about whatever dinosaur he's facing rather than him." he added with a slight cringe knowing not even Tank or Spiny would last 2 minutes against him.

"You make a good point." Zoe added as she recalled the last time they met when he was up and kicking, "He did take the brunt of Terry's volcano burst back in Siberia after all….."

Laura then widened her eyes, "Oh yeah!" the memory soon came back to both of them which caught them both off guard, "That time….That was Johnathan all along!?" It was then Laura looked down at the sleeping Terry in her arms that she was feeling rather regretful at what she did that time, she and her brother unwittingly hurt one of their old friends….no doubt they'd have to apologise to him next time they see him.

"What's he been doing all this time?" Rod then asked himself as he folded his arms.

Cera then looked down at him, "How about we ask him later?" she suggested, "Right now we've got work to do."

"She's right." said Max as they all nodded together, "Let's go!"

"Okay" Zoe followed while Rex and Cera both nodded.

"I'm going too!" Rod spoke up as they all looked to him being serious.

"Sorry, you need a dinoholder to teleport with us and you don't have one." said Max wishing he'd be able to.

"I know, but I do have one of these." he said holding out his alpha scanner, "Your devices draw their power from the stone right?" pressing a button on it a compartment opened up revealing a stone with the crest of fire on it, "Well this has a piece of it too."

Cera narrowed her eyes focusing on it, "So the alpha gan does have the other 3 stones….." she mused as she put a finger to her chin in thought, still wondering what they all meant, and yet….she felt as though she might know them from somewhere….

"As long as the teleporter recognises that stone, teleportation is possible." Reese hypothesised, "Could I take a look Rod?" she asked holding her hand out to him.

Taking the stone out he handed it over to her, "Here." he said.

"Um, what about me?" Laura then asked.

"You should stay here and help Terry get better Laura." her brother answered as she sighed with reluctance.

"Mm…okay…." she said obediently as Reese keyed in the computer to accept the fire stone, therefore allowing him to transport too.

After the final modifications were made, Max looked to everyone with authority, "Alright guys, let's go."

"Yeah, and this time we'll finish things once and for all!" said Cera with determination in her eyes, this time intending to settle the score with Seth for good this time.

"Don't do anything careless okay?" said Spike to them as they all stepped on the teleporter and soon vanished in bright light. Before they did, Rod thought to himself how handy thus was, if they had something like this back home they wouldn't need to keep relying on expensive payments or their grandfathers unstable vehicles to fly them everywhere and risk stranding them far from home.

"Be careful." said Laura softly as Reese put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"They'll be fine Laura, believe in them." she said smiling compassionately with Dr Taylor as she nodded back at them.

"Okay….." she breathed before deciding to settle Terry down on a nearby table and keep watch over him.

 **(Later)**

Very soon the light shone in the hallways of Zeta Point and the D Team, along with Rod arrived on the scene, to see Jonathan having got into and won a scuffle against the Alpha trio, Dr Z and Spiny!

"Rod?" Dr Z muttered, blinking his eyes in surprise at the unexpected arrival.

"Grampa!" he said addressing the older man and his henchmen while the rest of the D Team looked behind them.

"Oh! There's Johnathan!" Zoe pointed out.

"I'm confused…." Max muttered unable to process what was going on.

"Ouch…poor Spiny…." said Cera covering her mouth as the spinosaurus struggled to get back up only to slump down again heavily beaten, and then forced back into a card which returned to the Trio. "My guess, they had a disagreement that's just been settled….." she theorised with Rex nodding at her in agreement seeing it to be no other way. Guess they were worried for nothing, on one hand they were relieved but at the other hand they were feeling rather sorry for Spiny and also somewhat terrified at Jonathan's own strength too.

"Hey! What do you know about Johnathan!?" Dr Z then demanded, "And Rod! What are you doing with these brats!?" he yelled as the Trio looked on in confusion.

Rod ignored his rants and called out at him, "Grampa you're in danger! Seth has been keeping things from you and plotting something behind your back all this time!" he yelled.

Dr Z blinked his eyes in surprise, "Plotting? What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously.

"Like really evil experiments on dinosaurs!" Max answered.

"The worst kind of all!" Rex grunted hardening his gaze.

"So terrible that it put Terry in near critical condition!" Rod finished at the end which made the Alpha too widen their eyes in shock and horror.

"Huh!?"

"What did you say!?" Dr Z gasped widened his eyes before gritting his teeth in anger, "Rod! Did these kid brainwash you!?" he yelled pointing at him, "Sure Seth has always rather moody and disagreeable at times but he's been reliable ever since we crashed here!"

Soon the Alpha trio joined in supporting him, "Yeah! How dare you speak of him like that!?" Ursula cried out.

"Would your own grandkids lie to you Dr Z?" said Cera rather seriously which made him rethink things.

"Err….." It was at that point he began to remember the time Seth was experimenting on the velociraptor card he acquired from Australia, which he didn't notify him of and experimented behind his back too.

"Maybe, once we show you his secret lab and all his experiments he's been conducting all this time maybe you'll change your mind." Rod then added at the end as the D Team all held together their firm expressions at him.

Seeing he and his group were pretty much outnumbered and would get nowhere by arguing, as well as having all the evidence pointing at Seth, he then gritted his teeth with spite before relenting, "Tch! If you're wrong you're grounded you hear me!? I'll make sure Helga feeds you liver for the rest of your days too on to of that!" he yelled out.

Rod then sighed at his grandfather stubborn attitude, "Fine you got a deal so can we go now!?" he breathed as they marched forward towards the elevator with Dr Z and the Alpha trio right with them. As they went inside and slowly descended, Ursula, Ed and Zander began whispering to one another.

"I can't believe we just going to let these kids walk around in our base like this."

"What's the world coming to?"

"Well Seth has always been keeping to himself so this can be a chance to dig up some dirt on him." They said to one another was they reached the bottom floor.

When the doors opened, they were met with the shock of their lives! Before them lay a charred and badly beaten Helga, along with Seth who was holding a lightning rod in his hand!

"Ah! Helga!" Rod gasped in alarm as the rest of the gang widened their eyes in shock.

"AH!"

Seeing this was enough to convince Dr Z that Rod and the D team were indeed telling the truth, "What's going on!? And why on earth would you hurt Helga?!" he yelled furiously as he ran out at him with the others following in toll.

Seth however held a calm expression together and said nothing despite being heavily outnumbered, in his mind however he knew that this scenario would eventually play out, regardless of being found out or of he decided to usurp Dr Z, so in months advance he had prepared a contingency plan for this very moment.

"Tell me what you did to Terry to hurt him so bad!" Rod demanded as he hardened a fist at him.

"I've been looking for you!" Johnathan pointed at him, "You're the villain who stole the data from my memory banks!" he growled which made everyone look at him in surprise too.

"Huh!?"

"So what are you!? A double agent!?" Ursula then asked crossly as he folded her arms on her hips.

Seth calmly closed his eyes in response, "I can assure you it's not what you think it is." he said.

"What is is then!? What are you after!?" Dr Z demanded.

"All I'm after is pure dinosaur science doctor." Seth replied with a frown, "I don't intend to waste my time chasing hopeless pipe dreams like yours."

"Hopeless pipe dreams!?" the old man gasped in alarm, "My plans for the future are no such thing!" he yelled shaking a fists at his treacherous assistant.

"Wanting to build a vast dinosaur kingdom and then rule it as the dinosaur king? Tell me what could be more hopeless than that?" he retorted calmly.

The D Team kids then looked to each other in thought.

"He's got a point there…." said Max

"Mhmm…." Rex and Zoe nodded.

"And a very selfish one too…" Cera concluded at the end, knowing that even if Dr Z really did succeed it definitely wouldn't last long.

"Who asked you!?" Dr Z growled shaking his fist at them in turn.

"Hey brat!" Ursula growled looking to Max, "Don't forget you're the enemies of everyone else here!"

"The only reason we're here is to help the dinosaurs!" Max yelled ignoring her, "And that means our real enemy is anybody who wants to do things that are gonna hurt them."

"As usual you're completely wrong." chuckled Seth as he gained a sinister smirk which put the others on edge, especially Cera, "My goal in these experiments is to bring about the ultimate dinosaur evolution and it would do me no good to harm them."

"That's what you say but what gives you the right to force any animal to evolve!" Max yelled.

"And who are you to decide what's good!?" Rex followed.

"You ought to be locked up!" Zoe yelled.

"I bet the dinosaurs would rather be extinct than be used as guinea pigs in your experiments!" Cera concluded at the end. The memories of seeing stegosaurus, ampelosaurus and saurophaganax in the tubes being implanted with energy still burned within her mind, and most of all….what he did to her when she was his prisoner one time….

"What nerve!" Dr Z then hissed, "You've been conducting experiments behind my back when I would have been happy to help you if you'd just come to me from the beginning!"

"Doctor let's be honest here. Your special is stealing other scientists' hard work." Seth replied calmly as his expression darkened, "If I told you what I working on I would've ended up just like Dr Ancient."

At his words Dr Z fell speechless upon realising at what he truly meant, "AH!"

Looking to them all, Cera then blinked her eyes in curiosity, "So then….they all a history with this….Dr Ancient?" she thought to herself before narrowing her eyes, seeing the situation to be growing tense.

"That name sounds familiar." Max meanwhile whispered to himself.

"That's what Johnathan called Rex." Zoe added at the end as the others turned to focus on the blond haired boy.

"Ah!" They gasped before focusing on the android in the room.

Unbeknownst to them, Seth had overheard everything they said as he secretly narrowed his eyes at him, "So…it really is him after all…." he thought to himself before a small but certain smirk came on his face.

Johnathan looked back to them all, "It appears as though you're finished talking so I would like to get what I came here for." he said in a polite manner, "I am now going to retrieve the data this villain stole from me."

"OOOOOH NO YOU DON'T!" Dr Z quickly interrupted furious beyond belief as he took out Spiny's card, "Not until I'm done with the backstabber! Alpha slash!" He declared slashing the card with all his might! "Gush out spinosaurus!" Spiny soon appeared and roared out fiercely. Despite having taken a beating from Johnathan he was now ell rested and recharged for battle!

"Yeah! Me too!" Rod cheered as he joined in taking out Tank's scanner and card, "Alpha slash! Shake em up saichania!" Tank soon took the the field alongside Spiny as they both faced down Seth who was apparently unarmed and seemingly helpless before them both!

"Now Tank and Spiny! Show Seth what we do to traitors!" Dr Z commanded.

Seth howler remained expressionless and undeterred, which Cera no doubt recognised as a bad sign.

"Come on, surely you don't think I'm defenceless here." he said as he reached into his pocket and held out a black device, one which the D Team were quickly to recognise.

"Ah!"

"That looks just like our dinoholders…." Zoe and Max gasped as the others were taken by surprise.

"I've copied the dinoholder and the stone inside, of course my version is 20 times more powerful." Seth answered rather smugly which further surprised them all.

"Say what!?"

"I thought the stone couldn't be copied!" Cera and Rex both gasped.

"Ahahah! There's much you all don't understand, but allow me to give you a demonstration!" Seth laughed as he slashed a card on it, causing a familiar dinosaur to appear on his side of the field! "Saurophaganax!" As the large jurassic carnivore emerged and roared, the rooms of Zeta Point turned multicoloured with the battlefield setting in.

"The last dinosaur he had…." Cera recalled the time she visited his lab, there being 3 dinosaurs and the D team only recovered 2 of them. She then narrowed her eyes, sensing something very different about it…and that worried her as a drop of sweat dripped form her cheek.

Dr Z however remained undeterred by the developments as he pressed on his attack, "Heh! Spiny and Tank go crush him now!" he ordered as both dinosaurs rushed ahead and collided heads with their opponent! The 3 dinosaurs met in a tie, with Spiny and Tank barely struggling to push it back while saurophaganax was only being nudged slowly.

Cera narrowed her eyes at how the battle was proceeding, "Saurophaganax is holding up pretty well…." while that could have been a good thing right now her instincts told her it wasn't, "Seth no doubt did something to it….and that worries me…." The fact that he was outnumbered yet remained undeterred was proof of it, and what he said next confirmed her fears.

"As usual you're in over your head Dr Z." he responded calmly, "Observe a new super move I just perfected." he said as he reached into his pocket and took out a fire move card.

"A super move I don't know about!?" Dr Z exclaimed as he was caught completely by surprise at this startling new development.

Cera widened eyes in realisation, "Wait, could he be talking about-"

"I forced Saurophaganax into premature evolution so he could master this move!" he announced as he slashed said card, "Fire scorcher!" The saurophaganax was surround by an aura of fire before charging up a massive red and black meteor in his jaws before throwing it at Spiny and Tank! The flames quickly swallowed up both dinosaurs as they were being blown back by the force of the meteor while engulfed by massive biting flames!

The force of the blast sent Jonathan into a wall as his head went spinning out of control while everyone else had to cross their arms forward or hold them out to keep themselves from being blown back!

"AAAARRGH!"

"AAAAAAHHH!"

As the flames died down, saurophaganax emerged from them unscathed and roared in triumph, whole Spiny and Tank both crashed down and returned to their cards, defeated completely and utterly!

"Huh?" Rod looked up while his grandfather gasped in disbelief.

"Gah! No! This can't be!"

The D team lowered their arms and stared speechlessly at what just happened.

As Cera looked closer she then narrowed her eyes, "Those flames….when that meteor hits it takes everything out in its path….No wonder Terry couldn't take it…." she said having noticed that saurophaganax was unfazed by the meteor's flames, "That means he must have modified that dinosaur somehow…." as saurophaganax roared out fiercely she could hear its voice was complete and pure anger, followed by hint of pain and fear in it, no doubt as a result of the experiments Seth performed on him against his will. The very thought of such a vile act made her clench her fist which shook tense with rage, "Unforgivable…."

"Let's get out of here! Grab those cards!" Ursula cried out as Zander and Ed both ran out.

"I've got Tank!"

"I've got Spiny!" They each said before bating a hasty retreat with their boss,

"This isn't over Seth!" he yelled swearing vengeance as they ran off to regroup somewhere safer.

"Grampa!" Rod called out as he followed after them. As the D Team watched them head into the elevator and the door closed a roar caught their attention. Turning around saurophaganax charged straight at them baring his fangs wide! The earlier battle was no more than an appetiser for him, now it was the main course!

"You ready guys!?" Max cried feeling tensed up.

"All of 3 of us together!" Zoe followed readying herself for battle.

"Right!" Rex added with determination to take Seth down by any means necessary, as he held his hand out to Cera, "Cera! You stay back!" he said to her firmly as she nodded back at him in agreement.

"Yeah…" she nodded before cheering on them all, "Good luck you guys!"

"Go!" Zoe yelled as they all took out their cards.

"Dino slash!" they cried in unison slashing their cards.

"Go Triceratops! Roar!

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Spring up Parasaurolophus!" Their 3 dinosaurs appeared on the field in full sized form before saurophaganax who stopped in his tracks after being faced with 3 new opponents.

Unwilling to take their chances, they took out their move cards and prepared to slash them in unison hoping to end the fight as quickly as possible, "Altogether now!"

Seth however refused to give them that chance as he quickly took out the deadly fire move once again, "Good luck! Now feel Fire scorcher!" he bellowed slashing it. Saurophaganax began charging up the dark meteor in his jaws before throwing it down, engulfing all 3 dinosaurs in a sea of furious flames as they all roared out in pain and began blowing back again t the D Team who had to hod out heir arms to shield themselves!

"GRRRRGH!"

Like with Spiny and Tank, their 3 dinosaurs crashed down heavily drained and out of energy before returning to their cards.

"Unbelievable…." Cera breathed as she shook tensely, feeling overwhelmed and helpless before the monstrous move…it was unlike anything ever faced before….what hope could they have against that?

As the D Team stared in utter disbelief, Rex gritted his teeth and rushed forward! Upon sight of the cards of his defeated friends, he rushed out courageously, unwilling to let them fall into Seth's evil hands and end up being experimented on like saurophaganax was!

"Come back Rex! It's too dangerous!" Max cried holding his hand out! He wanted to run out too but Cera held him back before he could make a move! "GRRGH! Let me go!" he grunted thrashing about trying to get loose but Cera maintained a firm lock on him, restraining his movements almost completely.

"Forget Max! No way are we risking you too!" she grunted in response.

As Rex managed to grab the cards in time, the sounds of footsteps rumbled through the ground, "AH!" he gasped in alarm as saurophaganax charged straight at him, jaws wide open ready to snap close!

"AH!"

"Oh no!" His friends gasped fearing the worst as the massive jaws came in close!

Right before saurophaganax could sink his teeth into fresh meat, Johnathan leapt into action, saving Rex by the skin of his teeth in time before the dinosaur's jaws snapped close and only swallowed a mouthful of air! In the process Rex dropped his dinoholder, before looking to the android who saved his life.

"Don't worry! Johnathan will protect you master!" he said firmly to the boy in a gentle and secure tone.

"Master?" Rex breathed unsure bye what he meant.

As Max reached in to grab Rex's dinoholder he then called out to them, "Where are you taking him!?" he cried, but his words came too late as they soon were out of hearing range.

"Max look out!" Zoe warned him as he turned to see saurophaganax coming straight towards him next!

"Run!" Cera screamed as he scurried off in time, the saurophaganax's foot stomped down and nearly flattening him!

The girls soon made it to the elevator and Cera frantically pressed the buttons on the controls hoping they would shut soon, while Zoe waved out frantically to Max who was lagging dangerously behind! "Come on! Come on!" she cried out panicky! Fortunately he was able to get back in, and thankfully for hime the doors shut a split second before the saurophaganax could get them!

"URGH!" they cited out as the elevator room shook inside violently upon collision!

With the danger behind them for now, the rest of the D Team took a breather knowing their were in the clear for the time being, "That was a close call…." Max wheezed as he fell down on the floor feeling overwhelmed.

"Yeah, I don't ever want to go through that again…." Zoe sighed deeply as she almost lay down on her back.

"That Seth….he's gone too far…." Cera hissed under her breath as she knelt. Max and Zoe both looked to her, slightly surprised to see her furious beyond belief, never before had they seen her like this as she swore vengeance, "He's not going to get away with this…." she growled clenching her fist, "Somehow, we have to stop him no matter what it takes…." she breathed as her friends looked to one another and nodded seriously at one another before turning back to her.

"Yeah, you bet Cera!" said Max pumping up his fist, "Once we regroup and get better prepared, we'll be sure he gets what he deserves soon enough."

"For now, let's find Johnathan and Rex!" said Zoe as the door soon opened up and they arrived at the upper floors, "The exit should be this way!" she said rushing out first with Max and Cera following after her.

 **(Meanwhile)**

The elevator door opened in Seth's lab, and the maniacal madman soon stepped inside, with a dark and sister grin on his face. To him, despite being found out and his acts being brought to light, it was far too late for anyone to stop him. His all powerful fire scorcher and the dinosaur which was able to perform it flawlessly, was proof of that and since they stood no chance against him there was no one on the entire planet who could oppose him and his newfound might, "Now that those pests are taken care of, I can finally begin the first stage of my plan at long last." he chuckled to himself in dark delight as he began typing on his computer module, causing a loud whirring sound to echo inside the generator room. Finally, after so many long wasted months on repairs and acquiring the parts he needed, he could finally get Zeta Airborne once more as the countdown to take off lit up on his screen. "This is only the beginning," He then said as he pressed another button, causing the windows to open and revealing the tyrannosaurus fossil he acquired from Hell's Creek, sitting inside the testing room, "To think that child would be the son of that short sighted fool Ancient…heh like father like son, and just like him he won't be able to stop me from achieving my destiny." he snickered to himself remembering the many times Ancient tried to stop him, he may have interfered a couple of time before but he was never able to stop his ambitions, and in fact no one would.

"Now for the moment of truth." he thought as he turned a dial on. A set of laser like energy beams suddenly shot out from different corners of the room from nodes connected into the lab's mainframe, causing the fossil to be surrounded in energy like that of the stone plates themselves! The sight of this revolution development made Seth's grin widen, "Yes…Yes! It actually works!" he laughed out loud raising his hands to the sky before narrowing them once more, "To think this wouldn't have been possible if it also weren't for that girl and her fascinating device. Perhaps I should also accredit her for her…generous contribution to this momentous occasion." he thought to himself as he then smirked knowing that now everything was in the palm of his hand, "Who knows what other secrets she might hold too." he then thought as he began fantasising over the many hidden secrets that Cera herself might still hold that bring forth revolutionary change to the world that even he couldn't foresee, and that excited him even more so. "But there's no need to expend precious time and energy chasing after flies." he then said, "In time, they will come to me, and once I have everything I need, I'll usher in a brand new age of dinosaurs! Ahahahahah!" he laughed psychotically as his sinister voice began echoing through the halls of Zeta Point, unaware of the fact that the trio were spying on him form behind as they rushed back out to report back to Dr Z, in their plan to retake their island.

 **(Meanwhile)**

A little while later after exiting form the elevator, Max, Zoe and Cera were both running out to the edge of the island which was a bridge like stone area surrounded with spikes on the end which resembled dinosaur rub bones, "So where do you think Rex went?" Max asked as he began looking around the endless expand of ocean, hoping to catch signs of a boat or jet passing by.

"Johnathan was carrying him, I hope they made it out okay." Zoe replied as and Cera looked around too.

The 3 kids soon caught the sound of an engine behind them, "Huh?" as they turned to look they saw the pink alpha jet rise into the sky, with both Rex and Johnathan safely inside!

"There they are!" Max pointed out

"They're both fine!" Zoe smiled brightly whole Cera let out a sigh she had been holding in.

"What a relief…."

"So let's teleport back to the D Lab and meet them there." said Zoe as the others nodded with her in agreement.

"Mhmm."

Before they could reach out for their the teleport function on their devices, the island suddenly began to shake violently catching them off by surprise!

"WAH!?"

"AAAAH!"

"BWAAAH!" They all cried in alarm as they began to shake and stumble off balance!

Looking around them the waves of the ocean thrashed about, and the trees too began to shake about, birds began scattering from the forest as to their alarm, "The island's lifting up!" Max gasped seeing they were lifting off the ocean surface and slowly rising into the sky!

"AH!?" Zoe yelped as she realised he was right, seeing pieces of lifted rock on the edges of the island began cracking apart and falling into the ocean!

Seeing no time to stay and marvel in awe, the D Team quickly forced themselves up to their feet and reached for their emergency escape, "Let's get off before it's too late Max!" Zoe cried.

"Before the jammer kicks in and we'll be stuck here!" Cera added at the end.

"Yeah!" Max replied nervously without hesitation as they all pressed the button and became enveloped in bright light! Before vanishing, Cera took one hard look at the rising island and narrowed her eyes furiously knowing they still had unfinished business left.

"We'll settle this later Seth, this is far from over." she swore under her breath as she and the others soon disappeared.

High above in the jet, Rex looked down and sweated a bit anxiously in deep awe and amazement at what was taking place below him, "I can't believe it…." he thought as the true form of Zeta Point soon came out of the water, "That whole island has turned into some kind of space craft…." As the jet sped off into the distance back to Sanjo City, the island bathed itself in bright light, shedding off its ilmd husk and revealing its true form underneath as a gigantic saucer like shape before flying off into the distance.

 **And thus begins the finale arc of season 1, stay tuned for more to come. Wanted to highlight some other bits such as making the t-rex fossil originating from Hell's Creek, fitting since it would be black t rex coming soon. Also we get another hint of Cera's old memories too involving dinosaur revival and how she was indirectly responsible for Seth's plans having gone so far now. Also felt Seth's black din holder would be better to be revealed here rather than with Black T rex.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Glad you liked the chapter, with how long it was I was having doubts about how well it would be received. Yeah, also shows the A Team do have good in them deep down too. Wanted the chapter to end off with a secret dinosaur before heading into the finale and thought pawpawsaurus would be perfect for a Valentine.**

 **darkblade2814**

 **-Seth actually spoke about how he met the pirates in season 2.**

 **Mausalet-AliceAsuka**

 **-Glad you enjoyed it, thought I saw it an opportunity to develop them further**


	26. Tricks of the traitor

Chapter 26

Tricks of the traitor

Later that day, the rest of the D Team soon regrouped back at the D Lab to plan their next move. After waiting a bit for Johnathan and Rex to arrive, he began sharing important information with the young boy about his true origins, of being a person from the future, or more like born from people who came from the future and he also began to shed light on the mystery behind the stone plates and the dinosaur cards too, linking them altogether. What he said next was a starting revelation for everyone present in the room.

Johnathan was actually a butler to Rex's parents, Dr Ancient and Cretacia, who were palaeontologists working on a dig site in the year 2126 when they uncovered the 7 stone plates at an excavation site. After examining them they learnt that the stones held the souls of the dinosaurs that lived on the planet before they were wiped out in a single catastrophic event and the voices they heard were they final pleas and cries for help right before they went extinct. From the news they learnt it could have been something of a time capsule the dinosaur could have sent into the future hoping salvation right before this tragedy struck, and now their prayers had been reached.

In light of this startling revelation, Rex's parents took immediate action on a quest to save the dinosaurs from extinction. After many long months of studying the stones and calibrating a machine to harness its power to open a time portal, the Backlander was finally completed, which soon became Zeta Point, the island which had now taken off from the ocean not long ago and now was equipped with a jammer so they couldn't trace it anymore. Embarking with the Ancients on this 'Noah's Ark Project' was their assistant Seth, as well as their friends the Alpha Gang. As Cera expected there indeed was some deep history between them after all, but more surprising to her was time travel and portals….and yet, she felt something rather familiar about this herself.

The origin of cards soon came, as the Ancients were devising a way to safely carry as many species as they could, they eventually developed a method which allowed them to convert dinosaurs into the size of handheld cards! A monumental discovery which even they were surprised of, though Cera had a feeling it may have had to do with the stones as well, since they were the reason this project was made possible in the first place. For a time progress went smoothly and well as dinosaurs from different times and places were gathered, but soon things took a nasty turn.

As Dr Z eventually found a way to develop move cards from the stones he began to exploit the dinosaurs they rescued for his own amusement thinking he can use the stones to draw their power and make them even stronger for more functional uses instead of just seeing them as animals to be rescued. Because of their conflicting views and interests, Dr Ancient and Dr Z had a falling out between them which got in the way of their work even after 6 months had passed. The most surprising fact was that Rex was soon be born which meant the project had to be put on hold, but they ended up being stranded in the ancient times due to the time machine experiencing failure, which Johnathan had come to realise were the workings of Seth and Dr Z after overhearing their plans to usurp the Ancients once they had the chance.

After the machine was repaired both traitorous men ejected Rex's parents from their own ship and planned to do the same to young Rex too, much to everyone's alarm. Thankfully Johnathan anticipated their treachery at this point in time after overhearing them, so he did his best to stop them but as a result he too along with Rex became separated in time and in the scuffle Zeta Point ended up spinning out of control and crashing into another period of time, never to be heard from again until now.

As Johnathan finished his story, the entire room fell silent and the mood darkened with sorrow and sympathy for the young boy, who had dreamt so long of finding out where he came from and who he truly was, only to realise that the people he loved and longed for the most were now….gone…..

"Rex…." Max said to him unable to find any words to say how sorry he was for him, before becoming angry at who was really responsible for this whole mess in the first place, "This is all thanks to the alpha gang."

"It's terrible…." Zoe said as she clapped her hands together.

"Awful…." Cera almost began tearing up as she fought her best against her emotional sorrows welling up inside her. She couldn't blame Rex for what he was feeling now, shock, sorry and maybe a hint of anger too. In a way she could relate to him, as what he went through almost reminded her a certain memory she still held onto for a while now, how she cried out in pain while inside a jet like vehicle, it then exploded and she cried out loud before being stranded through a multicoloured vortex tunnel of some sort. She kept it to herself knowing this wasn't the time to be thinking of it, but that thought of hers still lingered on in her mind as she tried her best to focus on the present.

"So…what happened to my mom and dad?" Rex then asked the male android who lowered his head sadly.

"I'm sorry….I don't know…." he sighed feeling ashamed at himself for failing the one he was told to watch over, "My memory bank doesn't hold anymore information….except for what I just told you…." he said to Rex's shock.

"What!?" he gasped in horror and almost losing all hope of ever seeing them again.

Max however, was determined and filled with hope as always as he shot him a firm expression, "They're still alive!" he said to him with confidence and assurance, "I know they are Rex so don't worry we're going to help you find them!"

"Max, Cera and I are here for you so don't ever forget that!" said Zoe as she came in to the boys as Cera walked in too.

"She's right." she said with a firm nod, "To the end." she added at the end with a tightened fist.

Looking around him to see he was still surrounded by people in his life who cared about him as much as his true family would, made Rex's eyes well up with emotional tears, "Guys….." he sniffled before wiping his eyes and smiling most appreciatively at them, "Thanks…." he said as they all leaned in for a group hug to comfort him and let him know they will be there for him to the end.

"I promise you I never knew my grampa and Seth did that!" Laura cried out at the end pleadingly, "When we woke up we were in this time period and on that island and they never told us where your mom and dad went!" she said before turning very sad and quiet too, "You have to believe me…."

As the others looked at her thinking about what she said, Cera then gained a light smile almost instantly, "I knew it." she said as she caught everyone's attention at how quick she took it.

"Huh?"

"Really?"

"You…do?" Laura blinked just as surprised as everyone else.

Cera nodded once more, "I knew you and Rod were just doing what you thought right the whole time the whole time." she said with confidence, "You never would have committed such horrible acts willingly like the rest of the Alpha gang would. You both not only care about the Ancients, you also really love dinosaurs, especially Terry, Tank and Spiny, and you'd never want any harm to come to them." she said as she looked around to everyone else in the room with her, "I'm sure the others understand that too. Right guys?" She asked.

"Cera…." Her friends breathed at a loss for words at her heartfelt speech before smiling and nodding with her.

"Yeah."

"She's right."

Max and the others soon turned to Laura, "We're also sorry for doubting you guys too. We should have known you were never evil like the others." said Max having remembered their Christmas party not long ago, even if they did come to try and steal from them they did truly have fun while they were there, and no one evil could have ever faked that.

"You and your brother are just innocent victims caught in Seth and Dr Z's lies." said Cera, "But now you know the truth, and on what the right side is too." she added as Laura sniffled feeling deeply moved by her words.

"Thanks….it means a lot…." she said wiping away a tear from her eyes and nodding with a light smile.

Max and the others then walked up to her, "So what do you say?" he asked holding up a hand as the others came in too, "We put behind all of this and start over? Friends?"

Eying it and seeing the warm forgiving smiles give to her by her former enemies, she then nodded and shook back, "Friends."

As everyone looked on and smiled at the warm moment before them, Reese soon came back to the matter that was at hand, "This is all very interesting…" she noted folding her arms, "You know Rex was found in New York city about 12 years ago by Dr Owen."

Rex then looked up, "Guess we must have ended up in different periods of time then." he suggested.

"If we had known you were Dr Ancient's son from the start…." said Laura feeling guilty as she looked up to him, realising the horrible things they did to him and his friends, and also snatching dinosaurs for Dr Z and Seth to use for their own agendas when they really should have been fighting with him, in fact they should have realised who the right side was from the start and now levels of guilt were rising up inside her heart over having not seen it sooner.

"It's alright." said Rex accepting her apologies, "What's done is done. It's all in the past now." he said bringing some relief to her.

"You know I just don't understand it." said Spike soon after as he put a finger to his chin in thought, "Yes we certainly know that Dr Z is a piece of work but why was Seth involved in the plan?"

"I know why." said Max as they all turned to him next, "It's because he was trying to re-engineer all of those dinosaurs! I think he wanted to create a new species!" he said as everyone became serious.

"I wouldn't doubt it." said Rex in agreement.

"We've seen his handy work already." said Zoe having recalled the velociraptors being modified into a triangle shaped card, and saurophaganax being strengthened in their easier battle, which was why their 3 dinosaur partners along with Terry were now resting in a nearby basked to recuperate, with Miku watching over them and giving them some of her energy with energy equaliser while in chibi form.

Cera narrowed her eyes, "Then he got Jonathan's data too….we've seen what he's done with saurophaganax, ampelosaurus and stegosaurus, but for all we know they might just be the tip of the iceberg." she said clenching a fist at the nightmarish possibilities that may spring from this, "It's scary when you think about it."

"Possibly…." said Johnathan as the others turned their attention to him next, "But the truth is I had no idea what he was thinking and I doubt that any of us did. Seth was always incredibly silent and kept his distance from us and the ancients." he said with great discomfort in his tone.

"Yeah and Dr Ancient used to get mad about that!" Laura yelled in anger, "He used to scold Seth all the time for just going off and doing things on his own!"

"Really?" everyone asked with interest.

"I remember one time when they were arguing…." she said as she shuddered, turning back to a time when she passed by the labs and noticed Dr Ancient having caught Seth experimenting using dinosaur dna, hoping to manipulate it, either adding traits or removing recessive genes before planning to implement the very same procedure on living dinosaurs too! Yet when he got told off, Seth simply smirked and remained undeterred, as if nothing Dr Ancient said at all was getting through at all, in fact it only seemed to make his ambitions grow instead. "I remember the coldness in his eyes…I should have known right then that he wasn't a nice man." she said with guilt in her tone.

Cera then knew Laura and her brother were both misguided the entire time, and this helped confirm her hopes in her which then made her smile to the younger girl, "I don't blame you, Seth sure has a way with words and has a nasty talent at hiding his real intentions from anyone with his slick words and mind games." she said comforting her, "At least you know the truth now."

"Yeah." said Laura lowering her head in shame, "Just wish I knew it sooner…." she muttered at the end before winding her eyes at a certain atrocity he recently committed, "Especially when-" Before she could finish revealing the truth about what happened to Cera recently a their base, the older girl shot her a glare which silenced her instantly, before shaking her head wanting her to say no more, knowing it would hurt them both.

Everyone else then blinked in surprise at her going quiet all a sudden.

"Yes?"

"What else did he do?" Reese and Spike asked curiously as Laura shook her head in response.

"It's…nothing….." she said softly looking away.

Cera meanwhile hardened her expression and clenched her fist, shaking slightly in anger as the feelings of that traumatic experience, and even some old scars of her throbbed. She hadn't been able to move on from that since that day, and she wouldn't be able to as long as Seth was continuing at he pleased.

"It's okay Laura." Rex said comfortingly as he patted her on the shoulder, "We understand if you don't want to say it." He said half understandably. He knew Seth had done something unforgivable, but what it was he had no idea of, and perhaps it was better that no one did.

Max then suddenly blinked his eyes realising something else they left out, "Wait a sec….Something still doesn't add up…." he then asked as everyone looked to him. They then saw him focus his attention on the last wild card in the room, Cera, "How does Cera fit into all this? I mean, she has her own dinosaur with her and a device capable of summoning them without a stone." he asked as everyone began looking to her.

"Yeah, that's actually a good point." Spike nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention she really knows a lot about them and how to work with them too!" Zoe followed as Rex, Reese and Laura gasped in surprise that they never thought about it too.

"Now that you mention it…." Cera then mused as she looked to herself, "I….never really thought about it myself…." she said as she reached over and unhooked her dinoshot which was around her waist. Eying it she then noticed Miku had climbed up onto her shoulder as she began to reflect on everything that she could recall, "When I came to my senses one time in the woods months ago….I woke along side Miku, we both had no memories or recollection of how we ended up there…or even who or where we came from…" he told feelings of emptiness of feeling incomplete and also her insecurity about not being able to piece it together began to came back to her, as she frowned in disappointment needing Miku to nuzzle up at her face, "I just sort of knew a lot about dinosaurs, how the stones and cards kind of worked….and also…I guess I sort of picked up bits of info here and there on what I did know once…but not about myself…" she said sadly as the mood turned sad at her words, with everyone sympathising with her and what she was going through. "Now when you think about it…coming from the future, to save the dinosaurs, the timeship accident and now this? I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case." she then said feeling hopeful this might be some sort of clue to how she may have ended up here in the first place, "But I…just don't know." she then added at the end trying not to get her hopes too up but still holding on to that hope nevertheless.

Max then smiled seeing they may actually be able to help her now that they had a possible lead, "Well if anyone would know everything you need to know about it's Johnathan for sure!" he said feeling proud as they all looked to him.

"Yeah, you also said he's the one who helped you out when you first came to, so that's something too right?" added Zoe as Laura blinked her eyes in surprise. Now that she thought about it, she and Rod basically saw Johnathan back at Chinatown when he challenged Helga to a cookout, though he lost, they also saw him at the mall on Ed's computer and at the arcade centre too when hey met Cera the first time. It was hard to believe he was there the whole too, and that he had been helping Rex and the D Team in a way just as he had bene programmed from the start.

"Johnathan, do you by chance know if Cera was involved with my parents' work or came with the timeship too?" Rex then asked him, as the android looked to a hopeful Cera, her eyes begging for some sort of sign that he could give an answer that may help her piece together her puzzled mind.

He closed his eyes and thought long and hard as he could, digging deep into his own memory drives best he could, knowing he owed it to his master for being able to regain his memories and also for having been the one to give hope to Cera in the first place. After a little while he soon opened his eyes and let out a deep sigh in regret as he shoo his head, "I'm sorry master Rex….but….apart from only meeting her that one time…I'm afraid I have no knowledge or recollection of her even before we departed from the future."

"Wh…What?" Cera breathed shocked that even Johnathan was a dead end too, as her legs wobbled weakly.

"I am terribly sorry Master Rex," aid Johnathan bowing down in regret and respect having done his best," But I'm afraid she and her own dinosaur may have had a different origin, for neither Miku nor most of the other dinosaurs in your gathering were part of the species rescued." he said having checked the vault not long ago and come across several new dinosaurs that the Ancients didn't manage to come across on their travels. He then took the dinoshot from Cera and began observing it carefully, "In fact, the device she carries is one with technology that even I am not aware of myself….it truly is fascinating too….nothing Dr Ancient has developed himself comes close to a device as functional as this." he then said before handing it back to her.

"No way…." she sighed sadly, with Miku letting out a sad coo while everyone looked on silently.

"So then….we're a lost again?" Max asked in disbelief after having just found out something incredible about Rex, only to find it had nothing to do with Cera herself.

Everyone else too was shock as he was and then sighed sympathetically at Cera herself, knowing it must have been hard for her too….all this time hoping for a sign of hope only to realise it was a mirage in the end….That meant Cera truly was more special than they first thought, thought that didn't help much that she was now stuck once more and having her hopes dashed which made it worse.

"Oh Cera…." sighed Zoe feeling for her as her fiend just stood lowering her head and standing at the side still contemplating about who she was and what her place in the world was.

"Believe me, I wish I knew as well….so forgive me for letting you down." said Johnathan bowing to her with regret.

She then looked up at him and smiled lightly unexpectedly, "It's fine." she said shaking her head like it's no big deal, "You did the best you could, guess that means my story is for me to discover on my own for another time…." she said deciding to take it as it was before looking to everyone else, "Regardless of where I came from, I'm still glad to have met you all." she said before looking to the android, who happened to be the first person she met on this very new life of hers, "Like Johnathan said that time, it may have been fate that brought me to you guys regardless, and I still think I might be able to learned about who I really am while I'm with you." she said to them feeling grateful as she became pumped up with determination,"And you can count on me to be with you guys to the end."

Everyone stared at her in surprise at how unwilling to fall into despair she was, in fact it instead served to steel her resolve to not only find out about her past but to also protect the people she had came to learn and care about in the present and carry it on to the future.

One by on they all began to smile with reassurance, feeling proud of her too, "Thanks Cera, that really means a lot." said Rex.

"A well spoken answer indeed." Johnathan nodded as he could see she had indeed grown up a lot since their last encounter and he feels proud to have set her on that path to where they are now. In the end he owed to her and Master Rex and his friends too, so he vowed to protect them all and see them all through this to the end.

"Like Rex, we'll be at your side too, so you aren't alone." said Max as he and the others went up to her and put their arms around her to show they'd never leave her.

"When this is all over, I'll make sure we help you find out all your past! That's a promise!" said Laura to her swearing it too.

Seeing she too was showered with as much love and concern as Rex was, brought joy and tears to Cera and her dinosaur as she smiled deeply and wiped away a tear which roped in her eye, "Thanks you guys….it means a lot to me and Miku to hear that." she said as Miku chirped with joy.

Spike the burst into emotional tears while Reese was more reserved and smiled happily for them, Laura looked on, knowing she was indeed special as she had first thought when they first met her too, and wondered what else she could hold for the future too.

A beeping signal suddenly sounded on screen, ruining the moment between them and catching everyone's ear. As Reese went over to check, the map lit up and 2 blinking lights lit up on it!

"Zeta Point just showed up on the radar!" Reese gasped in alarmed and widened her eyes in shock.

"That's odd." Dr Taylor muttered as everyone looked in surprise.

"And there's a flying object approaching!" Reese pointed as everyone gasped seeing it was nearly at their location.

"Huh!?"

Knowing it would arrive soon and could be trouble, Max waved over to the others as he used to the door, "Let's go!" he said as they all ran out after him, with their dinosaurs following just behind them.

As they arrived outside they saw it was none other than the rest of the Alpha Gang, and Rod who had just arrived at their doorstep in another jet just outside.

"Too much excitement for one day…." The Trio muttered out in exhaustion after having had a narrow escape not long ago from Seth.

"I could use a shower and a comfortable bed…." Ursula moaned sounding defeated and drained.

"Rod! Everyone okay!?" Max cried out as they all went out to greet their new guests.

"Grampa!" Laura called out for her as her older bother and grandfather came out first, along with Spiny and Tank.

"What do you think you're doing!? Get back!" Dr Z yelled angrily at them which made them stop in their tracks.

"What!?" everyone gasped in surprise at his harsh words.

Cera then scowled crossly, "That's some way of talking to your granddaughter and her friends…." she said in disappointment.

"No grampa." scolded Rod but sadly his words fell on deaf ears.

"I don't remember asking for many help from you 3 brats!" he pointed at them, "I don't need your help and I don't want it! All I want is to be left alone to create my dinosaur kingdom and become dinosaur king!" he cried in exasperation sounding almost like a spoilt child who couldn't get the toy he wanted.

"So you're still going on about that?" Max muttered in disbelief at his stubborn and selfish attitude, even in the most dire of times he couldn't be counted on even if he was the last man on the planet.

"Yes!" Dr Z cried.

"Somebody's got issues….can't say he isn't determined though for all the wrong reasons" Cera muttered as she eyed at him with an angry look, "From the looks of things like it or not you're going to need out help, and I don't mean just in getting your priorities straight." she said at the end firmly.

"Hmph!" Dr Z pouted before holding out an alpha scanner, "Let's go Tank! Spiny!" he yelled out loud much to everyone's shock at how raring he was to go at it with Seth again despite knowing they just escaped.

"Huh!?"

Without warning, Terry ran in and grabbed hold of Dr Z's beard and began tugging at him with all his might! "Yowch! Yow!" he cried flailing his arms out in pain as Rod looked at him in disbelief.

Cera smiled seeing Terry was back to his usual self and giving the old man what he deserved at least brought some joy to her, before turning to see his friends Spiny and Tank were looking all drained and exhausted, "Oh boy, what happened in there?" she asked uneasily worried about knowing.

"Nothing good, that's all I'll say…." Rod sighed in disappointment at their plan turning out to be a huge bust.

"Alright…." Cera replied leaving it at that and knowing he didn't want to talk about it.

Meanwhile Terry continued playing tug o' war with Dr Z's beard and the old man struggled to fight back against the little carnivore but to no avail as he felt himself pulled back down to the ground, "Ow! Let go of me Terry! I called for Tank and-"

"No way grampa you can't use em." said his grandson as he looked over to both dinosaurs who groaned in pain, "Tank and Spiny are way too exhausted."

"I don't care how tired they are! They'll do as I say!" Dr Z then screamed as he stood up with Terry hanging onto him.

Cera then scowled at him with disgust, "If you were really king and treated all your dinosaurs that way I wouldn't be surprised if they all turned on you without hesitation." she said, "You're no king at all, in fact clearly you don't understand the first thing about being one."

He widened his eyes in alarm at her words, "What did you say!?" he screamed loudly at her.

Cera however remained undeterred and continued to say her point, "A true king serves, leads and protects his people. You on the other hand only serve yourself so any kingdom you build would no fall into ruins within a week or even less than a day. So all the work you put to building it would ended being wasted."

As everyone looked at her and then nodded with her in agreement, "She definitely right there."

"Yup."

"Agreed."

"I'm with them on this one grampa." They all said siding against him as Dr Z gained a huge tic mark on his forehead, veins began popping up and his fumed red. Never before had he been so disrespected and insulted and he was;t about to take that lying down, "GRRR!" he gnashed his teeth so hard they could crack under pressure at any second, "Why I ought to teach you-" he raised out a fist but before he could do anything-

"Grampa I heard about what you did." said Laura crossly interrupting him, which was more than enough to quell his anger.

"Huh!?" he gasped as his jaw hung in speechlessness.

"The horrible things you and Seth did to Rex's mom and dad!" she cried out in disgust and disappointment at how low he could stoop.

"What!?" he exclaimed realising he was now exposed and no way he could weasel his way out of this one.

"We'd like to hear what you have to say for yourself!" She ended at the end as everyone began shooting harsh piercing glares at him, enough to make him wish he could leave his body and pass into the afterlife immediately.

"Mhmm!"

"Oh uhh…I uhh…well uhh…." The fact that his big secret was now out and all he did was something he hadn't accounted for, now his own grandkids knew, how could he ever face their parents now if they saw him now for putting their children in danger and having to have done something so horrible to their friends! No matter how he saw it, everyone saw him as the villain and they had good reason to, with no way of being able to justify himself for what he did.

Rod blinked his eyes curiously as he then asked out, "What are they talking about? Rex's mom and dad?"

"I'll explain everything to you." said Johnathan walking up to him as he brought him to a corner to tell him the whole truth in private.

Ace, sensing Rex's anger and sadness narrowed his eyes furiously at Dr Z, realising him to be the one to have caused his friend so much pain and anguish. Without hesitation he reached in and snapped his jaws on his hip, making him jump up in pain before falling down and the 2 dinosaurs unleashing their pent up rage and frustration on him!

"YOW! Stop it! Get off of me! What do you think you're doing!? OWWWW!" As he cried out in anguish the A Team stayed in their seats too tired to care and still recovering from their traumatic brush with death earlier.

Cera smiled feeling satisfied to see Dr Z getting what he deserved. In fact this was only a mere taste, if only she could see full sized dinosaurs running over him for what he did, then that would be him paying back in full to everyone he ever wronged and everything he did. She then narrowed her eyes and hardened her expression, once he was done though, Seth was going to be next and what he'd get would be far worse.

Rex smiled too feeling a bit happy to see Dr Z in pain too, considering it was getting back at him for what he did to his parents, thought the moment was short live beeping sound soon came on his dinoholder, "Huh?" as Rex looked he widened his eyes in shock at what he saw, "A dinosaur has appeared!" he cried

"Huh? Alright so where is it?" Dr Z asked curiosly, forgetting about his pain as everyone turned to him in alarm,

"Whoa!" everyone turned to look at Rex in surprise at the new development. What was even more shocking as what he said next.

"It's in Sanjo City!" the cried out as everyone gasped in disbelief and shock.

"But…how can that be?" Rod then asked wondering how that could've been possible.

Cera soon heard a loud whirring coming over from where they were. As she looked ahead her heart skipped a beat and she and Miku widened their eyes in horror at what they saw, "LOOK!" she cried pointing out to the sky as everyone turned to look where she was focusing on.

"Huh?" They all turned to look and saw Zeta Point had just entered over the skies of Sanjo City! A pillar of fire soon erupted from atop the island and a trial of smoke and flames blew by in the wind, followed by a loud thunderous roar which shook the heavens! From within the ashes, the silhouette of a dinosaur stood above Zeta Point as it roared out to the sky erupting in fire!

 **And thus concluded chapter 26, wanted to include a few more parts about it here and there with Cera, also her roasting Dr Z too. Will add a bit more to the story here and there to make it developed too so that it won't seem so sudden too. Also in my personal opinion I don't find carnival of chaos to be a canon episode to my story, but that Reese simply modified the dinoholders to fan out cards eventually, of course you're welcome to think differently.**

 **More of Cera's sure origin will come on here and there in season 2 too, till eventually season 3 if I do get that far. Hope to be able to find help in writing it or ideas too if anyone is interested.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **darkblade2814**

 **-Yup and things are going to get harder fro the D Team from here on.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Things are getting real indeed, and a bit more will be developed and highlighted too next chapter. Wanted to make sense on saurophaganax too since he was never shown again after his capture till the last few episodes. It's said that alpha balls are fragile so they maybe were destroyed after the controlled dinosaur was defeated. And true, as explained here a real king puts the needs of his people first and himself last, which is the opposite of Dr Z who wants dinosaurs to be how he wants them, no different from Seth but he won't cross the line too far with turning them into monsters. In the end I feel even a human can be king over the dinosaurs if that human is deemed worthy.**

 **guest**

 **-I didn't think about having more dinosaurs being used in the final battle, will see how it goes.**


	27. One final move

Chapter 27

One final move

Everyone in Sanjo City was enjoying their day as they always did, hoping to get their mind of the recent dinosaur related incidents that have been plaguing their home for sometime now. However, things were taking a turn for the worse as a massive shadow crept over the city, causing them all to look to the sky to see where it came from. Everyone gathered out from their homes or workplaces to see what it was, growing ever increasingly worried to see what appeared to be a giant UFO descending upon them! As if dinosaurs appearing and rampaging wasn't bad enough, now they were being invaded by what may be aliens? Many were starting to wonder whether it was the end of the world!

At the D Lab, everyone got a long hard look at the Alpha gang's HQ, which had now reached their hometown and was now at its mercy, "It's Seth." Ursula stated.

"And my Zeta Point." Dr Z growled in anger at the sight of his own headquarters flying right before his eyes under Seth's control as if he was mocking him over what he was able to hide from him this entire time and eventually not only steal it from him but even get away with it!

Cera blinked her eyes and squinted a bit, catching sight of something large and moving on its surface, "There's something on top!" she pointed out as everyone turned to see there was something up there!

"Is that a dinosaur?" Ed asked curiously as it soon began moving forward to the edge of the floating ship and then jumping down into the middle of the city!

"If we could see it from here it must be pretty big…like really big…" Spike muttered in amazement while everyone else hardened their expressions knowing this dinosaur may in fact be completely different from any of the others they faced so far.

"We'll have to go in for a closer look." said Max narrowing his eyes and the others nodded with him. The sounds of loud whirring behind them caught their attention as they all turned to see Dr Z hopping into the blue jet with the trio who were already starting it up.

"Well, what are you dolts waiting for!? Fly already!" Dr Z yelled shaking his fists before banging each of them on the head, spurring them into action.

"Yes sir! On the double!" The trio said obediently and without hesitation as they returned Terry, Spiny and Tank to their cards and then starting up jet's full thrusters!

"Not without me!" a loud booming voice bellowed behind them, as the others saw Johnathan leap into the back seat much to their surprise!

"WAH!"

"Huh!?" They gasped in shock to see him right next to them all of a sudden

"Hey! What are you doing in here!?" Dr Z then cried out in annoyance at the android nearly giving his weak heart a heart attack, "Get out now!" he demanded, only for him and his crew to be silenced by a fierce glare given off by Johnathan!

"You have a problem with me?" he said so menacingly that the 4 of them turned pale like ghosts and sweated anxiously, knowing that the wrong answer would mean them being sent off into the next life!

Seeing no other way they then shook their heads, "N…No we don't…." they said seeing no other choice.

"Good." he said calming down, the memory of Dr Z betraying them still lingered on his mind, and this time he wasn't going to leave things to chance, from this point on he'd be keeping a very tight leash on these troublemakers and make sure they get what they deserve once Seth has been dealt with.

Taking notice of the D team and his grandkids outside, he then shook a fist at them, "You kids better stay out of my way! This doesn't concern you so back off!" he warned as Zander fired up the jet's engines and they took off for the city!

Despite his threats the rest of the gang were undeterred and in fact his words only seemed to spur them even more! "Hmph! Yeah right, like we're going to do nothing because you said so." Max grunted before another whirring sound rumbled behind them.

"Hop in you guys! I'll fly us there!" Rod called out to the others in the gang as he got into the pink jet and got it started up too.

The others smiled back at him feeling grateful for him offering to help, "Thanks Rod."

"You're the best!" They said as they began climbing in and Rod grinned while holding a thumbs up.

The moment everyone got inside, Reese held back, "I'll stay here and monitor the situation." she said to them seriously as they nodded in acknowledgement of her choice.

"Good, we'll keep you posted Reese." said Rex to her as Rod activated the jet's thrusters.

"Alright guys let's head out!" He said as they took off into the air, following after Dr Z's vehicle before reaching the heart of the city.

Following the trail of screams and taking notice of a tail which turned around the corner of a large building, both jets soon came upon a massive tyrannosaurus rex, black in coloration with flaming streaks across the length of its body! It towered to nearly have the height of some of the buildings present in the city, rivalling even the biggest sauropods in size! Everyone gazed upon it not only because of its size but also because of the immense power its aura was giving off, "Whoa…look at it…" Max breathed.

"That's the one the scanner detected for sure." Rex stated.

"It looks like a t-rex but it's enormous!" said Zoe in disbelief at what she was seeing.

Cera then gulped anxiously, "Yeah, like way bigger than Terry….." she said as a bead of sweat dropped from her cheek, before she turned over to Rod and Laura, "No offence." she quickly said.

"None taken." Laura replied understandably. Compared to that monstrosity, that Terry was nothing more than a minnow!

As Cera eyed the huge beast below them, she then widened her eyes in realisation over the dinosaur's possible true identity! "Wait…could it be?"

The others looked to her curiously as she said it, "Huh? What is it?" Max asked.

She looked to them all seriously, "Dr Owen said a T rex fossil was taken from a dig site he worked at by some alpha droids earlier today." she explained before looking back down again, "You don't think Seth actually-"

They all widened their eyes in realisation at what she meant, "Ah!"

Max then gritted his teeth in anger as he looked down again at Seth's man made abomination of a dinosaur, "As if engineering living dinosaurs is bad enough, now he's making them straight from the bone!" he growled clenching his fist, seeing his science as nothing more but corrupting the dinosaurs and no doubt many more to come if he got his way.

Cera too narrowed her eyes thinking the same as Max did, however she also felt a bit sorry for the beast, realising its peaceful rest was desecrated and now it was twisted to become a monster under the control of a madman, "How low can he get…."

"His madness knows no bounds…." Rex grunted in agreement.

Spike then narrowed his eyes closely at the behemoth dinosaur as it strolled through the streets without a care for anyone or anything in its way, "As far as I know tyrannosaurus fossils as large as that one have never been unearthed so this could be an amazing new discovery. But somehow I don't think so." he said with deep suspicion.

"Not a chance…." said Laura in agreement.

"Seth is behind this!" Dr Z yelled, "That dinosaur has obviously been genetically modified in one of his evil experiments!" he cried out feeling betrayed that Seth was keeping a secret this big from him this whole time, and also slightly jealous that he never got to do this himself.

"Aren't you supposed to be the one doing evil experiments doctor?" Ursula then asked him.

"Does he have no respect?" Zander muttered as the t-rex knocked down a rock from the roof it was climbing on, causing their jet to crash down to the ground! Fortunately the A Team with Dr Z were able to get out unharmed as they ran out onto the road to see the black t-rex passing by them as if they were nothing more than ants to it which were hardly worth its' attention.

"Seth! You give honest hard working evil scientists like me a bad name!" Dr Z cried out in frustration as the tyrannosaurus slammed its head into a building and walked away, looking for more people to terrorise, fear to spread and destruction to wreak!

The pink jet meanwhile was still in the air and hovering just out of reach of the tyrannosaur's massive jaws and huge tail as it began climbing rooftops and roaring out loudly on top, shattering glass windows within range of its massive roar and earth equating stomps!

"We have to get closer!" Max pointed as Rod gritted his teeth.

"I'll try….but this won't be easy…." he muttered as he tried to bring the jet in closer up towards the t-rex who was now stomping across the rooftops and cracking them under its massive weight. Taking notice of them the t-rex took the incoming jet as an annoying fly as it quickly swung out its tail at them!

Rex widened his eyes, "Watch out!" he cried as the rex smashed down on the building causing several pieces of it to be sent flying towards them, pelting the jet hard under a rain of rubble as it began spinning out of control!

"GAH!"

"HELP!"

"We're going down!" They all cried before Rod was able to reach the emergency eject button in time!

"Bail!" he yelled pressing it as the jet opened and everyone was flung out in time before it crashed!

"AAAAAAHH!"

CRASH!

A little while later, as the D team lay about on the ground nearly lifeless while surrounded by several pieces of rubble, Max soon came to as he gritted his teeth and forced himself up straight with whatever strength he could muster in his arms, "Urgh….my head…." he groaned as he began rubbing his head which throbbed like crazy.

"Ow….I'm gonna feel that tomorrow…." Zoe moaned as she picked herself up unsteady and Rex shook his head and any dust that may have gotten into his hair.

"Hey," as Max looked up he saw Cera holding out a hand to him, apparently having regained consciousness earlier before the others did, "Can you guys stand?" she asked with concern.

"Yeah…I think so….." Max replied as he took the hand and she pulled him up. As he steadily tried to stabilise himself she went to go help the others too.

"Urgh…." Max stumbled about as he walked over to look out at the side over some railings, seeing countless people running screaming for their lives and hearing the sounds of the t-rex roaring in the distance behind some large buildings where it was no doubt causing all kinds of havoc wherever it went. "Man…this is almost like one of those giant monster movies I saw only real." he thought as the scene reminded him of said movie involving a giant dinosaur creature which terrorised Tokyo.

"Let's just hope we can take it down somehow….." said Zoe as she walked up to Max to get a hard look at the carnage and chaos before them.

"Yeah…easier said than done….." said Rex uneasily as Cera too felt unnerved by all the damage around them, wondering they could fix this if there was a way….

As Max hardened his gaze at the danger Sanjo City was in, he suddenly widened his eyes in realisation, "Ah!" he turned around and began looking frantically, "Where's dad, Rod and Laura?!" he exclaimed in a panic.

"We're down here!" A voice suddenly shouted out to them from behind.

"HUH?" The D Team hurried over to the edge of the walkway they were at and found Laura jumping up and down to get their attention with Spike and Rod waving at them.

Seeing their friends and family alright and alive made them feel more at ease, "Phew…They're safe…."

"Thank goodness." They said feeling grateful now they had one less thing to worry about.

"We'll meet up later! Right now you guys are closest to that monstrosity!" Rod called out to them.

"Do whatever it takes to stop it!" Spike yelled as the D Team nodded back at him.

"We will! In the meantime watch yourselves!" Max cried out as the D Team ran off towards the danger, summoning their dinosaurs to chibi form who trailed after them, leaping heroically into what may be their biggest battle yet.

"Be careful!" Spike cried once more to them out of concern, "Don't do anything careless now!"

Seeing Max and the others were doing their bit, Laura felt it was time the did what they could, "Come on!" she said to the group with pumped up arms, "Let's go find grampa and the others! They need us!" she said seriously.

"Yeah." Rod nodded as they ran off in another direction to find him, Johnathan and the rest of the Alpha gang.

"All citizens are urged to immediately take shelter from both the huge UFO and the vicious dinosaur that came from it now wreaking havoc over Sanjo City." said the anchorwoman as crowds of people scattered about in terror like ants, as the huge black tyrannosaurus began tearing apart the top part of the building it stood on like it was nothing!

Below the building, the D Team soon arrived at a raised bridge as they stared up at the huge dinosaur, "Seth must have made some modifications to it." Rex observing it closely.

"I'm sure he did. We already know he could care less about dinosaurs." Max grunted in disgust.

"Right now we've got to stop this one from destroying the town." Zoe added knowing they were about to have the fight of their lives.

"No matter what it takes." Cera concluded seeing that the fate of not only Sanjo City, but the entire human race and all of dinosaur kind rested on this battle!

Returning their partners to their cards, "GO!" Zoe then cried as the D Team readied for battle!

"Dino slash!" The entire D Team yelled as they slashed their cards, this time all 4 dinosaurs materialised on the field and roared out together as they stood before the black t-rex who towered over them like toys! The massive mutant then jumped down to the ground from above and roared out in anger at the thought of such insects thinking they could challenge his might!

"It's not afraid at all! It's going right after them!" Zoe cried knowing it must be very powerful to show no acts of caution, no doubt Seth override its natural instincts to serve only one purpose, destruction.

"Let's go Chomp!" Max declared undeterred while taking out his move card, "Lightning spear!" he announced slashing it!

"I'll back you up Max!" Cera followed as she held her arm out, "Energy equaliser!" she cried as Miku shrieked and glowed rainbow in color! She then latched onto Chomp's back as he surged with rainbow coloured lightning! Fearlessly the triceratops rushed ahead towards the t-rex and shot up at its throat! Unfortunately his attack was no more than a mere mosquito bite to the giant dinosaur as he easily shook him off! Miku was able to jump and glide away to a safe spot on a lamp post in time before Chomp crashed down hard on the ground! Finding the attack to be no more than a nuisance the t-rex snorted out rather cockily feeling proud of its unmatched power!

"AH!" Max, Zoe and Cera gasped in shock at how easily Chomp was thrown off.

"Hey! I thin that dinosaur's making fun of us!" Laura cried angrily as she and her group arrived on the scene.

"Did you notice its size?" Rod muttered uneasily, "When you're that bog you could be a jerk…."

Before long Dr Z and the Alpha Trio arrived too, "Well, it's time I showed that traitor Seth who he's dealing with!" Dr Z grumbled as he stepped forward with an alpha scanner in his hand.

"We'll never win if we battle like this!" Rex said seriously knowing normal attacks aren't going to cut it this time, "We need to all strike at once!" he said at the end.

Suddenly a red light shone on the ground and as they all looked they saw Dr Z had just summoned Terry to the field, who quickly shuddered at the sight of the much larger tyrannosaurus he was being pitted against!

"Yeah! Show that t-rex what you've got Terry!" Dr Z cheered despite Terry's sheer shock and horror at the monstrosity that was staring down on him, but also that he was forced to fight it! "Volcano burst!" the old man yelled as he slashed the fire move! Gathering flames in his jaws, Terry shot a stream of fire at the larger tyrannosaurus, only for his attack to fizzle out and doing nothing at all to his giant adversary! "What's this!? No effect!?" Dr Z exclaimed in disbelief at the sight of his move card proving to completely ineffective!

The black t-rex, feeling its time was being wasted with such pitiful resistance decided to finish things in 1 strike, as it turned around and raised its tail up high and began to bring it down! Terry and the others backed away nervously and were about to scatter before being returned to their cards in time right before the t-rex's tail swung own and smashed the ground effortlessly!

After regaining their partners' cards the D Team each let out a sigh of relief, "That was close…." said Max.

"Yeah too close…." Zoe added as she fell on her knees feeling overwhelmed.

Rex then turned to his friends seriously, "Come on, let's regroup with everyone." he said as they nodded with him and followed him to the lower levels to meet up with the others.

"Tch! Bunch of cowards…." Dr Z hissed in annoyance upon seeing the dinosaurs beating a hasty retreat when they should be fighting to exact his hopeless revenge.

"You called?"

"Reporting for duty." said Ursula and Ed as the trio reported to his side like loyal dogs, assuming he was summoning them.

Rex however had all he could take from the old man as he rushed towards him with a furious glare, "Don't you get it!?" he yelled bitterly as he grabbed hold of Dr Z by the collar and held him up, "None of us can beat that thing on our own!"

"I don't take orders from you!" Dr Z rebutted arrogantly.

His stubborn attitude and refusal to admit to admit his wrongs served to push Rex further over the edge, "You're gonna have to because this was all your fault in the first place!" he yelled as his anger boiled up even more and he pulled Dr Z closer to him. The others held back, they never seen Rex so furious before and they were afraid to see what were to happen if they tried to get in between them.

He however wasn't willing to give in and admit it so easily, "I don't know what you're talking about…." the smaller old man scoffed as he turned to look away uncaringly.

"You're responsible for everything that's gone wrong here!" Rex yelled as he was growing increasingly tempted to go physical on the doctor, his self restraint gradually losing out to his desire to get revenge as he tightened his grip and pulled on Dr Z even more.

"Don't stretch my lab coat!" Dr Z yelled back refusing to be disrespected by a mere child.

Max realising the situation was getting tense decided to step in before things got too far, "Hey! Rex it's okay…." he said nicely calming him down, hoping to break up the fight because they had more than enough trouble with Seth without fighting amongst each other.

"Come on grampa stop…." Laura allowed as she and Max pulled both of them apart and held them back.

"You alright?" Zoe asked compassionately as Rex remained hard and silent much to their unease. Cera on the other hand looked on sympathetically understanding his reasons, because Dr Z was indeed the cause of everything bad that had happened in the beginning, as well as it being personal with Rex for what he did to his true family.

"Grampa, you really should at least tell him you're sorry for what happened to his mom and dad." said Laura to Dr Z in disappointment as he brushed off his clothes.

"Ha! I won't apologise to the likes of him! No!" Dr Z scoffed as he turned his back to her and folded his arms much which served to anger her that much more, as even Rod and the trio were starting too see he was taking things too far. "So this kid is the baby that was left behind that day…." he thought to himself bitterly as the D Team eyed him with disgust, realising that his actions had now come to bite him back as if it was some sort of karma for his own selfish deeds.

Before long a hologram form of Seth soon descended from Zeta Point above and landed before them, which caught their eye, "Hehehaha. Fighting amongst yourselves already? Hahaha!" he laughed mockingly as everyone began focusing their anger and hatred on him.

"Look! It's him!" Max cried pointing out at him.

"Seth…." Cera clicked her tongue in disgust at the unforgivable man who was the root of the evil which started all this. First experimenting on dinosaurs was bad enough, now unleashing them to attack innocent people to show off his work was really crossing the line for her.

"What have you done!?" Rod demanded feeling betrayed and hateful for the lies he and his sister had bought into this whole time.

"Seth! When I get my hands on you I'm going to crush you!" Dr Z yelled shaking his fists cursingly, though Seth shrugged them off as mere empty threats.

"Ha! But how?" he smirked arrogantly, "You've seen that you're no match for my new dinosaur. I've finally created my black t-rex!" he boasted proudly of his greatest creation yet which may no doubt surpass all dinosaur kind.

"So that's what it's called…." Zoe muttered.

Max then gritted his teeth and yelled out in anger, "You creep! Dinosaurs aren't objects! You have no right to mess with them like that!" he shouted with bitterness at what he twisted the tyrannosaurus into from a fossil.

"You've created an abomination to all dinosaur kind!" Cera followed after hi, but both their words fell on deaf ears as Seth began to take advantage of the situation.

"If you want my black t-rex to stop destroying the city then I have only 1 simple demand." he said calmly before saying it, "Surrender all of the stones in your possession to me."

"What!?" Zoe exclaimed in shock at Seth's horrible and unacceptable demand, "Forget it!"

"So that's it! You've been after the stones all this time!" Dr Taylor followed.

"No way!" Max retorted unyieldingly, "We all know those stones contain the stones hold the souls of the dinosaurs! You'll never get your hands on em!"

"That's right!" Cera added just as determined as he was while Miku screeched viciously.

His answer however only amused Seth as if he was hoping he'd say that so he could prove how wrong he was, "Oh? Really?" he mused, "You should never say never." With the push of a button, a group of alpha droids were ejected from above before landing in the middle of the D Team!

CAPTURE CAPTURE

Catching them off guard they grabbed hold of Zoe and took her hostage before shoving the others aside!

"GAAH!"

"AAAAH!"

"ZOE!" Max gasped as the droids took her before Seth and his enormous dinosaur.

CAPTURE! CAPTURE!

"I'll ask one more time." he said once more as his expression darkened, "Hand over all of the stones you have. If you want the girl unharmed."

The others glared back at him, with hate so thick you could cut it with a knife, truly there was no one they hated more than Seth as he enjoyed what he was doing and had no remorse for it at all. The thought of seeing how dinosaurs were no more than tools for him and how he was taking advantage of their bonds with each other was pushing Cera beyond anger point herself as she clenched her fist, "How dare he….." she hissed under her breath.

He soon however took notice of her and smirked, "Oh, I almost forgot." he said surprising everyone below.

"Huh?"

"What now?"

It was then a maniacal grin came upon his face, "While we're at it, I'd appreciate it if you could also throw in that fascinating device of yours too, what was it again? A dinoshot?" he said holding huis hand out to Cera which made her widened her eyes in shock, "Wouldn't want to leave any loose ends behind now would we?" he said at the end narrowing his eyes and grinning sinisterly.

"Grrr!"

"Alright! Now you've gone too far!" Spike growled as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Hmph! So what will it be?" Seth shrugged it off as the D Team and Alpha gang was left conflicted knowing either way they'd lose…..

"Ugh…." With no other choice, Rex and Cera reluctantly gave into his demand seeing they were left with no other options.

"Okay."

"Tch! Fine….you win…" they said as Zoe widened her eyes in shock.

"No you guys!" she yelled, "If you give in now its all over!"

Seth however saw that it was already over long ago and now was his chance to finally seal his victory, "The stones and the dinoshot? Or your friend?" he said once more hinting that time and his patience was running low.

Realising this Rex looked over to Max and the others, "No choice, we have to give him what he wants." he said as they began taking out their devices and began to hand them out to the smaller droids who held their long arms to receive them.

Seeing how her friends were being threatened unless they gave into Seth's unreasonable demands, Laura and Rod quickly turned over to Dr Z, "Grampa! We need to give him our scanners too!" said Rod as he dropped his jaw in shock at the fact that not only his grandkids were thinking of giving up to Seth but were actually risking their necks out for the D Team who were just as big thorns in his side as Seth was!

"What!? No way! Forget it!" he yelled back shaking his fist at them before folding his arms and turning away, "I refuse to give up my precious device to Seth, let alone to save those brats!" he huffed which further irritated his grandkids.

"Just how selfish can you be!?" Laura growled as Rod gritted his teeth at the old man's stubborn attitude, admittedly he could see now why the D Team wanted to stand against him for so long.

"Grr!"

While they were distracted fighting with each other, a group of small pink droids reached in and snatched all 3 of their alpha scanners away much to their surprise! "H…Hey!"

"GAH!"

As they began to return to Seth, the trio ran out hoping to get them back, "Give that back!" Before they could catch up a pair of large super droids stomped out onto their path and held their arms out like a wall stopping them from moving any further!

"GAH!" they croaked anxiously before waving their arms out frantically not wanting any trouble, "N…Never mind!"

"Tch! What wimps…." Dr Z huffed in disgust while wondering why he ever trusted them in the first place.

As the droids began taking away the stones one by one by the D Team and their allies, Zoe could only look on helplessly as their last hope was slowly being taken away before their eyes, "I'm so sorry…." was all she could say as Cera handed her dinoshot over to the droids last before they returned with their prize back to their master.

Cera then shot a glare at Seth with hatred and rage inside her eyes at the smug face he was giving them, "You won't get away with this…." she swore under her breath if it was the last thing she'd ever do.

Once they were all in his possession and the last of his potential threats, despite being very insignificant to begin with, were eliminated, Seth then began smiling smugly to hsimelf seeing his vcotyr was now secure, "Well, that's that." He was just about to go back on his word, and have Black T-Rex finish them off once and for all excuse he could, a beeping sound suddenly caught his attention, "Huh?" Looking to his screens they displayed his dinosaur's energy levels were reaching red levels, "The low power warning!?" he thought in alarm as this caught him completely by surprise, "This operation used up a lot more energy than I expected. Black T-Rex is going to need more power…." he thought with annoyance. He planned to finish things off once and for all but it would seem he'd have to postpone that for another time.

The droids soon released Zoe back to her friends and as they did, the black tyrannosaurus returned to Zeta Point in a stream of red energy before the rest of the droids were sucked back up through the teleporter, "He actually kept his word…." Cera blinked her eyes in surprise before hearing the sounds of Zoe coughing loudly after having been grabbed and choked tightly earlier.

COUGH! COUGH!

"Ah!"

"ZOE!"

"Are you alright!?" Her friends cried in alarm as they came to her side.

"Yeah…." she replied sounding bitter at being a helpless damsel in distress, "This isn't the first time I've been snatched by androids…." she muttered recalling how she got caught the first time they were at Zeta Point.

Checking her and seeing she suffered no injuries, Max smiled with relief while Rex and Cera looked up at Zeta Point which was moving on its way.

"I wonder what happened….Why did he take back t-rex?" Rex asked with suspicion.

"I don't know….." Cera narrowed her eyes with Miku knowing something must have been up.

"Maybe it got tired I guess?" Zoe assumed.

Cera then hardened her gaze in response, "One thing's for sure, we're going to need to find some kind of weakness if we're going to stand a chance against it next time….." she thought to herself knowing they'd need a lot more help and to fight more strategically next time, and the only way to do that now was to divide and conquer….

Wasting no more time, Max quickly picked himself up and looked to the rest of the gang, "Let's go, we've got to get our dinoholders back and the stones." he said firmly to the others.

"You good to go Zoe?" Rex asked with concern as she nodded firmly.

"Yup!"

Cera smiled seeing they were back in business again, before staring up at Zeta Point uneasily, "But how are you going to get up there you guys?" she asked before looking back to see the pink jet was flipped upside down and damaged badly it was in no shape to fly anytime soon, "Our jet's pretty much busted so there's no way to fly now."

The rest of the gang fell silent, unsure of what to do and feeling they were stuck…till they saw Dr Z and the trio head towards the remaining blue jet which was rather bashed and smoking but still operational nevertheless.

"Well we've still got one more." Dr Taylor pointed out as the D Team stood up firmly together.

"Then let's go!" said Max firmly, unwilling to let Seth get away with what he's done to them and their home.

As they rushed over to the jet which was just starting up and Rod and Laura having stopped them from taking off, Cera held herself back at the last moment, having an idea and also not too keen on getting squashed in that one jet with everyone else, "Hey guys." she said as they paused and looked to her.

"Yeah Cera?" Max blinked his eyes.

"You go on ahead, I'm going back to the D Lab and do a scan on that t-rex." she said much to everyone's confusion.

"Huh?"

"The D Lab?" Spike and Johnathan went.

She narrowed her eyes, "It's obvious than conventional methods of attack aren't going to cut it, so hopefully, when I go back and use the D Lab's computers to scan that monstrosity, I might be able to find a chink in its armour." she explained, "Like it or not you guys are going to need an edge if you're going up against something that powerful, and you know it."

The rest of the gang looked to each other, wondering whether they should let her go through with it, "She does have a point there…." said Max admittedly knowing at their current levels they didn't stand a chance against it.

"But we'd be one member down…." Rex said afterwards, also worried if she might even be able to get up and rendezvous with them even if she did get them an answer.

"As soon as I find an answer I'll come over as soon as I can." she said assuringly to them, "Trust me, I'll be back I promise."

Looking into her eyes and seeing she was determined to go through with this and they had no time to argue, the rest of them nodded in acceptance of her decision.

"Okay, then good luck." said Rex nodding to her as they ran towards the jet.

"If anyone can find a way to take down that dinosaur it's you and we know it!" Zoe grinned at her as she smiled back feeling encouraged by their faith and support in her.

"Watch yourselves!" she waved to them as they began calling out to Dr Z to stop taking off before they got on too. Cera then hardened her expression and nodded at Miku, knowing that the others were counting on them to do their part and they weren't about to let them down. With the fate of the world at stake, Cera began running back towards in the direction the D Lab was, using the strength she had in her legs and adrenaline and urgency pumpkin through her, she began leaping up to the rooftops of buildings taking a shortcut to the D Lab at the other end of the city, focusing on the goal and task at mind and ignoring all fatigue and exhaustion in the process knowing failure wasn't an option.

 **(Later)**

As Reese surveyed the carnage caused by the black tyrannosaurus and the chaos running rampant in the city with Zeta Point flying overhead, from the safety of the D Lab, she continued to grow ever increasingly worried with each passing second over the safety of her family and their allies and that she codlin;t do anything for them no matter how much she wanted. She was just about to panic and assume the worst when suddenly a voice shouted from behind her.

"Reese!" She quickly turned around and widened her eyes in surprise to see it was none other than Cera! She was now drenched in sweat and panting hard after taking a long shortcut back home, seeing she was still alive gave Reese hope that the others were no doubt still alive and the only reason she wasn't with them now was because they sent her back.

"Cera!" she cried out in joy as she ran over to greet her, giving her support as she limped in exhaustion after all the running and jumping she did to get back home. "Oh I'm so glad you all made it out in one piece." she said with relief after having saw the entire thing on the News earlier, "It was a miracle that none of you suffered any serious injury." she added having witnessed their battle onscreen.

"Yeah, but miracles almost never happen twice, that's why I'm here." Cera replied as Miku became serious. She then made her way to one of the computers and began typing on it quickly as she could as an image of black t-rex appeared onscreen, along with several graphs and energy readings on them, "I need to do a scan on that tyrannosaurus," she said narrowing her eyes as the image was brought up, "It's way more powerful than any other dinosaur we've come across, everyone else is counting on me to find a weakness in that t-rex and I have no intention of letting them down." she said with determination in her voice.

Feeling inspired by her desire to help the others and seeing her chance to do something for them, Reese then stood up and walked over to another computer console and bean typing away herself, "I'll help in anyway I can." she said as she began going over the tyrannosaurus' earlier movements and attack patterns hoping to find an opening somewhere.

Cera smiled seeing she had her support, "I'll appreciate that Reese, in fact let's not waste anymore time." she said as she began typing away at the computer with Miku standing by her side and observing quietly.

Before going to work herself, Reese took notice of something in Cera which was unlike how she usually was herself, "She has a newfound clarity in her eyes….this type of determination….seems almost…personal….." she thought wondering why, before putting it aside and focusing on what was more important first.

After a while of studying the tyrannosaurus, and seeing the energy levels that were spiking hard before suddenly dropping before being recalled, Cera took notice of the reason why, "With all the genetic modifications and alterations made to its dna, that tyrannosaurus no doubt needs plenty of energy to sustain its massive build…." she said after seeing the readings were decreasing after slowly and sharply dropping.

"Which would explain why he probably took it back just now…." thought Reese putting a finger to her chin, "Maybe that could be the key to bringing it down?"

Cera shook her head unsurely, "Knowing Seth as the obsessive perfectionist he is, no doubt he'll be fixing that problem soon enough, so we'll have to find another way…." she replied knowing to always assume the worst as the 2 of them kept looking.

A little while longer of digging deeper, Reese soon noticed something rather peculiar, "Interesting…." she mused as Cera looked up at her.

"What is it Reese?" she asked as she walked over to her screen, to see that there was some sort of barrier which was coating the body of the tyrannosaurus.

"There's actually an energy shield concentrated around that black t-rex," Reese explained as it then fluctuated in several different levels when it was faced with Chomp's lightning spear and Terry's volcano burst as recorded earlier. "And when a move is used that dinosaur generates it in exactly the right amount and spot so that it can not only withstand take the hit but receive no damage at all…." she added seeing how the shield was calibrated to match and block against the moves that were thrown at it.

Seeing that made Cera narrow her eyes and grit her teeth in anger, "That Seth….tampering with dinosaurs like tools…." she growled seeing him to be manipulating dinosaurs and twisting them into monsters of the worst kind possible. Tainting their own hearts and souls with his twisted science and he didn't care at all.

"The way I see it, even if moves were to be used one after another it can still calibrate its shield to guard against them too in almost an instant." Reese continued as she compared the simulations and levels of the shield energy readings at how fast it changed to match 2 types of moves that were just used against it.

"That thing outclasses even the biggest sauropods in size too…." said Cera realising that supersaurus and seismosaurus would only get slaughtered if they were put out there against it so the D Team's best moves would still be useless, "Also, it seems to be able to use that energy should to guard against any kind of attack there is…." she then theorised.

The thought of it made Reese harden her expression, "This is a toughie….." she said folding her arms and the 2 of them drifted into deep thought.

It was then that Cera came to a realisation that the shield may have a possible flaw they could exploit, "But wait…what if the moves were to be used simultaneously?" she thought out loud as she began typing up a simulation, of Chomp and Terry unleashing their moves both at once. The results displayed that the shield wasn't able to fully block both fire and lightning simultaneously and in the end their attacks each had some effect in turn! Realising she may be onto something and may have found just the chink the D team needed, Cera brightened ups with hope and joy, "Yes, maybe that can be the key to breaking through its defences!" she cheered with a big smile as Miku chirped happily with her.

"Is that possible?" Reese asked curiously as Cera narrowed her eyes feeling unsure herself.

"I don't know…." she said in response before turning serious, "But it's all we've got now. And it's been sometime already, the others would need our help more than ever." she said to Reese who nodded affirmatively.

"You're right, there's no time to lose." she said as she walked to the side to get the keys to her plane, "We're leaving now."

"Mhmm." Cera nodded, but as she was just about to follow the Drake out to the garage where the plane was kept she then stopped at the last minute remembering something important, "Wait!" she called out which made Reese stop in surprise.

"Hmm?" Looking back Reese saw Cera heading for the card vault as she began dealing on the combination on the knob.

"Alright, if I remember correctly the code was…..got it!" she said as the door lock popped opened and inside was the entire stash of cards the D team gathered over the past few months, lying there and soon to be unleashed once more, "The others will need backup for sure. Knowing Seth he's bound to make that t-rex even stronger than before, and we'll need way more than 6 dinosaurs to take it down." She said with the intent of bringing in additional support for the gang as she began sorting through the dinosaurs available and the right move cards to go with them. Her words however made Miku poke her head up and chip at her feeling a bit offended. Understanding her, Cera then petted her on the head gently with her finger, "No offence Miku, but if I tried using you against that thing then…well…." she said uneasily.

Realising what she was getting at, Miku shuddered fearfully, knowing for a fact she wouldn't last a second against black t-rex if Chomp or Terry couldn't even scratch him.

As Cera continued sorting through the cards, segregating them orderly Reese then decided to move on without her, "In that case, I'll get the plane ready, be sure to meet me outside as soon as possible." she said firmly.

"You do that Reese." Cera called back to her as the elder woman exited the premises leaving Cera to her work.

"I'll just have to choose some of our strongest and from a variety of attributes too…." Eventually she got out some of the most capable dinosaurs she felt were best suited for the task as well as making sure their battle styles and abilities were equally balanced too, which included maiasaura, stegosaurus and daspletosaurus, "Wish I could take all of you but there's no time and I don't have enough room." she said feeling bad she wouldn't be able to fit them all in the deck box she was packing the dinosaurs and moves into before finally the finishing touch, "And of course these." she said as she gathered the secret dinosaurs together and added them in, completely filling the deck box to the brim. Eying it carefully and feeling satisfied with it, "That should be enough….I hope…" said Cera as Miku squawked out in agreement with her decision as she was helped onto her partner's shoulder who looked at her in the eye, "Alright Miku, let's go save the world!" said Cera firmly as her microraptor shrieked with determination as the 2 of them headed out to the doors ready to face their destiny.

As the plane started outside, Cera got herself strapped in tightly as Reese started up the engines and narrowed her eyes upon getting ready for takeoff, "Here we go! Hold on to your heads!" she said strongly as the plane drove forward and then taking off into the air with little effort!

As they looked out the windows to see the city below them and how high they were flying in the sky, Cera and Miku gazed upon below in awe and in inspiration, it was an experience which took their breath away as they saw the world down below them, "Wow Reese, you really are great at this." she complimented her as she smiled back.

"Thanks," she said feeling flattered, "Maybe when this is over maybe I could give you some tips." she said only half jokingly.

It was only through her words that both Cera and Miku suddenly got a small memory recall, where she was sitting inside a cockpit of what appeared to be a dinosaur egg shaped jet, flying rather smoothly inside a multicoloured tunnel of the sort. It was going smoothly, till suddenly her jet was fired upon from behind, causing her to lose control before her consoles sparked and fumed before eventually exploding in her face and causing her to scream loudly! As it passed, Cera shook her head to clear it out before simply replying calmly as she could to Reese, "That's….very nice of you Reese hehe." she chuckled nervously while Miku remained silent, "But we'll save it for another time, right now we-" She soon took notice of 3 strange figures descending slowly right at the far front of them, "Wait….What's that?"

"Hmmm?" Reese blinked her eyes before narrowing them for a closer look. Apparently they were descending not far from Zeta Point which was coming into view just ahead, "How curious…." she mused before pushing forward on the controls, "We'd better go in for a closer look." she said as the plane accelerated ahead towards the 3 strange silhouettes in the distance.

Further away, the A Team still hadn't quite made it to the ground yet and the 3 of them were now falling dangerously close to some live electrical cables that were surging with energy! As they came closer and closer with every second, and the wind blowing them in the direction of their impending doom, they could only struggle and writhe about in a hopeless attempt to get out of the wind!

"WAAAAAAHH!"

"I don't want to get my goose cooked!" Zander and Ed each screamed in a frantic!

"Quick! Maybe if we struggle fast enough we can move ourselves away!" Ursula suggested as they kept trying to wriggle and push away from the wires, but unfortunately Ed and Zander soon came too close to Ursula's parachute as she shuddered and turned pale, "H….Hey stay away from me you two! Otherwise we'll get-" Her words came too late as the 2 large men ended up getting snared in her parachute ties and with all 3 of them tangled up they began spiralling out of control like a rock towards the wires!

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" their cries echoed through the skies above the city as they came in close to a most shocking experience! "Somebody save us!" They screamed in unison as they came within feet of getting themselves cooked! Just as a incoming plane swopped in and scooped them up in time at the last moment.

"Huh?" They opened their eyes curiously as they felt the cushioned seats below them rather than metallic electrical wires.

Miraculously, the trio soon found themselves lying ontop of one another inside what appeared to be the seating area of a small vehicle!

"Hey where are we?" Ursula blinked her eyes looking around then looking up to see an open hatch in the roof where they fell inside the plane.

"Weren't we about to get the shock treatment of the century just now?" Ed then asked wondering as to how they ended up in there, not that he was complaining or anything.

"Take a guess." a voice said to them in front. As they looked ahead they widened their eyes to see Cera and Reese were the ones to have saved their hides at the last minute!

"Ah!"

"You!" Ursula and Ed exclaimed, though Zander instead grinned deeply and cheered out loud.

"My angel!" he cried blushing red and laughing in joy, "To think I would be saved not once but twice by you….."

Ed's eyes suddenly glistened innocently as he clapped his hands together, "You saved our lives! We are-"

Ursula whoever didn't share the same kind of mindset as her friends as she shoved Ed back and brought herself forward, "Tch! We never asked for your help! And we never would from a brat like you!" she growled in frustration snorting steam and gritting her teeth.

As Reese ignored the other woman's prattling, Cera raised an eyebrow at her in disappointment, "That's the thanks we get for saving your butts?" she asked before looking ahead, "Well remind us not to do it again then. Maybe we ought to drop you guys off right now."

As soon as she uttered those words, Zander and Ed gasped in alarm before cutting in front of Ursula and bowing down frantically, "Well I'm grateful!"

"So am I!" They each said as quickly as they could not wanting another near death experience as well as even deciding to put behind all their past disagreements with he D Team to do it!

Seeing how quickly they turned filled Ursula with disgust at how easily they'd turn, "Grrr!" she growled as a tic mark appeared on her head and she clenched her hand into a fist, "Traitors!" she cried out while delivering a swift blow to their heads!

WHAM!

"YOW!" They yelped and grasped their heads while painfully whimpering, as she looked away and pouted.

"Hmph!"

While Reese ignored them best she could and focused on her flying, Cera observed and smiled, could tell she was grateful on the indie but didn't want to admit it just yet. Before long as the plane ascended to above Zeta Point, the massive flying island just below, Reese's hawk like eyes caught sight of the huge hole in its surface which looked like the perfect way to get inside, "Hang on, I'll try to land us on the top near that opening." she said as she too the plane down carefully, before coming to a smooth stop within metres of the hole.

"Thanks for the ride Reese." said Cera as she opened the door and got off.

Seeing it made Zander's eyes become filled with hearts, "Wow! My angel is not only beautiful, she's smart and talented too!" he said clapping his hands together, blushing red and feeling his own heart soar into the sky like the plane did just now, "Oh everything I ever loved in a woman….." he said dreamily while fantasising how Reese, in angelic clothing and wings was carrying him bridal style int the heavens above.

"Gee, how nice…." Ed sighed feeling depressed at himself off not finding a girl and at how lucky Zander was compared to him.

"Grr….what does she have that I don't anyway…." Ursula grumbled feeling jealous as she looked away.

After she got off and closed the door behind her, Reese called out to her, "Good luck Cera, the meantime I'll keep circling and monitor the situation from above." she said as Cera nodded.

"Mhmm." she smiled feeling secure knowing that in case of an emergency they'd still have an emergency escape on standby in case. "Take care of yourselves!" she waved out to them as the plane took off into the air once more, leaving Cera to handle things on her own. She ran over to the huge hole and narrowed her eyes into the darkness below, "Alright, now to find the others." she said to herself seriously as she leapt inside, knowing one way or another this would be their final battle.

 **(Later)**

As Cera snuck along the hallways of Zeta Point for the 3rd time in a row, all seemed to proceed well as she made progress through the lair of the enemy with surprisingly no resistance at all, but that didn't stop her from keeping her senses on high alert as she kept her eyes peeled and Miku kept her ears open listening for even the slightest sound of danger, "We've come in pretty deep….but still no sign of any guards…." she said uneasily knowing form experience that danger was always planning to take her by surprise when she least expects it, "With luck maybe Seth won't-" She suddenly felt her foot step on something rather hard which surprised her.

"Huh?" As she looked down from where she was, her heart skipped a beat when she realised she was stepping on what appeared to be a severed leg! "EEEK!" she screamed jumping up in terror and clutching her face while Miku cried out in fear and even shed off a handful of feathers in the process as a result from the shock! As she took a closer look at the leg however, she soon saw it to be rather familiar, "Huh? Wait a sec…..it's…metal?" she blinked upon seeing wires popping out of the end, "That leg….I've seen it before….." It was soon she recognised the show on the end of the foot that she realised whom it came from, "Helga?" Looking ahead she saw what appeared to be a trail of parts and components lying out as if they were being dumped like litter, no doubt by Seth after having saw her being shocked by him the last time, "Boy she's in worse shape than when I last saw her….." she said feeling sorry for her even if she was unstable and out of whack, "Wonder if there are parts of her lying around?" Cera then wondered as she continued onwards along the straight path, picking up pieces along the way from an arm, hair piece and even Helga's head bizarrely, "Maybe if I can put her together again, maybe even better than before, she could be of great help in finding the others too." she then thought to herself as she collected more and more of the Alpha gang's housemaid.

Suddenly. the sounds of incoming footsteps ahead of them in the darkness of the halls echoed, "Ah!" she widened her eyes and quick hid behind the corner, noticing an incoming shadow appearing on the wall just in front of the corner they were hiding by. As it neared and the footsteps became louder, Cera hardened her expression seriously, "Must be a guard….." she thought suspecting the worst before motioning to Miku on her shoulder who flared up her feathers readying herself, "Okay Miku, let's take him by surprise." she said to her as her raptor responded with a calm nod before they faced forward waiting for their foe to present himself, even if they were outmatched in terms f strength they'd at least have the element o surprise on their side. As there foe was just about to come around to meet them, "Ready? One, two-" a foot soon stepped into view and that served as their cue, "THREE! HYAH!" she yelled loud as she ran around the corner and threw out a fast punch!

"HAH!" without warning her arm was grabbed and she was flung straight into the wall instead! "Oof!" she grunted as she slammed hard into it before sliding down to the floor on her head, "Urgh…that went differently in my head…." she groaned painfully rubbing it as Miku went up to her face and nuzzled it. As she opened her eyes she saw a pair of familiar feet walking up to her, "Huh?" as she turned around and looked up she came face to face with Jonathan who was eying her in surprise as much as she was!

"Oh my? Cera is that you?" the butler robot said in worry as he covered his mouth in shock.

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise too at her unexpected ally, "J…Joh…nathan?"

He quickly bowed down in respect, "My sincerest apologies for retaliating like that, you surprised me there, and that usually doesn't happen." he said.

"No apologies necessary, ow…." she grunted as he helped her stand up again, "In fact I should be apologising for attacking you, I thought you were a guard droid." she said as she began brushing herself off.

"In that case, apology accepted." he replied bowing down to her with respect before noticing something in her hand, "Hmm?" taking a closer look he recognised it as a familiar arm, "Ah! I see you've found some of Helga's parts!" he said gladly as he began unloading the other pieces he picked up along the way, "As have I!" he said as he revealed he was holding onto her other arm, leg, apron and even her head piece!

Cera widened her eyes seeing he had all the other pieces she was looking for, "Ah! Do you think that's all of them?" she asked him, "Maybe we can put her together again, knowing how strong and adept she is, she could be of great help to us in finding the others." she then suggested as Jonathan nodded in agreement.

"I couldn't agree more." he said as popped his knuckles.

"Come, let's get to work!" she said as the 2 of them began working with Helga's parts and components, gradually putting her back together like she was a giant jigsaw puzzle, clamping on limbs into the main body while also making sure to fit in the smaller components and bolting in other bits to ensure she remained stable both emotionally and physically. Even Miku played a role too by using her sharp eyes to pick up any smaller pieces rolling away from their work area before hopping over to bring them back. When the 2 of them came close, Cera then wiped away some sweat from her brow, "Say…this is actually…much easier than I thought it'd be." she commented, "Maybe a little easier than when Reese and I were fixing you up. No offence." she said at the end.

"None taken." Jonathan replied, "In fact Helga's model is based off a do it yourself kit in the future so it's only natural." he added which surprised her, the fact that Helga was so strong yet was a robot that could be ordered so easily was quite astounding, it made her wonder what was the future like? She hoped she could one day see it herself. "Though I must say, you certainly have skill, you've definitely surpassed most of my expectations already." Jonathan commented which snapped her out of her thoughts as she returned to work again.

"Huh? Oh thanks." she replied feeling happy at his kind words of praise.

"I must ask….how are you so adept in mechanics?" he then asked as she looked up at him again, "I am curious as to learn where you picked up such skill. If you wouldn't mind I'd like to know."

As soon as he asked that very question, Cera soon fell silent as the thought of that served to remind her once more about the memories she was missing from herself all this time, "That's the thing…." she said sadly, "I really don't know…." Jonathan soon began realise his mistake and he started regret his question, "As I said before…my memory has all been a blur….all I can pick up are new gifts which come up in certain situations, or maybe they're old talents I may have had in the past and knowledge on dinosaurs too." she said slowly as Miku let out a low coo sound before nuzzling against her, "Sure wish I knew how I know so much about all this….as well as who I really am too." she said as she continued to piece together parts of Helga's limbs and fitting them together while Jonathan lowly fitted her head back onto her neck, "Hopefully helping you all get back home to the future eventually would help me find clues as to who I am or where I came from as well." she said at the end before helping Helga stand up on her 2 feet, "But enough about that, let's get on with patching up Helga okay?" she then asked hoping they'd move on from this topic and focus on more pressing matters at hand.

"Like I thought, she truly is special and gifted too…." Jonathan thought to himself seriously as he recalled back the time they first met in the woods, and since then she truly had surpassed his expectations time and again along with the D Team, only she may have grown even more than they have, and now more than ever he felt he owed it to her to help her on her own quest to find out who she truly was when this was all over, "It's what Master Rex would want and so do I…." he said at the end.

At long last, they managed to construct Helga to nearly the same original stated as she was, the only last piece to add was her hair, which Jonathan picked up before walking over to put it on, "There, that should do it!" said Cera clapping her hands off dust as Jonathan prepared to fit in the last piece, as she and Miku both watched with anticipation, "Here goes….." As Jonathan placed Helga's hard back onto her head, she suddenly opened her eyes and began snarling like a mad beast as she snorted out steam like an enraged bull! Cora's heart skipped a beat and Miku's jaw hung realising they may have screwed up somehow and turned Helga into a mad beast that would destroy them all! "Is that supposed to happen?" Cera asked nervously as she began to step away nervously.

Hearing something behind them, Jonathan narrowed his eyes as he looked behind, "Only one way too find out." he said as they turned to look, alarmed to see a squadron of security droids had made it to their location and now were charging at them with outstretched arms!

INTRUDERS! They beeped as the leader, a small one with wiry arms pointed out, "CAPTURE THEM!" he commanded as they rushed forward preparing to overwhelm the intruders with sheer force and numbers!

"Tch! We've been spotted." Cera clicked her tongue in frustration as she stood up and readied herself, with Miku snarled angrily preparing herself for the fight of their lives! Jonathan quickly stepped in front of them and opened his arms wide across.

"Get behind me!" he said to her seriously, "I'll protect you like I would for Master Rex and his friends!"

As the droids closed in, he gritted his teeth and growled seriously, feeling unsure as to whether he might be able to take them on his own, "Grrr!" Cera sweated tensely worrying what might happen to them if they got caught, only for Helga to suddenly step in front of them unexpectedly.

"Hmm?"

She began to pop her knuckles before pointing out at her fellow robots, "You all have been very naughty!" she boomed which made them all stop in their tracks, realising she was back to normal they all began to shudder nervously as she charged ahead! "It's time for some discipline! YAH!" she yelled before ramming through a huge line of them like a battering ram! Even the biggest droids tumbled down like dominoes before her might before she went full housemaid on them ad began cleaning house!

RUN! RUN! RUN! Some of the droids cried out as they scurried away, unwilling to be sent to the scrapheap like some of their fallen brethren who were already reduced to parts and bolts!

As they stared in awe and amazement at the show she was putting on, "Whoa she's good…." was all Cera could utter out in face of Helga's raw power and sheer precision in doing so. Even Miku herself was at a loss for squawks and feeling grateful they had a robot on their side for a change.

"Indeed….." Johnathan nodded in acknowledgement, feeling as though they may have actually made her better than before, "In fact her skills may even be on a level beyond my own…." he said remembering the time they had a cooking duel and how she outclassed his best dish in every way possible.

Seeing the tides were turning already, Cera then smirked with confidence as she punched her arm out, "Well we can't let her have all the fun! Time to join the party!" she cried as she rushed in with Miku to join the fray!

"Well said! RAAAAH!" Jonathan yelled as he delivered a swift right hook to several droids while Cera delivered a dropkick to a few and swept a few off their feet causing them to tumble down!

As the tides turn and the halls began to litter with parts and sparking droids, the small leader droid then waved his arms out in a frantic, "I MUST RETREAT AND CALL FOR REINFORCEMENTS!" he screeched before spinning away as fast as he could.

Taking notice of him while stepping on one robot she took down, Cera glared angrily, "Oh no you don't! Go Miku!" she cried as she threw Miku out, who opened her arms wide and landed on the droid's head!

"HELP! GET OFF ME YOU-" swiftly avoiding his long arms she was able to open a small part on his back before chewing away at several wires and cords before causing the droid to short circuit and spin out of control! "AAAAAAAHHH!" his voice deepening as he whirled around and around, with Miku jumping off in time back into Cera's hands as the droid crashed into the wall and exploded in a pile of ash and flames!

BOOM!

"RETREAT! RETREAT! THEY'RE TOO STRONG! TOO STRONG!" The few remaining survivors cried as they ran off into the dark hallways ahead, realising they were completely outmatched and had no way of winning now.

As they soon departed, Cera let out a sigh of relief, "That takes care of them….for now." she whistled.

"Yes," said Jonathan feeling certain they won't be bothered for a while now, before looking towards the sealed room ahead, "But now onto matters at hand." They made it towards the front as Jonathan pointed out, "They're inside here, I saw them get taken in earlier." he said.

Cera narrowed her eyes seeing the lock was armed and heavily encrypted as she took a close look at it, "Then we'll just have to get inside, only question is how?" she muttered bringing a finger to her chin in thought, "The door locks seem to be activated remotely…." she mused noticing there weren't any slots for key cards or dialling codes into them, as Miku narrowed her eyes at the high security put into it, no doubt used to keep Rod and Laura in to make sure they didn't run off from their homework, to keep naughty children in so they'd behave or to act as an effective prison cell to hold troublemakers in. No doubt Seth pulled out all the stops for this, "Looks like we'll have to hack in somehow…." she was about to consider going to the control room and disable the security, when a loud voiced boomed.

"Stand aside!" Helga interrupted as she walked past Cera, "I'll take care of this!" she said popping her knuckles, and after swinging her right arm a couple of rounds she threw it forward with all her might! "HAH!" Her iron fist delivered a sharp blow to the wall causing a huge crack to form before the entire structure soon collapsed down causing dust to erupt!

"Urk….." Cera croaked turning pale at the sight of Helga's overwhelming strength while Miku shuddered shaking off a few loose feathers in the process. The both of them would rather face a rogue dinosaur than ever take on her in battle!

As the dust cleared away from the crumbled down wall, "I'm back!" she bellowed loudly flexing her arms while greeting the captives inside the room!

"It's Helga!" Rod and Laura cheered with joy.

"And she's alright!" Dr Z followed.

"Yup, thanks to us." Cera smiled as she along with Johnathan stepped out from behind the burly maid robot.

"AH!" The sight of her brought joy and relief to her teammates to see her again.

"Cera! Miku!"

"You came back!"

"Not a second too soon!" They cheered while the siblings and Dr Taylor both laugh happy to see her.

"Haha!"

She smiled and nodded back at them, "Of course we would, I'd never leave you guys behind when you need me most." she then scratched her head and her smiled loosened, "Sorry it took so long though, Johnathan and I….had our hands a little full." she said as she looked over to Helga who was snorting like a mad bull!

"I was on my way here to try to rescue Master Rex and all of you, when I found Helga in all sorts of pieces in the android storage room!" Johnathan explained, "Dumped like rubbish!"

"Fortunately he also ran into me when I was in the area too." said Cera after him.

"So we collected all of her components and we reassembled her together." Johnathan followed.

"Good as new too." Cera then concluded at the end as she popped her fingers and clapped off any dust that may have gotten on them.

"DO YOUR HOMEWORK!" she suddenly bellowed at the top of her lungs in an angry voice which made everyone in the room shudder.

"I think….." Cera chuckled uneasily as she then sweat dropped.

"That's my usual line but now there's bigger fish to fry!" the female android then said as she adopted a more kind expression.

Rod and Laura both nodded with a smile knowing it was her, "Yup she's good."

"Maybe even better." they said seeing she may be a little nicer than usual now.

"Everyone out before the droids come." said Helga kindly as they all quickly made a break for it!

"You don't have to tell me twice!" said Dr Z being the first to go.

"Hurry up everyone!" Johnathan whispered as Max and Zoe ran through followed by Spike who went ahead of them.

Cera then widened her eyes as she put her hands into her pocket and felt something on it, "Oh right! I almost forgot!" she cried out which made Max, Rex and Zoe stop to look at her.

"What's that Cera?" Zoe asked as they agtehrend around her to see she was pulling something out of her pocket.

"While I was at the D Lab, I made sure to pick up a couple of cards with me before coming here." she said as she took out a deck box and opened it, revealing several dinosaur cards inside them! "Thought you guys could use some extra firepower too." she said proudly as her fiends brightened up with excitement at what she brought them.

"AH!" As the 3 of them began taking out cards from the box they divided them amongst one another and seeing Cera had indeed brought a great selection with her.

"Thanks! This is great!"

"Awesome!" They said feeling more assured they have a fighting chance against Seth's dinosaurs now.

Cera smiled feeling happy at their response, "Be sure to give some to the others later, we'll need all the help we can get." she said as Max nodded.

"Will do."

"I'd have brought the entire vault here if we had more time, which unfortunately we don't so I hope this is enough." she said afterwards feeling a bit uneasy as Rex mired her expression.

"Let's hope so too." he said as Cera nodded back at her.

Feeling they had enough time to regroup and rearm themselves, Max looked to the others with authority, "Alright let's go!" he said as they all nodded in agreement with him.

"Mhmm!"

As they ran out again to where the others were waiting for them, Rex and Cera both stopped seeing Rod and Laura had just found something and were taking it out with them, "Hmm? What are you doing guys?" Rex asked them.

"I have to make sure to take this projector with us." Laura answered as a holographic projection of a young man and woman waving at them was displayed, "It's a video of our mom and dad…." she said.

"That's so sweet…." said Cera feeling sympathetic for them and that all they ever wanted this whole time was to go home to their family. "They look really nice too." She said with a warm smile as she walked up to get a closer look herself.

"They are." Rod replied, "The best parents we could ever ask for too." he said unaware that Dr Z was actually overhearing them outside.

"Huh?"

After looking at it for a bit more, Rex then put a hand on Laura's shoulder with a firm look on his face,"Alright guys, it's time to go now." he said.

"If we don't stop Seth we won't be going anywhere ever again." Cera added in agreement with Rex as Laura quickly put the projector into her side pocket.

"Yeah, you're right." said Rod narrowing his eyes as he ran out with his sister, Cera and Rex following him.

Before following after them, Johnathan turned behind to see Dr Z was spacing out at the hallways quite unusually, "Dr Z! It's time to go!" he called to the old man firmly.

Dr Z said nothing to the android for a moment, before uttering out a few choked words, "You go on ahead….I need some…time to think….just a few minutes that's it…." he said without turning to him. As Johnathan eyed the old man carefully, while he didn't know what he was thinking he could at least tell he was trying to process his thoughts for the time being, and after everything that's happened in the short span of time this entire day, he felt maybe he deserved at least a few minutes to realign his thoughts and priorities before leaving him be.

After thinking and reflecting upon everything he had done thus far, and realising that he could probably never face his adoptive son and his wife for what he did to the Ancients and even endangering the lives of his own grandchildren, all out of his selfish ambitions, Dr Z gritted his teeth and fell on his knees to the floor, feeling almost lifeless and filled with guilt inside him, "Urgh…." It was at that moment he realised something important, something he had done in the past yet completely forgot about, and hopefully, that secret hadn't been uncovered by Seth yet as he raced after the rest of the gang towards Seth's lair!

 **(Later)**

"Seth's lab should be up ahead!" Rod pointed out as they neared one of the secret entrances to the generator room down the hallways.

"We'll go on ahead, you guys wait here." said Max to the rest of them as they held back per his request.

"We'll be back before you know it!" Rex added as the D Team and Spike hurried along to Zeta Point's heart of darkness, with Rod, Laura, Helga and Jonathan on standby.

"Be careful…" breathed Laura as she clutched her hands together.

As the team came to an opening which was several levels above the lab's ground floor, Cera quickly put a finger to her lips while looking to the others, "Ssh!" she hushed before posting downwards slowly.

As the others leaned over the edge to look, their eyes narrowed angrily seeing their worst enemy was right below them, "There he is….."

"And our stuff…." said Max and Rex as they found wha they were looking for.

"Ahahahaha!" Seth laughed as he walked away from the dinoholders, alpha scanners and dinoshot which were plugged into a machine while he faced the reactor core that was coursing with energy! "It works…." he said proudly at his achievements which took months of scheming and playing nice to Dr Z to make possible, he despised it from the bottom of his heart but now that was all about to pay off, "Now I can travel through time backwards or forwards! And without their means of getting in my way, there is no one who could possibly oppose me!" he proclaimed cocky while the D Team spied on him from above.

"Guy sure loves to hear himself talk." said Max feeling enough of his voice and bragging.

"At least now we might have our chance." said Cera noticing he was indulging in his victory so much he was dropping his guard.

Looking down and seeing it was a deep drop to the ground, Zoe shuddered as she stepped back further away from the edge, "So how do we get down there without him seeing us?" she asked. Fortunately Spike had just the answer.

"Hehe, just leave it to me!" he grinned with a thumbs up as he took out his lizard lasso, swinging it about before catching hold of a platform on the other side and preparing to swing down!

Max widened his eyes realising what he was planning to do, "D…Dad!?" he gasped widening his eyes thinking he was crazy! The others were having the same idea as Max and were about to stop him when he suddenly launched himself off!

"Hah!" He swung himself to behind the machine, the D Team covered their mouths and screams worried he may give them away or end up crashing! Fortunately he took it rally well, successfully somersaulting and landing down like a pro much to their relief.

"Phew…I almost had a heart attack…." Max breathed putting a hand to his beating heart as Rex and Zoe sat down feeling overwhelmed by the tension and pressure just now.

"Still that was pretty impressive…." Cera whispered while Miku let out a small chirp in agreement.

"Hehehehe Ahahahahah!" Seth then laughed out loud maniacally seeing his goal was within reach, unbeknownst to him that Dr Taylor had made it over to the plugged devices before removing the cables connecting them all!

"Alright!" he grinned to himself before waving out to the kids above who smiled deeply.

"He did it!"

"Way to go dad!"

"Not bad….."

Seth's moment of glory was soon cut short when the reactor core suddenly shut down catching him off guard, "What!? What's this!? Impossible!" he exclaimed in disbelief as he typed on the machine but got no response, but turning around to the core's power source he soon found out why.

"Well! You wouldn't be looking for these now would you?" Spike flashed the devices in front of his face before swinging out his lasso, "Spike Taylor is the name! And sweet justice is my game!" he chanted as he threw himself back up to where Max and the others were and out of Seth's reach!

"That'll teach you to steal!" said Zoe firmly as Seth widened his eyes in alarm.

"How did you possibly get out of that room!?" he demanded.

Cera smirked in response at his disturbed expression, "Sorry, trade secret." she said taking back her dinoshot and the alpha scanners while the D Team got their dinoholders back.

"All that matters is that we did get out so your evil plan's not gonna to work anymore!" Max responded, "And we've got our dinoholders back too!"

"Yeah! So don't even think about hurting the dinosaurs again!" Rex followed firmly while Spike smirked seeing everything went as planned.

"That's the name of that tune." he said feeling it was a mission accomplished as he lead them all out, "Let's go!"

Quickly leaving Seth's lab, the group quickly met up with the others who were awaiting their return with anticipation. Upon sight of them, Rod and Laura were the first to run out and greet them.

"Did you get them!?" Laura asked feeling hopeful of their success.

Cera nodded as the D Team flawed their dinoholders, "Yeah we sure did." she said as she showed off her dinoholders then handed out the 3 alpha scanners to them, "Here."

"AH!"

"You actually did it!" Their faces brightened up with joy to see their smash and grab attempt was a huge success.

"Nice work!" Johnathan clapped his hands praisingly while Helga told back and smiled.

"I'll take that!" Dr Z suddenly barged in as he grabbed hold of 1 scanner much to everyone's surprise.

"H….Hey!"

"Hands off! You'll get your germs on it!" he grunted before using his lab coat to wipe it off, as everyone else glared at him with disappointment.

"Grampa you could at least say thank you!" Laura pouted.

"Yeah they just risked their own skins for us just now! Show some respect!" Rod followed in agreement.

Dr Z however looked away and folded his arms, "Hmph! If anyone should be showing me respect it's you kids! After all I'm going to be dinosaur king someday!" he said snobbishly before yelling out in a tantrum, "And nothing and no one's going to stop me from achieving my destiny! Not now! Not ever!"

"Grr…."

"Grampa…."

"Seriously?" Everyone looked on the old man with disapproval, guess they really couldn't rely on him for anything even in the most dire of times.

Helga on the other hand held herself back from doing anything at the moment seeing this wasn't the time and place, but she made a note to herself to discipline the good doctor, having been briefed on the truth by Johnathan just now, once this is all over.

"Guess I was kidding myself to expect anything at all from you…." Cera huffed before handing Rod and Laura the other scanners, "Here you go." she said with a smile as they took them with gratitude.

"Ah thanks."

"We owe you one for this." They said with appreciation.

"Don't mention it." she replied bene looking to everyone else seriously, "Now let's get a move on!" she said as everyone became serious in agreement.

"Right!"

"We're out of here!" They all decided to head for the hangars, with the intention of escaping Zeta Point so they could regroup and launch a counterattack at a better time.

Right before Cera could join the rest of them, Dr Z held back behind, he gritted his teeth feeling deeply conflicted with himself. Inside his ambitions were warring violently with his feelings of guilt, as much as he wanted to bury those feelings and turn a blind eye to them he hadn't realised it was only now that he had only been planting seeds that would eventually take root and grow into something he couldn't run from anymore, and now they were winning out against him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tensed up and gritted his teeth painfully as he yelled out to Cera at the last second, his conscience taking over at last, "Wait! You!"

Cera then stopped running as she and Miku turned around to look, "Hmmm?" seeing it was Dr Z, her mood quickly soured, "You've got something to say?" he asked him with a raised eyebrow wondering what kind of ridiculous rant he was going to take out on her this time.

"Yeah! That's right! I do!" he growled stomping his foot before inhaling deeply to calm his high blood pressure. After that he eyed Cera seriously bit also with a hint of guilt inside them, "Listen….There's….something I need to tell you…" he said feeling pained as he tried to avoid as much eye contact as he could, "Tch! And it really pains me to say this…and it leaves a bad taste in mouth too…." he hissed under his breath.

"Well if its some kind of apology you can forget it." Cera interrupted finding it impossible to forgive someone as selfish and self centred as Dr Z, "After all you've done, selfishly putting everyone in danger because of your own blind ego, twisting the dinosaurs the way you wanted them and even lying to your own grandchildren about the truth, what you've done is unforgivable!" she yelled with Miku snarling alongside her, as Dr Z gasped in alarm at her sudden out burst, "For all I know you're no better than Seth yourself." she said at the end refusing to even look at the old man ending him to be irredeemable and rotten to the bones.

"Grrr!" The old man gritted his teeth and veins bulged on his forehead at the nerve she had to talk down to him like that. He then folded his arms and looked away from her, "Fine, so you don't want to know where Rex's parents are then? So be it I won't say a thing!" he retorted, which made her blink her eyes in surprise.

She then blinked her eyes in surprise, "What…was that?" She thought she misheard him but those were indeed his exact words, "What do you know about them?" she asked with suspicion as she hardened her gaze at him, "Last I heard from Johnathan, he said that you're the one who ejected them off their own ship just because you couldn't get what you wanted! Not to mention you even tried to strand everyone in the time of the dinosaurs too!" she yelled angrily thinking he was lying and also that he had the nerve to bring up that very topic to save his own skin.

"Yes! Yes! I know I did it! I'm a very bad man okay!?" he the cried out painfully while shaking his arms like a child, "But that overbearing mandroid doesn't know the whole story so listen up, because I'm not going to repeat myself!" he growled seriously glaring at Cera. Already under a lot of pressure and stress, from having his past actions coming back to bite him and the fact he needed the D Team to help bail him out of his predicament was more than he could take, so at least by confessing the truth he hoped to be able to lighten that burden.

Cera said nothing at first but held her hard and serious fire at him. For all she knew he couldn't be trusted after all he did, but at the same time she could see even he wouldn't dare try anything in this situation so she decided to give him at least one chance to speak, but this was all he'd get, "Go on."

Dr Z then took a clam breath as he began to recount the events of 1 tragic tale, "Fine, it all happened right after the time machine went out of control."

 **(Flashback)**

Right after the stones were dislodged and dispersed from the console Seth and Dr Z were shocked to see the massive surge of energy being released which blew them both back and then causing Seth to be knocked out unconscious against the wall! "ARGH!" he yelled out as the light blinded his eyes as he smacked hard into the back causing him to fall down to the ground out cold!

"GAH! Seth!" Dr Z gasped in alarm as he ran over to the man whom at the time was the only he trusted more than anyone else, "Wake up! Wake up!" he cried frantically shaking him, hoping he'd awaken so he could save their skins! After a little while and realising his actions weren't getting him anywhere, Dr Z sweated anxiously as he ran out from the hibernation chamber to the control deck above, "Urgh! Looks like I'll have to steer this ship myself or else we could crash or worse stranded through time forever!" he said to himself as he took a look over all the controls present, now that the auto pilot system was short-circuiting due to the stones no longer being present it had to be operated manually, which unfortunately wasn't his strong suit.

"Okay but first how do I work all this at once?" he asked himself nervously seeing it was all on him now and that everyone else's lives were now in his incapable hands! Not once had he ever been this pressured as he kept jumping form seat to seat, pressing buttons and pulling on levers randomly hoping for something to happen! His heart raced and he sweated with anxiety as he looked ahead, notice they were speeding up almost too fast and could crash hard at a random point in time! It was at that very moment he took noticed of 2 glowing objects in the very front ahead of him onscreen, "Huh?" On closer inspection he widened his eyes to see they were metal pods, "Those pods…..can it be?" inside them was none other than Dr Ancient and his wife Cretacia! Both of them, his only 2 friends ever, now lying peacefully in their pods as if they were coffins as the pods' hibernation functions put them to rest for safety reasons.

As Dr Z began to rethink what he had done, and realised that he'd be crossing a line if he left them out here with no one to come help them they could even die. As feelings of guilt welled inside him, he clicked is tongue in frustration as he piloted the ship to hover above them, "Tch! I can't believe I'm doing this….." he grunted pressing the ship's tractor beam to suck them both in to safety. With that problem out of the way he had one other course of action to take care of, "Alright, now with that out of the way it's time to turn this ship around!" he cried out before noticing a big red button in front of him, "Ah! Maybe this should do it." he smiled with excitement as he pressed it, only for the entire ship's cargo of dinosaur and move card capsules to be ejected from them and then lost forever within the time stream! Dr Z's heart skipped a beat upon realisation of what he had done, "No! All my precious cards! Come back!" he cried a she began pressing buttons over and over again hoping something would good would happen! Unfortunately that wasn't the case as the consoles suddenly surged with electricity and even began to explode and fume with smoke!

BOOM!

Red screens erupted around the control deck as Zeta Point began to spin around and around out of control with Dr Z being thrown around inside like he was being spun inside a washing machine! "WAAAAAH!" his screams echoed through the time vortex as Zeta Point vanished, only to turn up over the sea, crashing down tint a water before colliding with a floating island where the 2 eventually merged together as one!

 **(Present)**

"And that's what happened." Dr Z concluded as he looked down solemnly, while Cera and Miku stared speechlessly at his confession.

"Dr Z….." was all she could breathe out, feeling almost moved at his act and yet still having hint of suspicion that he was still keeping something, "Is he lying? Because he isn't exactly-"

For him to say it all with pain in his voice meant that had to be the truth, "After I recovered the Ancients, I kept their pods safely hidden in a secret room below Zeta Point. I made sure to keep every word of it a secret as well, especially from Seth, telling everyone else that they had gone missing and nothing more, that way they wouldn't be able to put any of the blame on me for what happened." he said at the end which caused Cera and Miku's feelings of bitterness towards him return.

"Which you totally deserve…." Cera thought to herself angrily after that.

"I may not look it, but I really did feel some form of regret for what I did to them and Rex," he then said closing his eyes and taking a breath, "Not a day goes by that I don't forget it, and I always tried my best to bury it all under all my scheming and plans." he said before turning to her seriously, "Only you know this, and I swear that every word of it is complete and utter truth!" he yelled out loud before folding his arms and looking away, "And there you have it." he concluded while still trying to retain some of his pride.

As he finished his tale, a memory soon came to her mind, "Wait….back then…." as she flashbacked, on her very first visit to the island, she came across a certain room where 2 people were kept in pods, a man and a woman with glasses, "Were those two?" she then widened her eyes in realisation, "So then…he is telling the truth…." she breathed to herself as Miku too was taken aback by what she had priced together.

Dr Z blinked his eyes noticing she had gone silent on him, "Hey what's wrong? You were spacing out there just now." he said which snapped her out of her through as she looked back to him.

"It's nothing….." she replied shaking her head clear.

The old man suddenly widened his eyes in shock, "Wait, don't tell me you weren't paying attention!?"

"Oh I heard you loud and clear Dr Z." she said back to him much to his relief, "I'll admit you may not be the most trustworthy doctor on this ship, but I'll take your word for it." she then said rather seriously, still feeling conflicted over whether she should still remain completely hateful towards him or let at least forgive him a bit. Still one thing wasn't adding up, "From what I heard from your grandkids, you and Ancient were once good friends, what happened between you guys in the first place? How could things possibly have ended up like this?" she then asked as Dr Z suddenly began to sweat nervously.

"Ugh….well you see…..it's actually a pretty funny story eheh…." he chuckled nervously trying to dodge the subject, but Cera maintained a hard glare at him with Miku, keeping him frozen in place and unable to look away!

Realising she wasn't playing around and he had no way to get out of it, he quickly caved in, "Okay fine! I was jealous okay!" he cried out childishly while shaking his arms out before lowering his head down in shame, "All my life I lived not being able to accomplish anything worthwhile and I didn't want to be remembered as a nobody, or worse being forgotten!" he said in a very sad pouty tone, "So when my old friend Ancient spoke of this 'Noah's Ark Project' I thought this could be my big chance to achieve legendary fame and glory! I knew the world would shower him with all the praise and appreciation I always dreamt of, so I wanted something of my own to be renowned by!" he continued stretching his arms out proudly, "And what better way than to expand upon the dinosaurs he and his wife were saving." he said, "So using powers from the 6 stones, I was able to channel their power to create move cards, that way when people see how powerful dinosaurs can truly be they'd have to look up to me as the King who brought forth such revolutionary change! Oh how beautiful it would be….." he said tearing up emotionally while Cera said nothing but watched.

"….." The fact he was telling the truth she was doing all she could toehold back herself from exploding in anger over doing something so inexcusable for such a selfish reason.

"I even took things a step further and created secret dinosaurs utilising power from the central stone after a long time of hard work and research! But of course knowing Ancient, he couldn't see what I was trying to bring forth, so we kept getting in each other's way and research….so eventually Seth told me that if I wanted to make my dream a reality I had to remove the obstacles the were blocking my way." Dr Z continued as his mood turned sour, "But now that I see things the way they are maybe I did go a little too far…." he pouted at the end while twiddling his fingers.

"A little?" Cera was doing all she could to holding back herself from getting physical because of his selfish attitude was what allowed Seth to take advantage of him in the first place. Taking a breath to calm herself down she said as best and calmly as she could, "Regardless the fact remains that you still caused a lot of problems for everyone, not just your own family and friends but countless innocents in this time period. Also what you've done to start all this is still inexcusable." she said which made Dr Z tense up as she narrowed her eyes and shot a hard gaze at him, "When this is over you're going to apologising to everyone for everything that's gone wrong here in the first place. Especially Dr Ancient and Cretacea, no doubt they'd want to hear the whole truth and explanation straight from you."

"Tch! In your dreams!" he yelled back at her folding his arms, "Never in a million years will I ever stoop to such a level! It's far below a king like myself!"

"Fine, be that way." she said shrugging her shoulders as she and Miku smirked at one another momentarily as she turned around to follow the D Team, "Maybe once I'll tell Helga about everything you and Seth did, then we'll see who's the tough guy then."

His heart skipped a beat upon hearing her threat to him which would no doubt be worse than what Seth was doing right now, "Gah!" he gasped in alarm.

"Knowing her she'll do much more than cut back your meals and snack privileges." she added at the end as Dr Z tensed up his hands into fists.

"Gasp! You wouldn't dare!" he growled as she shot another serious look at him.

"Try me." was all she said in a menacing tone to prove her point.

Realising she was dead serious he fell to his knees weakly seeing she had gotten him where it hurt most, "Urgh…."

She would've continued, but a loud roar and foot stomps soon caught her attention! "AH!" Turning around she stepped back nervously to see it was saurophaganax now standing before them all and blocking their way out! "Oh no Seth found us!" she cried out as Miku shrieked in terror at the massive carnivore!

"Grr!" Dr Z gritted his teeth in anger when he once again caught sight of the dinosaur that first drove him out of home the first time, now it was time for some well deserved payback! "Stand back! I'll handle this! This is personal!" he said shoving Cera aside as he took to a card with his scanner, "Alpha slash! Flame up Tyrannosaurus!" Terry took to the field and charged ahead on instinct! "Go get him Terry!" Dr Z then yelled out loud.

"Be careful!" Cera cried rooting for him too while Miku chirped happily to see their saviour.

Terry opened his jaws wide and snapped down on saurophaganax's neck before throwing him down to the ground! "NO!" Seth gasped as he arrived to see his dinosaur was losing.

"Take that!" Dr Z yelled as he ran in with Cera, "I'm not about to let you steal my Zeta Point without a fight!" he said courageously.

"If it's a fight you want you'll get one!" Seth retorted as saurophaganax kicked Terry off him, "Fire scorcher!" As Seth slashed the all powerful fire move, was enshrouded in flames before throwing out the black fire meteor at his attacked, causing him to roar in pain and return to a card under the intense heat!

"Gah! Noooo!" Dr Z gasped as his eyes widened, to be done in by the same move twice in a row he couldn't believe his eyes!

"Terry!" Cera cried out as she ran to grab his card. Feeling his card and sensing he was still alive she let out a sigh of relief before narrowing her eyes at saurophaganax, "That move even beat Terry…." the thought of losing to the same move that took himself out with must have hurt his pride a little, also from what she now knew none of their dinosaurs could ever take that kind of power head on.

"Hey that's mine! Give it back!" Dr Z yelled as he ran in and snatched the card out of Cera's hands, "Hands off!" he scowled at her while she folded her arms on her hips and pouted crossly.

"Hmph…."

"That move again…." Max grunted in frustration seeing they were facing down the same move which beat them once more.

"It's just too powerful!" said Rex feeling just as agitated as his friend was.

"I don't care! There's got to be a way to counter it!" Max yelled out determinedly, unwilling to back down as he took out his dinoholder and returned Chomp to card form, "Dino slash! Go! Triceratops! Roar!"

Rex soon followed suit, "Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Both their dinosaurs appeared on the field and roared out fiercely at their adversary which roared back at them.

"Let's hope they fare better this time…." thought Cera seriously as she and Dr Z regrouped with the others behind Chomp and Ace where it was safer.

"Thunder bazooka!" Chomp yelled as he slashed the card, causing Chomp to surge with power as he rushed ahead like a torpedo! Amazingly saurophaganax was able to hold him back before throwing him across the ground with little effort!

"It took that attack head on…." Cera muttered before noticing Rex was giving it a try next.

"Cyclone!" he yelled as Ace encased himself in wind and got behind saurophaganax, grabbing him by the tail and swinging him around a bit before throwing him into the wall! Despite that the fire dinosaur was still able to stand as it roared out in defiance!

"Oh man!" Max gasped in disbelief stepping back.

"Even that didn't work…." Rex sweated uneasily seeing they were running low on options.

Their anxiety was getting to the others as Cera gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes at what she observed, "2 direct hits and it's still strong…." she noted before eying saurophaganax carefully, "Could it be?" From what she could tell, in order to withstand fire scorcher's drawbacks, the dinosaur had to be shielded somehow. She wondered, could it be the same as black t-rex was? If so, maybe that's the reason why saurophaganax was quite resistant to moves though not as well as t-rex was. If it could take on different moves at a time they didn't really have a chance….unless…

"Try fusion moves!" Dr Z cried out to them, the 2 words catching her ear.

"Fusion…moves?" she blinked in surprise.

"What's a fusion move?" Max asked with suspicion.

"You just slash the cards together which synchronises them with each other!" Dr Z explained quickly as he could, "The resulting fusion gives your attack double the power!"

"What?" Cera gasped before eying Chomp and Ace, "Is that….even possible?" she wondered, theoretically it would be possible to use 2 elemental attacks together like that, but to get both moves slashed at once would take skill to pull off, also the move compatibility too was another factor to consider….so much to consider under so little time….could they pull off something like that even if ti was possible?

Rex however didn't buy the old doctor's words so easily as he was still suspicious of him, "Right….You expect us to believe what you say?" he stated thinking he was making it up or didn't know what he was talking about.

"Look Rex…." Max croaked nervously seeing saurophaganax was approaching them fast!

"Ugh!" Rex gasped seeing they were in danger once more.

"Fine! Then don't believe me! I just hope you both enjoy the barbecue!" Dr Z yelled out.

Having had enough of these childish games, Seth decided to put an end to their feeble resistance once and for all as he slashed the move card, "Fire scorcher!" Saurophaganax fired off the black meteor once more forcing Ace to retreat, luckily in time as he leapt and barrel rolled next to Chomp till they and their partners were standing shoulder to shoulder with one another!

"Urgh…" Max grunted seeing they were on their last legs, but then Ace roared out together with Chomp, unwilling to go down without a fight still despite the odds stacked against them.

Hearing their voices, Rex could tell they were serious about going through its what Dr Z said, "I think they're telling us to try it!" he cried.

"Let's go!" They cried in unison with their dinosaurs roaring.

As Cera heard them, she felt her own heart skip a beat and her knees began to wobble under the passion in their very souls, "Their hearts and voices…..are as one….." Cera could hear it too, their voices truly were now almost as one with each other and they were willing to put their own lives on the lives for their partners….it was something she could explain yet knows was wonderful.

"Together Max!" Rex yelled.

"YEAH!" his friend followed as they each took out their move cards, trusting completely in one another and in what Dr Z said, "Thunder!"

"Storm!"

"Bazooka!" They said as Chomp and Ace both glowed together at the same time! Ace first rushed forward enclosed in wind, generating a wind tunnel which Chomp leapt through while surging with electricity! His attack carried both lightning and wind together which struck Saurophaganax dead center! Unable to withstand the powers of both elements at once, the fire dinosaur lost all energy before returning to a card!

"Incredible….they did it…." Cera breathed in awe and amazement at their performance as the card floated to the ground which Max quickly grabbed hold of.

"Yes! And now we've got the saurophaganax card!" he cried out as he held the card up.

"Way to go kids!" Spike cheered as everyone else smiled or laughed happily at their glorious victory!

"Grrr…" Seth growled with annoyance at the fact they defeated his dinosaur, clearly he underestimated how stubborn they were.

While everyone else smiled happily at their victory, Cera narrowed her eyes seeing something else that the others couldn't, "Such a move requires more than skill, talent and technique, it also requires heart and trust too." she thought before realising that the fusion move all along was the answer she had been seeking! The key to making it possible to beat black t-rex, not only was it a combination of multiple elements but it was also strengthened by the bond and trust between the dinosaurs and their human partners too with one another! In the end despite the move cards being created by Dr Z for entertainment purposes, she could see there was some truth to his words, how they hoped bring out the best in a dinosaur and now new possibilities and potential could be born too, "Maybe dinosaurs can humans really can take one another to new heights…." she breathed sensing the greatness and even a future for humans and dinosaurs if such trust existed between them all.

"It's…almost like…." Suddenly a memory flashed back in her mind, as she saw firsthand inside an ancient colosseum like arena, where a gastonia and udanoceratops were present. Their partners, a large bulky male silhouette followed by a slim female figure, slashed out a pair of move cards on their dinoshots. The dinosaurs glowed yellow and purple, the gastonia shooting out spike arrows from its tail while the udanoceratops charged and fired lightning strike, causing the arrows to surge with electricity before raining down form the sky in a powerful shower of thunder and crystal! As it needed, Cera breathed deeply she slowly brought a hand to her head, "What was….that?" she thought to herself in confusion before shaking it clear and looking back to the matter at hand.

"Time for you to surrender Seth!" Dr Z then yelled out pointing at him, "Leave Zeta Point and don't come back!"

Seth hardened his expression at them before suddenly bursting into uncontrollable laughter, "Hehehe Hahahahah! I'm afraid you'll be the ones leaving thanks to this!" he said menacingly as he held out his black dinoholder along with a certain dinosaur card in his hand, one which Cera widened her eyes in alarm at!

"Oh no that can't be-"

"Rise black t-rex!" He cried out slashing the card, causing the monstrous mutant tyrannosaurus to appear before them! Like before it towered over them like a giant and let out a thunderous roar as a show of strength, only now Cera could feel its powers were on a far greater level than before!

"Tell me! Who's the real dinosaur king now!?" Seth yelled out as t-rex stomped forward with the intent of crushing the pests once and for all! "That should take care of them once and for good this time." Seeing he had no more reason to worry, Seth turned around to leave as he then smirked with confidence knowing he had a backup strategy that would set his plans on course.

"This is too dangerous! We've got to get out come on!" said Dr Taylor seriously as everyone quickly made a hasty retreat, returning Chomp and Ace to their cards knowing that fitting was out of the question now!

"Grrrr…" Dr Z however stayed put where he was in defiance much to Rod and Laura's alarm!

"Oh no grampa!"

"Is he frozen in fear or something?" Cera asked hoping that was the case.

"I'm not letting this overgrown lizard force me out of my own home!" he yelled out defiantly as the massive dinosaur lowered its head down and breathed on him opening its jaws wide, "Oh that's hot…." breath

"I'm wrong, it's stupidity!" Cera widened her eyes as she shouted out at the top of her lungs, "Get out of there now!"

"Come on! You can't beat it!" Max followed widening his eyes in alarm at Dr Z's mad actions.

"It's over doc!" Spike cried out.

Despite his words, Dr Z was in fact too afraid to move as he remained frozen in place and shook tensely as the t-rex charged forth with its jaws wide open ready to snap close!

As everyone stared in alarm at what was about to befall the old man, "Out of my way!" Rex yelled acting on instinct and adrenaline as he posited through to everyone's alarm as he leapt out!

"Ah!"

"REX!"

"NO!" They cried out wanting to stop him, only to be swiftly pulled back by Johnathan and Helga who were doing what they could to keep them from endangering themselves too!

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Dr Z screamed as the t-rex lunged ahead, only to be snatched out of the way by Rex in time as it then crashed its head into a wall disorientating it momentarily. "You saved me?" he asked in surprise.

"Get up and run!" the boy told him firmly as he took him to where the others were, behind the corner.

As they regrouped with everyone else, Rex began panting heavily with exhaustion and also being overwhelmed by the experience just now as he tried his best to recuperate after the immense shock he experienced.

Dr Z remained deeply puzzled at Rex's actions, for someone like him after all he did to Rex and his friends all this time, he didn't deserve to be saved by him and yet he was in the end…."But why? Why would you do such a thing?" he asked wanting to know the reason, to him it defied all common senses and logic. For his enemy to save his life….he couldn't understand the reason.

"Huff…I don't know…Huff….I guess I thought that even someone like you didn't deserve to be eaten up by a dinosaur….huff…" wheezed Rex still trying hard to catch his breath. In the boy's heart despite their past differences he still knew what the right thing to do was and went along with it regardless of the dangers to his own life.

Cera was deeply touched to see Rex's selfless act, before noticing Dr Z himself was stricken with guilt having only now realised what a fool he truly had been, "Well now….about that…." he said uneasily before facing Rex seriously, "And listen because Im not going to say this twice!" he said loudly.

"Yeah?" Rex looked up at him wondering what he had to say this time.

"I'm s…." Dr Z stopped himself painfully before mustering all he had and swallowing down his pride to admit his mistake, "I'm sorry for what I did to you…." he said lowering his head down shamefully.

Rex narrowed his eyes still bitter at the old man's actions, but soon a smile broke across his face as he forgave Dr Z deep down, sensing he really was genuine in his apology. Soon the message was picked up by everyone else in the room as they smiled or laughed happily knowing things were going to be that much better now.

"Ah…."

"Aha…."

Cera almost shed a tear feeling moved by the act which payed before her eyes, "I was right….maybe he does have some good deep down under all that selfishness…." she thought to herself seeing there may actually be a sliver of hope left in Dr Z after all.

The moment unfortunately was cut short by a loud thunderous roar outside, "Huh!?" as they all turned to look and saw the huge jaws of black t-rex appear at the end of the hallway, sniffing out for them with the intent of destroying them compeletly for good!

"We're trapped!" Max thought to himself as he gritted his teeth tensely while every one else held back against the wall to keep themselves from standing out pr getting exposed, "And if we don't find a way to that black t-rex we'll never get out!" he grunted.

"This is going to be the fight of our lives…." Cera thought to herself seriously as Black T-Rex soon edged in and its eye caught sight of them all before preparing to go for a full frontal final assault!

 **And thus the season 1 finale draws close to its climax. In case anyone was wondering, according to the wikia it's said that Dr Z was likely the one to have save the Ancients in the end, since he and Seth were the only ones conscious at the time and how Seth is unlikely to do it the best person to fill that role is Dr Z. Also it develops more on how he does have a good side that he keeps hidden most of the time. Also wanted to explain on how the Ancients were on the ship in the first place after the final battle with Seth. I also went in further depth to how Black t-rex and saurophagnax are stronger, being the energy shield and all to resist attacks but only fusion moves can have the most effect on them.**

 **Also highlighting how fusion moves can have a deeper purpose than being just 2 moves together.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Glad you enjoyed them and the new ones I added here to flesh out what happened to the Ancients and also on Dr Z's reasons, to explain why he suddenly changed for the worse.**


	28. Dinosaur War

Chapter 28

Dinosaur War

At Zeta Point, The D Team and Alpha Gang hang back tensely against the wall of the small hallway they were able to squeeze into, as Black T-Rex's snout and massive jaws came into view at the entrance. It sniffed the air catching the scent of puny prey inside, but knew it had no way of getting at them since it not even its head was small enough to squeeze through. As it growled in frustration everyone hung back and hardened their expressions or sweated anxiously unsure of what to do next, feeling like rats in a hole being cornered by a cat outside and they had nowhere to run.

After snarling and hissing in anger it then pulled its head back and everyone watched as its shadow seemed to leave followed by deep footsteps which gradually softened hinting that it had left strangely.

Waiting for a few moments, there was nothing but an ominous silence filling the hallways and the heirs couldn't tell whether that was a good or bad thing, but one thing was certain, they couldn't stay where they were forever, sooner or later they had to make a move if they wanted to stop Seth, the question was how.

"You think it's gone?" Zoe asked nervously as she clapped her hands together.

"I don't know….." Rex narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth feeling pressured like never before, a mutual feeling shared by everyone present.

Cera then looked up and edged slightly to the front knowing someone had to check, "It's quiet….a little too quiet….." she whispered as she slowly moved up to the front.

"Maybe it gave up or it went off to try and find another way to get us." Laura then suggested, thinking it was safe to come out.

"Let's go see." said max as the gang ran outside to see, only to find out that they were completely wrong as Black T-Rex was still waiting for them out in front and roared out ferociously!

"WHOA!"

"AAAAAAHH!" They cried in alarm as they ran back inside, avoiding his huge jaws in time which slammed through the nook of a hallway they ran through!

As they turned around to see the huge beast staring at them straight, Cera narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, "Tch! It's not just big it's smart too…." she hissed in frustration realised he tricked them into thinking he had left so they'd lower their guard and come out to investigate.

"Not the best of combinations…." Rod gulped as a drop of sweat dripped from his cheek, seeing they had their work cut out for them.

"How are we going to stop black t-rex when we can't even slow it down!?" Max cried.

"Maybe we can make it run out energy like it did before?" Zoe suggested feeling hopeful.

Max however narrowed his eyes doubtfully, "I doubt it." he replied, "Cos since then Seth engineered it to be more powerful…." he said as everyone grew even more uneasy realising that was indeed what Seth would do, being the excessive perfectionist he was.

"If that's the case….we don't really have a lot of options open do we?" said Helga with concern.

For the whole group it was like caught between a rock and a hard place, with an ever closing gap. They couldn't run forever, like the minotaur in a man it would only be a matter of time before they got caught. To make matters worse, last time they couldn't even scratch black t-rex and now he's even stronger.

All had seemed hopeless, till Cera thought as hard as she could, trying to remember the research she and Reese did not long ago before coming here, till she recalled the very single flaw in t-rex's strength that they could exploit, which was also their only hope now, "As powerful as it is, it just might have 1 weakness after all…." she said narrowing her eyes and everyone turned to her in surprise at her words.

"Huh?"

"What kind of weakness!?" Spike and Jonathan went.

"Tell us now!" Dr Z demanded.

Seeing their predicament and how she was the center of everyone's attention now, she decided to get straight to the point seeing there was no time and point beating around the bush, "Alright, it's only a hunch but after doing a little scan on that tyrannosaurus, Reese and I found it's protected by an energy shield." she explained, "The same kind of shield which saurophaganax uses to protect itself when using fire scorcher, except it also allows it to resist single enemy attacks to an extent as well."

"Same kind of shield?" Laura blinked her eyes curiously as she recalled how it was able to resist Chomp and Ace's moves earlier.

Rod narrowed his eyes in response, "No doubt Seth must have modified that way to make it invincible…."

"No wonder none of our moves could scratch it earlier." said Zoe putting a finger to her chin in thought.

Cera folded her arms and nodded, "True, but after your fight with saurophagnax I found the answer to our problem." she then said as everyone looked to her once more.

"Really?"

"You did?" They asked as she nodded back.

"Mhmm. That shield only resists one type of attack at a time, but not when 2 types of attacks are unleashed together at once." she said, "I didn't think it'd be possible to pull it off, but apparently fusion moves are the only kinds of attacks that can get through that shield and damage it!" she then said as everyone brightened up in surprise and amazement at her theory.

"AH!"

Dr Z then folded his arms and smirked smugly, "Ehehehe! So then that means it's because of my genius we've figured out how to take down that abomination of a dinosaur once and for all!" he cackled proudly before patting himself on the back and showing off himself, "Come now, no need to thank me or anything."

Ignoring him Cera continued to explain what their best and possibly only strategy may be, "Of course, against black t-rex which is so much bigger than saurophaganax, we'll need a way bigger move and lot more dinosaurs to even have the slightest chance of pulling it off." she said.

Max nodded, "Good point there." he said knowing that even Chomp and Ace's thunder storm bazooka would be no more than a bee sting against it, "At least we've got that covered." he then said feeling confident and Rex and Zoe nodded with him knowing they had just the firepower to do it.

The others weren't sure what they meant but they decided to take the D team's word for it, "But even if we manage to beat t-rex, that still leaves Seth to take down." said Jonathan, "By now he's more than likely to replace the stones we got back so that he can use them to for whatever scheme he's plotting." he said angrily.

"If we could just get those stones he wouldn't be able to start the time machine." Spike added at the end rather seriously at the fact they had 2 big jobs to pull off in so little time.

"There's a way to get to the control deck without going through black t-rex!" Rod then cried out having realised another way.

"Then let's do it!" Max said in agreement.

"He's right!" Dr Z then interrupted as he pointed to the back of them, "You can get there underground!" Having realised what he just said he used in surprise, "Wait a minute did I actually just say something that was helpful and cooperative?"

"Uh huh?" Max nodded at him, while Cera smiled happy he was starting to change for the better.

Seeing they wasted enough time planning and discussing, "Come on!" Rex then called them all as they headed in the direction Dr Z pointed.

Seeing them run and about to escape again, the black t-rex burned with rage inside as he quickly charged up a black and red fireball in his jaws which he fired straight down the hallway! One which Cera took quick notice of as she widened her eyes in horror, "It can use fire scorcher on its own now!?" she exclaimed having realised Seth must have used Dr Z's secret dinosaur research to grant it that ability!

Everyone turned back and cried out in alarm at her words as the fireball closed in on them! "WAAAAAH!"

"Duck!" Spike yelled as everyone quickly, hit the deck and fell down to the ground, the fireball narrowly missing them before exploding and creating a massive hole in the ground!

BOOM!

As fire and energy emitted from the shockwaves, it sent both Max and Cera flying straight down it along with their dinosaurs and they had no time to respond as they were sucked in! "WHOA!"

"AAAH!"

"MAAAAAX!"

"Cera!" Spike and Rex each yelled out in alarm. His cries fortunately were quickly answered as Johnathan rushed towards the hole ad least down it after them much to everyone's amazement!

Nose diving straight down the hole, he soon caught up to both children and their dinosaurs before grabbing hold of them both and using himself as a shield to break their fall!

"AAAAAAH!"

BOOM!

A cloud of dust erupted from the crash, with Max holding Chomp carefully and Cera embracing Miku in her hands so she wouldn't be seriously hurt. As they opened their eyes to find themselves miraculously unscathed and on the lower floors they looked around curios as to how they ended up without a scratch, till they felt something underneath them, "Urgh….Huh?" They both got up and widened their eyes to see their saviour was now sparking heavily with damage!

"Ah! Jonathan!" Max exclaimed in horror as he and Cera both went over to him with worry and fear in their eyes, "Are you alright?" Max asked him with concern as Cera covered her mouth in shock.

"Please say you're fine!" she pleaded as Jonathan soon responded back to them.

"Urgh…." the male robot groaned groggily as he struggled to get back up to his feet, "I just need to….get my head screwed on straight!" he said twisting his head and tightening it in so he could think and act properly again.

"You don't look too good…." said Max bluntly.

"Yeah, you look pretty banged up…" Cera admitted he was right as she looked up and down the damaged robot's body and seeing him covered in injuries, "Not to mention you're sparking all over…."

"It's nothing a thousand volts to the head won't solve!" He replied simply without any worry as Cera blinked her eyes in surprise.

"Whoa…." was all she could say while shocked at the fact he was making it sound like it was nothing. No doubt future technology was far beyond her understanding or anyone else's.

"The machine room is located down this way just beyond those doors!" said Jonathan as he pointed ahead down the path where they landed.

Max and Cera both narrowed their eyes readying themselves knowing the final battle for them was just up ahead, "Alright then-"

BEEP!

A beeping sound soon came on Max's dinoholder, "Huh?" he took it out to switch it on as the others looked to see who it was.

"MAX!" Zoe cried through the screen before being pushed away by Max's worried father.

"Are you 3 okay!? What's going on!?" he cried in alarm.

"We're right outside the central control deck where the time machine is!" Max answered calmly with a smile as Cera held a hard expression on her face.

"Seth's not getting away this time." she said before looking to Max, "I'm coming with you Max, you'll need backup for sure, it's time we finished this once and for all." she said clenching her hand into a fist to show she was serious and was going to have his back the whole way. In her mind though, she also had the intent of wanting to settle the score with Seth too, after what he did to her as a bad memory flashed through her mind once more.

"Mhmm." Max nodded accepting her help before looking to the others on screen, "We're going in! You handle the black t-rex!" he said as they shifted into a divide and conquer strategy now.

Zoe then pushed aside Spike as she cried out a few last words of concern, "Be careful!"

Rex then stepped in next to her, "Jonathan you take care of Max and Cera!" he ordered firmly.

"Rest assured I will!" he vowed as Cera and Max both looked to him.

"I feel much safer already." Cera said trusting herself into his ever capable hands.

Looking to everyone Max turned serious as he lead his small squad into battle, "Okay let's go!" He said as they ran off down the halls to the time machine's entrance, Chomp trotting behind and Miku perched on Cera's shoulder as they headed towards Zeta Point's heart of evil. They made great progress but it wasn't long before they faced Seth's last line of defence against intruders, "Huh!?" They stopped as a blockade of large super alpha droids appeared before them, rallying together like a huge wall refusing to let anyone pass!

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! CRUSH INTRUDERS!

"Now what!?" Max gasped in worry seeing the huge amount of resistance they had to get pass.

Cera narrowed her eyes tensely as she got into a fighting stance, "Looks like we'll have to fight our way through if we want to get to Seth…" she muttered, as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek signalling she was rather nervous and worried about their chances against so many powerful enemies standing in their way.

Despite being heavily outnumbered, Jonathan remained undeterred as he stepped forward with an angry look in his eyes, "I'll take care of them!" he said before charging ahead much to everyone's alarm!

"Jonathan!"

"You're in no shape to fight! Come back!" Cera and Max both cried out but he didn't listen as he went straight into battle!

"I promised Rex I'd look out for you both!" he yelled at them while skilfully punching away droid after droid without difficulty, "And I keep my word!" he added as he leapt out of their way and delivered swift counters to every one of their attack attempts!

Max and Cera both looked on in awe at his sheer skill and ability, "He's good…." Cera whistled impressed seeing now why Spiny had such a hard time just now. Her expression became more concerned as wave after wave of droids soon emerged from almost everywhere, "But still there's still so many…." she said tensely as they came closer and closer and that Jonathan was still pretty damaged and didn't want to test see how long more he could last on his own!

CRUSH INTRUDERS! CRUSH INTRUDERS!

"We've got to help out Jonathan Chomp!" said Max seriously as he retuned his partner to card form.

"We'll back you up too Max!" Cera added as she did the same with Miku.

He looked to her and smiled with reassurance, "Thanks! Now let's go!" he said as they both prepared to slash their cards!

"Dino slash!"

"Go triceratops! Roar!"

"Microraptor! Shine!" As their dinosaurs appeared they roared out a the droids stepped back slightly in worry at their new threats.

Cera grinned recognising the fear in their eyes as she gave the signal to press their advantage! "Time to clean house!" she yelled as they all charged ahead! Chomp did most of the heavy front work by punching holes in the droids' formations, flinging them away like rag dolls, while Cera and Jonathan helped take care of the ones that did manage to jump on him, prying them off or delivering reversals that sent them into their own comrades! While Mas stayed out fit the way he helped in calling out on droids that tried to sneak attack them, and Miku leapt from droid to droid, coaxing them to punch one another or crash into the walls!

A while had passed and the waves of incoming androids had kept the group at bay and they weren't able to make much progress and time was running out.

"Tch! There's no end to these things….." Cera clicked her tongue in frustration, while wondering how they were able to make so many. Shaking her head she leapt forward and swept a droid off its feet before grabbing hold and looking its arm behind it, taking her frustrations out on the unfortunate machine which sparked violent as its arm was being dislocated literally!

Realising some time had indeed passed since he last saw the others, Max then took up his dinoholder, "I'm gonna check on the others." he said as he called on it, "Hey Rex!"

The blond boy soon appeared on screen, "Max! Cera! Have you found Seth yet!?" he asked.

He shook his head while Cera and Jonathan helped to keep the droids off him, "Not yet but we're getting close." he said, "How are you guys doing there with the black t-rex?" he then asked.

"We're using all the dinosaurs we have but it's still not enough!" Rex answered, "I need you to send Jonathan up here with your cards! That should help even things up!"

"Will do!" Max responded as he opened his dinoholder and took out 4 secret dinosaur cards from it.

Having defeated another droid herself and tearing out its' head, Cera saw what Max was doing as she recalled something else, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot I had this too!" she said as she reached into her other pocket and took out a pawpawsaurus card.

"Jonathan!" Max called out to the android who through away another large alpha droid away.

"Yes Max?" he said as he looked to see Max and Cera both approaching him.

"I need you to take these cards to Rex and the others!" he said as they handed him the 5 secret dinosaur cards, their last and most powerful of the dinosaurs they had on them.

"Alright." he said acknowledging his instructions, "But what about….these androids?" he then asked with worry as the last couple of droids rallied together for one last desperate attack to protect their master.

CRUSH INTRUDERS! CRUSH INTRUDERS!

"Don't worry! We'll send them to the scrapheap!"

"Mhmm, these buckets of bolts can't stop us!" Cera nodded with confidence.

Seeing their answers and determination was enough to convince him to entrust them with this task, "I'm on it!" he said as he raced past the remains of the defeated droids as he headed for the surface to give the others the backup they needed.

Seeing him run off, she turned around in surprise to see Max had climbed on Chomp's back so easily, "Climb on Cera!" he said holding out a hand to her to which she readily accepted.

"Thanks Max!" she said gratefully before settling Miku right behind Chomp's frill, "Now for a little extra juice! Energy equaliser!" glowing in a rainbow aura, Miku then attached herself to her larger companion who roared out powerfully as he was charged with energy!

"Okay buddy! Ride out!" Max cried as Chomp roared and charged straight ahead like a bull to a red matador's cape!

As he bowled over droids like they were nothing, Cera widened her eyes and tears began flung out of her eyes with the wind and pressure blowing in her face! "WHOA! You don't come with seat belts remember!" she cried unsteady while Miku hang onto her for dear life!

Max on the other hand seemed to be enjoying himself just fine, "Go get em Chomp! Yeehaw!" he cheered as they came closer and closer to the end zone. Eventually they soon came to the end after bashing through the final wave of droids! "That's the last of em!" Max cheered with relief that they wouldn't be facing anymore interference from here on.

"And there it is!" Cera pointed out as they saw the front doors, which Chomp easily smashed through like it was nothing! As they got inside, they both got down from Chomp, and Cera caught sight of the huge reactor core in front of them, as well as their objective right in front of them, "There's the console!" she pointed out as the central stone along with a set of copy stones around it sat in the machine.

"If we take those stones we can stop the time machine!" said Max firmly as he and Chomp headed over towards it.

"Yeah." Cera nodded seeing there was nothing stopping them now. However,r that very thought which crossed her mind soon filled her with caution as she stopped following Max at the last second, "Wait, this looks too easy….Where's Seth?" she thought to herself curiously as she looked around to see no one else was in the room but them. That worried her seeing it was all too quiet, "Knowing him he should have it guarded or booby-" She then widened her eyes and cried out, "Max wait!"

Unfortunately her warning came too late as an alpha ball descended from out of nowhere and generated a set of electrical bars which ensnared them all like a cage!

"Whoa!"

"Oh no!" They gasped as they found themselves trapped like rats on all sides with no way to get through.

"Hey what are these things!?" Max cried as he reached out to touch one to see what it would do. It proved to be a bad idea as he suddenly received a sparking jolt in response! "AH!" he yelped much to Cera and Miku's alarm when Chomp shrieks in pain having touched one himself, spurring them to keep their distance away from the edges!

"Ahahahaha!" a sinister laugh from above caught their attention. As they both looked up they widened their eyes to see none other than the mastermind himself descending from a higher platform!

"Seth!" Cera cried out as she pointed at him.

"They're highly charged electro bars designed to keep little pests like you from spoiling big plans like mine!" he explained smugly feeling pleased with himself at how easily he caught his enemies like flies in a spider's web without having to even lift a finger.

"NO!" Max cried in alarm in realisation that they were now trapped.

"Tch! So he was expecting us the whole time…." Cera clicked her tongue in frustration at their situation.

"Yes." he answered cockily as he made his way to the console, "We're about to go travelling through time." he said as he pushed on a lever, causing the pumps on the reactor core to move, as energy started to flow through it and a roaring sound of machinery echoed through the halls of the lab!

Max and Cera both widened their eyes and their dinosaurs grow increasingly worried as they realised they were too late to stop him now when everyone counted on them more than ever, "AH!"

"This is bad!" They each said in alarm, before finally realising what Seth's true intention was.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back above ontop of Zeta Point, the entire metal surface of the island suddenly rumbled which made everyone turn to the central tower behind them, and they all widened their eyes in shock to see energy light up through it!

"AH!"

"What!? What is it Rod!?" Spike gasped worryingly.

"It's done! He actually did it!" Dr Z answered already starting to panic, "Seth started the time machine and if we don't stop it we'll all get blown into the next dimension!" he exclaimed.

Despite the danger of what was going to happen soon they still had a problem they had to worry about now, "We need more dinosaurs to beat that black t-rex!" Zoe cried as she looked back to the battle, seeing the other dinosaurs were roaring out at the enormous dinosaur, fighting together as a united front despite their differences in species, sensing the giant to be an enemy which threatened them all.

Despite their numbers it was obvious that the smaller dinosaur were outgunned as the tyrannosaurus roared at them in defiance! "Too bad there's only a 3 dino limit per device otherwise we'd have an entire army out by now." Rod grunted in frustration seeing Black T-rex wasn't threatened in the least.

The T-rex then swept out his tail sending a massive burst of wind and power which sent Terry flying back across the surface of the ship and swiftly dispersing the rest of the herd! Maiasaura bravely bellowed as she jumped ahead in an attempt to tackle the behemoth enemy dinosaur, but t-rex responded with a swift and brutal kid which repelled her as easily as kicking a can! She cried out in pain before crashing down and returning to a card instantly much to Zoe's horror!

"NO!" she cried in horror, having a personal connection with that dinosaur and to see her go down so painfully like that felt like a punch to her own soul!

"I've got it!" Spike cried as he whipped out his lasso and snagged the card before it could blow away in the wind! As he got it back he held it in his fingers with a grin much to her relief.

They didn't have much time to rest on their laurels though, as t-rex was far from finished with his assault, this time kicking out once more at ceratosaurus and megaraptor, returning them to their cards too!

"Tch!" Rex grunted in frustration seen even with their numbers they were still clearly outmatched.

"We'll help with the clean up too!" cried Rod as he and Laura quickly shot out their grappling claws to retrieve the cards in time! Turning around t-rex set his sights on ampelosaurus as he lunged his head forward ready to snap up the measly little sauropod! Luckily irritator snuck in and charged up a ball of water in his jaws and fired falling water straight at the giant carnivore's eyes! Causing him to stumble and lose his balance before shaking his head in disorientation! Turning to see the pest that would dare strike him, irritator snarled and flashed his claws and teeth, only to become t-rex's next victim! As he roared and raised his foot to squash irritator like an ant, he was lucky to jump out in time before getting crushed! Narrowly escaping death, the irritator backed away cautiously as t-rex stared down on him preparing to attack once more.

Seizing the opening provided, Hannah the euoplocephalus charged up quake saber and struck out at the tyrannosaurus' other foot, but the saber only shattered into pieces against it and enraged the giant, who kicked out and sent the ankylosaur tumbling across the field before returning to a card for Rod to rescue! Daspletosaurs flared red and jumped into the air preparing to use fire bomb, grabbing onto t-rex's neck but he was easily shaken off! Having lost patience with these pests, black t-rex fired out fire scorcher straight ahead, which the other dinosaurs were only barely able to avoid in time as the meteor fired away into the horizon! Taking advantage of their disorientation, he quickly swung his tail out and landed a critical blow at daspletosaurus, sending him flying into irritator as they both crashed down and returned to cards!

"Not again…." Rex grunted in annoyance as everyone looked on anxiously seeing their forces were dwindling rapidly.

"We'll never win at this rate!" Rod cried out in alarm after having retrieved both daspletosaurus and irritator.

Dr Z however could only feel anger rising inside him rather than fear as he gritted his teeth and hardened his gaze, "GRR! Unacceptable! It's time we pulled out all the stops! Ha!" He cried slashing another card an summoning out albertosaurus who roared out fiercely!

"I agree!" said Laura to her grandfather as she took 2 cards out, "Here goes!" she cried as she summoned out gigantspinosaurus and stegosaurus together!

Albertosaurus and gigantspinosaurus both rushed head on against the charging tyrannosaurus as they both rushed ahead glowing in their elemental auras and unleashing explosion and crystal crusher, rushing ahead with pointed crystal lances and as a fiery meteor! Both their efforts however proved in vain as black t-rex rushed ahead and sent them both flying back returning them to card form!

"Oh no!" Zoe cried while Spike widened his eyes in shock at how fast their reinforcements were being taken out.

"Grr! I expected more from these new dinosaurs!" Dr Z cried feeling frustrated that his high expectations in the new dinosaurs were greatly misplaced, after seeing how they were being taken down so easily.

"Tch! We're starting to run low…." Rex grunted realising they were still barely making a dent in their enormous enemy despite their efforts. He quickly summoned out allosaurus, who rushed ahead to join the fight against the black tyrannosaurus while he ran off to grab both albertosaurus and gigantspinosaurus.

It was when he ran out and split off from the group, that black t-rex caught sight of him and soon realised the bigger picture. Despite being smaller and more insignificant in his eyes, as long as they were around they'd keep summoning dinosaurs like there was no tomorrow no matter how many he defeated. Now that was about to change as he was going to tackle the problem at the source and eliminate the human his master despised the most! Charging up another fire scorcher attack he threw it out with full force! Ace, Paris and the other dinosaurs didn't move much thinking his aim was off, but as they turned to look behind they were shocked tons it was because they weren't his target as the fireball shot straight at Rex!

"Take cover!" Spike cried out in alarm as everyone looked on in horror at what was about to befall the young boy!

"Look out Rex!" Zoe cried as the meteor closed in and he had no way to escape it's path in time!

"AAAAH!" he widened his eyes and cried out, but when all hoped seemed lost for the young boy, his guardian angel came to his aid in time!

Jonathan quickly leapt in front and shield his master from the incoming attack just like he did last time with Terry, only now, the attack was far worse than before!

"NO! JONATHAN!" Zoe cried as everyone looked on speechlessly at the butler robot selflessly putting his own artificial life on the lime, holding the flames back before they died down leaving him nearly burnt and charred to a crisp.

As Rex looked up he saw Jonathan turn to him, now sparking with electricity and short circuiting, "Are you…okay?" Rex asked him nervously.

"Ma…Max sent me instructions to gi..give you these di…dinosaur cards….Rex…" he said in glitchy voice, handing him the cards before falling down on his back, nearly drained of all energy and damaged.

"Ah!" Rex then walked up to his protector, despite not knowing him for long he no doubt had a deep emotional and spiritual connection with him, embedded in his mind from the moment he leapt out to save him years ago in the time stream, "Jonathan….You're hurt…." he said empathetically.

"Use cards before too late…." the robot said in a dying voice before turning silent peacefully as if he was passing on. Rex stared at him, a shade covering his eyes vowing inside to not let his sacrifice be in vain.

"Poor Jonathan…" said Zoe sadly as she and the others ran up to where Rex was. He then stood up seriously, knowing there was no time to mourn.

"He's right." he said as he turned around to hand them the 5 secret dinosaurs given to them by Max and Cera, "Hurry, let's use the cards. Everyone take one!" he said as they each took a card.

"Dino slash!"

"Alpha slash!" Slashing them, pachycephhlosaurus, deinonychus trio, megalosaurus, therizinosaurus and the pawpawsaurus family all appeared shining in bright rainbow light together as they roared out furisouyl, ready for battle!

"AHAHAHAHA!" Dr Z laughed in excitement at seeing all the new dinosaurs together as he ran out without thinking much to his grandkids' alarm.

"Hey wait!"

"This is just like in that dream I keep having!" He cheered as he jumped on the back of pachycephalosaurus, "You're about to find out black t-rex! You never should have messed with me! The true dinosaur king!" he yelled bravely as if he was leading the dinosaurs into battle, while black t-rex roared out answering said challenge with a show of strength, intending to settle things now once and for all!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back inside the control room, things were taking a turn for the worse as Seth's plan was reaching its near final stage.

"You're using the time machine to send your mutant dinosaurs back to when the real dinosaurs went extinct!" Max yelled out angrily through the electric cage while Cera narrowed her eyes and hardened her gaze at the catastrophe that would arise because of that.

"Correct." Seth answered without trying to hide it, "Except my dinosaurs aren't mutated, they're evolved."

"They're still fake!" Max yelled in response shaking his fists.

"Complete abominations! A disgrace to the true dinosaurs!" Cera followed in complete agreement.

Seth however shrugged off their comments as he gave his counter argument, "They will survive extinction and then we'll get to see what things would be like when dinosaurs still ruled the earth." he explained as they anger briefly subsided.

"Huh?" Max breathed feeling conflicted. He truly loved dinosaurs and didn't want them to to go extinct, after his last dream one time where he witnessed their demise before his own eyes he wished he could save them all….could this really be for the best? He wondered himself.

"It's almost too much for the imagination to handle isn't it?" he said a proud smirk that he was finally about to make history and his dream of bringing forth a new and all powerful breed of dinosaurs to the world was coming to fruition!

Cera however had a completely different idea and worry in mind though, "But don't you see the bigger picture!?" she then yelled out as Seth and Max both turned to her, "Even if your plan does succeed and dinosaurs do survive extinction, what do you think it'll mean for humanity!?" she cried out, "For all we know mankind may not have even come into existence and in the end you'd only wipe yourself out too and you'd never be able to see the disgusting world you'd make with your own filthy hands! All your effort would have been a waste!"

"AH!" Max widened his eyes in horrified and realisation at Cera's point. As much as he loved dinosaurs and wanted them to live on, he still wouldn't wish it if it meant the sacrifice of countless innocent lives to do so, on anther note Seth's dinosaurs were all products of his evil science, tainting nature and its decisions while trying to play God. In the end, as hard as it was he had to agree with what his friend had to say as he turned back to Seth to see how he would respond.

The man held a rather emotionless expression on his face which lasted for a few moments, at first it seemed as though he was giving it actual thought and consideration as to the possible risks and repercussions it would carry. But such hopes soon died away as a sinister smirk replaced it, "Heh, did you honestly think I haven't taken that factor into account?" he said before he widened his eyes maniacally, "And even if I didn't, frankly….I don't care what happens to humanity at all!" he proclaimed to the pair's alarm!

"Say what!?" Max exclaimed as his heart skipped a beat upon his outrageous answer.

"How could you say that!?" Cera followed though her voice also carried a hint of anger as well.

"Simple, I'm not only improving upon nature, I'm also fixing nature's mistakes." he answered in an caring manner, "The dinosaurs were cheated out of their reign and now I'm giving them a second chance at life which they so rightly deserve. I've come this far and I have no intention of turning back anytime soon." he said, "If humans have to disappear then so be it, after all we've done so many horrible things to the world we live in. War, corruption, pollution you name it. This world is filled with nothing but loathsome humans in its misguided pursuit of….progress…." he then said closing his eyes calmly, "I believe it's about time we gave it back to its rightful rulers, the dinosaurs, who know no such crimes. You could say I'd be doing the world a favour by putting an end to this failed epoch wouldn't you agree hmm?"

Cera then clenched her hand into a fist as she shouted out at the top of her voice every ounce of anger and spite she had against Seth, "GRR! You're heartless madman! Eliminating billions of innocent lives out of your own selfish ambitions! You may in fact doom all life on planet Earth!" She couldn't think of anyone else in the world she hated more than him.

"You won't get away with this! I swear it!" Max roared shaking his fists in response vowing to stop him if the electro cage wasn't holding him back!

Suddenly without warning, the console at the rector core started to glow brightly, followed by a beeping sound which could only mean big time trouble was approaching!

"Huh?"As Seth turned to look at where the alarm was coming from he gritted his teeth seeing the source of it, "NO! NOT THAT!" he cried worried as the copy stones glowed and sparked with electricity which was soon surging into the reactor core! "The power matrix is startling to collapse in on itself!" he gasped in worry as the reactor core began to accelerate and surge with discharging electricity. He had ran every single possible simulation and none of them specified this in the results, "Maybe there's something wrong with the copied stones…" he said to himself as he began typing on the console to try and isolate the exact problem and hopefully rectify it otherwise everything he worked for would be for nothing.

"He's pretty distracted….." said Cera to herslef seeing he had pretty much forgotten their presence as she arrowed her eyes at their opportunity to catch him off guard, "This might be our best chance…"

"We've got to get out of here…." Max then grunted as he looked around the cage to still see no way of slipping out.

"I know…." Cera replied seriously in agreement as she looked around to see there was no way of getting to the alpha ball that was generating the cage. "The gaps are too small to get through, even for Miku." Even if they were big enough it wasn't worth risking her precious friend getting fried or worse if she made the attempt. Seeing them trapped like rats in a cage was making her feel agitate at the fact Seth was still in front of them and they couldn't do anything to stop him or the craziness that was soon about to unfold, based on his reaction earlier no doubt something bad was about to happen to them all and they were sitting ducks now.

Thinking about it hard and long, Max then brightened up as an idea came to mind, "Huh? I know." he said as he turned around to Chomp.

"Hmm?" Cera blinked her eyes wondering what he was up to and she got her answer as he returned Chomp to card form. He then walked over to the front of the bars as Cera and Miku both tipped aside to give him his space, "Now if I could just slash the card right outside of these bars…" he thought out loud, but as he tried to, his hand ended up grazing against one of the bars which sparked! "AH! OW!" he gasped as he dropped his dinoholder in the process which slipped outside and out of reach!

"Ah! Max!" Cera gasped as she ran to him clenching his hand painfully, "You okay?" she asked him as he looked up to her with a hurt expression.

"Yeah, I am…." he breathed.

Hearing the clanking sound of the dinoholder, Seth turned around and smirked, "Hmph! Pathetic." he scoffed before completely disregarding them and returning to his matters at hand.

His arrogance made Cera click her tongue in annoyance, "Tch!" she vowed to make sure that his cocky attitude would soon be his undoing, and she knew just how to do it.

"Oh yeah? Just watch this." Max grunted as he prepared to take a huge gamble, which Cera soon stopped as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait Max, let's not risk that." she said to him as she handed the boy her dinoshot, "Here, use this." she said as he took it from her hand.

"Huh? Really?" he blinked his eyes in surprise as she nodded and smirked.

"Go get him." she held a thumbs up to which he grinned eagerly.

"Heh, you bet." he said as he turned around and opened up the dinoshot's card slot. As Max began to slash Chomp's card on the dinoshot, Cera smiled seeing they could get the drop on Seth now, only to realise she forgot one final important detail as she saw him try to activate the card, "Wait Max no! That's the wrong way!" she cried out holding her arm out!

"Huh?" Her warning came too late as Chomp was indeed summoned but in his small form! "AH!" Max gasped in alarm as Cera gulped realising their plan may have been a bust!

"Oh no…."

Yet hope wasn't all lost, as Chomp turned around to face Seth, his back turned to him and completely unaware! He growled angrily as he ran around to take him by surprise!

Seth meanwhile was too distracted on the reactor core before him as electricity surged and fumes began to seep from it, hinting a possible meltdown and the destruction of the entire base! "The stones seem to be fine…so why is the system collapsing!?" he thought to himself realising he had to do something fast, "I've got to figure-" As he began typing on computer to isolate the problem, Chomp leapt out and snapped at his arm when he least expected it! "Huh-AH! Let go of my arm!" he cried in alarm as he tried to shake the little triceratops off him, but Chomp's mouth climbed shut on it like a vice and he refused to let go no matter how hard he was being shaken!

"Go get him Chomp!" Max cheered on as the little triceratops held on for dear life! The fate of the world resting on this one battle!

Seeing her comrade fighting with all his might and unwilling to let him suffer alone, Miku then nudged Cera a bit and she flared out her wings screeching furiously stating she wanted to fight alongside him too.

"You want to go too Miku?" Cera asked to which the feathered dinosaur nodded. "Alright then." she said deciding to trust her as she turned to Max once more, "Max."

He nodded knowing what she wanted, "Yeah." Handing her back the dinoshot she returned Miku to a card then slashed her again!

"Dino slash!" Miku appeared once more as a full sized raptor before jumping onto Seth's back and climbing up to his face where she began snapping and pulling his ear!

"AAAARGH! Get off me!" He yelled as he tried to throw her off, but each time he tried to reach for her, Chomp ended up snapping harder on his hand and he was unable to feed both dinosaurs off as they clawed at his face or Chomped hard on his hand!

"Go get em Miku!" Cera cheered her partner on.

"That's it Chomp you can do it! Don't let him go!" Max cried out encouraging his partner to bite as much as he wanted, the fate of the world resting on this one battle!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile on the upper deck, the battle between the D Team's dinosaurs and Seth's black t-rex raged fiercely. Both sides refusing to yield, neither gave way, until eventually, the power of trust and bonds between the true dinosaurs through their combined fusion move were able to overcome Seth's evil science, pushing through and landing a devastating final strike against the black dinosaur! At long last, after a gruelling battle, the black t-rex glowed and roared in pain, but also with a hint of relief that it could now rest in peace at last, soon lost out and transformed into black energy which was absorbed into Zeta Point's tower, signalling the D Team's victory!

"YEAH!"

"YAY!"

"HAHAHAH!" The entire gang cheered together in triumph that everything was now over, but their celebration was cut short almost instantly, as an earthquake suddenly shook the surface which made home stumble about!

"WAAAAAAH!"

Falling down on his knees, Dr Taylor looked over the edge and widened his eyes in amazement at what he saw, "Hey look everyone!" he cried pointing down as the others came to look too.

"Huh!?" They gasped in amazement to see the prehistoric forests covering the city, as well as the dinosaurs that were infesting it were disappearing altogether!

"The city's going back to normal!" Laura smiled as the others inroad her expression.

"Yeah you're right!" Rex nodded feeling relieved they didn't need to worry about the townsfolk being endangered any longer. Realising there was still a job they had to do, he stood up firmly and looked to everyone taking leadership once more, "Alright, we've taken down t-rex, now let's go stop Seth!"

They all nodded, "Right! Max and Cera need us!" said Zoe as they all looked towards the elevator.

"Let's go!" Spike cried rallying them as they ran towards it to aid Max and Cera, to finish what they started once and for all.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Before long, power to the room began to short out and the electro bars soon dissipated away leaving Max and Cera free once more!

"HEY!"

"We're free!" They each said happily seen they could move once more before focusing their anger towards Seth who was still struggling to get Chomp and Miku off him!

"Looks like your plan failed!" Max mocked him but suddenly, a time portal opened up behind Seth which quickly sucked him inside!

"WAAAH!" he cried as the vortex took him by surprise and he attempted to pull his attackers in with him!

"Miku!" Cera widened her eyes as she quickly returned her partner to a card which she tucked into her pocket, Chomp sadly wasn't as fortunate as he ended up being sucked into the vortex along with Seth!

"Chomp!" Max leapt out and managed to grab him by the legs! "NO! URGH!" he grunted as he tried to pull his partner back out before suddenly getting overpowered by the pull of the vortex and getting sucked in himself!

"MAX!" Cera yelled in alarm as she ran to grab him by the torso! He maintained a tight lock around him and tried to pull back, but she could feel her legs slowly being dragged against the floor towards the portal and it was only a matter of time before she'd lose all her strength and get sucked into the void forever! She gritted her teeth and turned red as she began to loose her breath and the energy in her arms was beginning to give way, "ARGH! HELP!" she cried out pleadingly, and thankfully help had just arrived!

"Help's on the way Cera! Hang on!" Zoe cried out to her as she and the others had just entered Seth's lab and were rushing towards her as fats as their legs could carry them!

Seeing them she brightened up with hope and joy to see they had come to her aid, which suddenly vanished as she felt herself jerk forward due to the vortex's pull! "Hurry!" she cried out loud with her last breath as they arrived at her in time!

Meanwhile inside the vortex, Max stared down Seth who was hanging on by a thread, or more like hanging onto Chomp for dear life, "Let go of Chomp Seth! It's over!" Max yelled.

"Never! I'll see a world filled with my evolved dinosaurs if it's the last thing I ever do!" Seth retorted in defiance.

"No you won't cos I'll just keep stopping you!" Max growled back as he felt himself pulled deeper into the portal! "WAAAH!" Fortunately at that last second everyone had arrived to tug on both him and Cera as they held onto him together, unwilling to let him fall alone, if he was going to be lost then so were they! "I love dinosaurs, but even I don't want to see a world full of ones you've created! You've no right to do that to them! EVER!" Max yelled back vowing to stop Seth if he were to ever try anything like that again.

"URGH!" Seth grunted losing his grip but also angrily swearing vengeance for this defeat. Before he could attempt to pull his enemies down with him once again, Chomp quickly opened his mouth and releasing his hold on the man causing him to be pulled into the endless void of the time vortex! "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" His cries of agony echoed before dying out as he disappeared deep inside the eternal void.

"WAAAAAH!" Max cried as he was pulled out of the portal by the others and they all crashed down! "I've got you Chomp! Huh?" he cried with relief before looking back to see everyone else was lying back like a stack of fallen dominoes! "Thanks guys."

"Phew, that as close." Spike breathed with relief.

"Too close if you ask me…" Cera wheezed as she got back up from the floor.

"I'm glad you made it.…"

"Welcome back Max." Rex and Zoe both said to him with warm smiles.

Smiling back at them, Max then went to hugging his partner close to him, "Chomp, I'm so glad you're safe!" he cheered happily that he was safe with him now as he embraced him closely.

The moment didn't last long however, as the portal soon closed and revealing a sparking time drive console! "Uh oh!" Rex gasped as it began sparking even harder and that could only mean big trouble!

"WAAAH!" Everyone ran for cover as the fake stones inside began exploding followed by a massive surge in feedback to the reactor core!

"It's overloading again!" Cera cried as her heart began to race and her eyes widened with horror at whatever new danger that was about to befall them all!

"We have to put the original stones into the console or the whole machine will explode!" said Rod to the others as they quickly mobilised.

"Come on!" said Rex with urgency in his tone.

"Okay!" Max followed as they each took out the stones from their devices and slowly fitted them back inside the console, fitting together like an ancient jigsaw puzzle, which soon caused the entire system and the reactor core itself to calm down. The threat averted at last, the heroes took a breather as the machine quieted down and began moving normally like it should.

"Purring like an atomic powered kitten again." Spike then commented feeling pleased at their success.

As everyone took a breather at the fact the crisis had finally been averted and the world was saved, Cera then opened her eyes upon realising something else, "So guys, where's t-rex's card?" she asked looking to Rex, Zoe and the others.

"Hmm?"

"Card?" They blinked their eyes in confusion at Cera's question.

"Yeah, I mean you're all here because you defeated black t-rex right? So you must have its dinosaur card."

Upon her statement they looked to one another with a puzzled expression before looking back to her, "That's the weird thing….we beat it but it didn't change back to a card." said Rex as Cera raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Huh?"

"After we beat it…." said Zoe.

"It just….vanished into Zeta Point's tower and that's when everything outside seemed to go back to normal." Rod followed.

"I see….." Cera then folded her arms and closed her eyes in thought. Her best guess, the when the t-rex was defeated at last, it must have lost control over all its power and therefore couldn't return to a card, so more than likely it exploded and the energy was absorbed into Zeta Point which no doubt caused the base's systems to shut down and destabilise in turn. Regardless of whatever the case was, she closed her eyes wishing it safe passing into the after life where its soul could rest in peace without being desecrated by Seth again.

Speaking of the topic, "Where'd Seth go?" Rex then asked Max and Cera curiously.

"He got sucked into a vortex." Max answered, also feeling relieved having realising had the others not come in time he and Cera would have shared the same cruel fate as he did.

Cera narrowed her eyes at the very spot where the vortex was. Deep down in her heart, she knew that despite being unable to save him, there was no way he could possible change his ways after bear witnessing the man he really was. Personally after all he did to them, she knew the world would be a far better place without him and hoped this was the last they'd ever see of him.

"Just remember kids, that's what happens to people like that." said Dr Taylor firmly as everyone began taking it to heart. Rod and Laura especially, feeling glad that they were the ones to help change their grandfather and his henchmen, otherwise they may have joined Seth in a fate just has or maybe even worse than him.

It was at that moment that a mysterious screen suddenly appeared before them which caught their attention with its bright light!

"Huh?" As they all turned to face it, they could see the bright screen was starting to dim and an image could just be seen barely through the light.

"Something's coming out of the light." said Rex as a room appeared onscreen, with a pair of adults inside hibernation pods. A man with brown hair and a woman in glasses with blond hair just like Rex's.

"Those same 2 people I saw last time…." Cera thought to herself before quickly putting 2 and 2 together, "Could it…be?"

"Umm…who are they?" Rex asked with interest as Rod and Laura stood at the screen with shocked expressions on their faces before turning back to answer Rex, unsure of how he'd take it.

"Rex….that's your mother and father…." he said as everyone became completely and utterly speechless. They thought their ears were deceiving them, but Rod's firmness confirmed he was indeed true to his word this time. As Rex stared unable to comprehend what was going on, Spike then blinked his eyes upon recalling Jonathan's story from earlier.

"But….how is that possible?" he asked, "Last we heard they were….."

"Dad." Max stopped him after tugging at his shirt which made his father cut off his sentence at that moment.

"Oh right…sorry Max…." he said lowering his head.

As everyone stared with unblinking eyes at the people they thought were lost forever, Cera couldn't help but utter a few words out from her stunned beyond belief mouth, "I can't believe it…." she breathed, "Dr Z….really was telling the truth."

Hearing her words the others looked to her, "What?"

"Dr Z?"

"What does grampa have to do with this?"

"And what do you know?" They asked as they focused their attention on her completely.

She then turned to them all and cleared her throat, "Well you see-" She then explained the entire story from start to finish, what Dr Z confessed to her much earlier, every sentence and nothing left out. As she concluded Dr Z's heartfelt tale, everyone became even more surprised and bewildered at the second truth that the old doctor had kept from them all the entire time.

"I don't believe it…." Zoe blinked her eyes.

"Dr Z….did something…really good?" Max croaked.

"I didn't think even grampa was capable of being so selfless like that." Laura muttered having gained a newfound respect for her old grandfather she never thought she had.

"Neither did I." Rod followed.

"I didn't think he was telling the truth at first." Cera admitted, keeping it to herself having recalled she had came across Rex's parents one time on her first visit, yet never mentioned it because only now she recalled it, "But…guess now we realise he meant what he said in the end." she then said as everyone looked to one another, "Maybe he's….not such a bad guy after all…."

"Yeah….I guess…." said Rex in agreement before becoming slightly firm.

"Still, he did cause a lot of trouble so he'll have to pay for that later." Zoe muttered as she folded her arms behind her head.

"But right now," said Spike with an eager grin as he put his hand on Rex's shoulder, "I think it's time for a much needed family reunion." As everyone smiled eager to meet Rex's parents either for the first time or again, they all headed towards the secret room as fast as they could, though Rex held a rather emotionless expression on his face while remaining silent. Nearly his whole life he wanted to know where he had came from, and now that he finally had the answer, he didn't know how to respond, nor he knew how his parents would take it. Would they recognise or even accept him? Such questions spiralled through his mind as he hung back, not saying another word. His behaviour was noticed by Cera who understood what he was going through, she herself wouldn't know how to take it if she were to meet with someone from her past yet couldn't. That though would be another matter saved for another time…..

Before long the group made it to the entrance to the secret room, the very same one Cera herself stumbled upon a while back, "Here we are." said Rod as he noticed the code box on the door locks, "Now for the entrance code." after he dialled in the code to the security locks, they released and allowed the group to enter the room to find Rex's long lost parents lying in the pods in a deep serene slumber.

"There they are Rex." said Max to his friend who was still hiding behind him.

"They look peaceful too." said Zoe clapping her hands together feeling warm and fuzzy.

"Yeah," Laura nodded in agreement before she and her brother walked up to the pod's switches, "But they've had a long enough nap already."

"Time for a wakeup call!" said Rod eagerly as he pressed the release button, causing the pods to open up.

As they did, Dr Ancient and Cretacia finally awoken after their long months of deep hibernation before smiling at one another and at their guests who had come to greet them, "Hello there Laura, and Rod." said Dr Cretacia warmly while also greeting some new faces that had came to welcome them back home.

"Welcome back!"

"Hi Mrs Ancient!" Rod and Laura both said greeting their old friends.

"I am glad you are safe and sound." said Helga with respect.

It didn't take the pair long though to notice there was a boy with blond hair hiding behind Max, "Huh?" Taking a closer look he peeped out shyly as Max nudged him playfully with his elbow.

"Hey go on Rex. Just introduce yourself." he whispered.

Both parents were taken aback by the name they heard, "Your name's Rex!?" Dr Cretacia gasped in surprise, which confirmed that was indeed his true name. As Rex stepped out so his long lost parents can take a good look of him they took notice of something he was wearing around his neck, "Can it be?" she said reaching out to touch it, "I know that amulet…."

"Yeah!" A memory soon coursed through Dr Ancient's mind as he recalled the day his wife brought their baby boy into the world and the bright smile of hope he had on his face. As the memory passed and was replaced with a teary eyed Rex, both parents soon brightened up with immeasurable amounts of joy.

"Oh Rex! It really is you isn't it!?"

"My boy!" They each said before embracing him in a warm hug and crying tears of pure joy.

"Oh darling!"

"Look how big you've grown…." Tears of emotion welled up in Rex's eyes, as a piece of his heart had began to fit inside completing him. It was that moment he finally found out who he truly was, where he belonged with and that he had a family which loved him deeply.

"No tears! This is a happy moment!" Spike wept trying his best but failing to fight back the tears welling up in his eyes before lowering his head and covering his face with his hat unable to take it all at once.

As everyone smiled and grinned treasuring the joyous moment carved into their hearts and memories for life, Cera couldn't help but put a hand on her chest feeling her heart touched by this herself, "Beautiful….." she breathed smiling brightly. "If Rex can find his family….maybe I can too…." she then thought as she became more confident and assured of herself, "I'll just have keep holding onto hope and never give up….just like everyone here…." she said filled with determination. It was now she began to realise that fate had lead her to this point in space and time, and if it could carry her this far to bring Rex back to his family and save the world from Seth, maybe there was still a chance in there for her to find herself too.

 **(Later)**

A long time had passed after Rex's fateful reunion with his parents. Yet despite the beautiful moment the fact remained for the D Team that there was still more work to be done due to the aftermath of the chaos Seth had caused. After briefing the Ancients on everything that had transpired since their return from the ancient world, they could hardly believe their ears. They couldn't tell which was more unbelievable, the fact that Seth and Dr Z were the ones to betray them and cause so much chaos threatening their Noah Ark project, or that Rex himself and his friends were the one to help fix it by gathering the dinosaurs again. They were also surprised too about Cera herself too, being someone who can use dinosaurs yet never met her before, which was a deep mystery still even for the 2 genius scientists who thought they knew everything. While they didn't know, Cera wasn't put off too much because all that mattered was that her friends were okay, who helped guide her to this point in time.

After that they got straight to work on fixing the damage done, starting with Jonathan, who was tended to by Dr Ancient himself and reprogramming all of the alpha droids to a far less evil purpose than Dr Z and the Alpha gang had for them. Meanwhile after Reese dropped the Trio and Dr Z back on the island, they were given a strict disciplining by Helga, after making them apologise for what they did she shut them inside the bathroom giving them a mega sized timeout for all the trouble they caused. On top of that, Helga also dumped Terry, Tank and Spiny in with them to keep them company, though the antics they'd have to put up with the 3 dinosaurs in a locked room would be far worse than any other punishment they'd ever taken from her.

After that they worked gathering the rest of the cards from the D Lab and now are busy sorting them into new dinosaur card capsules along with their move cards, which was when Rex had brought starling news to the rest of his friends.

"What do you mean you're leaving today?" Max asked.

"When did that happen!?" Zoe exclaimed shocked at the fact Rex was going to leave them so soon, maybe even forever!

"Well, mom and dad said we have to go right away…." said Rex rather sadly at the unfortunate but no less inevitable fact, after realising the truth and finding them again it was only a matter of time.

"What's the big rush all about?" Zoe then asked really wanting to know the reason why.

"Dad says the backhander has already been in this time period way too long." Rex replied as his parents were calibrating some last few checks while Spike just looked around his surroundings aimlessly.

"What's a backlander?" Max asked curiously.

"Oh, that's the official name of the time machine." Rex answered him.

"I like that name better than Zeta Point." Cera added as she nodded in approval before adding in an edmontosaurus into a card capsule before doing the same to an anatotitan.

"Do they think it will still work?" Max asked feeling unsure after the damage it suffered earlier.

"Yeah it seems alright." Rex replied feeling confident the machine will work just fine, "I guess those copied stones that Seth made were the reason it went berserk before."

The sounds of chuckling from behind caught their attention.

"Huh?" As they turned to look they saw Jonathan stepping into the room carrying a lunch box while trotting along in a very happy mood.

"Nothing like a central processing overhaul from one's creator to put a major spring in one's step." he said feeling rejuvenated 100% and he couldn't wait to get back to pleasing his masters once more.

"Glad he's much better too." said Cera with relief that Dr Ancient was able to remove every trace of damage from the robot, who no doubt had a heart purer than any gold in the world. Of course that was to be expected from the man who built him in the first place, he had to have known him inside and out for that.

"Almost done with the last systems check!" said Rod to the others quite excitedly.

"And then it's time to hit the road!" Laura added holding a thumbs up having been waited for this moment to return after a long time.

The D Team was happy that Rod and the others could go home, but there was a downside to this happy ending. Each step achieved in repairing the ship meant one step closer to parting ways with their dear friends and saying goodbye.

"I'll miss Rex…." Max sighed, "But Ace too…." he smiled lightly as he saw their dinosaurs playing with each other happily as they always did, though Miku decided to keep close to Cera instead for a change as she perched on her partner's shoulder. Seeing them having fun and then never getting to play with or even see them again was going to be like they'd give up a piece of their own souls and hearts if they parted ways.

Cera could tell this too as she looked at the dinosaurs enjoying one another's company, unaware of the fact this might be their last time with their human friends. She herself on the other hand…..

"What about you Cera?" Zoe then asked her red haired friend as the others soon focused their attention on her. She stared back at them with an unchanged emotionless expression, knowing wha they were going to ask. She herself has already decided but she wasn't fully convinced whether it was the right call or not as she did her best to hold her poker face.

"Yeah, now that we've found all the dinosaurs and fixed the whole mess with the alpha gang." Max continued for her, "What are you going to do now?" he asked out of curiosity.

She swallowed had knowing she had to answer back, and no matter which she chose she'd be hurting either herself or her friends, "I…err….well….." Of all the questions they would ask, she feared this one the most. What would she do now? Where would she go? Soon she took a breath of air to clear her thoughts, having an answer already and no matter how pained she was to say it she knew it had to be done, though that didn't mean it was going to be easy, "I've been….talking it over with the Ancients for a bit and err…."

Fortunately or unfortunately a certain main was unintentionally going to bail her out, this time, "I'm so impressed that you were able to collect all of these dinosaurs." Dr Ancient suddenly interrupted in awe as he came over to see their work with the cards, "You 4 kids have done a fantastic job. Really great!" he said complimenting their achievements and talents. The fact they bonded with dinosaurs and were able to master them to such an extent was far beyond anything he had ever expected out of them.

"Yeah well we never could have done it without a lot of help!" Max replied modestly, "From Chomp and Paris and Ace!" he said looking to the 3 dinosaurs then turning around to 2 other special friends, "And Cera and Miku especially."

"Thanks you guys." Cera replied looking away with a blushed smile, "It means a lot for us."

"That's not all." Zoe added, "Laura and Rod helped us too."

"Collecting some too in a way." Cera stated as she remembered them swiping some cards from the D Team sometimes.

"Though the whole thing would have been a lot easier if our grampa hadn't been such a problem." Laura admitted as she and her brother felt really bad about what they did, "Sorry guys…."

"Thanks but don't worry about it Laura." said Max forgiving her completely, "I'm just glad that all of us got to be friends."

"Mhmm."

"Yeah." Zoe, Cera and Rex went in agreement with him.

"Oh! Speaking of Dr Z where'd he go?" Spike then asked curiously.

Rod and Laura looked to each other and grinned mischievously, "Hee hee, oh don't worry about it." Laura giggled.

"Yeah, let's just say grampa and the others are getting just the right amount of discipline as we speak." Rod smirked folding his hands on his hips and holding his head up proudly. The rest of the gang shuddered that could only mean Helga, and whatever she'd do to them would be way worse than what they went through with Seth and black t-rex any day of the year.

It was then that he rest of the D Team remembered something they were asking their friend and her decision as they soon focused back on her, "So Cera." said Rex as she turned to see them all looking at her.

"Y…Yeah?" she asked uneasily.

"You said something about discussing with my mom and dad." he said as her mood saddened slightly.

"Oh that." She could tell they were wanting to know her decision on this serious matter and she couldn't weasel away out of it this time, "You see…I've been thinking….." taking in a breath and readying herself she became serious, "Guys….I've been thinking long and hard about this….and really it wasn't easy but I've made my mind up." she said as the rest of her friends stared back at her, preparing themselves for whatever answer she'd give them and making sure they'd support her choice too, "I truly enjoy my time with you guys, but….I still have a past and memories to recover too." She then looked to the side with Jonathan was working at the controls and Rod and Laura still checking the systems, "And after seeing what Ancients and the others have come up with, with the time machine and all….I feel as though I have a lead at long last." she said with a leith smile before sighing and lowering her head feeling pained herself knowing she'd have to part ways with something important either way, "I told Dr Ancient about my predicament and he said he'd be more than happy to help me find the missing pieces to my past, and with the technology and capabilities in the future, I feel me and Miku might be able to find out where we came from, and if not, at least get close to it." She said trying hard to fight her doubts and insecurities about having second thoughts, "I'm sorry…but…this is what I really want…and opportunities like this don't come very often so….well…."

The rest of the D Team looked back at her with saddened looks, "Cera…."

"So you're going too huh?" The rest of her friends said feeling for her and understanding her voice, as well as it being just as her don her as it was for them.

"I know it's hard you guys…." she said as she looked to the friends she had to leave behind here in this time, "Max, Zoe….you both have been irreplaceable friends and I couldn't bare to part ways with you, in fact I think Rex feels the same way." She said looking to the blond boy who was feeling somewhat guilty that not everyone could be happy under these conditions, "But, based on the circumstances it's unfortunate and unavoidable we have to part ways at this point." She then looked to Miku on her shoulder and nuzzled her, "Also I….don't want Miku to be like…the only dinosaur left behind in this world after today." Miku cooed with affection and slight sadness as Cera lowered her head with guilt, "And I…I know it isn't fair but….well…."

Max and Zoe looked to one another before nodding at each pother and smiling at Cera, "We understand." said Max giving him her full support much to her relief.

"Go, find your own path to walk and I'm sure you'll the answers you've been hoping for all this time." said Zoe as she took her hand in.

"And I'll be sure to help you find it too," added Rex with firmness, "It's the least after what you and your partner did for us and the whole D Team."

Max then gave a big grin as he reached out and patted Cera on the shoulder, "The ride was fun while it lasted and we enjoyed every moment of it." he said with confidence as Zoe nodded with hum, "We have no regrets about meeting you, they were the best memories of all."

"Something you'll take back and add to your own when you do find you who you really are." Rex added at the end.

Looking to them all, Cera could feel emotion well up deep in her heart, unable to express it she began to sniffle and shed a few tears from her eyes feeling touched. Not wanting to let their parting be bittersweet, she wiped them away and smiled back at them, "Yeah. I'll remember that always." she nodded while sniffling a bit.

Her friends patted her on the shoulder encouraging her to be strong for them, "We'll miss you very much."

"Be sure to keep in touch." Said Max and Zoe trying to hold in their emotions themselves too.

"We will, promise." Rex nodded with Cera with affirmation this wouldn't be the last they see and hear from each other.

In the background, Rod and Laura looked on, feeling the sadness and emotional scene get to them too, as they turned around and walked away, unwilling to handle it much longer.

"All systems are primed and ready!" Jonathan then called out to them as he manned the controls at the front of the control deck, "Go ahead and insert the stones into the console!" he instructed.

Max turned to his friends with a smile, "What do you say? Ready to go Rex? Cera?"

"Yeah." his friend replied calmly, "But I'm not going to get all mushy. Cos I know I'm going to see you guys again."

"Well said Rex." Cera nodded as she looked to everyone else, "After all we've been through, there's no way we'll let our story end off like this. It'll be way too depressing and anti-climatic too." she added putting a hand on Max and Zoe's shoulders.

"Yeah, for sure."

"That's right!" Zoe added in agreement to Max, "With the time machine you can visit me and Max anytime." she said before looking down at their dinosaurs, "And Ace can visit Chomp and Paris too."

"Yeah." said Rex feeling confident about that idea, though Cera and Miku weren't quite feeling up to it.

"Are they planning to keep Paris and Chomp here?" she thought feeling unsure about this. Sure it would be painful and Max and Zoe wouldn't bear being able to part ways with their dinosaurs, but at the same time they'd be like the only dinosaurs left in the world and that wouldn't be fine after considering why they were being brought in the first place. Either way was a double edged sword, destiny could be a cruel mistress sometimes and she knew how unfair life sometimes worked.

Dr Cretacia and Ancint soon stepped in, "I'm sorry." she said with a hint of regret despite her smile, "But I'm afraid all 3 of you must give up your dinosaurs."

"What?" Max gasped in alarm as Zoe too was shocked.

"Those dinosaur cards were created as a way if preserving the species." said Rex's dad hoping they would understand, "You'll need to give them back so we can keep them in a safe place forever."

Upon hearing his reasoning, Max and Zoe both felt devastated, "No…I can't…." he said pained beyond belief as his heart became heavy as they all looked to see their dinosaurs still playing innocently with each other. Rex too was sad to see his friends having to part with their partners and it didn't help much that he'd be the only one with them. "That would mean I'd…never see Chomp again…."

"Or Paris…." Zoe sighed.

Cera knew the right thing to do on this hard choice, and yet that didn't make it any easier for her nor was it any fairer, as she looked away unable to see them part. Miku too felt the same as she did as she cooed and nuzzled next to her face.

"Chomp…." Max wept as tears began welling in his eyes. Unable to control himself anymore he cried out and ran to hug his partner close to him, "Oh Chomp!"

"Paris!" Zoe did the same as Max as she leaned in to pick up her partner whom she treasured almost like family.

"I'm really gonna miss you pal," said Max as he held him up to his face who began sniffing him curiously, "But I'l remember the great times we had together and I promise I'll never forget you." He said trying to hide his pain with a however could sense Max was keeping something from him as he began to nibble his nose like old times, like their first ever encounter. "So you have to be…brave and…." His nibbling made him flashback to all their good times and soon being choked with tears he couldn't hold it in any longer as he cried out in pain and sadness at their bittersweet parting, "CHOMP!"

"My sweet Paris you take care…." Zoe wept as she stroked her partner's crest, as she leaned in close affectionately to Zoe's face.

"Ace buddy you've been a best friend to me and I'm really gonna miss you…" said Rex as he held up the carnotaurus in his hands like a baby.

Hearing their cries of parting made Cera tear up herself, worrying that Dr Ancient might even ask her to give up her only known friend from the start of this while journey of hers. "Miku….." hearing her name spurred the young microraptor to nuzzle at her shoulder. Smiling to see how attached she was to her, Cera smiled and sniffled as she petted her on the head with her finger, "I promise even if it's for their cause….I won't let them take you without me." she whispered to Miku as she rubbed her feathery head into her face.

"Must not cry…again…" Spike thought to himself as he smiled covering his face up with his hat.

Before long the rest of the D Team returned their cherished partners to their cards and removed the stones from their dinoholders before handing them all to Dr Ancient, "Will you promise you'll take good care of em?" Max asked as Rex's dad gave them his full assurance.

"Yes." he vowed.

It was soon time to part ways as Zoe, Spike and Max both head to the teleport site and a bright light soon began to envelop the 3 of them, "Take care you guys." Cera said as she waved her hand to them.

"We'll be in contact." added Rex.

"We know you will." said Dr Taylor in response as their time to go had come upon them.

"Max! Zoe!" Rex called out to them for one more favour as the bright light of the teleporter became brighter, "Call my dad in New York! Tell him what happened! And that I'll see him as soon as I can!" he said to them, still holding onto Dr Owen in a special place in his heart, one which he'll never forget for all eternity despite being separated by centuries of time and space.

"Sure you got it!" Max replied with rather sad eyes but still willing to fulfil his friend's last wishes. Spike then leaned in and hugged both him and Zoe, encouraging them to send him off with smiles as they all grinned happily and with energy. "Alright! See ya Rex!"

"Bye everyone!" Zoe concluded.

As their friends vanished in the bright light and appeared down below in front of the Taylor residence, Rex shed a tear taking a good hard look at his best friends of all with Cera putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, telling him not to worry and that they will see them again one day.

"Jonathan? Is everything ready?" Dr Ancient then asked his butler who was at the controls.

"Yes master Ancient," the android replied, "With just the push of a button we'll be on our way in the blink of an eye."

His master then smiled pleased with the news, "Very well, then let's-"

Cera then widened her eyes in realisation of something important, "Wait." she said stopping them much to their surprise.

"Hmm?" They all turned to look at her in confusion.

"Is something wrong Cera?" Dr Ancient asked her feeling puzzled, assuming she either might have changed her mind or forgot something important.

She then looked to them in response, "Before we go, shouldn't we fix everything that's happened in this time first?" she asked with concern as screens depicting the straightened leaning tower of Pisa, damaged Great wall of China, the destroyed Sagrada Familia and several other damaged monuments appeared on screen, "If we leave things the way they are no doubt there'll be impacts in the future right?"

"Ah!" Rex widened his eyes in surprise, "Of course! I can't believe I almost forgot about that." he cried punching his fist into the palm of his hand, realising the people of the current world would no doubt still have questions about everything that's taken place and the backlashes the changes in this time would bring about in the future.

Fortunately his father anticipated something like this, as he put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder, "Have no fear Rex, Cera." he said to them both with reassurance, "The Backlander is also equipped with a special function to handle situations such as this, in the event we accidentally caused something that would affect time down the road." he said as they widened their eyes in surprise at what he said.

"AH!"

"Really!?"

Dr Ancient nodded as he looked to Jonathan, who nodded understanding what he had to do, "Behold!" he announced as he pressed a button on the consoles. The timeship soon began to emit waves of energy from it, spreading across the entire of the planet, undoing every ounce of damage caused by dinosaurs or dino related events over the past few months, returning them to normal as if they were nothing! What would have taken people days or even months to repair, they accomplished it within mere seconds. The sight of it all filled the kids with amazement at what they saw, it was truly nothing like they had ever seen in their lives.

"Amazing…." Cera breathed in awe as Miku widened her eyes speechlessly.

"Yeah…it's almost like….magic…." Rex mirrored her tone and expression of amazement.

"This is nothing sweetie." said Dr Cretacia with a rather proud smile before petting his head, "When you go back home to our true time, you'll be even more impressed." she said leaning down to him as his eyes brightened up.

"You mean like…Flying cars, huge skyscrapers, robots everywhere like in the movies!?" Rex cried out like an eager child.

"Hee hee, even better than that." she giggled, "Anything you can imagine will be 10 times better I promise you." she said as Rex pumped his arms up and jumped in excitement.

"Oh it sounds just awesome I can't wait!" he said laughing with glee, while Cera smiled and shook her head in amusement, for all his calmness and level headed attitude he still was a kid on the inside whole she was more reserved.

Seeing how eager his son was for their new home, Dr Ancient saw now reason to keep his son waiting, "Hahaha! Well wait no more, because here we go!" he declared pointing out to the front as Jonathan pressed the switch!

"Time to time travel!" he bellowed as the ship sped into the distance and a portal opened up in its flight path ahead.

Looking at the screens depicting the taylor household, the very place he grew up for most of his life, "Bye everyone….we'll miss you…." Rex waved at it knowing they would be sending him off with smiles and good wishes too, yet though the parting was painful he knew deep down this wouldn't be their last.

"Where one chapter ends, another begins….." Cera thought to herself as she took to heart all her experiences and memories of this chapter of her life, and with full intention of making it just as or even better as they entered into the time tunnel. Little did she or anyone know, was that their new adventure was just around the corner, one that would test their bonds and resolve across space and time itself…..

 **(Later)**

A while later, Cera was now searching through Seth's computer files as she typed away at one of the main computers with Jonathan standing by her and Miku on her shoulder. Being in the very lab where he conducted his evil experiments was making her feel very uneasy and even now the cries of dinosaurs screeching in pain still echoed through the halls so she wanted to get this over with as soon as she could. "This must be it….." she said having found what may have been the data Seth swiped out of Jonathan's head back in Russia, though there was only one way to find out, "Is this is it Jonathan?" she asked turning to him as he opened the file and large amount of research files and data sheets were released onscreen.

"Hmm…Yes, this is indeed it." he confirmed it as he narrowed his eyes, his expression hardened as he found bits and pieces of 'extra' data included too.

Data which Cera soon began to recognise, "Looks like Seth combined Dr Ancient's data with his own and twisted it with data from a….certain source too….no wonder he was able to make such a powerful dinosaur too in black t-rex." she said after observing it all.

"How unforgivable…" Jonathan growled as he clenched a fist in anger and he shook with rage, "What we did to save the dinosaurs…he used so he could twist them to his purposes….like he was playing God…."

Cera could understand what he was feeling, in fact she too felt just as angry about what he used his talents for which could have been used to serve far nobler goals, "Guess in humans it makes sense, sometimes those who are too smart or have too much power in their hands can't help but misuse it and think they are higher than others." she sighed shaking her head as she knew the result of his misguided actions, "Let's be glad he isn't around anymore."

"Indeed." Jonathan nodded in agreement, knowing it would be troubling if he succeeded in his maniacal ambitions, and shuddering at the thought of the horrible world he would create out of his mad science. He soon drifted into deep thought, "Still….to revive a dinosaur form a fossil….that's something even Dr Ancient nor Dr Cretacia weren't able to do." be mused, admitting even that was something to be commended, "In all our data gathering we never came upon anything such as that….so how did he?" he wondered.

"Who knows….." Cera replied. While she was unsure as to where he got that data, she had a certain suspicion she may have played a partial role in that tyrannosaurus' creation so she couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty herself for it to have been revived only to suffer and perish again later….question was…how did she have that data? Another mystery she'd have to unravel in due time.

Little did she know was that Jonathan had a strange feeling himself too, feeling that when Cera does get her memory back maybe can shed light on using her mysterious knowledge and expertise on dinosaurs for a far nobler cause than Seth ever could, though that was something for another time, "I must return to my duties now, in the meantime feel free to go wherever you please on the ship Cera, you have earned the right and privilege."

"Thank you Jonathan. I appreciate it." She bowed to him in respect as he took his leave from the lair. After that she typed away at the computer and soon found the blue prints for Seth's ultimate move card, "So this is free scorcher….." As she ran over its schematics and energy levels she narrowed her eyes while Miku hissed angrily at the damage it caused them, "Such a horrible move….." She grunted as bad memories of it being used to cause so much pain and destruction flooded her mind. She intended to erase it at first, but stopped herself at the last second upon recognising an alternative, "I wonder…even if it was intended for evil, maybe it can be repurposed to serve good." she wondered as she began typing away at it, "With just a few tweaks….maybe it won't hurt the dinosaur using it and there wouldn't be any need to alter one too." she thought as she began changing the move's energy needs to make it easier on the dinosaur using it and in turn reducing some of the energy outputs so that the damage caused would be reduced. Soon a new and improved fire scorner move card materialised and was ejected out of the computer, which Cera took hold of and smiled proudly at it before exiting the room.

She soon headed to check on the dinosaur card vault, passing by Rod and Laura's room where they were doing some of their last bits of homework with Helga supervising them. As she went inside she began taking a look through some of the cards present inside a secure glass egg shaped casing, which included abelisaurus, udanoceratops and fukuiraptor, as well as a couple of move cards with tie breaker (tapejara) and a trio of rush cards featuring gallimimus, struthiomimus and dromicieomimus. As she began sorting through the bunch, she heard the sound of the door opening behind her and she and Miku turned around in surprise to see who it was, "Dr Ancient?"

"Ah Cera, so this is where you've been." he said kindly as he entered and walked up to her.

She then bowed down rather respectfully to him, "I just really want to say, I can't thank you enough for this, offering to take me back so you can help me figure out who really am….you're really you're too kind." she said filled with undying gratitude, something which even Miku reflected as she cooed and lowered down seeing Dr Ancient as a leader in his won way.

"There is no need for thanks." the man replied as he put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "In fact, I should be the one thanking you and your friends for taking good care of my son Rex." he then said as he reached slowly to Miku, who gently nuzzled into his hand trusting him, which felt great considering how fluffy she was.

"Of course, he's been a great friend." Cera replied with a smile, "In fact there's nothing I wouldn't do for them, after all they've done, taken me in too and gave me place to be, not to mention helping me remembering things I didn't know of…..I owe it to them who I've become now regardless of who I was before." she said feeling thankful meeting them and treasuring the memories and experiences they made together.

Dr Ancient smiled seeing Cera's attitude, a selfless and noble heart for both dinosaurs and people, and also…a new potential too which he hadn't seen in anyone ever before, not even his own son or the D team, "You know Cera," he said as he walked past her to look at the cards inside the safe. "It's as I thought, when I saw you and the whole D Team together, I knew you were all indeed a special bunch no doubt." he said before focusing on Miku, "You all bonded with your dinosaurs, taught each other many great things neither could do alone, taking each other to great heights as you learnt about each other on your journeys together." He then looked up at her with admiration, "You've definitely brought about a new horizon and potential for dinosaurs and man when we go back to the future, a new horizon my wife and I didn't think could be possible when we first embarked on this mission, and for that I really am grateful."

Cera felt moved by his inspiring words as she bowed down to him in respect, "I'm honoured we were able to inspire such good feelings in you."

"In fact, I feel as though you might be special in your own way too." he then said as he looked at her device clamped on her waist, "That dinoshot you possess, and the appearance of several kinds of dinosaurs we never encountered before on our trips to the past…..no doubt they must be connected somehow." he said rather seriously as Cera looked up at him, "And I promise you that we'll help you find your way, you have my word on it." he said with a confident smile and clenched hand into a fist.

As he said that Cera and Miku bot could feel hope in their hearts, hope that they could count on to help them find the missing pieces of their past and then put it together again. "Thank you Dr Ancient, it means a lot to hear you say that." She said feeling touched and putting her full faith and trust in him knowing he can indeed help her find her way. That and also, at the back of her mind…. she felt she knew him deep down somewhere but couldn't put a finger on it….

Dr Ancient was glad to hear Cera's hopes being revitalised but soon his expression turned somewhat sour and filled with regret too, which she quickly took notice of,

"Is…something wrong?" she asked curiously and with concern.

He then lowered his head and let pout a deep sigh, "I still can't believe it though….the things that happened while we were still in stasis…." he said as he began recalling all the events that transpired behind his back the entire time in the ancient world and while they were trapped in their hibernation pods, "I can't believe Dr Z and Seth would resort to do such horrendous acts." he then said angrily at what happened and how he was powerless to stop it, how it got by him and his wife and wishing he could have done something earlier, "Dr Z wanting to use the dinosaurs for his amusement was one thing, but Seth…I knew he was gifted but for him to use his own talents to take things this far…." He said feeling regret at putting his trust in that madman, taking him on board as his apprentice when realising he was gifted in research and science, had he known things would have turned out like this…."How could I have not foreseen this sooner?" he hissed cursingly to himself as he clenched his head in his hands. Because of their selfish acts and mad ambitions they caused far more problems for the very dinosaurs they came to save and to countless innocents too.

Cera looked at him sympathetically, understanding his pain as she walked up to and patted him on the back, "Dr Ancient, I know it's hard, but you didn't know and you really couldn't have done anything at the time." she said as he looked to her, "For Seth using Dr Z as an unwitting pawn in his scheme and for twisting the dinosaurs like lab rats. He fooled everyone too, and what he did was unforgivable…." She then smiled lightly, "But it's in the past now and that's what matters. And now….Seth's gotten what he deserved." she added knowing he paid the price for his actions, the only sad part was that he didn't even realise what he was doing was wrong, he had fallen into a pit he couldn't be rescued from and there was nothing that could be done for him.

"Perhaps…." said Ancient as he lowered his head down and taking a breath thing to move on from it, though a small part of him wished he could change him before it was too late….Shaking his head he decided to focus on the remaining matter at hand, "But that just leaves Dr Z, in fact he's also to blame for what went wrong too."

"You're not wrong there." Cera admitted knowing the old doctor did his fair share of crazy deeds himself, before realising that unlike Seth he still did have some degree of good in him, "If it makes you better, from what he told me, he truly did feel bad for what he did and he saved you both in the end." she said to him which helped Dr Ancient restore a small amount of faith in his old friend, a little, "Also, I guess he just wanted to be known for something great himself in the end, and….if it wasn't for Dr Z we never would have been able to take Seth down." she added, considering if it wasn't for his move cards they weren't able to build the connection and bonds they needed in order to take down Seth for good, "So in a way….I guess he's also responsible for helping to create this new possibility for man and dinosaurs which you all can now bring forth to the future when you go home." she then said at the end which made Dr Ancient smile with hope.

"That's one way of looking things on the bright side." he admitted as he stood up firmly again and smiled proudly at Cera, "Seeing you kids truly are gifted at that…..heh, we adults sure can stand to benefit from you a lot, we might have to try it sometime." he chuckled before deciding to get back to other matters at hand, "Well I'd better go off and find my boy Rex, we have plenty of catching up to do." he said hoping to do some father son bonding like play ball or something with him. Before stepping outside he turned back to Cera, "Oh, when you're done here, go find my wife Cretacia. She said she's been wanting to talk with you about something." he said to her as she nodded.

"Sure thing of course." she said as the doors closed behind him. "They really are such nice people." Cera thought to herself as she could only see good things coming for them in the future and was looking feared to the new memories and experiences they would make in the time they were going to. As Miku cooed in agreement Cera then looked to her, "Well, looks like we're done here Miku, might as well see what Rex's mom wants with us." she said as the 2 of them headed outside to look for Cretacia to see what she wanted them for.

The pair soon arrived at the kitchen, where instead of Helga, they found Cretacia wearing one of Helga's aprons as she flashed a baking tray at them upon their entry, "Hi Cera sweetie! I thought everyone could use a break so I made a fresh batch of cookies!" she smiled as she flashed a tray of warm freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on them.

"I thought something smelled good in here." Cera smiled feeling tempted by the aromatic scents they gave off, even Miku's mouth was beginning to water too.

"Now that I'm finally out of that pod I can get back to my favourite hobby when I'm outside dinosaurs and fossils," Rex's mom sang in a jolly way, "And that's baking!" she cheered with excitement as she laid the tray down on the table, "Go on, have one I insist." she said generously as Cera smiled at her kind offer.

"Thanks." she said taking a cookie and getting another for Miku, "Here you have one too Miku." she said as she handed her dinosaur the biscuit. As they sunk their teeth into the warm crunchy outer shell, the chocolate chips began to melt in its warmth and meld with the taste of the biscuit. It was a sensation she couldn't describe as both of them blushed red in enjoyment, "Wow! These are sweet and crunchy too! Yum!" Cera cheered as she quickly stuffed the rest of it down her throat with Miku shoving the whole lot like a squirrel!

"Oh I'm glad you like them!" Cretacia cheered clapping her hands together feeling proud of herself and for pleasing them, "I gave some to Rex and he said they were the best ever, but I wanted a second opinion and to hear you say that makes me feel so happy." she said, "I even made the recipe myself."

Cera smirked in amusement, "Heh, well cooking is like inventing in a way, and being a scientist I shouldn't be surprised…but still I can't help but be impressed." In her mind she couldn't tell which mom's cooking she liked best, Mrs Taylor's milkshakes, Mrs Drake's apple pie or Mrs Ancient's cookies. Perhaps she ought to suggest a sweets contest the next time they had a family get together. "So what was it you called me here for? Surely it wasn't just to be a food connoisseur now was it?" she then asked.

"Hee hee, you're a clever girl aren't you?" Rex's mom grinned seeing how perceptive she was, "From what I heard from my son Rex, you're quite the tech head yourself back at the D Lab, so maybe you can help me with something." she said as she removed her apron and headed outside, "Come here and I'll shown you." she said ushering her out and Cera followed her with interest. As they entered another lab, she then showed Miku and Cera both 3 unusual devices which were equipped with straps so they could be clamped onto one's wrist, "Take a look, this is my newest invention." she said showing them off to her young girl who took one of them and eyed it with interest.

"What are those?" Cera asked unsure what to make of them despite looking advanced and important.

"I call these dino bracers," Dr Cretacia answered, "After seeing the dinoholders as well as your dinoshot, I felt quite inspired to seeing how you were able to create such a device that can use the power of the stones to transform dinosaurs from cards so easily." she said as she showed some blueprints featuring the components used and the functions they utilised, "As well as being able to put it together using parts from a rather….simpler time….no offence."

"None taken." Cera replied in fact she had to admit with what the bracers were programmed to do and how less advanced the past was it was natural that their new versions had to be huge upgrades to the old ones.

"In fact, I felt so inspired by what you all came up with I decided to make another version of our own." Dr Cretacia then cried out excitedly, "One using resources from the future, with this it can do all the same functions as the dinoholder did, except its far more portable and more advanced with features the old dinoholders couldn't use before." she said with pride before skipping over to another co-partner and taking out 3 larger devices shaped almost like deck boxes, "I even took the liberty of developing some dino gadgets that should help make the bracers stronger too and store your move cards more efficiently." she said, "This way, we might be able to study and research dinosaurs that much more easily in the future, maybe even communicate with them abbe have them integrated into society even. Oh the thought of it just fills me with excitement! Oh I just don't know where to start!" she jittered with glee.

"That sounds incredible." said Cera with awe and feeling her inner scientist bursting with anticipation and excitement over the possibilities that can be made through this device, "And you want me to help you finish them?" she asked.

"I wouldn't ask for anyone else." Dr Cretacia replied, "Besides, we could certainly use someone as talented as you are to help us out with this, become the trustworthy partner that Seth couldn't be and even more so." she added at the end before leaning down to the young girl with a hopeful expression of faith and trust, "So what do you say? Are you in?"

Cera then smirked with confidence and with excitement boiling in her blood as she nodded firmly, "Let's get to work." she said as the 2 of them went to the work table and began conducting several tests such as simulating compatibility with stones, using Cera's dinoshot as a template for their capabilities (though strangely its functions seemed to be more powerful than what their current future technology could muster which was a bit of a surprise too), adjusting the gadgets to provide move cards as quickly as possible and adding the communicator functions too. Miku even helped by keeping an eye on the smaller parts and ensuring they didn't roll away as well as picking up any components that did fall off the table by chance. As they dived further and further into their world, Cretacia could see how much Cera was really enjoying herself and getting into it too. Her drive for science wasn't the only thing pushing her, but also her passion for dinosaurs and wanting to make their dream a reality was fuelling that motivation for a grand vision. No doubt she truly was special in that way.

In her mind Cera could see the copy stones that Seth made could even serve a purpose too in testing out these dino bracers should they be made for everyone's use in the future, though little did she know was that very thought of hers would soon come to a reality in the near future…..

Eventually, after making the final modifications, "And there, that should do it!" Mrs Ancient said as she wiped away some sweat from her brow as she placed the last bracer into a holding compartment and eyed them proudly with her assistant Cera at their hard but fruitful work.

"We did great Dr Cretacia." smiled Cera feeling deeply honoured to have contributed to such great dinosaur research.

"We sure did Cera." Mrs Ancient smiled happily with her as both females eyed their hard work with deep admiration.

"Way I see it, there's definitely going to be a bright future and straight path towards it from here on out." Cera thought to herself seeing that there was no way things could ever go wrong from here.

Unfortunately, her hopes for a straight path to a bright and joyous future for all, was about to take a nasty detour towards a new path which fate had planned for them all, as an alarm suddenly rang through the halls of the Backlander which caught everyone by surprise!

BEEP! BEEP!

"Huh!?" Cretacia and Cera looked around upon hearing the red alert alarm as red lights began flashing through the rooms!

"What's that!?" Cera gasped as Miku's eyes became slit and she ruffled her feathers being agitated.

"I don't know." Cretacia narrowed her eyes before looking down to see the long girl and her dino becoming unnerved and worried. She then strolled her gently on the head and smiled lightly, "But stay calm Cera, I'm sure it's nothing serious….I hope…." she said at the end as she was starting to become rather insecure herself.

A sudden jerk shook the entire ship knocking them off balance!

"AAAAAHH!" They cried as they fell down to the floor! Miku jumped off in time before Cera fell on her before hopping over to her with concern.

"Wh…What's happening!?" Cretacia gasped as she looked around in confusion, unsure what was happening, it couldn't have been a malfunction since they ran a complete systems check before leaving, which meant it had to have been an outside factor! "Are we under attack!?" She then cried thinking it'd be impossible because there shouldn't be anything living in the time stream…unless by chance….they weren't alone….

"A….Attack?" Cera croaked uneasily as an awful memory…locked deep within her own psyche suddenly flashed before her eyes. How she was rising in the cockpit of a certain flying vehicle cruising into the time stream ahead, as if she was trying to catch up to something….till a set of energy blasts from behind rained down upon her jet! Trying her bets to steer out of the way, her engine eventually became shot causing a chain reaction in her vehicle, the cockpits steaming and an alarm lighting up on screen before it reached critical an finally exploding in her face with her crying out in agony!

As it passed Cera lost the strength in her legs to stand up as she slowly fell to her knees weakly, horrendous bad memories and fear flooding her mind as she began to clutch her head, "No no no…..not again…." she muttered to herslef as her eyes widened panicky, a sight which startled Miku and caused her to back away!

"C…Cera?" Dr Cretacia said with concern having overheard her talking to herself. She walked over to her and leaned over, "Are you…alright dear?" she asked as Cera slowly lifted her head to her.

"I…I don't know." was all she said as she then hugged in her legs and shuddered like a child having suffered trauma…..like this was no doubt like something which scarred her in the past or something.

While she couldn't figure out what it was, seeing Cera couldn't be left as she was, Cretacia then hugged her in closely as she would do for Rex, "Don't worry, everything will be fine I promise." she said kindly to her in a warm embrace before helping her up to her feet. "For now let's go see what it was." she then said as she walked out to the upper deck, with Cera and Miku trailing behind….having a bad feeling on their minds over what this abnormal situation may possibly be.

As they rushed out to the front deck, Dr Ancient, Rex, Rod and Laura soon joined them to see Jonathan was driving the controls like mad!

"Jonathan! Status report!" Dr Ancient yelled out.

"What's going on!?" Rex followed feeling alarmed and just as concerned as everyone else.

Jonathan quickly turned back to look at hem all, "I don't know, but something or someone just fired on us!" he cried out as everyone widened their eyes in alarm at his words.

"AH!"

"What did you say!?" Dr Ancient exclaimed.

Before he could ask again, in front of them a set of energy projectiles fired out from the dark end of the time vortex and heading straight at them! "Here it comes again!" Laura cried out as they took a big hit!

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Everyone cried thing to steady themselves together.

Rex then looked up gritting his teeth tensely, "How is this possible!? How can we be attacked while we're in the time stream!?" he asked his father.

"Don't know," his father replied just as puzzled, "But we can't worry about that now, we have to steer clear of this otherwise we could be stranded in space forever!" he said seriously as Rod and Laura both gasped in alarm.

"AH!"

"Oh no!"

"Then get us out of here! Quickly!" Dr Cretacia then cried out fearing everyone's safety.

"Please!" Rex followed with fear in his eyes.

Turning around to see everyone was putting their hopes in him and how frightened Rex was, Jonathan nodded back at them with firmness, "I'll do my best Master!" he yelled as he did his best to outmanoeuvre the incoming blasts as best he could! Turning around, flipping over or diving under the blasts! It was a rough ride as everyone did their best to stabilise themselves to something they could hold on to! Back in the bathroom the alpha gang ended up getting flipped over with the toilet water coming down on them and flooding their detention room!

"WAAAAAHHH!"

Jonathan then narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth in frustration seeing he did little to shake off their mysterious attackers, "They're coming in too fast! There's only one way out now…." he said catching sight of a time portal floating up ahead on the side, "Hang on!" He yelled as the ship made a huge turn and everyone hang on for dear life!

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Laura screamed as her brother rushed in and held her tight to his body.

"Stay close to me Laura!"

"AAAAH!" As Rex cried out having bad memories of being flung out of the ship in his pod, his parents quickly rushed to his aid and embraced him.

"We've got you Rex!" they both yelled as they grabbed hold of him closely, "We won't let you go ever again."

Rex looked into their loving eyes and felt the parental bond he always wanted, breaking the mental scar he had of that horrible memory at long last, "Mom…dad…." he teared up feeling at peace as he nuzzled in to them and they hugged him tightly, making up for their failure to be there of hum the last time it happened.

"There! Go for it now!" Cera yelled as Jonathan kicked it into high gear!

"On it!" Jonathan roared as he turned the controls in causing them to make a tight squeeze to slip out of the firing lines just in time!

"WAAAAAH!" everyone cried as they zoomed into another time stream safe at last….for now….

Seeing all was calm, Rod and Laura soon looked up, "Did we lose them?" Rod asked Jonathan as everyone else soon looked up and around to see no signs of any attacks which meant they had to be in the clear, before zooming through a light at the end and ending up in the world once more.

"It would seem so….." Jonathan replied, his eyes still locked on the monitors and the outside surrodunigns while still keeping a vigilance.

Cera put a hand on her chest as she let out a deep sigh of relief, "That was close….too close…." Cera wheezed before slumping down feeling overwhelmed by the experience.

"You can say that again…." Rex added in agreement as he looked up frantically hoping whatever attacked them was gone, "Is it over?" he asked worried as his father stroked him on the head gently.

"It's alright son, it is." he said with his mother smiling assuringly they were safe as he let out a deep sigh.

"Phew…thank goodness. That's one ride I won't want to get on again." he commented as he got back up to his feet and sporting a serious look, "But still what was that all about?"

Everyone then became on edge as they looked to one another hoping for ideas but couldn't come to any conclusion about it, "I don't know….and that's what worries me." said his father as he walked up to the controls to asses the damage they took just now.

"Damage report Jonathan." he asked as his butler brought a cross section of the backhander on screen indicated a red light blinking at the back end of it near the central pole.

"We've suffered some rather heavy damage to the time drive's targeting system master," he said with deep regret, "It will be some time before we can return home now."

"That's very unfortunate…." Dr Ancient sighed while his wife covered her mouth over with her hand in surprise.

"Oh my…."

Laura's expression then became downhearted and depressed, "So then…we can't go home again?" she sighed lowering her head sadly as her brother tried his best to give her strength by being there for her.

"Laura…." as hard as he tried, he himself was feeling just the same as she did.

Cera sighed sadly feeling for her, they'd been waiting for their chance to go home after so long only for it to be snatched away like that….She couldn't find any way of comforting them, but soon took notice of something outside that would cheer them all up, "Hey! On the bright side, look where we ended up!" she pointed out as everyone took a look on screen as an image of a familiar building came online which brought a smile to everyone's faces.

"Ah! That's the Taylor's house!" Rex gasped.

The image soon enlarged to see Max and Zoe's families were looking up at them, "And everyone's down there too!" Laura pointed out.

Rex then blinked his eyes in suspicion seeing this picture to be quite familiar, "Hey, isn't this the exact moment we left?"

"A strange turn of events….." Dr Ancient mused.

Jonathan then stood up and walked past everyone to the exit, "I'll see to repairs at once sir." he said firmly knowing what had to be done now.

"You do that Jonathan." his master replied before looking to everyone else, "In the meantime, we might as well fill in the others while we affect repairs….and say hi again." he suggested they all try to make the best of this moment rather than dwelling on what they couldn't do for now.

"Yeah, let's go do that." Rex nodded in agreement with his father as he looked to everyone else, "I'm sure Max and the others would be happy to see us even though we've been gone for….not very long." he said as Rod and Laura felt their spirits being lifted a bit as they decided to live in the moment for now.

As they headed over to the teleporter room, Cera narrowed her eyes and hardened her expression as the thought and experience over their attack just now hadn't passed in the slightest, "What was that? And why was it so….familiar….?" she asked herself, the shock and trauma she suffered just now…had brought back a memory she knew had happened to her before and whatever caused it….no doubt was what attacked just now…."I have a bad feeling about this….and I feel we may have stepped into something new…and something…way worse than anything we've faced….." she thought as they became enveloped in the bright light and disappeared to be transported down below, unaware that this accident was going to be the start of a brand new adventure for the D team, one which would the them to the ends of time and bring them on a quest to eventually save all they knew and loved.

 **And thus concludes season 1, stay tuned for what is to come in season 2, hope you enjoyed it. Added a few bits such as the other dinosaurs being used against t-rex and pawpawsaurus getting implemented too. Here we also see Cera playing a role in developing the dino bracers and hinting what's to come in the future, also I felt Max throwing and slashing Chomp's card with such accuracy was quite silly so wanted to make it more realistic here with him using Cera's dinoshot only to slash it when in the wrong direction. Special thanks for pokemonking0924 for some of the ideas here too.**

 **Once in a while I'll also post some QOTCs to get others opinions too. Do let me know if you still want these to continue, will try to answer them best I can either in author notes or PM.**

 **QOTC:-**

 **What did you enjoy most out of my chapters for season 1? Like which is your favourite chapter or event, and what do you look forward to most in season 2?**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **Yeah, despite what others think Dr Z does deserve some form of redemption and I wanted to expand on the anime plot too since I feel at times it may be sudden and jumpy in some areas.**


	29. Time Napped

Chapter 29

Time napped

As a bright light emanated from the Backlander, a group of people consisting of Cera, Rod, Laura and the Ancient family soon appeared from its glow, as Max and Spike both ran up to greet them upon their return.

"Rex! Cera!" Max cried out.

"How was the future!?" Spike then asked.

"How long were you guys gone?" Max asked deeply interested and excited to hear about what they were up to since they left, even if it wasn't long, and how was their trip too.

"We were out there for only a day when the ship broke down." Rex replied sounding rather concerned and not sharing in Max's enthusiasm.

"Sabotage?" Spike mused wondering about the possibility.

"I'll bet the alpha gang did it!" Max then suggested feeling convinced of it.

"No, it couldn't have been them this time." Laura replied vouching for her grandfather and his goons this time.

"Helga had given them a timeout so they could think about what they've done." Rod added.

Cera nodded, "It's true, I couldn't even heard all their whining from outside." she said before shuddering upon hearing their noisy rants and crying after Terry and the others began making a mess in the bathroom and they all had to clean up after them.

Dr Ancient soon became serious as he knew full well the real reason they had to return here on such short notice, "It wasn't sabotage. Someone came out of the time-space continuum and attacked the ship." He said in a rather concerned tone, the thought of it still lingered on in the back of Cera's mind and she still hadn't gotten past not, but she still kept it to herself not wishing to bring up any more worries or suspicions.

"Who was it?" Max asked feeling worried.

"Fellow time travellers?" Spike took a guess, though it didn't make much sense as to why they'd attack if they were no threat at all, also it'd be dangerous for both sides if that happened.

"We couldn't determine their identity…." Cretacia replied.

"Whoever they are they had very advanced weapons." her husband finished before hardening expression as the memory of the energy beams that attacked them forced them to retreat, "I get the feeling they're not done with us and they're going to come back."

"Ahoy!" A familiar voice called from above which made them all look up to see a familiar android popping his head out from an opening.

"Jonathan! What's wrong!?" Dr Ancient cried out to him as he hung out of the opening.

"I'm afraid the time drive suffered some severe damage in the attack we suffered." he called out, "I'm afraid we have no choice but to remain here and affect repairs." he said as the others frowned upon hearing the bad news.

Dr Ancient and his wife then hardened their disappointed looks seeing the predicament they were in, "I see….how unfortunate…" he said before giving Jonathan some new instructions, "See what you can do to fix it."

"As you command sir!" Jonathan responded politely as he pulled himself back inside the ship to get to work.

Ancient soon turned to everyone else who was part of the Backlander, "In the meantime we're all going to have to stay here and make the most of it, until the engine is repaired we aren't going anywhere…." he said painfully knowing who hard it would be on his son and his friends.

"Aww…." Rod frowned.

"Just when it seemed like we were all going to get a happy ending….." Laura pouted sadly since she and her brother were really looking forward to their home and parents.

"Can't be helped…" said Rex in disappointment having been looking forward to seeing his original home in the future times.

"That's too bad…." Zoe sighed sympathetically for them as the others began to mirror her look of concern.

Cera too as well, not just for them but also seeing she may have to wait a little longer before she can figure out more about herself, though that was the last on her worry list for the time being seeing the situation on their hands now.

Before long the entire Backlander soon faded away much to their surprise, "What happened to the time machine!?" Max gasped as a beam of light erupted down from it before it vanished.

"It's in stealth mode." Jonathan answered calmly.

"Why do you need to hide it?" Zoe asked curiously.

"Well we wouldn't want anyone else to get spooked out seeing a giant UFO in the sky again after seeing Black T-Rex come out of it and wreak havoc just now." said Cera shrugging her shoulders.

"Dad also thinks it's possible we were followed here." Rex added.

"Any idea who it might be?" Spike asked seriously as he began brushing his beard with his fingers.

"To follow you they'd need very advanced technology." Reese stated.

"Which they had." Dr Ancient replied in agreement with her statement, "Our attackers moved very easily through time and space."

"Which means they're not from our future since the only way we can travel through time is by using the power of the 6 stones." Dr Cretacia added.

On her mind, having experienced that attack first hand, at the back of her head she felt the attack to be so familiar, like she had suffered something like that similar own the past…..if that were the case maybe she came from another time too so perhaps her attackers were indeed the same….

Seeing everyone was in a rather serious mood, which was rather scary, Aki decided to help lighten the mood and make it easier on everyone's shoulders as she stepped in, "Even travelling by car is extremely exhausting so you must be extra tired." she said warmly before clapping her hands together, "Please come in and have some tea and lemonade with us."

"Hey our lemonade's got some real pulp in it, it's pretty awesome." Spike added in agreement feeling very enthusiastic about his wife's home style lemonade.

"A guy just like me who likes pulp in his juice." Dr Ancient smiled feeling better already and finding a man he can no doubt relate and bond with, both in dinosaurs and beverages.

"Nice." Dr Cretacia replied happily accepting Aki's offer as the 6 parents walked into the house.

"What about you Dr Drake?" Spike asked the chubby man as he and his wife joined them.

"Pulp's good." he answered excitedly as they all stepped inside and made themselves comfortable at the living room.

Cera smiled happy to see all the parents getting along, despite what they went through there was no point in worrying and they might as well live in happiness now and not miss out on it while it lasts. At the same time she began to wonder of she had parents of her own too…..

"So er….where's Chomp?" Max then asked curiously as their parents left them be, which snapped Cera out of her thoughts as she looked back to her teammates.

"Yeah? And Paris." Zoe followed.

Cera smiled glad to see they still cared for their partners.

"Up in the ship, you want to see em?" Rex offered them.

"You bet I do!" Max answered without hesitation.

"I bet they can't wait to see you guys again for sure." Cera smiled as Miku suddenly climbed out from out of nowhere onto her shoulder and chirped in excitement to see her comrades reunite with their partners again despite it only being a coupe of hours.

"Come on Jonathan!" Rex turned to the robot butler.

"If you're all going up to the ship, I'd like to come along and have a look inside." Reese then asked feeling deeply intrigued by future technology ever since running into the Alpha Gang's base one time and having studied Jonathan.

"Sure come on!" Laura replied eagerly, "I'll give you a tour myself!" she grinned along side her brother.

Jonathan's eye glowed as the teleporter was activated and the whole bunch of them were brought up into the ship. Little did any of them know, was that their split up from their parents was going to set both sides down separate paths on a new adventure transcending time and space.

As they arrived at the reactor core room, Reese began taking a look around, finding the atmosphere to be much more welcoming with Seth gone and the Alpha gang now reformed. Cera exited the room momentarily and soon returned from the card vault with Chomp, Ace and Paris as the D Team took out their stones from the console as they began slashing out their dinosaurs and summoning them to their chibi forms.

"Chomp!" Max cheered with brightened eyes as he opens his arms widely and welcomed his partner into his arms! "Oh! Hahaha!" He laughed as Chomp pushed him down, but then cringed as the young trike suddenly bit his nose! "OUCH!" He reid but then smiled seeing he was still the same as he always was, "So happy to see you!" he laughed as his nose became all swollen.

Meanwhile Paris nuzzled in at her partner's cheeks, "I know it was just a day but I missed you so much!" said Zoe happily as she cuddled her partner.

Cera and Miku both smiled happily seeing all was just as they should be. Though Ace was more interested in something else instead of Rex as he hoped up near the reactor core, "Come here Ace! Come on!" Rex called to him as he jumped off.

As Reese came to see what he was sniffling at, she then stopped in surprise to see a set of devices laid out neatly in the compartment, "Wow, what are those?" she asked interestedly.

"Whoa, never saw those before." Laura muttered in surprise as Rod and Jonathan joined them.

"Cretacia is trying to develop a fully integrated dino bracer." Jonathan explained as Reese took hold of one of them for closer examination.

"What's a dino bracer?" Reese asked as she looked it all around.

"It's like the dinoholder," Jonathan answered, "But it's a lot more technologically advanced and has features you wouldn't think were possible. Especially in such a small contraption." he said modestly while not trying to offend Reese's own invention. As they all gathered for a closer look, Miku leapt off Cera's shoulder before running around and playing with the other 3 chibi dinosaurs like they always did.

"She felt inspired by the dinoholders," said Cera as she stepped in, "So she thought she build something similar which would further help in her research back in the future." she said its a smile before blushing red a bit, "Also I….kinda made a contribution to it too. Hehe…" she chuckled as the others looked to her in surprise and amazement.

"Really?"

"That's cool." Max and Zoe said in awe.

Rex the nodded in acknowledgement, "So how does it work?" he then asked feeling like trying out his mom's invention himself.

"Well…..how about you figure it ourselves guys?" Cera winked back, "Wouldn't be fun if I just told you right?" she said with a giggle, though in actual fact she had no idea how it worked herself since she didn't try it yet.

"Hehe, good point." Max chuckled in agreement, as he bought it much to her relief, "Also if it's anything like our old dinoholders, I think I have an idea on who to use it already…." he said as he took a closer look at the bracer in Reese's hand and noticed an opening for stones to be inserted and a slot area for arts to be slashed. Noticing another device next to the bracers he picked it up to look more closely, "What's this?" he then asked curiously.

"It's a dino gadget." Jonathan answered him, "Cretacia says it will make the dino bracer even more powerful."

"Not sure how though, but she said that device will store your cards way easier than the dinoholder did." Cera added as Max eyed it all around with awe over how special the device looked and no doubt was.

"Cool." he said eying it intently hoping he might get to try it out. In fact Rex and Zoe too had similar ideas themselves.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, who wants a look at the control deck?" Laura cheered as she did a little spin, her statement awakening excitement and enthusiasm in Max and Zoe who were now like tourists onboard the Backlander, despite only visiting a few times only.

"Oh! Me! Me!"

"Don't leave me out of it too!" They cheered raising their hands as they followed the Alpha siblings to the door to the upper deck. Reese smiled seeing they were still kids at heart as she, Cera and Jonathan followed after them.

They soon passed through the doors and arrived at the control unit where the ship's operation modules were held, "Here we folks! The control deck for the Backlander!" Both Rod and Laura announced showing off the ship's pride and joy as Max and Zoe looked around in awe and amazement.

"Hey…."

"Awesome…." They breathed taking in the sights and seeing the blinking screens, flashing buttons and futuristic technology all around them.

"How ingenious…." Reese breathed as Jonathan walked her up to the front to see the controls up front.

"So how does it work?" Zoe then asked.

"Here I'll show you." Rod smiled as he showed her to one of the screens, "You just pick the time period you want, engage the warp drive and hit launch." he explained as he dialled in a few buttons which displayed the command routines onscreen.

As the D Team looked in awe at how skilfully Rod implemented the codes, Max then turned to him with a smirk, "You make it look so easy."

"Hehe, cause it is easy." Rod chuckled, "Dr Ancient said he'll let me drive it sometime."

"Well you did have a hand in the repairs so it's natural you know the inner makings of the ship." Cera commented as she folded an arm on her hip and smiled with approval, "It's great that he trusts you and I know you'll live up to his expectations."

"Hehe thanks Cera." Rod smiled back while Max breathed in awe at the thought of not just Dr Ancient's faith in Rod but also that he would no doubt be able to pull it off or even more.

"Wow…." The door behind them soon opened and a familiar female android walked in catching everyone's attention, "Hey! How's it going Helga?" Max smiled as he greeted her.

"Where are the others?" She asked looking around curiously for the Ancients, "It's time for calloustanics!"

"They're at Max's house." Rex answered her, now that they sorted things out with the Alpha Gang they felt no need to fear her any longer just long as they still behaved and kept on her good side.

"We'll start with a round of sit ups and jumping jacks." she then said with authority.

"We're kinda busy right now…." Max replied reluctantly, though also feeling glad they had a valid excuse to use on her so they could get out of her exercise routines.

"That's too bad because it is on the schedule…." Helga muttered feeling rather disappointed at that. Little did she know was that the chibi dinosaurs were actually doing just that, before Chomp slipped off and needed Ace and Paris to pull him back in.

Not wishing to displease her, Cera then stepped to the side giving herself a bit of space from the others, "Well if it makes you feel better I wouldn't mind giving it a little whirl." she said as the others eyed her strangely, "I've been feeling a little tense being cooped inside so I guess it wouldn't hurt to stretch a bit." she answered them quickly so they wouldn't get any funny ideas on their minds.

Helga was about to smile when suddenly a phone ringing from Reese's pocket caught everyone's attention.

RING RING

"Huh?"

Reese quickly picked up the phone to answer it, "Hello? Dr Owen?"

Rex blinked his eyes in surprise at how quick his adoptive dad had arrived in Sanjo City, "He's here already?" he asked.

Max and the others smiled at him, "How nice, now Rex's parents can meet him." he grinned knowing they'll get along just fine. His optimism was short lived, as Reese was soon about to bring the gang terrible news that would change the course of their lives forever….

"What!? The house has vanished!?" she exclaimed in disbelief as everyone gasped in shock!

"Huh!?"

"Say what!?"

"You can't be serious about this!" They cried but Reese's concerned look proved that she was right, and that deeply worried them as to how it might have happened…not to mention their parents were still inside too….

"Alright we're coming!" said Reese as her expression hardened, "Just see if you can find anything that can help!" she said at the end as the phone call ended and she directed her attention to everyone else, "Everyone, we have to go back now!"

"Yeah." They all nodded in agreement knowing they had to see this for themselves, "And quick!"

Rex quickly looked over to Jonathan, "Jonathan!" he yelled.

"I'm on it! Activating teleporter!" he responded as he pressed a button, causing the group to be enveloped in bright light and then fading from the room, leaving behind Jonathan and the alpha siblings inside.

"Oh dear…what's happening now…." Laura sighed nervously as she lowered her head feeling both sad and worried, "First Seth turns on us and now the Ancients go missing along with the other parents?"

"Our day just keeps getting better and better…." Rod sighed deeply shaking his head, wondering what did they ever do to deserve this?

 **(Meanwhile)**

As the group arrived back at Max's place, or more precisely where it was, they widened their eyes and gasped in shock to see a massive crater where the house once sat, and inside Patrick and Dr Owen were busy checking for clues as they scoured all over the dirt and mud hoping to find something left behind they could use, but to no avail despite searching with a fine toothed comb.

"AH!"

"This is bad…." said Reese worryingly.

"My mom and dad were in there…." Zoe cried.

"So were mine!"

"Mine too!" Rex and Max gasped in shock as they all stared speechlessly over how this could have occurred, the entire house gone and their parents with them just like that…..

"Oh no…." Cera's heart fell heavily and soon she fell on her knees seeing this to be a far greater calamity than she first expected, not just her friends' parents were spirited away to who knows where, but also close friends of her's too were now mysteriously gone, "How could this have happened? And why now?" she asked herself before a thought crossed her mind, "Wait….could it be the same ones who attacked us earlier?" she breathed to herself thinking carefully and suspecting the 2 events may have been connected.

"Excuse me! Dr Owen!" Reese cried out to him, "Do you really think it was an alien who did this?" she asked as the others were soon starting to believe him after a phenomenon like this occurring there couldn't be any other explanation.

As Rex began typing away on a certain device he plucked out from his pocket, Patrick and Dr Owen stood before the D Team, "Let me put it to you this way! He was extremely large, had wings and flew like a bird!" he said flapping his arms out

"Now just wings but a bad haircut!" Patrick added as he mimicked his boss' movements while jumping up and down.

"A big alien with wings and a bad haircut?" Cera asked raising an eyebrow and looking at the pair of men still acting as weird as the answer they gave. She saw them do all kinds of strange and goofy things before but this really took the cake, "What kind of a description is that?"

"It's true! We saw it with our own eyes!" Dr Owen protested trying to back up his claims, "We saw him come out of a weird red space ship out of a portal of some sort!"

"Then after that he left on that same ship and teleported the house away like it was nothing!" Patrick cried out in response.

"AH!" Max and Zoe gasped as they widened their eyes.

As Cera began to ponder over their descriptions more carefully, it was then she began to realise something very important, something….that she once knew as she widened her eyes in realisation, "It's almost like….." A memory soon flashbacked before her eyes, as 3 winged silhouettes in the sky, a large burly male, a skinnier male with spiky hair and a slim female with long hair and a bow tying it together began throwing out orbs which materialised into gel like monsters which began rampaging a rather futuristic city, tossing over vehicles and driving people out from their homes! The monsters also carried an insignia, unique to their faction on their faces while the 3 flying figures also commanded them to cause destruction and chaos wherever they went while plundering the homes of the innocent for any riches they had, before eventually using cards and summoning out dinosaurs! Being an abelisaurus, gondwanatitan and a lilienstrenus which began terrorising the people in the city, each of them crying that same symbol on their heads as they screeched ferociously, their roars echoing in Cera's mind.

Noticing Cera was spacing out, Max and Zoe then turned to her and asked, "Hey Cera?"

"Are you…okay?" they asked wondering why she went silent all a sudden.

Snapping out of her thoughts and shaking her head clear, her expression then became rather grim, "Guys, I know Dr Owen and Patrick aren't usually the brightest bulbs in the house…." she said while hiding the fact she was tensing up and shaking, "But this time…I think they're for real…."

"How can you tell Cera?" Zoe asked curiously as Cera just looked back at her hardly.

"I don't know….it's just a…gut feeling…." she answered with an expression that was unknown to Reese, Zoe and Max.

Before they could ask her anymore though, "Guys! Our parents are travelling through time!" Rex cried out as the others tuned to him.

"What do you mean!?" Zoe asked.

"I mean the entire house was carried off by a time machine!" Rex answered her seriously.

"With them inside?" Owen asked, "How do you know this Rex?"

"I can track them using this TPS device." he answered his foster father firmly as he held out the handheld device in it.

"TPS?" Reese asked.

"Time positioning system." Rex answered, "It's like GPS but for time." He said as he flashbacked to when his dad and mom gave him that device, "The Ancients gave it to me in case we ever got separated…." After their long separation for years they decided to take measures to made sure that never happened again, unfortunately that big fear had came to pass…..

"Incredible….." Reese meanwhile breathed in amazement, while it may not have been the best time to admire the device she still couldn't help but be impressed at how far technology had developed.

"I can't believe this happened….again…." Rex sighed deeply, having just found his long lost parents only for them to be gone again like that….

"Don't worry…." said Zoe trying to comfort him though unsure how, while Cera said nothing but held a rather solemn expression, understanding his pain and loss and knowing trying to comfort him or butter it up would only make it worse.

"She's right Rex!" Max responded both with determination and anger, "This time's different! This time we can find out where your parents are and follow em!" he said with hope in his voice knowing they can do something about it this time.

"But the time machine is broken Max remember?" Zoe replied

"Then we better up there right now and fix it!" Max pointed up as Owen and Patrick looked in the direction of the ship though could see nothing as it was still cloaked.

Rex thens field with hope, "You're right Max!" he said feeling motivated and moved by his words, "Let's go find our parents and rescue them!"

"Yeah!" Max nodded as the others became pumped up and psyched for a rescue mission.

Seeing how everyone was getting into the mood, Cera smiled feeling glad to have not only met but to also be a part of their wonderful family, one she'd protect with her own life to the end of time as she turned serious, "Guys." she said catching everyone's attention.

"Huh?"

She walked up to them, "You all stuck by my side when Miku and I needed you most….." she said before looking up seriously and putting a fist to her chest with determination, "Rest assured I'll do everything I can to help you find them, I promise."

Rex smiled along with everyone else, "Thanks Cera,"

"Having you on board makes us feel a lot better." said Zoe clapping her hands together.

"Whoever took our folks, we'll find them and make them pay for it!" Max gritted his teeth as he punched his fist into his open palm as Cera nodded in agreement.

"You can count on it." she said before putting a finger to her chin in thought, "If my suspicions are correct….the ones who attacked us earlier could no doubt be the same ones who took them."

"I wouldn't put it past that." said Reese as she folded her arms in agreement.

"Come on! We can't waste anymore time dawdling! Let's go and repair the Backlander!" said Rex as he cried out loud to the sky, "Jonathan!"

"I'm beaming you all up now!" he said from up above as the whole lot of them were brought inside the ship.

As Helga walked by minding her own business, she stopped to see the 4 children of the D Team run past her without even saying a hello, "Where are you all off to in such a hurry?" she asked crossly at their rude behaviour.

"No time to talk Helga!" Rex cried behind them with urgency.

"The house just got snatched away with our parents inside!" Zoe yelled.

"And we need to fix the time machine so we can go after them!" Max concluded as they soon disappeared from sight.

As she pondered over what they said, she folded her arms and closed her eyes in thought, "Hmmm….." It was then she gained a serious expression on her face before walking off to the bathroom to give Dr Z and his henchmen a chance to earn an early release from their timeout.

 **(Later)**

After the D Team arrived back with the others they briefed Jonathan, Rod and Laura about the situation at hand, and needless to say they were all in for quite the shock when the heard the news. In no time at all they quickly rushed to the reactor to affect immediate repairs. Things were proceeding somewhat slowly and not much progress was made since they had few hands of expertise on board and most of the D Team didn't really understand much of what they were working with. Soon however, Helga soon came back into the room bringing them rather fortunate or unfortunate news….

"I have good news everyone!" she said as they all looked to her, "Dr Z has informed me he is willing to lend his services in the time machine repairs."

"Dr Z says he wants to help us fix it?" Max asked rather suspiciously.

"He says it is far too difficult to do without him." Helga replied.

"The problem is we don't trust him, even as far as we can throw him." Rex stated as he pushed a tool chest on a trolley past them.

"Which isn't very far…." Zoe added in agreement.

"Right…." Max breathed before looking around finding the room to be rather quieted than he last remembered, "Say….Where are the alpha droids?" he asked curiously, wondering why they hadn't come across a single robot besides Jonathan and Helga since they came on board today, "I'd take their help over Dr Z's anyway."

"They're all undergoing a massive reboot." Laura answered him.

"After taking Zeta Point back from Seth we had to make sure they undergo a complete systems wipe and restart if we want to clear out any of Seth's control over them." Rod explained as the rest of the group sighed in disappointment.

"That's a shame, the one time we need them most and they're not there for us…." Zoe frowned as she and the others lowered their heads down sadly seeing that option was out of the way.

Max then looked up to where the others were working, "Hey Jonathan! How's everything going for the war generator up there?" he called.

"I'm afraid there are some complexities that are beyond my comprehension." the android answered as he descended from a higher platform.

Hearing that didn't instil much confidence in the D Team, though who were they to judge since they didn't understand much of how the systems worked, even Cera herself despite being a tech head herself found the machinery rather complex to understand.

"The Ancients were the ones who built this thing….and admittedly with them gone the next best mind we can…no…have to rely on is that nutcase Dr Z…." Cera thought

"Max if you want to finish fast you should really consider getting grampa's help." Rod stated as he and his sister came down from the other side.

"Just keep an eye on him and don't let him trick you." Laura added.

"Easier said than done if you ask me." Cera muttered as she dolled her arms and closed her eyes in suspicion, "Even if his intentions were good, which is very unlikely, chances are he'd mess it up way worse than it is now." She then looked up tot he alpha siblings, "You guys even said so yourselves the stuff he makes breaks down or malfunctions eventually." She pointed out which made Rod sweat drop in realisation.

"She's got a point there Laura…." he said to her as she sighed sadly.

"Yeah….but still…."

Max soon began to see the situation was becoming desperate and they didn't have time to debate, they had more than enough trouble already without conflicting with one another on what to do next, "Rex if this takes too long we could lose them for good!" he said.

"I know…." Rex replied feeling angry at having to be reminded of their situation.

"I'm sorry to say that fixing an enormous time warp generator takes an enormous amount of time." Jonathan said with deep regret before pointing at Rex's device, "And they're starting to fade from your TPS tracking system." he said as Rex looked to it and hardened his expression seeing the signal was weakening.

Realising the urgency of the situation and how short on time they were, Max reluctantly decided to take an all or nothing gamble, "Listen! I think where're gonna have to take a chance on Dr Z! I mean who knows what our parents are going through now!" He said with urgency in his tone.

Seeing without any other options to rely on, Rex took a deep sigh as he finally relented, "Alright fine…." he said before looking to Helga, "Helga, let them out now, but make sure you give them a warning in case they do try something or step out of line."

She nodded and put a fist to her chest with affirmation, "You can count on me on that!" she said before rushing out to the front door and taking her leave to fetch the rest of the Alpha gang.

As she left the rest of the D Team hardened their expressions realising their hands had no doubt been forced now, "This better work….it has to….." Rex said seriously seeing their situation had now gone desperate so they had to take risks if they were to have even the slightest hope of making progress and saving their parents.

Seeing they made their minds up on what to do, Cera narrowed her eyes seriously knowing she had to do something as well to help prepare them for the worst, "In that case….." Looking over to the side and seeing the Dino bracers and Gadgets Cretacia left behind, she began to load them into a triceratops like case nearby before taking them outside.

"Cera where are you going?" Zoe asked her as they saw her heading to the door.

"I'm going to find Reese," Cera answered, "If my intuition is right we'll need dinosaur help like before, hopefully Reese and I can finish these bracers and gadgets before we set off again to rescue your parents." She said holding up the case to them before putting on a confident smile, "Besides, I'm sure it'll be fun to battle with your partners again like old times right?"

As she said that the D Team brightened up with excitement at the thought of having to fight with dinosaurs again, "Oh! Yeah! Go do that!" Max cheered with eagerness.

"If you can it'll be a big help for sure!" Zoe smiled clapping her hands together.

"At least we can count on you for this." Rex nodded with affirmation, knowing they could also count on their partners to help them too, like they always had before.

Cera nodded back at her friends with reassurance, "And I promise I won't let you down." she said taking her leave while Miku went to go over and play with the other dinosaurs by rolling around the trolleys and in circles chasing each others' tails. As she exited the room and strolled along the hallways to find Reese she narrowed her eyes seriously as thoughts soon crossed her mind, "I'll do anything and everything for them….after all they did for me and Miku, it's time I returned the favour." she vowed to herself to stand by them through the end. Eventually after some time of searching through the ship, she found Reese up at the upper deciding a checking at some of the main systems and command routines which made her smile with relief to have found her, "Hey Reese there you are." she said catching the older woman's attention.

"Oh Cera, how are things with the time machine going?" She then asked curiously.

Cera sighed and shook her head, "Slow but steady, it's more complicated than we thought…." she then hardened her expression rather bitterly, "So complicated we need Dr Z to help with it…." she muttered as Reese covered her mouth in surprise.

"Oh my, it's that bad?"

"Unfortunately…." Cera sighed before returning to the matter at hand, "In any case, I was looking for you." she said as she held up the case, "I need your help patching these up." Opening it it revealed the 3 dino bracers and gadgets inside as Reese leaned in for a closer look.

"The dino bracers and gadgets….." she said with interest.

"I figured we might as well finish what Cretacia and I started in her honour," Cera explained, "Also there's a chance we may need to fight with dinosaurs again, so I thought we could give Max and the others a little more firepower for that."

Reese then smiled at how thoughtful she was, "Well thought out Cera," she said feeling glad to have someone so selfless and reliable on there side as she stood up from her seat, "Let's get to work then." she said as they headed to the work room to put the final touches on them. Like old times, the pair continued running simulations as well as welding parts together to make sure the systems ran at optimum levels, that the devices could contain and control the powers of the stone plates and that the gadgets wold be able to deliver the right move cards at the right time when utilised. They also utilised the blueprints Cretacia left behind while scanning Cera's dinoshot to use as a template to work from, and after half an hour or so they made monumental leaps in new features and functions, "The technology and resources here are so advanced, we've made far more progress than I first expected." she said proudly as they were near 98% finished.

"Glad to hear that Reese." said Cera feeling pleased to hear her say that and knowing Max and the others would be glad about that too, "At this rate we should be finished before the time warp is repaired." She then blinked her eyes in realisation that they had forgotten someone, or more precisely someones, "Say, where's Dr Owen and Patrick?" Cera asked looking around and finding no trace o the 2 goofy grown men.

Reese blinked her eyes looking up from the work table, "Now that you mention it….I haven't seen them since we came on board." she said looking around and not even hearing their novices for miles, which was unusual since the 2 of them were quite loud blabbermouths, "They must have gotten lost somewhere…." she mused before looking at Cera, "You go find them, I think I can handle the rest on my own."

"Alright then Reese, we'll leave everything up to you." The red headed girl replied as she took her leave and left the older scientist to her work, gully trusting in her knowing she'd pull through for them all as she always did. As she left the room she brought up a map on her dinoshot which traced her current location, "Good thing I still have the map on my dinoshot to refer to." she said to herself as she walked down the path nearby the kitchen, "Now if I were Dr Owen where would I go?" she thought to herself seriously as she continued waking straight ahead, towards Seth's old lab thinking that's where a scientist would go. She then heard a series of voices along the hallway in front which made her ears perk, "Hmm?" As she focused harder she soon recognised them as all too familiar.

"Maybe once those brats see how much they need me they'll learn to respect their future king! Ahahah!" Dr Z cackled to himself as he strolled along another hallway towards the reactor room, with the trio and their dinosaurs right behind him. Soon however a figure stepped into view which made them stop to look,

"Huh?"

Cera soon came into view carrying a rather serious expression on her face, the sight of her made Dr Z and the trio grin rather sneakily, "Hehehe! I see you lot have finally wised up and decided to come to me for help!" he grinned folding his arms and holding his head up high, "It's only natural since I'm the only genius who can comprehend what your meager minds can't!" he boasted snobbishly as he twirled some hair on his beard while the trio stuck their tongues out at her.

She however remained unfazed and looked away from him, "Don't flatter yourself you coot." she scoffed as she turned around and folded her arms, "The only reason we let you out was because we're desperate, short on time and that we have no other options left." she said crossly at the fact they had to rely on them of all the people they could turn to for help, "So why don't yo guys go make yourselves useful and help us instead of yourself for a change."

"Oh we'll be more than happy to help." Dr Z snickered before pointing out at her, "That is if you give me the respect I deserve as the future dinosaur king!" he demanded.

"Yeah, and you take back all those times you called me an old lady!" Ursula cried out shaking a fist crossly having not forgotten every single insult they hurled at her during their adventures before taking down Seth.

"And…err…..grovel before us!" Zander and Ed added on, wanting to join in milking the moment.

Ursula however delivered a swift blow to both her heads without warning!

WHAM!

"OW!"

"Hey who are you clowns to boss them around!" she growled shaking a fist at them as a tic make appeared on her forehead, "If anyone deserves that privilege it's me!"

"Sorry…." They whimpered sadly as they clutched their heads painfully.

Cera whoever was in no mood to play any of their silly games today as she thought of a counter argument knowing just the thing that would rattle Dr Z enough to get him to cooperate, "How about you guys get to work or we'll never go anywhere." she said before smirking at Dr Z, "In fact you'll be stuck here forever in the past and be remembered as nobody who couldn't accomplish anything worthwhile in his life, heck maybe no one will even remember or miss you on top of that."

Upon hearing her words smashing down his ego, Dr Z quickly turned pale at his worst nightmare coming true, "GAAAH!" he squealed clutching his face and turning pale which made his henchman gasp to see him turn out as such before they glared back at her.

"Now that's just low!"

"Take it back right now!" They said to her angrily while shaking fists at her.

"I'll do that, when he proves me wrong." she replied undeterred knowing she could take on all of them single handedly in fist fight with ease, but there was no need for she had a much smarter way of getting them to cooperate, "That is, if he can fix it that is." she said smugly which made Dr Z flare red with rage.

"Why you!" he growled as his spirt and rage was fired up much to his minions' surprise, "Of course I can fix that machine with my eyes closed!" he roared pumping up his arms and flaring with energy and ambition in his blood! "I'll show you all myself! Come on team! Let's move and show these brats the true might of the Alpha Gang!" he yelled to the Trio as they saluted him and stood firm like soldiers ready for battle.

"Okay!"

"Simple…." Cera then sighed seeing how easy he was to manipulate, no wonder Seth was able to take advantage of him so easily….

Nevertheless that didn't stop her from giving him a warning to make sure he did ONLY what he was told, "Don't make us regret this, or you will." he said shooting a hard scowl at the old man, which made his minions shudder worryingly, knowing it would be most unwise to pick a fight with her.

Nevertheless Dr Z remained undeterred, in fact he intended to fix eh machine anyways of only to fulfil his own goals when this mess was all over with, "Eheheh! I assure you lot that you have nothing to worry about!" he giggled sinisterly before doing a spin, "After all you're in the hands of a capable genius!" he announced pointing up to the sky proudly.

"And his equally capable assistants!" The Trio follow striking team poses of their own with their boss.

Cera however just stared and raised an eyebrow in suspicion at them, "Somehow I don't feel that confident at all." she thought to herself fearing they'd do more damage to the warp drive than it already suffered.

Paying her no mind Dr Z soon began to dive deeper into and indulge in his own self ego, "In fact the only tools I need are my eyebrow curler and my earwax remover! Ahahahah!" he laughed out loud which made Cera's stomach churn.

"Ugh….gross…." she moaned before holding in a hurl and swallowing it down, "Hope he's not getting the systems infected with his germs…." she shuddered at the thought of his gunk clogging out the systems and maybe even causing a virus in the mainframe.

"Alright Team! We've got a generator to fix and my destiny as dinosaur king to seize! In the name of Dr Z let's do this!" He announced pointing to the sky before taking a beeline for the reactor core room.

"Yeah!" His minions cried out as they charged down after him, with Terry and the others following close by.

As they soon disappeared from sight Cera then sighed, "That takes care of them…." she said feeling glad to be rid of them at last before remembering the matter at hand, "Now for-"

"Patrick, are we there yet?" Another familiar voice soon called out from the other end of the hallway which made her look ahead.

"Where yet Dr Owen? We don't even know where we are going." Patrick wheezed as he came into view, carrying Dr Owen on his back like a piggyback ride. The poor fat man was sweating profusely and was on the verge of collapsing on the ground, "Also, can you please walk now, my legs are getting tired…." he pleaded desperately as his legs shook and he fell to his knees. The sight of him suffering like that made Cera feel rather sorry for what Dr Owen was putting his assistant through.

Dr Owen however clung onto his bag like a spoiled toddler unwilling to get off from his comfortable spot, "But Patrick I'm-"

"There you guys are!" Cera cried which made them look at her.

"Hm?"

"Oh Cera there you are!" said Dr Owen with Dr Owen with relief as he jumped off his assistant at last.

"Boy are we glad too see you miss." Patrick wheezed before falling down and face planting on the floor, relieved to finally have gotten that enormous weight off his shoulders.

"We seem to have gotten lost while exploring and can't find where the others are." Dr Owen explained.

"I can see that…." Cera sweat dropped before opting up ahead, "Well if you're looking for everyone, they're just down that hallway in the engine room making repairs."

"Ah! So it's that way then?" Dr Owen smiled as he beat a fist into his palm in realisation. "Thank you very much! You've been a big help!" he smiled as he took her hand and shook it with gratitude.

"You're welcome." she replied, "Though Dr Z and the Alpha gang just joined them so maybe it's best-"

"Dr Z and the Alpha gang?" Dr Owen interrupted her before blinking his eyes and putting 2 and 2 together, "Wait that means…." He suddenly turned bright red and steamed with infatuation and his eyes began to glisten with love, "AH! My lovely Ursula!" He screamed out loud jumping for joy, "Oh my darling! I thought I'd never see her again but she's here too!?"

His mad proclamation for the old lady was making Cera and Patrick both feel uneasy knowing how well this would turn out, "Oh dear…." they both aid as Dr Owen felt the strength return to him as he set his sights on only one thing on his mind, marrying Ursula!

"Come to me my love! It's time we be honest with one another! We shall set forth down a path of love that transcends time itself! Ahahaha!" he laughed loosely before racing down the halls like a hunting dog!

"Dr Owen! Wait! You mustn't! Come back!" Patrick cried as he trotted after him until they both disappeared from sight.

"There he goes again….." Cera let out a deep sigh knowing the only way this scene would play out. On the bright side it was a straight line from here on so the 2 of them wouldn't get lost this time at least.

Luckily for her things were looking up as another voice soon called out to her, "There you are Cera."

"Hmm?" Looking ahead she saw Reese with the same triceratops case she brought the bracers with.

"Oh hi Reese. You finished already?" she then asked.

"Uh huh." Reese nodded which brought a smile to the young girl's face, "Now let's go see how the others are doing." she said as the 2 of them went down the halls to the reactor room. As they entered they saw Dr Z was already tinkering with all kinds of tools in all sorts of places wth his men bringing him equipment or fixing parts in other areas further from him as the D Team, Jonathan and his grandchildren watched closely to take sure he wasn't going to try anything or mess anything up.

"Everyone!" Reese then announced as her voice caught the attention of the D Team, "We've finished work on the dino bracers!" she said as she opened the case she was carrying and showed off the completed devices to their rightful owners.

"Wow!" Max breathed in awe as he pressed open the compartment which revealed the slot for the stones to be inserted, "Awesome!"

"Reese this is so cool!"

"They're great Reese!" Zoe and Rex both said with excitement and amazement as they began clipping on their bracers and gadgets.

"You know guys, maybe next I could figure out how to extend the range of your TPS device." Reese then offered wishing to be of more help to the others considering rescuing the parents was something which concerned her as well.

"That would be great!" Rex cheered in agreement knowing it would come in handy no doubt.

"You know," Rod called from above, "There's a crystal that has all of the information you need inside of it."

"Really?" Reese then asked feeling interested.

"If we take it down to the D Lab I bet you could figure out how it works Reese." Rod confirmed for her.

"Then what do you say we get going right now?" she then said with a smile as the boy and his sister came down to the lower levels.

"Dr Owen! Stay away from me!" Ursula suddenly cried out cutting the moment short. Everyone then turned to look and see Dr Owen was chasing her around like a dog after a mailman!

"But it's been so long Ursula! Moun Petit Ursula!" he cried overcome with love overriding all his senses. Pretty soon the other 6 dinosaurs began chasing them thinking it to be a fun game of tag.

"Poetry will get you nowhere!" She cried out but still he didn't show any signs of giving her up anytime soon.

"Stop Dr Owen!" Patrick cried as he joined the chase after his boss till it looked like a chase skit from right out of a cartoon!

"Um hey dad…what are you doing?" Rex asked finding the situation to be very strange and weird, considering they were in the middle of a very important task and he was kind of interrupting them.

Dr Owen then stopped to answer, "Just trying to convince Ursula!" he proclaimed proudly before the other dinosaurs and his assistant Patrick crashed into him! "OOF! AAAH!" He cried as Patrick and the 6 dinosaurs rolled over him painfully, "To be your new mother…" he croaked at the end after getting back up.

"No chance!" Ursula cried out in refusal before scurrying somewhere else to hide.

Cera and the others soon sweat dropped in surprise seeing Dr Owen still hadn't given up on that wild pipe dream of his, "Awkward…..wonder how Dr Ancient and Cretacia would think about that…." she whispered to Max and Zoe.

"Not to mention they're supposed be separated by centuries apart so can that be a thing?"

"That sure complicates things….." They both said to her in agreement while Rex sighed in embarrassment.

"Oh wait!" He then widened his eyes in realisation, "You just met your birth mother….so now I guess you have 2 dads and a mother…." he said scratching his head rather sadly and feeling quite awkward, feeling as though like he might lose his place in Rex's heart as his father, now he has found his real family.

Fortunately Rex didn't think like he did as he smiled with deep appreciation, "And I'm really lucky to have a dad as amazing as you and 2 birth parents as well?" he said as everyone else smiled feeling glad for him. In fact of it hadn't been for Dr Owen to take care of him, he never would have met them all nor developed a love for dinosaurs like his original parent had wanted him to be, in a way fate showed kindness to him by sending him to the museum where he was found, which eventually set the young boy on a path that would lead him to be the best son the Ancients could have ever asked for.

"Oh Rex….You're the one who's amazing." Dr Owen replied most proudly, "You becoming my son was the best thing that ever happened to me…." he said in a way which moved the hearts of everyone listening in to him, making the awkward and pervy man he was earlier look like a passing phase, "I should never have doubted how strong our bond is. Not ever…." he then said.

As moving and touching that scene was, another form of romance was soon about to sour the moment.

"Oh my angel! I love my dinosaur!" Zander sang as he began dancing around Reese and playing his guiro, "But when I look into your eyes, I think I love you more!" The others just stared unable to comprehend what was going on before their eyes, and Zoe was getting flashbacks of their nightmarish 'date' back on Valentine's and she was mustering every ounce of self control to keep herslef from going berserk! Fortunately Zander's salvation from divine sisterly rage was about to come from a source no one would've expected, "Be my-AAAH!"

"Zander! There's no time for romance here!" Dr Z cut him off rudely as he kicked him away and ending his grand finale! And for good reason too as Zoe's inner anger began to subside.

While the others were relieved they didn't need to hear Zander's awful singing any longer, Cera couldn't help but sigh a little sympathetically, "Aww…it was kinda sweet in a creepy way…did he really have to do that?" she thought to herself seeing he wasn't doing anything wrong.

Dr Z then turned his rage towards Dr Owen and Patrick, "And you! You're distracting my workers with your disgusting puppy love!" he growled before pressing a button causing the both of them to be teleported away back into the crater where the Taylor household was.

As they disappeared the others then shot a couple of scowls at Dr Z seeing his actions to be unnecessary and needlessly cruel to both their guests and friends, "Now that was just rude…." Max grunted.

"Yeah, we were having a moment there." Rex added on top of that.

The old man then turned back to them, "Well if you lot have time to spare on mushy mushy family moments then maybe you can use it to help me with these last few repairs!" he screamed his head before folding his arms and huffing, "That is, unless you want to see your parents again?"

That very question made the D Team more on edge and more spiteful towards him. It was low for him to bring it up like that, but at the same time he was right, they couldn't afford to have any delays, each second passing by meant their parents were getting further and further from them, and they had to make it count if they were to have any hope of rescuing them.

Seeing no other way they relented, "Fine, but you better be right about this." said Rex as he shot Dr Z and the Alpha gang a final warning glare as they returned to their stations to affect repairs.

"I'm heading down to the D Lab to make a few adjustments to the TPS," Reese then spoke up believing she'd be able to work better there, "With luck I might be able to implement it into the D Lab's mainframe so we can maybe track your parents from here and keep in contact with you all when all set off." she added which brought smiles to the others' faces.

"That'll be really handy Reese!"

"Thanks!" Cera and Zoe cheered with bright smiles.

"Don't mention it," said Rod holding a thumbs up and a grin, "Anything to help find your parents again and to get back with ours." he said as they were soon enveloped in bright light before being transported to the lab. Before they vanished he then leaned in to whisper something to his sister, "Heh, maybe I might consider being part of their team instead of grump's when this is over." he then snickered which brought a cheeky grin to Laura's ace.

"Just what I was thinking Rod." she giggled as they vanished from the reactor core room.

 **(Later)**

A while later, as everyone began focusing on their allocated jobs to do, either bringing new parts or repairing damages around the core, they managed to make plenty of progress aside from the minor hiccups such as the dinosaurs playing with the spare parts or tools or that they got in one another's way but in the end all proceeded well. After the last piece was inserted, Jonathan then did a quick sweep around the room checking the mainframe and systems once more before narrowing his eyes, "Alright, the time drive seems functional now, but there's only one way to be certain…." he said to himself before pointing out to the door, "Everyone to the deck!" he bellowed as everyone looked up and stopped what they were doing.

"You heard the android! Let's follow him!" Dr Z cried as everyone hopped out from their stations and ran out to the upper deck leaving behind their tools and any bits of grime and dirt they also dug out from inside the machine.

Not long after they left, Helga soon stepped in with a vacuum cleaner and hardened her expression crossly and folded her arms on her hips in disappointment, "Messy messy….when will they ever learn…." she grumbled shaking her head in disapproval before she began vacuuming the mess they left behind.

 **(Meanwhile)**

As everyone arrived up at the upper deck, Rex took out his TPS to check on his parents' signal, and the results were worrying,"The signal's getting weak…." he said with a hint of anxiety in his tone.

"What happens if it disappears?" Max asked, feeling like he should yet he feared the answer regardless.

"Then we won't be able to find the exact location of our parents." Rex answered reluctantly, "Even if we can get the ship into time warp there's no way we'll be able to follow them!"

"We could lose them forever in an endless sea of time and space….." Cera said heavily as her heart began to sink at the horrible thought of their worst case scenario coming to pass….

"Oh no…." Zoe sighed deeply with worry along with Max as hope of finding and rescuing their parents was beginning to seep from their spirits.

As much as they didn't want to rush Dr Z with the repairs, time was indeed of the essence so they had to be quick otherwise they'd lose their chance forever….Fortunately their dinosaurs didn't feel the same as they were, as they spun around in a chair in a carefree manner till they got all dizzy, even Miku fell off the chair as the world spun before her eyes.

"Why the long faces?" Dr Z interrupted them as he hopped in a seat, "Don't you know no one likes a sad sack!" he said before pushing buttons randomly on the console in front of him.

"What's the matter? Someone take your candy?" Ursula said mockingly at the D Team as she and the trio joined their boss and everyone else at the front.

"Or maybe they stub their itty bitty widdle toe?" Zander followed taking amusement and seeing it as a chance to rub it in since they wouldn't dare fight knowing they were needed.

The D Team hardened their gazes at their unlikely allies feeling offended that they were rubbing in their misery. Cera too feeling for them and it was taking all she had to keep herself from exploding in anger at their careless comments at the D Team's dilemma.

"Will you be quiet?" Max grunted as he and the others shot furious glares at the Alpha gang, only holding themselves back from getting personal only because they needed them to help with the repairs, though that didn't mean they could attack them in another way.

"Yeah just zip it old lady!" Zoe cried out.

Like a blast from the past the signature insult hit Ursula like a bullseye as she exploded in anger! "Hey! How dare you call me an old lady!?" she screamed furiously with Zander and Ed only barely managing to hold her back.

Cera was tempted to put the Trio in their place, as she began popping her knuckles and a shade covered her eyes menacingly unbeknownst to her teammates. She was about to let loose everything she had in her when a voice suddenly broke her out of her rage.

"Great news everyone!" Dr Z cried out with a big grin on his face,"I have fixed the machine!" he announced as he pressed another button proudly.

"Yeah?" Max and Zoe smiled with hope as any hard feelings they had towards the Trio soon vanished.

"It's really fixed!?" Rex asked feeling hopeful that they could finally make a move after the long wait, while Cera raised an eyebrow in suspicion at the old man.

"I said I'd fix it! I fixed it!" Dr Z muttered feeling offended at their doubts in him, "And now I'm telling you it's fixed! Am I the greatest or what!?" he cheered as he did a spin and struck a pose at the end.

"Woo hoo!"

"Hooray!" The trio cheered out loud praising their body in all his glory and talent, clapping or shooting out streamers in celebration.

Despite his claim of success, Cera narrowed her eyes with suspicion, having recalled Rod and Laura telling her earlier about Dr Z having a history of building defective equipment which only broke down or malfunctioned soon after, but under the circumstances he was their only chance so like it or not she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt….for now….

"Now quickly! Put the stones in the warp panel!" he pointed out as the D Team placed their stones into the console, completing the stone set as their dinosaurs looked on with interest. "Now Jonathan! Try to fire up the war generator!" Dr Z then instructed as the android obediently followed.

"Alright then here we go!" he said keying in some functions into the monitor as the engine began to rumble and echo through the halls of the ship.

"Nothing like the sweet sound of time folding in on itself." Dr Z smiled feeling proud of himself. As the rest of the D Team listened on, everything seemed fine, but little did they know was that this was merely the calm before the storm, a storm Dr Z was about to bring down on them all. "Now all we have to do is set the time we want and then in no time we'll be there!" he said waggling his fingers at the D Team who stared back at him suspiciously, "Altogether who's the greatest evil scientist of our time!? Heck! Maybe of all time!" he cried out as he cockily hit some buttons which caused lights in the control deck to light up brightly as the ship began to start up!

"Hmm!?"

"Huh?" Everyone looked around worryingly as the roar of the machines got louder and soon they began to activate and speed ahead!

"That isn't supposed to happen! I didn't tell it where we want to go!" Dr Z cried frantically as the others looked to him in alarm that something was going wrong!

"HUH!?"

"WHAT!?" They all cried as suddenly they shot ahead through the skies and soon through a time portal, very soon they were drifting endlessly through a time stream with no idea of where they were heading!

"No one set a destination!" Zander gasped clutching his face in fear.

"I know….." Ed squeaked nervously as he sat down on his legs and hugged them in like a terrified child.

"So them…where is this thing taking us?" Ursula asked nervously.

"Stop complaining you three!" Dr Z yelled getting sick of their lack of faith in him before deciding to relish in his own premature triumph while everyone else looked around restlessly trying to figure out what was going on, "Hahahaha! We're travelling through time! That's all that matters!" he then laughed out loud cockily as the chibi dinosaurs all popped their heads out from their hiding spots after just being spooked by the time machine's sudden activation.

"No, what matters is that we end up whenever our parents are." Zoe corrected him nervously, fearing the worst over what would happen to them at this rate.

As Rex checked his TPS to see whether they were on the right track, unfortunately what he saw was the complete oppose of the results he hoped for, "This is bad! We're losing the signal!" he cried seeing the light flashing to glow dimmer and dimmer with each second passing!

"Argh! We were tricked!" Max shouted out at Dr Z as Cera aimed her frustration at him too.

"That or he messed up real big this time and doomed us all." she added on top of it.

"I didn't trick you but I would've if I thought of it." Dr Z snarked as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head uncaringly, "All that's important is that we're on our way."

"On our way to where!?" Rex yelled in frustration already having enough of his bad attitude.

"Ha! He doesn't have any idea where we're going!" Max cried.

"That's ridiculous! Ahahaha!" Dr Z then laughed out loud unwilling to admit he had screwed up real bad, while putting up a facade of confidence, one the trio were quick to see through.

"Tell the truth Dr Z!" Zander then demanded as he and the others became worried for real, "We're racing uncontrollably through time and you have absolutely no clue where we're headed!" he shouted angrily with concern.

Cera couldn't help but smile seeing he's being smart for once.

"And plus now we're separated from Rod and Laura!" Ed added on top of that.

"What?" Dr Z gasped in shock at the thought of leaving his 2 grandkids all alone back in the past and at how careless he was.

Zoe then looked to the others, "Now that he mentions it I haven't seen them since they went to the D Lab." she said.

"They left!?" Dr Z cried in alarm.

"Great," Cera then muttered face palming hard, "Now the only 2 people from the alpha gang we can truly count on are left behind and we're stuck on this ship spiralling to who knows where while surround by nincompoops…." she moaned to herself, "It's like being lost at sea but a thousand times worse!" She cried out feeling increasingly worried, also rather sad since they were looking forward to going home only to have their hopes dashed once more. That meant she'd have to go work on communications and hope that Reese had the TPS systems managed on her end, if they manage to survive their ordeal.

"If we keep going like this we could end up at the beginning of time!" Ursula squealed.

"I didn't think of that…." Dr Z muttered.

"Since when do you think of anything!?" Cera then yelled out loud.

Dr Z then widened his eyes taking offence at her statement, "GAH! What nerve!" he growled shaking his fist at her while a tic mark appeared on his forehead.

"She does have a point there, considering you turned on my dad without thinking in the first place." Rex grumbled as he shot a glare at the old man, making him sweat with no way of defending himself.

"Urgh…."

"I can't steer us to our time destination." Jonathan stated doing his best to key in the right protocols which were being rejected one after the other, "I'm afraid those controls aren't working at all!"

The D Team then raised an eyebrow at the man they put their misplaced faith in, "Fixed you said?"

"Guess we were kidding ourselves to expect anything from a whack job like him."

"Rod and Laura were right about you being a quack." They each said which further added to Dr Z's frustrations.

"Say what!?" he exclaimed at the realisation that even his own grandchildren were talking smack behind his back. "When I see them again I'll set them straight for talking such bad things about me behind my back." he hissed gnashing his teeth before looking down to the only 3 remaining people he believed could even have some having hope of faith in him, "Of course you 3 still believe in me right?" he then asked them with puppy dog eyes but all he earned form them were expressions of insecurity or unsureness.

"Umm…."

"Err…." They all muttered either scratching their heads or whistling causally while looking away from him.

"Ugh…." seeing he was quickly losing face he then cried out frantically, "Do something!" he demanded since he didn't have any ideas at all and usually relied on others to do the work for him.

"What if we're going toward the end of time!?" Zander then cried out as his heart began racing panicky.

"Either way we'd be destroyed!" Jonathan pointed out.

"Ah!"

"Destroyed?" Zoe squeaked weakly as they all began fearing the worst case scenario, it was a race against the clock counting down to their own demise if they didn't do something soon.

"If that happens we won't be able to save everyone else!" Cera gasped knowing the consequences it would have.

"What if you made a crash landing!?" Max then suggested hopefully.

"I could do that but there would be 2 dangers." Jonathan responded uneasily knowing the risks that came with that choice.

"What are they?" Max asked nervously.

He turned back to answer him, "One would be the crash, the other is we don't know where'd we end up." he said, both of which made valid points but under the circumstances they had to take that chance.

"Everything does have its risks…." Cera said in agreement before turning serious, "But if we do that we might be able to affect proper repairs and then go after the others better later!" As she finished a red alarm lit up catching everyone's attention and setting them further on edge.

Realising the urgency of their situation and the dangers they'd be in if they didn't try anything soon, Max then became serious, "I say go for it!" Max he yelled having made up his mind and knowing what had to be done if they were to have even the slightest hope of serving this.

Seeing his point, Jonathan then accepted his reasoning as he began to give it his all! "Alright! Hang on!" he yelled as he turned the time machine around, which soon vanished into another time portal on the side as it was steered off the path they were on.

As they shot through the new time warp tunnel a stream of energy shot ahead of them as they erupted at the other end, being a lush green forest of some sort as they began racing towards the ground itself!

"WAAAAAHHH!"

"AAAAAAHH!"

"We're going down!" Max cried as they all hit the ground with a huge thud which sent everyone flying about and out of their seats!

"AAAAH!"

CRASH!

As the ship landed with a crash into the ground, a huge cloud of dust erupted from the land and it sent ground tremors through the earth, before a loud shriek suddenly echoed from outside.

Screech!

"Huh?" Cera was the first to wake up caught sight as she popped her head up and looked around, before catching sight of something ahead in the open sky. The shape of the flying creature bore a close resemblance to one of the move cards Zoe used in her arsenal, "Was that a-"

"Oh?"

"Huh?"

Everyone soon looked up to see Jonathan had managed to get the ship airborne once more as they slowly began looking around to assess their surroundings hoping to deduce where they ended up now.

"Where are we?" Max then asked.

"There's some pretty big clues right below us." Rex pointed out as a screen lit up, depicting a group of large herbivorous dinosaurs grand down below on the lowlands, a species which Max instantly recognised.

"Those are triceratops!" Max gasped in amazement.

"So that means we're in the-" Zoe

"Cretaceous period!" Rex finished for Zoe, just as surprised as she was. Cera too was speechless at the time period they all ended up in, they were being in the time when dinosaurs still lived on the planet and weren't mere fossils, sure they had them as cards now but only as a mere fraction of their species compared to the vast herds that were spread out across the and below.

"Hey guys." Max then looked behind and found out there were some people missing from their band of misfits, "Where's the alpha gang?" he asked as they began looking around the room hoping to find any traces or clues they left but none turned up.

Feeling suspicious they were up to no good, Rex quickly turned around to the console, "Their stones are gone!" he gasped realising that they must have gone down, and without their stones they wouldn't be able to go anywhere either!

"Those creeps!" Max growled in annoyance as the rest of the D Team realised they were up to their old tricks again.

"Hey over there! Look!" Zoe pointed out at a screen which just lit up.

"Huh?" As they all looked, they saw Dr Z and his minions run out to the open prairie before summoning out Terry, who began chasing after and snapping at the peaceful herbivores who were minding their own business!

"AH!"

"NO!" The D team gasped in alarm at them harassing the dinosaurs for his own amusement.

Cera clicked her tongue at the sight, "Guess they didn't learn their lesson about messing with the dinosaurs…." she hissed.

"This is just like the last time we came here…." Jonathan grumbled in disappointment seeing it to be just like a replay of what happened before.

Max clenched his hand into a fist not willing to standby and let them have their way, "Grr! They won't get away with this!" he grunted before looking to the others, "Come on guys! Time to take these these babies out for a test spin!" he said as he held his arm out and flashed the dino bracer clamped on it which shone in the light!

"Yeah!"

"Can't think of a better time than now." Rex and Zoe cheered in agreement as they ran off to grab their stones from the console and then insert them into the bracers.

As her friends got themselves prepped for battle, Cera couldn't help but eye what they were doing with some degree of worry, "Are you sure guys?" she asked feeling unsure, "Those things aren't tested yet, I'm not sure if they even work."

"We'll have to take our chances!" Max responded firmly as he and the others loaded up their old move cards into the dino gadgets, "If we don't hurry they'll end up hurting those poor dinosaurs who can't fight back against Terry who can use move cards!"

"He's right, there's no more time to waste." said Rex as Zoe nodded with both her friends.

"Guess you're right about that…." Cera sighed seeing no other way before opening her eyes seriously, "But I'm coming with you to make sure you can bring out Chomp and the others in case it doesn't work." she said while folding her arms.

Upon her words the rest of the D Team smiled with encouragement, "Thanks Cera," said Max putting a hand on her shoulder, "Unlike Dr Z we can always count on you for anything."

"Heh, just like old times." Zoe grinned as she nodded affirmatively back to them.

Max then pumped up his fist taking initiative, "Right, let's go now!" he said as he pressed a single button which returned Chomp to his card.

"Hey it works….so far…." Cera blinked her eyes in surprise that it worked really well, much better than she first thought.

"It's good enough for us!" said Rex as he and Zoe did the same to their partners and Cera used her dinoshot to return Miku to a card too. Rex then looked over to the front deck, "Jonathan!" he yelled as the butler acknowledged his orders.

"Right away Master Rex!" He said pressing a button as the D Team were enveloped in bright light and disappeared.

As they appeared on the ground they caught sight of the Alpha gang causing trouble right in front of them, "There they are!" Cera pointed out as they saw Terry had set his sights on the triceratops herd who were panicking as they huddled together, the large adults keeping the young behind. Cera then sighed noticing Terry seemed to be enjoying himself too as the hunter picking on such helpless prey, no doubt she had to discipline him on that later when this was over.

"Hey! You leave those dinosaurs alone!" Max yelled catching the Alpha Gang's attention as they rushed out.

"Sure I'll leave them alone!" Dr Z snickered insincerely, "Just as soon as I capture them all and take them back to join my dinosaur kingdom! Haha!" he cheered as his henchmen stuck out their tongues mockingly at the D Team!

To them that meant they had to do things the hard way as usual, "Come on guys! Let's stop em!" Max grunted as he slashed his card, "Dino slash! Go! Triceratops! Roar!" he yelled summoning Chomp to full size as he roared out and charged ahead to protect his own kind!

"Hey…it actually works!" Cera cheered as her face brightened up happily to see its' success

"Nice!"

"Good job Cera!" Rex and Zoe both cheered her on knowing the same can no doubt be said for their own bracers.

She then blushed and scratched her head sheepishly at their praise, "Thank Cretacia and Reese, she designed it and the other patched it up, I just helped out." she said before looking ahead seriously, "Let's just hope it handles and functions like it's supposed to." she then thought as Chomp charged into battle!

The sky soon turned colourful as Chomp caught Terry off guard, charging and knocking him over at his side away as he took a stand in front of the herd! The other triceratops were amazed at their mysterious saviour, a lone trike taking on a tyrannosaurus? That was almost unheard of. Regardless sensing the great courage this individual had they took a stand behind Chomp as he roared out defensively against his old rival Terry!

"You're gonna pay for that!" Dr Z growled angrily at Max spoiling his fun as he took out a move card, "Volcano burst!" Slashing it Terry roared charging up flames in his jaws before throwing them at Chomp, who heroically put himself between Terry's attack and the herd as he used his own body to shield them from any harm as they roared out in a panic and in awe at their mysterious protector!

"Chomp! Go and get em!" Max cheered him on as he withstood Terry's fiery assault!

Rex narrowed his eyes noticing the whole alpha gang was fixated on the battle, "They're all distracted." he said before looking to Zoe and Cera, "Come on guys, now's our chance to stop the rest of them before they try anything else!"

Both girls then nodded in agreement with him, "Yeah! Right behind you!"

"Heh, just like old times!" Cera smirked as the 3 of them took out their cards and slashed them across their devices!

"Dino slash!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Spring up Parasaurolophus!"

"Shine Microraptor!" All 3 of their dinosaurs appeared on the field and stomped up to right behind the Trio who were completely oblivious to their presence, as Ursula soon blinked her eyes noticing something was off.

"Hmm? Hey do you guys feel something breathing down your neck?" she asked curiously as she looked to the 2 men next to her.

On closer inspection they both realised there were 2 large shadows covering over them, "Now that you mention it…." As they turned around they widened their eyes and turned pale to see Ace and Paris looming over them both, with Miku on top of Ace flaring out her wings and fangs! "Ack!" They stuttered and turned pale realising they were caught off guard.

Shaking in fear an looking over to the D Team who were shooting glares at them, "Don't even think of trying anything, got it?" Rex warned seriously as they nodded together in unison while sweating bullets!

"Uh huh…."

Meanwhile Terry was about to fire off another volcano burst, but before he could fire it, a group of dinosaurs inspired by Chomp's bravery leapt in to join the battle! An ampelosaurus ran from out of nowhere to knock Terry over to a pachycephalosaurus and styracosaurus on the other end before they both threw him over and he crashed down to the ground! Cera had to admit it was kinda painful to see poor Terry get ganged up on like that, but he was acting like a total bully and she also felt rather touched by how dinosaurs can truly stand up for each other when united together.

Max soon saw his chance, "And now! Lightning strike!" He declared as the move card elected from his dino gadget and he slashed it, charging Chomp with electricity which he then fired off at Terry! The surge of lightning knocked Terry out of the battle and returned him to a card! "Alright!" Max cheered triumphantly as Dr Z retrieved Terry's card with a claw before begrudgingly turning back to his hated enemy.

"Alpha gang!" he yelled refusing to accept defeat, "Bring out Spiny and Tank now!" he ordered pointing out at Max this time meaning business!

"I wish we could…." Ursula croaked as the other dinosaurs completely cornered her and the trio, "But if we did we'd be lunch…."

"What do you mean?" Dr Z grumbled as he turned to look back, only for his weak heart to skip a beat realising his time was up! "Gah!"

"It's over Dr Z!"

"Yeah you leave the dinosaurs alone!" said Rex and Zoe in disappointment.

"Thought you would've lender your lesson after the last time, but it looks like you'll need to be reeducated." Cera shook her head in disappointment as Ace walked up to him and roared while Miku screeched from ontop of him!

"Th….That's a good boy! Settle down now!" Dr Z shivered nervously as he surrendered.

Chomp's moment of victory didn't last long though, as soon the other dinosaurs grew increasingly restless and agitated, as something was triggering their primal instincts of fear and caution, which worried everyone else who saw.

"Huh? What's going on?" Max wondered curiously, but the answer he was going to receive was one that he wasn't going to like one bit.

"Everyone! You must return to the ship immediately!" Jonathan yelled out in a panic as he charged out from the Backlander and everyone else turned to look.

"What is it!? What's happening Jonathan!?" Rex asked.

"Up in the sky! A giant meteor is racing towards us!" he wanted pointing out to the sky itself!

"Huh?" Max and everyone else turned to look up and were caught completely by surprise as the sky began to turn red, as meteors soon began to rain down from the sky itself! "Whoa!"

As Cera stared worriedly at the incoming meteor and asteroids trailing behind it, she soon began to realise that the time period they ended up in was at the end of the dinosaur's reign, the very mass extinction event which wiped them out which was only spoken of in theories, they were now seeing it with their very own eyes! The very cataclysmic event which Dr Ancient came to save the dinosaurs from in the first place, which he came to realise when the stones, containing their final wishes and hopes for another time to answer and save them had reached out to him.

"Time to get out of here!" Dr Z screamed frantically as he ran back to the ship as fast as his little old legs could carry him!

"Wait for us! WAAAAH!" The trio squealed as they ran back to the timeship and were beamed back up to safety!

Miku, Ace and Paris were both paralysed by fear to see their incoming doom approaching them, so Cera, Rex and Zoe quickly returned them to their cards and began to make a beeline for the ship only to realise Max was walking out in front of them!

"Come on Max! Let's get out of here!" Zoe cried.

He said nothing but his gaze reminded fixated in front. As the others looked in the direction he was facing they soon realised why, "But Chomp…..he ran off with the other dinosaurs…." he said sadly as his partner ran off following the herd. His instincts were telling him to follow the herd, not wanting them to perish in the flames about to befall them all. Cera soon began to realise this was hard, not jut for the D Team who loved dinosaurs with all their heart, but also Chomp who would only be able to watch his species be wiped out and he could do nothing to prevent it….

Realising if they stayed they'd all be doomed, Cera cried out to him once more, "Max! Call him back now!"

Waking up from his thoughts he gritted his teeth painfully as he began to make a really hard choice, "Urgh! Hey Chomp! Come back! Hurry!" he yelled as Chomp stopped and looked back, before being returned to a card and safely back into Max's hand. As he looked up he could only shudder as a rain of fire soon came upon the ancient world, leaving flames and destruction in its wake marking the end of the age of dinosaurs….he could only stare speechlessly as the nightmares he dreamt of before were now happening right before his own eyes, and they were far worse than anything he first thought.

"Watch out Max!" Rex cried to his friend worriedly but he still remained frozen, paralysed by his own emotions as well as the panicked cries of fleeing or trapped dinosaurs who would either met their end by the meteors or the destruction that they caused! Unable to stand by any longer, Rex ran up to him and shouted out to wake him up, "Max hurry!" he yelled before running back to the ship himself.

"Come on Max!" Zoe followed.

"Well save them another way! Right now we need to save ourselves!" Cera followed as she chased after Rex and Zoe, avoiding a meteor in time, "Don't forget! If you're gone then who'll save your parents!?"

Upon hearing those words, Max took one last look at the ancient world before it would cease to exist, before reluctantly turning his back on it and all the dinosaurs that would soon be wiped out without mercy. As they teleported in the Alpha Gang and Jonathan were all at the controls ready to move!

"Get this tin can out of here before we become extinct along with the dinosaurs!" Dr Z cried out in a panic. As much as the D Team would hate to admit it, perhaps the dinosaurs would be better off being safe in Dr Z's dinosaur kingdom instead of being subjected to extinction so brutally like now.

As the ship began to power up, the D Team could only stare helplessly, overwhelmed with grief and sadness as dinosaurs burned in the fire, screeching for help as families became broken or separated forever, "It's terrible….those poor dinosaurs are doomed…." No words could describe the emotions that were going through them right that moment as the dinosaurs they loved so much with all their hearts were being wiped out.

"We are ready to launch!" Jonathan yelled out, "But I still cannot set a target time!"

"Just get this thing going now!" Dr Z yelled frantically, uncaring where they went as long as they got out of this doomed time period alive! Without hesitation he pressed the button which sent the Backlander shooting forward through she skies as a time portal opened! As the D Team eyed the devastated ancient world before them, fire raining down mercilessly and the dinosaurs helpless before the might of the meteors, they could only stare speechlessly….unabel to do a thing for them no matter how hard they tried…it devastating especially for the chibi dinosaurs who could only watch their brethren perish in the flames. Before finally vanishing from sight, Cera caught sight of a single giant meteor, with 7 colours inside it, crash down into the earth itself causing a massive pillar of dust and fire to erupt from its collision before blanketing the planet in darkness…..which she narrowed her eyes at suspiciously at the light it gave off as the portal closed behind them, "What….was that?" Was all she asked herself as Miku narrowed her eyes aggressively seeing it to be part of the calamity which doomed her species.

As the gang travelled through the time stream, everyone was still trying their best to get past their near death experience back in the dinosaur world though it wasn't easy having first saw the event first hand with their very own eyes, which was far worse than anything they imagined could have ever happened to the dinosaurs. Cera shook her head clear seeing they were in the clear now, she breathed a deep sigh of relief seeing they were alive and made it out in time, though it didn't help her friends as they still stared unable to move on, having their minds scarred after seeing the calamity that had befell the dinosaurs they loved so much.

"I wish there was something we could've done." said Zoe feeling very sad.

"Me too." Rex added feeling guilty at being unable to help them when they needed it most, "But I guess that was their fate…." he then said at the end deciding there was no way around it now that it was done and it was far beyond human control.

"Yeah their fate…." Max said pained at the decision mother nature made and seeing how helpless any living creature would be in face of her, "And I guess there's no way you can change fate…." While it was hard to accept that it was the reality of some cases, in the end if it wasn't for this event then it wouldn't give rise to humanity or the world they knew….though that still didn't make them feel that much better realising the beautiful world that had to be sacrificed in order to give brith to their own civilisation. If only there was a way for dinosaurs and people to coexist…..

"It's not all that bad guys." Cera then spoke up which made them all focus to her who was smiling rather positively, "Look one the bright side, thanks to Dr Ancient at least some of them will be able to continue their legacy in the future." she explained hinting the dinosaur cards back in the vault behind them, "Not to mention Chomp, Ace, Terry and the others too." she then said motioning to the other chibi dinosaurs nearby who were looking at her too, "If it wasn't for what the Ancients did they all would've been wiped out for good." she said petting Chomp on the head a little with a smile of encouragement, "But now they have a chance for a new life in the future, once we find your parents of course." she concluded at the end.

As they all looked to one another pondering over her exact words, they could see there was truth in her words, thanks to Dr Ancient at least some of the dinosaurs will live to see tomorrow and they were the ones to have saved them in the start. Feeling relieved that they did manage to make a difference to some even if not all, was enough to keep their spirits strong, "Yeah….I guess you're right…." they nodded knowing it was the truth and they had to be in high spirits too if they were to hold onto the hopes of rescuing their parents and setting things right.

"Thanks Cera, we needed that." they said in response as she smiled back to them.

"Don't mention it." she replied feeling happy she was able to lift all their spirits up and getting them to not think about what they can't do or change in the past, but to focus on the future and what they can do in the future, and that meant finding their parents and saving the dinosaurs they had with them now. Little did they know, was this group of time travelling heroes was soon about two find the guide that would lead them on a brand new adventure which made their past experiences look more like school field trips, and one that would echo through the halls of time for ages to come.

It was at that moment a bright light suddenly shone by the corner of her eye, which caused it to twitch as she turned to face, only to widen them in sight of a shining bright tail and a set of wings which opened up in the time stream! It was a flying feathered pterosaur, bathed in light resembling that of the 6 stone plates, flying gracefully through the time tunnel, so bright and beautiful….it was nothing like she had ever seen!

"Hey guys look!" Cera pointed out as they everyone in the ship fixated their eyes on the new arrival flying in front of them! They too were entranced by the creature's majestic beauty and words couldn't describe the emotions they were feeling just looking at her.

"AH!" Max gasped while others stared speechlessly, and Dr Z's jaw hung.

"What is that thing?" Zoe pointed out curiously as they all kept their eyes fixated on the pterosaur.

Cera was completely mesmerised, and so was Miku, but her heart skipped a beat as the pterosaur suddenly spoke to them all! "You are all in great danger." she said in a gentle tone, one which Cera seemed to have heard somewhere though she couldn't put her finger on it, "But if you follow me, I will guide you all to safety." As she continued to speak, everyone, including the Backlander itself was bathed in the bright rainbow light of her aura which was indeed like that of the stones, "And I will also guide you to your destiny." she said as she drifted further away in front of them, guiding the ship along her flight path through time.

"That…pterosaur…." Cera breathed to herself as she felt her heart skip a beat and a memory flash before her eyes, "It's just like….." When she was adrift in space helplessly, then a great flying creature made of pure light energy descended upon her in her final moments before shining radiantly and causing her vision to black out. As she came to again, she blinked her eyes and shook her head realising she indeed met this very pterosaur once….in a dream? Or was it, in the past? "Ah…..could it….be?"

 **And thus concludes the debut to season 2, stay tuned for Cera's first battle next chapter and how she'll throw down with the pirates along with the D Team! As shown here Cera meets her saviour for the first time as far as she knows unaware they met once in the past, as well as slowly picking up new pieces of her pat as she joins the D Team on a new adventure through time and space to save their parents and all reality as they know it.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **darkblade2814**

 **-Yup and Cera will be taking part in the pirate battles too in a few ways you wouldn't expect.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Stay tuned.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-** **Just felt that of dinosaurs did live on in the anime like Seth wanted how would that affect humans and their growth of civilisation too. Also because no one summoned more than 3 dinosaurs max.**


	30. Ancient Roman Holiday

Chapter 30

Ancient Roman Holiday

The D Team and Alpha gang, who were racing through time and space uncontrollably without a set time, were doomed to be trapped in the never ending expanse of the time tunnel for all eternity, but when all hope seems lost, it came before them in a most unexpected form, a shining pterosaur coloured like that of the stones, soon came into view and glided gracefully along the currents of time before the Backlander as everyone eyed her in awe and amazement, "Follow me and I will guide you to your destiny." she said to them as she awaited for their response patiently.

As everyone stared and their jaws hung speechlessly, Rex suddenly snapped out of his funk and looked to the others, "Whoa! What do you guys think that thing is?" he asked.

"Looks kinda like….a pterosaur?" Cera blinked her eyes observingly before seeing something rather familiar about her, "Wait….it looks kinda like…." she turned to look at her partner on her shoulder, and after a little observing she could see that Miku in full sized form did resemble their new friend, could it be a coincidence though she wondered.

"I don't know but I say we follow it!" Max replied to Rex in excitement as Cera looked up to them.

"Yeah, I think we should," she said rather confidently as they turned their attention to her, looking puzzled as to why she sounded so trusting. "After all we've got nowhere else to go from here and we've got nothing to lose." she then replied which the others were satisfied with, though for some reason in her own heart and mind….she felt a sort of peace with this pterosaur and believed sincerely that they could trust her.

Sadly not everyone was on board with the idea as Dr Z suddenly let out a violent protest, "Ha! We're not following some weird looking wacko bird!" he yelled out.

"If anyone's weird and wacko around here it's you…." Cera muttered narrowing her eyes at the old man while taking offence at his words.

"I think it's pretty….." Ursula commented, which made the red headed girl smile a bit seeing at leasts he could appreciate its beauty.

Unfortunately as before not everyone thought the same as she did, "Hmph! You remember Jennifer?" Ed suddenly scoffed in disapproval for some odd reason.

"She was pretty and Ed followed her right off a cliff…." Zander followed which made both Ursula and Dr Z growl.

"Grrr!"

Cera sweat dropped knowing it must be one of their old personal issues that she shouldn't bother asking, before Max then spoke out, "Well I think we can trust her!"

"Trust her with your fate not mine!" Dr Z retorted in defiance.

It was at that very moment, the dinosaurs all began to bark with excitement as they came to the front seat where Jonathan was so they could get a good look at the pterosaur up close. In fact, Cera could also notice they were rather fixated on her too and it looked as though they either know her or shared some sort of connection somewhere. Even if she couldn't deduce what it was, the dinosaurs had no doubt better instincts than people had and anyone the dinosaurs can trust was without a fact good no doubt.

"Her voice reminds me of the one I heard from the stones!" Max then added feeling assured of himself before looking up front with a smile, "Hey look!" The dinosaurs were all barking eagerly and with excitement seeing her as their owners looked on with a smile, "These guys think we can trust her too."

"It's like they know her…." Zoe smiled in agreement with Rex and Cera as they all became increasingly restless, hogging Jonathan's seat and pushing on his head.

"We can't control where the time machine takes us anyway so we might as well follow her." said Max feeling excited as to where they'll go while also making the best of their current situation.

"Yeah, I totally agree." Rex smiled before focusing on Jonathan, "Jonathan! Take us to our destiny!" he ordered.

"Right away sir!" The android responded obediently despite feeling overwhelmed by the chibi dinosaurs overwhelming him like hyperactive children. Pushing on the controls the Backlander followed after the pterosaur as she lead through another time warp tunnel which diverted away from the main stream! It soon sped ahead at a bright light at the end and as it broke through into a mountainous forest region they all found themselves charging straight into a mountain!

"WAAAAAAAAHHH!" Everyone screamed in terror as they were about to crash! Using all the strength he had Jonathan pulled up, causing the Backlander to skid across the side of the mountain and then crashing down across the ground ripping through trees and foliage before coming to a stop in the middle of the valley!

BOOM!

The impact sent everyone off balance as they collapsed where they were initially standing or sitting and after a while, Max and the Chomp were the first to awaken from the bunch, "Huh?" Max looked up as he came to his senses first and his partner Chomp greeted him with a bark. "Where are we?" he asked as he stood up and slowly everyone else began to wake up though still sightly dazed after the crash.

"Ugh….probably in that pterosaur's nest…." Ursula groaned as she looked up.

"About to become it's dinner!" Zander suddenly cried all panicky.

As Cera woke up she then frowned at their remarks, "Ridiculous….." she sighed shaking head at their idiocy and also while still trying to regain her balance as she stood up groggily helping Zoe and Rex up.

"The TPS says we're somewhere around the year 60 or 70 BC." said Rex after pressing some buttons on his device, "And get this! It looks like we're in Italy!"

Jonathan then brought up a couple of screens on for a more precise reading, "According to the time machine the year is 73 BC and we have touched down near Ancient Rome." he explained.

"The Roman Empire I guess?" Cera asked.

"Well that's sort of the same…." Zoe muttered thinking about it.

"Not it's not! That TPS contrition is no batter than a wee gee board!" Dr Z shouted ruling insults at Rex.

"Well modern Rome is part of Italy you know…." Rex muttered taking offence at his word.

Unfortunately the old man hadn't learn to keep his mouth shut or show any respect as he continued to hurl even more offensive insults at the boy, "Ha! Are you sure you didn't get that thing from a gumboil machine!?" he scoffed before folding his arms, "I guess that's to be expected since it was made by a couple of losers like the Ancients!" he grinned which set off as the last straw for the D Team.

"You be quiet!" Rex yelled back angrily taking offence as his friends joined in to back him up.

"The Ancients created this time machine! What have you done that's as good!?" Max countered.

"The better question is what has he done at all?" Cera grunted as she folded her arms and scowled at the old man.

"What!?" he exclaimed at the nerve the children were exhibiting in talking down to him, at the same time having nothing at all to back up his claims !

"If anything what he's done is way worse than anything good." Cera huffed folding her arms crossly while Miku snarled mirroring her anger.

"W…Well there's lots of things!" Dr Z stuttered before grinning cheekily, "I don't like to brag, in fact I'm famous for not bragging!"

"You're bragging now." Rex corrected him.

"Ha! Well you know, true greatness is hard to hide sometimes." Dr Z scoffed as turned to look away, finding this conversation beneath him but in actual fact he was trying to run away from the harsh and bitter truth.

Suddenly, Rex's TPS device began beeping which caught everyone's attention, "Huh!?"

"What is it Rex?" Max asked curiously as they looked to him taking it out.

"It looks like we found our parents!" he answered as his friends widened their eyes in surprise at their stroke of luck.

"For real!?" Zoe asked as she and Max widened their eyes and gasped in amazement.

"They're nearby….and they're in this time period." Rex answered her.

"You sure?" Max asked feeling hopeful.

"Yeah!" Rex answered firmly.

"That must mean that the flying pterosaur guided us here so we could rescue them!" Zoe stated.

"That could be." Cera nodded before folding her arms in suspicion, "Or perhaps maybe….it's for a bigger purpose in mind, and rescuing the others is merely a luxury in a much bigger picture….." she the thought to herself thinking about it carefully and anticipation of the possibilities. The fact that their parents were in this time period with them meant that their kidnappers were no doubt the same as the ones who attacked them in the ship not long ago, meaning they had time travel technology themselves, and without a doubt wanted them for some sort of evil scheme which could make Dr Z and Seth look like amateurs…..

Fortunately her friends were more optimistic seeing fortune had shone upon them, "Alright!" Max smiled feeling energised and filled with hope once again, "So where exactly does it say they are located?" he then asked eager to go rescue them all immediately.

As Rex began typing on hoping to triangulate their present coordinates he then narrowed his eyes hardly seeing he couldn't focus it exactly, "Urgh….I can't get a clear reading…." he grunted which brought down their spirits a little.

"Why not?" Max asked.

"It seems there's some sort of barrier around them." Rex answered him after looking closer at the readings.

"A barrier?" Max questioned him curiously.

"Dr Owen did say they were kidnapped by some alien." Cera then stated as the others looked to her, "Maybe their ship must be using a cloak like ours so that they can't be found…." she suggested.

"That may be…." Jonathan commented as he did a search with the Backhander's own scanners but turned up with the same results as Rex's TPS much to his disappointment.

"Great…." Max grumbled seeing now they were pretty much reduced to searching the entire world in this time period blind, which would no doubt take them forever and who knows if they would be taken to another time period by then.

Dr Z however was having enough of trying to help find the D Team's parents seeing it was taking precious time away from what he wanted, "You can't believe that hunk of junk!" Dr Z protested before looking down to the driver, "Jonathan! Fire up the engines immediately! Take us back to the time of the dinosaurs!" he demanded as the D team glared at him once more, clearly he enjoyed being the focus of everyone's anger and frustration.

"How can you even suggest that!?" Max yelled, "Our parents were time napped and we don't know who did it! We have to find them!"

"That's right! And besides Dr Z this ship doesn't belong to you!" Rex yelled in agreement.

"In fact you're only in this because Dr Ancient invited you along, this was never yours to begin with." Cera stated with a hard glare having remembered the truth behind all this, "I bet without him you'd be stuck at home wasting your life away doing nothing of value." she said as the rest of her friends nodded with her.

"Listen! If I hadn't fixed it you'd still be parked outside where the shrimp's old house used to be!" Dr Z yelled back in response.

"Fixed it? Ha! It's more like you and the alpha gang messed it up!" Zoe scoffed angrily, "So now we're racing uncontrollably back and forth through time and all over the world!"

"You're just a bad scientist that's all!" Max

"A complete disgrace to be precise, in fact I bet he doesn't even deserve the title of doctor, which I bet he either cheated to get or made firm himself." Cera

"GRRR! That's ridiculous!" Dr Z then growled angrily, taking offence at the children's remarks before looking to his subordinates for support, "Tell them what a great scientist I am!" he demanded from the Trio, though it didn't seem he'd be getting any backup from them this time.

"Err…The thing is Dr Z.…" Ursula squeaked nervously before looking down around them, "We don't really have control of the ship." she said both human wise and also due to it being unstable and unpredictable in its current condition.

"Which seems to be kinda dangerous…."

"Yes and scary too." Ed and Zander followed believing he may have actually made it even more unstable than it was before.

Their remarks made Cera smirk somewhat impressed, "About time those guys started thinking for themselves what's right." she thought to herself seeing for once they were actually being smart for a change.

"You're all a bunch of traitors!" Dr Z grumbled in disgust seeing he couldn't rely on anyone but himself now. He was about to try doing a single handed hostile takeover of the ship himself when suddenly Helga slipped behind him unnoticeably. As she stood behind him, Cera and the others couldn't help but smirk seeing he was going to get it now.

"There you are!" she spoke up starting the old man.

"Helga! Please help me!" Dr Z cried as he jumped onto her like a terrified baby hoping she'd back him up, "Those traitors Ursula, Ed and anger have taken sides against me…." he cried innocently.

Unfortunately his false words of help fell on deaf ears, for Helga had overheard their entire conversation and she didn't buy it one bit, in fact it only spurred her into wanting to discipline him even more, "You're just tired it is past your nap time." she grunted as

"Nap time!?" He gasped in bewilderment while the D Team did their best to hold in their laughter.

Helga then turned to look at Dr Z making sure he was paying full attention, "You're being cranky, now go to your room, put your head on your pillow and go beddy bye!" she demanded as grabbed Dr Z by the collar and lifted him up with ease so she could look into his eyes with a glare that could even pacific Terry!

"Urgh….Yes ma'am…." Dr Z croaked as he sweated bullets knowing there was no way he could possibly win against her at all. Seeing how scary she was made the D Team take note to never get on her bad side at all.

"Hee hee hee! Ursula snickered taking amusement in Dr Z being the one to be abused for a change, but that proved to be a fatal error as Helga quickly turned on her.

"That goes for you too!" the housemaid growled shattering her moment of joy.

"Huh!?" Ursula gasped before she and the others were lead out like children.

"I can't believe we have to nap…." Ed and Zander muttered in disappointment as Helga lead them all out to their bedrooms for another timeout and disciplining session.

"Huh? Didn't see that coming….." If there was one thing Cera had to admire Helga for, it was her ability to easily get the Alpha gang to listen to reason, perhaps she could use her to get some leverage agsidnt them in case they stepped out of line next time.

As they disappeared from sight behind the door, Max quickly turned to the rest of the D team seriously, "What do you guys say we get going and find our parents?" he asked them with a serious look in his eyes knowing what they had to do now and they couldn't afford to waste anymore time.

"Alright!" Zoe smiled while Rex nodded in agreement with him.

"Shall I transport you 4 to the surface?" Jonathan asked waiting for their confirmation.

"Yes, and be sure to keep the Alpha gang here." Rex added affirmatively, wanting to make sure they don't cause any trouble for the whole team should they leave or try anything else on board while they're away.

"Smart call." Cera replied commending his wise decision, "Knowing them they'd no doubt cause a scene and draw attention without even trying."

"Yes sir I'll do that." Jonathan acknowledged his orders as he got the ship started up and it took off from the crash site and back into the air.

As Cera looked down from above she then frowned seeing the huge damage they left on the forest and mountains as a result of their crash, "Look at that mess down there…." she sighed sadly, "We'd better fix things up so that we don't cause any damages to the timeline."

"I'll take care of that right now." Jonathan replied as he pressed a button, causing waves of right energy to be emitted from the Backlander, erasing the damage done to the landscape easily as if it had never happened! Even Cera had to admit it was impressed, and no matter how many times she saw it she'd never get used to it….

As Jonathan brought the ship into a position where they could be teleported to a safe area, Cera then realised something else that was equally important as she spoke up to her teammates, "Hey guys," she said catching their attention as they all looked to her, "On second thought I'd like to sit it out for now." she said as they blinked their eyes in surprise at her statement.

"Huh?"

"Sit it out?" Why?" They asked curiously, wondering why she wouldn't want to help them find their parents.

"Well like you said Dr Z did mess up the warp generator quite badly, it might be way worse than it was before, if we fly while it's like this we're basically travelling in a flying time bomb read to go off at any moment."

"So I think maybe it's best I stay behind to help patch it up for when we have to go off again. I'm the one best qualified to do it out of everyone else on this ship here."

The others thought about what she said and looked to one another for second opinions, but seeing no counter arguments they could use or any reason for it they looked back to her and smiled, "Good point…." said Max in full agreement while Zoe nodded with him.

"Alright, we'll keep you posted and call you if anything comes up." said Rex firmly, "In the meantime you keep us up to date on the repairs."

Cera nodded back at them, "Will do." she said standing away from them as Jonathan began to teleport them, "Good luck you guys." she gave them some last few words of encouragement as they nodded back and then gathered together.

"Ancient Rome here we come!" Max cried out as the light enveloped them and they were teleported to the surface.

As they all disappeared from sight, Cera then popped her fingers and stretched herself out a little before folding her arms on her hips, "Alright time to get to work." she said to herself with confidence before looking ahead, "Jonathan, are the alpha droids ready for work?" she asked as Rex's butler looked towards her.

"Indeed they are Cera." he said bowing down respectfully before returning to the controls, "I'll get them started up right now and hopefully they can prove useful." He said as he pressed a few buttons, "Consider this their way of making up for their past misdeeds."

"I'll take it." Cera replied taking his word for it as she headed to the reactor core room with Miku on her shoulder. Walking down the hallways, she could hear the Alpha gang snore loudly like pigs behind their rooms, so she went tiptoeing carefully past them so they wouldn't wake up, before passing into the engine room where a small group of reprogrammed droids of different shapes and sizes were awaiting her orders. Sensing no evil intent from any of them and having their programmes wiped clean from Seth's influence, she smiled feeling safe among them and relieved they were now on their side and could put their manual labour skills to right use, "Alright team, let's get to work!" she cried out as the droids jumped up and down chanting.

WORK! WORK! WORK!

The droids dispersed as they began fetching parts or tools from storage rooms or piecing together new circuit boards to replaced those that may have been damaged beyond repair, "Wow, Dr Z sure put some of these parts out of place….." Cera muttered seeing some of the mechanical pieces in places they shouldn't belong or were put in by mistake. She then turned sick and her stomach churned seeing some parts were also rather filthy, "Ugh, he's got some dirt clogged up in these gears…." she moaned having a feeling it had to be ear wax no doubt. Not willing to touch the old man's filth with her own hands or risk getting it on her, she then behind to a few droids awaiting orders, "You, clean this here!" she commanded as the droids saluted obediently.

"CLEAN! CLEAN!" They said as they ran in with cotton buds and cleaning spray for machines before removing all the gunk, dust and rust inside.

As she moved on to section after section she began to coordinate the droids rather effectively, making sure they were well engaged in their work so they'd be less liable to make mistakes, "Okay, now to weld these bits together….."

"Don't think I can't see you slacking off!"

"Put that motherboard over there!"

For a while progress went smoothly for the repair team and everything was proceeding rather well, especially given the alpha droids' track records at being major screws, perhaps Jonathan's reprogramming of them also may have helped improve their intelligence levels somewhat too, and that was a plus on Cera's book any day. And yet…despite the progress they made, she was still rather distracted as puzzled thoughts began to cross her mind and she stared into space without saying a word after some point, "…" On her mind, after reflecting on her recent flashback regarding the mysterious shining pterosaur who lead them here, she knew for certain that she met that very same pterosaur before once….but she couldn't quite place her finger on it, "That pterosaur….I just know I've seen it before…..but where and when?" she asked herself before closing her eyes and focusing harder, "She did say something about leading me to friends who will help me find my way…..Could this be what she had in mind? To save the D Team's parents across space and time? Or is there something beyond this?" she asked herself in deep thought before gritting her teeth and scrunching up her hair in frustration, "Urgh….it stinks when you don't have all the answers." she grunted in annoyance.

SQUAWK!

A loud screech cusddnely caused her to open her eyes and snap her out of her funk, "Huh?" Looking around frantically and also being surprised she soon took notice of Miku who was standing on a railing near her, who as eying her with concern. Seeing her again and realising what she had done, Cera then smiled back at her friend as she gently nuzzled her chin, "Thanks Miku, I needed that." she said gratefully before turning worried having seen the same kind of expression in her dinosaur's eyes, "You know what I'm thinking aren't you?" As the young raptor cooed in response Cera sighed back at her, "I feel the same…..but there's no point in worrying about what we don't know just yet." she said feeling disappointed before shrugging it off and smiling lightly, "Maybe next time we see her, we'll ask her for some answers if she gives us the chance." she said as Miku nodded and flapped out her wings in agreement with her.

BEEP! BEEP!

"Hmm?" As she heard the noise of her dinoshot beeping, she assumed it to be her friends trying to contact her for either updates or help, but as she switched it on she got a slight surprise to see a red beacon blinking on the map! "A signal? Could Max and the others have summoned their dinosaurs to fight?" she wondered before narrowing her eyes more closely and zooming in on the target, "Wait a second…this location, it's far off from where Max and the others were sent." she thought seriously with Miku looking on uneasily. They didn't have long to triangulate its position as it suddenly, vanished before they could lock onto and identify it.

"It's gone now…." Cera sighed in disappointment before taking a look at the data she did manage acquire of it, "That dinosaur, it's not one of ours….." she said to herself seriously, knowing something wasn't right. Since the cards were separated across time it would be possible it could be a wild dinosaur, but for it to vanish and be an unidentified signal must mean someone else was using dinosaurs like they did…. "But who else could possibly-" she suddenly stopped herself as she soon came to a realisation, "Wait…." A flashback memory passed through her mind, portraying the 3 flying figures summoning dinosaurs (Centrosaurus, gondwanatitan and alioramus) through cards, which then roared out in anger, with glowing marks on their heads and sides before charging out and firing streams of lightning, fire and water out in several directions which shredded through buildings, tossing vehicles and landmarks aside and people crying out in terror and running for cover as they rampaged through the city laying waste to all before them.

As it ended Cera's heart skipped a beat as she put a hand to her chest to still it, "Could it…..no…it couldn't be….." she muttered to herself shaking her head clear and taking a breath to calm herself down not wanting to assume the worst. Seeing the situation to be rather serious, she then typed on her dinoshot as she attempted to make contact with the others to see how they were doing, "Better check in with the gang." she said as Miku leaned in closer to see the screen on her dinoshot. After a few seconds of waiting, Rex's face suddenly appeared on screen as he answered the call, "Hey guys, come in."

"Cera! How's repairs coming with he time machine?" he asked as Zoe and Max tried to lean in near him to look.

She smiled back at them, "It's going smoothly so far, but it's still got a ways to go before we're fully functional again." she answered feeling confident about their success.

"Good to know." Rex smiled as the others smiled or laughed happily with relief behind him.

"Hey! Who's that you're talking to?" an unknown female voice suddenly asked which made them look uneasily in the direction it came from.

"Umm….well…."

"Also, how are you talking? What is that device?" the girl asked once more sounding curious, though she still couldn't be seen.

"It's err…..hehe…." Rex chuckled nervously as he sweat dropped while Max and Zoe both whistled casually while looking in different directions.

Cera blinked her eyes clearly not having expected anyone else to be with them, clearly they made contact with local people and drew in attention which they didn't need right now, "Am I interrupting something guys?" she asked as they turned back to her frantically.

"Umm we'll talk later Cera!" Rex cried, "Sorry we have to go now!"

"Keep up the good work!"

"Catch with you later!" Max and Zoe added at the end cheerfully, as the signal was cut off and the screen turned blank, leaving both Cera and Miku to stare at the blank screen a little longer while processing everything that had just happened.

"Okay then…." she sighed before rubbing her temple a little in deep thought, "So much for keeping a low profile….." she muttered seeing how one of her worst case scenarios had come to pass, "But I guess it was inevitable…just as long as don't do anything that will affect time later on…." she said after that though knowing it was far easier said than done, considering their new enemies gave her the impression they wouldn't hesitate to do just that to achieve their goals whatever they were….considering they time napped the D Team's parents, meaning they were at a slight disadvantage and were a couple of steps behind them somehow, meaning she'd just have to hasten her efforts. "Well time to get back to work." She then said looking up at the reactor core and returning to her job at hand.

A while had passed and thanks to Cera coordinating their movements and supervising them, the Alpha droids made significant progress in repairing some of the misplaced parts and wirings in the systems, and she saw it was all good, "So far so good….hopefully these repairs would-" Before Cera could finish, her dinoshot suddenly started beeping again.

BEEP! BEEP!

"Huh?" She walked up to it and picked it up, assuming it was another call, but instead what tuned up was not 1, but 2 dinosaur signals! "The signal….it's Chomp's….and another dinosaur?" Cera muttered in surprise after seeing it. Feeling suspicious that something wasn't right she narrowed her eyes knowing she had to be there this time, her gut telling her to do so, "I can't ignore this anymore, I've got to go see." she said as she ran out of the room with Miku, leaving the droids to do the rest of the work on the reactor core, hoping they'd at least be able to clean the place up while she was gone.

As she ran down the hallway up to the control deck, she soon came along the corridors where the Alpha gang were sleeping as she went from running to tiptoeing as carefully as she could, knowing how sensitive some of them were when it came to noise. It was then that one of the doors opened and stepping out of it was Tank, who yawned out before her eyes turned all droopy and cranky. Her hostile mood however dissipated as soon as she laid eyes on Cera which made her less aggressive, "Oh hey Tank, the others woke you up huh?" Cera said to Tank as she yawned once more.

She wanted to let the little dinosaur go back to sleep, but after realising the situation she then thought of an idea to turn her frown the other way, "If you like, I'm planning to go down and it'd be nice if someone were to accompany me." As she said that Tank perked up and looked to her with full attention, "Feel like you're up for some action?" Cera smiled as Tank barked joyfully while wagging like a dog looking forward to play with its master. Cera giggled glad that she had back for this time now, "Alright then, let's go." She said pressing a button and returning her to card form before she and Miku headed for the control deck.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back on the ground, Zoe was in hot pursuit of the burly red flying man who was chasing after Sophia, whom was beginning to tire from exhaustion having to run so much while her pursuer wasn't bound to such limitation having wings and all, "Hey! Big guy with wings! You leave Sophia alone do you hear me!?" Zoe shouted out at him in anger.

The alien turned around to look back at her in annoyance, "Of course I can hear you. You're screaming loudly…." he said in a clueless tone while also uncaringly as well.

"Then listen because I have 5 words for you!" Zoe growled deciding to take things to the next level in order to protect Sophia and squeeze out some answers. She pressed a button returning Paris to a card, "Dino slash! Spring up Parasaurolophus!" she cried out loud as she summoned her partner to full size, putting herself in front of the Alien as she roared out!

Sophia turned around and widened her eyes in surprise, "Ah! Zoe….you can summon a dinosaur too?" she gasped in amazement.

Zoe only looked back to her with a serious gaze, "Get out of here Sophia! Find cover!" she said before sporting a firm look as she and Paris made their stand.

"O…kay…." Sophia nodded uneasily as she ran to hide in the brush.

Noticing her trying to make another break for it, the alien widened his eyes seeing his target was getting away, "Hey! Come back here!" he yelled but before he could go after her again, Paris jumped into his way and bellowed loudly which made him grit his teeth in frustration before backing off a bit.

"Go Paris! Take him down!" Zoe punched forward determinedly.

"Take me down? But I can land on the ground just fine." The alien blinked his eyes puzzled before becoming serious as he took out a purple dinosaur card, "Though if it's a fight you want, then saltasaurus here would be more than happy to give you one!" he yelled as he placed it against his chest plate, causing a symbol to light up followed by bright purple light, causing a large saltasaurus to appear on the field! 3 marks appeared on its head and sides as it roared out, making Paris step back a bit nervously realising there was something not right with it.

As Sophia looked from behind the tree she was at, she placed a hand over her chest in fear, "Oh dear…." she worried whether Zoe would be able to protect her against this monster, and what was going on today for her.

Zoe clicked her tongue in response, seeing things got a little harder but that didn't mean it wasn't impossible, "Tch! Go get him Paris!" she yelled as Paris rushed ahead and the saltasaurus responded too by shifting sides and causing her head to ram into it! It shook her off as she backed away from the recoil of slamming into that bony back armor! As the saltasaurus tried to lunge in and bite her crest, she let out a loud sonic wave from her crest which made it shake its head in disorientation before backing off!

"A lot of humans have been giving me greetings today so why not I give you one of my own!" The alien then said out loud as he pointed to himself with a thumb, "The name is Gavro! I'm a space pirate!" He said introducing himself proudly.

"Space…pirate?" Zoe blinked her eyes in confusion.

He then grinned in response, "That's right! And say hello to water jammer!" he said placing a move card onto his chest plate! The saltasaurus then bellowed loudly glowing blue as it roared out, causing water to collect into an enormous solid mass right above Paris' head as she widened her eyes in shock and froze in place feeling overwhelmed!

"AH! Paris run!" Zoe cried to her partner, but her warning came to late as the water let itself down all at once putting immense pressure on the parasaurolophus as she cried out in pain! "Oh no Paris!" Zoe cried out for her partner realising she may picked a fight she couldn't win.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Jonathan! What's the situation!?" Cera cried as she burst into the control room. When she saw the scene playing out onscreen in front of Jonathan, she widened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat, "AH!" On screen it depicted a torvosaurus, erased in purple and red crystal like armour and had just thrown Chomp off with ease after taking a thunder bazooka head on! But it wasn't just its immense strength due to its new armour, but the marking on its head which drew in her eyes and rendering her and Miku incapable of turning away, "That dinosaur's symbol….." The very sight of it seemed to awaken some very bad memories inside her, and not good ones either. She could explain how or why, but the sight of it made her boil up with anger inside as she gritted her teeth and clench her hand into a fist. "GRRR!" Miku as well, her eyes turning slit and primal seeing it to be a symbol of evil, corrupting dinosaurs and using them in ways that made the Alpha gang's methods look like mere child's play.

The screen suddenly shifted to a saltasaurus which was under the control of a red flying alien, and had just used water jammer to drop a huge mass of water on Paris as she struggled to keep her head above it! "ZOE!" Cera cried out in alarm as Jonatahn quickly looked up at her, being surprised by her sudden outburst himself. She then shot him a serious look, "Jonathan! Send me down now! I've got to help them!" she cried pointing at the screen.

"What!? Are you sure?" he asked feeling shocked and surprised.

"Positive!" Cera nodded as Miku followed with a bark.

"But you don't have a dinosaur to fight with!" he said a little hesitantly, though she was skilled he had doubts whether she and Miku were capable of battling a new threat such as these armoured dinosaurs.

She then flashed him Tank's card to prove she was well equipped for the task, "You were saying?" she said to him proving her point, "And even if I didn't I can't just stay up here doing nothing, I've got to help! You'd do the same in my position too would't you?" she said with determination, en expression on her face showing she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Seeing it in her eyes, Jonathan knew she had made her choice and nothing he said would change her mind or stop her, so he closed his eyes calmly, "Very well…..good luck." he said wishing her the best as he pushed a button causing her and Miku to be enveloped in bright light.

As it glowed brighter, she narrowed her eyes hardening her gaze, "Just you wait guys…..I'm coming." she said to herself firmly as she vanished, though he memory isn't very clear, she knew that this new enemy would be far more dangerous than anything they've faced thus far, and they'll need all the help they can get if they're to have even the slightest hope of not just rescuing their parents but surviving this.

 **(Later)**

The saltasaurus swung out its huge tail and sent Paris flying through a drive of trees as she fell to the ground and roared out in agony and pain! "No Paris!" Zoe cried as tears fell from her eyes seeing her partner suffer so much like that was beyond what she could handle, while Sophia looked on in horror from afar, unable to take it any longer she was about to consider giving herself up to the space pirate so that her new friend wouldn't need to keep suffering for her sake.

"Hehehe….." Gavro snickered to himself in enjoyment knowing it wouldn't be long now. He was about to have his dinosaur deliver the final blow, when suddenly-

"Hey! Back off you big bully!" a new voice cried out coming in at them!

"Hmm?" The space pirate blinked his eyes in surprise as he and Zoe both turned around.

"Huh?" As they both looked they could see a new girl, one with red hair and a small microraptor perched on her shoulder charging at them while holding her dinoshot in one of her hands.

"Cera!"

"I'm coming Zoe!" she cried in response as she stood before Gavro and his saltasaurus who turned around to face the new arrival.

"Another one? Just how many humans am I supposed to greet today? I don't have the time for it…." Gavro muttered feeling annoyed before noticing something vaguely familiar about the girl, "Say….why does she look like someone I've seen before?" he thought to himself as he curiously scratched his head before shaking it off, "Never mind, I've got a job to do and I can't be late for it!" he growled while holding up the grey card, "So I'll make this quick with some spectral armour!" He bellowed as he added it into his chest plate, absorbing the card as the marks on saltasaurus glowed before enveloping the huge beast in light and then transforming into armour which covered along the head and back of the sauropod!

As the newly armoured saltasaurus bellowed a battle roar, the sight of its newfound appearance made Cera step back as she widened her eyes at the sight of its empowered form, "That armour….." she breathed as she began shaking, as screams and cries of people running in terror from dinosaurs equipped in similar armour were terrorising a futuristic city, destroying all in their wake, and the very symbol they all carried had been burned into her eyes, mind and soul….a reminder of that very tragedy which made her shake with both fear and rage as it approached her.

"Cera run! You can't fight him without a big dinosaur!" Zoe cried out seeing she was frozen and fearing her friend's safety as the saltasaurus began closing in on her and Paris still wasn't able to make it to her feet yet.

The sound of her friend's voice calling to her snapped her out of her thoughts as she shook her head and became serious, "I've got that covered don't worry!" she yelled back at Zoe before holding out a card in her hand and looking to Miku, "Get ready you guys!" she said as her partner held a sharp gaze as she was returned to a card, "Dino slash!" She yelled slashing the cards, "Microraptor! Shine! Shake em up Saichania!" As Miku appeared on Cera's shoulder screeching viciously, Tank appeared next to her and roared out in anger, raising her tail and shaking it in an aggression display as she was both raring for a fight and aiming to protect Cera!

"Oh wow! Amazing!" Sophia hasped in surprise to see that this new girl could also control dinosaurs like Zoe could.

"Huh?" Gavro muttered surprised that Cera had dinosaurs of her own, meaning there would be more problems he'd have to take care of first as he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Alright! Now we're talking!" Zoe cheered seeing they were back in business, as Paris kicked herself back up on her feet and bellowed loudly before charging back into battle.

"Miku! Energy equaliser!" Cera commanded as the mircoraptor screeched out before jumping onto Tank's neck and latching on, glowing in a rainbow aura as she transferred her energy into the ankylosaur! Feeling a new power rising in her, Tank roared with her fighting spirit being enflamed as she rushed ahead towards the charging saltasaurus! "Go for it Tank!" Cera then took a card out and slashed it, "Mole attack!" Before coming into contact with the enemy armoured dinosaur, Tank glowed purple as she jumped into the air and spun, with Miku clutching onto her closely so she wouldn't get shaken off, as she dug under ground causing the saltasaurus to stop in its tracks as it surveyed its surroundings keeping a close eye on where she'd pop up from. Though while its' guard was up against Tank, it unwittingly lowered it against another opponent it failed to account for.

"Now it's our turn Paris!" Zoe cried seizing the chance as she slashed a move card, "Chaos green!" Paris glowed green bellowing out, catching the saltasaurus' attention! As it turned around to face her, the ground suddenly opened up as it began to fall in, it quickly latched onto the side of the hole, struggling to keep itself from falling as its back legs scraped the walls of the pit hoping to get a grip so it could climb out! Before it had the chance though, Tank suddenly shot out of the hole striking from the sauropod's underside as it flew up into the air and crashed down on its back as Tank and Miku appeared next to Paris and Cera regrouped right next to Zoe!

Gavro widened his eyes at his opponents ganging up on him, "Hey! Three against one? Isn't that unfair?" he protested as saltasaurus struggled to get back on its feet.

"Who are you to talk about fair!?" Cera retorted.

"Yeah! You snatched our parents and picked on defenceless Sophia! Now you'll pay for it!" Zoe followed just as furious as Cera was.

Gavro blinked his eyes in surprise, "Pay for it? Sorry but why do I have to pay anything at all?" he asked in confusion before checking his pockets, "Besides I don't have any money on me right now. "

"Then just take this!" Zoe yelled out having had enough with Garo's nonsense and wrong doings as she looked to Cera. They both nodded together as they each took out an earth and grass move card.

"Egg Machine Gun!" They cried together slashing them in sync causing Tank and Paris to both glow purple and green respectively!

Tank roared as she reared up on her hind legs, slamming the ground causing several chunks of earth to rise into he air before combining into a massive boulder! She then charged forth and rammed it, sending it flying towards Garo's saltasaurus, while Paris summoned a trio of oviraptors who fired a barrage of egg bullets together, pelting the boulder till it cracked and exploded into many shards of stone which were sent flying at their armoured enemy! The force of the stone shards pelted against saltasaurus, causing it to roar in pain as it was blasted with a powerful barrage of attacks, too much for even its spectral armour to handle!

"URGH!" Gavro grunted as he held his arms forward, desperately trying to shield himself against the shards that did manage to make it past his dinosaur, but even he was beginning to feel the same pain saltasaurus was feeling as the shards continued pelting against his arms! Eventually, saltasaurus, unable to withstand the relentless assault any longer, was pushed back and sent flying by the sheer force of the fusion move into Gavro, who widened his eyes and screamed in horror as the massive behemoth landed ontop of him! "AAAAAAAHHHH!"

CRASH!

A huge cloud of dust erupted from the crash, followed by shine of purple light caused by the spectral armour shattering, followed by a blue light which signalled the defeat of the saltasaurus once and for all!

Seeing they were victorious, Zoe jumped up in pure joy, "We did it!" she cheered in excitement.

"Nice teamwork Zoe!" Cera praised her as they both high fived one another.

"Haha!"

As Paris went over to get stroked by Zoe, Cera turned over to Tank who wanted to receive the same kind of praise as Paris wanted, as she smiled back proud at her efforts, "You did great Tank, I knew I could count on you." she said gently stroking the ankylosaur's snout causing her to roar out happily and wag her tail as Miku popped her head up from Tank before jumping back onto Cera to get nuzzled by her.

As Sophia looked out from her hiding spot, she couldn't but stare in admiration "Incredible…." she breathed overwhelmed with emotion she couldn't explain, "For children so young they really are brave….." She said, knowing it wasn't just the children being brave as they were, but the fact they were able to tame such powerful creatures and establish strong bonds with them. If children younger than her could accomplish such great things, maybe hope wasn't all lost for her, her brother or their people….she thought as she smiled feeling more reassured in herself.

The dust soon began to clear, and as it did, Gavro could be seen getting back up on his feet as he rubbed his head groggily and slightly dazed. Despite the huge sauropod landing right on top of him, he was a tough one as he managed to get out of it with nothing more than a mild headache, "Urgh…." he groaned shaking his head before noticing the saltasaurus card right in front of him which he quickly took back.

"Alright! Now you tell us where our parents are!" Zoe demanded pointing out at him causing him to look ahead.

Cera folded her arms seriously and shot him a fierce glare, "If I were you I'd talk before things get ugly." for some reason, seeing that mark had sparked something hateful inside her towards them, it's like every fibre of her being hated these pirates with a passion, and though she couldn't explain it she knew her instincts were right to tell her to be on guard against them.

"Ugly?" Gavro muttered in confusion before gritting his teeth in anger, "Hey! Who are you calling-" Before he could finish, Tank and Paris roared out and charged at him causing him to sweat anxiously, "Uh oh, time to get out of here!" he cried out as he opened up his wings and flew away as fast as he cold before Paris could stomp down on him!

Zoe and Cera quickly gave chase after him, with Sophia tailing behind them closely, "Hey! Get back here you!"

"We want answers!" They each yelled as they pursed him through the woods, "Urgh…for someone so big he's pretty fast…" Cera grunted seeing they were lagging behind and how their only lead to their families was about to escape from them!

Zoe quickly reached into her dino gadget, "Good thing I've got just the card!" she said taking out the grass move card then slashing it, "Go metal wing!" As she did, Paris bellowed flowing green as the 3 pteranodons swooped out from the sky chasing after Gavro with the 2 girls and their dinosaurs both chasing after him closely!

The red pirates gritted his teeth in frustration knowing he couldn't take them on his own and they were gaining on him fast. He headed back to where his torvosaurus was only to find something which added to his worries, "Huh?" he gasped seeing his last dinosaur collapsed after taking a thunderstorm bazooka directly, with its armour shattering and it returned to a card! "Beat by a bunch of kids…." he grunted knowing there was no way he could win and his only option was to run away, "This isn't going to go over well…." he muttered worryingly knowing his boss wouldn't like to hear news of his failure. His ship quickly took to the air and he entered it before jetting far out of the pteranodons' reach!

"Oh no he's escaping!" Zoe cried out while Cera narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist in frustration.

"Grr! Next time then…." she grunted as she and Zoe both returned their dinosaurs to card form seeing there was nothing that could be done now.

"Hey you come back here!" Max yelled angrily as Gavro escaped and his ship disappeared from sight.

"He's already gotten away…." Rex grunted in annoyance seeing there was nothing they could do about it as they recalled Chomp and Ace.

As soon as they disappeared, Terry suddenly crashed down on the ground from out of nowhere, followed by a bright light from the sky, "Get him Terry!" Dr Z yelled out as he and the alpha gang appeared from the light only to realise they arrived a little too late, "They're gone?" As they looked around in surprise to see their enemies had flown the coop, Dr Z took notice of something shining on the ground, "Oh? What's this?" he mused as he reached in and picked it up, "A piece of that dinosaur's armour…." he said eying it closely.

"Can I have it?" Ursula then asked.

"It's not jewellery it's for important research!" Dr Z said seriously while denying her at the same time.

"He called that stuff spectral armour." said Rex as he walked up to him.

"The torvosaurus turned into a card." Max stated as he held up the dinosaur card left behind.

"It would make a really nice ring…." Ursula asked again, her mind still on jewellery as Dr Z sighed in disappointment that he missed the big fight and glory, while returning Terry to a card.

"Yeah or a keychain for me…" Ed followed in agreement wanting it for himself too.

"So strange that that guy had a dinosaur card…." Rex then said feeling deeply suspicious, having thought the only they had cards.

"Very…." Max added in agreement knowing something was definitely wrong with this picture.

"Look who's late to the party." said Cera as she Zoe and Sophia soon walked in.

"Huh, it's the old lady." Zoe muttered carelessly which made Ursula growl in response.

"Hey! Don't call me an old lady!" she shouted.

Suddenly from out of nowhere and most unexpectedly, Helga crashed down in the middle of the group starling everyone with the huge impact she caused!

BOOM!

"GAH!"

As soon as she landed she quickly got down to business, "Not one of you made your beds or straightened up after your naps." she grumbled towards the Alpha gang as they closed their eyes in shame, "Get back there and do it now!" she said naggingly.

"Yes ma'am…." They replied knowing it was hopeless to go against her as they vanished in bright light returning to ship. The sight of her easily pacifying the Alpha gang, her own makers, made Cera shudder a bit at the authority she commanded. She had the makings of both a maid and a strict mom too, though it was a wonder why they never learned, they truly were gluttons for punishment.

Meanwhile Sophia was startled by the unusual turn of events, for her it's been one strange event after the next today, "Whoa! Who are those people?" she asked confused.

"Umm….you could say they're…..acquaintances…." Cera sweat dropped as she scratched her head.

"Dr Z, Ed, Zander and the old lady." Zoe answered her as Ursula's voice roared out from the skies above.

"I'm not an old lady!" she cried out loud.

"Wow she really does have good hearing there….." Cera whistled feeling quite impressed as she and the others summoned out their dinosaurs in chibi forms to play at the other side of the hill.

Seeing now that the danger had passed and all was calm once more, Sophia then turned to look at the D Team with a smile of gratitude, "Oh right, I forgot to say thank you, to all of you." she said then turned over to Cera, "And you for coming to our aid when we needed it most." she said.

"You're welcome," she smiled back, "I couldn't just let that brute hurt you and my friend now could I?" she then held out a hand to her, despite not wanting to get involved with the locals of this time since it was already done they might as well roll with it and get acquainted, "I'm Cera by the way." she said as Sophia shook her hand.

"And I'm Sophia." The taller girl replied before bowing down to them all, "Thank you, I really am in your debt."

"Aww it's nothing." Zoe smiled happily.

"Yeah we're just really glad you're safe and that all that matters." said Rex.

Sophia then looked up and took a deep breath as she tried to calm down herself, "Today really has been quite a day…." she thought to herself out loud, though strange it wasn't all bad as she had now made some new friends and gained plenty of hope and reassurance in herself. That reminded her, she still had a mission to carry out and she had to quickly make up for lost time, "I really must get going, my brother needs me if he's going to have any chance at surviving the gladiatorial battles." she said which made Cera narrow her eyes.

"Gladiatorial battles….." she breathed realising this was serious, knowing that the romans were known for pitting soldiers in the arena against wild beasts for sport and entertainment for the crowds, or to punish their enemies at the same time. She could understand why Sophia would be so worried, as much as she wanted to help, she felt the D Team interfered enough already with this time's events so it'd be best they left things as they were now.

The others could tell whats he was thinking just by looking at her facial expressions before looking to Sophia once more, "Then we won't keep you waiting any longer." said Max.

"Take care of yourself now." said Zoe.

"Thank you and good luck to you." said Sophia in response, "I hope you find your parents very soon."

"Good luck to you too Sophia."

"And we hope that you find your brother." said Max and Rex as they gave her their parting words too

"Watching you tame dinosaurs, it made me believe I could save my brother Spartacus!" she said filled with joy and hope before realising she had to move now, "Ah! Bye guys or as they say in Rome, Bona Fortuna!"

"Goodbye!" they all waved to her as she disappeared down the road from sight.

Zoe suddenly realised the name Sophia mentioned as she turned to the others, "Did she say that her brother's name was Spartacus?" she asked curiously.

"Hey there was someone famous with that name." Rex added recognising too.

Cera then nodded, "Yeah…in ancient roman history if I remember…." she mused before putting a finger to her chin in thought, "Wait, it had to do with some sort of rebellion in Roman times….could this be that very time?" she thought to self before Max spoke up interrupting her thoughts.

"That's great." Max replied though his mind was on more pressing matters, "But right now I'm a little more worried about that flying time traveller guy." he said tensing up and everyone soon became as serious as he was, "How are we ever going to find him? And find our parents?"

"You're right!" Rex and Zoe said to him in agreement.

"With any luck we'll be seeing him again." said Cera before drifting into thought, "No doubt he was after Sophia for something….so should we really be leaving her be?" she then wondered.

Suddenly Max widened his eyes realising someone was missing from their little bad of misfits, "Oh wait!" He then began to look around, "Where's Chomp?" he wondered finding no trace of him for miles around.

"Paris? Ace? Tank? Miku? Do you have any idea where Chomp went?" Zoe asked as they all turned around to see the dinosaurs all at the edge of a cliff barking at them.

As they did, Max widened his eyes guessing who may have happened, "AH!" he cried running over to the edge frantically, "Did Chomp fall!?" he exclaimed as everyone gasped worryingly at the thought of that happening. He then fell on his knees at the edge and began crying out loud, his voice echoing down the valley from above pleading for some sort of answer back to him, "CHOMP! CHOMP!"

 **Hope you enjoyed Cera's first battle in season 2 being alongside Zoe. Here she'll be using the Alpha gang's dinosaurs here and there since they weren't given many opportunities to shine so thought it would do them justice. Also as for Gavro using saltasaurus here, it's the one that appeared in desert heat later when the parents were escaping, in fact I'll be having the pirates use those spare dinosaurs here and there to give chances for Cera to fight too so stay tuned for more to come. She won't be travelling with the D Team everywhere on their time travel adventures though.**

 **As for Egg Machine Gun, it's a grass fusion move with earth used in the DS game, thought maybe use this as a chance to show off more of them too. Will be using fusion moves I have tried out myself when I played, but I don't have the game now so I don't know how some of the others work, though for anyone who has tried them do let me know how they look and work otherwise it's mainly guess work.**

 **Also hope I got Gavro's personality done right too.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-It'll be revealed the pirates' connection to Cera later on, when we reach season 3 if I get that far. Well the alpha dinosaurs can't usually do much when they have the alpha controllers controlling them, except on certain occasions.**


	31. There's no place like Rome

Chapter 31

There's no place like Rome

On a forest trail leading down hill from the mountain where she was saved, Sophia hummed to herself in a rather good mood. Despite the strange encounter with not just a giant flying monster which knocked her out cold earlier, as well as encountering 4 mysterious children who were able to command dinosaurs and save her from a mysterious flying attacker, she was glad to have it behind her now that she could focus on delivering the yellow cosmos stone to her brother Spartacus, in the hopes of giving him a fighting chance against the evil dictator Sulla, also known as Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix.

As she traversed along the path towards the next town where she hoped to restock on supplies before reaching the coliseum, she soon heard the sounds of pattering behind her, which caught her attention. "Huh?" Hearing the footsteps gutting louder and faster put her on edge, fearing it may be a Roman spy or perhaps the flying pirate again trying to attack her while she's alone and vulnerable! A bead of sweat dripped from her cheek as she gritted her teeth and turned around, ready to face whoever it was, only to be surprised by a small yellow triceratops rushing straight at her! One she recognised almost instantly! "Oh my!" she gasped covering her mouth in surprise at her unexpected visitor.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Chomp! Can you hear me Chomp!?" Max cried out in desperation as his cries echoed from the top of the high cliff! The rest of the D Team gathered close to him but kept their distance from the edge fearing it'd be unstable and could collapse if they weren't careful, though that didn't stop their dinosaurs from looking over the edge in concern for their close comrade.

"Do you think he really fell?" Zoe asked feeling worried.

"Maybe we should send a search party down there…." Rex suggested uneasily, considering they all go down there together or perhaps send Jonathan or the pteranodons to investigate.

Cera then thought up a quick idea herself, "I'll do that right now." she said as she got out her dinoshot and prepared to send in Miku to glide down for a closer look, as the rest of the team looked on worried and fearful as to whatever cruel fate had come upon Chomp now because of his curiosity.

They all began to assume the worst had happened, when a kind voice spoke from behind them, "Are you looking for Chomp?"

"Huh?" As everyone turned to look they all gasped in surprise and joy to see Sophia had returned, and not alone, she had Chomp in her hands much to their relief! "AH!?"

The little triceratops struggled and wrestled his way out of Sophia's hands before running up to his partner and friends.

"Ah! Chomp…" Max breathed with relief as he leaned down to hug his partner, "I was so worried about you!" he said with a big smile.

"For some reason he started following me." said Sophia thinking she should explain, "So I figured I'd better bring him back."

Cera then looked up to her and smiled, "Thanks for that, we really appreciate it." she said with gratitude before looking quite concerned, "He really does get into a lot mischief, we might have to do something about that considering our situation." She thought to herself seriously after considering the fact they are in an unfamiliar time and place so they'll have to keep their partners on a very tight leash at all times while they're here or in any time period. That aside seeing he was back safe Cera then held a hand out to Sophia, "Looks like we're even now huh?" she said.

"Haha, so it would seem." Sophia giggled happily as she shook the hand.

"I'm so glad you're okay Chomp." said Rex.

Strangely though, Chomp quickly turned around and began jumping up at Sophia's bag thing to get at it much to everyone's puzzlement.

"What's he after now?" Cera asked curiously, "Is it food?" She then shook her head suspecting something else, and as usual her instincts were spot on as Sophia began to reach into her bag having a bright idea over what he was aiming at.

"Heh he seems to be drawn to the yellow cosmos stone." Sophia giggled as she took out the yellow glowing jewel and unwrapped the cloth covering it so the kids and their dinosaurs could gaze upon it.

"Aaah." As the other kids smiled with awe and admiration, Cera on the other hand stared speechlessly at its' shining radiance, looking closer inside it appeared as though there was some kind of nebula or galaxy swirling around inside it,

"Incredible…." she breathed before blinking her eyes upon remembering something, "Wait….didn't I see that before?" she asked herself as her mind flashbacked to the giant meteor that was striking down ancient Earth, glowing in 7 colours, one of which was yellow, similar to the cosmos stone she was seeing with her own eyes now! "N…No it couldn't be….but still…could this be the reason why Gavro was chasing Sophia just now?" she wondered whether it could have been a coincidence before noticing Chomp barking excitedly at it.

"But why's Chomp so engrossed in it?" Cera then asked herself curiously.

"It is beautiful." Sophia commented seeing how everyone else was admiring the jewel, feeling flattered they could appreciate its' beauty.

"Where'd you find that?" Cera then asked as she pointed at it.

"Actually, it's a family heirloom passed on from generation to the next." Sophia replied.

Cera then nodded in acknowledgement, "That's quite the treasure indeed." she said seeing it was more than mere beauty, she and Miku could both feel great power emanating from it, power that may actually be out of this world….literally….such power would be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.

As the others stared admiring the stone, Chomp however began jumping up and down hyperactively while barking hoping to get at it, something the others took notice of.

"I know you like it Chomp but Sophia doesn't have time to play." said Zoe as he jumped up with all his strength only to be caught by Max in midair, "She needs to get the stone to her brother Spartacus in Rome."

"Which is why I better get going," The older girl said to the 4 kids as she wrapped the stone up and kept it away in her bag, "Take care everybody!" she waved at them before setting off on her quest once again.

"Bye Sophia."

"And thanks for bringing Chomp back."

"Good luck Sophia!"

"Safe travels to you!" Each of the 4 kids said to her as she disappeared into the forest.

"Hope she'll be okay," said Cera as their new friend finally vanished from sight. Deep down she felt they should follow her to make sure she sees her quest for her brother through to the end, but on the other hand they've done more than enough change to the current time period and they had a quest of their own to focus on themselves, so they couldn't afford to get sidetracked now and could only hope for the best for her.

RING! RING!

The moment was soon interrupted as Max's communicator began to ring which caught everyone;s attention as he brought up his bracer with Jonathan's face on it, "Hey! What's happening there Jonathan?" Max asked curiously.

"We're receiving a strange communication from another dimension." Jonathan answered from the other end seriously, "You should come back right away!"

"It must be the space pirates!" Zoe cried seriously as everyone else gasped in surprise at the possibility.

"AH!"

Max then narrowed his eyes seeing this as their big chance, "Then let's go!" he said to the others as they nodded with him.

"Right!"

Rex then looked into Max's bracer, "Jonathan!" he ordered the android who instantly knew what he was going to be asked.

"I'm beaming you all up now!" he said as they were enveloped in bright light and disappeared.

As the D Team appeared in the control deck of the Backlander, they made their way quickly to where Jonathan was sitting, "So what's happening Jonathan?" Max asked feeling worried.

"Sorry for the false alarm you guys." he said calmly as they came to him, "It's not space pirates, it's Reese." As they looked ahead they were surprised to see Zoe's older sister in screen with a smiling Laura with her! "She was able to use Rex's time positioning data to find us." he explained as everyone smiled with joy and relief to see she was able to establish contact with them.

"Hey there Reese it's great to see you!" said Zoe smiling brightly.

"Sure is." Max followed.

"I'm so relieved that you're safe." said Reese as her own smile vanished and was replaced with a scowl, "You 3 gave everyone here quite a shock when you just banished like that!" she said crossly while the screen remained fuzzy and her voice just as glitchy.

"Dr Z was trying to fix the ship when it took off without any way to control where it was going." Max explained.

"Oh boy, grampa must have messed something up then." sighed Rod folding his arms behind his head as he walked in beside Laura and Reese. His remark made Cera sweat drop in response.

"Mess up is only putting it lightly…." she thought having remembered all the gunk she found clogging up the Reactor core's parts and systems, and the many servos she had to rearrange, it was any engineer's worst nightmare which had scarred her mind and made her shudder just having to relive that awful experience over and over again.

"So what happened then?" Laura then asked feeling both interested and also worried for the gang since they departed for times anew.

Upon hearing her question, the gang looked to one another before turning back to their friends wondering how to explain it all to them, "It's quite a long story-" Rex started knowing it was a story that many would find really hard to believe.

The D Team soon took turns explaining what happened from minute 1, after the siblings and Reese left for the D Lab, from how the Backander started mysteriously and then taking them through time.

"So first it took you to the cretaceous period?" Rod asked.

"And from there it went to Ancient Rome?" Laura continued sounding worried.

"And you know for sure our parents are in that time period. But do you know where?" Reese then asked.

"We can't get a clear reading on their location." Max answered sounding serious, "But, we do know that the space pirates time napped them and we're gonna track them down." he then tightened his hand into a fist with anger, "And when we do they're gonna pay!" he yelled with determination which made Rod and Laura both gasp in surprise at the startling news of alien time nappers.

"What do you know about these space pirates?" Laura asked feeling worried, she and her brother suspecting they were the ones who attacked them while they were travelling earlier through time when they wanted to go home.

"They have dinosaurs that are extra powerful and they attacked both us and this girl named Sophia." Max explained seriously.

"Speaking of Sophia, have you ever heard of someone named Spartacus?" Zoe then asked as she leaned in closer to the screen.

"Well of course," Reese replied feeling puzzled to the sudden random topic, "The Spartacus was an important episode in Ancient History."

"Really? When was it?" Zoe asked once more.

"If you want the exact date BC…." Reese's voice deepened as the screen began to blur before suddenly switching off much to everyone's shock.

"Ah!"

"Hey what happened!?" Zoe cried.

"Evidently the communicator isn't completely reliable yet…." Jonathan muttered disappointed to fail his Master and his friends after bringing them some form of hope.

Cera then folded her arms on her hips and whistled, "Looks I know what I'm patching up next." she said knowing it'd be a hard task ahead of her for sure, "Just hope they wont get worried." she then added hoping Reese and the others wouldn't panic or assume the worst while they remain cut off from one another.

"Hey Jonathan," said Rex to the android, "If you can't call could you maybe send them like a message or something?" he asked hopefully as he then began typing on the screen.

"I'll do my best." he said as he pressed the enter button which sent an email to Reese's address, hoping that she'd be able to receive it despite the weak connection and separation across years of space and time.

Right after he did though, a massive explosion erupted from within the ship which rumbled throughout the entire vessel and shook up the upped deck quite a fair bit which caught the D Team off guard!

BOOM!

"GAH!" Zoe, Cera and Max gasped.

"What's that?" Rex asked hardening his expression feeling as though their ship had come under attack!

Cera then turned in the direction it came from, "It's coming from the lab room." she said as the others followed where she was looking, now having an idea what was going on, "Only one man on this ship could have caused that much damage." she said as they all nodded with one another in agreement.

"Better go see what Dr Z broke this time…." Max muttered worrying he might be up to no good or causing trouble again as they ran of towards it, hoping to put a stop to it if he was trying anything dangerous.

As the D Team ran to the room where the noise was going from, they stopped to see Terry and Spiny were both charging up with fire and water as if they were going to be using a fusion move! "Now fire at the target!" Dr Z commanded holding his arm out at a bullseye being held together by Ursula, Zander and Ed as both dinosaurs fired Volcano burst and Shock wave together!

"This is going to hurt…." Cera thought to herself closing her eyes with Miku covering her face with her arms, as the fusion move made contact and blew the trio back!

"WAAAAH!" They screamed as they tumbled over one another into the wall! "Why do we have to hold the target!?" they cried out all dazed while Dr Z returned Spiny and Terry to their chibi forms as they ran off to play with Tank, who broke away from Cera to go play in the corner.

"That was impressive…." Cera whistled admittedly at Dr Z's accomplishment, despite using his own henchmen as test subjects, "If I had to give that fusion move a name I'd call it steam blast." she thought as she and the others ran up to Dr Z for some answers.

"What are you blowing up now Dr Z!?" Max yelled out angrily thinking he was doing something dangerous behind their backs.

"You're just in time to see my newest creation!" He smiled eagerly at them before leaning down to pick up several other cards scattered on the floor below his feet, "Quite brilliant if I do say so myself!" he said feeling very proud of himself for his latest achievements before showing off the cards to the D Team, "Look here!"

"Are those move cards?" Max asked as he and the others eyed them.

As Cera eyed each of them then realised he must have tested them on the Trio just now, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for what he put them through.

Dr Z however had no feelings of regret whatsoever though, "That's right! But these move cards are way more powerful than anything we've had before!" He answered proudly to Max before bringing up a screen with the armoured torvosaurus from earlier, "Those pirates have very advanced weapons, if we're going to battle them we have to upgrade!" he said loudly.

Cera could see he had a good point, though that still didn't help how sorry he felt for the abuse he put his own lackeys through as she eyed them with sympathy.

"Do you think you could design an upgrade that doesn't involve us getting blasted?" Ursula groaned.

"Yeah! I'm part of the 'We don't test on real villains' group." Zander followed in a grumpy mood.

"Me too and we're gonna report you…." Ed muttered weakly.

"Pipe down or you'll be the target!" Dr Z yelled silencing them as they shivered in fear! "Hmph!" he scoffed in disgust as he walked over to a big tube filled with liquid, and what appeared to be the crystal piece he acquired earlier from the torvosaurus, "This new armour I'm working on will make our dinosaurs unbeatable in battle! But I need more time to perfect it!" He explained before turning over to the D Team who were still staring at the screen, "Until then these new improved move cards should at least keep you from being squashed like pancakes!" He said flashing out the cards in his hands, "Hmm?" He then looked to the side to see all 7 chibi dinosaurs were off playing around with his reject armour prototypes. Terry and Spiny were playing tug-o war, Chomp was nibbling on a piece while wearing some, Paris, Tank and Miku were climbing around while Ace was wearing a helmet shaped like a viking's, "Stop that! That's scientific equipment not a chew toy!" he scolded them though they didn't really pay much attention to him.

Cera had to admit it was rather adorable he made armour for their little dinosaurs, but in this new battle they'd need bigger and better armour for sure.

Max and his friends however continued eying the screen seriously, "What I want to know is where do these pirates come from and how come they've got dinosaurs and dinosaur cards like we do?" Max asked with suspicion as Cera turned back to them.

"Good question, one which we have no answer for…." she said narrowing her eyes and focusing on the symbol of the pirates on torvosaurus' head, for some reason seeing them and the mark made her furious, as if some sort of instinct or natural response to have them despite not knowing who they were nor having met them before.

"Huh? Maybe I'll build some armour for myself too." Dr Z commented over hearing them, before Terry lunged in and began tugging at his beard! "GRRRGH!" Terry bite and tug

"Good luck with that…." Cera thought to herself as she eyed him, if he couldn't handle chibi Terry then there was no way he'd be able to withstand the assault of a full sized dinosaur.

"The way that flying pirate guy attacked makes me think he might have been after Sophia." Zoe then said speaking her mind.

"You know, I think you might be right about that Zoe." Cera nodded in agreement as she put a finger to her chin in thought, "He was quite focused on her after all." she then said having recalled Gavro was fixated on Sophia he paid no attention to Zoe threatening him till she summoned Paris.

"Why would they want her?" Max asked curiously as they all drifted into thought.

"Hmm…" Zoe shrugged her shoulders before an idea flashed into her mind, "Maybe for her yellow cosmos stone." she then suggested which seemed to strike a cord in Rex and Cera's heads.

"I think you're right!" Rex breathed as Cera narrowed her eyes..

"I knew it…."

"That jewel must have amazing power." Zoe then spoke up, "Remember how Chomp followed her? Maybe he sensed she needed protection."

"Could be…." Cera mused putting a finger to her chin in thought, "Or could he want the stone himself?" she then wondering having recalled him wanting to go at it when Sophia revealed the stone to them. Way she saw it, the issue with the pirates kidnapping their parents, the cosmos stones and the dinosaurs being affected by them…they were like pieces of a puzzle which could be connected with on another….though the full picture of it still needed more pieces.

"Now she's all alone!" Rex then spoke out worried, "If you're right she'll be in danger when that guy comes back!"

"Let's go find her!" Max said firmly knowing what they had to do next. "I'll be taking these!" He said running towards Dr Z to grab a couple of move cards and passed them to Rex and Zoe before they and their dinosaurs ran out with them to the teleporter.

"You better not lose any of those!" Dr Z yelled out to them before Spiny and Tank suddenly joined in on tugging at Dr Z's beard with Terry! "Gah! Stop it! If I want a shave I'll get a razor!" he cried out in pain as he tried desperately to fend off the 3 mischievous dinosaurs who were on the verge of ripping his beard clean off his face!

As the D Team neared the entrance and Cera began hearing the sounds of Dr Z yelping in pain, she began to have second thoughts on her mind as she rolled her eyes and stopped in her tracks, "Wait guys." She said catching their attention as she stopped to look back.

"Yeah Cera?" Rex asked as he and the others eyed her and Miku curiously.

"I think maybe I should stay here to work on the armour with Dr Z." she answered while folding her arms, "If we both take a crack at it we should have it finished way faster."

The D Team looked to one another for second opinions before looking back at her, "Are you sure Cera?"

"We might need you out there too." said Max and Zoe feeling a little less confident without her around to back them up in the field.

"I know guys…." she said sighing slightly, "But do you really think we can leave something this important entirely up to Dr Z?" she then asked them with a raised eyebrow, "Do you really think we should take that chance?"

As she said that, her friends looked to one another and sweat dropped at the thought of Dr Z actually blowing himself up after mixing together some random chemicals, or worse developing an unstable machine that would explode and take out the entire ship! After weighing the many uncountable risks of leaving Dr Z by his lonesome on the ship they could see there wasn't anything to think about as they all sighed in response, "Probably not…."

"Good point…." They said before looking back to Cera with both smiles and serious expressions.

"You know what Cera, having you on board with that makes me feel a lot more safe." said Rex.

"We're counting on you for this." Max followed while Cera nodded back at them affirmatively.

"I won't let you down guys, I promise." she said to them firmly as they smiled back at her.

"We know you won't." said Rex.

"You always come through for us and we have no reason to think this is any different." Zoe added as Cera felt inspired by their words of faith in her.

"Mhmm." she nodded back, "Just keep me informed on anything that comes up." she then seriously while narrowing her eyes, "Promise me you'll look after Sophia when you find her, and I'll feel the same as you do for me now."

Max then smiled on the team's behalf as he held a thumbs up, "It's a deal!" he said with a big grin as he before looking the rest of the D Team, "Come on guys, let's find Sophia and help her brother too!" he said to them as departed for the teleporter and for their new mission of protecting Sophia and hopefully find out the whereabouts of their parents in the process.

As the doors shut behind them, Cera looked on and closed her eyes in prayer with Miku mimicking her movements, "Good luck, may fortune smile on us all…." she said softly to herself for both their success in saving their parents and the entire team's success in possibly saving all reality as they knew it. For the time being their hands were forced and it would no doubt be unavoidable if they were forced to use their dinosaurs in a time when they shouldn't be around, hopefully while down there they wouldn't have to do anything drastic to affect the time-streamt.

After those thoughts passed she looked to Miku and they both nodded at one another, knowing full well that their friends were counting on them now to do their part and they had no intention of letting them down. As they went back to the lab room, they blinked their eyes in surprise as the doors opened. "Huh? What the?" She stared unblinkingly with Miku as they saw Dr Z trying desperately to hold onto one of the room's pillars while Terry, Spiny and Tank were tugging away at his beard in a game of tug o war, with them slowly gaining the advantage as Dr Z's grip on the pillar was loosening and his face getting stretched like a rubber band!

"ARGH! Let me goooo!" he wailed in agony as he could feel not only his beard but his entire face about to get ripped clean off! Scratch that, at this rate the 3 trouble making dinosaurs would eventually rip off his entire head as his elderly neck and bones began to ache at the constant pulling!

Seeing it was too much for Dr Z to bear, and despite enjoying it a bit after all the trouble he caused them, in the end she felt he didn't really deserve to be tortured like that, also she needed his help in fixing up the dinosaur's new armour if they were going to stand a fighting chance against the Spectral space pirates. She took a breath and blew into her fingers whistling out loud.

WHISTLE!

Upon hearing it, like obedient trained dogs the 3 dinosaurs opened their mouths and released their grips much to Dr Z' surprise! "Huh? WAH!" he yelped as the sudden release caused him to get flung into the pile of prototype armour and into the wall! Causing a huge imprint into it before he slipped down and slumped to the ground, while wearing the viking helmet on his head. His eyes began swirling all around with dinosaur bones twirling around his head, his mouth was seen to even have a few teeth missing as he began blubbering out nonsense in his confusion.

Clapping her hands and getting their attention, the 3 dinosaurs ran up to Cera as she folded her hands on her hips and looked down on them with a rather serious look, "Hey guys, come on now, let's behave okay?" she said. They however didn't get the message she was giving them, but instead ran up to her with excitement as they began jumping up at her or wagged their tails happy to see her. Seeing how energetic and happy they were, Cera could see they were pretty much little kids at heart, so she couldn't stay mad at them for long as she began to chuckle out happily, "Hahaha, I'd love to play with you guys, but right now I've got something very important to do so can we play later?" she said patting them on their heads, which made them whine somewhat disappointedly.

As they lowered their heads sadly, Cera realised she may have phrased her words wrongly before leaning down and stroking their heads before raising their chins up to look at her smiling face, "I'm making you guys a nice present, so if you behave yourselves you can have it today. How does that sound?" she then said. Almost immediately, Terry, Tank and Spiny did a complete turn in mood before barking and jumping in excitement and joy for whatever toy she was making for them, and they just knew it would be great.

"Haha I knew you guys would be reasonable." she then laughed glad to have their attention before being a bit more firm in a motherly tone, "Just be nicer to Dr Z a bit okay? He's old and frail, if you play too rough you'll hurt very bad and that isn't very nice now is it?" she said to them which made them lower their heads a bit shamefully, "Would you like it if someone played rough with you as you did with him?" As they began to reflect on what they were doing, they then looked to one another before barking back at her in acknowledgement that she was right. Much to her relief, she was glad that they were understanding, if only the Alpha gang would treat them with the same kind of respect and discipline as she did, though knowing them it'd be a very long time before that happened, though it was another matter for another time, "Now run along and play somewhere else, when we're done we can play as much as you want? Okay?" She then said to them as they barked once more at her in acknowledgement before turning around and leaving to another room. "See you guys!" She waved with Miku chirping at them before she turned around to go help Dr Z up on his feet.

"Urgh…." he groaned shaking his head and as he rubbed it, he felt the helmet was stuck pretty tightly on him along with one of the body armour suits too, "Wh…What the? How did this get on me?" he muttered to himself feeling it to be slightly tight.

"Aren't you a little old to be playing dress up?" Cera commented as he looked up to see her staring down on him.

He then scowled grumpily at her, "Hmph! What do you want?" he grunted, in fact seeing any one of the D Team was enough to put him in a bad mood at any point in the day.

Cera eyed him with slight disapproval before sighing realising this was the only way, "Let's just say I want to try taking a crack at getting the armour ready, for our sakes we'll need to work fast, and as much as it pains me to say this…." she then paused for a moment, taking a breath and then letting it out, "If we work together we might speed things along a bit quicker." she said as she held out her hand to him, "So what do you say Dr Z? You in?"

Looking at her hand for a few seconds, he scoffed before slapping it away stubbornly, "Ha! As if I need help from a nitwit ankle biter like you!" he retorted with pride.

Cera then narrowed her eyes at him in response, "Looks like you need help getting that hunk of junk off your head." she stated bluntly pointing out at him as he looked up to see the viking helmet piece stuck on him!

"Hey! It's not junk it's prototype armour I designed using spare parts while taking every one of our dinosaurs' physical characteristics into consideration!" He yelled back at her shaking his fist in anger, "Basically this is perfect to suit them in every way! So don't you dare call my inventions junk!" he spat out at her before trying to tug at the helmet stuck on his head, "But come to think of it, it's…ugh..pretty tight….." he grunted as it had a firm hold on his head and the more he tugged at it the tighter it seemed to squeeze on him! "GRRRGH!" he growled fuming red as veins could be seen popping out where the helmet met his head while he continued twisting and turning to no avail! In fact his efforts to get it off only served to put more strain and pressure on his already old and frail head! "Get off will you!" he screamed in agony, which proceeded for a while, till eventually he began to huff and wheeze in exhaustion, having loss the strength and even the will to remove the accursed helmet off him! He slumped to the ground, almost feeling like giving up and having to spend the rest of his life with goofy headpiece forever, when a voice spoke to him.

"Ahem," the voice caught his attention, making him look up to see Cera folding her arms, tapping her foot and looking down on him, with a hint of impatience on her face at his stubborn attitude when they could have started helping out their cause if he had just asked for her assurance. Nevertheless, they were on the same side so she asked him as calmly as she could, "Need some help?"

Dr Z then clicked his tongue looking away, but seeing how she was still staring at him, refusing to budge from her spot and had no intention of taking no for an answer, he then hissed in frustration as he reluctantly swallowed his pride, "Hmph! Fine!" he scoffed if only it would mean he can get this task over with as soon as possible, though it wasn't long before he let his ego get back to his head, "Perhaps I could use an assistant after all, hehe!" he then laughed out loud as Cera sighed deeply and shook her head in disapproval.

"Yeah right, you're the assistant here…." she thought to herself as she grabbed hold of the viking horns and began tugging on them while he pulled back!

"URGH!" Dr Z screamed in pain as he held onto the pillar while Cera was starting to turn red as she held in her breath while pulling on the helmet.

"For such a big head if only his brain was just as large…." she thought to herslef in annoyance as she mustered one last burst of energy which finally managed to dislodge the helmet from Dr Z's cranium!

POP!

"YOW!" he screamed as the whole chunk of metal holding onto his scalp had finally let go, leaving behind a huge red mark where its tight grip was at first. He then grasped onto it tightly as he began rubbing ever part of his sore head and kneeled down in pain, "Ooh…maybe I should make bits and pieces of it to stick together rather than make full suits at once…." he said to himself before lying down and rolling around as off he was in agony!

Cera and Miku, seeing him to be wasting time being overdramatic, decided to snap him out of his thoughts as she spoke out to him, "If you're done lying down on the job we've got work to do." she said as she turned around and walked towards the tube containing the armour piece in it.

Seeing her sheer disrespect and disregard for him made Dr Z snort in anger as he picked himself up ready to prove himself wrong to her, "Hmph! Don't tell me what to do missy!" he growled stomping over to the tube, "You forget who's the doctor here!" Pressing a button the liquid from the container drained away as the crystal piece fell through the bottom of the beaker and then through a slot where Dr Z's hand was waiting to pick it up. "Now if were going to make our own armour, we need to study the nature of this unusual material." He then said as he put it on a scanner, where an above ray dish began shining a kind of infrared scan on it, before displaying its cross sectional structure and data measurements on it. "Hmm….According to these readings they're unlike anything we've ever seen before, in fact it could be even considered off world!" he gasped in amazement as he took it out and fingered it all over, seeing great new potential he'd be able to take his dinosaur kingdom into with more time and effort.

As he eagerly took it into another part of the room for further testing, Cera then closed her eyes and folded her arms in thought, "Well those pirates are aliens so they'd be using materials unknown to Earth." she mused, "So we'd need find a suitable substitute with a composition with similar qualities." She then hardened her expression, "And if we can't we'd have to make our own from scratch." She walked over to the computer to do a closer scan of the crystal piece, and nearly its entire surface was completely intact and suffered no form of damage in any way…..until-

"Hmm? What's…this?" she blinked her eyes curiously upon noticing a small crack in the center of the piece, so small she needed the advanced scanner of the machine in order to find it. Perhaps this could be the clue they were looking for in order to understand it's true nature. She brightened up seeing this as she turned around to tell Dr Z, though her enthusiasm was short lived when she saw what the mad doctor was doing to the piece while she was in thought! A group of Alpha droids of different varieties were taking turns either punching at the crystal with their bare fists or using tools like hammers and pickaxes as they continued pounding on it with all their strength! Such barbaric brutality was enough to make Cera's heart skip several beats seeing Dr Z's thoughtless acts could easily destroy their only piece of armour to work with! "ACK!" she stutters in disbelief at the extremes the old man would go through even if he was a dunce.

"Come on! Break already!" Dr Z growled stomping his feet in frustration seeing none of the droids could make so much as a dent in the armour piece.

"No you idiots! STOP!" Cera yelled at the top of her lungs which made the droids back off and Dr Z to widen his eyes at the insult.

"Huh!? What did you call me!?" he exclaimed.

"If you destroy that piece of armour you destroy the only edge we have against those pirates and their dinosaurs!" Cera screamed out at him in anger and frustration, there was only so much of his nonsense she could take from him in one day, "Did you even think about that!?"

Realising her point and how easily he got carried away, Dr Z quickly looked away from her and began to whistle casually, "Umm…well….of course I did!" he chuckled nervously trying to put up a confident facade, "It's just so strong I knew it'd be able to withstand all the tests I put it through! But just wanted to make sure hehe…." he added scratching his cheek.

Cera hardened her expression and shot him a fierce glare, "You're lucky that it is…." she thought to herself knowing full well he didn't think at all, for a scientist he really didn't know how to use his brain. She then walked in and picked up the crystal piece and waved it out at Dr Z, "While you were busy trying to break something as usual, I did a closer cross examination on the piece and found out this." She said as she placed it back on the scanner and brought up a cross section of the armour piece revealing the single weak point in the center of it. "Looks to me like that section is a weak point, if we focus something like a laser precisely at that spot maybe we might get some results out of it." she said pointing at the screen as Dr Z widened his eyes in surprise.

"Of course!" he gasped punching his fist into his palm, "Well I would've gotten there eventually of course haha!" he then laughed confidently and grinned as Cera simply sweat dropped back at him.

"In a hundred years perhaps…." she muttered as she entered it into a glass container with a laser device built in on the top. Dr Z then calibrated the beam to its most narrow focus and aimed it directly at the weak point which was shown on screen. A blue laser then began charging up before firing on it, and after a few seconds the piece split up into equally sized fragments!

"Yes! I did it!" he cheered out loud in triumph.

"Ahem?" Turning around he saw Cera raise an eyebrow at him firmly as he sighed in dismay.

"Fine, we did it…." he muttered before glaring back at her, "Though it was mostly me since it's my equipment we're using! So it's thanks to me we have a fighting chance against those pirates!" he yelled shaking a fist at her.

"If you were left alone you'd probably get it done in a few months, or worse destroy our only chance…." Cera thought to herself as the glass beaker opened and revealing the 6 pieces inside it which she took back, "Only 6…." she said eying them carefully, "If we break it up any further it'd be too little to get data from, so we'll have to make do with what we have now." she thought to herself before taking 3 of them, "We each take 3, we'll split the work up to make it quicker. I'll handle the pieces for the D Team, you take care of the parts for the Alpha gang." She said as she handed the others to Dr Z who snatched them away rudely.

"Don't tell me what to do child!" he yelled at her as he turned his back to her, "But be thankful I was going to do just that!" Dr Z huffed as he walked away to do his work in one section of the lab.

"More likely you'll only fix up armour for your dinosaurs instead…." Cera thought as she and Miku kept their hard gaze at him before turning to take their leave, "I'm going to go work in the other lab, I might be able to find the parts I need there, plus I can't concentrate with you trying to peep over my shoulders every few seconds." she said as she exited the room with her partner on her shoulder.

"Hmph! Looks like there is one thing we can agree on…." Dr Z scoffed as he began to study the armour in his possession, before a certain thought crossed his mind which made him grin most deviously.

 **(Meanwhile)**

As Cera strolled down the hallways towards the other lab in the opposite wing of the Backlander, she passed by the open door of the kitchen, where the smell of rather…..unpleasant food was coming out from. Just a whiff of it was enough to make her and Miku pinch or cover their noses and tear up slightly at the pungent aroma it was giving off, whatever Helga was cooking up this time she wanted no part of it as she hurried away as fast as she could. Little did she know was that it wasn't Helga who was cooking but the Trio, who were all dressed in cooking aprons and were working tirelessly and reluctantly to prepare a full course meal using the brussel sprouts they were given by Helga herself. Needless to say they hated every second with it, as much as they loved food cooking it was another matter. They barely had any experience working in the kitchen evidence by the number of times they mixed in the wrong ingredients or ended up nearly cutting their own fingers off, on top of that they despised brussel sprouts, why couldn't they have worked with dessert instead?

As Terry and the other 2 alpha dinosaurs ate kibble from their bowls in anode corner, Tank took notice of Cera walking by and after swallowing down her last bite she trotted out of the room unnoticed by the others as she went off to follow Cera to wherever she was heading to.

"There, done!" Ursula breathed as she wiped away some sweat from her brow as she and her friends eyed the 'full course' meal they prepared with their blood, sweat and tears, "So guys what do you think?" she then asked for their opinion as Zander and Ed both narrowed their eyes at the 'delicacies' they concocted with their own grubby hands.

"Hmm…fried brussel sprouts, steamed brussel sprouts and brussel sprout soup." Zander muttered seeing fried brussel sprout leaves (some of which were charred black to a crisp due to overcooking), grimy looking leaves and greenish mushy soup with a solid uncooked sport in the center of it. Needless to say their efforts to cook up a meal from the most hated of ingredients was a giant flop, as the combined stench of the 3 dishes was enough to make the either turn green and sick, scrunch up their faces or tear up painfully.

"Ugh, I'm getting sick just looking at it all…." Ed muttered as his stomach began to churn just looking at the horrendous dishes they cooked up, something even rats and flied would stay clear of!

"Yeah, who'd eat this stuff anyways?" Ursula said out loud in agreement.

"Not me, not even if this was the only food left in the whole world." Zander added waving his arms out.

Suddenly the room echoed with the sounds of growling stomachs as the Trio clenched their bellies tightly in pain, "Urgh…all this 'cooking' just made me hungry…." Ed groaned as he walked over to the fridge hoping to find something that's at least edible. As he opened it, Ursula then scowled in disappointment.

"Tch! It's just raw ingredients…." she hissed clicking her tongue upon seeing raw meat, eggs and vegetables inside as Ed then shut the door back.

"So we're gonna have to cook again?" Ed asked nervously as Zander slumped down to the ground like a worm.

"I'm too weak and hungry to do that, besides if any of us cook we'd only be wasting precious food and make a mess that Helga would make us clean up again…." he muttered with his face into the floor, knowing she'd do just that's exactly what they just did.

"Well at least we've still got that to eat." Ed pointed to their brussel sprout themed meal they cooked up looking on the bright side, but that only earned him a couple of raised eyebrows an suspicious looks from Ursula and Zander.

"Are you kidding Ed?"

"I wouldn't eat that garbage even if you paid me." They each said to him in disgust as he lowered his head and sighed.

"True…." he admitted not even Tank would bat an eye to their failed attempts at a vegetarian cuisine, let alone Terry and Spiny who were already backing away upon getting just a whiff of it.

Seeing their situation to be nearly hopeless, Ursula suddenly brightened up and smacked a fist into her palm in realisation, "Say! We're in Rome right? From what I heard it's basically the birthplace of pizza!" she then cheered out lid as the 2 men brightened their eyes up and their jaws hung open in joy.

"AH!" they cheered as their mouths began to water and drool to the floor.

"You mean like double pepperoni!?"

"Or quadruple cheese!?" They each asked as Ursula grinned at them.

"Any topping you name it boys!" she replied as she clapped her hands together, "Oh just thinking about it is making me even more hungry!" she sang doing a cheerful spin, "I say we've earned ourselves a break after all this, we'll take the spare teleporter so Jonathan won't notice!" She said to the gang with confidence as they nodded with her in agreement.

"Good idea!"

Ed then looked around noticing they were 1 dinosaur short at the moment, "Hey where's Tank?" he asked curiously blinking his eyes and looking around but finding no trace of her in the kitchen.

Zander and Ursula soon followed and blinked in surprise to see she had left, "She was just here a minute ago…." Zander mused putting a finger to his chin in thought.

"Oh forget her, Spiny and Terry should be plenty enough!" said Ursula shrugging it off not wanting to waste any time finding her in a game of hide and seek when there was a quest for pizza to accomplish! "Besides we don't have time to look for her, at this rate my stomach would begin eating itself!" she then cried feeling the emptiness in her stomach beginning to turn her stomach inside out.

Her friends could understand what she was saying and decided to go with just 2 dinosaurs this time, "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"I feel the same way too…." said Zander and Ed as they returned Spiny and Terry to their cards.

Ursula then stomped her foot on a chair standing tall as she pointed out tot he sky with triumph, "Come on boys, we're going for takeout Roman style!" she announced as the 2 men punched up to the sky!

"Yeah!" They announced before running out of the room and heading to the teleporter room unaware of the trouble they were about to put themselves into.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Aaah, finally some piece and quiet…." Cera though to herself as she could finally hear herself think again in the lab where Cretacia and Ancient were working in earlier. Now she can finally concentrate without Dr Z's loud and noisy experiments and testing to distract her, as she laid out the 3 pieces of armour on a computer scanner which were then brought up on another screen. Before she could get to work, Miku who was standing on another ride of the table caught sight of someone else i the room, as she poked at Cera's hand to get her attention and make her turn to her, "Hmm? Something up Miku?" She asked as she looked too where she was pointing her head at.

"Oh, hey Tank, didn't see you there." she said as the small ankylosaur came trotting in while wagging her tail with glee. As she barked at her, Cera then smiled lightly seeing what she was after, "What's that? You want to join me in getting your present ready?" she asked as Tank jumped up and down excitedly in response, "Well if you do, it wouldn't be a surprise then…." she said. Despite that Tank remained undeterred and still insisted on helping, even if it wasn't for the present she still wanted to be useful to Cera after all she did for her and the other dinosaurs, and she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Seeing how determined she was, Cera then giggled in response, "Heh why not?" she chuckled seeing no reason to deny her as Tank jumped up at the table to see what she was doing, and hoping she'd be able to make herself useful. Before they could get down to business though, a beeping sound suddenly came up on Cera's dinoshot as they all turned to it.

BEEP! BEEP!

"Hmm? A message now?" Cera thought blinking her eyes as she looked it up. It was a message from Zoe, stating how they just ran into another space pirate named Foolscap, who attacked them with a shunosaurus and they were hoping she could get their new armour ready as soon as she could, for their sakes and Sophia's. Reading it over, she then narrowed her eyes seeing the situation was getting serious as every second passed, "Better work fast now." she said to herself as she began typing away at the computer.

"Okay, to make an armour durable enough to withstand attacks like the dinosaur unleashing them, we'd need to make a metal strong enough to handle it and at the same time be compatible with the crystal too…." she noted as she began keying in said date into the computer. "At the same time we'd have to account for our dinosaurs' attributes and physical traits too, so that the armour would not only strengthen them but also wouldn't impede their mobility." he then added as she began typing away, the computer bringing up possible armour designs and simulations with what she inputed. While working she also deduced, based on the different armour designs from torvosaurus and saltasaurus, the armour would need to be specific to each species' physical characteristics as well as elemental attributes as well.

"It'll be tough to satisfy them all, let alone develop an armour that works…." Cera then thought narrowing her eyes seeing she had to sync some kind of system program to link the dinosaur with the device used to summon it. But before that she had to develop some kind of activator that would be able to trigger the armour to appear on the dinosaur too, and so far no material in the computer database proved to be a suitable element for it. It seemed like a hopeless task, till Cera heard some loud chewing behind her which made her look behind with Miku to see Tank was gnawing on a metallic rod that was on the floor.

"Hey Tank, that could be important, so please let go of it." Said Cera as she took it away from the little dinosaur, who lowered her head and grunted in annoyance at having her chew toy get taken from her. Cera felt a little bad for having to do it, but the rod could be an important piece of equipment the Backlander needed, after all it was made entirely of- "Wait a minute….Alpha metal…." Cera blinked her eyes as she examined it all over. Alpha metal, a rare and highly adaptable alloy which the Backlander and all its important devices consisted of, with its impressive capabilities to be used for any kind of function…."Yes! Maybe this can work! Nice job Tank!" Cere cheered praising her as she petted Tank's head, making her brighten up. She wasn't sure what she was being praised for but she enjoyed praise no less and felt happy to be able to contribute to Cera being able to finish her present faster, unaware that this present would be the determining factor for the D Team's future victories and defeats.

Soon Cera got to work as she began gathering alloy samples from the base's storage depots and began to cut out pieces that would be the right size to fit in the dino bracers, "Alright, now to carve out the right piece….." she thought working at a laser device which began cutting out the correct shapes to fit into them, "Add the circuitry and fit in the dinosaur data…." She then said as she began installing circuits and parts into them, followed by their respective dinosaur data and elemental attributes too, "Then fit the crystal as the power piece into it…." The final touch, was to insert a segment of the crystal into the device which would power it, and then, enable it to grow with the alpha metal to form the basis for the D Team's own armour! At last it was finally finished!

"Alright! That should do it!" she said deeply pleased with her work, 3 fully retrofitted dino bracers for Chomp, Ace and Paris, and knowing they had a chance against the evil space pirates now. Miku too chirped with deep pleasure sensing her partner's happiness, though when Cera eyed the little dinosaur a little longer, she soon realised she'd be the only one now without the same edge that her friends or the Alpha gang now had. "Sorry Miku, I don't think I have any crystal left over make any armour for you." she said feeling bad for her partner as she nuzzled her chin a bit, though Miku responded by licking it playfully to show she wasn't feeling that bad about it. "Then again, I don't think armour really suits you that much, you wouldn't be able to glide as well as you can. Plus I think what you do is good enough for the team." Cera then said as Miku chirped and wagged her tail with joy. As the old saying goes, if it isn't broke don't fix it.

Looking down to Tank who was wagging her tail in excitement, Cera smiled as she leaned down to stroke her head, "You did well too Tank, you've been a great help." she said to her feeling grateful for her helping to find the answer which could save them all, "Once this is ready, you an the others will be fully prepped for battle, not to mention with a set of style too." As she said that Tank barked out and jumped up and down in excitement for that. "Okay, now to check on Dr Z and see how he's doing…." Cera then thought as she picked up the 3 bracers she completed and walked out the room, "Knowing him he's probably messed something up." she muttered as Miku hopped onto Tank's back as she followed after Cera.

As she went back into the other lab from earlier, she found that the old man was nowhere to be seen or found, "Huh? Where'd he go?" she asked curiously looking around to find no trace of him. If he was here he'd have made a loud noise from either his tinkering or an explosion, and it was clear he wasn't around since it was so quiet. Cera soon took notice of 3 large tubes glowing with red, purple and blue light in them, with 3 cards as well which were suspended in a liquid of some sort inside. "Hmm? What's this?" She said curiously as she walked up to them for a closer look. Upon closer inspection, she soon realised Dr Z was apparently working on a kind of ultimate move that would allow a dinosaur to unleash the full elemental power of their armour and take the potential it would hold to even greater heights apart from being used as a mere defence or attack boost. "That's actually….pretty genius…." she whistled before seeing there was only one for fire, water and earth attributes, which made her scowl lightly in disappointment, "As I thought he's only focusing on his own dinosaurs instead of everyone's…." she huffed seeing she had more work to do now, "Might as well do some for the D Team." she said to herself as she brought up the data he used on another computer and began to do the same for the D Team, as 3 separate tubes nearby lit up yellow, green and white.

 **(Later)**

A little while later, Dr Z stumbled into the lab room, sweating anxiously as he let out a deep sigh, "Phew, that was close…." he breathed in relief having barely escaped Helga who was about to turn him into a cleaning slave like she was meant to be, he couldn't think of what was worse, the fact he'd have to take orders from his own creation or the nightmarish training regime she'd put him through against his will. He kept breathing in and out feeling grateful he was able to make it out in one piece with his prototype armour devices in his hands, "For a second there I thought I was going to be-" As he looked ahead, he widened his eyes in surprise to see Cera was there waiting for him along with both Tank and Miku. "Hey! What are you doing here?" he cried out in surprise nearly dropping his own devices from his arms and barely managing to catch them again.

"I was just admiring your work that's all." she answered as she stepped aside to show off the Ultimate Fire, Water and Earth move cards in the test tubes Dr Z had left behind earlier, "Have to say coming up with above cards that tap into the power of the armour is actually cool." she smiled as she eyed the 3 move cards intently.

The compliment then made Dr Z blush a bit feeling touched and appreciated at the compliment she gave him, "Heheh….You think so?" he chuckled before shaking his head and sporting a more egotistical grin on his face, "I mean, haha! Of course! Naturally, it's something only a genius like myself can come up with." he laughed boastfully as he held his head up high, before bling his eyes in realisation, "Hey wait a minute, shouldn't you be fixing up armour for your bratty friends in the other room!?" he then cried out.

Cera then closed her eyes and smiled at him calmly, "I finished early." she answered which made him widen his eyes in deep shock as his jaw hung in disbelief at the thought someone as young as her could actually outdo him at his own game!

"Ack! You….did?" he croaked in bewilderment as he pointed out weakly at her.

"Mhmm." She nodded before stepping aside, "With time to spare I came in here to see how you were doing, only to find you only made move cards for just yourself." She said before turning around, "So I took the initiative and made some for my friends as well, that way we'd even up the playing field against the pirates that much more." She then said as she stepped away and revealed the Ultimate thunder, leaf and wind move cards she had just finished after looking over Dr Z's notes.

"I…see…." Dr Z gulped as he looked away shamefully while twiddling his fingers, "Well good for you…." he then muttered calmly while hiding immense rage and envy deep inside, "GRRR! How can that snivelling little girl outdo me at my own game!? Not to mention she snuck behind my back and made move cards for the brats without my supervision!? Unacceptable!" he screamed inside swearing he'll outdo her one day and show them all his true genius.

A day which would take a long time to come though, as Cera then asked a simple question which began to derail his hopes, "So how goes your side of the job?" she asked as he turned pale and his heart skipped a beat.

"Ack! I err…well…." he croaked and began scratching his head uneasily. Signs which Cera recognised instantly as not even close to half done as she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Sigh….you didn't finish it did you?" she said while shaking her head.

"B…Be quiet! True genius can't be rushed! That's all there is to it!" Dr Z retorted though at the same time he was also shaking emotionally, feeling hurt and envious at how easily he was outdone by a mere child not even half his age!

Taking pity on him, Cera then took out a data disk from her pocket and handed it to him, "Here." She said looking away, taking pity on Dr Z and deciding to do this only for the dinosaurs and not him.

"What's this?" he then asked looking over it carefully.

"The blue prints for the design I perfected." Cera answered as she folded her arms on her hips, "With this you'll finish up your side quicker." She said as Dr Z went to insert it into the computer, and the data along with the blue prints for the completed devices came up on screen.

As Dr Z eyed the data carefully all around, he widened them in disbelief and awe over the significant achievements he had aimed to accomplish in the armour only that Cera had managed to reach them faster than he could! "How…How did she do it? I must find out her secret for myself! Only I can have that kind of expertise! Me and me alone!" he screamed to himself before turning around to flash a begrudging expression at her.

"I can even pitch in a little and show you how I did it." Cera then offered reluctantly, before gaining a sinister smirk on her face, "Or if you refuse, maybe I'll just take these to my friends and take all the credit for it while you're still stuck up here patching up your armour." she said intending to goad Dr Z on purposely so that he'd be more cooperative.

Hearing her say such forbidden words made Dr Z clench his face in horror at the thought of his life long dream being achieved by mere children, as he turned pale and screamed loudly in horror at his worst nightmare coming true, "AH!"

"Of course, I'd be more than to share the glory, if you accept my help." Cera then offered as she held a hand out to him, an offer she knew he couldn't and wouldn't refuse.

Dr Z gritted his teeth in frustration over the difficult choice he was presented. On one hand accepting her help would ruin his career as an evil genius and he'd have to live down the fact he couldn't achieve his future success without help and he'd no doubt have to share the glory which he wanted all for himself, but on the other hand, if he refused he'd lose out completely and have his lifelong dream go unfulfilled, which he'd take to his grave the day he would depart this world. "Urgh…." he groaned painfully as he looked once more at the hand Cera was offering, which she was slowly bringing back in highlighting his window of opportunity was closing soon.

"So, do we have a deal?" she asked once more, losing patience fast. Before she could take it back in, Dr Z quickly reached out and shook on it giving her his word that he'd cooperate 100% with her and share the credit for this, if only it meant his own dinosaurs would be able to stand a better chance and not get left behind by the D Team's.

"Tch! Fine! We'll do this together! Happy now!?" he hissed clicking his tongue while looking away from her, which made a light smile come on her face to see he was finally putting aside his ego and pride all for the greater good of everyone.

"See? Was that so hard?" she said with a light smile, as Dr Z quickly took his hand away and ran off to the bathroom to burst his teeth and rinse with mouthwash in order to remove the stains of forbidden words having passed his lips.

 **(Later)**

After a long while of tinkering, melding parts together and finalising the activation systems, at long last, it was complete, as Dr Z held up a metallic case filled with the 6 completed armour activators and spun around in sheer excitement like a child unable to contain his enthusiasm, "Ahaha! I did it! I finally did it!" he laughed out loud in a jolly way, while Cera folded her arms and stood on the sidelines deciding to let him have his moment of glory for now, since it was obvious it wouldn't last like every other time the Alpha gang seemed to have a moment of victory. "With these elemental boosters finally completed I'll be the dinosaur king for sure! Ahahahahah!" Dr Z grinned with excitement as he took another long look at the 6 devices inside which were each shaped like the dinosaur they were to match up with.

"Emmental boosters?" Cera blinked her eyes hearing the name before smiling, "That's….a pretty good name for those devices." She said before closing her eyes in thought, "As for the armour itself…..I think I'll call it….the dino tector! Yeah, that's it." she said smacking a fist into her palm confirming that as the right name to call it.

Dr Z's ears quickly perked up upon hearing her comment, "Ah! A most excellent name indeed! It practically screams power!" he cried out, "Glad I thought of it!"

"Hmph…." Cera scoffed but quickly shrugged it off realising the big picture as she took out her dinoshot, "It's been a while since we worked on these things, we'd better go check up on them." Pressing a button on it, it brought down a screen which lit up, and what they saw on it was most startling. Both her and Dr Z gasped in shock to see Chomp, Ace and Paris in the gladiatorial arena fighting against an armoured yangchuanosaurus and a piatnizkysaurus controlled by a lady space pirate (with long hair, red eyes and a yellow ribbon tying up her hair).

"GAH!"

Despite outnumbering them 2 to 3, it was obvious the D Team was at a disadvantage as the armoured yangchuanosaurus was driving both Paris and Ace into a corner while Chomp was doing his best to avoid getting bitten by piatnizkysaurus or inhaling its venomous breath! At this rate it was clear they wouldn't stand a chance!

"Oh no they're in trouble!" Cera cried out in alarm as she turned to Miku and Tank, "We've got to help them!" she cried seriously as they both nodded and barked out ready for combat!

"Leave it to me!" yelled Dr Z taking initiative along with the case containing all the boosters in it, "I'll get these element boosters over to those brats, I mean kids in jiffy!" he said sealing the case and waving to Cera, "You can count on me to get the job done! In the meantime, stay in here and relax! Hee hee!" he giggled with glee as he scurried out the room, sealed the door behind him shut and headed for where Jonathan was, intending to take all the credit and glory for himself.

Despite his words Cera didn't buy it for even a second, "Yeah right, like I can trust anything he says." she muttered before reaching into her pocket and taking out 6 ultimate move cards and eying them, "And he forgot these too…." she added before sighing in exasperation, "Well Miku, Tank looks like we're following him. No way can we leave him to help Max and the others." She said as she took out her dinoshot and began hacking into the door's security functions, taking only a few minutes before it finally opened up. With no more obstacles in their way, Miku hopped onto her shoulder and Tank ran beside her as they headed out to the control deck to be teleported down.

She and her friends then raced across the hall following after Dr Z with a determined looks on their face, for Cera, she just knew that each encounter with the pirates was a battle with much to gain and even much more to lose, that's what she felt in her gut, and no way was she about to let them down in finding their parents and hopefully afterwards she might be able to find some clues to her own past knowing they were somehow connected with them. Either way she wasn't going to let her friends fall in battle like that when they need her most. She soon burst into the control room where Jonathan was awaiting her, "Jonathan!" she then cried out.

"Say no more, I'll bring you down this instant!" he replied as his eye glowed and she was enveloped in bright light before vanishing from sight.

As she arrived down below on the coliseum grounds, surrounded by cheering fans and excited crowds she came face to face with Chomp, now fully armoured just as she had modelled it to be, finally being able to match blow for blow against a spectral armour dinosaur while Max and the others cheered him on! "Heh, looks like we arrived just in time for the party." she smirked proudly seeing it was working like a charm before noticing Dr Z who was knocked unconscious on the other side of the arena, "And he's out of it now…." she then mused as Miku and Tank eyed him almost sympathetically.

Her comment was soon picked up by Rex as he turned around, "Huh?" as his eyes met hers he then brightened up and pointed out to the others, "Hey it's Cera!"

"AH!" Max and Zoe quickly broke away from the fight to meet her while Chomp held off yangchuanosaurus with much ease, tossing the large carnivore away with just a swing of his horns.

"Hey what took ya?" Max smiled glad to see her again now with them.

She then scratched her head rather sheepishly, "Sorry about that….I kinda got a little sidetracked thanks to Dr Z there." she said pointing to him with her thumb. After that she folded her arm on her hip and smiled proudly as she looked up at Chomp who quickly shifted his side and used his armour to deflect yangchuanosaurus' attack attempt on his side and smashing into her face causing her to stumble back, "Good to see the armour works though." she then said as the others turned and smiled proudly at it.

"Yeah, in fact it's better than anything we ever thought of!" Max grinned as he punched forward energetically.

"You and Dr Z came through for us this time." Rex commented as Zoe nodded.

"Don't I always?" Cera smiled before becoming serious, "Anything I can do to help?" she asked them as they looked back to her, "Cos it seems you've got things covered here."

"Actually there is," said Zoe seriously, "Sophia and Spartacus just left to free their allies locked up in the prison nearby." she said pointing out at the entrance they came in.

"It'd be a big help if you could go lend them a hand!" Rex suggested as he tensed up his arms into fists, "Since me and Zoe can't with Ace and Paris out of commission…" he muttered as Zoe looked down sadly recalling how badly burning dash had beaten them both earlier.

Cera the nodded, "Say no more, I'll go and help them now." she aanwered before looking up to see Chomp and yangchuanosaurus still fighting fiercely and the crowds c continuing roaring in excitement, much to her displeasure at seeing such violent brutality a entertainment, "In the meantime you guys take care of things here!"

"Will do!" Max replied holding a thumbs up and his fiends nodding back at her..

Before she could turn to leave she remembering one more important factor, "Oh one more thing!" she called out to them as they looked back to her.

"What's that?" Max blinked as Cera took out something from her pocket.

"Here! Take this!" she said tossing it at him as he managed to catch it. Taking a look it turned out to be a lightning move card.

"What's this? A move card?" he asked curiously.

"It's a special one I designed to bring out the full power of the dino tector armour." Cera answered as she turned to Rex and Zoe next, "Here, I even have one for you guys too." she said quickly tossing it out to them as they caught it effortlessly and smiled.

"Ah!"

"Cool!"

Cera smiled seeing they were pleased with what she gave them, "If things ever get a little too hairy, go ahead and give them a whirl." she said flashing them a thumbs up as they all grinned eagerly back.

"Hehe, will do!" Max laughed confidently since it was coming straight from her rather than Dr Z.

Taking notice of the case next to Max's leg, she then picked it up, "Oh, and I think I might need this." she said opening it up and taking a purple element booster from it. Before they could ask her why, she quickly turned around and ran out the exit, "Good luck you guys!" she said out to them giving them some final words of encouragement.

"You too Cera!"

"And thanks for the help!" Rex and Zoe then answered them as they turned back to the battle at hand.

"Go get em Chomp!"

"You can do it!"

"Don't give up!" They cheered him on as he caught hold of yangchuanosaurus' tail and threw her away effortlessly!

 **(Meanwhile)**

As Cera made it outside the arena with Miku on her shoulder and Tank by her side as she came to a stop, "Alright, now which way?" she asked herself as she then looked around hoping to find at least some kind of sign or direction to head in.

"GAAAAH!" a scream suddenly echoed from around the corner of the coliseum which made them all turn in the direction it came from.

"That way it is." she then said as they ran off around the corner.

The trio huddled together and shuddered terrified as a group of Roman centurions held up their spears and surrounded them in a circle formation on all sides like wolves ready to pounce on them! "Alright you three! Get back in that arena this instant and finish off Spartacus like you were told!" One soldier with a thick beard yelled out at them.

"Or would you rather be fed to the lions!?" Another followed glaring an angered expression at the cowardly trio who turned play and sweated bullets at the fact that they were inches of being turned into swiss cheese!

"T…Take it easy now!" Zander shuddered holding his hands out peacefully. Even if they could summon Terry or Spiny to fight for them, they both were already exhausted having forced to fight earlier in the arena so they wouldn't be that much good against a squadron of armed men.

"W….We'd love to!" Ursula chuckled nervous as she rubbed her hands together, "If you'd please put away those pointy spear things first?" she then pleaded before falling on her knees and tearing up dramatically.

"You could stab someone's eye out with that…." Ed quivered holding his hand out at one of the spears that was coming in close for his comfort, only for its handler to thrust it forward and make him jump, "EEEP!"

Little did they know was that Cera was actually watching the entire drama play out from behind a pillar of the arena as she narrowed her eyes at what was happening, "What are they doing here?" she wondered raising an eyebrow, "No wonder it was so quiet, they must have snuck off somehow….." she thought to herself putting a finger to her chin before sighing in dismay, "Guess it's up to us to save them huh Tank?" she said looking to the small ankylosaur below who simply barked back at her. Even if they were troublemaking crooks even they didn't deserve to be skewered, so she pressed a button and returned Tank to card form.

"We're not going to repeat ourselves!" The lead soldier yelled impatiently having enough of their nonsense, "Get moving or else!" he threatened once more as he held the spear up to Ursula's neck as she gulped down hard while staring into the face of death itself!

"O…Okay! You win! Take it easy now!" she choked while Ed and Zander huddled close to her, hoping to get behind her and use her as a shield, despite having spears aimed at their backs too! "Just give us a little room and we'll-" Before she could finish, a loud screech suddenly sounded out right near them which caught them all by surprise!

ROAR!

"Huh!?"

"AH!" The centurions cried out in terror as a massive saichania suddenly burst out of the ground from purple light and then roared out at them!

SHRIEK!

Tank screeched fiercely as she raised her tail and waved it threateningly before stomping towards the armed group who were now the ones being threatened.

"GAAAH!"

"Wh…What is that!?"

"Another monster!?" They cried out in shock and horror as they broke their formation and converged together, raising their weapons against the huge dinosaur which mysteriously came out of nowhere!

The Alpha gang however brined up and smiled with pure joy and hope seeing their saviour come to their aid, "It's Tank!" Ursula cried out clapping her hands while smiling deeply.

"How'd she get here!?" Ed gasped in disbelief.

"Who cares!?" Ursula yelled at him, "She's here to save us and that's all that matters!" she replied before waving at her, "You hoo! Tank! Over here please! Be a dear and crush them into jelly for us!" she sang innocently as Tank's speed picked up and she charged straight ahead towards the armed legion!

The lead soldier gritted his teeth, his pride as a soldier and loyalty to Sula refused to let him back down, as he pulled out a sword and held it forward, "Onward men! For the glory of the empire! Charge!" he announced as the whole group charged forth with their spears pointed forward!

"RAAAAAAAHHH!" In response, Tank raised her huge tail and swiftly delivered a counterattack as he tail swept out at them, sending a large number of them back from sheer force! "GWAAAAAH!" A number pop them cried out as they were blown away or fell on their fellow comrades!

Others were able to get around her, but as they thrust out their spears and blades, Tank quickly tucked in her legs and hunkered down, so their weapons missed and ended up cracking or breaking against either her armoured back or sharp spikes!

"GAH! My weapons have no effect!" A soldier gasped as Tank swung out her tail and bashed against his shield sending him flying! "WAAAAH!" As he landed several feet away the others took this as a sign they couldn't win as some even began to retreat seeing that glory for the empire wasn't worth losing their loves over! Tank then slammed her tail on the ground and roared out aggressively, warding the rest of the Roman troops to beat it much to the leader's dismay!

"Hahaha! Those little toothpicks won't do anything to Tank." Ursula laughed teasingly as several terrified men passed by them without a backwards glance while Zander and Ed both grinned and snickered in delight at their enemies' predicament.

"Eheheh!"

The lead soldier gritted his teeth seeing his troops were deserting him, the battle may have been lost but at least he could still reap some reward, "Maybe not but at least I can still use them to end you!" he yelled spitefully at the Trio as he pulled out a knife from his side and charged at them! "AAAAARRRRGGHH!" he roared out as he flashed his dagger with a bloodthirsty expression on his face while the trio huddled together and cried out loud frozen in fear!

"WAAAAAH!"

Right before his blade could make contact with human flesh, Tank charged out and head butted the lead solder from behind and sending flying over the trio! "ARGH!" he cried as he slammed hard on the ground ahead as the remaining soldiers backed away in shock and disbelief at their commander being defeated so easily, as well as their combined assault being useless against this monster as she roared out at them mocking their futile efforts!

The trio meanwhile fell to their knees feeling overwhelmed by that near brush with death, "Phew…." Ursula wheezed letting out a deep sigh of relief.

"That was way too close…." Zander gasped in exhaustion.

"I thought my heart was going to be on a kebab…." Ed muttered clasping over his chest before falling down and fainting on the ground.

As the commander got back up on his legs, he turned around and for the first time in his life as a soldier, he felt his heart turn cold and fear run through his veins. Quickly turning around he shouted 2 words he never thought he ever would, "R…Retreat men!" he cried out loud as he ran past them, "Run!" As he said so the remaining soldiers cried out in terror as they followed suit.

As the army retreated, the Alpha gang got back up on their feet recovering form their earlier shock before deciding to gloat in victory, "Yeah! That'll show those brutes not to mess with the alpha gang!" Ursula cheered energetically with the intention of rubbing this victory in their enemies' faces.

"Nyeeh!" Ed and Zander followed sticking their tongue out at them before taunting the fleeing soldiers and mocking them with names too.

Their moment of glory was about to be cut short though, as Cera stepped out from behind the pillar and began walking towards them, "What are you guys doing here?" she then asked firmly as she stood before the 3 Alpha gang clowns right next to Tank.

"Huh?" As they turned around to see her and Miku they frowned in disappointment realising they had to be saved by a brat, which sapped some wind from the sails.

"Oh it's you." Ursula pouted.

"Wait, were you the one who took Tank just now?" Zander asked pointing at her curiously.

Cera however ignored them and instead hardened her gaze at them angrily, "I asked you a question, and I suggest you answer now." she said menacingly as she folded her arms and Tank roared out demanding that the trio answer her otherwise she'd literally beat it out of them!

The trio once again turned pale as they held out their hands and waved frantically begging for mercy, "A…Alright take it easy, we'll come clean okay?" They cried out not wanting to have another close brush with death again, though with what they were about to reveal to Cera, would bring them closer to their demise than the centurions ever could-

After they explained their whole story, when they left the safety of the ship to look for pizza, only to end up being forced to fight in the coliseum per Sula's orders and endangering so many innocent lives, Cera could hardly contain her anger as she exploded in a huge rage, "YOU DID WHAT!?" she screamed out loud and began huffing deeply while gasping for air, flaring red and tensing her hands into fists.

The trio remained silent and turned pale, unable to think carefully on how to respond, knowing a careless comment or snake would end up leaving them as a smudge on the ground, "Umm….do you need us to repeat ourselves?" Zander croaked as he pointed out.

"Please say no…." Ed pleaded as he clapped his hands together and prayed with Ursula for mercy.

Cera was about to have none of that, "You put Terry through so much pain and suffering and used Spiny to try and kill Spartacus!?" she screamed as the two huddled together with the young girl focusing every ounce of her anger and spite towards them, "What were you idiots thinking!?" she hissed as her eyes reddened immensely at the tough they were so careless and put their own dinosaurs lives on the line as well as nearly ending an innocent man's as well, the thought of it was enough to agitate Tank and Miku too after hearing their comrades could have been killed as they both snarled and growled at the trio who lowered their heads in shame!

"We….weren't?"

"S…..Sorry…."

"Please let us live…." They each croaked, feeling completely terrified as they shuddered and shook in terror begging for her to be finished with her punishment and get it over with already, even death didn't seem like a bad alternative after what she was putting them through now.

As much as she wanted to give them a stern lecturing and punishment, Cera soon remembered she had more important business to attend to now as she sighed in exasperation and rubbed her temple trying to calm herself down best she could, "You guys better get back to the ship right this instant, I'll deal with you later, you've caused us enough trouble for one day." she responded as the Trio brightened up and smiled with delight.

"Sure thing!"

"Whatever you say!"

"No need to tell me twice!" They each said as they got off and began to scurry away.

"Wait!" She then yelled out as they stopped to look back at her.

"Huh?"

She then pointed out with her thumb to the arena entrance, "Dr Z's knocked out in the arena." she said as the Trio widened their eyes in shock.

"He is!?" they gasped in disbelief that their boss decided to come down from the ship himself.

Cera nodded back at them, "Go get him and go home, before he becomes dino food." she said to them as they saluted her like army soldiers did.

"Yes ma'am!" They said in unison as they ran back inside.

She then sighed with relief seeing that mess was now taken care of before turning serious and looking ahead, "Now to the real issue." she thought to herself upon hearing a commotion happening in front, as she ran ahead with Tank following close by.

Right outside the prison, Spartacus yelled out angrily at Sheer who had just stolen his sword, which held his family's priceless heirloom the yellow cosmos stone inside it and was about to fly away with it too. "Come back here!" Spartacus yelled out to her as she took to the sky with his words falling on deaf ears.

"Oh no she's getting away with the cosmos stone!" Sophia cried clapping her hands together in worry while her brother gritted his teeth in frustration at being unable to do a thing about it. All hope at getting the jewel back seemed lost, when suddenly-

"Not if I can help it!" a voice shouted from behind which made both siblings look back in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Ah!" Sophia gasped and smiled to see it was none other than Cera along with Tank who had arrived on the scene! "It's you!" she cried with joy as Spartacus looked to his sister and back at the mysterious new child with a dinosaur, who he assumed must have been with the ones who helped save him just now at the arena.

Arriving on scene and already piecing together what was happening, Cera narrowed her eyes as she vowed to herself that she wouldn't let Sheer get away with the trouble she had caused everyone in this time period, "Go Tank! Take her down!" Cera raised her arm out as the saichania roared out, "Spike arrows!" she yelled slashing the move card causing Tank to glow purple as she fired out a barrage of purple arrows straight at Sheer!

"Huh?" as the lady pirate heard the sound of a move being used, she looked down and widened her eyes in alarm to see the flurry of arrows being sent at her! "Wh….What the!? AAAAAAHHH!" she screamed in shock as she barely managed to avoid them in time, spinning around or dodging them barely, till one arrow grazed her wing and forced her to make a landing close to the ground! As she placed a hand on her chest taking in a breath, she looked up and hardened her expression to see Cera and Tank staring down at her. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, "Grrr! How dare a measly little child like you attack a space pirate like me!?" she growled seeing her getting grounded by a little girl was unacceptable, "I bet you're with those little kids from before." she spat begrudgingly as she narrowed her eyes at Cera.

"That's right, and I'm here to make you and your friends pay for what you've done!" Cera retorted as Tank and Miku both shrieks at her in response, while Spartacus lead Sophia to behind their 2 protectors.

Despite what the young girl did to her, Sheer couldn't help but find it rather amusing as she folded an arm on her hip and smirked, "Ha! You've either got guts or not a lot of brains I'll give you that…." she snickered before blinking her eyes on close inspection at the new brat who decided to get in her way, "Hang on….she looks familiar…." she mused to herself leaning in for a better look before shaking her head and shrugging it off, "Must be my imagination," she muttered before getting back to business, "Either way you've got a lot of nerve attacking me with my back turned, no way am I going to let this slide!" she growled swearing vengeance as she took out a card from her pocket, "Come on out torosaurus!" Placing the card on her choker, a large red frilled ceratopsian with eye markings appeared on the field from purple light as 3 Spectral pirate markings appeared on its head and sides!

"AH!" Sophia gasped while Spartacus gritted his teeth and sweated nervously.

"Just how many of these things are there?!" he growled in disbelief as Cera held out her hand to both siblings.

"Stand back, we'll handle this!" she said to them firmly and shooting them a glare which meant this wasn't up for debate.

Reading her eyes, Sophia nodded firmly, "Alright Cera, good luck!" she cried before she and her brother ran back to the other side where they looked out safely from behind the wall of the prison

Seeing they were safe and out of harm's way for now, Cera then looked to her partner on her shoulder and at Tank who was already out, who both nodded back at her showing they trusted in her judgement and that she could trust in them too, "Alright! Let's go guys!" she nodded back in response as she returned Miku to a card, "Dino slash! Micro raptor shine!" She cried out as she slashed her partner's card and summoned her as a full sized microraptor who screeched furiously, "Let's give Tank a hand Miku! Energy equaliser!" Miku glowed rainbow in colour as she landed on Tank's neck and shared her strength with the saichania, giving her a power boost as she glowed rainbow and roared out energised!

Sheer however smirked unimpressed, "Heh, no matter what tricks you've got I'm still going to pulverise you!" she announced undeterred holding out her hand, "Show them I mean business torosaurus!" her dinosaur bellowed loudly as it charged ahead, clashing heads with Tank, pushing at shoving at one another before managing to toss Tank to one side! Fortunately she was able to turn around and land other feet thanks to Miku giving her better control and strength. The torosaurus charged once more, hoping to attack Tank's side flank and flip her over, but she quickly anticipated his strategy as she shifted sides and swing out her tail clashing in a tie against the torosaurus' horns!

The collision sent a shockwave which shook the surroundings! "URGH!" As Sophia and Spartacus both held on to one another for support, the rest of their comrades soon ran out from the prison rooms.

"Spartacus!"

"We're here for you!" They cite out rallying to their leader's side before widening their eyes at the battle taking place before them!

"AH!"

"Wh…What's happening!?" They gasped in shock, clearly not expecting 2 dinosaurs to be fighting right when they just managed to escape.

Cera widened her eyes seeing they were all in anger now if they stayed, "Everyone! Run now!" she cried out warning them as they gasped at the stranger shouting at them, surprised to see she was the one commanding one of the giant beasts in battle!

"She's right!" Sophia yelled in agreement with her, "It's not safe here! We need to leave now!" she said to them before eying her brother who nodded in agreement with her.

"Everyone, this way quick!" he yelled to them as he and Sophia ran out to the town taking the lead.

"Y…Yes sir!" One man shouted as they followed after the pair.

Cera thens field seeing they were nearly home free before looking back to the battle at hand, "Alright with them safely out of the crossfire we can go full force now!" she declared as Tank roared out in agreement.

"Funny, I just thought of doing the same thing." Sheer snickered as she held out the gray card of the torosaurus, "I was starting to get bored so I'll finish you off quickly with some spectral armour!" She announced as the card was absorbed into her necklace, causing torosaurus to glow purple before appearing encased in armour!

Cera narrowed her eyes, "Armour is it?" she asked before reaching into her pocket, "Well two can play at that game!" she declared as she held out the purple element booster and then eying it closely, "Time to see if thing works…." she thought closing her eyes in prayer before holding up her dinoshot causing a back part of it to open up, "Element booster! Dino tector on!" she cried as she inserted it inside! As a result, Tank's head and tail glowed purple, as bright light enveloped her, purple crystal like armour appeared around her back and even encrusted her tail as she leapt up and roared out powerfully surging with energy like never before! Combined with Miku she felt she could take on the entire world by herself! "Wow….the armour's even more beautiful than I first thought it'd be." Cera whistled impressed before smirking at Sheer who sweated a bit nervously at the unexpected development.

"Huh? You can use armour too?" she mused before striking instead, "Heh, how interesting….Let's see how it handles against mine!" she chuckled as she held her arm out, "Go Torosaurus!" Her dinosaur roared and charged ahead. Both dinosaurs collided in another tie, however Tank was able to thrust her opponent back as he dragged his feet in the ground to keep himself from falling! "Flash frill!" Sheer announced adding the lightning move card to her choker, causing torosaurus to flow purple as he jumped up surging in an electrical aura and then spinning like a boomerang towards Tank!

"Quake saber!" Cera countered as Tank sprouted a crystal sword from her tail which she then swung out and clashed at the spinning torosaurus! Sparks soon flew out between the constant shredding of the blade and lightning with one another, before sending the ceratopsian flying out like a ball and at Sheer herself! "WHOA!" she cried leaping out of the way as her dinosaur ended up crashing into and destroying her ship which was hidden nearby!

BOOM!

"GAH! My ship!" she cried out in horror widened her eyes while Cera smirked with amusement.

"Heh, no way you're escaping this time!" she cried out as torosaurus charge out of the flaming ruble and roared out just as furious as Sheer was as she turned her attention back to the little girl who was beginning to become a thorn in her side!

"Grrr! I admit I took you for some runt, but now you've done it! For that you'll pay dearly!" she hissed under her breath losing all sense of restraint in herself, "Tch! The more I see her the more angry I get!" she clicked her tongue as a flashback came through her own mind, where a young female silhouette along with a small group of people held out dinoshots and then summoned out a variety of dinosaurs which included a prosaurolophus, sauropelta and a styracosaurus before they charged against her and a group of jet jarks she had with her. For some strange reason this girl Cera was reminding her of a certain annoying individual from another time, and though she couldn't put a finger as to why she was so familiar she was starting to lose all sense of restraint as she gnashed her teeth and fumed in rage, "That tears it! No more holding back! Destroy her completely and utterly torosaurus!" She yelled out loudly as she took another move card from her pocket and inserted it into her necklace, "Electric charge!" A huge bolt of lightning struck down from the sky as torosaurus became charged with lightning as he roared out and charged ahead towards Tank, Miku and Cera!

They however came prepared with a secret move of their very own, "Ultimate Earth!" Cera shouted slashing the card causing Tank to glow purple and roar, with crystal erupting from in front of her! Rushing forward in full force she smashed through the crystals with ease before overpowering the torosaurus, smashing into his chest and seeing him flying across the ground before his armour shattered and he came to a stop before Sheer, who stayed in place undeterred as her dinosaur returned to card form before her feet.

"We did it!" Cera cheered as she jumped up and down with joy as the battlefield disappeared, signalling Max and the others had no doubt won their battle too. "Nice job you guys! Hahahaha!" she laughed happily as Tank and Miku both roared out pleased with the results.

Sheer however didn't share in the group's joy as she picked up the card and eyed it with disgust, "Tch! Looks like I'll need a both better dinosaur and to go back home the hard way now.…." she shipped to herself before losing up to see Cera and Tank approaching her.

"You're done! Now give up the stone and tell us where our parents are!" she demanded pointing at the pirate while Tank roared out menacingly.

Despite the odds stacked against her, Sheer however remained undeterred as she simply smirked back at her in response, "Heh, you think I'm just going to give into your lame demands just because you won?" she mused before bursting into uncontrollable laughter, "Pfft! Hahaha! You must be joking! Just who do you take me for!?" she laughed mockingly while Cera gritted her teeth in annoyance, "Besides compared to what I'm aiming for this little contest was just a little game, winning or losing doesn't matter." she said shrugging her shoulders as she opened up her wings and took off into the air and out of the D Team's reach!

"Hey wait! Get back here! We aren't finished!" Cera cried as she ran out and shook her fists in anger at the pirate's cowardly retreat.

"Actually we are," Sheer corrected her as she shrugged her shoulders uncaringly, "Either fortunately or unfortunately for you depending on how you look at it. Consider yourself lucky I'm in a hurry today, I have a promise to keep to Spectre and I don't plan on breaking it." she said at the end.

Cera blinked her eyes upon hearing that name Sheer had uttered, "Spec….ter?" she mouthed as the same somehow struck a cord inside her. As a memory flashbacked she pictured Gavro, Foolscap and Sheer descending from a large unusual shaped ship in the sky, and were soon joined by a 4th figure, far more menacing and delay than the 3 of them put together! He wore a huge cape which covered most of his body, and was shadowed except for the fact he was sitting on a floating throne and had a small sauropod dinosaur in his lap which he stroked akin to the of a cat.

"Don't worry, with any luck you'll be seeing more of me and my comrades but you'll soon wish this was our last." Sheer said at the end, which snapped Cera out of her thoughts.

As she turned around, "H….Hey! Don't you dare!" before Cera could slash spike arrows again, the female pirate unleashed a high burst of speed from her wings and took off into the sky, vanishing behind the clouds much to their frustration, "Tch! She got away….." Cera clicked her tongue in frustration, despite winning the battle it was obvious this was a loss as she failed to get back the yellow cosmos stone or any info out of her. The day was no doubt quite a big loss for them as she lowered her head in defeat, prompting Tank and Miku to walk up to her and nuzzle her hoping it would bring at least some degree of comfort for her.

Shaking her head clear and seeing she couldn't; dwell on defeat forever, she noticed the charred remains of SHeer's red ship as she contacted Jonathan via dinoshot, "Hey Jonathan, do you read?" she asked as his face appeared on screen.

"Loud and clear Cera, did you find the space pirate?" he asked as she shook her head reluctantly.

"She got away…."

"How unfortunate…." Jonathan huffed slightly disappointed knowing Rex and the others wouldn't be very pleased to hear this.

"But she did leave behind her ship though." said Cera seeing there was still a consolation prize to be gained as she keyed in the coordinates to Jonathan, "Beam it up so we can take a look at it and see if we can salvage anything useful out of it. Plus we don't want this to get left behind in this time right?" she said to him as the nodded.

"Well said, I'll do it right away." he replied before the connection cut off.

As it did, Cera then let out a deep sigh, "We didn't get the stone nor any information…." as she said hat Tank and Miku both lowered their heads and let out a pair of sad cries at the thought of letting Cera down when she needed them most. Nevertheless she then smiled lightly back at them as she stroked them in response, "But….at least we did help Sophia and her brother escape with their friends. And that's what counts…." she said which cheered them up a little as they cooed back at her in response. The sweet moment between the 3 girls wasn't about to last though, as a lot and angry growl soon sounded out nearby from where they were.

"GRRR! How can this be!?"

Cora's ears perked upon hearing the loud male voice scream in anger, "Hmm?" she then followed in the direction it came from, keeping slow so that she wouldn't alert anyone to her presence or to the dinosaurs.

As they went ahead towards the town square and hid behind in an alleyway, they found it was none other than the dictator himself Sula and with a pair of bodyguard with him, needless to say with everything that had turned out this day he was far from pleased as he tensed his hands into fists and gnashed his teeth in rage, "Not only did Spartacus escape to become even more of a thorn in my side, but mere children dare make a fool of me and my army in my arena?! Unacceptable!" he roared at the top of his lungs before breathing heavily and deeply, "I swear once I rally all my troops together I'll find whatever land they came from and lay siege to it alone with Spartacus and his pitiful rebellion!" he shouted to the sky as he swearing vengeance on everyone who dared to mock the name of the Roman empire and to defy him in his own domain.

Cera me while kept herself hidden behind in the darkness, she narrowed her eyes and felt anger build up inside her. Right before her eyes was the very man who made sport of anyone who rebelled or pretty much disagreed with him, making sport of them in the arena with wild animals for the entertainment of the people, and nearly killing Terry when he was so weak. As much as she didn't want to interfere with the natural turn of events, she decided to make an acceptation just this once, after all she couldn't let him get away with everything he did and since Max and the others did a lot back at the arena with their dinosaurs, one more change shouldn't hurt since they won in the end.

"This is for Terry and Spartacus…" Cera breathed to herself as she took out a move card, "Tank! Spike arrows now!" she cried slashing the card as Tank glowed purple and roared out, firing a barrage of arrows to the sky!

Sensing danger was amidst, Sula blinked his eyes and looked up sensing that was where it was coming from, "Huh?" As he and his guards looked up they widened their eyes to see a flurry of purple arrows rain down from above at them!

"AAAAAAHH!" They all screwed in terror as they held their arms out in a futile effort to block the sharp arrows from spearing them! A little while passed and they didn't feel themselves get skewered as they opened their eyes in surprise, "H.…Huh?" What they awoke too was just as worse as they found themselves trapped inside a cage made from the very arrows that were fired at them!

"Wh…What is this!? Let me out of here now!" Sula yelled in anger as he tugged and pulled on the arrows but they were so deeply embedded in the ground that neither he nor the combined efforts of his men could do so much as make them budge!

Things were about to get worse though, as some of the escapees who remained behind caught sight of the dictator now trapped like a rat for change! "Look! It's that tyrant Sula!" he pointed out as more of his comrades soon heard his cry and rallied to his side.

"Huh?"

"Look it's true! Come see!" Very soon the mad dictator was surrounded on all sided by furious or snickering rebels, like visitors at a zoo enclosure, who were prepared to do the same to him as he did to them.

"Heheh! Look at him all caged up like a lion!"

"Let's see how you like being on the other side of the bars now dictator!" They laughed out loud, mocking him or sticking faces at him before even resorting to throwing stones, mud or food at him and his men!

"AAAARGH!" They yelled as they held their arms out to shield themeless against the pelting of several angry citizens and slaves who couldn't wait to have a go at taking out their years of oppression and frustration against the man who ruined their lives, and soon the crowd wa only getting bigger as the emperor found himself at the mercy of the very people he tormented for so long.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE! HOW DARE YOU!?" He yelled at them as a tomato was thrown at his face! "BLEACH!"

"This is just the beginning you swine!"

"Yeah! We can do way worse than this for all the suffering you've caused us!"

"There's no hiding behind bodyguards for you now!" The insults continued to be ruled at him as the dictator and his men could do nothing but let themselves get pelted by the anger and hatred of the freed slaves.

"You mere peons! Don't think that this atrocity will go unpunished!" Sula cried out swearing vengeance though his words were no more than hot air as the insults and pelting refused to cease anytime soon.

As they looked on, Cera smiled with satisfaction with Miku and Tank to see the dictator suffer on the other side of the bars for a change, "I think we can leave it to them now." she said to herself believing they did enough and they ought to leave it to the people now. She then however sighed as she returned both dinosaurs to chibi forms and began to walk away reluctantly, "For now let's find Max and the others….and give them the bad news…." she said salty as they disappeared into the shadows down the alleyway.

On the way back out, she passed by a pizza parlour where the owners had left for the big match in the colisseum, seeing the front door was left right open, she took notice of a sheet being left out on the counter beside a large flaming oven. Picking it up and reading it, it said the recipe for the perfect pizza even Emperor Sula could consider it legendary. Seeing this to be the right kind of souvenir, she folded it and put it into her pocket seeing this ought to put Helga in a good mood as she headed out.

 **(Later)**

Later that evening, after losing sight of Sheer and receiving word of the D Team's success in the arena, Cera then contacted them to meet her at a hill on the outskirts of the city. After barely managing to sneak pass both fans and guards the D Team were able to meet her at a tree at the hill she specified where they briefed her on their accomplishments while she reluctantly informed them about her failure to prevent the yellow cosmos stone's theft or to get any further information out of Sheer, which made them both sigh or frown in mild disappointment.

"I'm sorry guys, she was within my grasp and I just let her slip away…." Cera sighed as she lowered her head shamefully, feeling she had let the entire group down when they counted on her most.

Her friends looked to one another for a bit before looking back and smiling at her with encouragement, "It's alright Cera." said Max.

"Yeah, don't beat yourself up over it, you did all you could." Rex followed backing up his friend.

"And you saved Spartacus and Sophia too, along with all their friends, and that's all that matters." Zoe cheered as she clapped her hands together.

While they were true in their points, it didn't really do much to lift up her spirits as she felt she was so close yet still fell short of the goal despite her best efforts, "I guess…." she muttered unable to maintain eye contact with any of them.

"Hey come on Cera," said Rex as he brought her head up to look at them in the eyes as they smiled back at her, still proud of what she did try at least, "What's done is done, don't fret about it, there's always next time." he said.

"And you can bet there will be a next time!" Max grinned as he punted up his arm eagerly, "Thanks to you and Dr Z, we now have the right means to take them down for good when we find them again!" He said as he flashed the dino-tector in his hand, which made Cera smile a little seeing she at least did improve their future chances.

"Yeah, you're right Max…." she nodded feeling a little bit better after deciding to focus on what she did manage to do today with the best of her abilities rather than on what she failed to achieve.

"Look! Up there!"

"It's those brave children who tamed those powerful beasts who saved us all!"

"Our brave young heroes!" A set of voices soon cried out from below which caught their attention.

"Huh? Did you hear something?" Max asked.

"I'm sure we all did." said Zoe before catching sight of a crowd coming in from below the hill, with 2 familiar faces leading them, "Hey look it's Spartacus and Sophia!" she pointed out as the others followed where she focused on.

"Yeah, and with a big welcome party for us too." Rex commented as they greeted their friends who came looking for them the whole time since they managed to escape imprisonment and hearing of their feats in the gladiatorial arena.

As Spartacus and Sophia stood before the 4 children and their dinosaurs, Max then stepped forward to answer them, "Hey guys, what's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing," Spartacus replied, "Except that we are truly in your debt for everything." he said with deep gratitude and a small bow as his sister stepped in front of him to greet their friends and saviours.

"I can't thank the 4 of you enough for what you've done for us!" Sophia said filled with hope.

"Oh don't worry about it! We like to help!" Max responded feeling glad that it all turned out well for everyone in the end as he looked behind for the others' opinions, "Right Zoe?"

"I guess so, but I'd sure feel a lot better about it if that pirate hadn't gotten away with your cosmos stone." Zoe sighed feeling bad about the siblings' loss of their family treasure.

Upon hearing her point that out, Cera then stepped forward in front of the D Team as Spartacus and Sophia looked upon her, "I have myself to blame for that…." she said rather solemnly unable to look at them in the eye, "If anyone's to blame it's me…." she said with immense guilt at letting them down as she bowed down, "For that I really am sorry…." she said as the others looked on upon her sympathetically.

"Cera…." said Rex softly, feeling bad she hadn't moved on completely yet while the others looked on.

Fortunately for them, Sophia still retained her smile despite the loss,, "That is unfortunate," she admitted before turning to look at her older brother, "But the main thing is my big brother is back and safe!"

"That is good to know at least." Cera then smiled feeling a bit more encouraged that there was at least a consolation prize they can be happy about.

"You should probably get moving right away if you want to stay safe though." said Rex cautiously, "The Roman army is bound to come after you."

"I'm sure you're right about that." Spartacus answered him but his face soon hardened into one of anger and determination. "But I have no intention of running from them any longer!" he vowed much to the surprise of the D Team.

"What?" Zoe breathed.

"Wait…could this be?" Cera blinked as she started to put the pieces together.

"The dictator has trampled our rights and enslaved our people long enough!" said Spartacus as he began clenching his hand into a fist, "So we've all decided to stand together and form an armed rebellion against the centurions!" He said smiling proudly as his followers all bellowed and cheered in unison at the leader they could rally behind and give their lives to.

"YEAH!"

"What do you know?" Rex then breathed, "So this is the beginning of the Spartacus rebellion that Reese told us about…."

"To think we helped make it possible…." Cera whistled thinking about it carefully, "In a way….we pretty much created our own past…." she said not feeling sure how to feel about it, on one hand it was great they'd be able to stand up for themselves against tyranny, but they lost their strongest weapon in the process and they interfered in the timelines themselves, though then again based on what the space pirates did they had little choice.

"How about you four?" Spartacus then said to the D Team who then focused on him, "I would be honoured to have you and your creatures fight by my side!" He said offering them a place in his rebellion against Sula.

"Err…." It was a tempting offer to fight on the side of good no doubt, however….

"With those dinosaurs as our weapons we would be invincible! What say you?" Spartacus then asked once more feeling hopeful and confident that they will no doubt be able to succeed with such help on their side.

It was indeed an offer anyone would be more than willing accept, however, there were 2 problems the D Team had with it unfortunately, problems that Max was going to point out, "I have to say no." he answered firmly, "Our quest right now I to find our missing parents and rescue them." he said stating his reason before adding on a firm belief of his own, "Besides, dinosaurs aren't meant to be weapons in anybody's war!" As he said that the rest of his friends looked on and smiled proudly at an excellent answer, "I'm sorry…." he apologised at the end, stating they had done enough and had to move on, and that Spartacus and his people would have to fight their own battles from here on.

"I understand…." Spartacus replied respecting the decision of the children.

Cera was quite relieved that they were able to resolve that matter peacefully, and also, from their experiences in Rome she could tell the D Team no doubt learnt plenty about courage and bravery to fight for whatever is right despite the overwhelming odds stacked against them, something who would be most valuable if they were to send a chance against the challenges they'd soon face if they were to have any hope of rescuing their parents from the space pirates.

On that matter though, "Hey!" Rex spoke up getting everyone's attention, "Our parents are on the move again!" he gasped eying the TPS in his hand where the blimp was beginning to fade.

"Are you sure?" Zoe asked worried.

What he did next confirmed it, "Jonathan!"

"Master Rex! I suggest you all return to the ship!" Jonathan answered on the other end, "The Space pirates' time machine is moving and we have to stay close!" A sound soon whirred from up above, causing everyone to turn to the sky as the Backlander lowered its cloak and revealed itself in full form before the D Team and the oppressed captives much to their bewilderment.

"Your magic is amazing!" Sophia exclaimed in amazement.

"Technology actually…." Cera sweat dropped uneasily at their expressions of shock at having to see what may come into humanity's capabilities several years down the line, but they don't need to know that. As of now they had done enough and didn't want to give them any spoilers about the times to come. With their job completed here it was time they all took their leave.

"So long everyone!" Max said his farewells while Rex smiled and Zoe waved in embarrassment.

"All the best to you all, never give up nor lose hope and you'll all triumph." said Cera holding a thumbs up as they all vanished in the bright light of the teleporter. As it did, the Backlander sped off into the distance before disappearing into a time portal.

As the gang appeared in one of the Backhander's hallways, Zoe then let out a deep gasp of air in exhaustion just barely recovering from the experience down below, "Phew…that's quite the day wasn't it?" she breathed trying to take in everything she and the others experienced first hand, having a close brush with death at the hands of Roman centurions and fighting for her lives against the pirates and their dinosaurs, anyone would have been easily overwhelmed after all that.

Max however wasn't so easily put down though as he still knew what needed to be done, "Yeah, but we've got no time to rest on our laurels, we need to find our parents and fast." he said as everyone else nodded at him seriously in agreement.

Cera however had something else on her mind as she looked down the hallway on the opposite end, "You guys go see Jonathan, I've got something I need to take care of first." she said to them as she took the case with the remaining element boosters in them from Max, "I'll join you guys later."

Assuming it was something to do with research or checking the ship's systems, Max and the others decided not to question her, "Okay then."

"Don't take too long." said Zoe and Rex to her as they ran off to see Jonathan to see what he had to say, while Cera hardened her expression and stomped down the other way looking for a trio of stooges she had some correcting to do.

Meanwhile in the kitchen the trio was busy helping to themselves to a bag of pizza flavoured crackers each which they got out from the cabinets, hoping to fill the void left behind in their empty bellies after failing to get their hands on the legendary pizza they heard was so great in Rome, which little did they know was but a mere rumour, "Well we didn't get pizza but these pizza crisps are okay too." Ed muttered with his mouth full as he shoved a bunch of crisps down his throat.

"These don't even one close to the real thing Ed." Zander muttered as he crunched down on a few he popped into his mouth but no matter how much he took it his lingering longing for that special pizza wouldn't go away.

"But they do at least help fill the void." Ursula then sighed pouting childishly as she checked her bag to find it empty before crumpling it up and tossing it away without a care.

As they mourned over their lost chance to sink their teeth into what may be the greatest italian dish known to human history, they were oblivious to approaching danger which had soon arrived at their doorstep at the front of the kitchen entrance.

"There you are!" Cera yelled at the top of her lungs pointing out at the Trio, as they jumped up and screamed their heads off at the sound of her sudden yell!

"GAH!" They cried leaping to their feet while dropping and scattering whatever snacks they were still holding in their hands all over the floor.

"Hey you surprised me there!" Ed cried crossly while his friends scowled at Cera, who was still shooting a hard glare at them for some reason they didn't know.

"What do you want?" Ursula then huffed wondering what Cera was after from them, but her crossed expression began to vanish when she saw Cera's angry glare was not just hardening but was starting to burn with red hot fury, sending a shiver down her spine and Ed and Zander's! "Umm….is anything wrong?" she then asked when no one else would, which was the final trigger which set off a chain of explosive reactions that would burn into their hearts and souls for a long time.

"You bet there is….." Cera said darkly before exploding in anger, "You guys not only used Spiny to fight in a gladiatorial arena against a man, but you also put Terry in a lot of danger because you were both careless and stupid!" she screamed at them as her pent up rage which was building up since coming here to Rome was finally being unleashed in full force! "Don't you realised you could've gotten them both killed!?" she screamed even more enraged that their clueless buffoonery had nearly resulted in the lives of one of their dinosaurs and of an innocent man!

"WAAAAH!" They cried out huddling together in alarm that for such a young girl Cera sure had a big voice and commanded a lot of authority.

"Y…You're still on about that!?" Ursula gulped down hard as she began sweating bullets in anxiety, "I t…thought you would've moved on from it!"

"Well you thought wrong." Cera growled as she tensed up a fist which showed a vein was popping in it as she clenched it tightly, which made the trio shudder in terror like a group of abandoned puppies in the rain, "Now you're going to apologise right now or I'll be delivering you guys up to 225 million years of prehistoric rage and retribution!"

"GAAAAAH!" The trio squeaked before kneeling down and prostrating themselves before her.

"We're really sorry!"

"Please forgive us!" They cried out whimpering like guilty dogs.

She however scoffed and looked away in disgust, "Don't apologise to me, apologise to Spiny and Terry." she huffed folding her arms as Tank walked into the room from behind her legs, as she let out a vicious hiss which made the Trio jump. "In fact, Tank here will make sure you do just that." said Cera as she smirked at her down below, "Won't you?" In response Tank wagged her tail and barked happily before turning to the Alpha gang and growling at them which made them shudder. They didn't know who was worse, having to apologise to their own dinosaurs or to take orders from one, either it was that or they suffered the receiving end of Cera's rage, which they had no intention of testing anymore.

With that she could see that they were now in good hands, "Now that that's taken care of…." Cera then stated as she reached into her pockets and grabbed hold of the element boosters in them. She was reluctant to hand these devices over to the bumbling trio, considering it'd be like giving pearls to pigs, knowing them they'd either lose them or fail to use them to their fullest potential. In the end she decided it was for the dinosaurs and now them, as she sighed deeply hoping she wouldn't regret it, "Here, don't forget these…." she said tossing the 3 adults an element booster as they eyed it curiously.

"Hmm? What are these supposed to be?" asked Zander as he pointed at the one he had with him.

"Ask Dr Z and he'll fill in for you." Cera answered as she pointed out the door, "Now go apologise to Spiny and Terry." she said firmly as Ursula, Zander and Ed lowered themselves forward in remorse.

"Yes ma'am…" They all moaned as Tank soon let them out to take their lumps.

Cera clapped the dust off her hands and folded them on her hips feeling proud that her work was taken care of, though there was still one little thing left to take care of as she headed out to the living room. As she entered in she found Helga was vacuuming the floor while humming to herself in a good mood. Cera smiled to herself knowing she'd be happy with what she had in store for her, "Hey Helga!" she called out as she walked in, catching the cleaning lady's attention.

"Hmm?" As she looked up to see Cera walk in with Miku on her shoulder, she then smiled in a good mood, "Ah it's you Cera," she said recalling how obedient and respectful she was compared to the others, "What may I do for you?" she replied as she put down her vacuum.

Cera then took something out of her pocket, appearing to be a small sheet of paper as she handed it to Helga, "I found this while I was down there earlier." she said as Helga opens it up revealing it to be a recipe for pizza, "Think maybe you could whip a couple of those for lunch later?"

After reading it through in a few seconds Helga smiled and nodded in response, "I shall get to work right away!" she said as she kept the note in her apron then popped her fingers, "In fact, since you've been such a big help just now, I'll let you be my taste tester! What say you?" she asked.

"Hahaha, we'd be honoured." Cera chuckled feeling glad to hear that as she then took her leave, her serious expression returning as she decided to get back to serious matters. Entering through the door she stumbled upon both the Alpha gang and the D Team at the control deck, with the Alpha gang gu'ping down on bottle soda and the D Team leaning over at where Jonathan sat.

"Have you got a fix on our parents yet!?" Max asked seriously to Jonathan.

"Not yet but I'm getting close." he answered as he continued to maintain a steady course through the time stream.

"Keep trying!" Max cried once more while Cera narrowed her eyes seeing how determined the D Team were now they were getting close.

"This could be it," she thought seriously, "Once we get a lock on them, not only will we rescue them, we'll even stop the pirates before they even begin." she thought knowing their final battle may come soon, though it was wishful thinking to believe that everything would go exactly as they plan and hope.

Behind Jonathan, the Alpha gang were sitting around trying to recuperate from their horrible near death experience down at the arena, while also trying to recover from the stern lecturing and threats Cera gave them not long ago.

"We never did get any legendary pizza but it probably wasn't that great anyway…." Ed muttered looking on bright side though it didn't seem to cheer up his friends much while Dr Z chugged down an entire bottle of soda.

"Are you kidding? It would have been amazing…." Ursula sighed feeling miserable.

"At least I got a soda from the coliseum snack bar." said Zander as he reached to put his mouth on the bottle top.

He didn't get much time to enjoy it though, as Dr Z suddenly swiped it out of his hand! "I'll take that!"

As Zander felt his lips touch dry air and the bottle missing from his grip he yelled out in anger, "Gah! You give me that soda back!" he cried as Dr Z grinned cheekily at him, "You already had one you pop snatcher! That one's mine!"

"So what!?" Dr Z spat, "My invention saved you and everyone else today! So I should get whatever I want you got that!?"

Zander however wasn't about to take that lying down as he leapt out at the old man, "If you don't give it back, I'll take it from you!" he yelled trying to lunge at Dr Z from every angel while the old man continued playing keep away with him.

Cera and Miku then looked down at them from above, sweat dropping at the fact grown adults were still acting like little children. That expression of disapproval quickly banished into thin air, as the bottle slipped out of Dr Z's hand as the Trio cried out in horror! "WAAAAAAAHHH!"

As the bottle smashed and its contents leaked over one of the console, the Gang could only stare speechlessly at the horror they might have unleashed, "Uh oh…."

"What….did….you…do?" Cera croaked pointing out weakly, as her heart skipped a beat and she turned pale.

Without warning, red alarms began ringing loudly inside the ship's control deck followed by massive rumbling which shook the entire complex violently!

"Now what have you alpha clowns done!?" Max growled as he and everyone else focused their anger on Dr Z's buffoonery for the umpteenth time!

"That spilt soda just fried the onboard navigation computer!" Rex yelled.

"I've not only lost the timeline interface but all control of the ship!" Jonathan cried out as the ship refused to respond to any of his commands, "Get ready for a crash landing!"

"And I worked so hard to fix this thing too!" Cera screamed as she grabbed on to a support and held on as tightly as she could! Not only was she furious at her heart work gone to waste, to make matters worse they now lost their best chance at ending this battle at the root of it all because of the careless acts of the Alpha gang clowns! "I swear if we survive this I'm going to get you baboons for it!" she swore at the top of he lungs while shaking her first as the ship began to spin round and round with everyone inside!

"WHOOOOOAAAAA!" Everyone screamed in a panic while hanging on for dear life as the ship spiralled out of control into the time stream!

 **And thus concludes the Ancient Rome arc, as shown here Cera played a role in the dino tectors but also in the ultimate moves with Dr Z, she also got a chance to use Tank against Sheer as well. Stay tuned for the Caribbean arc where she and Spiny will deep six some pirate hineys!**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Sheer and Foolscap don't usually get along, in fact none of them do, it's unlikely but will see how things proceed when they get to season 3.**

 **Guest-**

 **-I hope to do that yes, though if anyone would like to offer ideas or even help contribute to writing it it'd be a great help and even better!**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-The other alpha dinosaurs will be implemented and so will the other dinosaurs on the Space pirate ship, will give the Alpha dinosaurs the recognition they deserve and also help give Cera more relevance too. Well everyone writes differently but they should also explain how they do it too.**


	32. Dinosaurs of the Caribbean

Chapter 32

Dinosaurs of the Caribbean

"WHOAAAAA!" Everyone screamed as the Backlander spiralled out of control through the time stream after some spilt soda had short circuited the controls! The ship's alarms sounded and very soon it would tear itself apart within the time stream due to its unstable condition!

"This is your fault doctor!" Ursula cried out.

"For once she's got a point!" Cera cried out as she hung on for dear life with the others, with Miku hanging on at the tips of her hair and the other dinos bracing themselves wherever they could!

"What!?" Dr Z exclaimed, "This is all Zander's fault!"

"How could this be my fault if you took my soda!?" Zander cried back.

"Stop fighting!" Max cried out urgently, "We need a plan to repair the controls or else our ship will get completely blown off course!"

His words gave Jonathan an idea that might save everyone from certain doom, "Blown off course! That's it!" he said to the others' surprise.

"Huh?"

Taking in a deep breath he sucked in so much air his cheeks puffed up like a frog would, only it was to the size of beach balls! After that he let loose all he had and blew the soda clean off the panels, erasing every trace of it from the circuits!

"He's drying out the controls?" Max asked as everyone looked at him in surprise at how quickly and easily he was fixing the mess Dr Z and Zander made.

"Quite a set of pipes he's got there…." Cera whistled impressed.

"Amazing…." Max commented though not before Jonathan turned around and blew on them in the process!

"ARGH!" They cried as they held on while Jonathan dried up every last drop of soda from the systems.

After he finished, Jonathan quickly returned to his seat and stabilised the ship's controls and movements, "My motherboard is from a weather simulation droid! Those features sometimes come in handy!" he said proudly as the others let out a high of relief seeing they were all in the clear now.

"The future really is amazing…." Cera commented impressed wondering what other amazing things she'd get to see there once they saved the parents of course, it was too much for the imagination to handle.

Before long though, the group was greeted by a familiar face who soon came into view as she appeared from the dark front of the time tunnel. As she came closer and spread out brightly colored wings and flapped gracefully right near the Backlander, as everyone looked ahead and their attention fixated on her.

"Follow me." She said as the dinosaurs ran up to the front to get a better view of her.

"She's back!" Rex gasped.

"Yeah…." Max breathed as he and the others kept their eyes on their mysterious guide.

"The pterosaur…." Cera breathed in awe, once again she could only stare in awe and admiration at the bird's beauty and benevolence as she passed before them.

"The danger is growing, you must follow me to the next time period before it is too late…." she said in a concerned tone, though Max and the others had their minds set on other concerns.

"Are our parents in this time period!?"

"Why did the space pirates time nap them!?"

"Are they safe!?" They asked her pleadingly for answers.

"I am taking you where you need to go." the Pterosaur simply replied calmly, which wasn't quite the answer they were hoping for but all they had, "Follow me and trust me. We will be there soon." With no other choice the Backlander trailed right after her through the time tunnel as she lead them to who knew where.

As they did, Cera thought to herself that if this was anything like the last time, the pirates would no doubt be there and so was another shot at saving the adults. But if that truly was the case, perhaps the pirates were doing something that would no doubt threaten the pterosaur greatly so in a way they were doing something for her and themselves too….but what?

"But where's there?" Rex then asked suspiciously.

"Right here." the Pterosaur answered as she lead them into another time tunnel which deviated away from the main one. "Good luck." Were her last words as they went through it. As the pterosaur disappeared from view, Cera couldn't help but narrow her eyes with some suspicion. There was without a doubt she was keeping something from them, either she had no time or was for their own safety. Either way there was far more at stake than merely saving their parents and stopping the pirates and sooner or later they were going to find out what that was.

Before long the backhander shot out of the time vortex and arrived over a chain of tropical islands surrounded by the glistening blue waters of the sea, reflecting the sun's bright light giving it a warm tropical atmosphere, "Wow! This is beautiful!" Zoe cried out in awe as the scene put her in a swimming mood.

"Yeah it is…." Cera nodded smiling with her in agreement before turning a bit uneasy with Miku, "Something doesn't feel right about it though…" she then thought having feeling that something dangerous was lurking below them.

"Finally, that time travelling bird dropped us somewhere pretty." Ursula commented with relief as they were able to see sunshine again.

"But where are we?" Max asked curiously.

"We've arrived in a very dangerous place!" Jonathan answered him in a serious tone which caught their attention, especially Cera as whatever he said was dangerous was something to be concerned with, "The Caribbean Sea in the year 1718."

As he said that Cera then began to ponder over whether he meant tropical storms, tsunamis….or perhaps something else.

Some of the others however were rather oblivious to his warnings and shoved them off as they focused on their own interests, "I love the Caribbean Sea! Let's lie on the beach and go tanning!" Ursula smiled brightening up with excitement.

"I wonder of there are dinosaurs here." Dr Z muttered.

"Maybe we can eat lobster." Ed suggested.

Their comments made some of the D Team sigh in slight dismay, seeing this was no time for a vacation considering they were on a rescue mission, though Dr Z did have a point, if this time period was anything like the last….

As Rex took out his TPS for a look, a red beacon soon lit up on it, "Look! Our parents are also in this time period!" he said.

"So that means, the space pirates are probably here too." said Max seriously, "Because wherever they go our parents are forced to go with them!"

Cera folded her arms and closed her eyes in thought, "And where there pirates, trouble won't be far behind them…." she said firmly.

"Well in Ancient Rome the girl pirate, the one called Sheer, took Spartacus' yellow cosmos stone!" Rex stated as he recalled what happened the last time.

"So they must have come here to steal something else." Zoe then pointed out, "Something just as valuable."

"So if we can figure out what they came here to steal then we can find them!" Rex followed.

"Yeah, but what I want to know is why they need to bring our parents with them everywhere they go." Max then wondered feeling worried for their sake.

Thinking about it clearly, Cera soon came to a possibility as she said it out, "If I had to guess…." the others then looked towards her, "They probably wanted Rex's parents to further their own plans considering when we were attacked a while ago meant they were after them…." she said thinking about it carefully and piecing it all together, before opening her eyes rather sadly, "And I guess they must have scooped up the Taylors and Drakes along for the ride." she said feeling bad they were dragged along for the ride.

"That makes sense…." said Rex sounding pained before he folded his arms in thought, "But what would they want them for?"

"Stop! All this parent talk makes me miss my mommy!" Dr Z then cried out interrupting them as everyone else shot him rather strange and weirded out looks.

"Err…what?"

"Nothing's as important as a mother!" Dr Z then cried out in a whining manner much to the others' chagrin.

Despite his exaggerated attitude Cera couldn't help but smile a bit for him, "Glad he cares about something else other than his own dreams…." she thought before narrowing her eyes questioningly, "Though I do wonder how bad a mother his was to have raised him to be like this…." she then wondered before shaking her head clear when her mind was about to fantasise how horribly ugly his mom could look, making her shudder a bit while Miku nuzzled at her comfortingly.

A number of computer screens soon came up and Zoe turned to look at one and eyed it closely, "We're detecting a dinosaur!" she said catching everyone's attention.

"It's appeared on the island directly below us!" Jonathon pointed out.

"Great! Nothing's more important than Terry battling this dino in his brand new armour!" sid Dr Z making a 180 degree turn on his priorities once again.

"I thought mothers were-"

"Silence momma's boy!" Dr Z yelled interrupting Ed, "Now get Terry ready or there will be no beach time for anyone!"

"Right away doctor sir!" the trio said saluting him obediently as Cera sweat dropped.

"So much for a mother being the most important thing of all….also this isn't the time for a vacation…." she sighed folding her arms on her hips. She then however looked to the door, "Still, if they're going to use Terry I'd better get him back into fighting shape first." she thought having remembered what he was put through in Rome and after an experience like that she didn't want to take any chances in getting him prepared. Also, with him fighting at full strength there was no way they could possibly lose.

Suddenly the door opened and stepping in was none other than Helga, with a huge tic mark on her forehead as her furious glare made the entire Alpha gang freeze in terror! "You will put on sunblock lotion before going outside or else! Do you understand?" she said with authority in her tone which made them all clam up as she spoke.

"Or else what Helga!?" Dr Z scoffed stubbornly while the others remained stunned, "You can't stop us from going on our mission!" he then turned his back towards her, when Helga began twitching her fingers, "And if we want to get sunburnt doing it then that's just what we'll do!" he said uncaringly as to what she would do to them.

Cera then gulped and sweated anxiously knowing he really crossed the line now, "Bad move Dr Z…." she corked as she and the D Team stepped back now wishing to get on the way of Helga delivering them a dose of discipline and punishment. Though what he was about to threaten them with was way scarier than what anyone could have thought of.

"Getting sunburnt will feel just as painful as me ripping up this move card." she said menacingly as she held up a water move card in her hand.

As she finished, Dr Z turned pale and quickly turned around in alarm, "Wait! You can't rip that up! It's brand new!" he begged waving his hands out frantically and sweating bullets.

"So then choose." said Helga repeating herself one last time.

Cera found that threat to be a little harsh, considering every new move card counted and that could be something they can use later on. Though she didn't have to worry too much, because knowing Dr Z and the alpha gang even they wouldn't dare try her patience when she's like this.

"If I put on lots of sunblock you'll give me my card back!?" Dr Z asked waving his hands out begging her to do nothing to his precious card.

"Only if you use SPF 80!" Helga stated.

"Okay you win!" he then said standing straight then turning to the others, "Come on everyone! Lather up!" he ordered before running off.

"Oh….what about my tan…" Ursula sighed pouting as she and the rest of them walked off after their boss.

"In some cultures pale is fashionable…" said Zander hoping to comfort her.

As soon as they left, Helga then shot the 4 kids a glare of her own, "That includes you too!" she bellowed as the children stood straight and tall with undivided attention.

"Y…Yes ma'am!"

"Whatever you say…." said Max and Rex firmly as they all sweated nervously, Cera and Zoe nodding at her.

As Helga placed the move card back into her pocket she then plucked a bottle out of her apron, "Here, use this one." she said as she tossed it at Max, who nearly dropped it but managed to grab hold of it in time.

"Huh? Err thanks." he replied blinking his eyes in confusion before reading it to see it was SPF 20.

As the others gathered around to see, Zoe then looked up at the burly housemaid, "But wait why aren't we using the one you told the Alpha gang to use?" she asked curiously

"Let's just say they have very specific skin care needs." she answered calmly before turning around to take her leave, "Now if you'll excuse me I have to get lunch ready, we're having pizza! Ohohoho!" she chuckled to herself in a rather jolly mood before exiting.

"Okay then…." The D Team stared in surprise at her quick mood swing before looking to each other firmly, "Come on guys let's hurry up so we don't lose that dinosaur down there." said Max as they nodded at him.

"Yeah." said Rex as they each took some sunscreen and began wiping it over their exposed arms, legs and faces.

Once they were all done, Max then sported a firm expression on his face, "Alright, let's go." he said clenching his hand into a fist as Jonathan readied to send them off.

"You guys go ahead." said Cera as she stepped away from the D Team to their surprise, "I'm going to grab a dinosaur with me first before we leave, that way I'll be able help fight along side you guys and do more than just support." she said before turning serious a bit, "Also there's something else I need to take care of too…." she muttered looking away from them. Before Zoe could ask she cut her off, "I'd explain but it would take too long and we'd miss our chance." she said giving them a reason to not give her any mind and to focus on what's ahead for now.

Seeing she wasn't ready to say what she was doing and with something urgent happening down below, Rex then nodded back respecting her decision despite knowing she was keeping quiet about something from them, "Okay, but don't take too long Cera." he said feeling a little insecure if their team wasn't going to at full strength for whatever threats were waiting for them down below.

"I won't, I promise." she said to them with assurance as they were all teleported to ground level and Jonatahn initiated the ship's cloaking function. As they vanished, Cera then looked over to him, "Jonathan, think you can do a little salvage on the wreckage if that ship we picked up earlier?" she asked as he looked back to her, "Maybe it might hold some clues as to who these pirates are or how their tech works. Maybe we could reverse engineer it and use it to our advantage."

He nodded back at her with assurance, "I'll send a team of droids to do just that." he said acknowledging her instructions as he began typing on screen giving the commands to a group of small pink droids who were among their way to the store room to begin salvaging and examining the remains of Sheer's transport.

As she saw the work going on screen, Cera then smiled, "Thanks." she said before taking her leave and hearing to the dino playroom where the Alpha gang's dinosaurs hung out when not running around and making a mess, "Now to get properly prepped." she said as Mike climbed onto her shoulder.

She then walked past the bathroom, and inside the Alpha gang were busy rummaging through the cabinets searching for the sunscreen Helga stated for them. They searched frantically, throwing down whatever deodorants, toothpaste or soaps they came across but couldn't find the one Helga specifically stated, till Helga found something that would just fit the bill, "Here guys, let's use this!" she said holding out a bottle which said SPF 15.

"AH! Excellent!" Dr Z smiled clapping his hands, sure it wasn't the same but it was still sunblock in the end so what did it really matter?

"Hey didn't Helga tell us to use SPF 80 or something?" Ed then asked curiously while feeling a bit unsure about how she'd take it.

"Oh, relax it's not like she can tell the difference." Ursula replied waving her hand playfully as she put it on herself and then tossing it at Zander who caught it in his hand, "Now put this on or else we'll miss out on the battle down there!" she said as she went to go look for her yellow swimsuit.

Realising they'd miss out on all the fun again like last time if they took too long, Dr Z quickly went with it, "Good point!" he said punching his fist into his palm before looking to Zander and Ed, "Okay you two! Lather up now!" he ordered shaking a fist at them as they saluted him obediently.

"Yes sir!"

 **(Meanwhile)**

"There, that ought to fix you up Spiny." smiled Cera as she finished giving the little spinosaurus a refreshing massage while Miku looked on from a distance, rubbing his back around his sail, his legs, face and down to his tail. Needless to say he enjoyed it so much he had grown rather attached to Cera, as he leapt onto her and began licking her face with affection! "Hahaha! Stop that! That tickles!" Cera giggled as the spinosaur's slobbery tongue began covering her cheeks in spit, before barely managing to put him away. She smiled feeling flattered at the attention he was giving her, but she felt it was time to help the next dino in need as she looked down to see him wagging his tail at her eagerly.

"Alright Terry your turn," she said as he jumped up and down in excitement while she went to the cupboard to fetch a bag filled with kibble. "Here you go enjoy." She said pouring it into the bowl. As it began filling up his bowl, Terry licked his lips and rushed over to it as he began chowing down and gobbling up the kibble in his plate till not even a crumb remained. He sat down and licked his lips deeply satisfied as his empty belly was filled up to its max, "You like that don't you?" Cera smiled seeing he was deeply satisfied, "It's a special type which Dr Drake made for carnivores like you, glad it's to your liking." As she said that Terry barked at her as he began nuzzling up against her leg. Seeing her partner getting showered with so much attention made Miku feel appreciative of Cera very much to see how kind she was towards dinosaurs but at the same time a hint of jealousy too, wishing they wouldn't be taking so much of her attention away from her.

Cera then smiled as she kneeled down and stroked Terry's head, "You'll need your strength, after all you're going to go into battle with your new armour and you'll need to be at your best too." As she said that he wagged his tail and stomped his foot in eagerness and excitement before letting out a loud but confident growl as a show of strength!

GROWL!

"Hahaha, glad you're feeling up to the task, don't worry you'll get your shot soon." Cera assured him knowing she'd best leave him to Dr Z and the others for the time being, "In the meantime…." She then stood up and turned around, "What do you say Tank? Feel like up for another adventure?" She asked only to see the little saichania curled up inside a pet bed (with a small pillow and cushion in it) and already snoring dreamily with eyes showing nothing but peace and tranquility. Cera couldn't help but smile seeing Tank to be so precious and innocent despite knowing how active and hard headed she usually was, "Aww like a baby…." she said seeing she was tuckered out after everything they went through in Rome.

Not having the heart to wake her up from such a blissful sleep and knowing Terry was needed with the Alpha gang, she turned around and smiled at the only remaining dinosaur available for her, "Well Spiny, looks like it's your lucky day today." She said to him as she kneeled down to look at him in the eye, "Feel like going for an island adventure? Lots of water and all maybe all the fish you can eat too while we're at it, what say you?" she asked offering him a chance of a lifetime. In response Spiny's eyes brightened and he barked out loudly in excitement before running around in a circle and wagging his tail at her, to which she grinned with glee, "Haha, I take that as a yes." she laughed happily before looking to the side where the 3 Alpha scanners were sitting on a table, along with the Alpha gang's move cards and element boosters.

"Good thing your element booster is right here," said Cera as she picked up the water one, "Those Alpha gang clowns ought to take better care of their toys otherwise they'd go missing." she said with mild disapproval before putting it into her back pocket. After that she helped Miku onto her shoulder and Spiny crept up to beside her as she nodded at them both in acknowledgement seeing they were ready for an adventure now, "Alright, let's go." She said firmly as she pressed a button on her dinoshot and they teleported away.

 **(Later)**

As Cera, Spiny and Miku arrived on the ground, at a grassy field with a few trampled trees and flattened patches of grass, she narrowed her eyes realising there was a dinosaur here earlier. It wasn't long before gunshots were heard in the distance which started her, "AH!" she gasped as Spiny hid behind her leg and Miku jumped shaking off a few feathers and clinging to her neck. She sweated anxiously and swallow looking ahead, "It came from over there…." she said before eying the 2 dinosaurs seriously, "Stay low guys and keep quiet." She said to them as they ran off in the direction of the gunshots. If anything they were no doubt in a very dangerous time, so even with dinosaurs they'd have to be careful if there were armed people around here.

The 3 of them rushed through the jungle jumping over vines, roots and boulders as well as leaping over a couple of rivers, which Spiny had little trouble swimming through and before long she came to a glaring with a large pit with tree roots lining some of the edges. She hid behind a tree and kept Spiny and Miku back too, in the pit was Chomp who was standing guard over a man tied up in ropes against a group of pirates, with the rest of their bunch on a higher level and a menacing man in captain's clothes and black beard leading them. On the other side was a group of red uniformed soldiers with shot guns aimed at Chomp in the pit while the D Team, along with a young boy their age was on a ledge midway between the top and bottom of the pit.

"Seems like we stumbled into quite a crowd…." Cera gulped nervously seeing the situation was very tense. "What's going on here?" she asked herself before deciding she'd better keep quiet and observe for now.

Seeing there were far too many enemies present and with no way of getting out without someone getting hurt or worse killed, the man down below in the pit reluctantly called out to his son, "Jim! You must get away!" the man yelled towards the young boy who was with the D Team, "It's your mission now!" he said painfully as his son stepped back.

Seeing there was no other way, his son Jim then hardened his expression and steeled his will and determination, "Yes dad! I promise! I'll succeed!" he said firmly before climbing back up to where the others were, before racing over to grab Zoe by the arm, "Come on! Now!"

"AAAH!" she cried as she was tugged along for the ride with Max and Rex having to catch up to them!

"Chomp return!" Max shouted as he recalled Chomp and they beaten a hasty retreat leaving the man to his fate, which deeply puzzled Miku and her small team.

"They're leaving him?" she asked herself curiously. Way she saw it, this must be one of those hard choice scenarios, no doubt she'd have to get the whole story from them later, though right now she'd best stay to see how things proceed. Before long the pirate captain came down from the high slopes and began walking towards the tied up man, "This looks like trouble…." she said seriously as she hardened her gaze and noticed his men were searching for something on him.

"Captain! It's not here!" One pirate with blond hair and an eye patch yelled, which Cera presumed was the first mate.

"What do you mean it's not here!?" Blackbeard demanded furiously, "He has it! Find it!"

"Blackbeard!" One of the navy men shouted from high above, he stepped forward from the group signalling he was the man in charge, "It seems you caught our man!" He then sported a disgusting smile, "Now hand him over! That map belongs to me!"

"Search as hard as you want! You won't find anything on me!" The man retorted defiantly.

"So they're after a map?" Cera blinked her eyes before narrowing them, "Must be to some kind of treasure….." she mused. For what she can piece together than man could possibly be a criminal on the run based on how the Navy were after him, but the pirates wanted him too. Way she saw it though he didn't seem like the type so she held her position and gave a look to Spiny and Miku to stay low and quiet.

"I've wrestled live sharks for their teeth! I'll wrestle that map out of you!" Blackbeard shouted out impatiently towards the hostage.

"If he doesn't have it, the kid you let get away has it!" The navy leader then yelled at the pirate captain.

"I did not let him get away! You shot at him!" Blackbeard retorted.

"I wouldn't have to shoot at him if you had just taken him prisoner like you should have!"

As both leaders began to quarrel with one another, Cera narrowed her eyes seeing the situation was growing tense, "Sounds like these guys may be in league with one another….though it doesn't seem they get along much though…." she thought to herself before looking down at the man who was no doubt wanted by both sides. At this point she couldn't believe the wanted man to be an actual bad guy, the only ones who fit that role right now were the pirates and perhaps the the soldiers too, if they were in league with the pirates they could be something like corrupt officials in modern times.

"If he has the treasure map to the yellow jewel we'll find him!" Blackbeard then yelled back to the navy leader, his words catching Cera's ears.

"A jewel?" she blinked her eyes at the words before a familiar memory crossed her mind, "Wait…." she soon recalled the cosmos stone that Sophia had with her before it got stolen by Sheer, which could no doubt be what everyone was fighting over now. Could it be that this gem is just as powerful as the yellow stone?

"Yellow jewel?" a familiar female voice spoke up from above catching the 2 groups' attention, "Sounds like what we're looking for!"

"Huh?" Looking up and following the direction the others were, Cera then narrowed her eyes to see all 3 Space pirates, Gavro, Foolscap and Sheer descend from the skies above, "So they are here after all…." she said narrowing her eyes fiercely while Miku tensed up with agitation and Spiny let out a low hiss. Their appearance was like a double edged sword, on one hand the D Team needed them for information on their captured parents, but on the other hand wherever they went trouble would soon follow for Earth and its people, both the present and the future to come and they didn't care one bit about the consequences of their actions as long as they achieved their end goal…whatever it was.

"Pirates! Get ready for battle!" Blackbeard ordered his men as they began drawing their swords and pistols at the new incoming threat, while the navy readied their shotguns.

"Oh we're ready for battle alright!" Gavro said out loud.

"He's talking to his own men, they think they're pirates." Sheer corrected him unimpressed at what was being pitted against them.

"Then let's show them the real thing." Foolscap smirked disgustingly as they landed in between both factions without any worry or caution to the many weapons being aimed at them.

"Who might you be yee scallywags!?" Mr Copper, Blackbeard's first mate demanded as he held out a sword.

"And what's this talk about being real pirates!?" Blackbeard soon followed stomping his foot in an outrage, "Are you accusing me Blackbeard, the greatest pirate of the 7 seas to not be a real pirate!? Unacceptable!"

"Whoever you 3 flying fiends are, you'd better stay out of our way!" The Navy leader yelled as he gave a gesture making his men aim their shotguns at the space pirates who remained unfazed, "The treasure is ours so leave while you still can!"

"This is going to get complicated…." Cera gulped nervously as she laid low inn the bushes, though if they resorted to taking one another out it could also benefit them in the long run….though she wasn't sure if that wold be the best solution though.

"Oh no, they're pointing peashooters at us! Whatever shall we do!?" Foolscap cried out feigning worry.

"Peashooters? Aren't those supposed to be guns?" Gavro asked scratching his head in confusion.

That caused his colleagues to facepalm seeing sarcasm was lost on the burly pirate, "Never mind Gavro, let's just show these arrogant fools exactly who they're dealing with." Sheer muttered as she took out a card.

Foolscap grinned as he did the same, "Yeah, maybe then they'll show us some real respect!" As they placed the cards on their necklace and headband respectively, it caused bright purple light to erupt form where they stood, blinding everyone in the vicinity as they covered there eyes with their forearms or hands!

"GRRGH!"

"AAAAH!"

As it died down they widened their eyes to see a pair of huge dinosaurs stand before the space pirates, an iguanodon and euoplocephalus opposing both the navy soldiers and Blackbeard's crew on both sides as they roared out causing the men to all back away nervously!

"What are these creatures!?"

"They're huge!"

"They're as big as whales those behemoths they are!" They all gasped in alarm as they felt puny in comparison to these huge beasts!

Seeing their terrified expressions brought sinister smirks to Sheer and Foolscap, "What's the matter? Lose your bravado now that you've seen some real monsters hmm?" Foolscap snickered in amusement as their foes held back out of fear seeing they were clearly outmatched.

"Urgh….."

The tension in the air thickened as all 3 factions stared down one another and squared off, knowing the first move could be the last if it was the wrong one.

"S…Stay calm men….no sudden movements now…." The Navy leader choked nervously to his men as they sweated nervously fearing what the dinosaurs were capable of.

Blackbeard however wasn't one for caution as he yelled out in disgust to his cowering crew, "Grrr! Stop shaking like a pack of sea pups! Stand your ground and fight, unless you want to walk the plank right into Davy Jones' locker!" hey growled though they paid him no mind as they shivered in fear and a few even dropped their weapons on the process.

Meanwhile Cera held back and continued observing from a safe distance, "A euoplocephalus and an iguanodon…." she commented seeing it was a tough combination she was faced with, "This won't be easy…."

"I take it that your stunned silence means you'll listen to us now." Sheer responded calmly seeing everyone could see what they were capable of and no doubt would be more manageable now, as she and Foolscap returned their dinos to their cards, "Good, because we wouldn't want to have any problems between us now would we?" she said earning several glares or bitter grunts from the men around them.

"Tch!"

"Grr!"

"Wait a minute!" A navy soldier suddenly cried out, "So you're the ones who were commanding that monster just now!?"

"Well well, you're actually pretty sharp….for a human that is." Foolscap commented.

"Actually that one was mine." Gavro spoke up holding up his hand.

"But you all get the idea," Foolscap shrugged his shoulders before offering a proposal for everyone, "So here's the deal," he began pointing out to everyone, "You guys be our eyes and ears, you help find the treasure and we'll lend you the muscle to get it out."

"Lend them muscle? Isn't that very painful?" Gavro asked scratching his chin in confusion once more, "Also how can they be our eyes and ears? We've got a pair of each, so if they are extra eyes and ears that would make uhh…." he muttered holding up his fingers as he began counting.

Sheer and Foolscap ignored him and continued, "Of course, you're welcome to decline our generous offer, but do know if you do, there will be….rather gruesome consequences." Sheer said as she held up the card of her iguanodon once more as a warning, which made the men all at unease realising they weren't ones to take lightly.

"Tch!"

"Why I oughta…."

Taking the situation rationally, the Navy leader out a finger to his chin in thought, "I suppose there is some logic to this….after all you haven't really given us much of a choice." he added at the end rather begrudgingly.

"Aye, perhaps it would be smarter to cooperate than fight amongst ourselves….for now….." Blackbeard muttered seeing it as the best course of action for the time being.

"Then it's settled." Foolscap smiled clapping his hands together pleased, "So nice of you all to come to an understanding, it saves us a lot of time and trouble." he said happily before looking down to his colleague, "Gavro, you go with those….old fashioned pirates and see what you can find."

"Yeah, you'll hit it off for sure!" Sheer added patting him on the shoulder encouragingly.

"Hey! Who are you to call us old fashioned you flying fiends with wings?!" Copper yelled out though his rant was quickly ignored.

Gavro looked over to the pirates in confusion as usual, "Err…hit it off? You mean their hats?" he asked, "But if you want me to work with them then okay…." he said at the end.

"Meanwhile Foolscap and I will go with these soldiers." Sheer replied.

"Aaah, splitting up so we can cover more ground. Smart." Foolscap nodded in agreement as he and Sheer spread their wings and flew up till they were just above the navy men as they looked up to them.

"Any objections from any of you boys hmm?" Sheer asked menacingly as the men responded with uneasy silence, knowing the wrong answer could cost them their lives.

"…."

"Good, now go find that jewel!" Sheer called out as she held her arm out.

Blackbeard took the order as an offence as he clenched his fist bitterly, "Grr….I take orders from no one, but I ain't going to waste precious time over a silly feud." he grunted as he turned around, to smirk seeing his prisoner was still at his mercy, "As for you Smith, you're of no use to me now. I doubt you could even be used as shark bait!" he said mockingly as the bound man gritted his teeth back at him in anger.

"Grr….AH!" A couple of his men who had slid down from the ledges then grabbed hold of him and lifted him up over their heads.

"So here, you boys take him!" Blackbeard held his arm out as his men tossed Smith towards the navy soldiers up above! "He'd only slow me down anyways!"

"AAAAH!" The soldiers grabbed hold though some of them stumbled onto their knees in the process, "Urgh!"

With that out of the way, Blackbeard turned in the opposite direction towards where Jim and the D Team ran as he held his arm out, "Now men! Let's move out! Treasure awaits us!"

"Ai captain sir!" They said in unison as they followed him.

Blackbeard then looked towards Gavro who stood where he was waiting for instructions, "You too! From now on you'll be takin orders from me!" he roared as Gavro opened up his wings uncaringly.

"Alright….." was all he said as he followed them away.

As the nav soldiers watched the pirates leave, Foolscap then called out to them, "Well, what are you clowns waiting for? A written invitation? Get a move on already!" he cried impatiently.

"Or would you need some motivation?" Sheer threatened holding up the card of her dinosaur once more, instilling more loyalty in the men through fear as they submitted to their orders with reluctance.

"Tch! Fine, we'll play things your way….for now…." the Navy leader hissed in frustration before smirking disgustingly to see his new captive, "As for you Smith, you're coming with us too. Maybe you can prove yourself useful in telling us everything you know about this treasure along the way, if you value your life that is…." he snickered as his men shoved Smith forward forcing him to follow where they went much to his reluctance and frustration.

"Grrr…" he grunted as he was lead away in the opposite direction while the pirates flew ahead with the navy following them.

"They're leaving….." Cera breathed quietly seeing they were splitting up into separate directions. She then looked down at the pit where Blackbeard and his crew went, "Those pirates and Gavro are going after Max and the others….." She considered following them to make sure her friends were safe before shaking her head against it, "No, they can handle themselves fine," she then looked up above the pit and focused where Sheer and Foolscap went, "Right now I'm more worried about these soldiers and that hostage with them…." she thought to herself seriously as she narrowed her eyes, "No way can I just leave him with those crooks to do as they please, also maybe I can learn more about this treasure everyone is fighting over…." she thought before looking to piny and Miku who were prepared to follow her whichever she chose, "Come on guys, we're tailing them…." she said to them as they followed her uphill towards the Navy soldiers.

 **(Later)**

As the British soldiers lead by Sheer and Foolscap traversed through the forest into an open grassy clearing heading back to their ship, Cera maintained a low profile as she shadowed them from the underbrush, making an opening through a bush with her hands while Spiny and Miku popped out of them. "Too many of them, I'll have to break them up somehow if I'm going to rescue that guy…." she thought to herself as she focused on Smith who was still tied up and being lead by a past of armed guards. The direct approach would be suicidal and if she attacked head on in a dinosaur battle with the space pirates there was no guarantee that she'd be able to get him out unscathed.

"And I think I might know just how…." she then said with a confident smile as she looked down to Miku who looked back at her, "Think you can do it Miku?" she asked as her most trusted partner nodded back at her with assurance. "Alright, I'm counting on you, be careful….." She said as they repeated back into the brush. Taking out her dinoshot, Cera returned Miku to card form before slashing her, "Dino slash!" She cried causing a bright light to shine from where she stood!

The sound of the summoning and light made one soldier at the back to turn around curiously, "Hmm?" As he looked behind so did a few of his comrades followed, "Did you just hear something?"

"I'm certain I did." Another replied. Soon the entire squadron was hanging back to see what the commotion was about.

Noticing they were lagging behind, Foolscap looked back and scowled impatiently to see they all seemed to be distracted by something, "Hey! What's the holdup you landlubbers!" he yelled as they turned back to him in alarm, "Get a move on! We don't have all day you know!" he grumbled.

"W…We're sorry sir!" One soldier cried in a alarm.

"I…It's just….there's something out there, we just heard it!" Another followed.

Sheer and Foolscap looked ahead and focused in the section of the forest where the soldiers were focused on, and could see nothing out of the ordinary, "Well I don't hear anything." Sheer commented with little interest.

"Maybe you guys are stalling or something aren't you?" Foolscap accused them as he grinned sinisterly while holding out his dinosaur card, "Looks like we'll have to reeducate you lot about who calls the shots here!"

As he was about to place it on his activator the men widened their eyes frantically and gasped, "AH!"

Their leader ran out in front and waved his arms out, "Now now, there's no need to resort to violence, I'm sure it was just the wind and nothing more." he chuckled nervously hoping that would suffice.

Foolscap however had no intention of buying their antics as he prepared to place the card on his headband and summon out euoplocephalus, when one of the soldiers pointed out, "Look! Over there!" he shouted as they all turned to look at one tree, where a white microraptor was perched, preening her feathers and acting like a natural 'bird' would, with the intention of drawing at least some of them away to help thin out the masses.

Everyone, including Smith and the pirates couldn't help but stare in surprise at the new arrival.

"Ah!"

"That's quite a beautiful looking bird."

"Never seen one like that before." Some of the men went, while the Navy leader gained a disgusting grin on his face as he held up his shot gun and took aim at her.

"Hehe, it'll look great mounted and stuffed over my fireplace." he snickered as he placed his finger over the firing trigger.

Foolscap was a caught a bit off guard by the white bird which suddenly appeared, before shaking his head remembering what they were supposed to do, "Hey! If you've got time to stare at the local wildlife you've got plenty more to spare finding that treasure!" he yelled out.

"Agreed." Sheer nodded as she decided to take action herself as she reached into her pocket to take out one of her boomerangs with the intention of decapitating the bird so that they can move on, "Quit stalling you fools! Or else we'll-" As she took another look, she soon began to recall something from earlier in Rome as she narrowed her eyes at the bird, "Hang on…." As she squinted her eyes and held a hand over them to block out the sun's glare, she got a clearer view of it and soon it became clear as she began to grit her teeth in anger upon recognising it as the very dinosaur which tipped the scales in favour of her enemies in their last battle!

"What's up Sheer?" Foolscap then asked folding his arms on his hips at her, "Don't tell me you've decided to go bird watching with these buffoons too? Here I thought we were-"

"Be quiet Foolscap!" she yelled cutting him off which made him jump back in surprise!

"GAH!"

She returned her focus to Miku as she clenched her fist in anger at the humiliation she was dealt last time which was fuel to her fires of anger and hatred, "That's no bird…..It's that dinosaur!" she hissed viciously much to Foolscap's confusion.

"Huh? That's a dinosaur?" he asked before taking another look but saw no resemblance, "You need to get your eyes checked Sheer, all I see is some puny white bird sitting in a tree."

"And I see the very dinosaur belonging to that meddling girl that caused me trouble back at that city a while ago!" She yelled back at him which surprised him even more.

"Say what!?" he exclaimed before looking at Miku and to Sheer a few times, "You're telling me some puny pipsqueak of a dinosaur gave you a hard time back in Rome?" he questioned raising an eyebrow while Miku simply sat on the tree branch keeping an eye on her enemies to see what they'd do next. Before long Foolscap suddenly exploded into uncontrollably laughter, "Hahahaha! Now that's hilarious! You couldn't handle a dinosaur the size of a pussy cat and you call yourself the best!?" he laughed while clenching his face, "Wait till I tell the boss all abou-"

He was suddenly cut off as Sheer aimed the boomerang directly at his throat causing him to sweat nervously and turn pale, "Go ahead and try, though it'll be hard to tell him anything without a head wouldn't you agree hmm?" she said with a sinister smirk on her face as her colleague gulped down hard.

"T…Take it easy Sheer….It was just a harmless joke haha…." he chuckled nervously while waving his hands out begging for mercy.

"Fire in the hole!" The Navy leader shouted out loud as he pulled the trigger and firing the shot gun at Miku!

BOOM!

At the last second, Miku swiftly leapt off the branch and out of the bullet's way as it blew off her perch and she glided safely through the jungle and out of sight ! "AH! Darn it I missed!" The captain growled snapping his fingers in annoyance.

"You fool!" Sheer yelled in fruition as she swooped down and grabbed him by the collar an lifted him up into the air with ease much to the surprise of Smith and the men below!

"WAAAH!" the leader cried out as he felt his feet hanging high off the ground before his heart skipped a beat in sight of Sheer's furious expression!

"You just let that dino get away!" she yelled at him threateningly while Foolscap snickered in the background knowing he'd enjoy this very much.

"Err….m…my apologies….please don't hurt me!" The Leader gulped and pleaded. He hoped his men would intervene, but none of them could muster the courage to stand up to the space pirates who had them outgunned in every way possible.

Fortunately Sheer didn't see anything to gain by punishing him as she scoffed in disgust, "Tch! A snivelling runt like you isn't worth my time." she hissed as she dropped him back to the ground uncaringly.

"Urgh!"

After that she sped into the forest right after the fleeing Miku, "You won't get away from me that easily you pest! I'll get you for that humiliation you caused me!" she yelled before disappearing from sight.

"H…Hey! Sheer! Come back! What about the jewel!?" Foolscap cried out for her but she was soon out of hearing range much to his frustration, "Grr, just cos she got the yellow cosmos stone she thinks she so great that she can do whatever she wants…." he grumbled in annoyance while rubbing his temple. Before going after her he turned back to the Navy soldiers who were helping their leader stand up, "You guys stay put, we'll be back!" he yelled catching their attention as they looked to him, "And don't you dare go anywhere cos we'll know it!" he pointed at them before taking off into the woods after Sheer.

As they disappeared from sight, the Navy leader let out a sigh of relief now that they were gone, "Finally, I thought they'd never leave….." a few minutes and he already despite taking orders from them, but he planned on changing that soon enough.

"Sir, why must we tolerate those obnoxious flying people?" One of his men asked him in annoyance as the leader grinned back in response.

"Don't worry soldier, when the time comes we'll give them their just desserts." he grinned which was soon shared by the rest of his troops as they snickered deviously. "Until they come back…." They soon focused their attention on Smith who was still bound up in ropes as he stared back at them with spite, "We have business to discuss Smith." He said walking up to him till they could look one another in the eye face to face.

As the Navy leader focused on him, Smith clicked his tongue in disgust and frustration at what he and his men had put him and his son through, "Tch! Why are you doing this? My son and I are British citizens!" he cried out, "To side with the likes of Blackbeard….How could you do this!?" he then demanded.

"Heh, it's simple really." the leader smirked in response, "I've served the British empire for years, carried out their orders without question and what did that earn me?" A brief silence came between the 2 men before the leader exploded into a rage, "NOTHING! That's right! NOTHING!" he yelled out loud in frusrtauon as he stomped his foot in the ground a few times, which made some of his men back away a little nervously, as he then grinned with malice, "But that will soon change!" He said focusing on Smith who was beginning to sweat, "When I learnt that you were in possession of a map that would lead to a legendary treasure, I knew it'd be the perfect chance to gain both respect and power!" he proclaimed as he held one of his hands out and clenched it at the sun, "With that jewel in my possession I'll surpass even the Navy commander and rule not just the British empire but even the whole world! All will bow down to me and the power I'll wield at my fingertips!" he laughed boastfully as Smith gritted his teeth in disgust at the man choosing to betray his own country out of selfish greed and lust for power.

"Grr….."

"The only thing standing between me and that, is you." he then said threatening him with a small pistol aimed at his face, "Now if you know what's good for you Smith, you'll tell me where the treasure is located since you had the map earlier and I know full well that you have an excellent memory. Unless of course, you need help jogging it!" he then said loudly before deciding to punch the helpless man in the gut!

"ACK!" Smith choked and coughed up hard as he fell to his knees in pain from the blow. After that the men began to snicker in amusement as they gathered around hoping their leader would let them have a turn at him. Smith then looked up weakly but his eyes still filled with anger and rebellion, "That jewel is the only hope my village has for survival, I'd never hand it over to the likes of you who'd only use it for selfish gain! Never!" he yelled in defiance, which seemed to be what the Navy leader was hoping for.

"Is that so?" he mused before his maniacal grin widened, "We'll see about that." Looking to his men he snapped his fingers before stepping back and a few of them stepped in his place with dark grins on their faces, "Men, let's make our guest here a little more cooperative shall we?"

Upon his orders the men began punching him in the gun, his face and kicking him down before even stomping on his back while he lay helpless!

"ACK! ARGH!" he cried as he was beaten down without mercy and each pained gasp and breath he took only spurred them to hit harder!

In the underbrush, Cera hardened her gaze angrily with Spiny's card, no way was she about to let this continue nor let them get away unpunished. Feeling immense rage burning up inside her for such injustice as she intended to put a stop to it, as she prepared to slash….

The Navy leader soon stepped forward as his men backed away already had their fun, as he picked up Jin's battered face and looked at him, "I'll ask nicely once more, tell me where the treasure is or suffer the consequences!" he then demanded angrily this time not wasting anytime.

Smith clicked his tongue in response, "Tch! Never….in a million years…." he choked painfully while still determined to keep his village's last hope safe from the likes of men like them, at the same time knowing that even if he told them the location of the jewel there was no guarantee they'd leave his son and his friends be let alone himself alive.

"So be it then, you've just sealed your own fate!" The Navy leader huffed before raising his arm to his men, "Men! Give Smith here a quick and painful end." he ordered as he stepped out of their way and they began to take aim at his now helpless body with their shotgun rifles.

"Eheheheh!" They snickered and grinned early as they prepared to put him out of his misery.

As they prepared to pull the triggers on their guns, Smith could only look up to the sky and close his eyes ready to accept his fate and entrusting all his final hopes and wishes to his son, whom he may never see again, "Jim….I leave the rest….to you….." he breathed his last words as he shed a single heartfelt tear from his eye.

ROAR!

A loud roar suddenly echoed from the forest which sent several birds fleeing from the canopies and stopping the men from firing their shot as the ground began to shook! "HUH!?"

"WHA!?" Looking ahead form where the noise and rumbling came from, a massive spinosaurus erupted from the forest, tearing down a few trees in the process before charging straight at them in full speed!

"AAAAAH!" The men screamed in alarm upon seeing another new monster had come to make their day even harder!

"Run!" The Navy leader screamed as they dropped Smith down and ran off as far as they could, hoping it would go after the helpless man instead!

As Smith forced himself to sit up, he widened his eyes as Spiny seems to be racing towards him, as he widened his eyes in horror, "AAAAH!" he cried out loud in terror before closing his eyes unable to look anymore. He closed his eyes and hissed hoping it would end now for him, but to his surprise, the spinosaurus' foot stomped ahead of him, "H…Huh?" As he looked ahead to his surprise the Spinosaurs seemed to be focused on the soldiers instead of him! He could consider himself lucky he didn't interest the beast, or perhaps it was never after him from the start….

"This island is infested with monsters!"

"How did we not notice something like that!?"

"What is that!? A dragon!?" Some of the men cried out in terror as they fled for their lives.

The navy leader then gritted his teeth and turned around making a stand, "Men! Don't run! Stand and fight! We'll overwhelm the beast with sheer numbers!" he then yelled out loud a direct order as they turned around with reluctance and stood together in a unified group hoping their numbers would deter Spiny, but to no avail as he continued charging straight for them! "Take aim and fire!" The leader ordered as they armed their rifles and prepared to fire!

"Y….Yes sir!" Some of the men croaked nervously as she shakily held up their guns aimed at Spiny's head.

In the brush, Cera narrowed her eye furiously seeing what they were trying to do, "No way am I going to let any of you punks put even a scratch on Spiny." she said to herself as she took out a move card, "Aqua vortex!" She yelled slashing the card which caused Spiny to flash blue as a veil of water erupted around him! He raised himself up high as a whirlpool began to erupt around the soldiers to their alarm!

"Wh…What the!?"

"What's happening!?" They gasped unable to comprehend what was happening to them!

"Run!" The leader then order, but as they ran in separate directions hoping to break through the vortex they needed up getting swept away in the powerful torrents before it closed in and swallowed them all!

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" They all screamed as the vortex spun with the force and speed of a tornado before it died down and the entire group was knocked out cold while completely drenched, "Urgh…."

Smith couldn't help but stare in complete and utterly disbelief at what he saw, the dragon was able to command the power of water itself and not just that, it practically saved his life, "Incredible…." he breathed in awe and amazement but it soon took a turn for the worst when the dragon turned around and began heading towards him! He widened his eyes in horror thinking he was now next, "AH! N…NO! Stay back!" He cried out loud as he tried to inch away from it but to little success as it soon stood over him, towering like a giant as it lowered its head down to where he was and sniff closely, "Please….don't…." he begged, though he saw no point since it was more than likely a beast on instinct which couldn't be reasoned with. Swallowing hard and painfully and believing his life was now really over after a brief respite, he closed his eyes waiting to be devoured, "Jim….I'm sorry….." A bright blue light suddenly erupted from in front of him which made him open his eyes to see what it was, "H…Huh?" He blinked his eyes in disbelief that the giant dragon had now turned into a smaller miniature version of itself as jumped onto his stomach and began sniffing him closely, "Wh…What?" he couldn't comprehend what was going on, being chased by pirates, the navy and then monsters, he had seen many strange things over the course of his life but none like this.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps behind him he looked back and was surprised to see a long girl step out of the brush and walk towards him, "Wh…Who are you?" he asked curiously as she kneeled down to him.

"A friend who's here to help you." she answered before nodding at Spiny, "Go Spiny, do your thing." As she said that the little spinosaurus began gnawing at the ropes and began snipping them off lie a pair of scissors, the binds becoming looser as each one was cut much to Smith's relief. He didn't know who this girl was or why she saved her, but the fact remained he was alive because of her and her beast so he owed her his life now.

Seeing things were taken care of here, Cera held up her dinoshot and pressed a button to recall Miku, hoping she was still alright….

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off in the distance, deep in the jungle, Miku desperately tried to evade the incoming shears being thrown at her by her relentless pursuers! She barely managed to dive out of the way or turn in time before having her wing getting shredded off! Looking back behind after kicking off from a tree, she sweated and gritted her fangs in frustration to see Sheer and Foolscap were both right on her tail, evading any tree branch, trunk or vine just as easily as she was despite being significantly larger than she was! Miku sweated anxiously hoping that Cera would come to her aid otherwise her goose would be cooked! Turning ahead her eyes widened in horror as she came to settle on top of a fallen log before a massive rock wall which blocked her way entirely! She'd be able to climb it without difficulty, but she knew she didn't have the time, as she looked back and she narrowed her eyes as Sheer appeared from the forest and stood before her, towering over her like a giants as she stepped back anxiously while the lady pirate shot her a malicious expression.

"I've got you cornered now!" Sheer laughed as held out one of her razor sharp boomerangs which made Miku freeze in terror!

Foolscap soon came out from the underbrush, wheezing in exhaustion as he rested his arms on his knees, "Phew…for something so small it sure is fast…." he gasped for air trying to catch his breath, something he never thought would happen to him while on this mission.

Sheer however paid him no mind as she licked her lips while holding up her boomerang, unable to hold back her excitement at making the partner dinosaur of the human who humiliated her suffer! "Say your prayers you rat with wings! HA!" She yelled as she threw it out with all her force waiting for it to decapitate the helpless white dinosaur in half as she covered up her front in fear! At the last second Miku suddenly glowed in a rainbow light and changed into energy before zipping away from the boomerang which embedded itself in the log she was standing on! Sheer couldn't believe her eyes, "Huh!?"

"Wh…What the!?" Foolscap exclaimed as they both turned around to see their target was being recalled somewhere! It didn't take them long to realise it was a setup.

"Grr! It's a trick!" Sheer growled in frustration gnashing her teeth as she zoomed back in the direction she came from while Foolscap lowered himself in dismay seeing he had flown all the way to the clearing for nothing, as he picked himself up and fluttered after his comrade.

"The things I do for the boss…." he muttered.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Cera soon recalled Miku to card form before summoning he partner in chibi form, "Good job Miku." Cera smiled praising her as she nuzzled her chin playfully, as she cooed in enjoyment. After that she turned back to Smith where Spiny had just bit through another rope easing the tension on his arms. "Good job." She said thanking Spiny with a pet on the head before she grabbed hold of the last knot, "Now for one last rope." she sweated a bit as the sun's heat wore down on her before finally managing to pull it apart and free Smith's hands.

As he clenched his hands into fists a couple of times to get the feeling back and then rubbing the areas where that were being squeezed by the ropes, he then turned over to his saviours and bowed down with respect, "Th….Thank you….I owe you my life.…." he breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's fine, I couldn't just let them kick you around like that just now." Cera replied before becoming concerned, "Are you okay sir?" she asked as he stumbled a bit after taking a step.

"Urgh….a little bruised…but I've suffered worse so I'll live." he said with a weak smile as he stood back up again and fighting hard against the pain best he could.

Despite being beaten rather hard his spirt was very determined which was enough to convince Cera he'd make it, "That's fortunate." she smiled.

"Still….what is going on here?" he then asked himself puzzled, "First the pirates and the navy attacked and then we ran into monsters on this island." He then focused his attention on her, "Then I meet you who somehow is able to summon them too. Wh…Who are you?" He asked hoping she'd be able to give him some answers after seeing she was able to command monsters of her own, just like the children who were with his son too…..

"It's a…very long story." said Cera looking away while scratching her head. She then turned to him seriously, "Right now isn't the safest or best time for that. We need to move now before-"

"What are you fools doing!? Get up!" An angry female voice suddenly yelled out loud which caught them by surprise.

"AH!" As they turned to look they saw Sheer and Foolscap had returned from the forest and now were hovering above the unconscious soldiers who lay about on the grassy field.

The sight of them made Cera harden her gaze knowing this could be trouble, "Oh no they're back…." she hissed as Miku and Spiny both hardened their gazes ready for battle.

"Wake up you imbeciles!" Sheer yelled out once more impatiently but got no response from any of them but pained groans as she clicked her tongue in frustration.

"Forget it Sheer they're out," Foolscap muttered shaking his head, "Then again what can you expect from humans. They just can't be relied upon." he then smirked shrugging his shoulders as they both turned their attention on Cera and Smith.

"Yeah, guess we'll just have to do this ourselves." Sheer grunted as they hovered over to the 2 humans!

As they closed in, Cera looked to Smith with a firm look on her face, "Sir, you'd better run now." she advised him as he turned to her with an alarmed expression.

"And leave you here!? Are you crazy!? You can't-"

"This isn't up for debate!" She yelled angrily cutting him off, "You have a son to care for don't you? Not to mention a village to save….I heard everything just now." She said as Smith gasped realising she was right, he indeed had something far more important to do, for his son and people. Also, looking at the girl who did save him earlier perhaps she could handle herself against these flying invaders, "Go, protect them all and I'll protect you." She said as she and her dinosaurs stood in front of him undeterred at their incoming enemies, as Smith closed his eyes.

"Alright….good luck. And thank you….." he said reluctantly as he turned around and made a run for the forest!

"Oh no you don't!" Sheer yelled out seeing him try to make a break for it, "You're not getting off the hook that easily!" she yelled as she swooped down after Smith, as Foolscap followed her too! hey soon stopped as Cera stood in front of them both and held out her arms.

"If you want him you'll have to go through me first!" she yelled in defiance as Miku squawked out and Spiny snarled in anger.

"Is that so?" Foolscap raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Heh, you against us both? This shouldn't take long." he smirked.

"Agreed." Sheer nodded in agreement before popping her knuckles itching for a fight, "We have an old score to settle, no way am I going to take that defeat you handed to me lying down."

Cera then hardened her gaze as she uttered 2 words indicating she was thinking the same thing, "Bring it…."

As Sheer readied herself and took out her card, Foolscap blinked his eyes upon catching sight of Cera more closely, "Say Sheer…." he said scratching his chin in thought, "Is it just me or does she look like that other kid who gave us all a really hard time back in the future?" he asked pointing at her curiosuly. A statement which caught both their attention.

"Now that you mention it Foolscap…." The lady pirate replied to him as she hardened her gaze at Cera, "The resemblance is all too clear…." she hissed as if couldn't have been a coincidence now that she thought about it.

Cera blinked her eyes in suspicion upon hearing their comments, "What are you guys talking about? Future? Gave you a hard time?" she asked in confusion before narrowing her eyes, "We've never met." Or perhaps they have….just that she didn't know…..

"Hard to say for sure." Foolscap shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe she could be her ancestor or something."

"Either way, the fact remains that you look so much alike and seeing your face puts me in a really bad mood!" Sheer growled holding out her dinosaur card, "So I'm going to take out all this pent up rage on you! Get ready for a dino bashing!"

"Heh, funny I was just thinking the same thing Sheer!" Foolscap laughed before eying Cera with a sinister gaze, "Too bad for you if that's how the chips fall." He said as he took out a card too.

Cera clicked her tongue knowing what was coming, "Tch! Here they come guys…." she wanted them as they readied themselves.

"Maybe if I beat them now I might actually be able to learn more about their plans or maybe…about this person who looks like me…."

"Come on euoplocephalus!" Foolscap cried out placing the card on his headband.

"And say hello to my iguanodon!" Sheer followed placing the card on her choker, summoning out both herbivorous dinosaurs with Spectral marks on them as they roared out fiercely at her!

"2 against 1…not the kind of odds I like…." Cera noted as she took a step back feeling slightly overwhelmed by both massive dinosaurs staring down at her. Luckily it wasn't completely a 2 on 1 fight as she smirked with some confidence, "Well guys, looks we've got our work cut out for us…." She said to them while holding out her dinoshot which spurred both dinosaurs to growl out loudly, "Come on Spiny, Miku, let's do this!" She called out as she returned both dinosaurs to their cards and slashed them, "Dino slash! Shine microraptor! Gush out spinosaurus!" Miku materialised in full form on Cera's shoulder raising her wings out and screeching while Spiny landed in front and roared out fiercely with the skies turning colourful! Normally he would feel overwhelmed at 2 opponents at once, but he felt confident in Cera being able to help make up for that numbers disadvantage, "Teamwork time! Energy equaliser!" Cera cried out as she threw Miku into the air, who spread out her wings and glided onto Spiny's neck and attaching to him, giving him a surge of energy as his eyes glowed brightly and he roared out loud with power coursing through his veins!

"Well well, looks like the kid's got some claws of her own." Foolscap whistled impressed at what he saw before grinning, "This should be fun." he chuckled.

"Don't underestimate her Foolscap," Sheer warned him, "Out of those kids she's a real nuisance."

"That's because you didn't have me with you," he replied snarkishly, "Now stand back and I'll show you how it's done!" He yelled as his euoplocephalus charged forward! Spiny lunched forward and bit on the ankylosaur's back, but it countered by lashing out its clubbed tail at him which he narrowly dodged as it slammed into the ground! The euoplocephalus thrusted forward but Spiny was able to sidestep in time before swinging his own tail out and sweeping it off its legs and onto its back! Seizing the chance Spiny rushed over and began stomping repeatedly on its unprotected belly as it cried out with each one! "GAAAH!" Foolscap cried out frantically as he began pulling his hair in a panic!

"How pathetic Foolscap…." Sheer scoffed in disgust as he turned to her.

"H…Hey she caught me off guard!" he cried out.

"Then you shouldn't have dropped it." she muttered, "Guess I'll have to do it myself! Get in there iguanodon!" She commanded as her dinosaur bellowed and ran forward, ramming Spiny from the side and throwing him off!

"Spiny!" Cera cried in alarm as he landed on his feet pretty hard but managing to stabilise himself in time, "You guys okay?" she asked worriedly to which he responded with a roar, "Phew thank goodness." she breathed a sigh of relief putting a hand to her chest.

Meanwhile iguanodon lowered its head underneath euoplocephalus and mustering all its strength it was able to flip over its comrade as they both turned back towards their opponent. "That does it! Now you've gone and made me mad!" Foolscap growled in annoyance as he held the greyed card to his headband, "Spectral armour!" Euoplocephalus' marks glowed before it became encased in purple crystal like armour and 2 of its back spikes hardening into red crystal!

"Don't leave me out of the fun!" Sheer soon followed as her dinosaur became armoured too!

As both armoured dinosaurs faced Spiny, Cera narrowed her eyes seeing it was time, "Guess we'll have to take this to the next level then." she said holding out her secret weapon, "Element booster! Dino-tector on!" she yelled inserting it into her dinoshot's compartment. As a result a blue gem erupted on Spiny's forehead, with water surrounding him and his body before hardening into crystal, transforming into armour as he roared out powerfully! The combined strength of both Miku and the armour filled with with enough energy making him feel he could take on an army on his own! "Now that's what I call style." said Cera with a confident smirk as she eyed his armour around his body, seeing it was both functional and fashionable.

"Tch! To think these brats are now copying our style, not cool at all." Foolscap hissed in annoyance not sharing Cera's enthusiasm.

"Heh, your armour's a pale imitation to ours!" Sheer smirked confidently, "And we'll prove it to you now!" She eyelid holding out her arm as euoplocephalus and iguanodon rushed forward!

"Take them down Spiny!" Cera cried as Spiny charged ahead! His head collided with both enemy dinosaurs and for a while neither side gave way and they held their ground firmly before the pirates' dinosaurs were able to thrust Spiny back!

"Ha ha! It's two against one! You don't stand a chance!" Foolscap laughed boastfully while pointing out at Cera mockingly.

"That's what you think!" Cera retorted undeterred as Spiny charged in again! As his head collided in a tie with euoplocephalus, they began shoving at one another fiercely, as Spiny sidestepped at the last minute and snapped onto the ankylosaur's neck and bite down hard while it roared in pain as he held on it with usia mrs for a more firm grip! As iguanodon rushed in hoping to catch Spiny off guard, Cera was more than prepared as she warned him, "On your right Spiny!" realising the threat, he kicked out his foot and knocked the iguanodon back as it stumbled backwards shaking its head in a daze!

Tch! That microraptor's not just some power booster, she's also like an extra set of eyes!" Sheer hissed clicking her tongue in annoyance seeing what happened.

Euoplocephalus then shook itself free from Spiny it quickly sung out its tail in retaliation! Spiny was luckily able to duck in time, narrowly missing the clubbed end, "Quick sweep him up with your tail!" Cera cried out as Spiny followed it up by swinging his own tail and knocking the ankylosaur off balance once more!

"Not again!" Foolscap cried out as Spiny snapped onto the ankylosaur's tail and threw the whole dinosaur at iguanodon as he knocked them both across the ground and they tumbled into some rocks! "Grr….that's gotta be cheating!" Foolscap growled in annoyance as he clenched his fist spitefully.

"No, that's teamwork!" Cera corrected him as Spiny roared out fiercely at his enemies.

"Oh yeah? We'll show you teamwork!" Sheer retorted holding out a grass move card, "Take this! Parasite tree!" As she added the card to her choker, iguanodon bellowed loudly as a seed began to spread on its head where the head armour piece was, which was also covered in many eerie vines, "Once this makes contact it's over for you!" Sheer yelled as iguanodon rushed ahead hoping to plant the seed on Spiny and drain his energy in the process!

"Then I'll use shockwave!" Cera counted slashing the move card, causing a veil of water to erupt around the spinosaurus as a shield! The iguanodon collided with the veil and was knocked back much to Sheer's frustration.

"Tch!"

"Dark earth!" Foolscap followed up as he activated the earth move! Euoplocephalus reared up on its hind legs and bellowed loudly, summoning a black rock from the earth before it began hurling towards Spiny and Miku from above! "Ahaha! One dino sized pancake coming right up!" he laughed out loud.

"Yeah, and it's for you!" Cera yelled angrily much to his surprise.

"Say what!?"

She then slashed another move card, "Tragedy of the sphere!" Spiny generated a huge sphere of water and shot it up which caught the rock inside! After that he rushed towards it and rammed it with full force sending the rock flying into euoplocephalus and knocking it off balance once again!

"GAH!" Foolscap gasped while Sheer clicked her tongue in frustration that they were losing despite their numbers advantage.

"Tch! This little girl really does bring back unpleasant memories…."

"So far so good…." Cera thought to herself before being Spiny was gasping for air in exhaustion, "But not even Spiny and Miku can keep this up forever….I've got to end this quick!" she thought to herself as euoplocephalus rushed towards Spiny! Lashing out his tail to ward Spiny off he quickly thrusted out his massive crystal back spikes he knocked Spiny backwards!

"We've got you right where we want you!" Foolscap grinned as iguanodon had snuck up from behind and had Spiny cornered on both sides in a pincer attack!

"That's right, now say your prayers!" Sheer gloated as both dinosaurs began doing a set of mock charges, closing the gap between them and Spiny in the middle, rattling him and hoping he'd either fall for their bluffs and attack or to jump out of the way so they could have him right where they wanted!

Little did they know, was that as they got closer towards Spiny, Cera had them right where SHE was hoping they would move to, as she nodded at Spiny seeing now was the perfect chance to strike! "Aqua whip!" she declared slashing the card as Spiny shot out a whip of water which ensnared euoplocephalus as it charged out catching the pirates off guard!

"Wha!?"

Spiny mustering all the strength he could threw up euoplocephalus before slamming him hard into the ground on top of iguanodon who codlin;t stop in time as its comrade crashed down much to the frustration of the space pirates!

"NO!"

"GRRR!"

Cera then smirked seeing both opponents were now in the line of fire as she held up the final move card she needed, "Now to wrap this up! Ultimate water!" She yelled slashing the card! A set of geysers erupted around piny as he rushed forward, ramming both enemy dinosaurs at once and sending them flying across the field as their armour shattered and they both returned to their cards defeated! "We did it! Woo hoo!" Cera then cheered jumping up and down happily as Spiny and Miku both roared and shrieked in victory!

"GRRR! We had 2 dinosaurs on our side so how could we lose to the likes of her!?" Foolscap growled angrily as he and Sheer landed on the ground to pick up their cards.

"Tch! So much for our side of things, can't believe I'm saying this but I hope Gavro has more luck…" Sheer clicked her tongue in annoyance before looking ahead at Cera as Spiny's armour vanished and they both stared down at them, "She really does remind me of that other girl back in the future….but how can this be?" she asked herself in deep serious thought, if this truly was the case then they'd be in more of a challenge than they first anticipated….

"Alright, spill the beans." said Cera angrily as Spiny roared out at both pirates menacingly, "You've got a lot of explaining to do and I'm not leaving without any answers!" she yelled. As much as she wanted to get answers about herself she knew where her first priorities lay with the pirates as she asked them seriously, "Who are you pirates really? Also, what do you want and why do you need my friends' parents for that!?" she yelled.

"Oh boy oh boy, so many questions and so little time…." Foolscap muttered shaking his head.

Sheer then smirked however, "She really doesn't know who we are? Heh, guess she isn't that same girl from before." she thought before shrugging her shoulders, "Fine I suppose you did earn a little bit of info after that stunt you just pulled." she said unworried as Foolscap turned to her in alarm.

"Sheer!? Don't tell me you're actually going to give that little pest actual answers!" he gasped in surprise.

"I'll only shed a little light on the situation Foolscap," she answered him before smirking maliciously, "Perhaps that ought to add fuel to the fire of their worries on what's to come."

Foolscap then folded his arms in thought, "Hmm…normally I'd prefer not to be spoiled or spoil others about big surprises," he then shrugged his shoulders uncaringly, "But heck why not?"

Sheer then cracked her neck a bit as she decided to at least explain a little about what their motives were, if only it would rattle her foes and act like a warning to make them stay out of their way, "I'm sure you're already aware, we the spectral space pirates have a reputation of plundering any planet we stumble upon of all its riches and valuables." she said as her expression darkened, "But that all changed when we stumbled upon your planet Earth." As she said that Cera narrowed her eyes seeing this was getting serious, "You see we got word that your world actually holds a legendary power, one which we intend to make our very own."

"Legendary power?" Cera asked curiously before widening her eyes in realisation, "The yellow cosmos stone!" she gasped.

"Bingo! We have a winner!" Foolscap clapped praising her, "Too bad there's no prize for you! NYEH!" he mocked sticking his tongue at her.

"But you already have the stone so why come to this time period and cause trouble? What else do you want?" Cera then asked knowing there was more to this than they let on, "Unless…..that cosmos stone isn't the only great power you're after is it?" she asked suspiciously.

"My my, aren't you a clever one." Sheer chuckled in amusement, feeling slightly impressed she was beginning to piece things together.

"Maybe we should just leave it at that Sheer," Foolscap advised, "Wouldn't want her to catch on to our plans now would we?"

"For once I actually agree Foolscap." she nodded in agreement before looking ahead behind Cera, "Besides, I think it's about time we take our leave."

At that very moment, strange voices began to echo through the forest behind.

"Over there! That's the place!"

"They won't get away from us!"

Cera widened her eyes in surprise at the unknown voices behind in the woods, "AH!" Spiny and Miku too turned around feeling agitated, "Don't tell me….more soldiers?" she then gritted he teeth in frustration seeing things would only get more complicated, and that they were so close to uncovering the mystery to this scheme of the space pirates, "Great this is just what we don't need!" she hissed in frustration which brought amusement to Foolscap and Sheer as they seized the opportunity to take off!

"Oh how sad, it seems we're going to have to cut our chat a little short." said Sheer feigning regret as she and her cohort took their leave!

Cera quickly turned around, "H…Hey wait! Don't you dare fly away from me!" she yelled shaking her fists in anger.

"Oh yeah, like you can actually stop us! Hahaha!" Foolscap laughed in amusement.

"You and your friends have no idea as to the mess you've just gotten yourselves into. Once you do, you'll wish you never have." Sheer smirked.

"So turn back while you still can, no way you'll find it that easy." Foolscap concluded at the end, "But hey, don't take my word for it! Haha!" he laughed as the 2 of them disappeared behind the clouds.

"Get back here!" she yelled out but her words fell and deaf ears much to her frustration. As the voices in the woods got louder, Cera gritted her teeth in frustration seeing there was no other choice now, "Tch! Guess we've got no choice but to move!" she hissed reluctantly. Spiny then lowered his head down for her to climb onto and as she looked up at the sky to see it was still colourful, "There's still a battle somewhere going on…." she noted, "I'd better find the others and quick." she thought seriously. With a burst of speed Spiny carried them through the forest as fast as his massive legs could carry them, bulldozing trees to make a path in the process before disappearing from sight.

Moments later after Cera left, the navy soldiers soon began to stir, with the leader being the first to regain consciousness, "Urgh.…" he groaned pushing himself up, "Wh…What happened?" rubbing his throbbing head sorely, he blinked his eyes and as vision came to he looked around to see his men were slowly making it to their knees while still feeling dazed and disoriented. As he looked closer he widened his eyes to see his prisoner had escaped! "GAH! Smith! He's gone!" he exclaimed as the soldiers gasped out in shock at his words.

"Huh!?"

"Where is he!? Where'd that rat scurry off too!?" They all muttered in annoyance as they looked up frantically to find him but could find no trace of him whatsoever.

"Drat! He must have escaped while we were knocked out by that infernal dragon! Blast!" The leader growled clenching his fist furiously and gnashing his teeth, "I swear when I find him, both he and that beast will rue the day they dared cross the future rulers of the world!" he swore under his breath, though his last words ended up sealing the fate of both him and his men.

"You'll do no such thing traitor!" A voice yelled from up ahead! As the soldiers looked forward they turned pale to see an EVEN larger squadron of armed soldiers marching in from the forest, and ahead of them was a figure of high authority with white hair and uniform as he glared down at the navy leader who cowered and shivered in fear recognising him as who he was, "AH! C…Commander!"

"WHA!?"

"We're in trouble…." His men cried or gasped in horror, the sight of the most powerful man in the navy before was enough to bring them all to their knees knowing there was non one other than the king who held more authority than him!

"What brings you here so far from the shores of our homeland?" The leader asked innocently as he rubbed his hands together.

"Spare me the theatrics." the commander replied glaring down at him in disgust, "I have a witness who has reported to me on your unforgivable acts against the King!" As he said so, stepping from behind him and some of his men was none other than Smith! Who had now returned with reinforcements in order to bring his captors to justice for what they did to him and Jim!

"AH! YOU!" The navy leader exclaimed widening his eyes in horror.

"That's right, and now your ambitions are finished." Smith replied calmly as he nodded to the commander.

"Arrest them all! As of now you are all charged with both high treason and for the collaboration with pirates!" He declared pointing out as his squadron whooped in and quickly subdued the traitorous group, either holding out guns or wrestling hem down into submission! It was a brief scuffle and soon all the traitors were held accountable for their crimes!

"N…No! Stop!"

"Please have mercy!"

"Let me go!"

"Unhand me!"

The navy leader then looked p at his superior begging for mercy, "You're making a mistake! I was doing this for the sake of the empire!" he cried out desperately.

"Be quiet! That's enough out of you!" the commander yelled in disgust before holding out his arm, "Take them to the ship! Their rightfully deserved sentence will be delivered when we return to the mainland!" Upon his orders the soldiers began leading the traitors one by one to their warship docked on the beach of the island.

The navy leader gritted his teeth spitefully at Smith as he was lead out last after his men, "Grrr!"

After that was taken care of, Smith took a deep breath and sighed seeing the worse was over for now, as he looked up to the sky with newfound determination and hope, "Jim….I'll find you I promise…" he swore under his breath before recalling the mysterious girl who helped save him from his predicament earlier, "And you…whoever you are….thank you…." he breathed as a pair of seagulls flew overhead and then he followed the Navy commander and his men back to the ship hoping to track down Blackbeard, now that they had a witness on their side nothing would stop them from eradicating all crime on the high seas as well as any threats to innocent ships or their own.

 **(Meanwhile)**

ROAR!

"AAAAAH!"

"It's every pirate for himself!" The gang of pirates screamed in terror as Paris bellowed and stomped her feet in anger before retreating into the woods!

"That'll teach you to pick on girls!" Zoe cried out shaking her fists at the fleeing men before smiling brightly at her partner as she began petting her on the face, "Nice work Paris." she said praising her as Paris nuzzled back into her chest with affection.

"Hey Zoe!" a voice cried out from below which caught their attention.

"Hmm?" As they looked over the edge and looked down they were surprised to see Cera and Miku who were both riding on top of Spiny in the water below who roared out to get her attention!

Zoe brightened up to see her friend, "Oh Cera! Hi!" she waved down to her as she waved back, "What took you so long!? We could have used your help earlier you know?"

Cera then scratched her head uneasily, "Hehe…sorry I kinda got held up by Foolscap and Sheer…." she chuckled scratching her cheek as Zoe widened her eyes in shock.

"You did!?" she gasped before clapping her hands over her face, "Oh my gosh are you okay!?"

Cera then held out an okay sign to her, "I'm fine don't worry, thanks to Miku and Spiny." she said nuzzling her partner on her shoulder and then petting the spinosaurus on the head who then let out a low growl of satisfaction at being praised.

"Thank goodness." Zoe breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, what did I miss?" Cera then asked her.

"Quite a lot actually, I don't even know where to start…." Zoe muttered scratching her cheek unsurely before stating how they got mixed up with a boy named Jim and his father who were on the run by pirates and soldiers after a map they had which would lead them to a treasure with healing properties.

"Wow, that's quite the adventure." Cera whistled impressed.

"Yeah it sure is." Zoe nodded before becoming serious, "But we've gotta go after Jim now, Blackbeard went after him!" she said pointing out ahead in the direction he ran towards the beach.

As she said that Cera then narrowed her eyes seriously, "That kid doesn't stand a chance against that madman…." she thought before nodding back at Zoe, "You're right, let's go." Zoe then climbed onto Paris' back as she raced towards the beach while Cera and Miku continued riding on Spiny through the waves as they came towards the beachside. As they did, they soon came close to one another from the water and land, and then noticing a massive battle up front with Ace and Terry against an armoured Edmontonia and Diceratops!

"Look!" Zoe pointed out as Cera widened her eyes to see the Edmontonia throw a huge boulder towards Terry!

"AH!"

Fortunately, Dr Z counter attacked with ultimate fire, which not only deflected the boulder but took Edmontonia out of the fight too!

"Duck quick!" Cera warned Zoe as the boulder was sent flying towards her!

"AAAH!" She cried as Paris fell down to the ground and the boulder only barely missed her head before it crashed up at the top of the hill, where fortunately no one else was. "Phew that was close…" Zoe let out a deep sigh of relief as she put a hand to her chest.

"Yeah too close…." Cera swallowed, a few more inches and Zoe's head would've been taken clean off. Looking ahead she smiled to see Terry roaring in victory before being returned to a card and then the Alpha gang moving in to collect their defeated foe, "Wow, Terry sure did great…." she whistled impressed, no doubt he better than ever with his new armour.

"There's still one dinosaur left to handle though, come on!" Zoe then cried out as they rushed towards the scene, before long to their surprise, Gavro ended up recalling diceratops and then throwing out a whip, he snagged something lying on the beach before taking off to the skies!

As Gavro took off with the sheet of paper he grabbed, Blackbeard then gritted his teeth in frustration as he ran towards Chomp who had the other piece of paper with him, "This is your fault you little mangy-" Before he could finish his sentence he stopped as Rex moved in to pick up Chomp, "AH!" He stopped in his tracks as Ace, Paris and then Spiny came on the scene standing behind Rex ready to back him up if he tried anything.

"Max! Jim!" Zoe cried as she ran towards both boys.

"ZOE!" They both cried to her as they welcomed her back in.

As Rex shot him a fierce glare, Blackbeard could only stop and grit his teeth in frustration seeing he couldn't win this before reluctantly beating a hasty retreat, "This isn't over!" he growled as he retreated into the woods and barging through the Alpha gang in his way!

"Gah! Watch where you're running!" Dr Z grumbled as he was forced to sidestep away.

"Finally! The beach…." Ursula smiled with joy while holding up a yellow bathing suit she planned to slip into, as she and the others stepped onto the warm sand and take in the sea air and tropical sunshine.

The moment wasn't to last though as Dr Z's alpha scanner began ringing making him reach into his coat to pick it up, "Yes, who's calling?" he asked.

"DOCTOR!" a furious female voice yelled out at the other end which made the old man's hear skip a beat.

"Helga! How did you get this number!?" he exclaimed sweating nervously.

"Don't you play innocent with me!" Helga yelled back, "You didn't put on the SPF 80 sunblock lotion!" She growled before holding up the move card she was going to rip up, "You put on the 15!"

"I didn't know I swear! I just put on what Ursula gave me! Please don't tear up my move card!" he pleaded as he began jumping about frantically. "This is all your fault!" He then said to Ursula.

"I wanted to get a tan…." she sighed before being enveloped in bright light, "Oh no they're bringing us back to the ship…." she sighed as they disappeared.

"That was….awkward…." Cera blinked her eyes at what just happened as she, Rex and Zoe returned their dinosaurs to their smaller forms.

She wasn't the only one though, "How'd they do that?" Jim asked in amazement.

"They're always doing weird tricks like that." Max sweat dropped.

"They're uh…in the circus! You know?" Zoe sweated nervously as Jim stared in confusion at what just happened.

"Uhh…."

"The circus? In the middle of the sea? Really?" Cera sighed shaking her head seeing that as a lame excuse that one an idiot would believe. Nevertheless, what's done is done so she might as well introduce herself to their new friend.

As she walked in towards the gang Max quickly caught sight of her and smiled, "Hey Cera, nice of you to join the party." he said as Zoe and Jim looked.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late though." she sighed feeling a little guilty she couldn't be there sooner.

"Heh, better late than never." Max smirked as they shook on it then.

Jim then walked up and stared at Cera a little before pointing out at her, "Hey who's she?" he asked Zoe as she smiled.

"Oh this is Cera, she's another friend of ours." Zoe answered him as he began staring at her all over and even began to do something like a 360 degree inspection of her entire being, much to her unease and the suspicion of Max and Zoe.

"Umm….is something up?" Cera sweat dropped feeling her privacy being violated a little as he stopped in front of her.

"Say you and your parrot are pretty cute too." he commented with a smile as Max scowled in disappointment at his fickle minded attitude while Zoe pouted feeling slightly jealous. Spiny also let out a low growl, not liking how this kid was getting smitten with his friend.

"Umm….thanks?" Cera replied scratching her cheek unsure of how to respond.

Fortunately she didn't have to worry much as Jim went back to Zoe and smiled proudly as he put an arm around her, "But, I think Zoe's waaaay cuter….no offence." he said smugly as Zoe blushed red and twiddled her fingers in embarrassment while Max huffed seeing he was so full of himself.

"Err…."

"Hmph!"

"None…taken…." Cera replied feeling deeply awkward about this before looking to Zoe and Max, "What's going on here?" she asked.

"Long story….." Zoe and Max both replied in contrasting moods, both in embarrassment and annoyance respectively.

"Jim!" Rex then called out as he ran towards the group with Ace, "I only got back half the map…" he said handing him the sheet of paper.

It was then that Cera realised that was what Gavro took earlier.

As Jim took it for a closer look he sighed in disappointment, "Huh? Oh no!"

"What is it?" Max asked.

"This is the wrong half!" he answered, "The other one has the treasure's location."

"Oh….that's unfortunate…." Cera sighed before asking the others, "Didn't you guys take a picture or something of it just in case?"

The D Team froze upon realising they could've made a huge difference if they did one simple thing and now they lost their chance, while Jim just blinked in confusion, "A…picture? What are you talking about?" he asked looking to them all.

"Umm well…." Zoe scratched her cheek wondering how to explain it to him since photography was just in development in this time of human history.

Max however began to feel immense frustration build up inside him as he could only put the blame on only one person in the group, "Maybe we would've if Jim hadn't decided to act tough and gone off on his own just now!" he then yelled angrily as Jim glared at him.

"What's that!? You're saying this is my fault!? Take that back!" he growled as he tried to lunge at him only for Zoe to hold him back!

"Oh yeah!? You want a piece of me!?" Before Max could throw out a punch, Rex held him back at the last minute as both friends were doing all they could from keeping the boys from fighting with one another!

"GRRR!"

"Calm down! Both of you!" Rex yelled.

"Yeah, break it up!" Cera followed, "We've got more trouble with pirates without arguing amongst ourselves, right now they could be making their move with their half of the map as we speak." As she said that they came to their senses and calmed down thankfully, though not without a few bitter feelings remaining between them.

"Then we'll just have to get it back." Rex replied calmly not losing hope.

"Right!" Zoe said firmly with determination.

"We'll help you Jim…" Max added clenching his hand into a fist.

"Whatever it takes." Cera nodded, "They may be one step ahead of us for now, but we'll be sure to close that gap soon." she said encouraging the young boy with them.

The moment soon took a nasty turn as the ground began to tremble beneath their feet, "Huh?" As they looked up they widened their eyes in alarm to see the massive boulder from before come tumbling down from the top of the huge cliff preparing to flatten them like pancakes!

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" They all screamed as it came within inches of crushing them flat!

 **Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the Caribbean arc, wanted to address matters involving the Renegade British Navy and how Jim's dad made it to safety. Here Sheer and Foolscap hinted some possible history with Cera, stay tuned and hopefully it will all be made clear!**

 **QOTC-Which battles did you enjoy most of all, from season 1 and 2 which I wrote? Also anime-wise? Should I still continue these?**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Tank's the purple saichania and Sheer is the lady space pirate.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Cool, my favourite is Terry but he'll show up after the island arc. Hope what I do with him and Spiny comes off as awesome to you too.**

 **Well Cera isn't the type to cross the line, also she didn't want to cause any temporal changes too.**

 **Cera does have survival skills so she'd last, while Dr Z being so reliant on his technology and lab he wouldn't last that long. I'd agree they wouldn't last 10 seconds before getting on each other's nerves, though Cera would have the advantage in a fight easily.**


	33. High sea chase

Chapter 33

High Sea Chase

A massive boulder rolled in from the top of the hill and was speeding towards the D Team preparing to run them over like bowling pins as they widened their eyes and cried out in sheer terror! "WAAAAAH!" They screamed out loud before turning around and running as fast as their left could carry them.

"Come on everybody! Double time! I mean triple time!" Max yelled out, unfortunately while focusing on everyone's wellbeing and the boulder behind them he failed to notice his surroundings as he tripped over a rock and fell forward! "WHOA! Urgh!" he cried as landed on his front!

"MAX!" Cera cried out upon hearing his cry and widening her eyes at the incoming boulder that was about to flatten him! As it came closer she could only freeze in place seeing it was too late to run to him in time and if she did she could risk flattening herself too! She and Max closed their eyes unable to bear with it a second longer, when miraculously the boulder skidded off the side of the cliff and into sea.

As soon as splashed into the sea, Chomp jumped up and snapped his mouth shut on Max's back side much to his chagrin as he cried out in pain, flailing his arms and legs!

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed as tears of pain began to form from his eyes as the others turned around to see the danger of the rolling boulder had passed. After that he turned around uneasily to see his partner smiling at him, "Whoa….thanks for the save….but easy on the chomping….heheheh…." he then chuckled conflicted over whether he should scold him or be grateful for caring.

A drop of anxious sweat fell from Cera's cheek as she let out a deep sigh of relief, "Phew….that was way too close….." she breathed.

"I feel my heart was going to explode there…" Rex muttered as he put a hand on his chest trying to still his racing heart.

"Yeah, for a second there I thought we were going to wind up as people pancakes…." Zoe nodded in agreement as she rested her arms on her knees feeling overwhelmed.

Jim however, instead of sharing on the D Team's relief of escape, went onto the beach to look at the map one more time, seeing it to indeed be the one without the X mark, he sat cross legged on the sand and yelled out in frustration, "Argh!"

The D Team turned to him in alarm, "Huh!? Jim!?" Rex gasped as they gathered around him.

"What's wrong?" Max asked.

"It's useless! All this half of the map does is tell us is which islands the treasure isn't buried on! The pirate half says where it is!" he grumbled before shooting a glare at Max, "This is all Chomp's fault! He bit the map in half and took the wrong side!"

"That was an accident!" Max retorted backing up his partner, "He was trying to help!"

"Yeah, calm down Jim, I'm sure he didn't mean to…." Cera sighed understanding his frustration yet he shouldn't be too hard on the little dinosaur for trying his best at the time.

At that moment though, Chomp jumped at Max from behind and snapped hard on his shoulder much to his dismay, "OW!" he cried gritting his teeth hard before resisting the pain, "Okay so…maybe Chomp's having a bit of a chomping problem right now…." he then muttered painfully as everyone looked on unsure of what to do.

"Well because of him, Blackbeard's gonna to get the jewel which means my village won't be saved!" Jim yelled back in anger, still unwilling to forgive him.

"It's not his fault!" Max yelled back angry at Jim putting the blame on his partner.

"Chomp messed this whole thing up! Just admit it!"

"He did not!"

Sparks of bitterness and spite flared up between both boys, and all their friends could do was stare and watch as the tension between them peaked. Thinking about it, Jim did run off on his own trying to act tough and protect Zoe, so the map was put at risk because of him. Chomp may have bitten the wrong half of the map but he was doing the best he could at the time, plus he was an animal and couldn't think rationally like a human could let alone under such urgent conditions. So in a way they're both equally responsible but none of them had the heart to tell them that while they were agitated like this.

"We should step in and stop them before they do something stupid." Cera then suggested worrying this could escalate into a fight if it continued unchecked.

Rex then sighed, "Good luck taming those 2, they're even more wild than a pack of rabid dogs…." he said, "Even I wouldn't dare try to tame that…."

Seeing noether of her fiends had the guts to be honest with the 2 hard headed boys, Zoe sighed seeing it was all on her now, "I'll do it….." she muttered as she walked up between the 2 boys and looked at them unhappily like a concerned mother, "Stop!" Her voice making them look up as she looked down on them with folded arms.

"Zoe! I don't want to fight!" Jim then said shrugging his shoulders with his mood taking a 180 degree change, "Maybe I'll just build a raft and sail out of your life forever….Unless you want to come with me and we'll sail into the sunset together!" He then added at the end with a wink and grin much to the others' surprise.

"What!?" Zoe cried as she blushed red getting all flustered at Jim being so direct and sudden with her.

"Huh?" Max went raising an eyebrow at him in suspicion as Chomp continued gnawing on his shoulder.

"Well he sure got over that pretty easily…." Cera whistled unsure of how to feel, getting take that.

"Jim are you…uhh how should I put this?"

"I guess you're trying to ask if he's crushing on Zoe." Rex finished for him.

"Hehehe….NO! Jim's just talking about building a raft to go find Blackbeard." Zoe chuckled nervously trying to tell herself there was a reasonable explanation for the boy's behaviour.

"Who we won't find without the map…." Jim then sighed as he walked up to the sea front and folded his arms on his hips feeling rather hopeless .

"Sure we will Jim!" Zoe smiled as she walked up to him, "You just have to think positively."

Jim then smiled back at her, "You're right! With a good attitude anything's possible."

"Sure is, you have to forget about the past and focus on the future." Zoe replied in agreement.

"So then let's talk about our future." Jim then started as he began acting all dramatic once again, "I feel like we have something very special! I feel like we were made for each other!" he proclaimed without fear nor shame as Zoe blushed a deep pink!

"AH!"

"Made for each other!?" Rex, Cera and Max went with widened eyes.

Blinking her eyes Cera couldn't help but whistle seeing he really was something else, not just honest with his feelings but also confident and determined to the extreme. That would be good under certain circumstances though right now it didn't seem so much for Zoe as she waved her hands out all flustered.

"Jim, you're going overboard with the romantic stuff…."

Unfortunately Jim wasn't about to take no for an answer as he went into full love overdrive, "Tell that to my heart!" he cried giving into his feelings as he puckered his lips and reached in for Zoe!

"Jim! No!" she cried, but her words fell on deaf ears as he got closer to her face!

"Oh boy this could get real weird…." Cera thought to herself, wondering how her parents would feel if they found out their daughter got assaulted by some random boy, if anything the least they could do is give him a big shot or worse neuter him like some pet…..

Max raised his arm out and ran out to put a stop to this, "Hey! STOOOP!" he cried intending to either push Zoe out of the way to protect her or push him away. Sadly, at the last second Zoe knelt down and ducked leading to both boys ending up in the most awkward of situations!

SMOOCH!

As they both stared speechlessly at one another, Cera and Rex both stared with unblinking eyes over what just happened, before the boys quickly began spitting out in disgust!

"YUCK! BLECH!"

"Huh?" Zoe then looked up and looked around curiously in surprise that nothing happened to her, "Wh…What just happened?" she asked as Rex came in and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You don't want to know…." he sighed shaking his head at the tragedy that befell Max and Jim, the thought of them losing their first kisses like that was a huge loss for any guy no doubt.

Zoe however blinked her eyes unsure of what he meant but decided to take it as that, "Oh….."

"Maybe we just need a little time to cool off now," Cera suggested to the group, "Get our thoughts and priorities straightened out and make peace with one another." she said looking to everyone as she sat down on the sand calmly. "After that once everyone's thinking clearly again we can figure out what to do next? Okay?"

"I'm all up for that…." Zoe nodded without hesitation before letting Paris go in and nuzzle into her lap.

"Count me in….." Rex raised his arm as he sat next to the boys and eyed them huffing at one another in spite.

"Hmph!"

Miku meanwhile began picking off bits of itching sand and dirt around Spiny's say that he couldn't reach much to his delight as he lay on the sand like he was having some sort of spa treatment, while Ace and Chomp began wrestling with one another on the beach.

While most of them seemed to calm down after that fiasco, Max and Jim still wouldn't let go of their grudge between one another and probably would've stayed this way had Zoe not noticed something coming up on the high seas had of them.

"Huh!?" Everyone soon looked up at where she was focusing on, to see what looked like another ship coming in from the horizon, "Uh oh, we've got visitors…." she said uneasily as she stood up.

"I wonder what they want…" Max wondered curiously as he and the others stood up too and readied themselves in case they would need to battle again.

"From their flag, I'd say they're a rival gang of pirates." Jim sweated uneasily noticing a skeleton man and a strange A logo on it. As it came closer it had what appeared to be a dinosaur shaped ornament at the front, with cannons to its sides and a huge A logo on its front white sails.

Eating it closely, Cera then smiled lightly seeing they were in no danger at all, "Actually, I don't think we have to worry too much about them." she said as the others lowered their guard too.

"Huh? How come?" Jim blinked his eyes.

"Let's just say….they're close associates of ours." Max answered scratching his cheek and smiling lightly with the others.

"And now we've got a ship we can use to get off this island and hunt down Blackbeard too!" Rex then said all fired up much to Smith's excitement.

"Whoa for real!? Awesome!" he cheered feeling hope light up his spirits again. It soon died down however realising they were on this sandy patch and the ship was still pretty far away, "But….how do we get all the way over there?" he asked.

Cera then smirked as she held out her dinoshot, "Leave that to me." she said with confidence, pressing a button she returned the small spinosaurus to a card and then preparing to summon him! "Let's go Spiny! Dino slash!" Spiny appeared in full size and landed in the water with a huge splash before roaring out powerfully!

"Whoa! Another dinosaur!" Jim gasped in awe before gulping down hard upon noticing its huge claws and sharp teeth in its crocodile like jaws, "But…this one looks really mean and nasty….you sure he's safe?" he asked nervously as Cera began walking up to him.

"Oh don't worry about him, Spiny's actually pretty nice once you show him a little respect." she said with confidence. Lowering his head to her, Spiny helped her up onto his neck as she settled in nicely up at his head, "Trust me, as long as I'm here you guys have nothing to worry about." she said with confidence as he lowered himself down for the others, "Now hop on guys, there's room for everyone." she said to them as the others smiled seeing an Alpha dinosaur being nice with them for once.

"Okay if you say so Cera then that's good enough for me." Max smirked as he climbed on top of Spiny's tail.

"We'll be trusting you on this." Rex added as he climbed behind Max.

Zoe was next as Cera helped her up to behind Spiny on his neck before looking out to the last one remaining, "Hey Jim, what are you waiting for?" Zoe she called to him as he stepped forward but quickly stepped back upon eying Spiny again.

"Urk…." he shivered and the vibrations from his legs could be seen in the water highlighting how anxious he was.

"If you dawdle too long we might just leave you behind!" Max then snickered and pulled a face at him for being a chicken, which made Zoe pout at him crossly.

"Max don't be mean…."

"Tch!" Jim clicked his tongue at Max before sweating nervously when the spinosaurus looked down at him, "A….Are you really sure it'll be alright?" he asked nervously before Zoe smiled at him brightly.

"Sure it will," she said as she held her arms out calmly, "I'm sitting on him just fine so how can it NOT be alright?" After that she held a hand out to him, to which he looked at and eagerly grabbed with no hesitation.

"Heh, sure thing Zoe! If you're okay with it then so am I!" he smiled doing a 180 on his mood again which made Zoe giggle a bit nervously.

"Ehehehe…." she sweat dropped while Max huffed and folded his arms feeling jealous.

"Hmph!"

Jim decided to take advantage of being close to his dream girl as he hugged her in close to him much to her surprise.

"W….What are you doing?" she gulped as he grinned rather charmingly at her.

"You wouldn't want to fall and get wet now would you?" he said nuzzling at her which made her blush red all flustered.

Seeing him so close and getting smitten with his friend like that made Max even more angry and bitter, "More like you're scared of falling in yourself…." he scoffed looking away while Rex eyed him with a glare.

"Cut it out Max…." he said trying to diffuse his anger maturely so he wouldn't end up falling off Spiny while heading to the boat.

Cera let out a mild sigh knowing she'd have to put up with this drama a little longer, but hopefully once they regrouped with the Alpha gang things would quiet down a little, "Alright, everyone hold on…." Cera sighed as she patted Spiny on the head as he turned around and headed towards the ship, paddling gently with his limbs while keeping his tail swaying to a minimum so Max and Rex wouldn't get thrown off. As soon as they arrived at it, Spiny raised himself up so they could climb aboard, Cera, Zoe and Jim hopping onto the ship first before he turned around and stretched his tail out so Max and Rex could get in too.

After she returned him to a card, the ship made a big turn and began setting off for horizons unknown as they were greeted by 3 familiar faces in pirate getups up on the main deck, along with a short long beard man wearing an eyepatch.

"Welcome aboard the greatest pirate ship on all the high seas!" Dr Z greeted them proudly as the trio saluted the D Team while their boss took the wheel.

"Since when did the Alpha gang become Alpha pirates?" Zoe asked.

"Since they realised they could buy pirate costumes…." Max sweat dropped.

"Well it does suit them at least." Cera commented nodding at how it fitted them quite well strangely.

"At least they aren't making us wear them…." Rex commented feeling relieved he didn't have to dress like some skipper or buccaneer.

Jim suddenly widened his eyes recognising them, "Zoe! I remember these guys!" he gasped looking to her, "They're not real pirates!"

"That's right! They're travelling undercover in order to try to find Blackbeard! Ehehehe…." Zoe laughed nervously hoping he'd buy her explanation, otherwise it'd only get complicated later on.

Dr Z unfortunately wasn't about to let her steal his thunder and opportunity to make a name for himself in this timeline, "Don't listen to her!" he yelled pointed a hooked hand at them, "My name is Whitebeard! But I'm also known as the notorious pirate sea!" he proclaimed proudly.

"The notorious pirate sea!?" Jim gasped as his heart skipped a beat feeling he may have disrespected a great and powerful sea man. "Wow that sounds scary!" Despite never hearing of the name before he couldn't help but feel on edge at the fearsome aura he was presenting.

The others though weren't buying his act as much though, "He's sure getting into it isn't he?" Cera smiled nervously.

"Yup….." Zoe and Max nodded with her in agreement.

Captain Whitebeard grinned seeing just the reaction he hoped for from Jim, "Oh I've struck fear in the hearts of men all over the 7 seas!" he proclaimed striking a pose as he pointed out to the sky, which only made the D Team feel even more embarrassed at how he was presenting himself to their friend.

"We're in for a long day…." said Rex worrying over how much the Alpha gang would make fools of themselves from this point on.

"Being a pirate has always been my dream…." said Ed with a big smile.

"Yeah this whole thing was Ed's idea…except for the drawers…" Zander commented though no feeling too onboard with it himself.

"That brainstorm was mine!" Dr Z added at the end folding his arms on his hips and smirking proudly.

"When I was a little kid, I started collecting all sorts of pirate stuff but I never told anyone about it." said Ed with his eyes sparkling at the fact now he can live his lifelong dream. Despite his age, out of the Alpha gang he may be the most childish at heart, something which his friends knew all too well.

"He kept it to himself for all those years…." Ursula commented smugly.

"I always thought people would make fun of me but then I found myself here on the high seas and I knew I could finally let my inner pirate come out!" he said proudly

"It's great that you're living your dream Ed," Zoe interrupted having enough of it, "But we need to track down Blackbeard before he gets the treasure."

"Don't worry the ship's radar has just pinpointed his location." Ed replied with reassurance.

"What's a radar?" Jim then asked the first time hearing the word.

"It's just downstairs in the main room, you can't miss it!" Ed pointed to behind them as they saw a stairway leading to the lower floors down below, "Check it out and you'll see what I mean."

"That handy work was mine too!" said Whitebeard smugly hoping to cash in on the glory too.

Deciding to see what Ed meant, they went down the stairs and saw directions to a main room, taking awe at the wooden interiors of the ship which seemed truly authentic, not noticing their dinosaurs run off down the hall in the opposite direction while Miku still cringed onto Cera's shoulder loyally. As Jim looked around in amazement, the D Team wondered how they managed to put it all together under short notice. Entering the control room like Ed instructed, they saw a compass like device inside a glass bubble in the room, which Jim couldn't help but stare in awe at how advanced it looked, "Whoa! So this is a radar?" he widened his eyes as it was nothing he had ever seen before. It resembled a compass but this was far bigger than any he saw.

"That's right." Zoe nodded smiling impressed at it, "It's a machine that shows us where we are on the sea. That's pretty cool don't you think?"

"So the blue dot is our ship and the red dot is Blackbeard…." stated Rex seeing the blue dot also had the alpha logo on it while Blackbeard was quite ahead of them since they started.

"He's moving pretty fast, but no mater where he goes, we can follow him." said Zoe with a confident smirk while Cera couldn't help but smile admittedly this was better than she expected coming from the Alpha gang. For once they came up with something that actually worked.

"This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Jim breathed in awe as he leaned in on it and stared at it all over before banging on it with his fist, "Let's break it open and grab Blackbeard to get the treasure map back!"

Rex and Cera both sighed and shook their heads pitying him, "Boy oh boy, guess people of the past really aren't ready for technology just yet…." said Rex seeing how Jim was acting to be rather silly.

"He isn't inside the radar. We didn't shrink his ship into a red dot!" Max cried in exasperation.

"Oh you think you're so smart?" Jim grunted before sticking his tongue out and and pulling down an eyelid making a face much to Max's annoyance.

"What!?" he growled as his eye began to twitch.

Cera and Rex both sighed knowing how this would go, "Oh dear here we go again…." she lowered her head feeling getting them to cooperate was a lost cause.

"Yup, it's like a rerun of a bad episode all over…." Rex muttered face palming himself as the 2 boys leaned in and glared daggers at one another.

"You're trying to make me look stupid in front of Zoe!" Jim growled.

"I think you're doing that for yourself!" Max retorted tensing a fist back.

Jim then smirked smugly before walking off and putting an arm around Zoe unexpectedly, "Hey Zoe, let's get away from thus conflict and go take a walk together." he suggested

"Not this again…." both Rex and Cera went seeing he doesn't learn fast.

"Jim….we talked about this…" said Zoe politely.

"What? That I'm too much of a romantic?" he smiled before puckering his lips at her again, "All I want is a kiss!"

"JIM!" Zoe sweated anxiously as he leaned in close to her face! Seeing no other way she swung out her hand and sent him spinning to the ground!

SMACK

"Hey no means no Jim!" she squealed as he fell to the ground and his eyes spun around in a daze and his cheek swelled up upon being smacked at.

"Ugh…Zoe you're so awesome…." he said woozily as his mind drifted into fantasies of Zoe being a beautiful mermaid and him taking her on a date in a wooden boat under the moonlight.

"Heh, serves him right for not learning his lesson." Max snickered in amusement as he grinned looking down on Jim, something which his friends didn't seem to approve of much as they narrowed their eyes at him.

"You can be like that sometimes too Max…." said Rex shrugging his shoulders, which snapped Max out of his moment and made him even more ticked off as he gritted his teeth and tensed a fist at the blood boy.

"Say what!? You take that back right now!" he growled his eyes firing up and his fist tensing and throbbing with the pressure he exerted while tightening it.

Noticing the room to be somewhat quiet, Cera looked around and noticed some of their friends had indeed left while they didn't notice, "Hey guys, looks like Chomp and the others ran off somewhere." She said as the others turned and looked around seeing they had flown the coop.

"Hmm?"

"Hey yeah you're right." Max muttered.

"How did we not notice them leave?" Zoe then asked curiously as she put a finger to her chin in thought.

"Either they got scared off by you guys fighting or couldn't handle Jim's romantic advances….." Rex commented as Zoe began whislting nervously while looking away.

"Err…."

Cera saw the chance to take her leave already having enough herself, "I'll go look for them to make sure they don't cause any trouble, and while I'm at it I'm also gonna go take a look around too," she said also using it to excuse herself, "Be sure to keep an eye on Jim in the meantime." she then said eying the still unconscious boy on the ground before exiting the room.

"Will do."

"You can count on us for that." said Max and Rex as they folded their arms and looked down on him with sighs and disappointed expressions.

As she walked down the hallways which were wooden and lined with portraits of the sea or pirates in general, Cera let out a sigh of relief knowing she could hear herself think again, "Finally, I could use some peace and quiet after all that hoo haa…." she breathed before observing her surroundings with deep interest, "Also it'll be a great chance to see what this place is all about." she said as Miku squawked in agreement. Passing by 1 room with a circular class window on it, she looked through to see a group of Alpha droids rowing it in an orderly fashion, "So this is how they're steering this thing, not bad…." she thought nodding with approval before moving on. Considering droids were tireless and this was such a simple task maybe it wasn't a bad idea to entrust this to them.

Hearing a sound coming from another room, Cera opened the door to look in, only to find it contained a rather large treasure chest filled with all kinds of pirate getups and accessories in it. Rummaging through them were 6 different coloured tails coming from 6 chibi dinosaurs. One soon popped his head out and jumped in front of her, wearing a small plastic beak and play parrot wings on his arms which made Cera snicker in amusement at how cute and funny he appeared, "Hahaha! Those look pretty good on you Terry." she giggled covering her mouth in amusement while also complimenting the red dinosaur's outfit. He then flapped his feathered hands and barked out happily as he and the other dinosaurs gathered around her in their outfits. Chomp wore and eye patch, Ace had a pirate bandana, Spiny wore a pirate hat with skull and crossbones on it, Tank was chewing on a toy blade and Paris had a jolly roger flag tied around her neck like some kind of cape. "You guys too." Cera thought out loud as she folded her arms on her hips and nodding at their attire in approval.

Seeing how shaky they were as she observed them throw off their outfits she then smiled lightly understandingly, "You guys must be pretty restless with so little room to run huh?" she thought before reaching down and petting the lightly on their heads, "Don't worry you'll be seeing action soon enough…" she said to them assuringly before snapping her fingers at an idea she came up with that would keep them entertained, "I know, how about a game of hide and seek to pass the time? How's that sound?" she suggested, as the 6 dinosaurs jumped and barked excitedly before running out to go hide. "Hahaha okay, here we come!" she laughed as she ran out to try and find them.

Seeing one door partially opened, she came in to find what had a big desk up front with a large arm chair, notebook and feather quill pen on the table, "Captain's quarters?" Cera blinked her eyes as she went up to take a closer look. Seeing the notebook she flipped through the pages with Dr Z's handwriting in them, explaining how he courageously wrestled a giant squid in the deep and ended up losing an eye and a hand as a result, which made her squint her eyes at the preposterous story before closing the book on it, "He probably made that up to sound cool…." she muttered. Before she could leave, Miku took notice of something under the desk.

Pecking Cera's cheek, she looked to her curiously, "Hmm? Something up Miku?" she asked as Miku flapped out her wing and pointed down to a blue tail sticking out from under the desk, which made Cera snicker in amusement as she squared down to it, "I see you Paris." she said to him grabbing her tail she turned around and looked up at her as she petted her on the crest, "Next time don't stick your tail out so much okay?" she said with a smile as she walked out the door and the little parasaurolophus followed her.

The group soon heard some smashing sounds coming in from another door up ahead, stepping into the kitchen (where jars of preserved food lined the drawers and barrels of vegetables and supplies lined the cooking area) they saw Ace, Spiny and Terry had knocked over a jar filled with old bacon strips, preserved for long periods of time especially for high seas as they munched away at the meat rather greedily. "Ah there you are Ace, Spiny and Terry." She said as they looked up to her, before frowning as they realised they gave themselves away to her by giving into their own hunger. She couldn't blame them though as she helped to pick up the mess they left and then put it back on the shelf neatly, "Boy you guys must be really hungry….hope this is enough to satisfy you." she said to them as they licked the floor clean before following her out to find their last 2 friends.

"Now for Chomp and Tank, wonder where they went off to." Cera thought to herself as she walked down the halls with Miku looking on one side and her down the other, as the other dinosaurs trailed behind her keeping an eye out for their friends too. As they walked down the halls to near the end, they took notice of an opened door with an ominous roaring sound coming out from it which caught Cera's ears, "Hmm? What's that sound? Sounds like an engine…." she blinked her eyes curiously as she went inside and the others followed after her. At first it was a little dark and dim, she stumbled a bit down a staircase she didn't see coming before stabilising herself and planting her feet carefully with each step. Before long as she got a better look at things, she and the dinosaurs widened their eyes in amazement to find themselves in a very advanced engine room which certainly wouldn't be found in any ship in the current times!

"Wow…..look at all this machinery….." she breathed in awe and amazement at the rector cores, cooling systems and engines that were pumping and whirring loudly all round her as they connected to systems with controls labeled jets or submarine mode controls, "So then the bit on top was just the tip of the iceberg." she then thought seeing how easily it masked the ship's true form. "Talk about the best of both worlds melded into one…." she breathed before shaking her head remembering who she came here to find, "Tank and Ace have got to be around here somewhere…" she said as she and the other dinosaurs with her continued onwards through the room on the hunt of their last 2 friends.

Sniffing the air and only smelling oil all around, and the sounds of machines and gears pounding everywhere, they had to rely only on sight which wasn't easy considering how dark the room was, no doubt Tank and Ace picked a really good place to hide which would throw off even the best trackers. "Guys keep your eyes peeled, they could be hiding-" Before Cera could finish, a sudden explosion from above shook up the entire room and caught them all off guard!

BOOM!

"WAAAAH!" she cried as she stumbled and banged her head on a nearby pipe before falling down unconsciously and blacking out.

 **(Minutes later)**

"Urgh…." Cera groaned groggily as she slowly opened her eyes, feeling several wet slobbery tongues brushing against her face, one of which brushed her eye and motivated her to blink and open it slowly. "Wh….What happened….Urk…my head…" she winced painfully as she rubbed the back of her head where she hit the pipe just now. Despite her condition she was able to push herself up till she was able to sit straight against a nearby wall. As she did, she was greeted by all 7 chibi dinosaurs who eyed her with concern and worry while letting out concerned whimpers at her hoping she was still alright.

Opening her eyes and her vision soon coming back to her she saw all the other dinosaurs were waiting anxiously for her to answer them, "Guys?" she breathed before smiling feeling touched at their concern for her, "I'm fine, don't worry about me…." she said managing to stand up on her legs again as they became more at ease. As she stumbled a bit, they gathered around to help support her as she made her way to the stares, and she thanked them all with gentle pets on their heads as they went to the upper floors, "We'd better go see what happened up deck…." she said narrowing her eyes seriously knowing something must have happened while she was down here and she planned to know what it was.

Before long with the help of the other dinosaurs she soon made it up on top to see everyone else was gathered up at the front of the ship, "Hey guys!" she yelled waving to them all, as she ran up on deck making everyone turn to see her come in.

"Hmm?"

"Oh Cera!"

As she ran out and noticed the huge plume of smoke rising up from behind her she widened her eyes in shock, "AH! What happened!?" she gasped as the other dinosaurs barked out in surprise themselves.

"The British Navy happened that's what…." Rex answered before he and the others eyed Dr Z angrily, "They were going to let us pass peacefully but then Captain Knucklehead here had to mess everything up."

"Hey! It's Whitebeard to you!" he yelled back at them taking offence, "Besides they started it so I planned on giving them a taste of their own medicine!" he screamed jumping up and down throwing a tantrum while the others scowled or looked at him in disapproval.

"Of course, leave it to Dr Z to screw everything up…." Cera sighed as she rubbed her temple trying to fight off any negative thinking which crossed her mind.

"I said my name is Whitebeard!" he then yelled once more though his rant was ignored completely as usual.

Meanwhile Jim leaned in and whispered to the others while Dr Z's back was turned to them, "I'm starting to think this guy's a fake pirate." he said as the others sweat dropped at him stating the obvious, though what was more surprising was that it took him this long to realise it.

Noticing she had the dinosaurs with her, Cera then stepped aside so the others could see, "I found Chomp and the others, here they are." As she said that, Chomp, Ace and Paris broke away from the bunch and ran back to their owners who welcomed them in with open arms.

"Aha! Chomp there you are!" Max laughed as the yellow trike jumped into his open arms and nibbled on his face as usual.

"Ace don't run off like that again!" Rex scolded picking him up before smiling lightly at his partner, "Though I'm glad you're not afraid of water anymore. Hehehe…" he then chuckled looking on the bright side.

"Oh Paris you scared me…." said Zoe hugging her partner closely and then looking up at Cera with gratitude, "Thanks Cera, we really can count on you for anything." she said as she and the others returned their dinosaurs to card form so they wouldn't run off again.

"Unlike some people….." Max then muttered eying Whitebeard who looked away from them and huffed arrogantly.

"Hmph!"

"I'll go see what the damage is and hopefully I might be able to fix it." Cera then said as she turned around to assess the damage.

As she did, Whitebeard then yelled out to her, "You'd better fix it! Your captain commands you!" he growled while shaking his fists at her as she shot him a backward glance mixed wth a hard scowl.

"I'm not one of your crew, and I'm only doing this so we all don't end up at the bottom of the sea." she muttered before walking down the stairs, hoping she wouldn't need to see his scrawny face again for a long while as she assesses the damage done. Passing by the rowing room again she and Miku noticed Ursula and Zander were now rowing with the droids, and as she saw how exhausted and miserable they were at the oars she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for what their boss put them through unfairly no doubt, "Wouldn't want to be those 2 right now…." she shuddered before walking away not wanting to distract or disturb them.

"Ah there it is."

"Good thing it didn't breach the engine and only damaged the upper hull." she noted putting her hand on the opening and feeling it around carefully, seeing that the wooden upper portion was damaged and the metal hull below only suffered a few cracks. Ahead where a few cannonballs were embedded in the hull, was causing black smoke to leak out which was rather repulsive as Cera waved her hand ahead to blow the smoke away. "Well, better put out that smoke before it starts a fire, or worse an explosion…." She thought after recalling the history of the alpha gang's vehicles due to faulty maintenance.

After a while, thanks to Spiny and the others bringing her buckets of water from the kitchen and bathrooms they were soon able to put out the smoke before it became even more unbearable, "That takes care of that…." she said pleased smacking her hands clean before turning rather nervous, "Now for the real work…." Despite clearing the smoke, it revealed there were other damages down to the ship which were enshrouded in the smoke as she began lifting over bits of rubble and debris due to structural collapses caused by the Navy's attack and also because of faulty design in some areas. As she dug deeper and deeper through the rubble she could only gulp down hard seeing the damage was far more serious than she first anticipated.

"Oh boy…."

"Ugh…that's gonna need some looking into…."

"Not good…."

"That's not supposed to get wet….."

As she continued pointing out the many damages she found in the ship's hull, the dinosaurs couldn't help but feel unnerved or worried about their own wellbeing should the ship continue to traverse the seas while like this. "This is going to take longer than I thought…." Cera sighed shaking her head knowing it was a big job to do. "Better let the others know first." She then said as she headed back out to notify them. Heading down the hallways she overheard some voices coming from the radar room, and taking interest she opened the door and let herself in. "Hey guys." She greeted as the D Team, Jim, Dr Z and Ed looked to her.

"Oh Cera-" Max waved before Captain Whitebeard cut in front of him.

"What's the damage report!?" he demanded much to the annoyance of the others at his rude behaviour.

She didn't approve of his attitude either but decided she might as well let them all know of their situation, though she herself was reluctant to give it to them as she shook her head sadly, "Not too good I'm afraid. The main ship exterior may be mostly intact but the attack we suffered just now nearly breached the lower hulls." She said explaining the dire state the ship was in despite the attack seeming superficial, "No way can we leave it as it is, otherwise we'd run the risk of taking in water." After that she then sweated a bit nervously thinking of the consequences that could happen after that given the Alpha gang's track record in inventions gone wrong, "And who knows how big the damage can be after that…." she gulped as the others became somewhat uneasy at her report.

"That does sound like a big problem." said Jim as he clasped his hands together.

"How long do you think it'll be till you get it fixed?" Rex asked her, though once more Whitebeard jumped in seizing it as a chance to gain glory.

"Never fear! Captain Whitebeard is here!" he announced as he grinned smugly, "I'll be sure to provide all the necessary help you need to speed things along much quicker!" he boasted beating a fist to his chest, "Heck I might even do it myself!" As he said that the gang began narrowing eyebrows at him or rolled their eyes.

"More like you'll make the ship even more of a hazard than it already is…." Zoe muttered.

"You don't even know your ship that well Dr Z." Rex sighed as he face palmed.

"Yeah remember what happened just now with the navy?" Max muttered as he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

Once again Dr Z took offence to their rude manners, "Hey! It's captain to you!" he growled shaking his fists at them, "Another remark like that and I'll take it as a sign of mutiny! Perhaps I might even throw you overboard!" Despite his threat none of the gang seem remotely threatened by him at all.

"Like you'll actually get the chance…." They thought to themselves knowing if he tried to throw them off they'll be sure he'd be the one to take a dip in the ocean and not them.

"Anyways guys, anything I miss?" Cera then asked wanting to know an update on their end as well as wanting to change the topic.

Jim then turned around and pointed on the radar as everyone looked, "Blackbeard just landed on this island here." he said pointing on an island where his ship was, "They've got a head start on us to the treasure but with luck we'll catch up with them soon enough." he said seeing their dot was closing in on them.

Cera then leaned in for a closer look herself, "Hmm…." putting a finger on her chin in thought and assessing the best approach she then traced her finger from their ship to the opposite side of the island, "I suggest we go to the far side of the island here." She said as she stopped on the opposite side, "That way we can avoid being seen and have the element of surprise on our side, otherwise wed run the risk of alerting them and we'd have a fight on our hands."

"Good point there." Jim nodded in agreement as took a closer look at the location she marked, "This side here, it's surrounded by steep cliffs, no way Blackbeard would think to look here for the treasure, so it'd be the perfect spot to land."

"Then let's get a move on!" Max said all pumped up as they all nodded together knowing what to do as they all headed to the main deck above and waited patiently for the ship to reach its destination.

Very soon the ship arrived at the other side of the island that Cera suggested. Ahead of them was a rather steep cliff surrounded by fog as thick as smog, it was so barely visible it'd be easy to mistake an edge for another piece of solid land. "This is the far side of the island Blackbeard is on now!" Jim pointed ahead as one of the ship's cannons shot out a ladder with hooks at the end, which then latched onto the top of the cliff giving them a safe passage across. Furthermore being enshrouded in such thick fog meant their enemies would have a difficult time finding them which was another plus for them.

"Good luck out there sea pups!" Whitebeard then cheered waving his other hand out, "You can rest assured we shall remain here to guard the ship from any sneak attack from any enemy scallywags!"

"Argh!" Ed saluted.

"More like let us do the hard work in finding the treasure so you don't have to…." Max scowled at them seeing through their facade of good luck.

Rex then looked over to the only other person they could rely on at this point in time, "Cera, you stay here and try to patch up the ship. We'll need a full set of working sails in case Blackbeard does take off with the treasure." he said to her as she nodded back with reassurance.

"Will do." She said before looking back to see Ed had brought up a pirate magazine to read as he sat next to a barrel while Dr Z laid his arms out on the floor while taking an afternoon nap, "I'll be sure to keep an eye on the Alpha gang too while I'm at it…." she added at the end knowing she wasn't going to like this job but someone had to do it.

"Alright team, let's move!" Jim then said without hesitation or fear as he jumped up and began climbing up the rope ladder shot onto the cliffs.

"H…Hey hold up!" Max cried out as he and the D Team quickly followed after him, despite Jim being brave and outgoing if he didn't think before he acted he was bound to get himself int trouble, which the D Team wished he got through his thick skull soon if he knew what was good for him….

"Good luck you guys!" Cera waved to them as they disappeared over the cliffs. Turning back to see Ed and Dr Z lazing around leisurely without any concern for the ship, she sighed as she looked down to see Terry, Spiny and Tank who had gathered around her awaiting her orders obediently. "Looks it's up to us then." she then said smiling lightly as she went downstairs to affect repairs.

As she went to work at the damaged hull, the alpha droids did the manual labour which involved hammering in wooden planks or metal slabs to patch up any holes in the ceilings or walls. Meanwhile Cera went to work on tweaking together loosened bolts and knobs where the wood intersected with the metal. Thankfully Miku and the others were kind enough to assist her such as bringing in the right tools, handing her the parts she needed to replaced damaged ones and even volunteering to cut pieces to fit into holes or even hammer in loose bolts.

Eventually, a while had passed and after nearly half an hour of hard work and determination, Cera used a cloth who Miku gave her to wipe away the sweat from her brow as she folded her arms on her hips staring at her work most proudly, "There that should do it." She said smiling at the repaired hull and feeling proud of a job well done. After that she looked down to Miku and the other dinosaurs, as well ad the alpha droids before nodding in approval of their hard work and efforts. "Thanks you guys have been a big help." she said to them which made the dinosaurs bark and jump happily while the alpha droids did a robot jig in celebration.

HOORAY! HOORAY! HOORAY!

"Better tell the others the good news." she then thought to herself as she headed to the surface to let them know, if they were back now, while the alpha droids returned to the rowing stations.

As she came up from below she was surprised to see Max and the gang run in to the where Dr Z and Ed were both minding their own business napping or reading, before they yelled out loudly surprising them both! "Hey! Wake up now Dr Z!"

"GAH! What is it!? Are we under attack!?" Ed squalid dropping his magazine on the floor before sending up straight ready for duty.

"Ack! Wh…What the!?" Dr Z yelped as he woke up suddenly, flailing his arms out and his heart skipping a beat in alarm, before frowning to see it was the kids who disturbed him from his favourite dream of ruling over a vast kingdom of dinosaurs.

"Hey guys you're back." said Cera greeting them as she walked out to meet them, but instead of a friendly hi in return they shouted back at her.

"Cera!"

"Huh?" she took a step back unexpectedly as they gathered around her.

"Please say the ship's in working condition!"

"We need it up and running now!" said Rex and Max to her begging for her to say yes while coming in close to her personal space. Even Zoe too was joining in with them and they seemed to be quite panicky about something too, and that didn't seem like a good sign.

She sweat dropped surprised to see they were staring at her so urgently and she felt put off by it, yet despite that she then nodded nervously, "Y…Yes…repairs are just finished if that's what you wanted." she gulped.

"Good!" Rex cried out before turning over to Whitebeard who was still scowling hard at them for interrupting his nap, "Because we've got to set sail now!"

"Hey! Who are you to be giving orders on my vessel!?" he yelled back in protest.

Despite not liking to agree with Dr Z, Cera had to admit their sudden change in behaviour was rather unnerving, "Guys! Slow down! What's going on!?" she asked loudly hoping they'd calm down and answer her clearly. Blinking her eyes she noticed there was actually someone missing from their group, "Also, where's Jim?" she then asked them.

It was then they turned to her urgently, "He got caught by Blackbeard and when he finds out Jim doesn't have the map but we do, who knows what he'll do to him!" Zoe cried which made Cera widen her eyes in shock seeing it was bad news.

"AH!"

Upon hearing the urgent news the D Team brought, Whitebeard then pumped his arms up eager for action at last, "Well then, it's time to take the fight to them then!" he announced loudly as Cera went back inside to check the radar, "We'll show those scurvy rascals who the real master pirate is! Ahahaha!" he laughed out loud boastfully before turning over to Ed whom he elected his first mate, "Ed! Set sail right now!" he ordered pointing ahead as the fat man saluted him.

"Aye Aye sir!" he said obediently before trotting off to the pipe to shout the orders, "Alpha droids! Move out!" Upon his orders the droids along with Ursula and Zander (jealous they were put on grunt work instead of Ed) began rowing as hard as they could, causing the ship to turn around and move off into the horizon.

As they cruised along the sea surface, Zoe took out the half of the map Jim entrusted to her before eying it closely and sighing deeply feeling guilty for what she did, "Oh Jim…." she sighed in a regretful tone as Max walked over to her and put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get him back Zoe, we promise." He said to her nicely and after seeing the hopefully look in his eyes she then nodded lightly and smiled.

"Mhmm…."

Cera soon came back from downstairs as the D Team turned to her, "I just checked the radar," she said before pointing straight ahead, "They're out at open sea as we speak."

"Then that's where we'll be going." said Whitebeard upon hearing the news as he kept the ship on a straight and steady course to waters unknown. Before long, the fog began to thicken and it became barely visible and dangerously hard to see, as the dinosaurs looked around feeling rather unnerved or agitated as their senses of sight and smell were pretty much nullified and the fact they were pretty much blind made them rather anxious and restless as they looked around in various directions hoping for something to turn up. The kids knew this too and too were getting pretty angsty considering the dinosaurs had far sharper senses than they did, so anything that rattled them had to be a cause for concern for them all.

"It's so foggy slow down…." Zoe then said nervously as it rolled in and it was barely visible, even less than it was before.

Despite her concern, Whitebeard paid no heed to her warning as he yelled into the horn to signal the rowing crew down below, "Come on! Row faster droids!" he yelled impatiently as Ursula, Zander and the droids picked up the pace.

"Either he's deaf or just plain stubborn…." Cera muttered as she rolled her eyes knowing it was pointless to get the old man to listen when he's in full 'captain' mode, or any other time…..

As they sped faster Max felt a strange change in the air which he picked up before the others, "Huh?" He knew something bad was coming but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. They didn't have long to wonder though, as the answer came to them in the form of a massive rock wall which appeared out of the fog from out of nowhere!

"WAAAAAAAAHHH!" They all screamed in alarm at the wall they were about to crash into!

"We're gonna crash!" Max cried out in alarm as they were speeding uncontrollably in a collision course towards certain doom! "Turn to the starboard side!" Max then cried out to Dr Z and Ed with urgency in his voice.

"Starboard's left, right?" Whitebeard asked as he spun the wheel to the left side.

"Right!" Ed replied before realising he made a mistake, "I…I mean your right! Left is right!"

"You guys have the same right!" Cera yelled out in a panic as the ship began to turn yet was skidding straight into the cliffs!

"We're not gonna make it!" Rex gasped in alarm.

Everyone soon began to brace selves for a massive collision, as Whitebeard then turned over to his first mate, "Ed! You're an expert pirate! Do something and fast!" yelled to him angrily.

"Okay!" Ed cried as he scrambled over to the horns and yelling out at the top of his lungs, "Reverse!" he screamed, which caused the droids and Ursula and Zander to row the other direction rapidly! The ship began to slow down but was still going to be swept into the rocky cliffs by the currents which spurred Ed to pick up the pace, "Row faster Alpha droids!" he yelled in time. Seconds before the ship could crash into the rocks, it managed to pull back and reverse in the opposite direction at last.

"AH!" The D Team gasped as the ship rumbled violent before coming to a standstill.

It soon calmed down as Max let out a deep sigh of relief, "We stopped just in time…." he breathed brushing some sweat off his brow before turning around and glaring angrily at Whitebeard, "Grr! This is your fault!" he growled as he ran over to the smaller old man and grabbed him by the scruff of his collar!

"Ah! What!?" he gasped in alarm as Ed widened his eyes in surprise at Max getting so aggressive all a sudden.

"You almost got us all deep sixed!" Zoe yelled at him while tensing her hands into fists.

"What do you have to say for yourself!?" Rex followed as the 3 kids ganged up on the captain who shivered nervously after being surround by 3 aggressive faces glaring down into his soul!

Seeing the situation getting tense, Ed sweated and smiled nervously as he waved his hands out trying to act as peacemaker, "Now now, it wasn't his fault, please put down the captain…." he asked gently though his words fell on deaf ears.

Despite his best efforts to diffuse the quarrel, Dr Z soon made his efforts go down the drain as he began thrashing about in Max's grip, "How dare you speak to me like that!? Unhand me you whipper snapper!" he yelled flailing his arms out like a child doing a tantrum while screaming his head off.

"Enough guys!" Cera yelled unable to take it any longer. Stepping in she shoved both of them aside with ease before shooting them a glare, "We have more than enough trouble with Blackbeard and the space pirates working together without fighting amongst ourselves!" she yelled before taking in a calm breath as the 2 males were silenced by her loud yell. She then looked to Max and the others in the D Team with a more calm expression, "Now come on guys, Jim needs us, and so do your parents too, so no fighting okay?" she asked nicely.

Thinking about what she said the D Team could see she was right, "Our parents…." Max breathed as Zoe and Rex lowered their heads feeling a bit ashamed of their behaviour just now. If they were to have any hope of saving Jim, let alone their parents, they had to cooperate with the Alpha gang even if it hurts….though that didn't mean they had to like it nor would it be easy, as Max clicked his tongue still feeling a bit bitter at Dr Z for endangering their lives earlier, "Tch! Fine…." he huffed as he folded his arms and looked away, as Cera let out a sigh of relief having barely diffused the conflict.

Dr Z however saw it as a chance to rub it in though, thinking he got away with it unscathed, "You're lucky your friend was here to bail yo out otherwise I'd have made you walk the plank all chained up and with a stone tied around your feet!" he laughed pointing out at them mockingly, as Ed shuddered at how stubborn his boss was after having narrowly avoided a fight he planned to start one again.

Before Max could retort, Cera took the initiative and grabbed him up by the collar once again and then glaring down into his eyes, causing him to turn pale and nearly wet his pants as she stared at him far menacing than the Black T-Rex could ever be, "You want to try my patience old man?" she said to him in a way that sent a chill down his spine!

"M…Maybe next time…." he gulped nervously as Cera released him satisfied with his answer, which made him gasp for air uncontrollably as if he came out of a traumatic experience. As Ed went over to comfort his boss the D Team couldn't help but snicker a bit in amusement to see Dr Z get his just desserts, while at the same time making a note to themselves not to cross Cera either.

As she went downstairs to go check the radar, soon after Ursula and Zander came up in her place, panting deeply and desperate for air as they fell to the floor on all fours while sweating profusely.

"Phew…."

"Gasp!" They both wheezed before looking up to the sky. Despite it not being bright blue skies and warm sunshine they were grateful to be out of the ship and to be outside again.

"Finally…fresh air…."

"Wind….cool wind…." They said tearing up graciously as tears fell from their eyes with gratitude at their moment of welcome relief….which didn't last long as Whitebeard suddenly stomped over to them.

"What are you 2 doing back up here!?" he yelled as a tic mark append on his forehead, "Get back down and start rowing now!" he demanded pointing back at the door.

"H…Hey come on now!" Ursula sweated nervously as she clapped her hands together begging for mercy, "We've been down there nearly all day without rest."

"At least let us get a breath of fresh air please?" Zander cried out before looking up to Dr Z like a begging doh while even adding some puppy whimpering on top of it.

"Plus my hands are all sore, they need a break after all that." Ursula pouted playfully as she waved her hands, looking at them she shuddered and teared up seeing hard red skin and even a few blisters popping up on her palms! "I'm going to need a manicure after this too…."

Whitebeard rolled his eyes in disgust before clicking his tongue at them being so dramatic, "Tch! Wimps…" he hissed before turning around and huffing it off, "Fine, but 5 minutes and no more!" he threatened them before stomping off leaving Ursula to lower her head in disappointment.

"Aww…."

"Well at least it's better than nothing Ursula." said Zander patting her on the back as she stood up and walked away to find someplace to enjoy her limited moment of freedom.

Seeing how she was moping around so easily Max couldn't help but whisper to the others behind her back, "Heh, guess her old age must be catching up to her finally huh?" he whispered before Rex and Zoe snickered in amusement.

Ursula however didn't share their sense of humour, as her ears perked up upon their gossiping which caused her to flare up with red rage, "I heard that!" she yelled getting her spirit fired up once more as she shook out her hands at them in protest.

Not long after that, Cera returned from below deck as she gave the gang her report after locating Blackbeard, "Guys, I just checked the radar." she said as they looked to her, "Blackbeard's ship should be just up ahead." she said pointing straight ahead.

Max get telescope

"Urgh…it's too hard to see though…." he grunted in annoyance unable to see anything for barely a few miles.

Zoe put on her goggles hoping she'd have better luck, only to frown seeing the same thing as Max did, fog, fog and more fog everywhere she looked, "Yeah, it's even thicker than pea soup…." she muttered.

"I hate pea soup…." Whitebeard muttered sticking his tongue out in disgust.

Zoe and Max looked around everywhere but could see no sign of a ship or even a rock shadow through the thick mist. Feeling doubtful they both looked to Cera, "You sure they're close by Cera?" Zoe asked her.

She nodded in response to their question, "I'm certain of it."

After that Max and Zoe returned to scouting out the horizon as best they could despite of the thick fog, "Then they've got to be around here somewhere….." Max muttered as he gritted his teeth in annoyance as they both still came up with nothing. After a few more minutes of scanning the horizon, as well as changing observation points on the ship, a silhouette came into view as the fog slowly died down, as Max widened his eyes catching sight of Blackbeard's vessel! "There's the ship!" He cried out alerting the others.

"AH!" They all gathered around Max to see the vague shape of the enemy pirate ship miles ahead of them.

As Max zoomed in on the ship he caught sight of Blackbeard, Gavro and Copper holding Jim hostage while he was bound in ropes, "I see him!" he cried out as the others focused on him.

"How's Jim? You see him there?" Cera asked him after that hoping nothing bad had happened to their friend.

"It looks like he's okay…." Max answered her.

"Yeah, at least for now he is…." Rex added feeling unsure as to how long it'd last, and was even planning on launching a frontal attack to take out their foes at once, as well as get Jim and the other map half back too.

As Zoe continued looking through her goggles she caught sight of something fly out from Blackbeard's ship, "Look! Something left their boat!" she called out alerting the others.

"Huh?"

As they all looked up they could see a small feathery figure leave the pirate boat and was heading towards them. "It's a bird!" Ursula flapped her arms.

"It's a plane!" Whitebeard cried as he spread his arms wide.

"No it's a parrot!" Zander answered as he got the best look.

"A parrot is a bird…." Ed muttered popping in.

The parrot soon landed on Whitebeard's head much to his annoyance, "Ahoy! Am I out of shape…Cough!" the bird coughed before looking to the D Team, "Alright here's the deal. Exchange the other half of the map for the annoying kid." it offered.

The D Team hardened their expressions in anger at the parrot seeing the offer as a threat, "No way! We're not giving you the rest of the map!" said Max on guard while Cera narrowed her eyes. Miku who sat on her shoulder, despite being smaller, was tempted to rip the larger bird to pieces if she had the chance.

"The drop point is over on the beach!" Said the parrot as it began to turn around, "If you don't bring the map the kid walks the plank!" It soon flapped its wings taking off, but not before leaving behind a rather unpleasant parting gift, "Heads up!" It squawked laying an egg on Whitebeard's head apparently as an insult to him, as he then shook his arms out in anger and humiliation.

"Heads up!? Why don't you give a guy a little warning before you drop a bomb on him!?" he ranted while his crew gathered together to whisper behind his back.

"He did say heads up…." Ed whispered.

"True…."

"Yeah he should have ducked…." Zander and Ursula replied in agreement.

"So what do we do now?" Cera then asked as she looked to her teammates for suggestions or to hear their opinion on the matter.

"If we don't give them the map they're gonna make Jim walk the plank you guys…." said Rex.

"And even though he acts brave and tough he'd be doomed if he had to walk the plank." Zoe added.

"But if they get the map they'll find the treasure for sure…." said Max uneasily as he took out the other half of the map from his pocket, "And they might make Jim walk the plank anyway…." he said while eying it intently,

"But they also might do as they say and let him go…." Zoe then suggested trying to stay positive.

"When it comes to guys like pirates it's better to assume the worse." Cera thought as she folded her arms and closed her eyes in thought, "Chances are they'll double cross us the moment we make the trade or plan some kind of trap for us on the way to the beach or something like that…." After that she opened her eyes with a hard gaze, "Way I see it they've got nothing to lose and all to gain in the end so it's a tough call…." she thought noting the lose-lose situation they were in.

"I say we take our chances and give them the map and then we follow them." Rex then suggested, "After all, they know where our parents are. This could be our perfect chance to find our parents and rescue them!" he said feeling assured of himself.

"You're right!" Zoe nodded in agreement.

As they discussed their plan, their dinosaurs, oblivious to the serious matter at hand were playing with the barrels as Chomp poked his head out with seaweed on his nose with Spiny and Tank while Terry and the others kicked at it from the outside, with only Miku staying on Cera's shoulder listening in to the plan, narrowing her eye seriously understanding what was already at stake.

Despite already agreeing on a plan, Max still was rather unsure if it was the right call, "Yeah but what about Jim's village?" he said pained as he began to relate it to being similar to what they were going through, "I mean…well uh….the jewel's supposed to have healing powers that those people desperately need…." In the end it'd be sacrificing what they have to save something of equal value et having to live with the guilt of doing it too. It was something he didn't know if they could go through with and if they might be able to take risk.

Not wanting to see Max and her other friends remain conflicted and regretful about the choice they would make, Cera stepped in and put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he looked to her, "I know its hard Max….but….when we chose to go after the pirates to save your parents, I'm sure we all knew what we were getting ourselves into so we'll have to be prepared for hard choices like this too." she said to him rather seriously before smiling lightly, "And besides…what's to stop us from following them after they got the map right? I mean it's not like we can find it anyways without their half, at least this way they can do the hard work for us." she then suggested the upside to their plan.

Max and the others looked to her momentarily seeing the logic to it, before looking down at the other map half unsurely, "It still sounds really risky….." Max thought out loud as his hands shook feeling pressured, before opening his eyes with a determination, "But it's the only way…." He then looked up with confidence and clarity in his eyes, "Alright then it's settled." He said as they all nodded together in agreement.

"Take us to the beach Dr Z!" Rex pointed out

"It's Whitebeard!" the old man retorted in annoyance before turning to his first mate once again, "Ed!"

"Yes sir!" he saluted before shouting into the horns, "Droids! Row!" he yelled as the alpha droids began rowing once more. As the ship began to set sail towards the rendezvous point Ursula and Zander both sighed in relief that they weren't doing it anymore.

As they arrived ahead to see Blackbeard's ship further off the distance and a couple of wooden boats on the beach, there was also a group of greedy pirates awaiting them for the trade, including Blackbeard himself. The D Team eyed their enemies seriously as they prepared their own wooden boat to use. As they all got in to be lowered, Rex stopped before looking back to Cera, "Cera, you keep watch and get ready to move at the first sign of trouble." he said as she nodded at him with reassurance.

"Will do, be careful you guys." she said as Rex smiled feeling secure with their fates in her hands, as the wooden boat was lowered and they rowed over to the sandy beach to make the trade.

As Cera kept a watchful eye on the her friends through the telescope, the Trio slowly gathered around her hoping to get a peak too.

"Well, how's it look?" Zander asked curiously.

"Let me see!" Ursula then cried impatiently, no wanting to be kept in suspense as she reached out for it, only to be responded with a hard smack by Cera!

SMACK!

"OW!" she yelped pulling it away and then rubbing the sore spot she left!

"WAS!" Zander and Ed gasped in alarm seeing how quickly she responded as she shot them a hard glare.

"Ssh!" she hushed with a finger to her lips as she looked back through the glass. After that Zander and Ed backed off nervously while Ursula hardened her expression into a spiteful scowl at Cera's nerve in injuring her pretty hands.

"…." Cera soon observed Copper revealing Jim all tied up in rope as he seemed to be shouting protests. Nevertheless, the D Team handed the blond pirate their map half which he took and looked at first before tossing Jim over to them without a care, more than likely they were happy to be rid of him at last.

Jim tried to rush back at the larger man only to be pushed back as Max and the others came to his aid. After that seeing no more need to stay, the pirates took off for their wooden boats and began rowing back to the main ship so they could collect their loot. Overall the trade went off quite smoothly whiteout too much trouble to Cera's ease, "Looks like the trade went off without a hitch." said Cera as she put down the telescope, putting a hand on her chest in relief that it wasn't a trap and that her friends came out unharmed.

"That's good…I guess…" Zander muttered scratching his head.

"I'm surprised they actually kept their word." Ed added as he put a finger to his chin in thought.

"Yeah, if our positions were reversed I know I wouldn't hold up my end of the bargain." Whitebeard scoffed fading his arms, "I'd have taken the map then blown their heads off!" he laughed which made Cera roll her eyes at him in disgust.

"Guess it's a good thing that isn't the case." she muttered before looking through the telescope again seeing Blackbeard's ship beginning to turn and move away form the island.

Taking notice of it Whitebeard grinned as he pointed out at it, "Perfect! Now we take those pirates by surprise, steal the map then we go after the treasure ourselves!" he proclaimed.

"Not yet," said Cera to him stealing his thunder, "Not till Max and the others get back on board."

He then gritted his teeth angry at the thought he had to wait for the children of all people to get back, by the time they came back on board they'd be way behind. Seeing no other way though he then stomped his foot and jumped up and down yelling his head off, "Well tell them to hurry it up then!" he cried much to Cera's annoyance.

"Fine…." she sighed as she took out her dinoshot and began dialling on it. A few seconds later Max's face appeared on screen, "Hey Max come in, our fearless Captain's getting impatient, you guys might want to get back here once you're done with….whatever you're discussing over there." she said to them.

"Gotcha, we're coming back now." Max replied with a nod as the screen went blank.

As the D Team got back in their boots and rowed back as fast as they could, Dr Z kept tapping his foot and pacing back and forth impatiently, before even resorting to pulling his own beard to relieve some of his stress of waiting, which was agonising as he could lose his chance at making a great name for himself in this time, if he couldn't be remembered as dinosaur king then at least he could be remembered as a great pirate who surpassed even Blackbeard! Ignoring his grunting and stomping, Cera soon helped up the others as they arrived back to the ship as she smiled looking up and down on them all while checking for injuries.

"Since you're all back here without any injuries I take it the trade went smooth?" she asked with some concern in her voice.

They smiled back at her, "Sure did, now we pick up from where we left off and go after them!" said Max tensing up his arm into a fist.

Cera nodded in acknowledgement at Max's bravado before looking ahead to see the enemy ship had gotten a massive head start since departing, "They've gone off pretty far since you got here, I'd say now's the perfect time to follow them."

"Yeah." Max nodded before turning to the Alpha gang, "Let's go!"

Whitebeard then yelled out to his first mate seeing they could finally go, "Ed!" he yelled angrily unable to hold in his excitement a second longer, as Ed jumped and saluted his captain.

"On the double!" He squeaked before rising over to the horns to yell out the orders. "Full speed ahead!" Before long their ship made a turn towards their enemies and began to chase after them across the high seas. As time passed the fogs soon began to vanish and were being replaced slowly with dark storm clouds with blanketed the skies, creating a much eerie atmosphere, one which Miku didn't enjoy as she kept looking up at the sky restlessly sensing something amidst.

The others though were oblivious to the storm that would soon sweep over them all as they went about their usual business while waiting to catch up to Blackbeard, which wasn't going as well as they had hoped for. "We're falling further and further behind them you know…." Max complained over to Whitebeard seeing Blackbeard's ship was slowly disappearing ahead on the rough seas.

Their captain however wasn't deterred so early as he smirked seeing it as a challenge, "Like we pirates say, a wind that dies down must eventually pick up!" he spoke out with confidence.

"Thought you were supposed to be a dinosaur king not a pirate…" Cera muttered, which made the old man stutter at his words.

He choked and sweated anxiously before retorting, "Err….can't I be both!?" he shouted shaking his fist at her.

Meanwhile Ursula stuck out at the front of the ship raising her arms out while letting the sea breeze blow in her face, "I feel like a jet plane flying through the sky…." she said feeling entranced by the sea splashing on the ship and the wind on her face.

Zander however wasn't enjoying having to hold her tightly for so long as his arms began to tire, "And if I let you go of you then you're going to feel more like a fish swimming through the water!" he whined wanting her to stop already.

Ed then smiled upon hearing her words, "Hey Ursula! You just gave me an amazing idea!" he cheered as she looked back to him.

"What's that?" she asked curiously as he walked over to the horns.

"Switch on the jets!" Ed shouted into them which caught the attention of everyone else on board.

The D Team looked up at him from a lower part of the deck, "Did I just hear him say it right?" Rex blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Jets?" Jim asked wondering what those were.

Suddenly the ship began to rumble and as as everyone looked around in surprise and awe they could feel their vessel rising above the ocean surface, revealing the massive metallic base underneath the wooden upper portion!

As the jet turbines at the back of the ship began to roar, Cera gulped down hard as she turned pale with a blank expression to everyone else who became unnerved at her sudden mood change, "Everybody better hang on…." she croaked. Before they could ask, the ship suddenly sped across the ocean surface without warning, forcing everyone to grab onto whatever they could get ahold of as the wind and pressure blew in front of them!

"WAAAAH!"

"Where'd he get this stuff!?" Zander cried as he hang onto Ursula for dear life!

"WHOA!"

"Well he'd better not have put it on my chargecard!" Whitebeard cried while swinging about on the wheel!

"No worries! I put it on Zander's!" Ed cried out as he could feel his mouth and gums opening up widely with the wind on his face as he fastened himself to a chair!

The skinny man with sunglasses turned to him with a sharp glare, "Excuse me!?" he cried shaking his fist out at him, "When this is over I'll get you for this Ed!" he swore.

"Just hang on!" Ed retorted as everyone steadied themselves to the railings.

"This is amazing!" Jim cried out feeling the exhilaration and excitement flowing through his veins as he held his arms out feeling alive!

As the pace slowed down, Ursula and Zander were able to fasten themselves to seats too while Captain Whitebeard steadied himself better to his wheel, as they approached the back of Blackbeard's ship.

"Okay good! Just a little further!" Max cried out holding his arm out ready for a fight seeing they were close at last.

Looking around them and feeling the wind against their faces weakening, "Something's wrong! We're slowing down!" Zoe then cried out which raised suspicions amongst them seeing they had come so far so there couldn't be any reason to slow down.

"Hey Dr Z…."

"The name is Whitebeard." he grumbled back to Rex before looking to is first mate, "Hey Ed! Why are the jets not working?"

"It looks like the battery is dead…." Ed answered eying a reading on his seat arm, which made everyone groan in dismay.

"Those jets run on batteries?" Max asked in exasperation over how something so advanced could be powered by something so simple and weak. Just what they needed when they were so close….

"I'll go and start recharging em…." said Ed as he unfastened his seat belts and began to head over to the lower docks to divert the reserve power to them. Sadly he didn't get the chance, as a flash of lightning suddenly cracked across the sky and rain began to fall hard upon the high seas, startling everyone under it as Max stumbled backwards as it fell into his eyes.

"AH!"

Things began to take a turn for the worse, as the seas raged and the torrents surged throwing the ship off balance! "The storm's so bad we could capsize!" Ed cried out in alarm.

"And they call these water Shark Bay!" Whitebeard gasped on top of that which further added to their troubles.

"Shark….bay?" Zander croaked as he began to sweat profusely.

"WAAAAH!" Everyone soon began to slip and tumble about the ship as the waves began tossing them around like bath toys in the tub!

"Everyone grab onto something!" Cera cried out as she latched hold of the side railings, just barely able to hold her feet in place on the deck as she gritted her teeth while planting them in, "Whatever you do stay away from the edge!" she yelled, but as she looked down into the water below, her heart skipped a beat and she turned partially pale as the fin of a shark popped out form the water before descending ominously back in! "And the water!" She then screamed sweating nervously while Miku squawked frantically and went to go hide in her pocket for safety!

Despite her best warnings everyone still had difficulty keeping upright due tot he violent waves and the slippery floor from the rain, "Wah! Ooof!" Max gasped as he slipped on the slippery deck and fell forward!

"WHOA!" Rex cried as he was thrown onto his back and his head smacking hard against the ground!

"Yikes!" Jim gasped as he slipped onto he back deck while Zoe clung onto one of the seats up front.

"EEEEEP!" Ursula squalid as she slid down to the edge while Zander began doing breaststrokes across the floor to keep himself from falling off the edge.

"Do you think I can outswim a shark!?"

"I think you could and if we sink I hope you let me catch a ride with you!" Ed pleaded as he clung onto his chair which had fallen off its socket.

Whitebeard got up to the wheel in defiance of the storm, "I'm not gonna let this ship sink!" he yelled angrily as he proceeded to turn the ship, but instead ending up tearing the entire wheel off! "Uh oh…uhh…." Looking to the stunned crew and to the wheel he quickly hid it behind his back in a futile attempt to maintain the situation, as the D Team and Alpha gang all widened their eyes and cried out in alarm seeing their means of controlling the ship was now gone!

"WHA!?"

"Without that we'll capsize for sure!"

"We're doomed!" They all cried out widening their eyes in alarm.

"GRR!" Cera however had just about had it with Dr Z's incompetence and she wasn't about to let their fates be sealed by his buffoonery. Gritting her teeth and stomping hard towards him, "You idiot! Give me that!" she yelled as she yanked the wheel out of his hands much to his surprise.

"Hey!" Before he could yell back at her she shot him a petrifying glare-

"Get me a nail or something!" she demanded striking fear into the doctor's heart.

"Y….Yes ma'am!" Whitebeard saluted as he quickly searched through his pockets and plucked out a small wooden stake which he wanted to use as a play peg leg but couldn't quite fit it on.

Taking the tip of it, she whistled out loud spurring Terry to run in. Holding it out, he snapped his jaws on the wooden end causing it to snap off, before Tank came in next. Sticking it into the wheel and then motioning to her with a nod, the little saichania began using her tail as a hammer and batted in the wooden stake to secure the wheel in! After she twirled it about it remained secure and the ship seemed to stabilise as everyone let out a deep sigh of relief seeing they narrowly averted that crises, as some of them including the Alpha gang slumped down to the floor in exhaustion at the experience.

"Phew…."

"That was too close…."

"Wow Cera, that was some pretty quick thinking there." Zoe whistled impressed, seeing she really could think on her feet in urgent situations, or that she was able to come up with this on such short notice herself.

"You really saved our butts there." Max smiled weakly as his racing heart was only barely starting to slow down after the experience.

"Heh, can't let us all become shark feed right?" she chuckled exhaustedly as she wiped sown sweat from her already soaked brow. After this they all needed a nice warm shower, hopefully none of them would get sick when this is over.

Rex's dino bracer suddenly began to blink red, and as he eyed it he widened his eyes knowing what it meant, "Guys! We've got bigger fish to worry about than sharks!" he called out as the others looked to him and widened their eyes in surprise at it.

"A dinosaur!" Zoe gasped.

"Up ahead!" Max pointed ahead as they all ran up to see a massive blue and white sauropod dinosaur bellow out loud as it began tugging Blackbeard's ship through the stormy waters!

"Look! Jobaria! He's pulling them!" Rex gasped at the sight of the massive sauropod pulling the entire ship single handedly.

"Oh wow! He's fast!" Zoe breathed in amazement at how strong he was and how easily he was doing it.

They had other problems to worry about though, as Jim was about to bring up, "Hey guys!" he called to them getting their attention.

"Huh?"

"We can't unfurl the sails!" he yelled in alarm as he looked up to the sails which were stuck and couldn't budge, and without them they could turn in any sort of direction the wind or currents would blow them in.

Looking up and narrowing her eyes, realising the wind could blow them off course in another direction if they didn't do something fast, "Miku and I will see what we can do!" said Cera taking initiative, "Dino slash!" summoning her partner to full size as she ran ahead with her to the flagpoles and then climbing up the ladder fearlessly. Seeing their situation urgent, the D Team saw no time to argue with her as they decided to trust in her for it.

"Be careful up there!" Max cried out to Cera as she climbed up halfway to the main flag.

"Meantime see if you guys can find a way to deal with this storm!" she yelled back down to them before continuing straight up without hesitation.

After that as Miku separated and gripped hard tightly to the mast, she climbed to the side sails an began gnawing away at some of the ropes that were tying them together too tightly, as a result of the wind and rain dampening them or causing them too tighten hard. She was also able to control herself rather well as she opened her arms and glided effectively in the surging rain and air currents, only barely managing to avoid getting thrown off course or getting her feathers wet too much. After several minutes of twisting and turning, there was only 1 sail left to open up, the main one, and as she returned and latched onto the mast pole where her partner was at she saw who she was hugging on the rope ladder quite tightly as she shivered both in the cold of the rain and out of fear.

"Urgh….maybe I shouldn't have made a promise I couldn't keep…." she gulped nervously as she looked down, her heart beating tensely and her vision blurring as she felt she could fall down at any moment! Yet as she looked up and no matter how much she wanted to force herself to take another step up she felt being held in place by some invisible force preventing her from advancing and freeing the final sail. That force was fear and insecurity. She turned pale and shivered cold fearing that she would;t be able to make it….but before those dark thoughts could take her over, a fmaialir squawk soon caught her attention.

SQUAWK!

"Huh?"

After hearing her partner look at her in the eye with determination, cougar and faith, Cera swallowed down her fear and sported a more confident expression in turn, "Heh, you're right Miku, no one else can do it but us…." she thought before nodding back and looking back down to see the gang tumbling about in the swaying boat. "We've come this far up, we can't let them down…" she told herself as she climbed up to the top of the flagpole, the highest point in the ship, and down below her was the main sail which was tightly bound up.

"Alright, now for the hard part…" she said to herself as she tried kicking on it, as well as tugging on the securing ropes, but no matter what she did her efforts proved futile as the sail wasn't freed. "This thing's really stuck…." she grunted in annoyance as she sweated hard and shivered in the cold of the rain. She couldn't understand why it was so hard to untie compared to the other ones. She grew increasingly frustrated and impatient but as she took a breath to clam herself down she saw one bind was jammed up far more than the others and she focused on it, "Ah, that bit's jammed that's why."

She then looked over to her ever faithful and trustworthy partner who was perched on the side of the pole net to her like a gecko, "Think you can reach it Miku?" she asked to which Miku nodded as she locked her eyes onto her target bind. "Be careful." Cera said to her lastly as she then opened her wings and launched herself from her perch towards the bind in an attempt to loosen it and free the sail. Unfortunately a sudden burst of wind blew her off course, causing her to be shot away from the bind and near to the edge where she only managed to save herself in time by snapping onto the end!

"Ah! Miku!" she gasped in alarm to see her partner hanging by a thread as she gripped on as tight as she could ti the pole with her teeth, which were slowly loosing their grip with each second! "Hang on I'm coming!" she yelled, filled by fear of losing her partner and adrenaline she jumped out to her best she could, but ended up missing and only managed to grab the edge of the flag mast much to their alarm! "AAAAHH!" she cried as she hung precariously from it and as the boat began to shake side to side, while doing the D Team and Alpha gang down below! "Oh no, this is not good…this is not good!" she cried out as she hang on for dear life to the ropes! She could feel wth each swing of the ship her grip was weakening too and it would only be a matter before she and Miku both plummeted down to the ship below or worse in the open sea!

When it seemed all but hopeless for the pair, a loud roar sounded below them which caught their ears and eyes.

ROAR!

"Ah!" To their amazement Chomp had appeared don the ship's upper deck, and aiming at the dark clouds above he glowed yellow before firing a lightning strike which pierced through the dark stormy layer, vaporising the clouds and erasing the wind completely! Soon the bright sky returned followed by the bright and warm welcoming relief of the sun, as everyone cheered down below on deck Cera could only sigh relieved to see it was over at long last. "Phew, they did it…." she muttered with relief, but it soon was about to cut short as she could feel a small vibration form where she was hanging at. "Hmm?" Suddenly thanks to her own weight the main sail broke free from its binds as Cera found herself sliding down it much to her surprise! "Whoa!"

Despite the sudden slip she was able to swing over to the ropes tying to the side of the mast and luckily slide down it safely to the deck of the ship saving herself in time from taking a big splash in the sea. Doing a quick

"Phew, that was way too close…." she breathed putting a hand to her chest before looking to see the microraptor land on her shoulder from above, "Let's not do that again Miku." she said as her partner chipped back in agreement before Cera returned her to chibi form and then she nestles comfortably onto her shoulder.

As the winds blew into the sails and carried the ship forward with little difficulty, Zoe soon noticed Cera as she walked up to them all, "Ah Cera!"

"You got the sails loose again!" Max smiled holding a thumbs up at her while the Alpha gang and Jim clapped and cheered praising her bravery and efforts.

"Yeah," she nodded back at them knowing the credit wasn't hers alone, "Couldn't have done it without you guys taking care of the storm though, thanks."

"Heh, guess we're even then." Max chuckled scratching the back of his head knowing that was his doing.

Rex soon caught sight of something ahead of them which made his smile vanish, "Let's not celebrate to soon! Look!" he cried pointing ahead as the others looked to where he was aiming at as they widened their eyes at an incoming enemy!

"AH!" To their surprise the jobaria bellowed loudly before charging straight at them!

"Jobaria's coming this way!" Rex gasped in alarm as the enemy dinosaur charged straight towards them from Blackbeard's ship!

"He'd have a big advantage over us in the water…." said Zoe as she sweated anxiously seeing few of their dinosaurs could fight effectively in the open sea.

Cera however remained calm and undeterred, as she knew just the dinosaur perfect for this task,"Almost all of us…." she said, but before she could summon him out.

"Then leave it to us!" Ursula called which made them turn to her and the trio in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Our motto as pirates is be ready for anything!" Ed boasted folding his arms proudly while Ursula smiled holding up her alpha scanner.

"Actually that's our motto for whenever we decide to dress up at sea." Zander added waving his hand out playfully.

Cera was a little uneasy but seeing they were all ready for action she decided to let them have their shot at being heroes for a change, as Ursula took out Spiny's card.

"Alpha slash! Gush out spinosaurus!" Spiny materialised in full size as he splashed in front of the ship and roared out answering Jobaria's challenge as the skies turned colourful with the battlefield.

In response, Foolscap's dinosaur glowed purple before roaring out equipped with Spectral armour.

"He's armoured up…." Cera muttered narrowing her eyes before smirking with confidence, "Good thing we can match that."

Ursula then took out the blue element booster in response to the enemy armouring up, "Element booster! Dino-Tector on!" equipping it onto her scanner, Spiny glowed blue before surrounding himself in water which crystallised around his body as he became equipped too! "Wow! Element booster's made you look gorgeous!" Ursula cheered in glee seeing how magnificent it looked as both water dinosaurs faced one another off.

Job aria suddenly bellowed and glowed and before long a school of ichthyosaur like dinosaurs began splashing out of the sea around him before rushing towards Spiny!

"Those are…opthalmosaurus!" Max gasped as they circled around Spiny, leaping at him from multiple directions, 1 knocking him over before all lunging at him in all directions at once!

"There's too many of them! Spiny can't defend against all of them at once!" Cera cried out as she grabbed onto the railings.

Ursula then smirked as she held up a move card, "Then I'll just bring in some backup!" she said confidently slashing the move card, "Futaba Super Cannon!" Futabasaurus appeared from beside Spiny, shooting out a stream of water from his jaws which ensnared the opthalmosaurus school and then throwing them away in multiple directions!

"Hey Futaba!" Zoe waved to the plesiosaur as he shrieked back at her happy to see his old friend.

"Great thinking, now the odds are more evened up." Cera nodded seeing Spiny had nothing to worry about now. He roared out at jobaria as the opthalmosaurus shoal regrouped around him. Futaba dove down underwater to distract the school from attacking Spiny again, and as the marine reptiles faced off with one another underwater, the dinosaurs above clashed at almost even footing. Lunging out the job aria managed to slip away in time before getting snapped by Spiny. Before he could attack from behind Spiny swung his tail out deterring him but soon received a large tackle after that.

"Get him Spiny!" Whitebeard cheered with excitement before getting knocked down accidentally by Ursula who was finishing off his beat.

As everyone stared in awe at the incredible water battle before them, Jim ran up to Max having an idea of his own, "Hey Max, while everyone's so busy with this giant dinosaur battle, what do you say we go get the treasure map?" he suggested seeing they could take advantage of the situation.

"Sure, but how do you suggest we do it?" Max asked him curiously.

"Why don't we ride some of your flying dinos up into the sky," Jim smirked,"And they'll drop us quietly onto the ship."

"We'll use metal wing!" Zoe cheered clapping her hands together loving the idea.

"That's a great idea! With metal wing you guys can ride the pteranodons!" said Rex in agreement while Cera nodded. She had to admit for a sea boy Jim sure can come up with good ideas sometimes despite being reckless, maybe she ought to take back what she assumed of him.

Seeing jobaria glow and having a veil of water surround him she instantly recognised the move, "It's using shockwave!" she cried out warning Ursula.

"Good thing I've just gotten the new move card back from Helga!" she said taking out another water move, "Water sword!" Slashing it, Spiny glowed blue as he generated a water blade which slashed at the aqua tendrils Jobaria shot out as they both cancelled one another out generating a huge burst of energy as they exploded into one another.

Cera whistled impressed at the move card's potential, "Not bad…." in fact it gave her an idea for a new fusion move she could try out later if she had the chance. That was an idea for another time though, as she hardened her gaze seeing their opening, "They're distracted, now's our best chance!" Se pointed out as Zoe returned Paris to card form.

"Dino slash! Parasaurolophus! Bloom!" Summoning Paris to full size, Zoe followed it up with a grass move, "Metal wing!" Paris bellowed glowing green as she summoned the pteranodon trio who swooped from the skies before circling the ship from above. After that 2 of them landed down side by side as Max and Jim ran over to get on their backs.

"We'll be back with the map before you know it!" said Jim holding a grin and a thumbs up as his pteranodon took to the air first.

"H..Hey wait up!" Max cried as he had to follow after him to make sure he didn't do anything drastic.

"Be careful you guys!" Zoe waved out to them as Rex looked ahead to keep an eye on Spiny and Jobaria while Cera and Zoe kept their gaze focused on the pteranodons. So far everything went smoothly as they cruised unnoticed over the air but as they came in towards the ship the pteranodons began doing a set of aerial acrobatics as thy dive bombed and swooped out of the way almost randomly.

The sounds of gunshots echoing in the distance soon made it all clear to them, "Uh oh! Looks like they got spotted!" Zoe cried clapping her hands together nervously, while Cera narrowed her eyes and tensely shook. After several minutes of tense nail biting moments, eventually Max on his pteranodon swooped down towards the ship and as he returned he was seen carrying another figure on the way back!

"Alright! They did it!" Zoe cheered excitedly while Rex and Cera calmly smiled, but inside were deeply relieved to see they made it out in one piece.

The pteranodon trio soon returned to the ship, dropping Jim and Max down, though Jim did a roll to break his fall while Max stomped hard on his feet making him cringe with pain as he had to sit down to rest it off.

"Heh, we got the treasure map easy!" Jim then grinned holding a thumbs up and his other half they retrieved back from Blackbeard like it was nothing much to the dismay of Max.

"Nice! Now we can get ahead of them and the treasure before they do!" Rex cheered pumping an arm up with excitement.

"Oh that was so brave of you guys!" Zoe praised them after recalling her dinosaurs to their cards as Jim smirked smugly letting the whole thing get to his head.

"Heh, I'll brave any danger for you Zoe." he said bowing at her while taking her hand like some royal knight as she blushed pink with slight embarrassment.

"Hehehe…" As she chuckled nervously Max scoffed and looked away huffing somewhat bitterly at being used as a decoy the entire time, what he thought was a team effort all along was Jim's way of seizing the glory for himself.

"Hmph!"

As if right on cue, Futaba suddenly shot out of the water starting Jobaria as the opthalmosaurus school splashed out after him. Little did they know was that Futaba was luring them all into a single group, one for Spiny to take them all out with one final strike! "Okay Spiny let's finish him off!" Ursula smiled as she kissed the strongest water move card there was, "Ultimate water!" A huge tidal wave erupted behind Spiny followed by several geysers, he roared out before rushing ahead, ploughing through the opthalmosaurus school with ease before smashing into jobaria, sending it crashing ahead before it returned to a card defeated!

Seizing the chance Zoe shot out a mechanical claw snatching both the dinosaur and the move card, "Alright! I just got 2 more cards!" she cheered holding them up.

"Hey! I'm the one who fought the battle so those 2 cards belong to me!" Ursula grumbled in annoyance as Zoe sweat dropped at her.

"Hey, we're all on the same team so no worries…." she smiled cheekily.

Ignoring Ursula's rants Rex went to congratulate Max and Jim for the courageous efforts, "Hey guys, you did it!"

"Yeah, great job working together to get it," Cera complimented them as she came in too, "I was a little worried there but you proved me wrong." She then smiled proudly seeing how well they worked together an the success they achieved because of it, "Glad they finally managed to put their differences aside and settle things maturely too."

She spoke too soon however as Max scowled crossly at Jim, "So the plan all along was for me to take the fire while you swam to the boat…." he muttered feeling bitter he was nothing more than a scapegoat.

"Hey, we're all on the same team so no worries…." Jim chuckled nervously repeating Zoe's line.

"Or maybe not…." Cera then sighed shaking her head seeing she got her hopes up. Nevertheless they still got the map back in the end as planned without a scratch and that's what mattered, "Oh well, all's well that ends well I guess….." she then said shrugging her shoulders.

As Spiny and Futaba were returned to their cards, she soon noticed a huge ship come into view from horizon. One that looked mighty and rather regal, "Guys! Look ahead!" she pointed ahead as they all looked, widening their eyes as they recognised whom it belonged to.

"Attention pirates! Drop your sails and surrender immediately!" The navy commander yelled out. His warning however only spurred Blackbeard to hasten his escape seeing he couldn't win against both them and the D Team at the same time, also because there was a bigger prize to be won from this too, with treasure island now within sight the big prize would soon be his.

"Check it out, Blackbeard's running away!" Max pointed out with a smirk.

"Lucky for us that the Navy showed up…." Rex commented, little did he realise he spoke to soon as the Navy commander turned his attention to the other pirate that was coming within range of his vessel!

"Whitebeard! You have 10 more seconds to surrender, or we will fire on your ship!" he warned as his ship's cannons took aim and armed themselves, clearly he hadn't forgotten the stunt Dr Z had pulled on him and his crew as well as the humiliation that came with it and wasn't about to let to go unpunished!

As they took aim, the Alpha gang squealed and huddled together panicky "WAH!"

"This was a bad idea dressing up like pirates…." Ursula gulped wishing she could ditch her current output here and then, it was last month's fashion anyways.

"Hey navy captain! We're not pirates!" Max cried out hoping they'd listen to reason.

"Doesn't like they're in any mood to listen though…." Cera gulped as the Navy commander said a word which seemed to seal their fates!

"FIRE!" Upon his command, 3 cannon balls were fired from the ship and were heading straight towards their ship!

"AH!"

"Quick! Take cover! Incoming!" Max cried out warning everyone else.

"Brace yourselves!" Cera yelled as the cannonballs came in!

 **Sorry this chapter took so long, because Cera doesn't do too much here I wasn't very motivated and procrastinated quite a lot in writing this. Hope you enjoyed what she did help do though. Also Terry in the parrot costume pays tribute to the Japanese OP of season 2.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-I see well maybe you can go back through some of it to refresh yourself. By denied moment you mean the Alpha gang getting the respect they deserve? Actually their cards were reclaimed, also since iguanodon and euoplocephalus appear on the space pirate ship later.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-The question wasn't clear to me but here it shows Spiny to be the one doing the butt kicking.**

 **Guest**

 **-For the ancient japan arc I won't have Cera come in till the cave with baryonyx actually but I do have plans for jet shuriken though.**

 **Guest**

 **-Well there will definitely be new allies and dinosaurs in season 3 but I know the D Team would never choose another dinosaur besides their partners.**


	34. Amazing Treasure Race

Chapter 34

Amazing Treasure Race

"FIRE!" The Navy commander yelled out loud at the top of his voice! On his signal the warship's cannons took aim and fired 3 cannon balls in the path of the D Team's ship!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

They fell short of hitting their target as they splashed around the ship instead, but the fact remained that they were sailing right into the navy's line of fire!

"We're sailing right into the cannon fire!" Max cried out in a panic.

"Dr Z you've got to turn this ship around!" Rex gasped in alarm to the ship's 'captain'.

"The name is Whitebeard and I don't run from anybody! You got that you bunch of land lubbers!?" Dr Z retorted stubbornly as he maintained a straight course towards the other ship much to the others' alarm!

"We're facing a battleship from the British navy! We're gonna get blown up!" said Zoe with fear and terror in her voice, begging the old man to turn away, while Cera and Jim glared daggers

Very soon more cannons from the Navy warship were fired at them and all around them the cannonballs splashed, miraculously none were able to land a direct hit on their ship yet, but Cera could see that each shot was getting closer and closer and she didn't want to test their luck anymore than it already had been!

"GAAAH!" The Trio cried out in a panic, Zander and Ursula huddling together and Ed staying on his own near Dr Z, while the D Team held on as tight as they could to wherever they could secure themselves to.

"Ed you ninny, isn't there anything on board this tub we can fight back with!?" Whitebeard growled at the pudgy pirate who suddenly opened his eyes in realisation.

"Oh! Actually there is!" Ed he said as stepped on a certain spot near the wheel, causing a compartment to open up. Pressing it, a huge purplish dome suddenly opened up around the entire ship and enclosed them in a kind of air tight bubble much to everyone's amazement!

"Ah!"

"Submarine mode engaged! Prepare to submerge!" Ed announced proudly much to the D Team's awe and shock at the ship's capabilities.

"What!?" The ship soon began to descend beneath the waves and out of range of the Navy's cannons.

"You mean this thing can actually go underwater!?" Max gasped at Ed as he and everyone else either blinked, hung their jaws speechlessly or just smiled in amazement at his brilliance.

Truly the surprises kept on coming, even Cera had to admit the Alpha gang really outdid themselves this time, if only they could be like this more often. The Navy meanwhile up above could only gasp speechlessly at what they witnessed, for one no ship could ever go under water like that without breaking apart under the huge pressure of water. Furthermore their cannonballs were bouncing off the shields like ping pong balls as the ship sped away deep beneath the dark waters of the sea.

"That feature cost a little extra but since we put it on Ursula's charge card I figured why not?" Ed added rather smugly as Cera sweat dropped seeing Ursula get rather agitated at his careless remark.

"HAH!" she growled kicking him down with her boot!

"OW!"

"So that's why I'm maxed out and couldn't buy that new outfit!" she growled at him in response.

"For once that card was used for something useful…." Cera couldn't help but think to herself seeing Ed made a wise decision without a doubt.

"Enough bickering! Set a course for treasure island!" Whitebeard then yelled out as he pointed straight ahead in the direction they were heading in. As he manned the wheel and kept a full focus ahed of him, the rest of the crew couldn't help but walk around the deck of the ship while eying the view on all sides. Not once had they ever dreamed of seeing what things were like underwater and what they saw truly didn't disappoint as they smiled in awe and filled with deep emotion to this new experience.

"Wow, I've never actually been underwater before…." Jim breathed blinking his eyes and seeing schools of fish of many different colours, shapes and sizes gather around to greet some new visitors to their underwater home. "I never thought it'd be so amazing…." He then smiled seeing he had a new tale to tell his father and village, if he ever saw them again.

"Yeah no kidding…." Max whistled as he folded his hands behind his back and looked up, seeing the sun shining on the surface above them and a sunfish just passing by like an underwater alien or UFO. In fact under sea looked almost like an entirely different world.

"Look! Whales!" Zoe suddenly cried pointing out, as the others ran to the side to see a large humpback whale and calf were just at the surface several feet away from where they were, as they reached the surface and blew water out of their blowholes before descending deeper into the dark further away.

"And over there are some dolphins!" Cera gasped as a pod of dolphins went smashing together at the surface as the D Team smiled and gasped in awe at their underwater acrobatics before disappearing into the depths. It was hard to believe that this was the same planet earth they always lived on, how beautiful the ocean was and important to both marine life and people, all the more reason it had to be preserved and protected.

"Oooh! A school of tuna fish!" Ursula cheered as a large shoal of big fish passed right in front of them.

"I'm getting hungry just looking at them all." said Ed as his mouth began to water and his fingers began twiddling about wishing he could grab hold of one and sink his teeth into it raw like it was sushi!

Captain Whitebeard however didn't quite share the mutual feeling the rest of the group had as he gritted his teeth and yelled out to them, "This isn't an undersea safari tour people! We're on a mission here!" he growled shaking his fist at them and spoiling the mood, causing them to scowl or frown at him. "Now that we've got the map it's time we pressed our advantage!" He then added with urgency, reminding everyone they couldn't get sidetracked now with the goal in sight. He then focused his attention on Jim who shuddered a bit to see the vicious captain glare at him, "Tell us where to go next boy!" he yelled pointing at him.

"Aye aye sir!" Jim saluted him as he unfurled the map which he taped back together and spread it out on the floor, "Let's see….." Everyone gathered around him for a better look. Sticking out his finger on the map from where they last left off, he then traced it in the direction they were heading, before pointing straight ahead in the distance and everyone followed, "That way!" he said out loud feeling confident and assured that it was the right way.

"That way it is! Full speed ahead!" Whitebeard pointed out as they sped ahead in the pointed direction.

As they did, Max then folded his arms behind his head in a more lax manner, "We should be able to rest easy now, I mean no way they'd be able to follow and attack us while we're under water." he grinned with confidence.

"Yeah and we've got the map so there's no way for them to know where to go too." Rex nodded as the others smiled or snickered at the advantage they held over their foes this time, though Cera didn't seem as convinced as they were as she had a slightly more serious expression than the rest of them

"Is that enough of an edge though?" she thought to herself. Maybe they could beat the regular pirates, but the space pirates were an all too different story. Until they secured the treasure or stopped them for good, they'd always have the upper hand since they were the ones following after them this whole time so it's

A while passed by and soon Dr Z yelled out to one of his crew, "Ursula! Take a look now!" he pointed out.

"Aye captain sir!" she saluted as she brought up a periscope which began scanning the horizon. Looking ahead she caught sight of an island coming up in the distance. Upon sight of it she jittered with glee and post ned ahead with excitement, "There! It's dead ahead!" she squealed as everyone brightened up or gasped in surprise.

"AH!"

"Really!?"

"We're finally here!"

Jim then clenched one of his hands into a fist as it tightened tensely with determination, "Dad, I promise I'll get that jewel no matter what…for us and our people…." he vowed to himself as his expression hardened seriously.

"Ed! take us up now!"

"Right away!" he replied to Captain Whitebeard as he pressed a button causing the whole ship to surface and the dome around it lowered.

"Whoa! Looks like treasure island is straight ahead!" Max gasped looking ahead to see the legendary island right before his eyes.

"We actually found it!" Zoe followed in amazement.

"Yeah, and we're way ahead of Blackbeard and his crew too." Cera whistled seeing how far they had finally come after looking behind to see no trace of their enemies for miles, "Though I wouldn't rest on our laurels yet, not until we have it safe and secured." she then added seriously to which they all nodded in agreement.

Jim then took out the map and opened it up to read, "According to the map, the treasure is on the side of the island that has dangerous reefs." he said putting his finger on it and tracing along it form where they were currently approaching, "We can't sail to it, so we'll have to hike!" he said as he quickly ran to the side and lowered the life boat to the sea surface and then climb down the rope ladders to it.

"Hey wait for us Jim!" Max cried out.

"Yeah you can't go by yourself!" Rex followed as they ran after him.

"Either he really wants to get the jewel to help his village or he wants to impress Zoe by getting all the glory…." Cera muttered to herself in annoyance at his foolhardy attitude, before realising something else that was just as important as finding the stone, it was securing it and wondering what to do with it later, "Still, even if we do get it, will it really save his people? Also, what happens after that? We can't just leave it here for the pirates to snatch later…." she thought to herself curiously before shaking her head deciding to worry about it later.

As Max and the others prepared to enter the boat, Cera then held herself back at the last minute after looking down below and seeing the wooden boat couldn't possibly support all of them inside as she stepped back uneasily.

"You coming Cera?" Rex asked curiously noticing her hesitance as she then shook her head in response.

"I don't think there's enough room in that little boat guys…." she said, "I'll go my own way if you don't mind." She then took out her dinoshot and a card which she got from earlier while they were underwater, "Dino slash!" Upon slashing the card Spiny appeared in full sized form on the other side of the ship while down in the water. "There are 2 paths leading to it, I'll take the sea side through the reefs with Spiny and you guys go on land." she explained, "In case we face trouble on the island or by pirates at least one of us will be able to get to the treasure later."

"That makes sense….not sure I approve though…" Rex replied feeling uneasy about the D Team splitting up again, a feeling shared mutually with the others.

"You sure you want to go it alone though?" Max asked.

"Sounds dangerous, you sure you wouldn't want one of us come along with you?" Zoe suggested.

Cera smiled appreciating their concern but shook her head once more, "I can hold my own just fine." she assured them, "Besides, I think it'll take all 3 of you to keep Jim in line if he keeps acting on his gut like that just now."

As Max thought about how reckless Jim was in leaving him to take the gunfire earlier, Zoe recalling how 'honest' he was with his feelings for her and Rex recalling how stubborn and foolhardy he was they could see it'd take all 3 of them just to keep him in line and from running off on his own. If anything if left unattended they could easily get sidetracked having to pull him out of sticky situations he'd easily get himself into.

"Good point…." They all said to her in response.

"Hey! What are you guys waiting for!?" Jim suddenly yelled out from below catching their attention, "Hurry up or we'll lose our chance!"

"Coming Jim!" Zoe called out to him as she went down the ripe ladder first.

"Sheesh, that guy needs to learn patience and teamwork…." Max muttered in annoyance as he followed after her next.

As Rex followed last Cera waved to them, "See you guys later!" she said.

"Take care now!" Rex replied as he went down the ladder and Cera went to the other side where Spiny was waiting for her.

She then jumped off the edge and landed effortlessly on his neck as she petted him nicely, "Alright Spiny, let's go." The spinosaurus roared out obediently as he began swimming in the direction which would go across the reefs hoping it'd be a short cut to where the treasure was. Along the way, Spiny began snapping up any fish that came close to him, mistaking his sail for shelter from predatory seabirds only to get snatched up by a far larger predator instead! In fact even sharks in the water were warded off by his massive size and huge claws, which was more than a warning for them to stay clear of him. Spiny also effortlessly steered himself around the jagged rocks and reefs down below, truly he was in his element here and no other dinosaur could match him on such terrain.

"So far so good…." Cera thought to herself seeing they hadn't encountered any trouble along the way as they passed by some rather ragged cliffs and into a bay area. It was fortunate they didn't encounter any troubles along the way but she didn't want to count any of her chickens before they hatched, if anything big trouble usually showed up at the last second or when they would lower their guard. As they came near the bay, Spiny's eyes slitted and he hissed rather aggressively, as something in the air had triggered some primal instinct deep down inside and he went on high alert as he snarled looking around for something.

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise at his sudden behavioural change, "Hey? Is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself…." she asked him with concern as she petted hem gently on his neck. It helped calm him down a little but there was without a doubt something on his mind which caught his attention and was close by. She was getting suspicious that there were enemies in the vicinity, but a small shadow passing above them caught her attention, "Hmm?" Looking up she saw the trio were pedalling on a sort of flying pedal bike high above her and Spiny, "Oh it's the Alpha gang….what are they up to now?" she muttered before sweat dropping at their embarrassing mode of transport. Before long they had a kind of squabble while pedalling before they ended up crashing into the forest somewhere.

Crash!

Seeing their blunder for the umpteenth time made Cera groan in dismay as she shook her head, "Oh boy not again, guess we've gotta look for them too…." she moaned as Spiny let out a low growl in disappointment knowing he'd have to fight against these strange but enticing urges he's been having but it wouldn't be easy….

Before long Spiny caught sight of something coming in from the horizon further up ahead, as he roared out loudly to get Cera's attention, "Hmm?" Looking ahead she widened her eyes to see an all too familiar pirate ship come in from the open sea and into the bay area. She then urged Spiny to backtrack and treat behind some large stone stacks as they observed from a safe distance. "It's Blackbeard! How did he find us so fast!?" she gasped in shock before narrowing her eyes hardly at their enemies heading for behind the bay. Suddenly the skies soon turned multicoloured, a situation which she knew all too well, "Ah! A battle field!" she gasped before hearing roars coming from the island, "Tch! Those space pirates must have helped them find us…." she clicked her tongue seeing the answer all too clear.

Looking back to the forest where the Trio crashed she sighed deeply seeing she had no other choice now, "Sorry you guys, but I've bigger fish to fry now." she sighed with slight regret as she looked to Spiny firmly, "Spiny! After that ship!" she pointed out and he roared acknowledging her instructions. They shadowed the ship from behind but maintaining a safe distance and staying low, "Stay behind, we don't want them to see us and then unload their weapons." She said to him before noticing an opening in the cliffs behind the bay, "Hm? A cave….could it be a shortcut?" she asked herself curiously before a roar in the distance caught her attention.

ROAR!

"Huh?" As she looked over to the side she saw a female space pirate with a green raptor dinosaur was engaged in close combat with a carnotaurus! "Ah! It's Sheer and a megaraptor!" She gasped seeing the space pirate again whose dinosaur swung out her tail and knocked Ace close to the edge of the cliff! "Ace no!" She gasped before urging Spiny to go for them, seeing their situation as more urgent than Blackbeard. Chomp was soon summoned to back him up while Ace was recalled so he could recuperate. Despite their side difference the megaraptor was strong enough to throw Chomp by the tail across the ground.

"Tch! For a little dinosaur that raptor sure can hold its own…" Cera grunted as they came closer to the cliffs only to witness both dinosaurs fall form the cliff into the ocean below! Chomp was able to keep his head above but megaraptor struggled to keep afloat. Cera felt rather sorry for it but reminded herself that it was an enemy dinosaur under pirate control so it had to be defeated in order to be freed. She was about to have Spiny go in and finish it off, but the dinosaur was suddenly recalled to the pirate ship up ahead, where Sheer had landed before they disappeared inside!

"Tch! She was just distracting them the whole time…." she clicked her tongue in frustration, but soon widened her eyes as a boy from above the cliffs suddenly jumped down onto it! "JIM!?" Cera then exclaimed turning pale slightly at his outrageous and insane act. "He's either brave or just insane….probably both…." She thought to herself seeing him jump behind enemy lines so deliberately without any caution or concern. While she minded over what to do next, a set of whirlpools suddenly swelled and opened up nearby the coast further up ahead much to her surprise, "Hmm? Whirlpools, those look very dangerous…." she noted seeing that those could pull any vessel down into a watery grave, so they'd make short work of her and Spiny that much more easily so it'd be best they keep their distance for the time being.

The fact remained though that they suddenly appeared form out of nowhere and without warning, something like that doesn't just happen so there had to be more forces at work on this island than they first believed, "What's going on here?" he asked herslef with suspicion as Spiny grunted kicking away from the swelling torrents and maintaining a safe distance. Cera was about to consider going ashore on land where it might be safer, when their ship suddenly emerged from one of the larger whirlpools with Dr Z waving out to the kids higher on the cliff, "The water started swirling and sucked the ship down! Good thing I was able to go on auto sub!" he cheered, "Have you figured out where the treasure is yet?" he then asked.

"No but Blackbeard just went into that cave!" Rex answered him.

"Sheer and Jim are on board his ship too!" Zoe cried as she ran up and regrouped with her friends.

"Jim's on there!?" Max gasped in alarm while Cera face palmed at how staggering his reckless behaviour was, of all the times he acted tough in order to impress Zoe or get the treasure for his people, this time he may have bitten off more than he could chew.

"Well, what do you say we go catch them and have a good old fashioned dinosaur throw down!" said Captain Whitebeard feeling incredibly pumped and ready for action!

"I couldn't agree more." said a voice nearby which made them look to where it came from.

"Hmm?"

"Hey look! It's Cera and Spiny!" Rex pointed out as she and Spiny came up from the sea till she was below the cliffs where Max and the D Team were.

"I heard the whole story! We'll have to get a move on now!" she said with urgency.

"Hey Dr Z! Think you can bring the ship closer so they can jump on board!?" Rex cried out to him.

"The name is Whitebeard!" Dr Z yelled back in response before folding his arms and looking away from them, "And unless you call me that there'll be no ride for you. Hmph!"

"Fine, Captain Whitebeard….." Rex sighed almost painfully at having to give in to the old man's conditions who was acting so much like a fussy kid.

"There, now was that so hard?" Whitebeard replied smugly as he brought the ship in closer to the cliffs. As Max and the D Team jumped in, Spiny raised his head up allowing Cera to jump on board before returning him to card form.

As soon as they all were on board, Whitebeard turned the ship in the direction of the cave till they arrived at the entrance, "Alright! Steady she goes and now we charge!" he cried out loud as he charged straight in! As they entered the cave it soon began to turn dark and it was a straight but narrow path, with several sharp edges along the walls and hard stalactites sticking up in the water below.

Despite all the dangers surrounding them, Max gritted his teeth impatiently as he yelled out loud with urgency, "Come on! Can't this thing go any faster!? We're losing them! They could be at the treasure by now!"

Rex then put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, "Max, if we go any faster in this narrow cave we could crash into the walls or hit something from underneath." he said with caution as he looked around seeing the various stalagmites hanging from above. One wrong move could potentially cause a cave in or even a crash.

"Yeah, it's pretty dark too so there's no telling when a tight turn will come up." Cera added on top of that seeing it was getting hard to see.

Those were the least of their worries, as suddenly the entire cavern began to shake violently, the rocks form the ceiling began crashing down and splashing around them and they were shaken up and caught off guard!

"WAAAAAHH!" Zoe and Max screamed out loud.

"Wh…What's going on!?" Rex gasped as he widened dish eyes and looked around.

"Earthquake!" Whitebeard then screamed as he began sweating bullets, "What should we do!?"

"Why are you asking me!? You're supposed to be the captain!" Max cried out just as panicky as he was!

As everyone clung onto something to secure themselves or stumbled about trying to stay upright, Zoe soon caught whiff of something behind her, "Huh!? AAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed out loud as a massive tidal wave suddenly erupted as a result of the huge vibrations shaking the cavern inside!

"AAAAAH!" everyone screamed as, like a massive beast, the sea wave itself spread out over their entire ship ready to engulf them in a huge swell and surge!

"Brace yourselves!" Rex yelled out as the wave came crashing down on them all!

SPLASH!

The massive wave of seawater soon blanketed the entire ship and swept over the entire deck and nearly wiping out everyone who was on board!

"Urgh…is everybody okay?" Max asked uneasily as he looked up after getting knocked down from the immense weight of water that fell on top of them.

"I am…but I don't see Zoe or Cera." said Rex as he stumbled into view nearby and held at the railings to stabilise himself.

"We're over here!" Zoe cried out as she and Cera looked up from holding onto the mast.

They made it out of one problem only to be greeted with another, "Grrrgh! We're caught in the current and I can't turn us around!" Whitebeard then grunted as he struggled to turn the wheel in the direction he wanted to, and they continued going in a straight line down the cave.

"Try harder!" Max yelled in response which only served to infuriate him even more.

"Don't you think I'm already doing that!?" he growled shaking his fist at the young boy.

Looking ahead, Cera caught sight of something ahead as she yelled out to them, "Wait guys don't! Look up ahead!" she cried catching everyone's attention.

"Huh!?" Looking ahead they find exactly who they were looking for.

"Ah! It's Blackbeard's ship!" Zoe gasped.

"Hehehe, time to show this antique pirate who truly rules the seas! Hahahah!" Whitebeard laughed cockily, though he soon changed his tune as Blackbeard brought a cannon up.

"How'd you like a cannonball down your gullet!?" he growled as he aimed the weapon straight at them!

"AH!" They all gasped as he armed the cannon with a cannonball and prepared to light the fuse!

"If he fires he'll sink the ship!" Max cried out in alarm.

"Everybody take cover!" Rex warned them as the pirate captain lit the fuse!

"Bon voyage!" he bellowed as the cannon began to unload! At the last second it turned around unexpectedly and ended up blowing up part of the cave wall next to the pirate ship! "Huh!?" Blackbeard gasped seeing he missed for some odd reason before looking down, "What the!?" In surprise was Jim who revealed his position from under the cannon!

"Take that!" Jim snickered before running off.

"Get him! Arrest that skipper rat men!" Blackbeard ordered as his crew mobilised and went after him in full force!

"Aw yeah! Jim!" Max grinned as he punched feared in excitement, rooting for him to do his worst to the price crew for a change.

"Be careful!" Zoe cried clapping her hands together in worry for his own wellbeing, even if he was smart and quick on his feet he was still up against several adult men armed to the teeth with guns and swords so there was always the chance he'd be too confident and end up making a life threatening mistake in the process.

"For a wild kid he sure is brave and has guts too…" Cera thought to herself feeling the same as Zoe as she narrowed her eyes overhearing the scuffle going on board the other ship, "Hope he isn't over his head…" Up ahead a bright light soon began to glow over in the front of the other ship as Cera began to narrow her eyes as it got rather glaring, "Hey guys! I think there's a light up ahead!" she pointed out.

"It must be the end of the cave!" Max grunted as he and the others covered their eyes at the glaring light at the end! As they passed through both ships soon were flowing gently down a kind of canal which spiralled along the mountain from where they came out from.

"I guess this river will take us back down to the ocean." Rex suggested.

"The way this is going….it's kinda like one of those amusement park water rides where there's a massive fall at the end." Max noted seeing they were all spiralling down the mountain in a swirling kind of way, which reminded him of a water park he and Rex once visited with his parents one time when they were younger.

The others turned to him with hard scowls, "Did you really have to jinx it Max?" Zoe muttered.

He however didn't seem so worried as he folded his arms behind his head in a lax manner, "Oh relax, what are the chances of that really happening?" he said rather cockily.

As soon as he finished though, the ship suddenly zoomed fast ahead as they travelled further and further down the canal! "WHOA!" They all cried as they and the pirates ahead were caught in some kind of swift current which felt close to that of a rollercoaster! What happened next made their hearts skip a beat.

"Waterfall ahead! I've got a sinking feeling!" The pirate parrot up ahead squawked out loud which made them all gasp in alarm.

"AAAH!"

"You were saying!?" Rex and Cera yelled to Max as he scratched his cheek uneasily.

"Err…." He then turned over to Dr Z hoping to shift the topic to someone else so the blame wouldn't be put solely on him, "Do something Dr Z!" Max cried out in a panic hoping he'd do something quick or they all be sunk!

"Captain Whitebeard's got it under control!" he replied with confidence as the button panel opened up on the wheel, "Prepare to dive!" The cannons on the ship then fired a set of streamers and even a few birds flew out from them, much to his surprise and the D Team's annoyance thinking he was just messing around with them, "Huh…wrong button I guess…" he muttered in surprised as he reached for another, "Err here?" Pressing another, the cannons fired out a set of colourful fireworks which exploded into sparkles in the sky.

"Fireworks!? What do you think you're doing!?" Max exclaimed both impatiently and in a panic as he and the others shot hard glares at Dr Z further pressuring him.

"It must be one of these stupid buttons!" he cried out as he began pressing randomly all over! Each button either unfurled sails, played music or even made them zoom faster towards the incoming waterfall!

"WAAAAAH!" Everyone screamed in a panic seeing how close they were to certain doom!

It was soon which Cera then began to realise an important detail she overlooked, "The only who knows this ship is Ed and he and the Alpha gang aren't anywhere for miles!" she cried before grasping the hair in her head in deep regret, "Maybe I shouldn't have left them hanging in the forest just now…." she moaned out loud in disbelief that of all the times they needed the trio it had to be now when their lives depended on it!

"AAAAAAHHH!" Up ahead the D Team widened their eyes as the pirate ship went down the waterfall and was followed by a huge splash which soon shattered it completely into debris and driftwood while scattering the crew!

Splash!

"Oh no Jim!" Zoe cried out covering her mouth in worry.

"HURRY!" Max screamed out loud waving his arms in a frenzy.

"If we don't act now we'll crash like them!" Rex added just as worried.

"Don't rush me!" Whitebeard shouted back at him as he too was having the pressure get to him and he could;t think straight with some much on the line!

Cera widened her eyes recalling where the button was, "Wait…." earlier when the Navy was attacking them Ed stomped on a certain point near the wheel which caused the button to reveal itself, "It's here! I remember now!" Stomping on that same spot the hatch opened revealing the big button inside.

"AH!"

"Press it now!" Zoe and Max shouted as the others quickly grabbed onto the side to brace themselves for the fall to come!

"Got it!" Dr Z yelled as he stomped on it just when they went over the falls! Fortunately the dome covered over them in time as they landed with a huge splash down below! Luckily thanks to the shielding of the dome they all emerged unscathed and in one piece unlike Blackbeard's ship, thanks to superior technology, as they rose up to the surface again and the shields lowered. "Ahahahaha! Didn't I tell you? Never underestimate the amazing Whitebeard!" Dr Z then laughed boastfully feeling proud of himself while Cera simply narrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Who wouldn't underestimate you?" she muttered softly out of earshot, "You didn't even know what your own ship did…." she sighed shaking her head before joining the others who were gazing over the sides of the ship. Around them the tops of what were once mountains were now poking out of the sea like stacks, it was amazing how quickly and drastically the scenery changed right after they entered the cave and the earthquake passed.

"Most of the island is underwater now…." Max breathed in amazement as he observed the scenery around them.

"So that earthquake we felt wasn't just a coincidence…." Cera noted as she narrowed her eyes, "But now how will we find the treasure?" she then asked seeing the change in scenery had brought up a new challenge which would render their current map obsolete.

"Ahoy there!" a voice suddenly cried out which snapped everyone out of their thoughts. Looking overboard they smiled with relief as they saw Jim was clinging on to a piece of driftwood which was floating on the surface of the water.

"Jim!" Zoe cried as she saw him and then began to blush feeling glad for him to be alive and in one piece, "You made it Jim!"

"It's a miracle he got out of that unscathed…." Cera whistled impressed at how tough he was despite being so young. Perhaps living out in the sea had tempered his mind, body and heart to be much tougher than kids his age would be.

"Grab ahold of this!" Max called out as he threw out a life ring with a rope tied to ti, which Jim quickly grabbed hold of as he was pulled in closer to the ship.

"Pedal harder you slugs!" An angry female voice suddenly growled which made the others look up, to see the Alpha trio were coming in from above, with the old flying bike which had been patched up rather poorly in a set of bandages and take which was only barely holding it together.

"The old lady!" Zoe gasped in surprise to see them.

"Hey they're okay too." Cera whistled having forgotten about them but nevertheless glad to see them alive too.

"AAARGH!" Ursula suddenly roared out upon hearing the forbidden words uttered out, "You take that back or I'm coming straight down there! You hear me!?" she growled but her resultless shaking caused their flying bike to crack apart and soon explode back into pieces reducing their hard work to nothing!

"Why'd you have to say that?!" Zander and Ed cried out in exasperation as they fell into the water, just when Jim had just climbed back on board.

SPLASH!

Seeing at how unlucky they were, Cera couldn't help but sigh in pity at the trouble they go through and for nothing, not even a stroke of gratitude from anyone.

"You find anything?" Rex asked looking over the side as the Trio popped their heads out from the water.

"We forgot our map, and even if we had it, the island has sunk so much that the map won't help!" Zander gasped as he struggled to keep himself afloat while.

"Oh no then how are we ever going to find the treasure?" Zoe cried seeing their new predicament.

"I can't believe we got this close and came up with no jewels! GRR!" Ursula whined like a spoilt child wanting to become rich hoping it'd help fill up her credit card which Ed emptied.

Jim however was worried about the treasure too, but for an all too different reason, "If the treasure is underwater now….then this map is useless…." he sniffled in pain as he squatted on his knees and held it up to his soaking wet head. Feeling utterly devastated at coming so close only to end up with nothing he dropped the map down onto the wet floor seeing nothing left to fight or even live for now that his only chance at saving his people was now sunk.

As the others eyed him with sympathy a hard voice further off caught their attention, "By Neptune's beard!" Blackbeard yelled out as he and Copper stood on what was left of their ship being the steering wheel, "I know that treasure's lying somewhere right here in briny blue! And I intend to find it!" he glowed as both men began scouting out their surroundings.

"Even with his ship and his men sunk, Blackbeard won't give up!" Zander gasped amazed at the pirate's persistence and determination despite losing everything.

"Well unless he's got a pirate scuba suit he won't find any treasure here!" Whitebeard remarked confident that now he was out of the picture for good and that he could boast about being the superior pirate now.

As Cera looked over the side of the ship she eyed the splashing trio pityingly, "Can't leave you guys down there…." she sighed as she slashed a card an summoned Spiny to full size who then appeared in the water and roared.

Upon his appearance the trio's eyes glistened with hope and joy.

"AH!"

"We're saved!"

"Ahahaha!" They laughed and cheered.

"Only if you promise to behave this time. Deal?" Cera added shooting a firm glare at them.

"Yes! Yes! Deal! Let us on now please?" They pleaded desperately waving their arms out as if they were drowning which apparently they were, seeing there was no point in arguing with her since she was offering them the last lifeboat and they were running put of time and energy to stay afloat.

After that Spiny scooped them up using his tail before straightening it out and lifting them back onto the upper deck, as they either gasped for air or began kissing the deck of the ship not taking it for granted again before Spiny was recalled.

Despite feeling grateful and joyful at being saved, Jim unfortunately wasn't as he began shedding heavy painful tears from his eyes.

"All hope for my village is lost…." Jim sniffled bitterly as the rest of the D Team began to sympathised with him. As much as they wanted to say comforting words to him they had nothing that could possibly lift his spirits at this point, as they'd only be saying empty words of false hope.

"This can't be how it ends…." Cera thought to herself as she clenched her fist hard. Every drop of blood in her veins refused to give up, but even so how could they continue when their only clue to this treasure was now null and void. "There has to be some kind of clue on the map…there has to be…." She breathed out as she eyed the map closely, but could see nothing that could give them any sort of hints…..

It seemed like they'd be stuck at a dead end and at a lot cause….when Rex widened his eyes noticing something upon hearing Cera's words from just now, "Wait a minute…." he said picking up the map. He then held it up to the sun and finally saw it, "Aha!" he cried out which caught everyone's attention.

"Do you see something Rex?" Max asked him curiosuly.

"When this is wet and you hold it up to the light a whole different map appears!" Rex answered. "And…." He began to survey their surroundings carefully, "And I think it matches with the parts of the island that aren't underwater!" he cried out as the rest of the D Team came in to look.

"Whoa! Does that mean?"

"It means this rock with the X on it is where the treasure is!" Rex pointed on it.

"Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that the island sank like it did." Zoe stated.

"The whole island was rigged to sink!" Rex gasped.

Cera blinked her eyes in amazement at what she just heard, "Incredible…" she then brought her fingers to her chin in deep thought, "That means an island like this couldn't have been made naturally for sure…." she said.

"Yeah you might be right Cera." Zoe answered her in agreement.

"Question is, who? Also how?" Rex then asked as he eyed the map again seeing it was made like some sort of Ancient Cypher or puzzle to solve.

"There sure are a lot of mysteries in the world and this is one of them." Cera noted folding her arms, "It's one that will have to be solved another time." she said at the end as she got back to thinking about the treasure they came here to find.

Jim, upon feeling another surge of hope erupt in his heart and veins felt empowered and the will to go on awoke in him once more. He stood up and took the map from Rex catching him a bit by surprise.

"Huh?"

"So if this peak is over there…." Jim read looking to one side, "And this one's over there…" he said looking to the other side, "Then the one above the X…" looking ahead, "Is that one!" he cried pointing straight ahead as everyone focused where he was aiming at.

"Get us over to that mountain peak doctor!" Max then cried out to Dr Z, making him scowl in annoyance for the umpteenth time.

"Call me Whitebeard or you're going nowhere!" Captain Whitebeard retorted stubbornly much to the D Team's annoyance.

"Okay Whitebeard! Can we go now?" Max grunted as he rubbed his temple.

As the captain twirled the ship's wheel and turned it in the direction of the island, he then folded his arms and huffed, "Fine, but you brats will bring back the treasure or you can forget about coming back on board!" he yelled out in frustration seeing that his own crew had failed so now he had to rely on the kids for this task as much as he hated it.

"Alright we got it! Sheesh…." Max hissed already having enough of the old man's squawking for one day.

"Sometimes I feel like throwing him overboard into a whale's mouth…." Cera grumbled to herself feeling tempted to do the deed personally if he didn't hold his tongue.

Before long they reached the shore, and hopping off the ship they ran straight to a clearing at the center of the island which was next to a rather tall hill, "According to the map, the treasure's right around here!" Jim spoke out as they arrived.

"Let's start looking!" Max added unaware they were being watched from above.

"All you're going to find is the end of the line!" a familiar voice spoke out against them from atop the hill which caught their attention.

"AH!" Looking up the D Team gasped to see Sheer was in fact waiting for them the entire time!

"Not you again!"

"We'll never let you get that treasure!" Max and Rex both yelled out angrily.

"Yeah? Well too bad it's not up to you!" Sheer gloated as she took out her dinosaur card and activated it against her choker, summoning forth her megaraptor once again which snarled viciously upon appearing!

"Dino slash!" Max and Rex both cried out as they slashed their dinosaur cards across their bracers, summoning Chomp and Ace to the field. Both dinosaurs charged straight towards their enemy in an effort to bring her down, but she ended up sidestepping them with ease as they charged passed her!

"You go search for the treasure Jim." Max told the other boy before looking to Cera, "Cera you back him up! The three of us will stay and fight Sheer!" The 2 of them nodded in response before looking to one another and hurrying off to search the area.

Seeing what they were up to, Sheer decided to make sure that they stayed put, "I think Meg needs some adornment! Spectral armour!" said Sheer as she activated her dinosaur's armour! After that she followed up with a wind move card! "And now, I'll unleash hurricane beat!" The huge raptor shot out a pair of tornadoes which ensnared a nearby boulder and carried it up, after that she leapt into the air and pounded at it with her hind legs rapidly and then smashing it into several piece with her tail sending the fragments straight at Jim!

"GAAAAH!" he cried in pain as he covered his head with the fragments pelting his arms painfully!

"Ge back Jim!" Cera yelled as she pulled him back out of the way of a larger piece before it smashed him down!

"Meg will take care of you while I go get the cosmos stone!" said Sheer smirking to herself before she took off down the hill she was at.

Cera blinked her eyes as the lady pirate's words brunet right into her memory, "C….Cosmos stone? As in…another one?" she blinked her eyes in surprise. As she thought about it carefully a memory flashed back through her mind, a massive meteor coloured in 7 auras of light before crashing down in Ancient Earth. It was then she began to realise that the yellow stone from before glowed a similar colour as to the yellow aura she saw in the meteor. "So there are more of them…." she realised seeing it may not have been a coincidence after all. Having seen the records, there was without a doubt that one stone was immensely powerful, which the space pirates already had, but if they had another in their possession who knows what might happen, and that could spell utter doom for anyone! "Then that means we have to stop her by any means necessary!" she said gritting her teeth angrily.

"I think it's going to be the other way around!" Zoe yelled as she took out her dinosaur card, "We're going to take care of Meg! Dino slash! Spring up parasaurolophus!" she yelled slashing the card and summoning out Paris to full size! As Paris appeared and charged ahead, Cera grabbed Jim's arm as he looked to her.

"Come on Jim, lets go while they hold off that dinosaur!" she said to him as he sweated anxiously, feeling worried for his friends in their battle before shrugging it off remembering what was at stake.

They were doing their part so it was time he did his as he nodded firmly in response, "Yeah…" he nodded as he looked to the D Team one more time, "Good luck you guys!" he called wishing them good luck before taking off with Cera to the other side away from the battle and to where Sheer had headed.

As they reached an area near the beach surrounded by tide pools and rocky stacks, "Let's check over here!" Cera then said as she summoned out Miku in chibi form who then landed on a nearby rock and squawked out loud, "Keep your eyes peeled Miku." she said as the trio began searching amongst the tide pools, grooves in the stone walls or close to the shore but could see no sign of a secret entrance or opening anywhere.

"We've looked everywhere but there's still no sign of it!" Jim cried out as he searched between a couple of rocks perched near the edge of the shore, "Argh! Where could it be!?" he then cried in frustration and impatience.

As Cera looked ahead she saw Chomp bite onto the megaraptor's arm before being thrown off to the side with ease! As Ace and Paris both charged at her, she responded with a swift tail swipe which caught them off guard as they were knocked back several feet away! "Tch! We'll have to hurry, they won't last much longer…." she clicked her tongue in annoyance before looking around more urgently. Sweating bullets as the pressure was getting to her, before eventually seeing something rather promising before looking to Jim behind her, "Hey Jim!" she called out to him as he turned from the tide pools he was wading through.

"Hmm?"

"I think I see something down there!" she said pointing down a large crevice she was at.

"Huh? You do?" he blinked his eyes curiously as then walked over to see. As he looked over the edge he saw an opening down below, "Hey! A cave!" he gasped as he edged in for a closer look.

"Tucked away and out of sight…." Cera commented as she put a finger to her chin in thought, "Seems like a spot to check out." she thought as she whistled to Miku who was nearby. She then looked to Cera who called her, before jumping off her rocky perch and gliding onto her her shoulder. Seeing Jim was rather dangerously close, "Watch out it looks pretty steep…." she said warning him.

Unfortunately her warning came a little too late as the edge he was standing on suddenly broke off under the pressure of his exerted weight, as he tumbled down hard to the bottom, "Argh!"

"Jim!" Cera widened her eyes and Miku squawked in alarm as he came to a hard fall on the bottom.

"Ugh!"

"You okay down there!?" she cried out in concern as he gritted his teeth, feeling some pain after tumbling down the rocky slope but mostly unharmed.

"Y…Yeah I think so….." he grunted as he pushed himself up to his legs again. As he looked ahead he widened his eyes as he looked at what was through the cave, from an opening at the top sunlight shone down illuminating the cave revealing all sorts of ancient treasures such as armour and weapons inside wooden crates all tucked around different corners of the cave. And on top of that, there was a treasure chest sitting directly under the light which meant that had to be holding the jewel they had come to find, "Whoa! I found it!" he cheated in excitement and filled with hope much to Cera and Miku's surprise.

"You did!?" she gasped widening her eyes and realising this was something she couldn't ignore. "I'll come too!" As Jim ran inside she slid down the slope steadily with Miku gripping not her shoulder as she followed him inside. As she did, Jim headed straight for the chest while she took the time to admire the other valuables that were littering the floors of the secret cave, "Look at all this…." she breathed in amazement seeing all the sacks of gold, jewels and antiques all around them. It was no doubt most valuable and what many would kill to get their hands on. Mike's eyes glittered as if her primitive bird instincts were being awaken within her somewhat, as she held her arms out and and squawked out in excitement at the riches before her eyes. Seeing how enticed she was, Cera couldn't help but chuckle to see her like that, "You want some Miku?" she asked as her dinosaur flashed a set of puppy dog eyes at her while cooing innocently. "Haha, okay sure, but let's not get too greedy okay?" She giggled in response considering she intended to take back some as souvenirs for this trip anyways. "Also, if we're lucky we might find that jewel somewhere in here too." She thought as she began picking up some of the most valuable or easiest to carry from the bunch, which included a red jewel necklace and some gold coins which she then slipped into her pocket much to Miku's excitement.

"The treasure!" Jim suddenly cried out snapping them out of their thoughts and catching their attention.

"Huh?" As Cera walked over to see, she widened her eyes in awe and shock at the blue jewel that was nestled gently amongst the many gold coins and jewels inside the chest! "AH!" Her jaw hung in amazement as she instantly recognised why it was so familiar, it was just like the stone Sophia had back in Rome! "It's just like…."

"I'll take that!" suddenly a boomerang slid under the chest and snatched it out of Jim's hands much to the boy's shock and alarm!

"AH! NO!" He and Cera looked up to see the boomerang return to Sheer as she now carried the chest and the stone inside!

"Ahahahaha! The cosmos stone is now mine!" she laughed sinisterly as she flapped her wings and began taking off through the hole in the ceiling which she no doubt entered from earlier!

Cera then gritted her teeth in realisation that they were playing into the palm of her hand from the very start, "She was waiting for us here the entire time…." she hissed realising she used them to find the jewel or intended to have them act as scapegoats for any possible traps that may have been lying around or rigged to blow!

"Hey come back here!" Jim yelled as he ran ahead only to see she was out of range as she flew far beyond how much he could jump. As she edged closer and closer to the opening, Jim's legs began to buckle as his best hope of saving his people and fulfilling his father's last wishes were slipping before his very eyes, "NO! She's getting away!" he cried out as he held his arm out, several tears falling from his eyes.

"Not on my watch!" Cera yelled angrily as Miku snarled mirroring her expression, "Let's go Spiny!" she yelled taking out her dinosaur card and slashing it! "Dino slash! Gush out Spinosaurus!" Spiny appeared in full form and roared out at Sheer leaping out and snapping at her, forcing her to speed away and out of his massive jaws, only for him to block her escape route out as she gritted her teeth in frustration! Unbeknownst to everyone, Spiny fixated his eyes at the treasure chest sensing a great power inside, power which he wanted to make his own as he roared viciously. "You're not getting leaving here with that!" Cera yelled as she, Jim and Miku shot angry glares at Sheer showing they weren't messing around this time!

Despite the opposition she faced blocking her exit, Sheer quickly grinned sadistically, "Heh, did you really think I didn't plan for this?" she snickered holding up another dinosaur card in her hand, "Come forth deltadromeus!" Placing the card on her necklace, a medium sized blue carnivore materialised before her which roared out viciously much to Jim's horror and Cera's frustration at another obstacle she was putting against them!

"AH!" Jim widened his eyes and backed away behind Cera who held her ground firmly.

"A deltadromeus…." she breathed before seeing Sheer was taking things a step further to ensure her escape was certain.

"A girl's gotta choose the right accessories and I know just what's perfect for my dinosaur!" She boasted as she equipped her signature weapon onto her dino, "Spectral armour!" The marks around the deltadromeus glowed before exploding into armour for it! Spiny roared and charged ahead, but the deltadromeus responded with a swift tail swipe which knocked him into a nearby wall as he roared in pain from the impact!

"Spiny!" Cera cried out as the deltadromeus quickly looked over to her and Jim and snarled at them both as it stood above them both, "Urgh!" They both grunted feeling overwhelmed by its presence as they were helpless before its' might!

"Way I see it you've only got 2 choices now." Sheer snickered as she hovered right above them and resumed her ascent to the opening up top, "You can either try to follow me and fail miserably." she said, "Or you can stay here and help your puny little friend because that's what you goody two shoes always do." She smirked already knowing the choice Cera would make, Cera herself knew it too and that was what frustrated her most because they're was nothing she could do to stop the pirate from escaping!

"Grrr…."

"Frankly I don't care which you choose because either way I've won! Hahahaha!" she laughed out loud in triumph before exiting through the rooftop.

"No! Get back here!" Jim yelled out desperately, "My village needs that gemstone!" he pleaded, which fell on deaf ears as she soon escaped from the top, leaving Jim to fall to his knees in despair, "No…." he breathed as he fell on his front too and could only free in place unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Jim…." Cera and Miku eyed him with sympathy, understanding what he was going through. But looking at it another way, if the blue stone was anything like the yellow one, it couldn't be touched by bare hands and would no doubt do more harm than good. Of course there was the chance it could be different but with such great power it would be unwise to take such a chance for the risks were far too great.

ROAR!

"Ah!" The loud snarl of the deltadromeus got their attention as it rushed towards them! Fortunately Spiny was quick to respond as he rushed in and tackled the smaller dinosaur causing it to slam into the other side of the cave with a loud thud!

"Jim!" Cera yelled out loud before responding with her element booster! "Dino tector on!" Equipping it to her dinoshot, Spiny was enshrouded in water before blue crystal armour covered his body and he roared out powerfully! He then rushed forward as the deltadromeus tried desperately to hold him back with his arms, but the larger dinosaur soon overpowered him as he began stomping on him repeatedly! "Get out of here Jim! I can handle this!" Cera then yelled holding her arm out to him.

"But-" before he could say something in response (out of concern for Cera or feeling helpless and unable to make a difference now) Cera then shot him a serious look.

"See if you can do something to stop Sheer! There might still be time!" she said as he gasped at her words. After that she turned back to the battle to see deltadromeus manage to kick off Spiny before both dinosaurs began to square off with one another, "Meanwhile I'll make sure you get outside in one piece!" she added at the end as both dinosaurs roared fiercely at each other.

"Cera…." seeing no way to argue with her, Jim gritted his teeth hard and shouted out to her, "Okay! Good luck!" he cried running out through the other exit as fast as his 2 legs could carry. Meanwhile Spiny roared and rushed out, clashing heads with the deltadromeus as they each shoved at one another refusing to back down!

"Go for it Spiny!" Cera then cheered with Miku, spurring the spinosaurus to quickly swing out his tail and knock the deltadromeus to the other side!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Chomp roared before rushing out at the Megaraptor with all his might, but unfortunately the armoured carnivore anticipated his charge and thrust and so delivered a surprising counterattack in the form of a somersault kick straight under his chin which sent him flying into a rock! He roared in pain as he slumped to the ground, exposing his underbelly, which the raptor took advantage of! Speeding towards him and leaping into the air, she delivered a strike like that of a martial artist and falcon combined, striking him directly in the gut an causing him to roar and cough out in agony before returning him to a card!

"Chomp no!" Max cried out sadly for his partner while Meg turned around to face Ace and Paris who remained.

"Not good, now we're down to just 2 dinosaurs…." Rex gasped feeling the pressure getting to him now.

"Tch!" Zoe clicked her tongue seeing their difficult battle just became even more difficult. Before long she caught sight of someone flying nearby at the top of the hill they were at as she looked up, "Hmm?" Blinking her eyes for a closer look she widened them before pointing out, "Up there! Look it's Sheer!" she cried catching the boys' attention.

"Ah!"

"Look what I've got!" Sheer gloated as she opened the chest she held in her hands, flashing a certain blue gem that was nesting inside the other treasures inside.

"The treasure!" Max gasped widening his eyes at the sight of the gem.

"It's like the yellow cosmos stone only blue!" Rex pointed out.

"Now that we have the second cosmos stone we'll be leaving this primitive pirate land for good!" Sheer smirked as she summoned her ship which was parked nearby on the island.

"They'll take our parents with them…." Max gasped realising they lost again.

"Since you've been so helpful I'll leave megaraptor here as a parting gift." said Sheer sending them a few parting words as she entered her ship, taking the treasure with her as well as leaving behind a huge mess for the D Team to clean up, ensuring that they still stayed several moves behind them as she jetted away into the sky and out of sight!

"Oh great…." Max grunted in frustration as he looked back to the battle.

Nearby, Jim had just made it out of the cave and as he climbed out of the ditch where the entrance was, he could only look on helplessly as Sheer escaped, along with what ma have been his village's last and only hope. "No…." His legs shook filled with despair, as his energy began to give out and he fell down to his knees. He came so close only to have his only chance being snatched away right before his eyes, all hope of ever saving his village as well as failing to keep his promise to his father, as bitter tears began falling out from his eyes painfully.

Nearby Meg swung out her tail at Paris, knocking her off to the side before rushing out at Ace! She then glowed white before splitting into several copies of herself while rushing at full force towards the carnotaurus!

Rex widened his eyes recognising the move, "Ninja attack!?" He responded taking a move card out, "I'll counter with ultimate wind!" Slashing the move card, a massive gust of wind surged through Ace as he rushed forward at full force towards the speeding raptors! Both dinosaurs soon collided past one another in what appeared to be a stalemate! Moments passed and Ace suddenly stumbled to his knees, but he soon managed to muster enough strength to keep himself on his feet. Megaraptor on the other hand wasn't as lucky, completely outmatched by Ace's superior move, she screeched in pain as her armour shattered to bits before returning to card form. "That was awesome Ace!" Rex cheered as his partner roared out in triumph.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at her pod which was heading back to the pirates' mothership, Sheer scowled hard to see her dinosaur had been defeated much quicker than she thought as she placed a finger to her chin in serious thought, "Hmm….Those kids could prove to be a nuisance if they follow us…." she thought to herself before striking sinisterly, "Maybe I should take advantage of the situation and take them out once and for all." she thought to herself as she held up a wind move card which she fingered in her hand, "And this boomerang blow move card should do the trick." she chuckled to herself as she ordered her deltadromeus to go on the attack while the kids had just let down their guard!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Before Rex could recall Ace to his card, a loud roar suddenly sounded from behind which caught the D Team's attention.

"Hmm?" They turned around to look at the hill where Sheer had came out from.

"What was that?" Asked Zoe nervously as Paris nearby had just managed to kick herself up to her feet and she and Ace were still staggering uneasily from their battle, which unfortunately wasn't quite over yet.

BOOM!

"Huh!?" They gasped as a huge explosion erupted from one corner of the hill, and flying out of it was a slender blue dinosaur equipped with purple armour! It kicked up and roar angrily, surprising the D Team.

"A deltadromeus in armour!?" Zoe exclaimed in surprise at the fact there was another Spectral dinosaur in the vicinity just when they barely managed to win against Megaraptor!

Another roar soon sounded from the cave entrance, and charging out of it was a large spinosaurus in blue armour, "It's Spiny!" Max gasped before their friend Cera soon ran out of the cave following him.

"And Cera too!" Rex pointed out as she stood her ground firmly while the deltadromeus got to its legs and roared at its larger adversary!

"Take him down Spiny!" Cera cried as Spiny roared and charged ahead, baring his teeth ready to sink them in!

"Back him up Paris!" Zoe punched forward as Paris rushed forward, while Ace held back hoping to recuperate after his last attack. Before Spiny could get a bite on the deltadromeus, it suddenly glowed white activating its move card, jumping up into the air and spinning like a boomerang and diving away from Spiny as his jaws snapped shut on a mouthful of air! "AH!" Zoe gasped as the deltatromeus spun right into Paris' side, shredding against her before blowing her off across the ground! She roared in pain before glowing green and returning to card form! "No Paris!" Zoe ran out to grab her partner's card.

"Zoe get back!" Rex warned her but she ignored it as her partner's safety room priority over her own! She held her hand out and grabbed the card from the ground, but the ground soon shook and looking up she stumbled back as the deltadromeus charged straight at her baring its own teeth and jaws open ready to snap her up!

She closed her eyes and held her arm out crying loudly in fear, "AAAAAAHHHH!"

"ZOE!" Cera and Rex both screamed as they ran to her despite knowing they'd never make it in time! Just when all hope seemed lost-

"I've got you!" A loud voice yelled as a figure jumped in front and snatched Zoe out away in time as the deltadromeus snapped and missed!

"AH!" Cera and Rex both gasped in surprise and Zoe soon opened her eyes to see herself in the hands of her unexpected saviour.

"M…Max?" she liked her eyes as he gritted his teeth painfully having just skidded across the the rocky surface while rescuing her though fortunately didn't scrape open any wounds as he looked at her.

"Urgh…you okay Zoe?" he grunted with worry as he panted with exhaustion.

Seeing him so close to her and how surprisingly heroic he appeared right now, Zoe couldn't help but blush and blink her eyes nervously as she looked away, "Y…Yeah…I'm fine thanks…." she squeaked unable to maintain eye contact with him for long.

Oblivious to how she was feeling now and more concerned with her wellbeing instead, Max simply smiled and let out a sigh of relief to hear her say she was fine, "Phew! That's a relief…." A loud roar suddenly broke them out of their moment as they looked ahead, to see the armoured deltadromeus approaching them and holding its claws out!

"AH!" Zoe gasped in alarm.

"Grr!" Max gritted his teeth and stood up, holding his arms stretched out widely and holding a firm stance as the predator closed in on them both!

When it seemed hopeless for the both of them, "Hey you! Back off!" Rex yelled out to the deltadromeus as it snarled facing him and Cera, who had both Ace and Spiny backing them both out now!

"Pick on someone your own size you coward!" Cera cried out towards the armoured carnivore as Ace and Spiny both roared out battle challenges at it! Enraged at their insults, the deltadromeus snarled and charged towards them both, as Cera then quickly turned over to her partner who stood next to her, "Rex! Time for a fusion move!" she said as he nodded back with a smirk.

"Just what I was thinking!" On cue the both of them each took out a move card and slashed them in perfect sync with one another!

"Freeze Sphere!" They both shouted as Spiny and Ace both glowed in unison! Spiny quickly shot out a sphere of water which swallowed up the oncoming deltadromeus and left it suspended helplessly in the air! After that Ace charged up a powerful sonic blast through his jaws and then firing it out as a spiralling funnel, swallowing the water sphere completely and causing it to freeze completely! After that Spiny roared angrily as he rushed forward and leapt, smashing through the ice sphere with ease and sending the deltadromeus flying out of it as it crashed into a nearby rock wall and the collapsing to the ground utterly overwhelmed by the cold and impact, as its armour shattered and it returned to a card.

"Alright!" Rex then cheered in triumph while Spiny and Ace both roared victoriously before being returned to their cards. After that Max went to go reclaim Chomp's card along with megaraptor's while Cera went to pick up the one with deltadromeus on it.

"A small victory….." she said with a hard expression on her face at the card she held before sighing at the sight of the D Team gathering around a devastated Jim who seemed to have lost all hope. "Too bad we lost the prize we came for…." For all she knew the pirates saw dinosaurs as no more than mere tools, so it didn't matter how many they lost as long as they got the prize they came for. And now that they had it, it seemed she and her friends were now once again steps behind them.

"Oh Jim…" Zoe said sympathetically as Max went up to him with Rex and Cera soon followed in.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I was so close…I had the treasure right in my hands…" Jim sniffled bitterly as he gripped the ground hard with his hands, feeling angry and hateful at himself for failing his people when they needed him most, and on top of that it was right in front of him too, "Now how will I save my village!?" As soon as he finished the island began to rumble all of a sudden.

"Huh!?" Apparently even after having suffered another defeat there were still many other surprises left in store for the D Team as the ocean around them began to recede mysteriously!

"The water's going down again!" Max gasped.

"Something must have changed!" Zoe cried.

"I'll bet it was because the blue cosmos stone was taken!" Rex suggested seeing it as the only possible explanation, perhaps it maintained control over the water in this area somehow.

Cera narrowed her eyes recognising a connection, if that was the case then perhaps the cosmos stones had some kind of affiliation with elements like that of the dinosaurs too….

That theory would have to wait, as there was a far more urgent matter at hand, which Max soon pointed out, "We'd better get off this island!" he cried out with urgency in his tone. "Huh?" As he looked ahead he widened his eyes to see their ride was leaving them behind! "Dr Z where are you going!?" Max yelled shaking his fist at the fleeing Doctor who was no doubt leaving them for dead if it meant saving his own skin!

"You can't just leave us behind!" Rex followed.

"Don't worry I'll be sure to send you a post card!" Dr Z snickered seeing this as his chance to get the D Team off his back once and for all, "And I told you my name is Whitebeard!" he yelled once more as his ship soon disappeared beneath the waves.

Before long the seismic shaking soon calmed down and Treasure Island returned to its original state much to the relief of the D Team as the worst was finally over, though there was still the matter of Dr Z abandoning them like garbage for someone else to pick up.

"Tch! Typical Dr Z….." Cera clicked her tongue in annoyance as the others began to mirror her scowl of annoyance, "Can't be counted on anything…." she then muttered rubbing her temple wondering how they were going to get back at him for ditching them.

"So then….What do we do now?" Jim then asked worriedly as he looked around to see no ships for miles, "Without a ship we're stranded here like shipwrecked sailors!" he then cried in a panic before falling to his knees and tearing up painfully once more, "Now I'll….never see my village again…." he wept painfully, fritting his teeth and pounding his fist on the ground multiple times in anguish. All the strife and struggles he, his father and friends went through to get this far….all for nothing? The thought of it was tearing him up inside and he couldn't see any reason to even live now that he had nothing left at all….

The D Team sighed sadly with him, understanding the pain he was going through if failing his most important mission, but not wishing for him to be hard on himself Max then went over to him and placed a kind hand on his shoulder, "Hey no sweat Jim, I wouldn't give up hope just yet." he said to him nicely.

"Yeah," said Rex as he knelt down and patted him on the back, "You shouldn't underestimate us you know?" Jim looked up to him with teary eyes and a slight wet nose, "Soon we'll be off this place and sailing back to civilisation in no time."

Jim then rubbed his eyes, "H…How can you be so sure?" he sniffled unable to see the bright side if there was one, "There's no ship around for miles….and….even one does pass by how will we ever let them know?" he cried looking around to see nothing but vast ocean for miles.

"Just wait and you'll see." Cera replied as she began dialling on her dinoshot, pitching in a call to the Backlander, "Hey Jonathan! We need you to come pick us up, I'm sending you our current location." she said through the COM.

"Roger that Cera." he replied on the other end as he began typing in commands on the ship's console, "One more thing," she then added at the end, "Later on could you tell Helga to discipline Dr Z real good when you pick him up? He actually ditched here on Treasure island."

"Did he now?" Jonathan brought a finger to his chin in thought, "Well then you can be sure this injustice will not go unpunished! You have my word!" he said bowing with respect to her.

"Thanks, see ya." Cera smirked as she cut the call off. As soon as she did, she began to snicker and the rest of her friends giggled rather sinisterly knowing Dr Z and the Alpha gang were going to get it now!

"Hee hee hee!"

"Hehehe!"

Jim blinked his eyes in confusion, "Hey what's that all about just now?" he asked curiously.

"Heh, let's just say it's our ticket off this island." Max replied to him with confidence.

Before Jim could ask again, Zoe suddenly caught sight of something in the distance as she pointed out, "Hey guys check it out!" she cried as the others looked to where she was focusing on.

"Hmm?"

Coming into view was a familiar warship, one which had pursued them for quite sometime, "Isn't that the British army ship?" Rex asked.

As it came closer Jim widened his eyes and cried out, "It is!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Max asked feeling rather unsure.

"That depends…." Cera answered him, "With Dr Z and his trash talking pirate squad gone, maybe they'd listen to us now and hopefully let us on board." As they focused a bit harder they could see the navy begin to fish out the scattered pirate crew which were spread out and drifted along with the remains of their former ship all about the ocean waves, before taking in Blackbeard and his first mate onboard last.

"And look, they're taking care of Blackbeard and his crew so that's one less problem to worry about." Rex pointed out seeing the winds were blowing more in their favour.

Despite seeing the pirates being brought to justice, Jim still couldn't help but frown a bit seeing it wasn't a complete happy ending, "I hope so…." the only thing that could make this perfect was if he could see his father once more, then again, since he only had bad news to bring him about losing the legendary healing jewel that could save their village, maybe it would be a good thing he wasn't around to hear that news, though it didn't make him feel any better.

The D Team would have to accept a rather bittersweet ending to their high seas adventure, when a familiar face soon appeared on board right next to the Navy commander, "Wait a minute…." Max muttered squinting his eyes closely before widening them and recognising the figure, "Guys!" he cried out surprising them.

"Huh!?"

"Look! On that ship! Isn't that?"

Jim soon recognised the man Max was pointing out, "It's my dad!" he gasped in amazement to see him not just fine but now on board safely with the Navy commander as they began loading Blackbeard and his crew onboard and taking them into custody.

As Rex and Zoe smiled happily for Jim, Cera placed a hand on her chest and let out a deep sigh of relief, "He's alive….." she breathed out loud before smiling brightly, "Thank goodness."

The rest of her friends soon heard her words as they looked to her in surprise, "Huh?"

"Cera? You know him?" Zoe and Rex blinked their eyes at her as she then scratched her head sheepishly.

"N…Not exactly….." she chuckled nervously seeing everyone was focusing their attention on her now, "You see it's a pretty funny story…." As she soon began to confess the whole story on how she rescued Smith from the renegade navy faction before meeting up with he rest of the gang, they widened their eyes in shock at her story as she concluded it.

The one who didn't take it well though was Jim, as he gritted his teeth and yelled out loudly in anger, "Seriously!? You knew he was alive this whole time and didn't tell us!?" he cried.

"Err did I forget to mention that? Hehe….." Cera sweatdropped nervously as Jim held a hard scowl at her while her D Team friends either sighed in disappointment or just smiled lightly and no more.

"Cera how could you!?"Jim yelled once more in anger and frustration at how worried he was the entire journey searching for the blue jewel and to think Cera herself knew the entire time that he was alive and well yet never said a thing.

She then gulped down nervously seeing Jim indeed had every right to be mad at her, "Well a lot came up you know, so it slipped my mind okay!?" she cried out waving her hands out in a frantic before lowering her head down in shame admitting she was indeed in the wrong, "S…Sorry guys….but all that matters now is that he's okay and we can now get off this place before it really does sink for good." she then suggested hoping they'd move on from it now and in case another unforeseen event would cut their moment short.

As the others looked to one another and considered her words they decided it'd be best they leave it at that for now and just take the good as it came without complaining about it, "Yeah, I guess that's something good I guess." Jim muttered to himself before taking a breath to calm himself down and then eying at her seriously, "Hey Cera."

"Yeah Jim?" Cera swallowed as a bead of anxious sweat dripped from her cheek

She braced herself for another stern rant from the young boy, but instead, he smiled and held a hand to her, "Thanks….I'm really grateful for what you've done…..now I know I'm not alone anymore in this." he said with gratitude in his voice and sincerity as the others looked on in surprise at how well he took it for a change.

Looking at the hand and then at his sincere expression once again, Cera smiled as she accepted his thanks, "Glad to hear that." she said as they shook on it.

"Oh Jim…" said Zoe smiling feeling touched at how he was opening up to the others now, as Max and Rex smiled with her too.

Max soon folded his arms behind his head an looked out to sea, "Well no way they'll see us from here, we'll have to get closer somehow before they pass out of range." he said.

"Well we can't swim all the way there from here, we'd never make it to them in time." Rex then added seeing their options were limited. There was no telling how much further the Backlander would take and by the time they finsihed building some sort of boat or raft the ship would be long gone by then.

Cera then folded her arms in thought of how they could signal to the men further off in the distance or get to them without having to swim there. Thinking about it for a bit she soon got the answer as she snapped her fingers in realisation, "Maybe not us, but I know someone who can!" Cera cried out as the others looked to her in surprise, "I've got an idea. Dino slash!" Slashing a card, Spiny appeared below them in the waters as he roared out in appearance. Looking up above he then raised his head till he could look at the D Team on the cliff edge as Cera climbed over his south and onto his head, "Hop on guys, we're ready to move out." she said waving her hand encouragingly to them to get on.

As the D Team looked at Spiny and then at the ship ahead they sweatdropped uneasily before looking at her unsurely, "Are you sure….about this Cera?" Max asked insecurely.

"I don't know if those guys are going to take seeing a dinosaur up close so lightly…." Rex added shrugging his shoulders feeling the same as Max as Zoe and Jim both nodded in agreement.

"Trust me, it'll be alright." she said to them with assurance, "Now we'd better hurry before they move off too far for us to follow." she added on top of that.

"Okay if you say so…." said Max seeing her point as he climbed on board Spiny's head and slid down his neck to the front of his sail.

"Better than staying here on this island doing nothing I guess….." Rex added as he did the same.

There wasn't enough room to sit on the front so they had to settle for resting on his tail, which they were rather anxious about where it's be safe. Cera thankfully reassured them that it'd be fine as she urged Spiny to swim towards the ship as gently as possible so he wouldn't accidentally throw off his passengers along the way.

As they approached the ship that was soon about to move on, one soldier who was looking through a telescope soon caught sight of Spiny approaching them from the front! "Was!" He nearly dropped the glass but grabbed it back in time to look again. Seeing his eyes were clear as day he cried out to his commander, "Sir! There's a sea monster approaching us from the south!" he yelled alarming the rest of the crew.

"What!?" The commander ran out and took the glass from his subordinate's hand. Looking through and seeing he was right, the rest of the men soon followed as they gasped in alarm at a sea dragon that was approaching their ship!

"AH!"

"Impossible! I thought those only existed in myths!"

"It's a dragon! Men! Prepare the cannons!" The commander ordered as some of the soldiers began to rush down to the lower levels and arm their weapons!

Smith came on the scene to see what the commotion was about, but as he looked over the edge and looked with a set of binoculars, he gasped in surprise upon recognising that same dragon, along with several children and his own son Jim! "AH!"

The commander held his arm out as he prepared to give the order of attack, "Take aim and-"

"WAIT! Hold your fire!" Smith yelled as he ran in front of the commander's line of sight waving his arms out!

"Smith!? What is the meaning of this!?" the navy leader exclaimed in surprise that he'd call off an attack on a monster that could potentially sink their ship!

"I know that dragon!" Smith added standing firmly, "It's the beast that saved me from the renegade faction!"

The commander widened his eyes along with he rest of his men who heard Smith's outrageous claim, "What? You can't be serious!" he gasped.

"I am…." Smith replied calmly as he handed the commander his binoculars for a closer look, "Also, there are children on board, including my own son!"

As the commander looked through and saw Smith was indeed telling the truth, he gasped in disbelief, "AH!" he couldn't tell which was more surprising, the fact he was about to fire on unarmed and defenceless children and at the fact they somehow managed to win over the trust of such a massive creature. Regardless, he held his arm out, "Men! Hold your fire!" he yelled demanding that they call off their attack.

"But commander-"

"That's an order! Stand down now!" he retorted silencing one of his subordinates as they saluted him.

"Yes sir!" They said in unison as Spiny and the kids soon approached the warship, the kids deeply relieved to see the Navy had indeed lowered their weapons and that Cera was right about them not being a threat.

"Lower the ropes! Let them on board!" He then ordered as he turned around, "In the meantime, I will question Blackbeard and his men." He said walking away with Smith, as the men lowered several rope ladders down from the upper deck to where Spiny was and the kids slowly climbed up them, with Cera going last as she returned Spiny to her card.

Her friends soon let out sighs of relief as they came on board, "Phew, the was close…." Max wheezed while Zoe, Rex and Jim all felt rather overwhelmed by the experience.

"Told you guys it'd be alright." said Cera to them with confidence as they smiled back at her with sweaty faces out of anxiety.

"Yeah, you sure did…." they all said before being escorted by the soldiers up front where the rogue navy leader was bound in ropes and the entire pirate gang was trapped in barrels while their parrot was pecking at them in frustration.

"Excuse me captain? But what about my father?" Jim asked the navy leader nervously who looked to him and his friends.

"We realised that your father was not part of the renegade group. And as such he is free to go." he said as he allowed Smith to pass, who eyed his boy with teary eyes, as though he hadn't seen him in over an eternity.

"My son…."

"Oh dad!" Jim cried as both father and son embraced one another closely.

"Jimmy boy…."

"Your map really did lead us to a hidden treasure just like you said…." Jim sniffled with joy that his father's map was indeed true, but soon came the hard part, "But right when I had it a pirate stole it…." he sniffled painfully feeling as though he let his dad and village down when they were all counting on him. He was expecting a harsh reprimanding from his father, but instead was met with kind words of encouragement which helped lift the weights of guilt from his heart.

"There's another lead I have Jim, on another healing jewel." said his father calmly in response thankfully.

"So there is hope for your village." Max commented as he and the others smiled feeling happy all wasn't lost for the Smiths.

"Dad, do you remember Max and Rex and Zoe and Cera? They helped me get back here!" said Jim pointing out to the D Team showing they deserved as much credit for their efforts, to which his father gladly accepted.

"Thanks for looking out for Jim." said Smith with gratitude, as he also looked towards Cera and smiled at her thanking her for saving HIS own life earlier in the woods.

"You're welcome and we wish you and Jim good luck in finding the other jewel that can help your village." said Max as he scratched his cheek bashfully at the phrase he was getting, while the others simply smiled feeling honoured they were able to help them. Before long a huge shadow drifted over them all as they looked up to see a familiar flying ship which had arrived on the scene.

"Ah the Backlander's here right on time." Cera smiled with her friends, though not everyone else was as pleased to see it as they were.

"Great ghosts! There's a ship in the sky!" Blackbeard exclaimed in disbelief as he and his entire captured crew looked up in horror. Over all the strange and bizarre things they saw over the past couple of days this no doubt was the one to make them give up their careers in piracy for good.

"I don't want to be a pirate anymore!" Copper wailed pleadingly crying his eyes out and wetting his pants while inside the barrel!

"Oh boy, I think those guys are scarred for life now…." Cera whistled though after looking at the situation it may be a good thing.

Now the time and come for them to part ways with yet another one of their new allies they made across space and time, "Time for us to go Jim." said Rex as the D Team gathered in a group to be teleported.

"I sure hope you find your parents and everything turns out alright for you." said Jim.

"Thank you, we're glad you found your dad…" Max replied as he and Jim both shook hands and finally and made peace with one another. Despite the struggles they faced along the way and in getting along with one another, it was all worth it in the end for a happy ending as both teams gave their farewells to one another wishing each other best of luck in their own missions.

"Bye, you be careful." Jim replied.

"You too." Cera nodded as they soon were enveloped in the bright light of the teleporter.

"See ya!" Max waved as he and the others were soon lifted up to the ship. Before Zoe could follow them though, she felt her hand grabbed by Jim much to her surprise.

"Zoe wait! I want to say something!" he said seriously.

"Okay but just don't go overboard." she replied hoping it wasn't anything too over dramatic like he acted last time.

He eyed her seriously before smiling warmly, even though the parting would hurt, he knew it had to be done as he decided to send off his dream girl with a smile and not a whimper, "I want to say….that I'll always remember you….And I hope we'll meet again someday…." he said to her, having no regrets about their adventure and time together, even if it was short he enjoyed every second of it and would value it even more than any treasure on the high seas.

"Thanks…." Zoe replied as Cera couldn't help but smile at what she witnessed. Friendships can indeed last lifetimes and transcend space and time, perhaps their actions here would echo across the scrolls of time and space from here on and reach deep into generations to come from here on. A treasure that would easily transcend others, so in a way, they may actually meet one another again someday, and for many more new people they would soon come to meet down the road.

The thoughts though were soon interrupted, as Jim quickly brought Zoe in for a quick kiss on her cheek, finally scoring his personal goal before letting her go back with her friends.

"WHAAAA!?" Max and Rex both cried out in surprise while Cera covered her mouth in surprise.

"Oh my…." was all she said unexpectedly as they disappeared into the ship.

Meanwhile the Alpha gang had just came out through the doors, shivering terrified after the stern punishment Helga put them through in scrubbing the barnacles off the ship they took earlier for leaving Max and the others behind, when the rest of the D Team soon appeared in the control deck. Despite being surprised by the unexpected kiss Jim have Zoe, Rex shrugged it off quickly as he yelled out his orders to Jonathan up front, "Jonathan set a course for our parents!" he said firmly as the android nodded back at him in turn.

"Roger that!" On cue, he pressed a lever forward causing the Backlander to speed away into the distance and then disappearing into the time stream, leaving the islands behind, closing another chapter in their adventures across Space and Time.

Later on, as the ship coursed smoothly through the time stream, Max gulped down hard, still unable to move past what he saw earlier, how Jim managed to give one of his close friends and actual smooch on her cheek. Inside his heart all kinds of newfound emotions he never thought possible were beginning to well up inside him, and he was worried about how Zoe herself was feeling about that, out of concern for her as a friend mostly, or so he thought, "H….Hey Zoe?" he asked her as she turned to him.

"Hmm?"

Max then swallowed hard as he began to say what needed to be said, "What was that about just now?" he asked with his words choking him as he forced them out of his dry throat.

"What was what all about Max?" Zoe asked innocently even though she knew exactly what he meant.

"You know what I mean, that thing that went on with Jim…" Max twiddled his fingers unsure of how to address it. He himself couldn't describe the emotions and thoughts running wild through his own mind now, as much as he wanted to know how Zoe really felt during that little intimate moment with Jim, he didn't want to give himself away or give the wrong impression in the process.

"What thing Max? I don't know what you're talking about." Zoe replied continuing to play coy in an effort to tease him.

"This is just like one of those romantic comedy films I've seen on tv once…." Cera snickered to herself as she and everyone else but Jonathan stared at the pair as a scene out of a soap opera or romantic comedy began playing before their eyes.

"You leaned in and then he leaned in and then-"

Zoe suddenly gained a rather dangerous look on her face as she leaned in sneakily to his face, "Are you saying you're jealous Jim kissed me on the cheek?" she suggested slyly which made Taylor all the more flustered and embarrassed.

"Of course I'm not jealous! No way! No way!" Max cried out as he waved his arms out in a flurry.

As much as he regretted asking and wanted to stop playing this game, Zoe wasn't about to let him off easily as she blushed red slightly while smiling cheekily at her friend getting all flustered and embarrassed, "There's no harm in a little kiss on the cheek. Here I'll prove it to you."

As she said that, Rex widened his eyes in shock while Cera blinked her eyes in surprise, "AH!?"

"Oh my, is she serious?" she said covering her mouth in shock. She knew Zoe was strong willed but she never expected her to actually get that gutsy and direct while being surrounded by so many people.

Zoe then puckered her lips and closed her eyes while leaning in playfully, causing Max's heart to race uncontrollably as he backed away anxiously.

"Err…STOP THAT!" he squeaked as he quickly backed away and ended up causing something to snap behind him!

BEEP BEEP

A loud sound suddenly came on making him look behind, "AAAAH! Oh no the controller!" he cried out loud in a panic as he looked behind to see he snapped some sort of lever in his effort to get away from Zoe!

THE EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED!

"Is that bad?" Max asked nervously upon hearing the computerised voice of the Backlander.

"Does that sound good at all Max?" Cera replied raising an eyebrow at him.

"If it shuts down now we'll break apart!" Rex yelled out in alarm as the warning sirens became louder!

WARNING! ONE MINUTE TO SYSTEM SHUTDOWN!

"AH!?" Everyone gasped seeing their ship was now in danger of being torn apart in the time space continuum for the umpteenth time!

Zoe then blushed red in embarrassment before looking around in a panic, "Oh, well I didn't think there was any harm in it…." she muttered in embarrassment as Cera narrowed her eyes at her in disappointment.

As the ship slowly began to spin out of control once more, Cera could only sigh deeply and facepalm as she scrunched up her face, "Not again…..for once can't something go right?" she whined in dismay wondering what they ever did to deserve this.

 **And thus concludes the Caribbean island arc. Stay tuned for Ancient China and the adventures to come, especially for Cera and Terry. Hope you enjoyed the battle I had here and the new fusion move too. Also each of the dinosaurs except Spiny were affected by the cosmos stones of their respective element so wanted to have that here. Also the deltadromeus that Sheer used was seen in Bad deal during Seth's flashback along with the carcharodontosaurus.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Glad you like it, as for how she got those skills of hers it'll be revealed in OC season 3, feel honoured that even she might be able to get resect from some of the strongest dinosaurs in your story. Also glad I got their personalities down too.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-The pirates got back euoplocephalus and iguanodon actually.**


	35. Monk in the middle

Chapter 35

Monk in the middle

WARNING! EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN IN 30 SECONDS!

The computer's alarm called out as the ship spun uncontrollably through the time stream!

"The lever just fell off!" Max cried panicky hoping to defend himself and not be the pointed as the one who was completely responsible for their predicament!

"You mean you just broke it off!" Zoe yelled angrily.

"That's for the ship's guidance system!" Rex followed sounding anxious and fearing their safety as the ship shook violently.

With everything going on while Max was indeed the one who broke the lever she felt it to be harsh they were blaming him when it wasn't his fault entirely, also arguing amongst one another would do them no good at this point in time!

"I didn't mean to…." Max then muttered as he scratched his head while feeling deeply pressured.

"Who cares whether you meant to or not, without that lever we could end up drifting through time and space forever!" Ursula grumbled.

"Right and you know what that means?"

"Everybody who called Ursula an old lady will finally be right." Ed and Zander then commented out loud which agitated Ursula as she yelled out at them for their careless insult.

"You take that back right now!"

"If anyone's to be blamed for this it should be you Zoe." Cera then spoke out folding her arms and scowling at the other girl hard.

"Wh…What!?" Zoe blinked her eyes in disbelief, she thought her ears were deceiving her but Cera's body posture and expression proved her otherwise, "Cera how could you say that!?" she then cried out feeling hurt at being unfairly accused.

Cera however had just the point to back up her claim, "You're the one who teased Max and made him bump into the thing in the first place!" She then yelled which made Zoe gulp down hard as she realised she was right.

"Oh right….." she blushed red in embarrassment and in humility while looking away, unable to face the fact she too was just as responsible as Max was.

"Calm down everyone!" Rex then yelled trying to get everyone to stop playing the blame game, "What's done is done! Right now we need to focus on stopping ourselves from blowing up!" he cried out loud with urgency and authority in his tone trying to get everyone to get their acts together for all their sakes!

"Max and the broken lever are not the problem here." Jonathan then spoke out while typing at the console much to everyone's surprise.

"Huh?"

"The system's shutting down because someone interfered with the time warp regulator." he explained.

"But who did that?" Zoe asked.

They soon got their answer right behind them, "Groan…."

The trio then turned over to look at Dr Z leaning at his station rather uneasily, "What's wrong doctor?" Ursula asked as she turned to him with the others.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Zander asked with concern.

"I think I'm going to be sick…." he grumbled to them.

"Don't barf all over the controls or we'll crash for sure." Ed muttered as they walked over to him hoping to tend to his illness.

"You're drooling right into the console!" said Ursula as she pulled him away, revealing a huge pile of slobber and drool over the controls and panels he was at!

"Would you look at the keys!?" Ed gasped in shock before turning angry, "So you messed up the time warp regulator with your drool!"

Dr Z however was in no mood to retort as he simply grumbled out what he was feeling, "Somebody bring me a bucket…." he moaned uneasily.

Cera then face palmed in dismay once again at Dr Z's blundering, "Why am I not surprised?" she muttered rubbing her temple. Perhaps on their next trip she ought to keep them all tied up somewhere and far away from the controls as possible.

"Sorry Max, looks like we were wrong." Zoe then apologised quickly to Max.

"That doesn't matter now! The fact is we're still about to get blown apart!" He then yelled not caring about that before looking over to their only hope, "Jonathan, is there anything you can do!?"

"I'm recalibrating the systems setting now!" Jonathan answered as he began typing on the console as fast as his fingers could go, and thankfully he was able to avert the crisis in the nick of time..

EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN CANCELLED. SHIP CONTROL RESTORED

"You did it Jonathan!" Zoe cheered with joy seeing they managed get out of it in 1 piece once more.

"Next time you feel sick, stick your head out like a normal person." Max then muttered looking over to Dr Z with the rest of the D Team.

"Or go to the bathroom in this case." Cera added on top of that, seeing he was pretty much like a living safety hazard to everyone on this vessel.

"Hey it wasn't my fault!" groaned Dr Z in response, "It started as soon as I came back aboard this tin can!"

"You're probably suffering from time travel sickness." Jonathan suggested looking over his shoulder to the back.

His comment made Cera sweat drop in response, "That's actually a thing?"

"Is that like car sickness?" Rex asked.

"How come none of us have it? Zoe wondered.

"Guess you could say his time has come." Max replied jokingly. Cera couldn't help but snicker a bit finding it to be quite humorous, true it may be kinda harsh for Dr Z but it did make total sense.

"This is no time for jokes and if it was, I would make them and they'd be funnier!" he cried out in exasperation before tilting his head side to side in a daze, "Ugh…back and forth…" he muttered with his face turning paler and more sick by the second!

"I bet Helga would know what to do." Ed suggested as he and the others lead the poor old man away

"No not Helga…." Dr Z muttered as he was taken to the backroom to recuperate, "She'll make me do inner ear callisthenics."

As soon as the Alpha gang left, the D team looked to one another seeing it was on them to decide their next course of action, "So what's our next move guys?" Rex asked them.

"If we don't want to be lost." Max then looked ahead with a serious look on his face, "We'd better find that pterosaur." The others soon looked ahead seriously as well.

"It's like she totally vanished…." Zoe replied seeing it was easier said than done.

"Well if we don't find her, that's what's going to happen to us too!" Max then pointed out as well as highlighting the fact she was their only lead to the space pirates and their parents, not to mention the only one who knew the forces that were also at work like the cosmos stones for instance.

Thinking it over and recalling what happened the last time they encountered her, Cera then snapped her fingers as she came up with a solution, "I might have an idea on how we can find her." she said as they looked to her curiously.

"You do?"

"How?" Max and Rex asked.

She then explained, "Remember? Whenever she shows up the dinosaurs get all excited." she said taking out Miku's dinosaur card, "Maybe we can use them as some kind of compass." she said as the others brightened up in amazement at her theory.

"You're right!" Zoe gasped.

"Of course, why didn't we think of that sooner?" Rex stated punching his palm into his hand.

Cera soon summoned her partner Miku to chibi form, who landed on her shoulder. Already sensing the presence of something powerful and majestic nearby, she turned to the direction of another time wormhole as she focused on it like a heat seeking missile on a bullseye, "That way Jonathan!" Cera pointed as Jonathan nodded in acknowledgement.

"Roger that!" He answered as he pushed the lever forward and the ship accelerated through the wormhole and into another time stream.

"Hopefully when we find her this time we can get some answers." Cera thought to herself as she and the D team focused straight ahead, because there was so much they still didn't know about the cosmos stones, and for all they knew this could be far more important than a mere rescue operation, no doubt the Pterosaur was counting on them for a far more important mission in the bigger picture, one which they had no clue of yet but would soon come to realise was decided for them since the moment the were all brought together….

Before long a bright light at the end of the tunnel soon came into view, and soon the Backlander managed to catch up with the very being they had been seeking out, "Hey check it out you guys! The pterosaur's back!" Max smiled with joy to see they found her at last, and hopefully some answers too.

"You must hurry…." she said to them as they came close to her, "There is not much time." she said in a solemn tone.

"Not much time for what?" Rex asked, "Tell us! Are our parents in danger!?"

"Why did the space pirates time nap them and why are they taking these cosmos stones?" Max asked on top of Rex's questions.

"It is the cosmos stones you must protect." the Pterosaur answered, "They balance the energy of the universe and of all time and space." She said in a way that dodged their main concern.

"Well okay…." Max replied still not getting what she meant as he looks to his friends, "What's that mean?" he asked hoping someone would have an idea of what she meant.

Rex shrugged his shoulders unsurely, in fact each and everyone of the D Team was just as clueless about this as the other was.

"Listen, were just 4 kids trying to rescue our parents, we can't save the universe and all time space from danger." Zoe explained but the Pterosaur had other ideas of her own as she flapped her wings and took off faster.

"You must follow me." she said with urgency in her tone, something which Cera picked up on.

"Hold on a second!" Max demanded not wanting to be left off like that, "We want some answers!" Before he could get some back, the Pterosaur lead them into another time warp as they passed through it and lost sight of her once more. At the end of the path, the Backlander entered another new time era, one which was surround with many tall mountains and lush green landscapes down below. Despite the majestic scenery Max sighed in disappointment at the fact they were left with more questions than answers, "Oh no the pterosaur's gone again…"

"She's not too big on giving out information…." Zoe muttered just as sad as he was.

"Entering time and space the way we just did is an extremely difficult operation." Jonathan suggested, "Maybe that's why the Pterosaur can't afford to talk much."

"That could be…." Cera thought as she folded her arms and closed her eyes in thought over another possibility, "Or maybe she might be intending to hide something from us…."

"I wonder where she sent us this time." Rex then asked.

Max and Zoe then looked over to him along with Cera, "Check your TPS and see if our parents are here." Max suggested as his blond friend did just that.

As soon as he took it out and switched it on, a red blimp appeared on screen, "It's lit up! So that means they're in this time and place!" he gasped.

"And that must mean the space pirates are here too and that they're looking for another cosmos stone." Max stated.

"You're right!" Rex replied in agreement with Max's theory.

"So where are we anyway Jonathan?" Zoe then asked.

"The year is 636 A.D, and we're right in the middle of China." he answered calmly as they cruised gently over the serene landscape covered with tall mountains as well as the green foliage covering over them, symbolising how majestic and peaceful this time was….though it wasn't to last as a familiar beeping sound soon came up on their dino bracers.

BLINK!

"Ah!" They gasped as they recognised what it was.

"It's a dinosaur!" Zoe gasped.

Max then narrowed his eyes and pumped up his fists ready for battle, "You know what that means guys."

"Space pirates…." Rex hardened his gaze before looking to Jonathan, "Where's its' location Jonathan?" he asked him as the android began typing on screen. The map was enlarged on screen with the beacon marking a certain location on it.

"It's at a village close to where we are now." He said as they soon came upon it.

"Beam us down!" Rex yelled to him as his butler began typing on it.

"Right away!" As he typed away the commands, Max and the others summoned their partners in chibi form before they were all transported in bright light to the dinosaur's location.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the kitchen, Dr Z was looking as green as a cucumber as his motion sickness was getting worse. Having just managed to call off his team from telling Helga about his condition he quickly began stuffing his face with pickled plums which he had them bring him. Despite eating the entire pot load, his condition didn't improve as his stomach churned and his lips puckered due to the bitter taste getting to him, "Urgh….an entire pot of pickled plums and still I don't feel any better….in fact I feel worse…." he moaned groggily as he lost energy and couldn't hold onto the pot any longer before dropping it on the floor as the trio watched him from a distance but also on alert in case he needed them.

Ed then ran over and grabbed hold of the pot as it rolled away before looking back to the frail old man, "But Dr Z, you said you needed to put them in your belly button to cure sea sickness remember?" he asked curiously.

"I did?" Dr Z asked himself scratching his head before turning blue in realisation at him wasting the cure, "Oh….Uff!" he then turned dark green and covered his mouth doing his best to hold it in before swallowing down again and groaning in agony. He then fell on his back and the room began to spin around before his eyes, with his life seeming to fade from his vision he wondered how long he had to endure this torment before entering the afterlife's sweet embrace where he'd be surround by the souls of countless dinosaurs who'd welcome him as their king. It was such as beautiful dream as he smiled groggily and held his hands out to the light above, which was just the room light ontop.

"Guess he wasn't thinking straight just now." Zander whispered to Ursula as she shrugged her shoulders in response.

"When does he ever think straight?" she muttered.

Her snarky comment made Dr Z snap back to reality as he scowled hard and pointed at her while lying down, "I heard that!" he yelled which made all 3 of the Alpha gang jump on a fright!

"EEP!"

"Even in my condition I can still hear you loud and clear!" he growled as he got back up to his feet and pointed out at them while still dazed and disoriented, "You'd better apologise right now or you'll be cleaning up my mess straight off the floor!"

As soon as he uttered those words, the Trio's hearts' skipped a beat simultaneously as they wailed out in a panic, "NO!"

"NOT THAT!"

"ANYTHING BUT THAT!" They all cried out waving their arms out frantically. Despite being sick and completely out of it, Dr Z still knew how to strike fear into them and the fact he was ill and completely unstable now made him all the more dangerous to the Trio or anyone in particular! He was about to let loose everything he had inside him, when an unexpected sound rang through the room which would be the Trio's salvation.

BEEP! BEEP!

"Hmm?" As they all looked to a scanner hanging on the table they saw it was flashing red and they knew what that meant.

"Look! A dinosaur turned up!" Zander pointed out in surprise.

"Must be one of those pirates!" Ed gasped.

Eying it closely Dr Z suddenly began to cackle rather sinisterly which sent shivers down Ursula, Zander and Ed's spines as he went and grabbed it, "Hehe…excellent, a breath of fresh air outside this ship and a new dinosaur card is just what I need." he cackled somewhat weakly as he pointed out to the door, "Alpha gang! To the loading bay!" he commanded. Normally they would salute and obey without hesitation, but this time they weren't so sure about it.

"Are you certain Dr Z?" Ursula asked uneasily while also feeling concerned for his own health, "You don't look too good yourself."

"Why don't you stay and rest while the rest of us go out and get that dinosaur for you?" Zander offered kindly but it was met with extreme rebuttal.

"You must be joking!" He roared as the Trio huddled together in a panic, "You couldn't even get me even a single piece of treasure from the islands earlier, so I can't count on you lot for anything let alone a dinosaur!" heal starting to turn blue with nausea, but he nevertheless fight against it as he shoved them aside and stomped out through the door to the vehicle docks, "I'm going with you and I'm flying! And you can't stop me…ugh…." he moaned as he stumbled along with the trio eying him uneasily from around the corner of the kitchen door.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…." Ed gulped hard.

"Don't we always?" Zander muttered looking to him

"We should go with him just in case….." Ursula sighed as they reluctantly followed after him, grabbing Spiny and Tanks' cards and controllers with them, to make sure he didn't get himself into any trouble while they were out.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Down below the D Team soon arrived in a pillar of light in what appeared to be a village, or what was left of it since most of the buildings were now reduced to rubble and signs of destruction and panic were seen around them through ruined structures and panicked citizens who were outside as they muttered with concern and worry.

"What did this?" Max asked with concern, clearly not expecting to see this as their first sight on their visit to a new Ancient time period.

"It has to be dinosaur damage…." Zoe commented as she and the others began looking around and surveying the scene.

Cera narrowed her eyes seriously, "There's no question about it, I doubt there's anyone or any creature capable of doing this kind of damage in this period in time." she said also feeling worried about the poor people who had to go through all this destruction with no way of fighting back.

"Yeah but I'm not getting a dinosaur signal anymore." Rex added as he checked his dino bracer to see no active signal.

"Me neither…." Max added as he and Zoe checked theirs while Cera looked at her dinoshot.

"Looks like we just missed it." she said.

The sound of an engine whirring caught Rex's attention as he looked up, "Look!" he pointed seeing where it was coming from as the others followed his finger. Rising up from behind a pile of rubble was the unmistakable ship the space pirates used as it took off right above them!

"It's the space pirates!" Max gasped in alarm.

"Foolscap!" Cera cried upon recognising the pirate who was riding in the cockpit! Taking a closer look, what appeared to be a monk in sacred clothes and a purple necklace fainted in the backseat as they took off and disappeared from sight! "He's got someone inside too." she said seriously realising if they took a hostage like they did with their parents it couldn't be for anything good.

Before long a group of bald men dressed in robes ran out chasing fruitlessly after the ship on foot! "Master! Come back!" They cried out desperately as they ran past the D Team much to their surprise.

"Where are you guys going!?" Max asked in surprise.

Fortunately one of them was willing to stop and answer their questions, "Our great and fearless leader was kidnapped by a flying man who has a monster that was going to eat him like a blade of grass!" he explained much to the D Team's alarm.

"AH!"

"What's your leader's name?" Zoe then asked.

"Genzo Sanzo Hoshi." The disciple answered with a proud smile.

Hearing it, Cera then put a finger to her chin in thought, "That name sounds….familiar…." she mused.

"Why'd they take him?" Max asked curious as to know what Foolscap would want with a monk of all people.

"Good question." Zoe muttered just as puzzled as he was.

"I wonder, the guy on the ship looked like he was wearing some kind of a gem." Rex then added upon remembering the necklace he wore.

"Indeed." The disciple answered, "Sanzo Hoshi wears a special bead. It's very powerful." He said before running off to join his comrades who had collapsed further away due to exhaustion or losing hope at chasing after one who could fly so fast and had a giant beast who could crush them in an instant!

"The cosmos stone!" Max gasped realising there couldn't be any other explanation for it.

While Rex and Zoe seem convinced, Cera though had some other suspicions as to the pirate's motives, "Could it though?" she asked folding her arms while the others looked to her, "If it was wouldn't Foolscap have just taken it off his neck? Why'd he need to bring the whole man with him?" she asked, "Also, I thought cosmos stones couldn't be touched with bare hands, unless he's like Spartacus and deemed worthy by the stone?" Being a monk with very strong spiritual and pure beliefs it could be a possibility that Sanzo was such a man who would be immune to its dangerous side effects.

"Could be…." Rex replied understanding her logic before narrowing his eyes, "We'd better get back to ship and look this over."

"Yeah." Max and Rex nodded with him in agreement while Cera patched in to the Backlander.

"Jonathan!" She called him and quickly he responded.

"I'm bringing you all up now." He replied at the other end as they vanished in a beam of light.

 **(Meanwhile)**

A light soon shone in the Ship's control deck as the D Team appeared from it and ran over to Jonathan who was typing away fast at the computer, "Jonathan! Think you can locate Foolscap's ship?" Rex asked.

"I've just pinpointed its location, I'm bringing it up onscreen…." the android replied as the radar locked onto Foolscap's ship and soon an image of it was brought up on screen as it cruised over the vast mountains heading in a straight course. The D Team narrowed their eyes hard with anger at the sight of one of their parents' kidnappers already causing trouble in another time period all for selfish ambitions, and no matter what they were the D Team vowed to put a stop to them for good.

While they pondered over how they were going to stop him or what to do when they did, unexpectedly a familiar pink Alpha jet came on scene and passed over it, causing Foolscap to shake uneasily having been caught off guard.

The D Team blinked their eyes in surprise, "Huh?"

"Is that…Dr Z and the Alpha gang?"

"What are they doing?" Max and the others asked in surprise.

"Looks like he's still sick," Cera noted having caught the expression of Dr Z bending down at the wheel due to his dizzy spells and motion sickness put together, "It's a wonder why they let him take the wheel." she wondered, then again they never think straight so it wasn't all that surprising. Before long the Alpha jet made a U-turn and smashed into the pirate ship before they both spun out of control and crashed into separate areas far from each other.

"Oh wow, we wanted to stop that pirate but I didn't expect Dr Z and Ursula to ram them…." Max commented surprised at what he and the others just witnessed, it was like something out of a cartoon show come real.

"Yeah, for once their buffoonery actually did something good for a change." Cera whistled impressed, not only did they manage to stop Foolscap in his tracks but now they have a great chance to throw a wrench into their plans hopefully for good before it even begins.

"We'll be over the crash site soon, so let's hope everyone's okay." Jonathan explained as he observed their map's radar.

BEEP! BEEP!

"Hmm?" A beeping sound on the monitor which caught everyone's attention, "It's a time space communication." said Jonathan as he brought it up on screen.

A computer image began to form, revealing both Reese and Laura on it much to the D Team's relief.

"Hey there Reese." Max smiled.

"How's it going?" Zoe asked her older sister just as glad to see her again since their last cutting.

"Sorry we got cut off in the middle of our conversation," The older drake apologised, "It took me a few minutes to get the communicator working."

"What are you talking about?" Zoe asked in surprise, "That last conversation where we got cut off from you happened like 10 days ago Reese."

"How is that possible? It was only 10 minutes from the time space we're in." Reese replied as Cera whistled impressed.

"Now that's a time difference…."

"Oh wow…." Max breathed just as surprised as she was.

"You know these small differences are quite common during space time travel." Jonathan stated.

"But this was a really big difference," Max pointed out, "During your 10 minutes we've been fighting everything from Roman gladiators to Caribbean pirates!"

"Wonder what makes our case special?" Cera then wondered.

"Who knows?" Reese replied just as much as a loss as they were.

Rex then turned to her seriously, "Reese have you come across cosmos stones in any of your research?" he asked her.

"What is a cosmos stone?" she asked intrigued, having only heard the term the first time in her life.

"Somehow they created time space balance in the universe and the spectral pirates will do anything to get them." Zoe explained after recalling their previous experiences and encounters with the stones and pirates back in Rome and the Caribbean islands.

"I'm afraid I've never heard of them, so I'll need more data before I can give you any advice." Reese answered her sister much to the disappointment of the D Team seeing they were once again heading in blind without any clues to work with.

"Then I guess we'll have to keep trying to find out more…." Max muttered.

"Have you learnt anything new about where our parents are?" Reese then asked hopeful for good news at least.

"Not yet…." Zoe answered her sister reluctantly.

"But we're following this space pirate guy who just kidnapped a monk named Sanzo Hoshi." Rex finished for her, "We may think he may know something about where our parents are being held."

"A monk named Sanzo Hoshi you say?" Reese asked intrigued upon hearing that very name, "Like in the story?"

"Wait, you mean the story mom and dad used to read to us? You think this monk could based on the real Sanzo Hoshi that the story was based on?" Zoe asked in surprise.

"He was from China around that time…." Reese stated so it could have been a possibility.

"Ah so that's where I heard that name…." Cera thought as she snapped her fingers in realisation.

"If he's the same guy then we know the space pirates won't hurt him." Max smiled feeling hopeful and positive.

"How so?" Rex asked him curiously.

"Because at the end the monk is always rescued by the monkey!" Max cheered which made Cera raise an eyebrow at him.

"Seriously?" she muttered at him thinking so childishly.

"They might have just put that in for a happy ending…." Rex sighed.

"Well I hope for Sanzo's sake that it's true." Max added deciding to remain positively.

"Just in case, you have to be careful that history isn't altered by the-ZZZT" Before Reese could finish her sentence however her screen fuzzier out and soon they lost connection with her once more.

"We lost her again…." Zoe sighed sadly.

"Excessive time space interference I'm afraid…." Jonathan stated reluctantly as Rex and Zoe both sighed seeing they were cut off without support once more.

Despite the hard hand they were dealt, Max still remained positively and on the bright side as he pumped up his arms eagerly, "Until she comes back let's check out the space pirate ship." he suggested as they looked up at him and nodded lightly deciding to focus on what they could for now.

"Mhmm…"

"Yeah I guess…." They each said to him with reluctance while still feeling quite down about what they failed to accomplish or don't know about yet.

Knowing that, Cera decided to take her leave while their attention was focused on ahead, as she decided to go get herself prepped for the mission ahead. After strolling down the hallways with Miku on her shoulder heading for the dino playroom, she passed by the kitchen and Helga popped her head out from it and called out to her, "Yoo hoo! Cera sweetie! May have I moment of your time?"

"Hmm?" Looking back she saw Helga waving out to her with a warm smile while holding a sheet of paper in her hand. "Hey Helga, anything you need me to help you with?" she asked politely.

"Oh no not at all." the burly housemaid replied to her, "I simply wanted to give this back to you." she said as she handed her the sheet in her hand.

As Cera unfurled it she saw it to be the Roman pizza recipe she handed to her not long ago which she eyed at curiously, "You're giving this back?" she asked looking up at Helga, "Aren't you going to be making pizza later for us?"

"Oh I intend to, I merely memorised the entire recipe and now I no longer need it for reference." Helga answered her, "Therefore feel free to do whatever you wish with it." she said as Cera looked at it and shrugged her shoulders before walking off to the dino room, hoping there'd be a dinosaur the Alpha gang left behind for her to use. After that Helga went back into the kitchen and opened up all the cabinets and the refrigerator to find they were nearly cleaned and empty of food, "Now it's only a matter of procuring the right ingredients…." she then muttered as she folded her arms in concern.

"Now what to do with this…." Cera thought to herself as Miku eyed the sheet with interest. Looking at the note again, seeing it was rather valuable from another time and age, she knew just what to do with it as she made a detour to another separate room along the corridor. Inside were a set of holding jars where the Ancients often kept their specimen jars and collections whenever they came across anything interesting and valuable during their visit to the dinosaur times. Some of the containers held exhibits of fossilised dung, preserved amber and other unique fossils like rugosa, nilssonia or trilobites. Truly it was an archive room more special than any museum in the present age. Seeing a few empty slots, Cera smiled as she put the pizza recipe on one of them, seeing it could no doubt fit into the category of treasured relics, and after reaching into her pocket she took out the treasure map they had which elad them to the blue cosmos stone, alogn with the handful of gold coins and bead necklace she managed to scrape together earlier back from the Caribbean islands and then putting them into another, seeing them to be rather valuable souvenirs and something the Ancients could look at once they rescued them of course. Leaving the room she smiled to herself wondering what kind of souvenir she might be able to snag while they were all here in China.

No longer sidetracked, Cera and Miku finally reached the room they were after. As she opened the door to the dino playroom, they both found Terry was chewing on a bone rather bored, having been left behind by the Alpha gang who only brought Spiny and Tank with them this time. Seeing him like that made Cera smile because she knew how much he detested boredom and how much he craved adventure and excitement, so she knew he'd come around easily. "Oh Terry!" she called out to him grabbing his attention. As he turned around to see her and Miku, his eyes brightened up as he spat out the bone in his mouth and wagged his tail happily before running over to nuzzle at her legs. "Aww, did the Alpha gang leave you all alone?" she said as she knelt down to pet him on the head, while he made soft whimpering noises and made puppy dog eyes at her.

She then giggled knowing what he wanted from her and she was more than happy to give it to him, "You know I'd be more than happy to welcome you along on our adventure if you're feeling up for it?" As soon as she asked, Terry barked out happily as he began licking her face all over before even doing the same to Miku a bit! "Hahaha, I knew you'd say that." She laughed finding his slobbery tongue ticklish before standing up and putting her face out of his reach as he jumped up and down trying to lick them some more. She then petted him gently on the head and smiled, "Come, lets not keep the others waiting." she said as she lead him out of the playroom and went back to the control deck.

As she stepped back in the D Team looked to her curiously having not noticed she left, "Hey Cera, where'd you go just now?" Max asked blinking his eyes curiously at her.

"Sorry to leave without warning, I went to pick up a friend." she said as she stepped aside and let Terry come out and greet them with a bark.

"Oh you have Terry with you this time, nice." Rex smiled feeling happy for her, as well as reassured now that they have one of the toughest dinosaurs they knew with them.

Cera could tell what he was thinking as she nodded in agreement with hum, "Mhmm, with him and me together there's no way we have anything to worry about this time."

"Yeah, I totally agree." Max grinned as he punched a fist into his palm, "Oh yeah, those pirates better watch out for us now!"

"We've just arrived," said Jonathan on cue as they arrived at the site of the pirate ship crash, "I'll send you all down now." Pressing a button the 4 kids and their dinosaur vanished in light as Jonathan turned the ship and headed over for the direction of the Alpha craft.

As the D Team appeared down below they caught sight of the ship right in front of them in a clearing, "There it is!" Zoe pointed out.

"Let's get a closer look!" said Cera seriously as they ran over to it and began looking all over it for any clues. Rex and Zoe checked out the bottom and the sides of the craft while Max climbed up on high to get a bride see view of the entire craft, while Cera and the dinosaurs remained on the ground or around it trying to find signs of any tracks or evidence that either of the ship's passengers had survived and moved off after it landed.

After a while of investigating the D Team turned up with little to nothing on what happened much to their disappointment, "There's not that much damage….and there's no one here…" said Rex after finishing his survey of the site.

"Yeah, and no signs of any bodies either so it's without a doubt they both survived at least." Cera added as she came in form the bushes with Terry after doing a small perimeter sweep of the surrounding area and finding no clues left behind by either Foolscap or the monk he captured.

"I sure hope that Sanzo Hoshi wasn't injured." said Zoe with some concern worrying about the old monk's wellbeing after a crash that bad from the sky.

"He must be okay or else he and Foolscap couldn't have walked away." Max stated as he jumped down from above.

"Except don't forget that Foolscap can fly." Rex then pointed out.

"And that he could've carried Sanzo away too." Cera

Zoe then tapped into her dino bracer as she made contact with the Backlander, "Jonathan did you find the other ship?" she asked as he appeared on screen.

"I've just arrived here and there's no sign of Dr Z and the others…." he explained, "I see their footprints leading away from the wreckage."

As he said that the D Team knew for a fact that the Alpha gang was indeed alive at least so there was one less problem to worry about, "It would take more then a crash to stop those guys." Max commented with a smirk.

"For an old lady that Ursula is pretty tough." Zoe giggled in amusement.

"Yup, couldn't agree more." Max smirked as he folded his arms behind his head in a lax manner, "They survived wild animals and crashed more times then I've counted, this should be nothing new to them."

"Guess that's one less thing to worry about huh?" Cera suggested as they all nodded in unison.

"Mhmm."

She then looked into Zoe's dino bracer with Jonathan still at the other end, "Jonathan, think you could beam up both ships to the Backlander?" she then asked, "We wouldn't any of these to get left behind in any time period, also maybe we can salvage from Foolscap's pod and hopefully use it to our advantage another time."

As soon as she said that, Rex then brightened up as he snapped his fingers, "Great idea! Maybe it might even have vital clues or data as to their plans!" he gasped as the others smiled too one excitement the they may have found the edge they were looking for over their enemies.

"I'll head over to your location as soon as I've retrieved the Alpha jet." Jonathan replied in acknowledgment of Cera's instructions as the call got cut off.

After that she turned serious and looked to the rest of the D Team, "Alright, in the meantime let's go track down Foolscap and Sanzo, they couldn't have gotten too far." she said as Rex looked ahead to see a single game trail leading out from the forest.

"Looks like there's only one path to go from here, let's follow it and see where it leads." he said.

"That way it is then." Max then replied as the kids began to follow it.

Before Cera could follow on with them, she then stopped upon realising there was still a loose end that needed tending to, "You guys go on ahead," she then said which surprised the rest of the gang, "Whatever Foolscap's got planned with that monk it can't be anything good." She then looked in another direction where the Alpha jet had crashed earlier, "In the meantime I'll go track down Dr Z and the Alpha gang with Terry, can't let them just wander around all lost ad alone in another time period right?"

Rex then put a finger to his chin in thought, "You sure you want to go it alone again?" he asked feeling unsure of her choice.

"Not that we don't trust you but, we could use you and Terry to help us out if we get into a pickle." Zoe then added stating she'd be more secure and confident if she were around to back them up with both her skills and expertise in the field.

"And besides, Dr Z and his crew are pretty tough." said Max shrugging his shoulders, "I mean they've fallen down waterfalls or have caves collapse in on them and still come out in one piece. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"I don't doubt that." Cera replied before shaking her head in disapproval, "But, knowing them and the trouble they tend to cause for others, they could easily change and alter history way more than the space pirates can if we leave them alone for too long." she then added before raising an eyebrow at the D Team, "I mean, you do know the skirmishes and rotten luck they tend to suffer from don't you?"

"….."

Silence came upon the D Team as they began to recall all the unlucky and unfortunate accidents the Alpha gang often got themselves into either out of karma or just pure dumb luck. From animals chasing them in Kenya, falling down waterfalls in Niagara falls and at the Amazon, getting themselves caught by the Romans and then the countless times when their vehicles crashed due to faulty construction, and that was merely the tip of the iceberg…..

"You make a really good point there….." They muttered seeing they were unable to argue with her logic.

After that Rex smiled back at her deciding to let her go through with her choice and feeling confident she'd be fine on her own as she always did, "Okay Cera, we're counting on you to find Dr Z and bring him and the others back to the ship." he said before holding up his arm and the bracer on it, "In the meantime we'll keep in contact with you on our end using the dino bracer."

Cera nodded in acknowledgment, "Sure thing, good luck you guys." she said waving to them as they split up, Terry and Miku barking out to the other dinosaurs before they took their separate paths and their separate quests.

After traversing through the woods for some time, Cera soon came upon the crash site of the Alpha gang's jet, which was now but a large crater left behind after Jonathan had retrieved their ship, "Hmm…so they crashed here…." she noted as she knelt down and observed the impact site, also noticing the remains of a flattened house around it. As she shifted through the wreckage for any clues they left or something Terry could sniff, the small red t-rex took notice of the many footprints leading away from the crash. Eying them and seeing them lead to a small settlement up ahead he then barked out to Cera as she looked to him then in where he was pointing, "A town, maybe they went there." she thought as they made their way there.

Upon arrival they were met with a rather unhappy mob of people, all carrying weapons ranging from hoes, pitchforks, brooms or even blades on occasion, and they were scouring every nook and cranny around the buildings and corners surrounding their village while shouting all kinds of rants or grumbles in the process.

"Where are they!?"

"Check over there!"

"Have you seen them yet!?"

"Those imposters won't get away with deceiving us!"

Cera sweat dropped knowing all too well wha this was about, "Yup they definitely were here…." she sighed shaking her head before looking to both her dinosaurs with a firm look, "Alright Terry, you and Miku be on your best behaviour while I ask them for info okay?" she asked them as they both squawked and barked back at her. Taking notice of one man who seemed to be coordinating the group up front, wearing greyish robes and having a long moustache and beard, she assumed him to be the leader as she walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me sir?"

"Hmm?" He turned to her with a rather hard scowl, "What do you want young lady? We are very busy now as you can see! Leave now!" he growled pointing to the exit gate at the other end of the village.

She then waved her hands out, "I…It's nothing, I was just wondering did you by chance come across 4 people, 2 tall, 1 fat and 1….short and bald?" she asked while also trying to motion out their body shapes and sizes with her hands.

The elder then blinked his eyes upon her question, "Hmm? Why yes indeed, 4 deceivers who pretended to be wizards from the sky!" he then yelled in anger before breathing deeply and gritting his teeth in fury!

"Wizards from the sky?" Cera muttered in confusion as she scratched her cheek. As she thought about she then recalled they did crash from the sky in their ship after colliding wth Foolscap which helped piece things together, "Oh….." she said sweatdropping at how this misunderstanding came to be.

"We hoped they would gift us with knowledge about the legendary fruit of eternal youth and life so we offered them a bounteous feast." the elder said in a hard tone before gritting his teeth and clenching his hands into fists, "But instead they turned out to be liars and thieves who cheated us out of our best food yet!" he screamed in rage.

"Fruit of eternal youth and life?" Cera blinked her eyes not expecting that, "Now that's just ridiculous, and even if it was real, life's to be enjoyed to the fullest because it's limited, and if its eternal then it'd lose its' point." she thought to herself before looking to Terry near her leg and Miku on her shoulder, "Well at least we know we're on the right trail guys, come on let's get a move on." she said to them as they barked back at her in agreement.

Before she could "Wait a moment."

She gulped uneasily at the tone of the voice but she turned around respectively to the elder, "Yes?" she asked afraid.

"Why are you asking?" the elder asked folding his arms and glaring at her suspiciously before hardening his gaze, "Wait! You're with them aren't you!? Those deceivers!" he yelled out posting at her. His alarmed tone caught the attention of his fellow villagers as they began to gather around them, joining their leader in glaring furiously at another potential deceiver.

"What!?"

"She is!?"

"How despicable!" They all growled furisouyl as they began aiming their weapons at her now!

Cera gulped down but remained calm, while Terry and Miku eyed their adversaries with agitation, repairing to jump in when it seemed like their lives were on danger, "Now now everyone, you've got this all wrong." she said waving her arms out calmly hoping they'd be able to reason with them.

Unfortunately, neither the village leader nor the villagers were willing to give her the chance, after having already been lied to earlier by the Alpha gang, "Save your breath! The fact you're in search of them means you're league with them aren't you?!" he accused.

"Well…technically I am trying to make sure they stay out of trouble….." Cera admitted.

"Aha! So you are deceiver just like them!" he then announced out loud as murmurs of hatred and spite began to spread around the mob as they grow increasingly angry with her.

"That's not what I meant…." she sighed seeing this was turning in the direction she wanted to avoid.

"I don't want any trouble now." Unfortunately her final plea to resolve the matter peacefully fell on deaf ears.

"You shall pay for making fools of us!"

"Clench your teeth and repent!" They all yelled as they held out their tools preparing to smash or skewer her to pieces! Their threats already provoking Miku and Terry to the point they bang to act feral and aggressive as they snared and bore their fangs. The villagers took no notice of them, shrugging them off as mere animals, though unaware Cera was about to prove to them just how wrong they all were.

She then closed her eyes and sighed, "Looks like I've got no other choice." In response to the many weapons bared at her, Cera quickly responded by taking out her dinoshot and returned Terry to a card before slashing him out! "Dino slash!" A red light shone and appearing before the angry mob was a full sized tyrannosaurus rex who stomped his foot on the ground and roared to the skies scaring off flocks of birds from the nearby forests with his terrifying roar as well as glaring down at the peasants who dared to harm his close friends!

ROAR!

Upon mere sight of the massive dinosaur, the villagers quickly turned pale and dropped their weapons in a panic before running around in random directions screaming heir heads off! "AAAH!"

"It's a monster!"

"She must be a witch!"

"It's Lady Tessan and the Bull Demon!"

"Run for your lives before it eats you!"

"AAAAAAHHH!" Quickly the villagers scattered, some making a run for the hills and leaving the safety of their village while others took refuge or shelter in any home or building they could get into before barricading the doors tightly as well as blocking up their windows with furniture too, till the entire square was completely empty accept for Cera and her little squad of misfits.

"I warned you guys that I didn't want any trouble." she said sighing that she had no other choice. Looking around the village was now like a ghost town and not a soul stepped forth outside their door as the wind blew and a tumbleweed rolled across the ground showing they won't be coming back out anytime soon or maybe even forever. "Well we may have scarred them for life but what's done is done…." she said folding her arms on her hips as she surveyed their surroundings. Terry on the other hand snorted out proudly at what he did, now that the villagers got the message they'd think twice about messing with him or Cera, something which Cera herself didn't fully approve of but decided to let him have his moment of glory to indulge himself in.

Suddenly the skies turned multicoloured as the gang looked to the skies recognising what it meant, "A battlefield….." checking her dinoshot she could see Chomp and Paris' signals were up along with another dinosaur too, "Guess Max and the gang found Foolscap…." she noted before checking their location and frowning at it, "It's pretty far off, nothing we can do about it now." she thought before decided to do what she could for the time being and leave the pirates to her friends, "Come on Terry, use that sniffer of yours to track Dr Z down." she said to him as Terry sniffed the ground, eventually picking up the unmistakeable scent of Ursula's perfume in the air before turning in the direction of the other gate which lead out into the mountains ahead. Seeing he had the scent picked up, Cera smiled as he kindly helped her onto his back before they ran out through it.

A couple of minutes had passed and before long the skies returned to their normal blue color which seemed to be a good sign to Cera, "It's over, better check in to see how they're doing." she thought to herself as she brought up her dinoshot and dialled on it as it began initiating a call. "Hey guys come in."

Very soon Max's face lit up on it as he smiled brightly to see her, "Hey Cera!" he cheered, "Any luck finding Dr Z and the others?"

"I have a lead on where they've gone, I'll find them don't worry." she said to him with a reassuring smile.

"That's a relief to hear." He smirked.

"So what happened? You guys found Foolscap and Sanzo?" Cera then asked, a question which made his smile disappear as he looked away and scratched his cheek.

"We sure did, but kinda Foolscap got away…." he said uneasily, feeling bad they couldn't duo anything to stop him from escaping again.

Cera then frowned at the bad news her friend brought up, "That's unfortunate….." she said, "And the monk?"

"Oh he's right over here." As Max turned the screen over it showed the well dressed monk crying his eyes out while lying face front on the ground with Zoe and Rex trying to comfort him.

A sight which Cera couldn't help but blink at in disbelief, "That's Sanzo Hoshi?" she questioned having expected someone more regal, "Why's he crying like someone just passed away?" she asked finding his behaviour peculiar for someone who was just rescued.

Max then sweat dropped before scratching his cheek unsurely, "It's err….complicated….." he replied.

"I see….." Cera answered deciding to take it like that before asking the important part, "So have you found out why they took him in the first place?"

Max then turned serious, "Well we think the pirates believe he may be the key to finding this era's cosmos stone." he explained before looking back at Sanzo in the background, "As for how….we haven't gotten there yet….." He then looked back to Cera, "How about we talk later? Right now we've gotta explain some things to him a bit….he thinks that just because dinosaurs get turned back into cards he believes they're umm…." he was at a loss for words to say but Cera then finished for him.

"You….do that….I'll keep you posted if anything comes up." she said to him before cutting the call off. "Well on the bright side they've Sanzo with them now." She said sounding quite awkward, in fact she knew Sanzo to be a mysterious and well renowned person, but what she saw she clearly didn't see coming. In any case it was Max's job now to keep him safe from the pirates and hopefully find a way to use him to their advantage somehow later on. In any case she still had her own job to do and she wasn't about to let the others down on it as she had Terry pick up the pace and run faster down the path as he crossed through a wide open plain, as the sun soon began to beam down on them quite harshly as midday arrived.

"Phew…it's pretty hot today isn't it?" she then sweated as she wiped away her brow and seeing Miku and Terry were beginning to tire a bit after having traveled for a sign while without any food or water. Surveying their surroundings she eventually caught sight of a nearby stream cutting through the woods on the outskirts of the plain, as she pointed out to it, "Hey look, there's a stream over there and it's pretty shaded. Guess we can stop for a break if you guys want." she suggested. Seeing it as a far better option than lying out in the sun and baking to death, Terry made a beeline for the forest. Soon the harsh and piercing rays of the sun were blocked out by the shady candy of the treetops, as Terry lowered himself down and began quenching his thirst with a much needed drink of water, along with Miku, who hopped off Cera's shoulder to drink too. Cera on the other hand took out a canteen and scooped out a cupful of water and began to drink from it too as she sat near a tree to rest. After that Miku climbed up it to look for bugs to snack on while Terry decided to curl his tail in and take a nap to rest after the long journey they made.

"….."

While Miku and Terry minded their own business, Cera however began to drift into serious thought as she began to look over all the recent events so far, about everything the pterosaur said to them and the danger that would loom ahead, and it no doubt had something to do with not the pirates but the cosmos stones themselves. Looking back at the meteor in the Cretaceous, there were 7 colours radiating form a meteor which crashed, and among those colours were yellow and blue, the same as the sones that were already taken. Chances are, the other stones may have been of the same colour as that meteor, but what made them so special and powerful?

She couldn't quite understand what made them such a huge threat to everyone as the Pterosaur claimed them to be. The fact that only 5 remained, made her ponder over whether they might be able to prevent that calamity from happening…or how they might be able to do it since they weren't able to find their missing parents as of yet. Also, there was an itch at the back of her mind, that she somehow knew the pirates form somewhere yet couldn't put her finger on it just yet. All these thoughts coursing through her mind made her space out so much, that Miku's chirping at her partner did little to break her concentration off them.

BEEP! BEEP!

Only by a red blinking sound coming from her dinoshot was she finally able to snap out of it as she blinked her eyes and looked down to it, "Hmm? A signal?" she asked herself taking up her device while Miku and Terry looked to her curiously. Her device displayed a dinosaur's location but as soon as she picked it up it disappeared as quickly as it came, "Oh it's gone…could've been the Alpha gang or the pirates…." she thought before shrugging her shoulders, "Well it's passed so might as well go on." she thought before looking over to Terry with a smile, "Alright Terry, ready to move again?" she asked. In response, Terry got back up to his feet and shook his head clean of dirt and dust before roaring out raring to go again much to her and Miku's delight. "Thanks, I appreciate this a lot." She said to him gratefully as he lowered his head down allowing her and Miku to climb aboard as they made their way out of the forest and back onto the game trail.

It wasn't long on their journey along the first path that the skies turned colourful once more, "Another battlefield…." Cera quickly looked up her dinoshot to see Chomp, Ace and paris' signals on it along with another dinosaur too, "No doubt the pirates are at it again for sure….at least the others are there to take care of it now." she then noticed the signals were located rather far away, so there wasn't anything they could do for them even if they wanted, though they didn't worry too much since they knew Max and the others could pull it off just fine without their help. Deciding to trust in them to handle it, they moved on down the path following the Alpha gang's trail. After a while of trekking, the battlefield soon disappeared Miku caught sight of smoke peering through a gap in the tree tops ahead, as she squawked out in alarm alerting both Terry and Cera.

"You see something Miku?" she asked before smelling the scent of burning, something which Terry picked up on himself as he let out a low growl warily. Taking notice of the black smoke rising into the air, she then narrowed her eyes in a serious manner, "Is that…..fire?" She hardened her expression knowing it couldn't be anything good, especially in this time of heat and drought. "Better check it out and quick." she said petting Terry behind the head as he roared and ran ahead as fast as he could. As they got closer to where it was coming from, "I hope I'm wrong about what's going on….." thought Cera to herself hopefully as they came to a clearing, where a village on a dried hillside erupting with lava and flames spitting from the top like a geyser! Mountainside was like a volcano and lava was not only erupting flaming rocks from the top which weren't only hurtling down to the valley below, but a river of lave was running down the sides of the hill blanketing everything in its path in a sea of fire! Swallowing up homes and properties alike while the villagers were all gathered on the bottom hiding together and crying out in sadness and horror a their years of livelihood now being destroyed before their eyes.

As the villagers could only cry out in sorrow and fear, Cera could only sigh and rub her temple in exasperation already recognising the cause of all this, "I'm right….they did this for sure…." she shook her head in dismay wondering whether there could be any end to the chaos and trouble they'd bring upon others wherever they went. Truly they could never be left well alone for even a few seconds without messing something up or causing any kind of trouble in the process. As much as she disliked it, she had no choice but to clean up their mess seeing she couldn't just leave this as they were and have countless village communities lose everything they had because of their mistakes. She then dialled onto her dinoshot patching in a call to the Backlander, "Hey Jonathan, come in." she said through the communicator as Jonathan's face lit up on it.

"Have you found Dr Z and the others yet Cera?" he asked her as she shook her head in response.

"No I haven't yet." she answered with a disappointed sigh,"But I have found a fresh trail to follow….and that they've caused some pretty big trouble for some local villagers…..trouble which would require the backlander's capabilities….." she said painfully at the end.

Bringing it up on screen Jonathan narrowed his eyes seeing the great burning mountain of fire and lava erupting on screen and the people in danger of getting melted alive like it was Pompeii all over again, "I see it now." he said seriously, "How could they be so careless? Sometimes it baffles my logic circuits as to how they're able to create such chaos." he muttered knowing he had some disciplining to do the next time he laid eyes on them.

"Heh, I know how you feel." Cera snickered knowing how he felt and was hoping he gave them the best correction he could. "I'm sending you my coordinates now, please come as soon as you can." She then said to him typing in a set of coordinates back to the Backlander.

"It'll take me some time to get to your location," he then said to her as soon as he received them, "In the meantime see if you can do anything to stop that lava flow before it reaches the villagers." he then said, "The Backlander can restore damaged landscapes but I'm afraid even it can't restore any human casualties suffered." he added at the end in a rather regretful tone.

Cera looked to the damage painfully, she had saved lives before thanks to the combined efforts on the D Team but this was a different matter altogether, standing against an entire natural disaster by her lonesome with very few resources or ideas on hand and with little time to spare. Despite all that she let out a deep sigh and said back to Jonathan to give him assurance, "I'll do what I can, over and out." she said to him before the call cut off. "Easier said than done….." She then sighed scratching her head at the immense challenge presented before her, "If only I had Spiny with me then I could put this out in a flash." she thought before hearing a low growl beneath her. Looking down she noticed Terry had let out a rather sad and disappointed grunt so she quickly petted him on the snout hoping to comfort his hurt feelings, "Oh don't feel sad Terry, you're great and all but it's just…." A thought suddenly came to mind, as she realised maybe there was a way they could save the village or at least delay the lava until Jonathan could arrive with the Backlander, "Wait, maybe I can actually fight fire with fire!" she cried out as she let herself down from Terry and he looked down to her for instructions. "Alright Terry, prepare to aim for the center of the slope." She pointed out as he nodded obediently and took aim. She then took out a move card and slashed it, "Magma blaster!" Terry glowed red before stomping his foot on the ground, charging up a huge beam of magma in his jaws he fired it straight out like a rocket!

The villagers were all taken aback by surprise as the new steam of magma from out of nowhere blew them off their feet back while others ran off in terror or put as much distance as they could from the heat and flames! Others cried out in terror or held out their arms bracing themselves against the immense power of the flames! As it died down, a massive trench was carved out where it fired through, and before long the lava which erupted from the mountain began to pool into it before being sent down the trench diverting itself away from the villagers and into the valley where no one else was. Unsure of what just happened, the people then began to cheer seeing that they were saved in the end as they let out hollers and shouts of gratitude to the sky above as the ashes and flames from the mountain soon began to settle down much to everyone's relief.

"Phew that takes care of that…." she breathed out a sigh of relief as Terry lowered his head down to be praised and petted, to which Cera did as she stoked his face gently and he let out a low growl of satisfaction, "Thanks Terry, you're a life saver….literally." she said to him as he nuzzled against her gently before scooping her and Miku onto his head again. "Alright, think you can pick up their trail from here. We'll have to make sure they don't cause any more trouble like this again." Sniffing the air and catching the scent of wind, Terry aimed at a canyon further in the distance as Cera nodded in acknowledgement, "Alright, let's go." she then said as Terry began roaring out loud and charging at it straight ahead.

 **(Meanwhile)**

A while later the Backlander had descended upon the burning land of the village caused by the Alpha gang's unfortunate mishap. Pressing a button Jonathan activated the ship's restoration functions as bright light emanating from the ship began to envelop the parched and burnt landscape, resign all traces of i from existence as well as the brunt up crops, houses and ditch which Terry made with Magma blaster in order to divert the lava away. He even took it a step further and used the ship's energy to make the land green and fertile once more, amazing the villagers beyond belief to see their crops and properties were restored and all traces of hardship and drought were erased completely.

As they cheered joyfully and gave praise to the sky for its grace and mercy, Jonathan smiled seeing he brought joy to so many happy people, "That takes care of that." he said proudly before noticing Helga had walked in with several shopping bags around her arms. As she stepped to the teleporter pad he eyed her with interest, "Hmm? Helga, where are you going?" he asked.

"Shopping, what else?" she answered him much to his surprise as his jaw hung and he sweat drop in disbelief at what he heard her say, "We are out of supplies so it's time to restock." she said as she took out a pouch filled with coins inside it from her pocket, "And it's a good thing have plenty of money for groceries!" she sang in a cheerful mood.

Jonathan blinked his eyes in surprise at what she was aiming to do, "Are you sure? We can't leave the ship without notice, what if they need us?" he asked.

"Would you rather that they starve them hmm?" Helga replied narrowing her eyes at him.

As he began to think it over Jonathan began to envision the poor children, including his young master and the Alpha gang starving to death as skeletons before being forced to cannibalise one another and then being pounced on by Terry, Ace and Spiny after that. Seeing that as the worst case scenario he then gave in and sighed, "You make a good point there…." he admitted before straightening his suit, "I shall accompany you to make it faster."

"That would be helpful." Helga replied feeling grateful for his offer, "Make sure to switch off the power before you go." She added at the end as he was taken aback by surprise.

"You can't be serious! What if it's an emergency?!" he exclaimed worrying about in the event the children would be in danger from angry villagers or worse space pirates and if they weren't around to provide any sort of aid and support, it'd be dreadful!

Helga though come equipped with yet another counter argument that Jonathan wasn't prepared for, "And if we use too much power our ship could crash and we'd be stranded in anther time period for who knows how long!" Helga bellowed shaking her fist at him in response which silenced him once again as he had the words taken out of his mouth once more. "Would you really take that chance hmm?" she asked squinting her eyes at him as he looked away from her nervously.

Seeing the situation would be far worse without a working ship, "Hmm, you do make another good point…." he replied having been corrected once again by her and unable to question her logic. "Besides, how long could shopping take anyways?" He then added at the end thinking they'd be done in less than an hour as his eyes glowed and the 2 of them vanished in a glow of light and the entire base soon shut down as they left it.

 **(Meanwhile)**

The skies went colourful for a bit but after a few minutes they soon disappeared, as Cera looked up at it while on top of Terry as they traversed through a sweltering wasteland which was stricken by drought, after passing through the canyon past the village where she had Jonathan come in to halt the flow of lava. "Another battle….wonder what trouble the alpha gang got themselves into this time…." she thought to herself recognising the signals as Spiny and an unknown dinosaur which meant it had to have been from the space pirates. There were multiple instances of dinosaurs appearing today there sure was a lot going on both ends, and each one put the time era of China at even more risk of being altered so she could only hope that the D Team manage to handle their end carefully and hopefully mitigate any damages that the pirates and the alpha gang would cause.

"Sure hope Max and everyone else are doing fine…." she then thought to herself before going limp and falling flat on Terry's back "Ugh because I'm not….I feel like melted ice cream…." Right now though, she was sweating profusely under the relentless rays of the midday sun, she felt like an ice cube about to melt in the heat and she was begin to dehydrate rather quickly since the rest by the river a while ago. Fortunately for Miku, Cera was able to put her back into card form so she wouldn't be subjected unnecessarily to the same torment she was enduring, though it didn't seem to help her cause that much. Terry stopped and looked over his shoulder and let out a low growl at being unable to help her in this case no matter how much he wanted. In a battle he'd do anything to protect her from harm, but against the heat of the sun he could only snarl out his frustrations.

Despite the hardship they both were facing, at being lost and maybe even doomed to dry out in the sun, Cera opened her eyed and forced herself back up as she typed onto her dinoshot hoping to get a lock on the last location the dinosaur appeared, hoping there was a place to rest there or at least on the way. "Now which way…." As the sun eventually got blocked by an incoming cloud she could look ahead and see much cleared without the desert landscape being obscured by its bright glare. Looking ahead she could see what appeared to be a group of people gathered together at the foot of a mountain ahead, though it wasn't clear enough for her to get a view as she had to squint her eyes to get a better view, "Hmm? What's going on over there?" She asked herself before having the tyrannosaurus put her down gently, "Better come back for now Terry." She said to him fearing he'd scare them off as she returned him to a card and decided to continue on foot.

As she walked closer to the group she could eventually see that it was a man with a donkey carrying a cart full of supplies which included food, water and clothing and he was kindly distributing them out to a group of children, who were all dressed rather raggedly in sack cloths or old clothing. "There you go, one at a time." said the man warmly as he handed out supplies to each child one after the other as they laughed and cheered happily as they either chowed down on much needed food or put on decent clothing for once in many moons.

Seeing he was a nice hearted man, Cera smiled feeling moved to see such generosity for others in need before walking up to him past the children believing he'd be kind enough to offer her help. "Excuse me sir." She asked as he looked to her.

"Hmm? Yes?" As he replied to her, the other children then looked to her as well, and with so many gazes pointed at her Cera couldn't help but feel a little insecure with the attention she was getting.

"Umm, do you know if there's a village or something nearby here?" she asked him as blinked his eyes back at her curiously.

"A village?" putting a finger to his chin in thought he then smiled and nodded back at her, "Why yes, I just came from one." He said turning up to the mountain slope and posting upwards, "In fact if you go to the top of this mountain you'll be able to find one just on the other side." he said much to her relief.

She then smiled with relief before resting her arms on her knees, "Thank you….very much….huff…." she wheezed as the man and the children eyed her with concern realising how sweaty and tired she was now. "It's just so hot and I'm so very thirsty. What I would give to get shade and a nice drink now…."

"Oh dear…." the man mused as he looked to his cart and saw despite the clothes and food remaining he had no more water to offer her, "I'm very sorry, I'd offer you some if I had any but I'm afraid I don't have anymore water I can give you now." he said pityingly and with regret wishing there was something he could do.

Cera smiled rather weakly but shook her head assuring him not to worry, "It's fine, guess I'll just have to toughen it out a little longer." she said with a small sigh at the end. She wasn't so sure if she could make it to the other side, but she decided if that's how the chips fell then she'd just have to roll with it….much to her discomfort….

She then felt a tug on her shirt, looking down she saw a young girl in reddish clothing and a piece of cloth wrapped around her back as she said to her with a smile, "Excuse me miss." she said to her kindly.

"Yes?"

She then reached held out a bamboo bottle to her, "Would you like some of my water?" she offered sweetly, but Cera then waved her hand out in response.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly-" she tried to refuse politely but the girl instead placed the bottle into her hand and made her keep it.

"It's fine, you need it more than I do." she insisted with no regrets, "In fact, it's thanks to a kind hearted group who just passed through here, were willing to give me and my friends food and water that we're able to keep going." she then said looking to the rest of her friends who smiled or nodded in agreement with her. "And now like how they helped us, I think it's time we helped you."

Seeing how genuine they were and how there was such kindness even in this tough times, Cera couldn't help but feel touched herself as she smiled and accepted the girl's gift humbly, "Thank you…." she said bowing down with respect before drinking what may have been the best tasting water she had for a long time. She could feel every cell in her body feel rejuvenated and her strength revitalised as the cooling water hit her dried lips and passed down her dry throat, bring her calm and relief despite being in the middle of an unforgiving drought and desert to boot.

"What a coincidence!" the man then spoke up sounding amazed, "I too was helped by a group of kids and a monk out of a sticky situation not long ago." he explained, "They taught me to treat my donkey with kindness and respect, and they helped me get my cart when it was stuck up the hill just now. Such kind hearted folk, they were." he said with gratitude as he petted his donkey on the head which let out a happy bray.

"Kids and a monk…." Cera then repeated in surprise before smiling, realising who they were talking about, which filled her with hope now that she knew they were on the right trail. After the refreshing drink and kindness she was shown, Cera bowed in respect to the kids and the merchant, "I have to be going now. Thank you very much for the directions and water, I won't ever forget this." she said with deep gratitude as she headed up the mountain forcing herself with every bit of determination despite the steep slope and fatigue in her limbs.

"Take care! Best wishes on your journey!" The merchant waved to her as the kids too did the same sending her off with smiles and hope.

Halfway up the hill, Cera narrowed her eyes thinking to herself calmly, "If Max and the others came through here, I should probably regroup with them first then we'll look for the Alpha gang together." she thought seeing it as a great way to improve their chances of success and also take care of both their problems with stopping the pirates and having to find the Alpha gang at the same time. A while later, despite being pounded mercilessly by the harsh rays of the midday sun once more with the cloud having passed by and the sun returning to torment her once more, Cera nevertheless was able to press onwards, even with her physical body giving out and sweating profusely under the sweltering heat, her determination to see her friends again so they could complete their mission together spurred to keep going every time she felt weak and about to collapse. Motivated by the kindness she was shown by the other people who helped her earlier, she also felt obliged to see it through to the end and not let their kindness be wasted. Fighting against fatigue and her sore feet she soon eventually made it to the top of the hill as she took in a deep breath and let out a deep sigh of relief before wiping away sweat from her brow using a handkerchief she had with her.

"Finally….maybe I can take a breather now…" She then wheezed to herself as she sat down on the ground to recuperate a bit before going onto the final stretch. "I should give them a call to check on who they've been doing…." she then thought to herself as she typed on her dinoshot and began initiating a call to them, "Hey guys, come in."

In moments, Max and the others' faces soon lit up on her dinoshot, "Hi Cera!" Max smiled before Zoe came in.

"Good to see you! We could sure use your help right about now!" she said with hope in her tone.

"I'm heading up a mountain top and heard there's a village right on the other side, I shouldn't take too long to reach there." Cera responded as she sent them her current coordinates, to which they brightened up upon seeing them.

"Hey we're not far from that mountain either!" Max cheered.

"That's great, we'll be way stronger against those pirates once we're together." said Rex, "We heard they snatched Dr Z who was pretending to be Sanzo Hoshi so they could make some profit out of his name."

Cera then sighed and face palmed herself, "Figures…." she sighed rubbing her temple in exasperation before smiling lightly, "Well at least now we can go together since we're heading in the same direction now." She also knew without a doubt the A Team went after him too, and that meant they were going in the same direction so that made things all the more convenient and easer for them in the long run, it'd be killing 2 birds with 1 stone, they'd find the alpha gang and the pirates at the same time. Cera then blinked her eyes noticing someone was missing from the D Team's side, "Say, where's the real Sanzo? I don't see him anywhere with you." she then asked them, a question which made them become uneasy and unsure of how to respond.

"Oh err we uhh…." They muttered as they looked away unable to face her fearing she'd get angry at them for their answer. Seeing her gaze was fixated on them and that they could;t beat around the bush forever, Max then sighed deeply realising he had to confess the truth before her sharp glare forced it out of them.

"We had to leave him behind in the village just now." He muttered using his thumb to point behind them.

"He was kinda slowing us down so we had no choice…." Rex added trying to back up his friend's point, but all that accomplished was making Cera widen her eyes in alarm and shock.

"You left him all alone when he's already been targeted!?" she then cried out in disbelief and anger, at how selfish and inconsiderate they were at not taking into account Sanzo's own situation and the fact he was their only clue to finding this era's cosmos stone.

Zoe then gulped, "W…Well uhh…." she sweated nervously while twiddling her fingers.

"It's just….we kept stopping so many times to be good samaritans we ended up using up a lot of our energy and supplies along the way." said Rex rather painfully.

"He also kept talking about how violence isn't the answer, but he just doesn't understand how important our mission is." said Max, "We know he means well but….we still have a more important job at hand and that's finding the pirates and our parents too!" he then added seriously while tensing a hand into a fist to prove his point, "And we couldn't waste our time and energy doing good deeds that don't help us out in any other way. He's been a handful and a lot more trouble than he's worth."

"Also he should be much safer in the village we left him in too." Zoe then concluded sounding assured that they did the right thing.

Despite understanding their side of things, Cera still didn't feel all too convinced that it was the best decision, "Well….I get what you mean but…." she looked away from them a bit, recalling what the people down the mountain earlier had told her on her way up, who the kindness of the D Team helped make the lives of the people that much better despite it hurting them. Sure they maybe didn't see the good at the time but she could at least tell them what it did for her now hoping it would encourage them not to give up being kind to others when they needed it, "On the way here, I actually stopped by a travelling man with a donkey who was giving out much needed supplies to some kids who were left all alone in the wasteland." she said which surprised her friends at the other end, "And from what I heard they actually ran into you guys along the way and now they're getting along with one another because of it." she said with a smile showing she was proud at what they did regardless.

As soon as she said that, the D Team was at a complete loss for words, "They…are?" They were shocked, what they saw as huge burdens and hinderances on their journey to the next town ended up not only bettering the lives of many other people in the long run, but even contributed to helping to save their own comrade too when she was on the verge of collapse herself. Hearing this starling new revelation after having shunned Sanzo Hoshi away because of their own discomfort….they didn't know how to handle facing him again now.

"In fact, the man was kind enough to point me in the right direction and one of the kids was generous enough to share me some water when I really needed it." Cera then added at the end trying to show the D Team that what they did in the end wasn't in vain nor for nothing in the end, even if it didn't seem like it at the time, "So in a way, those good deeds you did for that man and children…weren't really for nothing after all." she said with a bright smile, "If it wasn't for you inspiring good feelings in them. I don't think I'd be able to move as I am right now."

"…." The D Team still was at a loss for words and unable to respond, till Max managed to force out a few words from his mouth while wishing he could say more.

"Good for you Cera…."

Cera nodded accepting them, understanding how they felt but nevertheless what's done is done so they had to make do with it from there, "Anyways, I'll get there as fast as I can, so hang tight okay." she said to them hoping it'd lift their spirits enough to keep going without any regrets.

"Sure thing…." Rex replied at the end before the call got cut off.

As soon as it did, Cera then sighed to herself praying in her heart that the monk would be able to understand why they said and did what they did, and wouldn't harbour any feelings of bitterness towards them after all they went through together, "I sure hope Sanzo will be fine now that he's all alone now…." She didn't have much time to think about it though, not long after she finished her train of thoughts the skies turned colourful once more as the battlefield returned unexpectedly! "Huh? The battlefield's back?" Cera blinked her eyes in surprise as she looked up to the skies. Hearing the sounds of clashing and roaring she quickly got up and looked over the edge of the high peak she was at, and she could see a couple of figures down below along with 2 large bulky creatures going at it which she assumed to be dinosaurs. "There's someone down there…." She narrowed her eyes recognising it as a battle as she ran down the path ahead to her as fast as her 2 legs could carry her.

Meanwhile down below both Chomp and the achelousaurus armoured up and charged at one another. Despite being smaller and less powerful, the achelousaurus made up for it in speed and agility, as he was able to outmanoeuvre as he leapt up into the air and knocked him down! Chomp got back up to his feet as fast as he was knocked down and both ceratopsians clashed head to head before the achelousaurus managed to shove Chomp back a little, giving Gavro the opening he needed to use his move card! "Attack burst! he yelled as he activated the move card on his chest plate! In response the achelousaurus gained a surge of energy before charging out at Chomp and knocking him into the air! Several lightning bolts struck through Chomp mercilessly as he screeched in pain before the achelousaurus rammed him from underneath and slammed him into the ground again rendering him nearly incapacitated!

"Chomp! You've got to get up again!" Max cried to him desperately. His words reached his partner as Chomp got back up again and rushed forward! Once more the smaller achelousaurus was able to sidestep him with ease, however Chomp already anticipated its' strategy from its previous attacks and thus responded by turning towards it, surprising it at how fast he reacted before swinging his tail out and knocking it away! "Alright way to go!" Max smiled punching his arm up while Rex and Zoe followed.

"That's the way!"

"Keep it up! You almost got him!"

Gavro however scowled seeing Chomp was getting the upper hand now as the larger triceratops began rushing towards his defenceless dinosaur, "This isn't looking so good…." he muttered in disappointment before reaching into his pocket and holding up another card, "Good thing I have another dinosaur! Come on out and back me up altirhinus!" He declared as he summoned forth the big nosed herbivore which took to the field and growled! "Now let's pump you up with Spectral armour!" He yelled equipping the ornithopod with armour before it rushed in and slammed at Chomp from the side just as he was about to ram achelousaurus!

"AH! NO!" Max gasped in alarm with his friends, as the achelousaurus got back up to its feet and the 2 dinosaurs cornered Chomp on both sides as he turned to each of them nervously.

"Haha! Now we're talking!" Gavro laughed as the D Team glared at him pulling something so sneaky.

"Grr! Why you…." Max growled clenching his hand into a fist while Rex began typing on his dino bracer.

"That creep! I'm calling in Ace!"

"Hey guys!" Another voice yelled to them from behind as they quickly turned in surprise.

"Huh!?"

"Hmm?"

The D Team then smiled brightly while Gavro gritted his teeth in annoyance as they all saw a familiar face running towards them with a dinoshot in her hand, "It's Cera!" Zoe cheered clapping her hands together with joy.

She soon came to a stop near them before smiling having made it in time, "You guys need some help?" she asked as they all got pumped up with anticipation.

"Heh! Yeah more than ever!" Max smirked.

"Glad you could make it in time!" Rex followed.

She then nodded knowing just what to do, "Then let's do this!" she said out loud taking out a pair of dinosaur cards, "Dino slash! Shine Microraptor! Flame up Tyrannosaurus!" Miku appeared in full sized form on her shoulder while Terry took to the field and roared out furiously as Cera took out his element booster, "Element booster! Dino tector on!" inserting it into him, Terry was enshrouded in flames before the red crystalline armour shrouded him as he roared fully energised! "And to top it off, Energy equaliser!" Miku leapt into the air and attached herself on Terry's back as she transferred energy into him, he then roared empowered as his eyes glowed rainbow in colour before he rushed out and baring his fangs he grabbed the altirhinus off guard and dragged it across the ground and held it down with little effort!

"Oh no not another one!" Gavro exclaimed grasping his hair in horror, "And it was getting so good too!" he cried.

"Now we've got us a fair fight!" Max grinned as Chomp roared out more confidently and wiped his horns out and knocked the achelousaurus off balance!

"But I don't want a fair fight!" Gavro protested in response and in annoyance as Chomp got back up to his feet and engaged the achelousaurus in head to head combat while Terry focused on keeping the altirhinus from interfering as he lunged and snapped at its head, in a series of mock charges which kept forcing it back and further away from Chomp so he had more room to fight.

Gavro sweated anxiously seeing his dinosaurs were both outmatched, seeing he had to take care of the newer dinosaur first before he could focus on Chomp, he gritted his teeth before taking out a grass move card, "Ugh….take this! Leah slash!" The altirhinus glowed and bellowed, surrounding itself in a shroud of leaves before sending them at Terry, which pelted and shredded against him as he roared in pain!

"Terry! Hang in there!" Cera cheered for him as his feet began to drag against the ground due to being pushed! Nevertheless, with his partner backing him up and believing in him, along with Miku transferring more of her energy into him while he kept her shielded from the razor sharp leaves, he opened his eyes which slitted angrily as he roared out with power as he emerged relatively unscathed from the grass attack much to Cera's delight, "Alright way to go!"

"Grr! How is he still standing after that!?" Gavro grunted clenching his fist at the sight of his best move card being withstood like it was nothing!

"Alright! Ultimate thunder!" Max yelled while he was still distracted, seizing the chance he slashed the move card which caused Chomp to surge with the power of lightning! Lightning bolts struck from the sky all around and then on top of achelousaurus, before Chomp jetted forward, striking his smaller rival in the chest and sending it flying several feet away before the armour shattered and it returned to a card!

Meanwhile Terry rushed ahead and got his head under the altirhinus before scooping it up and hurling it helplessly high into the air! "Max! Now's the perfect time for a Fusion move!" Cera cried to him as he quickly responded with a firm nod.

"Okay!" They each took out a fire and lightning move and slashed it in unison!

"Blazing thrust!" As the altirhinus came falling down to the ground, Terry roared turning around as his tail wrapped itself in fire while Chomp charged out a spear of lightning between his horns! Both the fire and lightning blades urged together to form an immense fusion of fire and electricity as their speared through the helpless altrihinus! Helpless before the immense power of the strongest dinosaurs the D Team and Alpha gang had, it bellowed out in pain before its armour shattered and it returned to a card!

As soon as the altirhinus' card floated down to the ground, Gavro floated over it and pick it up before making his way to achelousaurus', "My dinosaurs were defeated!" he cried before flying up higher and taking a look around to see he had lost his target, "And Sanzo Hoshi is gone!" He then turned nervous knowing what awaited him back home, "How could I fail to complete such a simple mission!? When i get back to the ship Foolscap and Sheer are going to make fun of me…." he whined sadly before taking his leave.

"He's just leaving? Why?" Rex thought to himself as he looked at the truly pirate fly away over their heads and out of sight. "Hey wait a second…." He then began to look around and saw the reason why.

Meanwhile Max and the others were more focused on their well earned victory as they cheered for their partners in celebration, "Yeah Chomp!" Max smiled returning his partner to card form.

"Great job Terry!" Cera praised him as she did the same.

Zoe then brushed some sweat from her brow as she smiled to see their friend come in the nick of time as they always did, "Phew, as always you manage to come through for us when we need you most Cera."

"Heh, anything to help the team." she smirked before holding a thumbs up to her.

"Hey, where'd Sanzo go?" Rex then asked as he and Zoe began looking around to see no sign of him anywhere.

"Hmm?" Max went surprised that he didn't notice that, the same for Cera as she blinked her eyes in surprise.

"Huh? Sanzo was here?"

"Yeah, he was right there just now!" Max gasped recalling that from earlier as he and the others began looking around for him, hoping he was hiding nearby or at least within earshot of them.

"He must have taken off during the fight!" Zoe cried before walking off to try and find him, "I hope he's alright…" she said worried.

"Oh dear that can't be good…." Cera sweated fearing the kinds of trouble he could get himself into, if getting caught by the space pirates wasn't bad enough he could get lost in the vast desert and eventually succumb to heat, hunger and fatigue! They had to find him fast for their sakes and his own.

"Sanzo! Where are you!?

"Can you hear me Sanzo!?" Max and Rex both cried out for him hoping he was close enough to answer back.

"Strange that he didn't even say goodbye…" Zoe said sadly feeling hurt he took off without saying anything to them.

"Yeah…." Max muttered as Cera looked back to him.

"You know I don't blame him for leaving like that…." she said folding her arms on her hips and looking down a little sadly, "From what I heard you guys say about him no doubt such violent battles would've made him sick to his stomach." she said as the others sighed sadly, "He's a man who believes in peace right down to his core, such an ideal is beautiful…but in the face of reality….it must be really hard on him no doubt…." she commented.

"I guess….but…." Rex couldn't finish his sentence despite wanting to say more. He understood Sanzo's philosophy so it had to have been difficult, but the fact was their fights were unavoidable and they only way out of it was to fight, but excuse they didn't consider or respected his ideals but in fact rejected them they in turn drove him away in the process. They had to make it up with him if they could find him again, hopefully it wasn't too late.

While still distracted by her own thoughts, Zoe didn't realise where she was stepping, as she tried to look over a cliff nearby the platform she stood at suddenly cracked apart causing her to slip and fall into the ditch below! "WAAAAAAAH!" she screamed as she skidded down the rocky slopes!

The rest of her friends turned around upon hearing her cries, only to see her disappear down the ditch much to their horror! "Ah! Zoe!"

"Oh no Zoe!"

"NO!" They all cried in horror as they hurried over to the ditch fearing the worse for their friend if it was a steep and deep fall!

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter, skips past a couple of episodes but as mentioned before Cera won't be with the D Team every step of the way, she'll also be going her own journey now and then too and hope you enjoyed the battle I used here. The altirhinus used here, according to the wikia, is seen only briefly in the final episode when Dr Z and the Trio are looking over the many dinosaurs on the pirate ship, appearing only for a glimpse near the daspletosaurus. Also wanted to settle some plotholes too like the fire the Alpha gang caused at the village and the children and merchant the D Team encountered.**

 **On another note Cera will be collecting souvenirs too on the D Team's trip across space time, stay tuned for the relic she'll be acquiring next chapter!**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Yeah agreed, unless the who holds the stone is worthy it won't cause any side effects to the one who holds it, even so it's more likely to harm than heal.**

 **So that's the scene you meant, yeah I realised that a little last minute so glad I recalled that.**

 **Agreed, thought Max should have that moment with Zoe since he was strangely out of the picture for that fight too so wanted him to help a bit, also Jim had more than enough time hitting on Zoe so thought Max ought to have his turn to earn her respect back.**

 **Well Spiny and Ace together helped against deltadromeus and Ace did take down megaraptor with help from others so it isn't all Spiny though haha.**


	36. The third cosmos stone

Chapter 36

The third cosmos stone

"Zoe?" Max asked anxiously as he and the others hurried over to the edge where she had just slipped down.

"Please be alright…." Cera sweated with her heart racing uneasily as they looked over the edge. As they did, they all felt a wave of relief wash their worries away as they saw Zoe standing rather fine in a shallow ditch, "Phew….thank goodness it wasn't a steep fall…." Cera breathed putting a palm on her chest to still her racing heart, though it was a letdown they got worried for nothing, she was glad her friend wasn't seriously hurt after that fall.

"You're okay!" Rex gasped in relief to see she was fine.

Zoe though didn't seem to agree with him sadly, "No I'm not…." she sighed which confused her friends.

"You look okay." Rex pointed out curiously.

Cera blinked her eyes unsure of why she wouldn't be okay, "Yeah, what's-" before she could finish her sentence she then sniffed the air and caught the smell of something rather…foul, which made her pinch her nose in an instant, "Eww, what's that smell?" she said cringing which made Rex and Max look at her weirdly.

What Zoe was about to say next would make them wish they didn't ask, "Let me put it this way…." she started uneasily as she gulped down feeling sick, "I not only found out which way Sanzo went, I also found out which way his horse went." Looking down her fiends could see one of her trainers was rather muddied up. They thought it was mud at first, but when they looked to the side to see a pile of horse pie on the side, they widened their eyes and felt all grossed out.

"UGH!" They all groaned as they fell back and fainted.

After that, Zoe then cried out loudly in frustration and annoyance, "EW! YUCKY YUCK!" she teared up rather dramatically while also jittering with disgust, "These were my favourite shoes, now they're all soiled…." she pouted knowing she'd never be able to live this down.

"Well Zoe…." Cera then croaked as she slowly forced herself to sit up, "You could go scrape them along the rocks and sand over there, maybe it'll get it or at least some of it cleaned off." she said pointing over to a rather rocky and sandy wall nearby where she was as Zoe looked.

"Better than nothing I guess…." she groaned as she quickly hurried over to the rock face and scraped her shoe against it hoping to get every scrap of muck off it as well as in between the soles too. She even went to scrape it in the sandy ground too for extra good measure.

After getting back up from Zoe's surprise, Max narrowed his eyes noticing some prints nearby from where Zoe landed, "Hey Rex look," he then pointed out as Rex looked in the direction his finger was aimed at, "I think those are horseshoe tracks over there." he said to him.

Rex narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of them, "Let's go for a closer look." he said as he slid down the rocky slope with Max and Cera following him behind. After Zoe felt she was absolutely sure her shoe was completely 'sterilised' she quickly joined them as they looked at the horseshoe tracks Max found, "Looks like the trail leads to that mountain up ahead." Rex then said as he looked ahead to see a rather large mountain in the distance.

"We gotta hurry up and find him before the space pirates get him." Max then said firmly with determination.

"Then let's get a move on," Cera responded to him, "The sooner we hurry the sooner we can catch up." as she said that the 4 kids hurried as fast as they could along the dried up river trench as they headed for the foot of the mountain in the hope of finding Sanzo before he got himself into anymore trouble. The group of them soon came upon a rather dense forest which surrounded the mountains but they soon stopped as they heard the sounds of galloping coming in from the underbrush ahead of them.

"Huh?"

A loud neigh soon sounded out as a white horse with a saddle on its back charged out frantically and was heading straight at them like a bullet!

"Whoa!"

"Get out of the way!" Max and Rex gasped as they all leapt out of the horse's path as it zoomed past them and galloped off into the wilderness ahead!

Max soon looked up and let out a deep sigh, "Phew…that was close…." he wheezed finding that experience too close for comfort.

"Yeah….a second longer and we would have been roadkill…." Rex groaned as they all slowly got back up to their legs to recover from their close shave.

While they brushed off the dirt on their clothes, Zoe squinted her eyes a bit and got sight of the horse before it disappeared on the horizon, "That was his horse wasn't it?" she then asked.

"But where's Sanzo?" Max then asked looking around to see no trace of him anywhere nor hearing him either.

Cera then looked ahead to the mountain seeing the path they were on lead up a rather spiralling path which circled the entire base all the way to the peak above, "If it ran down he's gotta be higher up there….." she then said putting a finger to her chin in thought before narrowing her eyes, "Though that means he's now all alone and if the horse was running away in a panic, it could mean he's in gotten into trouble." she then said rather uneasily.

"That can't be good…." Rex then muttered as rather worried thoughts came upon the D Team kids fearing how helpless Sanzo would be if he ran into the pirates and their dinosaurs again without them to protect him.

Wanting to make sure the area was safe, Cera then took out her dinoshot and a card with it, "I'll send Miku for a better look." she said as she slashed the card on her dinoshot, "Dino slash! Microraptor! Shine!" Miku appeared on her shoulder and screeched loudly as Cera looked to her, "Go fly up and see what you can find." she instructed as the raptor nodded back at her before raising her feathered arms out and flapping them, riding an air current as she took off higher into the air where she soon vanished. A while had passed and soon she returned back to them and perched rather gracefully on Cera's arm before chirping back to her to which she then hardened her expression a bit upon hearing her news, "I see…." she said sounding a bit unfortunate at the news she received, which caught her teammates attention hinting it may not have been good news at all.

"Well? What did Miku find?" Rex then asked her curiously.

"Did she find Sanzo?" Max followed.

Cera sadly shook her head, "No, but she did say the main path leads up winding round the whole base of the mountain," she then replied as turned around to look at the mountain, "It'd take probably half a day on horse to the top." she then said narrowing her eyes, "And even longer if we follow on foot….." she concluded rather painfully considering it left the team with very few options.

"So what do we do now?" Max asked.

"Good question…." Cera replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

As Rex put a finger to his chin, calmly and carefully surveying their surroudings and the situation presented before them, he quickly snapped his finger as an idea came to mind, "Wait! I've got it!" he said out loud as the others turned to him.

"You do?" asked Zoe with interest as he nodded back to her.

"Yeah, it's a shortcut which should take us straight up and free from any obstacles along the way." he said confidently which made the others smile.

"Hey that sounds promising." Max grinned excitedly.

"What do you have in mind?" Cera then asked, though she and the others would soon regret asking.

Rex then pointed up straight ahead, "We climb that!" he said firmly as he aimed his finger at the mountain top!

A breeze of wind blew past them, as the D Team stared straight at the huge cliff which faced them before looking back to Rex again with raised eyebrows.

"You're kidding us….right Rex?" Max muttered giving him a look that made him think he was crazy.

"I know Max is the one who doesn't think before he acts and when he does it's usually something crazy and reckless," said Zoe which made him pout at her.

"Hey…."

"But for you to suggest we climb ALL the way up!? Have you lost it!?" she then cried out in exasperation.

"She's….got a point there Rex…." Cera nodded in agreement, having expected him to think better than that.

"I know it doesn't sound like a great idea, but it's the quickest and best way to the top!" he then said with assurance, "Also we won't be easily spotted by the pirates too."

"But if they do see us on the cliff and then attack us then we'd be doomed!" Max then cried with worry in his voice.

"Yeah, if any of us falls we'll go squish like a pancake!" Zoe added as she flailed her arms out.

Rex then folded his arms and eyed them all seriously, "You have any better ideas?" he then asked which was met with stunned silence, seeing as risky and crazy as his plan sounded, it also seemed like the most logical one and the only plan available to them too.

"….."

"It'll be fine, trust me. What's the worst it could be?" he then insisted.

A while had passed and after making their way through the first, the D Team finally met with the face of the huge cliff. Courageously, or rather reluctantly, Max grabbed onto one of the ledges before hoisting himself up, followed by the Zoe, Cera and then finally Rex and miraculously they made rather good progress for within half an hour they made it halfway up the rocky wall. Though they soon began to regret their decision as the winds began to pick up and the ledges became much harder to reach and steeper too!

"I can't believe we actually let you talk us into this Rex…." Cera grumbled in annoyance as she began to sweat under the sun's mercilessly rays and also feeling her energy slowly being sapped away, while the continued fear of falling haunting her with each step she took to go higher.

"This is why they have those signs on hiking trails that say 'For your safety stay on the path!" Max cried out his frustrations due to fatigue at climbing so high and out of sheer worry of falling too.

"We won't be able to catch Sanzo if we take the main path!" Rex cried back at him, "It's quicker to go straight up!"

"That doesn't make it any easier for us…." Cera groaned back at him as Miku gripped tighter onto her back in worry, digging her claws tighter with each step they took upwards, Cera could swear a few more and she'd end up drawing blood too.

"Guys…." Zoe then asked uneasily, "Wouldn't it be quicker to just summon a pteranodon, hop on its back and fly up?" she suggested agreeing with Max's point.

"Yeah but Zoe, if we fly up on a dinosaur the space pirates might see us!" Rex then countered once more.

"Right and since they're looking for Sanzo too they might follow us and could end up finding Sanzo before we do!" Max added agreeing with Rex's logic, but what would happen next would render it all null and void.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

"Huh?" Max looked up at the sound of the screaming which sounded ever so familiar. As the D Team followed where it came from, they saw Sanzo being tugged on at his robes as he was being carried upwards to the peak by Gavro the space pirate! "I know that scream!" Max gasped.

"Yeah it's Sanzo!" Zoe cried.

"And Gavro's got him!" Cera yelled pointing out at him as Miku's eyes slitted and she hissed with spite and hate.

"So much for finding him first…." Rex muttered seeing their climb may have been for nothing now.

Cera then clicked her tongue angrily at the pirate's heartless mistreatment of the poor monk, "Tch! No way am I letting that goon get away with that!" she hissed as she tightened her grip on the ledge she was on, before looking to her partner on her shoulder, "Miku! Follow them!" she said to the white dinosaur, who looked up to see Gavro and Sanzo leaving them and then looking down with concern at Cera and her friends as she let out an uncertain coo, "We'll be fine! Just go!" she then said insistingly to her. Taking a breath and narrowing her eyes, Miku jumped off Cera's back, stretching her arms and wings out wide she caught a rising air current which she used to propel herslef upwards as she pursued Gavro, who thankfully hadn't noticed her slowly closing in on him!

"Go for it Miku!"

"You've almost got him!"

"Don't give up!" Her friends cheered her on with bright smiles seeing she could actually pull it off.

Their hopes soon became crushed as a sudden gust of wind suddenly blew her off course and sent her spiralling upwards away into the clouds!

The D Team widened their eyes in horror at what they just saw, "Oh no!"

"Miku!"

Cora's heart began to race panickly as she tried to reach for her dinoshot which was down in her pants, "I'll have to call her back!" she cried out feeling overcome with emotion overriding all her safety instincts!

The others quickly looked to her in alarm at what she attempted to do, "No Cera! You can't! Not like this!"

"Yeah, you need both arms on the ledge if you're going to stay on it!" Rex and Max each yelled to her, hoping to stop her from acting rash and endangering herself, as well as the rest of them.

She gritted her teeth tensely with fear and worry, "But…."

"Cera it'll be fine!" Zoe insisted as she glared at her with assurance, "Miku's a really tough dinosaur! She'll be fine! I promise!" she said to her which made her think about it more clearly.

"Zoe…." she breathed in realisation her fired helped saved her from possible doom as she took a breath to calm herself down before narrowing her eyes hard, "Alright, first second we get up to the top, I'll recall her." she said firmly which made Zoe smile with relief that she was thinking clear again.

"Then let's hurry it up, sooner we get off this cliff the sooner we can get Miku back and then save Sanzo!" said Max as he reached up higher and pulled himself upwards, their determination to reach the top now made stronger with something else to accomplish once they did.

As she tried to reach the next ledge, a thought of worry for what Miku was going through distracted Cera momentarily as she missed her footing with one of her legs which then slipped down dangerously as she had to dig in her other foot and her hands into the mountain just to stabilise herself! "AH!"

Her friends looked to her in alarm, "Cera!"

She gritted her teeth and held firmly to the cliffside, "I'm fine! Just keep going!" she yelled to them, making sure they didn't get distracted with her and made the same mistake as she did.

Seeing the point she was making Max then nodded back at her from above, "Alright…." he said as he forced himself upwards.

"Be more careful, next time you might not be so lucky." said Rex to her as he managed to climb past her and Zoe.

Thinking about their words carefully and the bigger picture in mind, Cera closed her eyes then opened them with a clear mind seeing her priorities now, "They're right, I can't afford to worry about Miku right now, if I fall it's over for us both….." she said to herself as she pressed onwards with the others, not letting her emotions distract her or make her rush and make a careless mistake along the way. The entire time the D Team remained focused on the top as they pressed onwards, keeping their minds fixated on the goal.

After a while of climbing, Max eventually forced the last ounce of energy he had in him to hoist himself up to the ledge he grabbed and grunted out loudly as he pulled himself over! "Urgh!" As soon as he got up he looked around and widened his eyes un surprise, "Huh? It's the trail!" he gasped which caught the attention of everyone else down below him, especially Cera.

"It is!?" she gasped at his words, which then spurred her and the others to hurry upwards, pressing on despite the fatigue in their limbs, they assailed the wall and finally they all came up to the top and regrouped with Max.

"Our shortcut worked! We must be at the mountain's peak!" said Rex as he noted their surroundings.

"Which means, we must be near Sanzo too!" Zoe stated.

"Right! And the space pirates!" Max added seriously.

"From here on out we'd better stay alert and be ready for a fight at all times." said Cera with a firm tone as the others nodded with her. She then remembered what she had to do now that the wall was behind her, she was about to reach for her dinoshot and finally recall Miku, when Zoe suddenly cried out.

"Look it's Sanzo!" she said in alarm as she pointed ahead.

"Huh!?" As they all turned to look they found the monk in the most dire of situations, being surrounded by all 3 space pirates and at their mercy!

"There he is!" Max gasped.

"And Foolscap and Sheer are here too…." Rex hissed through his teeth seeing things were way worse than they first thought.

"Great, all 3 of them in 1 place, just what we need…." Cera grunted to herself seeing their hardships were never in short supply, like the universe wanted to make things difficult for them, which was really beginning to get on her nerves.

She didn't have much time to get angry at their predicament, when Sanzo's turned even more dire as Gavro held him up by the collar with his arm!

"AH!" They all gasped in alarm seeing he could get hurt really badly as they rushed off to save him!

"Okay monk! No more excuses get to it!" Gavro growled impatiently having had enough of Sanzo stalling, "Start chanting and move that rock!"

"You should do what he says Sanzo." Foolscap smirked in amusement.

"He's asking nicely." said Sheer rather menacingly.

"You don't wanna know what it's gonna be like if I have to get not nice!" Gavro growled impatiently, having already received humiliation from his comrades back at the ship he was already seconds from losing all self control and just one wrong word would set him off.

"And you don't want to know what it'll be like if you don't let him go!" Max then threatened as he and the gang came on the scene which made the pirates turn to them, "So put Sanzo Hoshi down right this second!" he demanded.

"Or else we'll make you!" Cera then yelled.

Sheer scowled rather hard to see the children come in to interfere once more, "Not you again…." she huffed with great displeasure.

"Well well, I must say these small sized humans are very persistent." Foolscap complimented with an amused smirk.

"Yeah and they don't give up either…." Gavro grunted in annoyance.

"You better believe it!" Cera yelled out as Max took out Chomp's card.

"Dino slash! Triceratops! Roar!" Chomp soon appeared on the field next to the D Team, poised and ready to fight, "Come on Chomp! Get in there and save Sanzo!" Max cheered him on as he roared out fiercely!

Before he could move in though, "STOP!" Sanzo shouted which surprised the children as Chomp held himself back.

"Huh?"

"I beg you! Do not fight!" he pleaded them desperately.

"But we're fighting for you Sanzo!" Zoe cried.

"How else are we going to get you back?" Cera then asked him.

Sanzo however remained steadfast and firm in his own beliefs and philosophy and had no intention of giving up on them either, "Children I know you think the only way to deal with these pirates is by fighting them." he then added the next bit sounding pained and hurt,"And that I can't be of any assistance, after all I remember what you said to me."

"AH!" Max widened his eyes and gasped, recalling what they told him, their honest feelings about how they felt about him and his ways….something they wished they could take back now that they understood how he truly felt.

Cera meanwhile narrowed her eyes, remembering they mentioned what they thought about his ideals not working and they'd only slow them down, no doubt it must have hurt Sanzo to hear that as much as they feel guilty about it now.

"But as I now will show you, words can be just as strong." Sanzo then said firmly with determination before courageously facing his captors, "Turn these children's parents to them and end this conflict once and for all, if everyone behaves peacefully then we can end this peacefully and live in peace."

Despite his strong front the pirates remained unmoved and disinterested, "If you want to achieve peace it's very easy! Just move the rock!" Gavro growled as he brought him over to the huge boulder that was before them all.

"Leave him alone!" Rex then yelled out angrily.

"Get you hand off him you coward!" Cera growled tensing up her fists which shook with uncontrollable rage.

"Sanzo!" Max cried.

Despite the D Team's words, Sanzo then yelled out back to them, "Stay away!" he pleaded surprising them all.

"Huh!?"

"Don't do anything! We must react peacefully to their acts of aggression." he said firmly to them.

"I haven't yet done an act of aggression. When I do you'll know about it." Gavro replied impatiently as he tightened his grip on the helpless monk!

"What do you think we should do?" Zoe asked uneasily.

"Maybe we should trust Sanzo and do what he says…." said Rex sounding rather unsure.

"Maybe…but we can't just let them hurt him…." Max

"But if we do move in and attack we'll just put him in even more danger." Cera then stated as she narrowed her eyes and observed the situation carefully, "Think about it, he'd get caught in the crossfire between dinosaurs and he could be hurt way worse than what they might do to him." she said at the end which made Max grit his teeth angrily seeing the tight spot they were put into.

"So what do we do?" he then asked her as a bead of tense sweat dropped from his forehead.

As they looked on Cera then narrowed her eyes noticing something about Sanzo. Despite being a sure pacifist, his heart and spirit was stronger than properly tempered steel and so were his beliefs. It was as if he knew the pirates wouldn't dare lay a finger on him because he knew they needed his cooperation and he was unyielding in every way possible. Seeing it in his eyes and his words, she then looked back to the others, "Actually…..I think maybe we should let things play out. Somehow I have the feeling his way may be better…." she said with a hard expression on her face.

Seeing who sure she was of herself, Max then nodded tensely back at her, "Alright…." he replied as he looked ahead with the others.

Soon enough, Cera's prediction came true much to her relief, "Hold on Gavro, this monk is one of those very stubborn meditator types which makes him very hard to convince." said Foolscap to his burly comrade, "Plus he knows that we'd never really hurt him because we need him to move that giant rock."

"I don't know…." Gavro replied feeling unsure if they should really listen to his demands.

It was then that Sheer came in with an idea of her own, "For once Foolscap is right." she Sheer smiling with a devious plan in mind, "I have another idea." she said which puzzled Gavro.

"Huh?"

"Move this rock for us and we'll set you and their parents free." she then proposed to the monk as he looked up at her in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Huh!?" The D Team gasped in surprise at what they heard Sheer say.

"Are they….serious?" Max asked but his question remained unanswered.

Cera narrowed eyes sensing something fishy was going on as she kept her guard up.

"Hold up Sheer!" Foolscap then spoke out loud, "Don't you know what the boss will do if we let them go!?"

"Yeah, he'll get real mad and scary…..brr…." Gavro then shivered.

She then smirked unfazed, "Relax you guys." she said to them calmly as if she had everything worked out already, "Way I see it we don't have any other choice." She said as she eyed Sanzo, "Its obvious this monk isn't going to budge no matter what we do to him, so apparently he's forced our hand."

"Forced our hand?" Gavro asked curiously, "Why? Our hands are free right now, well one of mine is but-" When Sheer crossed her fingers in front of them both he then realised what she was getting at, "Ah, I get it now." he said with a small smirk.

"Hehehehe….they're all gullible to the end." Foolscap snickered to himself rubbing his hands eagerly before they all focused on Sanzo Hoshi himself, "So Sanzo? What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Thinking it over carefully and seeing no other way for everyone to resolve this without a fight, Sanzo nodded back firmly at them, "Very well, but make sure you keep your word." he said to them with a nod deciding to risk everything for the children's parents.

Meanwhile the D Team held back tensely, unsure of how to respond or react now, "Is he actually going to move the rock for them?"

"And will the pirates really give our parents back?" asked Max and Zoe.

Cera narrowed her eyes, "Stay alert, I don't trust them for even a second." she said as Rex nodded with her.

"Yeah me too." he said before looking to Max next to him, "Max, you better call back Chomp," he suggested which surprised him, "Way I see it Sanzo wouldn't be able to perform at his best if he's out raring to go. Also we'd be putting him at risk too."

"But-"

"Do it Max." he then said to him firmly once more, "We won't get anywhere with violence, it's like Sanzo said, right now words may be our best bet at either our parents or the cosmos stone."

Seeing no other way of going about it, Max gritted his teeth before reluctantly holding out his dino bracer, "Tch! Fine…." he hissed as he pressed a button, "Chomp come back." With that his triceratops returned to card form and into his hand.

"That's better." Sanzo nodded in acknowledgment at Max respecting his decision before looking back to all 3 pirates, "Now put me down so I can chant without any hindrances, then we can all go home happy." he said to them firmly.

"Fine, but don't try anything or you'll regret it." Gavro warned as he lowered him back onto the ground. Stepping forward and mustering all his confidence and energy in his being, Sanzo sat down cross legged as he clapped his hands together and began chanting with every ounce of spirit in him, "That's a good monk, chant your words and move that rock." Gavro then muttered feeling deeply relieved they can finally get this over with.

The others watched intently to see what will happen leaving Sanzo completely focused so he could perform at his best.

"I'm not sure about this, do you guys really think he can do it?" Zoe asked her friends.

"Well he really believes his chanting will work." Max replied as he stared in amazement at how focused and clear minded he was being now as he chanted words none of them could understand, "He doesn't have any doubt…."

"Well we did sorta let him think it was his chanting that stopped the lava flow back at the volcano." Zoe then stated as Cera looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Volcano?" she asked suspiciously.

"It's a long story…." Rex sighed lowering his head wishing he could forget about that.

"Right! And earlier remember?" Max then pointed out, "Sanzo thought it was his chanting that made his hat shock me."

His statement made Cera raise an eyebrow wondering what had happened while they were separated, before she realised there was a bigger meaning to all this in the end, something that Max didn't yet.

"It's time he knew the truth, that his chants don't work." he said as he was about to run out and stop him from endangering himself, "Hey Sanzo-" Before he could rush in, Rex and Cera held him back, "Huh?"

"We shouldn't stop him." Rex replied calmly knowing after him coming this far and having made his choice they had to respect it too.

"I agree, Sanzo's so totally into this balance and harmony stuff. He's so focused and intense you know? Maybe his chanting affects things in ways we don't understand." Zoe added feeling he may actually be on to something, "Maybe he can move that rock!"

"Mhmm." While Cera didn't fully buy into the forces of the universe and harmony talk that Sanzo believed in, she had to admit there were many things in the world people couldn't understand so this could be one one those things. As he finished, the boulder mysteriously began to rumble much to everyone's surprise!

"LOOK!" Rex gasped.

"Wow!"

"It's…really moving!" Zoe and Max both exclaimed as the rock moved to the side revealing an entrance right behind it. Cera stared in amazement, no words could describe the feelings going through her after having just witnessed something incredible.

Sanzo then stood up and turned to the space pirates, "There! Your big rock has been moved! Now release these children's parents like you said you would do!" he then demanded. Unfortunately the pirates had no intention of honouring their end of the bargain or even any interest in him anymore, as they flew past him uncaringly much to his shock and disbelief.

"We'll get to that later!" Gavro muttered without a backward glance as he, Sheer and Foolscap flew inside.

"We've got something more important to do!" Foolscap added at the end as they disappeared into the darkness of the cave.

Sanzo then stared in complete and utter disbelief that everything he put his heart and soul into had turned out to be for nothing, "Oh but you promised!" he cried feeling deeply hurt inside.

Seeing them not only take a promise so lightly but even using it to take advantage of an innocent soul, made Cera clench her fist as unbridled anger began to build up inside her, "Tch! Those dirty liars!" she suspected they would pull a dirty trick but she hadn't expected them to trample over Sanzo's beliefs so carelessly.

Max however was more interested in Sanzo himself, taking back all the harsh words he said to him as he ran up to him, "How did you do that!?" he then asked with deep interest to which Sanzo didn't know how to respond with.

"Well.…I…."

Rex then ran up to him remaining Max they had more urgent matters to take care of, "Once they get the cosmos stone they're gonna time hop again and take our parents with them! We gotta stop them!" he said to him.

"Hold that thought! We'll be right back!" Max then said to Sanzo seeing his point as he, Rex and Zoe hurried inside after the pirates to stop them while they still could, leaving Sanzo alone to ponder over whether what he did really was the right call. He became confused and puzzled as to why his beliefs had failed him, was he really wrong this entire time, was he truly naive and blind to the truth of the world? Were the children really right about him being useless? He also felt guilty that now he had only helped the enemies of the children get what they came for and they had no intention of keeping their promise too. These thoughts began to clutter around in his once clear and pure mind of his, and would've taken over had it not been for a certain girl who then stood up before him.

"Hey Sanzo?" Cera asked as he blinked his eyes and looked to her.

"Hmm? Who might you be?" he asked her curiously having not noticed her earlier.

Cera then bowed in response giving him the respect he rightfully deserved, "I'm a friend of Max, Rex and Zoe." she said introducing herself, "I….just felt like I needed to say something…after seeing how firm you were in your beliefs and principles just now."

"Oh really? And what might that be?" he then asked her with interest.

She then scratched her cheek and looked away somewhat uneasily, "It's that….well…." she was unsure how she should put it or whether she should even say it, worrying whether Sanzo would be able to handle the truth she was about to share with him. She soon shook her head, accepting the fact it was hard that it had to be said, since Sanzo himself is too pure and naive and she didn't want him to be used again like just now. There was a chance it'd backfire but if it did succeed it would steel his resolve if it did work. Mustering all her courage inside her she then said her piece, "To be truthful, I think your ideals in avoiding conflict and making peace through words, kindness and diplomacy….it truly is an exceptional example of how we all should be. In fact from where we come from, it's a world filled with inequality and strife, not everyone is born equal, some may live in luxury or power and look down on those without them." she explained with a smile, "But to resolve conflict like how you did and bring peace to both sides, even bringing them to come to an understanding even if brief, it truly is something monumentally inspirational."

Sanzo opened his mouth with a speechless gasp as he then smiled, a tear shed from his eye at the purity of Cera as he bowed down with respect, "Your words are most kind." he said feeling more encouraged after being taken advantage of earlier.

"It's a really beautiful ideal and it's something I feel the world should come to accept." Cera nodded before turning serious, "But….every person is different and not everyone would accept it, in fact some might even reject it too like just now. Some may even willingly take advantage of your kindness without hesitation and they won't feel any kind of guilt or remorse after that. Those are the enemies we face and it's likely there will be more like them in the world too." As she said that, Sanzo's smile vanished and was replaced with a rather sad frown, "I'm sorry Sanzo….but….that's just how things are. Sometimes in a clash between reality and ideals, reality almost always comes out on top…."

"I see…." Was all he said next as he lowered his head. Cera couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at having to bring up this truth to a man who had been studying and living by his principles of years, only to now find out he was blind to the other truths of the world too. "You know, you actually reminded me of something I once heard of back in my training days." He then said with a serious tone, "Yin and Yang, where there's light and good there will always be darkness and evil too, that is true spiritual balance and the way of the world too. It is a hard truth to accept….but it's one that I needed to be reminded of." He said closing his eyes before opening them again with firmness in them, "But no matter what hard trials I shall face, I refuse to give up on my beliefs." He clenched one of his hands into a fist, "Even though compassion and harmony won't solve everything, without that, the world would be forever seeped in negativity and it would not be one worth living in. I believe there will always be people who can listen to reason and accept them too, and I'll never know unless I try too." he said determinedly with newfound resolve and wisdom in his voice and heart.

A smile soon came upon Cera as soon as she saw this new side of him, "I couldn't agree more." she said to him as she held a thumbs up in approval at his mature and wise response, "The world really needs balance and people should be more like you, never giving up and hoping for the best too. Even if some don't agree that doesn't mean we ought to as well. Your ideal of everyone living in perfect harmony, it will be a challenging dream to reach," she then said with a small frown before smiling once more, "But that won't mean it's impossible. No matter how hopeless it may be, long as we don't give up I'm certain in the end we'll all succeed, if anyone can teach that philosophy and pass that dream on to future generations it'll no doubt be you Genzo Sanzo Hoshi."

"Such fine words from a fine young child as yourself." Sanzo responded to her once more, "It does fill me with hope for the future in more ways than you can believe."

The 2 of them shared a happy moment with each other, each having made the other wiser in their own way. But it didn't last long as the skies suddenly turned colourful signalling a battle had brewed and loud roaring echoed from the cave inside! "Ah! A battle!" Cera then gasped in alarm before looking back to Sanzo, wondering if she should leave him alone out here.

He then shook his head as if he already knew what she was thinking, "Go, your friends need you now." he said to her with assurance, "Be careful and may fortune smile on you all."

Staring at him momentarily, she then nodded with affirmation at her words, "Thank you Sanzo." she said gratefully before running inside the cave to help her fiends.

As she disappeared into the darkness, Sanzo couldn't help but smile back at her courage, youth and wisdom, "She is wise in ways even I doesn't understand." he said feeling grateful for the lesson she had taught him today, one he would remember for years to come, "It seems there is still much I need to learn after all."

 **(Meanwhile)**

Hidden in a vast sea of clouds on the very same mountain she was blown up from, Miku suddenly shot down through the clouds with a panicked expression in her eyes! She feared that not only she had been spiralling out of control since getting blown off course and was now lost, she also feared she may never see Cera again. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts as a grove of fruit trees soon came into view, and pulling up her arms she managed to gain control of herself as she managed to glide down in a spiral turn before landing on a tree trunk! She let out a sigh of relief, glad she could finally latch onto something and secure herself to and finally being safely out of the sky. She then climbed higher, aiming for a certain outstretched branch higher above.

As she climbed up to it, she then perched on it and looked over her surroundings, seeing mystical clouds blowing by in the calming breeze, a garden of eden soon came into view all around her. She didn't why, but the sight of it all filled her with a sense of peace and security, a true luscious paradise untouched by the hands of man and no doubt kept safe from its greedy hands. She rested easy on the branch and soon noticed a fruit hanging nearby from where she stood. Despite being a carnivore, scanning her surroundings and sniffing the air, she couldn't find any trace of a small lizard or even a bug for miles and her stomach began to grumble as she felt a need to fill her empty belly with food and water, and with only fruit around she gulped down hard knowing she had to suck it up and take what she could get, after all beggars can't be chooser. Also she needed her energy back if she was to have any chance at finding Cera after this.

She hopped over to the hanging fruit perched at the end of the branch, and just as she was about to lean her head down to take a bite of its juicy rich flesh, "Hello! Is anyone here!?" an elderly voice suddenly cried out through the mist which disturbed the peaceful silence and made Miku look up from he perch as she surveyed her surroundings. At first she was wary at the fact that there was someone else in this glade with her, but as the voice spoke out again, she became more lax as she recognised it and then leaped off her perch in search of where it came from. Further off in the distance, Dr Z, now spiriting himself with a pole, stumbled into view as he made his way through the misty landscape as he tried to figure where he was after falling from such a great height earlier above, "Where on Earth am I?" he grumbled, "I can't see a thing through all these clouds…."

It didn't take long for the clouds to finally disperse, and when they did his heart skipped a beat and he gained the biggest smile he ever had in his life as a vibrant garden appeared before his eyes, "Whoa! A fruit orchard! This must be Lotus Land! I've found it!" he cheered as he dropped the pole he was leaning on as energy filled every fibre of his being, "Hooray! Eternal youth and life here I come! Yippee!" he cheered before letting his long dormant youthful enthusiasm take over him completely as he ran off deeper into the orchard to find the right fruit which would grant him immortality and thus an eternal reign as the dinosaur king! His excited squeals hadn't gone unnoticed by Miku, who had just landed on a branch on a tree behind him as he ran through the grove. Eying him like a bird of prey, she looked her eyes onto him before sighing to herself, knowing she couldn't leave him alone otherwise he'd cause a whole lot of damage. Reluctantly she leapt off the branch and glided after him to keep a close eye on the old man to make sure he didn't bring any harm to himself or the grove.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Cera rushed in as fast as she could after hearing the sounds of roaring and fighting going on in the cave! As she came in closer she stopped and widened her eyes at the immense brutality playing before her, where Chomp was lying down hurt, Ace was fighting hard against a lanzhousaurus in order to protect him as he recovered. On the other side further ahead, a very different battle was playing out where the roles were reversed, though Cera wasn't too sure if that was a good thing. Ahead Tank was fighting fiercely against a carcharodontosaurus and despite their size difference she clearly had the upper hand as she struck her tail at its unprotected stomach multiple times while it was on the ground!

"Oh boy….." Cera gulped as a bead of sweat wrinkled down her cheek, "Why's Tank gotten so crazy all a sudden?" she asked herself taking a step back rather nervously. She knew Tank was aggressive, but not to the point she be so merciless, in fact she was almost beginning to feel sorry for the carcharodontosaurus she was beating up one sidedly as she effortlessly avoiding its attacks and countered where it hurt most! She began to wonder what the enemy dinosaur did to anger her so much, till she widened her eyes in realisation at a possible theory, "Wait….could it be-"

Rex soon shouted out to Zoe which snapped her out of her thoughts before she could think, "We'll hold them Zoe! You go after the cosmos stone!" he said to her seriously, "If we can get it before they do, we can exchange it for our parents!"

"I'm on it!" Zoe responded to him as she ran ahead quietly sneaking past the battling dinosaurs before heading to the opening at the end of the tunnel.

Unfortunately, she hadn't gone unnoticed by Foolscap, who looked down and noticed she was breaking away from the group and heading to the other end of the tunnel, "Now where is she running off to hmm?" he asked himself putting a finger to his chin in thought before smirking sinisterly, "Ah, trying to beat us to the cosmos stone? Well not if I can help it!" he grinned as he followed after her.

Fortunately for Zoe, Foolscap hadn't gone unnoticed by Cera as she narrowed her eyes and rushed ahead after them, "I'd better back her up." she thought to herself as she shadowed the enemy pirate from behind to make sure he didn't try anything funny.

Up ahead Zoe saw the violet cosmos stone sitting gently on a pedestal in the center of a chamber. She reached her hand out for it but before she could grab hold of it, unaware of the danger it'd possess if she did, a snare suddenly shot out from out of nowhere and snatched it out of her reach at the last second! "AH! NO!" she gasped as she looked ahead to see it dangling at the end of Foolscap's line!

"Too bad kid! So close yet so very far! Heh!" he snickered as he waved it mockingly at her before taking off with it!

"Get back here!" Zoe then shouted as she gave chase, but lagged dangerously behind him as Foolscap grinned back at her.

"Hehehehe…." he snickered deviously seeing how easily he outpaced her and was about to make a quick get away with the cosmos stone, if it wasn't for an unexpected last line of D Team defence!

"Hold it right there!" a voice shouted from the tunnel which made him stop in surprise.

"Hmm?"

Standing at the entrance of the tunnel was Cera, with a very enraged expression as she held her arms out stretching from one end of opening to the other, "I'm not gonna let you leave here with that stone!" he yelled threateningly as she hardened her gaze at the fleeing pirate.

Foolscap however grinned in response unable to see how she could back up her words, "Oh yeah? And just how do you plan on stopping me huh?" he snickered mockingly at her, which served as the last straw for Cera as something sapped inside her.

"Simple! Like this!" she responded holding out a card and dinoshot before slashing it furiously, "Dino slash! Blaze tyrannosaurus!" Appearing on the field before her and in front of the fleeing space pirate was Terry in full size as he roared out furiously, causing Foolscap to back away nervously!

"WAAAH!" He screamed sweating bullets as he backed off narrowly avoiding Terry from snapping him, though his troubles were far from over.

"And don't you dare forget about me!" Zoe yelled out from behind much to Foolscap's surprise after having barely recovered from the shock he got from seeing Terry!

"Eh?"

She then took out her card, "Go! Dino slash! Parasaurolophus! Bloom!" Slashing it Paris appeared in full size and bellowed loudly as the 2 of them had him cornered on both sides much to his annoyance as he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Grrgh!"

"Give it up Foolscap! You're outnumbered and trapped!" Zoe yelled angrily.

"Surrender now while you still have the chance, maybe we'll go easy on you." Cera added in a more calm manner.

Despite being surrounded Foolscap clenched his hand into a fist which shook tensely with anger, he worked hard to get this stone and went through plenty of trouble so he wasn't going to come quietly to anyone, "Grr! I'm not gonna give up this cosmos stone without a fight! Especially not to you!" he retorted looking to both girls one after the other, before smirking sinisterly at Cera, "But you'll get this instead! Acrocanthosaurus!" Placing a card to his head band, an orange acrocanthosaurus appeared on the field and roared out angrily towards Terry who snarled back at it! "And next up! Ampelosaurus!" He grinned turning to Zoe next as he placed the next card on his activator, calling forth a blue sauropod with yellow spines surrounding its body as it bellowed out to Paris who backed away cautiously.

"Tch!" Both girls hardened their expressions seeing they had to get past his dinosaurs first if they were to have even the slightest hope of stopping them.

Seeing how uneasy they were made Foolscap snicker in amusement as he shrugged his shoulders, "Tell you what, since we've already got 2 stones, if you can beat me I MIGHT consider giving this up and make even tell you where your folks are." He said wagging his finger playfully while holding up the violet cosmos stone and waving it teasingly at them.

Zoe gritted her teeth knowing he was teasing them or giving them false hope no doubt, but even so they intended to take it from him by force when this battle is over with, "Don't forget you said that!" she yelled punching her arm forward, "Get in there Paris and make him talk!" She yelled as Paris bellowed and charged ahead.

"Show em who's apex predator Terry!" Cera followed as the tyrannosaurus charged in to join the fight and back Paris up!

Paris meanwhile rushed in and managed to headbutt the ampelosaurus backwards. As it stumbled back and regained its footing, it swiftly turned around and swung its massive tail at her, in response she quickly leapt back and out of the way in time! She tried to headbutt once more, but the sauropod was ready for her this time as it shifted sideways and swung out its back spikes which slammed into her face as she stumbled back! "No Paris!" Zoe cried out seeing the spikes had hit her face hard and knocked her off balance!

"Hehehe…" Foolscap snickered in amusement but as he turned to to his other dinosaur his smile quickly vanished as she saw a different kind of battle taking place, "Huh?"

Terry meanwhile was faring much better against his opponent compared to Paris. The 2 large carnivores chomped at one another's heads but each barely managed to avoid the other's jaws clamping down on them! The acrocanthosaurus was then able to bite down on Terry's neck as he roared out in anger, causing him to shake off his enemy with ease! After that while the acrocanthosaurus was recovering from getting thrown off, Terry rushed in and clamped down from under its throat before smashing it mercilessly into the ground! "Awesome! Great job Terry!" Cera cheered as he held down the enemy dinosaur with little effort as it thrashed and kicked out to no avail!

The scene didn't please Foolscap one bit and seeing Paris use her horn to send a sonic wave to disorient hid ampelosaurus, he knew that was the time to take things up a notch! "Tch! Now seems like a good time for Spectral armour!" Foolscap called out as he added the armour cards to his activator, causing both his dinosaurs to glow brightly as their marks shone! The glaring light forced Terry to release his opponent and back away while Paris who was charging then stopped in her tracks as the light blinded her eyes!

As they both recovered and could see again, their armoured enemies caught the, off guard and counterattacked! The acrocanthosaurus swung out its tail and knocked Terry into a nearby wall while the Ampelosaurus turned sideways and thrusted a shoulder bash into Paris as she fell to the ground hurt!

"Oh no!" Zoe widened her eyes and sweated uneasily seeing they were losing again.

Despite the odds, Cera remained undeterred as it only spurred her to try harder, "Zoe! Let's match them armour with armour!" She quickly yelled to her as she nodded in response.

"Good idea!" she replied as they took out their element boosters.

"Dino-tector on!" They both cried equipping their dinosaurs with armour as they rushed in for round 2!

Armoured up Paris smashed heads with ampelosaurus before swinging out her tail and knocking it to the ground! "That's the way to go Paris! Keep it up!" Zoe cried out punching forward.

Terry managed to bite onto the acrocanthosaurus' tail, but his enemy snapped onto his next and threw him out at the wall! Despite that Terry was able to shift his legs at the cave wall and kick back at it, spinning like a torpedo and catching his foe off guard from behind as it crashed close to where Paris was ramming her head into ampelosaurus' stomach!

"Grr! Persistent bunch aren't you?" Foolscap hissed clenching his fist before scrunching up his hair, "This is why I hate kids, they just don't know when to give up!" He ranted out loud in frustration.

"Guess that makes us slow leaners then." Cera replied.

"That's right and we're never going to stop trying until we stop you for good!" Zoe yelled punching forward which served to push Foolscap into trying harder, something he disliked very much.

"Tch! In that case maybe this should convince you to quit while you're ahead!" he growled picking up a fire move card and activating it, "Burst of flames!" Glowing, the acrocanthosaurus turned around and shot out a stream of flames like a flamethrower towards Paris as she turned around in alarm!

"Paris get out of the way!" Zoe warned worriedly as her dinosaur jumped out in time, thus giving time for ampelosaurus to kick back up onto its feet!

"Now for you!" Foolscap growled seeing Cera next, upon his yell the acrocanthosaurus fired back at Terry as he narrowed his eyes at the incoming fire attack!

"Time to fight fire with fire!" Cera yelled back in defiance as she took out a move card and slashed it, "Volcano burst!" Terry roared glowing red as he gathered fire in his jaws and blasted it out, both fire attacks collided but Burst of flames soon pushed through and soon blanketed Terry in a sea of flames as he roared out in pain! "No Terry!" She then gasped in alarm as he slumped down weakened while steaming from the attack! Clearly she miscalculated her opponent's power levels and should had gone for a stronger move.

"Don't worry Cera! We've got your back!" Zoe then cried out seeing she needed help, "Nature's blessing!" She then slashed the card as Paris began to shroud herself in leaves and tried to send them out to heal Terry"

Foolscap however knew what she was up to and didn't plan to let her get away wi it, "Uh uh uh! Can't have that now can we!?" He grinned adding a water move card next! "Bermuda triangle!" Ampelosaurus bellowed loudly before gathering a giant sphere of red water which poured down on Paris making her bellow out in pain as her move got cancelled and slowly she was suffocating under the immense pressure exerted on her!

"No!" Zoe cried out fearing Paris' wellbeing! "Paris get out of there!" She pleaded but no matter how hard she struggled she couldn't find a way to escape the water trap she was in.

"Ahahahaha! That'll teach you kids to know your place!" Foolscap laughed out loud boastfully as the acrocanthosaurus disregarded Terry and went to join its comrade ampelosaurus in watching Paris suffer.

As the enemy dinosaurs focused on the helpless parasaurolophus, Cera narrowed her eyes furiously in disgust at their enemies ganging up on her friend, that was the last straw in her book, "Big mistake..." She hissed under her breath clenching her fist furiously. As she did so, Terry opened her eyes and he snarled viciously as he slowly got up to his feet.

"Y...You stay away from Paris you creep!" Zoe cried out shaking with fear as Foolscap gave her a sinister smirk.

"Why don't you come and make me?" He snickered as his dinosaurs prepared to unleash the final blow! The acrocanthosaurus glowed red and attempted to fire burst of flames at Paris while she was still struggling to keep her head above the water while ampelosaurus continued to put the water pressure on her! "Maybe now you'll see not to mess with us and our plans." He grinned.

"Wrong! All you did was make us all the more determined to take you down!" Cera yelled from behind catching him by surprise.

"Hmm? Come again?" He asked turing to her before gasping to see Terry had gotten back up on his feet again as he roared out in anger!

"You let your guard down and now you'll pay the price!" Cera yelled furiously as she activated the move that was perfect for this scenario, "Blazing spin attack!" Terry roared and rushed forward with fire gathered in his mouth. His roar made the acrocanthosaurus turn around only to get blasted in the face by Terry's flames! Roaring in pain it stumbled back only for Terry to bite down on its neck and swing it around before throwing it into ampelosaurus as they both were sent crashing away across the cave floor!

"Wh…What the!?" Foolscap exclaimed in shock as he pulled on his hair in a panic!

"Alright!" Zoe cheered clapping her hands with hope as the water engulfing Paris vanished now that ampelosaurus was no longer controlling it. After that Terry walked over and helped her up to her feet as Cera regrouped next to Zoe who let out a sigh of relief, "Phew, thanks Cera." She said gratefully to her smiling friend.

"Don't mention it Zoe, that's what friends are for."

"Mhmm." Zoe nodded before they both turned seriously to both enemy dinosaurs who were struggling to get back up.

"Now to finish this!" Zoe said as she took out a move card, "Ultimate leaf!"

"Ultimate fire!" Cera followed up as Paris and Terry both charged up with grass and fire energy before rushing in, smashing into ampelosaurus and acrocanthosaurus respectively and sending them crashing across the floor before returning to cards defeated!

"Ahahaha!"

"We won!" They cheered happily as their dinosaurs roared in triumph!

Fooslcop though didnt share in their celebration as he fluttered over tk the cards and picked them both up, "Grrr!" He growled furiously which made them look up to him, "One of these days I'm gonna get you for this you meddling twerps!" He then swore.

"Alright Foolscap the jig is up!" Zoe then yelled seriously before pointing at him, "Cough up the stone right now!" As she said so Cera shot a glare at him while Paris and Terry both snarled.

Despite the threat he was facing Foolscap soon shrugged his shoulders and began to snicker, "Hehehe, did you actually think I'd give up the stone so easily?" He grinned before sticking his tongue out at them at them, "I only said I might, but I'm not going to! Sorry but it's your loss and not mine! Hahahaha!" He then laughed as he took off for the exit behind him much to Zoe and Cera's frustration!

"Hey! Get back here!" Zoe yelled as she ran after the fleeing pirate.

"Why you dirty liar!" Cera yelled swearing she wouldn't let him get away with it, "You're not getting off that easy!" As they both chased after him Terry and Paris both roared out enraged too before joining the hunt.

As he looked back Fooslcap sweated anxiously realising he may have bitten off more than he could chew as the 2 angered girls and their even more enraged dinos looked like they would crush him without hesitation! "Tch!" He was actually planning on giving up the stone to save his own skin, when he looked ahead and brightened up to see help had arrived for him!

"What's the holdup Foolscap?" Sheer grumbled impatiently as she showed up with Gavro at the end of the tunnel.

"Sheer! Gavro! I've got it!" He cried out gasping in relief as he held up the stone to them.

Seeing it made Sheer smirk pleased, "Excellent." She nodded while Gavro frowned in disappointment.

"Aww I wanted to get it…." He pouted while twiddling his fingers.

"Heh, too bad too sad, better luck next time." Foolscap snickered while wagging his finger. Hearing a loud roar behind him made him sweat as he realized now wasn't the time to gloat, "Now quick, we've gotta make sure they don't follow us or else they'll ruin everything!" He then cried sweating in a panic as the girls and their dinosaurs soon began to charge in after them!

"I know what to do!" Gavro then spoke up suddenly punching his fist inot the palm of his hand as an idea clicked in his smaller than average brain, "HA!" Hovering to the side he swung out a right hook which sent a shockwave through the wall and then causing the ceiling to collapse down which made Zoe and the others stop in their tracks knowing they couldn't get any nearer!

"Ah!"

"Oh no!" They gasped in shock while Paris and Terry bakded away seeing it could be very unsafe.

"Wow, you actually thought of something smart for once." Foolscap commented impressed and surprised as Gavro smirked and folded his arms proudly.

"About time, now let's get out of here." Sheer muttered as she took off down the tunnel with the other 2 pirates tailing after her.

At the other side, the rick fall soon settled and before the D Team was a tunnel entrance blocked off by several large boulders and rocks with no way of getting through much to their disappointment. "They've sealed off the entrance…." Cera said narrowing her eyes while Zoe fell to her knees .

"No...No! I wont let it end like this!" She cried out loud almost tearing up at coming so close and doing her best yet to come up woth nothing once more. Desperate she looked to her partner for help, "Paris! See if you can clear those rocks! Maybe we can still catch up with them!" She cried as the parasaurolophus rushed over to try and push some of the rocks away, digging at them with her front forelimbs. Not wanting to stand around doing nothing, Terry stomped ahead and tried to push at some of the larger one with his head.

Despite their best efforts Cera could see they wouldn't make it in time as she sighed with reluctance as she put a hand on Zoe's shoulder, "It's no use, by the time we clear this debris they'd be long gone….." She said painfully.

Zoe gritted her teeth angrily but soon calmed herself down with a breath seeing she was right and getting fussed up over what they couldn't do wouldn't help them, as she let out a deep sigh, "Rats….." Taking a moment to breath and Cera patting on her back, she then calmly opened her eyes back to Cera, "Let's just….meet back with the others…." She said seeing that regrouping with the gang was the best thing they could do for the time being.

"Yeah, I suppose it's all we can do now…." Cera nodded back in agreement as they returned their dinosaurs to their cards and backtracked to where Max and Rex were.

As they came back they saw Chomp had struck down lanzhousaurus with ultimate thunder while Tank was able to beat carcharodontosaurus with ultimate earth! As the 2 enemy dinosaurs returned to their cards, Cera then smiled feeling rathe happy for them as they were recalled back to their owners, "Well at least things worked out on their end here." she said to herself seeing it wasn't a total loss at least now they live to fight another day.

As Rex leaned over to pick up lanzhousaurus while Max went to get the carcharodontosaurus, "Max! Rex!" Zoe called out to them as she and Cera came up to the 2 boys who looked to them both, "Bad news…." she said rather guiltily before forcing out the next half of her sentence, "The space pirates snatched the cosmos stone." the words she uttered were like sharp daggers to her heart.

"AH!?" Max and Rex both gasped in alarm as Cera lowered her head and clenched her fist, feeling raw at how close too they were only to be swindled out of it too.

"They pulled a dirty trick on us right when we hand them too…." she clicked her tongue looking away, feeling ashamed of herself and unable to look at her friends when they were counting on them, "Just thinking about it really boils me up inside….." she then gritted her teeth after coming so far to end up with nothing.

"Then they're long gone now…." Rex then sighed feeling rather down and disappointed at their 3rd loss in a row for a cosmos stone.

"We're sorry…." Zoe apologised lowering her head sadly while Cera went to pat her back encouragingly, though it didn't seem to help either of them that much.

What Max said soon surprised them both, "It's okay." he said as they looked up at him, "It's not your fault, you did great." he said smiling rather laxly while folding his arms behind his head, "We'll catch up with them again, as long as we stay positive and balance we'll all be okay." he then added looking to all his friends hoping to lift their spirits and not let this defeat set them back.

Thinking over what he said, Cera soon smiled seeing he had indeed matured from his usual self, for despite having lost 3 stones he was still strong spirited and was seeing it from a calmer point of view. "Well said Max…." she complimented him seeing that he still held onto hope and that was most important of all.

While Rex took a little more time to think over his words, Zoe soon smiled lightly in agreement with him, "You're right…." she said deciding to hold onto hope and not give up.

"Very good little monkey king." a calm and kind voice said behind the D Team which made them look. As they did they saw a smiling Sanzo Hoshi come in to greet them, "You're not letting defeat anger you or frustrate you. You're choosing to stay balanced and calm. I've taught you all well." he said feeling proud at their growth and new outlook on things.

"I guess you did Sanzo." Zoe replied to him while blushing slightly feeling touched as well by his wise words.

Cera too couldn't help but smile hearing Sanzo's words of wisdom, but at the same time he also came to accept the truth that not everything can be resolved peacefully and that fighting may be unavoidable at times, though in such cases it would mean that there are things worth fighting for too. At that point she recalled Sanzo calling Max the monkey king, and after thinking back on the old story book she had came across in Zoe's room one time, she began to piece things together seeing it was her friends who inspired the story which then passed onto the present day. Picturing each of them as the animal characters in the story made her snicker to herself in amusement.

"Hey what's so funny all a sudden?" Max then asked her rather suspiciously having overheard her, which made her stutter a bit realising she was actually thinking out loud.

"Oh! It's….ummm…." she sweat dropped nervously and scratched the back of her head nervously, wondering how she could excuse or explain herself to them. She was just about to confess, the she widened her eyes and realised she had forgotten something incredibly important, "Ack! I just remembered! I have to get Miku back!" she gasped which then shocked the rest of her friends as they realised they forgot too!

"AH!"

"Uh oh….." Max and Zoe mouthed out uneasily.

"It's been a while since we last saw her." said Rex tensing up slightly before looking to Max and Zoe, "You don't think…."

Not wanting to finish Rex's sentence she decided to go on ahead, "Sorry guys, but I'll have to go now. I have to find her quick before anything happened to her." she said as she began to run outside to the cave entrance hoping to find her partner before it was too late. Before she reached it, she stopped and looked back at Sanzo Hoshi, "And Sanzo, thank you for everything…." she said as she bowed with respect.

"You are….most welcome…." he replied rather confused of what was going on, before smiling back and bowing too, "And thank you as well, for your courage and wisdom too." he said with both respect and gratitude to the one who helped open his eyes.

"Mhmm." Cera smiled and nodded back at him before making her way out of the cave to find her partner, leaving the D Team to care for Sanzo and hopefully bring him back home too.

Blinking their eyes curiosuly, they all then looked back at the wise old monk with interest, "What was that about Sanzo?" Zoe asked him as he smiled back at her.

"Oh I was merely paying my respects to a very wise girl." he answered her before looking ahead to see Cera disappear at the end of the tunnel, "One who has helped me realised how inexperienced I am about the world and how there is much more I need to learn too. Something I have been made painfully aware of….but am no less than grateful." he concluded.

"I see….." said Rex before smiling happy for him.

"That's a great way to look at things." said Max while Zoe nodded, seeing that no one would ever be too old to learn new things, but for Cera to teach him of all people something was really amazing too.

"Wait so…." a voice spoke out behind them which made them turn around, there standing before them shaking nervously and pointing at him was Ursula, Zander and Ed who were stunned and shocked to see the legendary monk himself, whom they heard about in books and impersonated this whole time was now standing before them, "You're the….real Sanzo Hoshi?" Ursula croaked weakly.

"The travelling monk who everyone makes a huge deal of!?" Zander gulped while Ed just shivered speechlessly at how much trouble they were in for taking advantage of his identity.

Sanzo blinked his eyes in surprise, "Why yes….yes I am fellow travellers." he said back to them.

It was then that Max recalled the trouble they caused to villagers all around China because of them trying to impersonate Sanzo as he widened his eyes and pointed at them, "Hey! I just remembered! You guys pretended to be Sanzo and his followers so you could trick everyone and get them to give you royal treatment!" he yelled angrily at them.

Rex and Zoe soon realised it too as they both shot angry glares at the 3 stooges, "That's right! You guys should be ashamed at yourselves!" They said to them which made them flail their arms out frantically as they screamed their heads off!

"WAAAAH!"

Sanzo then blinked his eyes, "Oh? Are these the imposters who tried to misuse my good name for their own selfish purposes?" he asked looking at the D Team then back at the Alpha gang, narrowing his eyes into a crossed expression.

Seeing they were caught red handed in the act, Zander and Ed looked away whistling innocently while Ursula twiddled her fingers rather insecurely while smiling most nervously, "W…Well…err…you see…." she choked unsure of what proper response to use, if there was one.

The D Team weren't about to let them off so easily this time, "You guys caused a lot of trouble for so many people you know that!?" Max then yelled as he threw his arm out in frustration.

"Yeah! What were you thinking!?" Rex growled shaking a fist at them in anger.

"Oh wait that's right, you weren't at all!" Zoe concluded at the end hardening her gaze into a scowl as she leaned in folding her arms on her hips crossly!

"Gaah!" They cried turning pale at having their crimes being blurted out to them, which then made them all lower their heads in shame.

Sanzo then clapped his hands which made everyone present look to him, "Now now children, there is no need for fighting, remember it won't solve anything." he said to them calmly while also being firm too. As they thought about it they then sighed seeing he had a point as they cooled themselves down, seeing getting angry with them now wouldn't solve anything at this point.

"Yeah…you're right Sanzo."

"I guess…." They said to him as they calmed down, much to the relief of the Alpha gang who then let out a deep sigh of relief while also grinning with glee that they got out of it scot free.

"Phew…."

"Heheh I didn't think they'd take it so easily."

"Lucky us." Unfortunately they didn't count on Sanzo himself stepping in to discipline them as he wasn't about to overlook their misdeeds.

"As for you lot." he said which surprised them.

"Huh?"

He shook his head with disapproval, "I can see you are all deeply misguided in your actions, therefore I shall be kind enough to open your eyes and bring you all to enlightenment." he said as he clapped his hands together preparing for what may be his biggest and most powerful chant of all.

The Alpha gang widened their eyes and tuned pale as ghosts fearing what kind of mystical mojo he'd be casting upon them, "Wha!?"

"Oh?" The D Team couldn't help but look on with interest to see what would happen next.

"Now I shall call forth the powers of harmony to bring you all to balance, may you completely renounce your crooked ways forever and walk upon a new and righteous path." said Sanzo with clarity and determination as he began to chant.

The Alpha gang then screamed out loud seeing what he was about to do, "WAAAH!" instantly they knelt down before him, prostrating themselves as they pleaded for mercy.

"No! No! Please! Anything but that!"

"We've learnt the error of our ways we swear!"

"So please don't cast your mystical mojo on us! We beg of you!" They cried out loud as Sanzo stopped and blinked his eyes surprised at how easily and quickly they already repented, even he was surprised at how powerful his incantations may actually be.

"Well what do you know, it actually did work." Zoe whistled impressed.

"Yeah, maybe we should do this more often with them, it should get them to behave better too." Rex smirked in amusement.

"We're really sorry great monk!" Ursula then cried while bawling her eyes out, "We only did it because we wanted to find the legendary Lotos Land and the magical fruit that grows in it!" She cried as Zander and Ed both hugged one anther and tears spewed out of their eyes like a fountain.

Sanzo blinked his eyes seeing they were a rather strange lot indeed, "I see….." he then picked himself up and eyed seriously at them, "Well it would do me no good to hold a grudge against mere troublemakers like yourselves, so I shall forgive you, so be grateful for that." he said to them as their eyes brightened up with gratitude.

"Oh thank you very much!"

"We are forever in your debt!"

"Though for adults to fall for the childish legend of Lotos Land? Oh how I feel for this lot to have been misguided by an old myth…." Sanzo meanwhile thought to himself shaking his head feeling pity for them at being so gullible, maybe even more than he had been.

"Wow they really are buying this…." Max thought to himself before covering his mouth, failing to suppress his laughter which was hinted by snickering and a grin, "Wish I had my camera so I could record this too, it'd be priceless hehe…." he thought to himself before turning back to Sanzo seeing there was one last task they had to do before they chase after their enemies, "Well Sanzo, I think it's time we helped you climb back down the mountain and bring you back to your disciples." he said offering a hand to the old monk.

"I really am touched by your kindness children." he said to them politely, "But really, there is no need for you to go through so much trouble for me, when you all have your own journey to accomplish." he then said.

Rex however shook his head in response, "Hey we've come this far, we might as well see it through." he said.

"Plus you've helped us quite a lot and we've really enjoyed our time together, so it's the least we can do for you." said Zoe to him which made him gasp in surprise at how selfless they were too.

"Thank you….I shall ever forget this act of kindness nor would I be able to repay it." he then said to them with sincerity as he bowed.

"And you'll never need to." Rex replied to him with a genuine smile as they lead him out of the cave to the entrance. Before leaving, they turned to loopback at the trio who jumped in surprise at his hard look at them, "Meantime you guys should go look for Dr Z." Rex suggested to them before they headed for the mountain path outside the cave to the village.

It was then the A Team widened their eyes in shock that they were so focused on Lotos Land they forgot all about their boss, "Hey that's right!"

"Yeah how could we forget!? That space pirate nabbed him and now he's gone!" Ursula and Zander both exclaimed in disbelief.

"We'd better go find him before he gets in big trouble!" Ed suggested as they headed for the entrance too.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back in Lotos land, Dr Z was climbing over a precariously perched branch which lead down into the vast sea of clouds below, greed having overcome his sense of caution as he reached out his arm for the biggest fruit he could see in the entire orchard, "That's the one I want!" he grunted as he stretched his hand out, gritting his teeth seeing it was so close yet still far out of his reach which frustrated him deeply, "It's twice the size of all the others! Therefore it'll make me twice as young!" he screamed with determination, unwilling to let this once in a lifetime chance slip away from him!

Just as he was about to take hold of it, his wiggling of the branch unfortunately caused the magic fruit to snap off its' branch and then fall down to the abyss below! "AH! No! No! No!" he cried in horror as the fruit sank into the clouds below, "Come back to me fruit of eternal life! Come back!" he begged as he leaned down over the branch and tried reaching out in vain for it. Unfortunately his continued thrashing put such a strain on the branch it caused it to snap and soon he was plummeting into the clouds below! "AAAAAHHH!" He screamed as he soon disappeared underneath the white blanket of clouds, just as Miku had glided down from her perch and landed at the unbroken end of the branch.

Looking over and down, she sighed shaking her head knowing she could;t just leave him to his fate like that. Stretching out her arms and wings she leapt off the branch and took a nose dive into the clouds after Dr Z. Along the way she lost sight of the doctor through the clouds, till she noticed a silhouette in the distance which she dived at.

Down below the Alpha gang had just made it out of the caves glad they could finally put their futile search for the sacred fruit behind them at last, finally realising it wasn't worth all the trouble they went through, "You know what? Forget Lotus Land." Ursula said out loud in a lax manner as she folded her arms behind her head, "Let's find the doc." she then said deciding on what was most important now.

"Okay, but how are we going to find him?" Ed then asked feeling rather concerned.

"Yeah it's not like he's just going to fall out of the sky." Zander added in agreement.

A familiar scream soon caught their attention as they looked up to where it was, "AAAAAH!" Dr Z soon fell out of the sky as Zander had predicted, falling hard on his butt with his eyes spinning wildly out of control after having tumbled all over in his fall from the sky! The alpha gang couldn't help but stare rather blankly at Zander's prediction coming true right on the spot.

"But then again.…"

"You said it then it happened!" Ed gasped in amazement clutching his face, "What are you? Some kind of magic monk?"

"I've had enough of monks and China for one day." Ursula sighed as she rubbed her temple before reaching in for her alpha scanner, "Come on, let's call the ship and go home for a nice hot shower."

Zander then nodded without hesitation, "I agree."

"Me three!" Ed cheered holding his hand out, smiling excitedly as Ursula began to key in a call to the Backlander, with but a phone call away they could finally be out of the hot sun and put this entire mess behind them for good….Or so they thought…..

"Hmm? That's odd? I'm not getting a response." Ursula raised in eyebrow in suspicion as she saw only static light up on her scanner's screen.

"Huh?" Both Zander and Ed blinked their eyes in surprise at her words.

Ursula then scowled rather hard as she pounded a fist on it a bit hoping for a response, but still nothing. "Hey Jonathan? You there? Pick up will you!?" she yelled into it as she tried holding it up to the sky for a better reception and even shook it hard hoping something would happen.

While she did and the 2 men watched her, they didn't notice Miku had glided right over their heads with a certain red fruit in her jaws.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further down the mountain path, Cera cried out at the top of her lungs for her partner whom she feared the worst had happened, "Miku!" she screamed as she shouted over the edge of the path where she last saw the young microraptor disappear at. It was then dark thoughts of fear and anxiety began to flood her mind as she fell to her knees in despair, "Oh my gosh, what if she crash landed somewhere and broke her wing or something!?" she then cried out in horror as her heart began to race and she grasped her head tightly in her hands, her breathing becoming more deep and erratic as she began to blame herself for whatever state her partner and irreplaceable friend would be in, if only she had been able to recall her back if she had the chance. "I'd never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to her…." She hissed to herself feeling guilty.

She would've remained trapped in a prison of doubt and regret, before recalling Sanzo's words back in the cave earlier. Which made her open her eyes in realisation, that giving into despair or being frustrated wouldn't accomplish anything, but to remain hopeful, calm and always in balance as she took in a deep breath and flushed away all her negative thoughts and opened her eyes with newfound clarity, "No no, stay calm and positive….it's like Sanzo said….there's a chance she can also still be alive and well too." she said to herslef smiling lightly, "Like Max and the others said, if Miku's anything like me, she's a strong dinosaur of heart and spirit despite her size. I'm sure she's fine." she told herself firmly before reaching for her dinoshot at her pocket, "But to make sure, I'd better check." she thought seriously, making sure she didn't get her hopes too up at the same time, for she knew only by accepting both the good and bad outcomes would she be properly balanced.

As she dialled on her device, she narrowed her eyes and sweated rather tensely as she came close to the moment of truth, with one final button to lock on to her dinosaur's position. She closed her eyes tensely and breathed out one last prayer for good measure, mustering all her strength and hope, "Come on Miku…..please…." she said before pressing the button. As she did, her dinoshot's screen displayed a kind of radar on the map, and to her delight a signal lit up which was a sign Miku was indeed alive and well! "Yes!" she cheered with a smile glimmering with hope as well as relief that Sanzo really was right, that thinking more positively can actually bring good results later on.

Taking a closer look at it, she then blinked her eyes in surprise to see the signal was actually coming at her, "Hmm? Is she…coming closer?" she asked herself curiously.

SCREECH!

"Ah!" a shriek from up above caught her attention as she looked up in the direction it came from. As she did she widened her eyes to see a white microraptor shoot out form the clouds and dive straight at her like a torpedo! "Miku!" she gasped in joy and amazement, to see her descend like an angel from the heavens was like a miracle to her, as she pulled up and raised out her wings, which slowed her descent as she landed on Cera's arm. As soon as she did she then hugged her dinosaur closely to her chest, "Oh Miku you had me so worried!" she sad to her with concern and deep worry like a mother with her lost child, before glaring down at her rather angrily, "Don't ever worry me like that again!" As she yelled, her partner lowered her head feeling rather shameful, as she covered up her face with her wing unable to look her partner in the eye. Seeing she may have gone a little overboard and realising it wasn't her fault for getting separated, as she stroked her on the head gently, "It's alright I forgive you," she said to her warmly making her partner look up to her, "I'm just so glad you're safe…." she said to her as she nuzzled her chin, making her dinosaur coo in content.

It was then she noticed something was actually in her mouth which caught her attention. "Hey, what's that you got there?" she asked as Miku then dropped the strange red fruit into her palm. She then held it up to her face and she eyed it all round curiously, "Never seen this kind of fruit before…." she said as she surveyed every bit of it and she couldn't recognise it at all. Best she could deduce was that it was a rare kind of fruit found only here in China and it probably went extinct before the modern age. "Wonder what it tastes like." She then thought as she licked her lips feeling somewhat thirsty. She opened her mouth and was about to take a big bite out of it, when a grumbling sound was heard next to her.

Grumble….

"Hmm?" Looking to her shoulder she saw Miku was clutching her stomach which was churning and gurgling, hinting she was quite famished herself. As she looked at the fruit in Cera's hand and focused on it intently, Cera looked at it and then back to Miku before smiling kindly and giving it to her, "Here, you take it." she said as she put it into Miku's claws. Her dino was a little hesitant in eating it by herself so she wanted to hand it back to her, to which Cera shook her head and waved her hand at her, "It's fine, you can have it all, you need it more than me." she said insistingly in a generous manner. That enough was confirmation for Miku she could ave it all to herself, as she opened her jaws and sunk in her teeth into the juicy flesh of the fruit! Munching on it ravenously, Cera was rather surprised at her eating so hungrily as she attacked the fruit like it was a piece of meat for the taking and within seconds the entire thing was gone!

Miku licked her lips and cooed deeply in content and Cera couldn't help but whistle impressed at how quickly she made short work of it. Before she could say something, Miku's cheeks suddenly puffed up as she began coughing rather violently!

Cough! Cough!

"H…Hey, you okay Miku!?" Cera gasped feeling worried she may have gotten something stuck in her throat or worse swallowed something toxic to her! Patting her partner lightly on the back, Miku barfed out a couple of unusual looking seeds from her throat which then fell gently to the ground. After that she wheezed slightly before breathing normally once more, as Cera stroked her back gently. "Here, rest in the card for now, you've had a long day to day and you deserve it." She said to her before pressing the button on her dinoshot and returning her to card form where she could rest easy.

After putting it back in, she then looked down at the seeds Miku had spat out earlier, "Wow….That must have been some fruit for you to wolf it all down like that…." she mused as she then leaned down to pick up the seeds on the ground, "If it's that good maybe I should plant these back on the ship." she said with a smile before seeing more in them than being just food, "That way, when they grow, we'll be able to remember this whole journey, the good, the bad and how lucky we were to have been part of it every time we see it. I'm sure Dr Ancient would love it too." she thought to herself as the perfect souvenir for this adventure of theirs in China.

Looking up ahead she then noticed the Alpha trio were gathered around a dazed Dr Z, "Looks like the Alpha gang found Dr Z, good for them, that ought to make things easer for us." she said as she began dialling on it, "Now to call Max and the gang and once we regroup we can leave this place and go after the space pirates." she said as she hardened her gaze seriously, "After what they did, trouncing on Sanzo's ideals like that, they're not going to get away with it." she vowed as she began to contact the D Team to rendezvous with up on the rocky plateau, before heading up there herself to make sure the Alpha gang didn't run off again so they'd have to waste precious time tracking them down.

 **(Later)**

It was late afternoon and Cera was awaiting on top a high rocky ledge at the mountain with the Alpha gang nearby who were tending to a still dazed and dizzy Dr Z in the background, trying to snap him out of his fuzz or keep him cool from the sun that was still beaming down brightly on them. Cera meanwhile paced back and forth rather restlessly, hoping the group would come soon and she worried they got lost or something happened to them. She then heard footsteps and smiled seeing the gang come into view as she smiled and waved her arm out to them, "Hey guys, glad you could make it." she said as they joined her at the edge of the cliff.

"Of course, after you told us you found Miku and Dr Z, there was no way we'd miss out on this." said Max to her in response.

She smiled before asking him, "I assume Sanzo's safely back home now?"

Zoe nodded, "He sure is." she said.

"That's good to know, he's a good man and everyone would really learn a great deal from him." Cera replied in approval as her friends nodded in agreement with her.

"Mhmm."

"I agree." said Zoe and Rex, the rest of them determined to carry on his words and wishes and having very intention of passing them on to their own generation when they do go home in the end.

Max's smile soon vanished however as he folded his arms in thought, "Though something still bugs me."

The rest of his friends looked at him, "What's that?" Zoe asked him.

"I didn't manage to ask him how he got that boulder to move out of the way. It was really cool too." he huffed in disappointment as Zoe went to join him sitting down at the edge.

"Yeah, it's too bad we may never know all his secrets." she sighed feeling just as disappointed as he was, he had so much words of wisdom to offer and they lost their chance to hear it from him too.

"I could tell you how though." Ed then spoke up as he broke away from the Alpha gang and walked right up to where the D Team were gathered.

"Hmm?"

It was then he began to explain all the events that had transpired when they came to this mountain in search of both Dr Z, Gavro and Lotos Land. How they had Tank tunnel into it from the bottom and believing that her digging had caused vibrations which loosened the boulder, before finally moving it after she rampaged in the caves.

"So you're saying it was Tank who made that big rock move.…" Max mused.

"Yeah she tunnelled in behind it!" Ed then answered him.

"I guess you can't move mountains by chanting and asking for harmony and all of that." Zoe replied seeing all to be a big coincidence or by sheer dumb luck in the end. Maybe Sanzo was wrong, or so she thought as Rex decided to speak up.

"I don't know. I wouldn't be so sure." he said as everyone looked to him curiously.

"How so?" Cera asked him curiously.

Rex then looked to her, "Sanzo set out to move the rock by chanting and in the end the rock moved." he said, "It's like he knew somehow it would happen if he stayed positive and kept believing. So maybe it was Sanzo who made it move." he then added with a smile which everyone soon followed.

"Yeah, maybe." Zoe nodded.

After that Cera smiled as she looked up seeing the bright blue sky and the sun shining down from it, as she began to think carefully about what the wise monk told them before they parted ways, "Well if you keep believing in the good things that can happen and not get trapped in the bad then I guess you're more likely to reach the end and finish the race no matter how hard the journey to get there is." she said feeling easy as she folded her arms behind her head in a more lax manner, now deciding to take things one step at a time, not to rush or worry about what would happen later but to continue believing in hope to the end no matter how dark things get.

"So, let's be just like Sanzo and believe we that can find the space pirates and save our parents!" Max then said with determination and hope, his resolve only hardened with each defeat spurring him to try that much harder next time as long as there was one.

"Uh huh!" everyone else responded in agreement with him too, determined not to let defeat rattle nor discourage them, but to use it as a springboard to move forward, and that was just what they were going to do.

The moment though was soon cut short as Ursula looked up from Dr Z and asked them a question which changed everything, "Hey, when was the last time you guys were able to get in touch with the ship?"

"Huh?"

Cera then brought a finger to her chin in thought as she did recall having contacted the ship a while ago, "Well I did manage to contact Jonathan a couple of hours back but since then not a peep from him or the Backlander. Why?" she then asked feeling a little uneasy.

"We've been trying for a while now but we're not getting an answer." said Zander feeling rather worried.

"It's almost like the ship isn't there." Ursula added on top of that, which brought up rather tense and uneasy feelings amongst the others.

"Uh oh…." Max muttered uneasily as Cera looked to them all with a serious look.

"We'd better call now." She said as they reached for their devices.

"It's Rex here! Can you here me!? Please come in!"

"Jonathan!"

"Hello? Come in?"

"Can you read us!?" Each of them called on their communicators but were met with silence and no response which made them more and more uneasy and worried.

"I'm just getting a bunch of static!" Max cried out, "Oh no! What if we're stuck here!?" he then gasped that not only would they be unable to save their parents but they were now practically stranded with no way of getting back home to their own times now!

"That will be very bad….." Cera gulped hard as a drop of sweat dripped from her cheek seeing their difficult quest has grown even more difficult…..

 **And thus concludes the China arc, stay tuned for the Japan arc to come. Did Cera's Chinese relic surprise you? I know micro raptors are carnivores but let's just say Miku was really hungry and thirsty so she'd settle for anything juicy she could sink her teeth into. Would this mean Miku now is blessed with eternal youth and life? Or is it a curse? Will leave it to your imagination. Also wanted Foolscap and Zoe to have a fight since they weren't involved much here in the anime and used it as a chance for Terry to fight too.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-True but on the bright side those messes means she has something else to do besides trail after the D Team all the time. Well even though Terry couldn't fight mapusaurus, hope the battle with acrocanthosaurus here, another fire dinosaur, was satisfying. By crucible age, if you mean the romans then yeah it was very savage indeed.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-I mean the ancient china arc and what happens after it.**

 **-I couldn't see it that time but I did get a clearer look in the final episode.**

 **Guest**

 **-No Miku wont have an ultimate move, even if she didn't she wont be able to unleash it being so small. More dinosaurs will come in season 3.**

 **-Not sure about new devices but I do hope for awakened forms.**


	37. Two shoguns are better than one

Chapter 37

Two shoguns are better than one

"Do you read me Jonathan!? Come in! Come in!" cried Max desperately for an answer as he and the others aimed their communicators higher to the sky hoping for a stronger signal or that the Backlander may be able to pick up their distress call. Tensions grew increasingly thick as they got no response, "I'm just getting a bunch of static!" said Max as he grew increasingly worried about their predicament, he and the others began to sweat nervously while also under the sun's hot rays.

Cera narrowed her eyes uneasily, "Same here…." she added feeling just the same as he was.

"This is bad! We could be stuck here!" Max then gasped.

"It's not like Jonathan to not answer…." muttered Zoe feeling insecure, "I hope nothing bad's happened….."

"…." Cera what if they were found out and attacked? (Want to think positive but hard under these circumstances)

Soon another voice broke the mood they wee in but not in a good way, "Hey! Waiter bring some food…." Dr Z cried out raising his hand to the sky as the others turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"What's his problem now?" Cera asked in annoyance, of course of all the times to be hallucinating he couldn't have picked a worse moment.

"The heat is getting to him…." Ursula answered feeling bad for him.

"Well can you snap him out of it?" Cera suggested to her as she and the others looked back ahead to the sky to resume trying to reach the ship.

"Doctor we're not in a restaurant, we're on a cliff in ancient China." Ursula then said to him trying to snap him out of his hallucination but to no avail.

"But I'm really hungry!" Dr Z whined before wriggling around like a baby doing a tantrum, "And I'm really parched and thirsty too! Ed order me a lemonade!"

"I could drink a horse! I'm so thirsty!" Ed then cried joining him much to the others' chagrin know g now they had 2 overgrown kids to quiet down.

"I read somewhere that if you want to stop feeling thirsty, you just think of something sour." Zander then suggested as Dr Z briefly halted his whining.

"Well I suppose it's worth a try…." he breathed as he began to envision the most sour thing he could ever think of. Which happened to be Helga serving him pickled radishes in bed! Literally feeling the radishes running down his throat he widened his eyes and cringed before drool began to flow out of his mouth like a waterfall! "Urgh! Blech!" he groaned before flailing his arms out in exasperation, "Thanks a lot! Now I've got a horrible taste in my mouth too!" he yelled out loud!

Cera try to ignore them and not clobber them-tried to be mature saying not worth the energy and time

"Just ignore them Cera….just ignore them…." she told herself as her closed eyes twitched and a huge tic mark appeared on her forehead as she tried hard to block out the overbearing background noise. She was doing her absolute best to remain in self control without giving into her impulses of duct taping his mouth shut, though the temptation was really strong….

"I guess we're stuck in Ancient China…." Rex then said to the others as he looked up to the sky, which also helped Cera take her mind off the alpha gang in the nick of time, though the more urgent matter didn't seem top make her feel any better as Max soon made it clear.

"Yeah while the space pirates are getting away!" he yelled in frustration, "That means we're farther away from finding our parents than ever!" he cried as Zoe and Rex grew increasingly worried.

Not wanting them to fall into despair and give up hope, Cera then waved her arms out to them, "Now now guys, let's not panic just yet." she said calmly, "Maybe we can't reach the ship because we don't have a strong enough signal for Jonathan to reach."

"Y…Yeah, that could be it, no way anything could have happened to the Backlander." Rex nodded with a light smile deciding to hold on to the chances that it couldn't have been anything disastrous, "Like Sanzo said, let's not give up hope so easily." he then said to the rest of them as they nodded feeling a bit more assured and hopeful.

"Mhmm."

You're right." They nodded recalling everything Sanzo had told them before looking to the Alpha gang who were still trying to calm Dr Z down.

"Hey guys, would you mind picking up Dr Z? We're moving out." said Cera as Max and the others began to head down the mountain before she joined them.

The A Team blinked their eyes puzzled, "Huh? Moving out?"

"To where?" Zander and Ed each asked, after Dr Z tired himself out with all his complaining.

"Just come with us you'll see." she answered back without a backwards glance, "Unless you want to stay stuck here that is." she then added at the end which made Ed shiver at the nightmarish thought of being stranded in the wilderness all alone with Dr Z!

"I don't want that at all!" he cried turning pale at that traumatic possibility.

"Well guys what do you say? Should we follow those little ankle biters?" Ursula asked her friends as Zander shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats sitting here all day stranded here in this timeline I guess…." he replied as they reluctantly hoisted up Dr Z and carried him down the game trail after the D Team as they made their way to the wide open wasteland at the foot of the mountains.

A while had passed as the group trekked for wha seemed like hours through an endless desert, and soon Ursula was beginning to grow impatient and uncomfortable with having to carry an umbrella around all day, "Why are we walking through this wilderness? Do you expect to turn the corner and find a shopping mall with a food court?" she grumbled out loud as her hands began to ache slightly.

"Well it's possible we could find an oasis with some water." Ed suggested as the D Team looked at them weirdly for his strange answer.

"That isn't the point you guys…." Rex muttered.

"Yeah the reason we're walking is to get some place where the communicator will work." Max added.

"Yeah right, like that'll work." Zander then scoffed unconvinced along with the others in the Alpha gang. They were soon about to be corrected as a beeping sound reached their ears.

BEEP! BEEP!

"Huh?"

Cera then looked up at the alpha gang with a raised eyebrow, "You were saying?" she said folding her arms at them as they lowered their heads in shame.

"Never mind…." Zander sighed standing corrected.

"Jonathan here! Come in Max! Do you read?" the android's voice spoke through the communicator.

His voice also helped wake Dr Z up from his nap, "Hey!" he gasped in surprise as the Backlander suddenly appeared from right above them much to their surprise!

"There's the ship!" Zoe cried as the Alpha gang cheered joyfully that they were saved and didn't have to spend a mother moment out in the sun!

"Yay!" They cheered before crying out for him.

"Beam us up now please!"

"Yeah, we can't take another second in this heat!"

"I'll do that right away!" Jonathan answered through Max's dino bracer as they were all enveloped in bright light and were brought back on board at last.

"Jonathan." greeted Max as he and the D Team appeared first.

"So what happened to you?" Rex asked him firmly while still feeling rather cross.

"We were afraid you left us there."

"Or that you got attacked by the pirates or something." said Zoe and Cera feeling put off he made them worry so much.

The Alpha gang soon appeared in the ship as he began to explain, "My apologies, I….went shopping with Helga and it took quite a while…." he said feeling rather guilty before looking to the side where Helga was unloading her massive bag filled with food and supplies freshly bought from the neighbouring village markets, "She's dangerous with credit cards…." he added at the end. Despite their reasons for not answering them for so long, they were all at least grateful to be back on board and able to get back on track, especially when Helga offered out food to the lot.

"I got meat loaf and meat pies and for the doctor's tummy I got pickled radishes." she said to the group while holding up a clay pot.

"Pickled radishes?" Max asked feeling sick inside, "I think I'd rather eat lint…" as if the pickled plums back in the Carribean weren't bad enough.

"Chow time everybody!" Ursula squealed joyously as she threw Dr Z off her back before charging in to feast with the rest of the men!

"Yeah!" Men

"Aaaah!" Dr Z cried out as fall and hit his head on the floor! "Owie…." he groaned as his eyes began spinning out of control after the impact he suffered.

As the Alpha gang began indulging themselves on the food Helga and Jonathan brought back along with their dinosaurs, Max then smiled as he took out his card, "Oh well, we might as well join in guys." he said with a smile as he summoned out Chomp who then ran off to join the feast, snatching a dumpling that fell out from the bag.

"Yeah, let's eat!" Zoe smiled as she summoned Paris, Rex with Ace and then Cera with both Miku and Terry. While Terry went to job his friends with stuffing their faces like pigs, the others went to grab whatever scraps that had fallen out away from the basket so they wouldn't end up in the Alpga gang's feeding frenzy.

As they gorged down ravenously on their much needed nourishment, Helga looked upon the gang with disgust, "The way you are eating I can't even tell which of you are the humans and which are the animals." she grumbled knowing she had taught them far better manners than this.

"So what's your point?" they said uncaringly in response.

"For adults those guys really have poor table manners…." Cera sighed shaking her head in disapproval as she munched on an apple she took hold of.

"Yeah, good thing we're not as immature as they are right?" Zoe smiled cheekily as she ate a fresh ripe banana.

On the other side she stood corrected as Chomp ran off with a dumpling in his mouth, followed by Ace and Paris who were also hoping for a share too, along with Max who ran after them hungry himself, "Come on guys! Save some for me!" he cried out as he chased after them much to Cera and Zoe's dismay.

"Almost all of us…." they let out a sigh in disappointment.

Meanwhile Rex having had his fill went off to see Jonathan at the driver's seat, "When you went out? Shouldn't we have picked up the ship's signal?" he asked curiously.

"No, because when Helga and I left we switched off the ship's power Rex." Jonathan answered him.

"Well next time, leave it on okay?" Zoe suggested. It was at that moment when Helga put a hand on her shoulder making her turn to her, "Huh?" As she turned to look she sweetened nervously and her heart skipped a beat at Helga gazed at her with a piercing glare!

"Do you know what we call people who leave everything on when they go out?" Helga she said menacingly, "We call them!" she spun around and posed dramatically, "Wasteful enemies of ecology!" she proclaimed which made Zoe smile nervously.

"Umm err…right Helga…." she chuckled unable to argue with her logic.

"She does have a point there…." Cera sweat dropped uneasily feeling scared herself at the burly robomaid. She'd much rather take chances with the pirates again then go against Helga's decisions openly., it'd be welcoming a disaster greater than the one which wiped out the dinosaurs….

"Well now that we're back there's no time to lose, we've gotta go after this space pirates!" Max then pointed out as Jonathan responded keying in the right command protocols.

"Right!"

As he did, Helga looked down to see Dr Z was still lying fainted at the wall, "Doctor, you're not eating your radishes." she pointed out to him which made him flail his arms out like a spoiled brat!

"I'm not gonna eat those vile things! I'd rather starve!" he cried childishly as Helga walked over to him.

"Would you like me to make you a nice juicy steak dinner instead?" she asked him compassionately

"Yeeesss.…" he replied.

Quickly she dropped her facade as she picked him up like the baby he was acting as, "Nein! You'll get a bowl of mush and you'll like it!" she growled strictly.

Hearing those words made Dr Z's heart skip a beat realising she was going to feed him the same horrible mush that the Alpha gang cooked up for him months ago and now his old nightmares were returning to him, "Alright! Alright! Alright! I'll eat the radishes!" he pleaded desperately.

"Too late!" Helga spouted as she took him to his room, bringing much needed peace to the gang at last as they all got to their stations to help assist Jonathan with navigation.

As the gang flew through the time stream, smoothly and without any anomalies for a change now with Dr Z out of the picture, Max then hardened his expression as he looked ahead, "Alright guys, just like last time we've got to find the pterosaur and fast!" he said as Cera picked up Miku in her hand.

"Don't worry, Miku's on it." She said as she held the raptor in her palm and held her out ahead to act as their compass. Narrowing her eyes ahead and bringing her senses to full alert, she quickly turned to the right and pointed ahead, "That way!" She called.

"You heard her Jonathan!" Rex ordered looking to him as he nodded in response.

"Right away!" Punching on the lever, the Backlander sped ahead quickly in said direction and before long, a pair of brightly coloured wings soon opened up and came into view which the D Team caught sight of as they gazed at her in sheer awe and amazement.

"Check it out! The pterosaur!" Zoe pointed out as they caught sight of her directly ahead of them!

"The danger is increasing," she said with concern in her voice, "You must protect the cosmos stones."

"How many cosmos stones are there?" Rex then asked.

"There are 7 of the stones." The pterosaur answered them which made Max's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Whoa! And the space pirates already have 3 of them, now there are only 4 left to find." he said seriously after recovering from his shock.

"7 stones….." Cera breathed, as she began to ponder over wonder what that meant.

"The 7 must never be brought together." said the pterosaur which interrupted her train of thought.

"Why not?" Max asked.

"With their powers combined they could change all of time and space." she answered which made the group increasingly worried now that they knew the stakes were far greater than they first believed.

"And then what would happen?" Zoe asked nervously.

"Yeah, please tell us what we need to know!" Cera cried begging for answers and not wishing they be kept in the dark a second longer.

Unfortunately the time for answered hadn't yet arrived much to their frustration, "We've reached your destination." she said as she lead them to another time portal up ahead.

"Wait a sec, you didn't tell us what would happen if all the stones are brought together." said Max in a hurry before she started to turn away from them, "Don't go yet!" he pleaded, but his words fell on deaf ears, if she had any, as she flew out of sight and the Backlander ended up diving through the portal and into the next time period!

As she disappeared Cera narrowed her eyes as the light soon swallowed hem up, "She's gone again…." she breathed in disappointment as they entered the next world. At first it seems strange as the sky was apparently under them and the land above…..till they realised they actually entered upside down!

"WAAAAAH!" They screamed nearly falling form where they were, as Jonathan made a quick turn and set them all right side up in time!

"You know all that pterosaur ever does is show up with more bad news and then she takes off again." Max grumbled in annoyance that she seemed to be shoving a whole lot on them without giving them any fair explanation.

"It's like she knew her time with us is short yet still chooses to withhold what we need to know most…..but why?" Cera thought out loud to herself as she folded her arms.

"At least we now know, we have to keep the cosmos stones apart which means we're doing more than just trying to find our parents." said Zoe at least having a grasp of the situation.

"Yeah, it means we're trying to save all of time and space and let's be honest the stakes don't get much higher than that." Max added seriously.

"I couldn't agree more." Cera nodded as she then tensed her hands into fists, "Which means from here on we'll have to double our efforts too."

"Mhmm." Max and Zoe both nodded with her in agreement.

Meanwhile Rex reached in to see his TPS which was lit up with a red beacon, "The TPS system just picked up our parents in this time period." he said to them.

"Which means the space pirates are probably here too!" Zoe added seriously.

"But where's here?" Ursula asked curiously.

"The year 1572, in the Chubo region of Japan." Jonathan answered her.

"Looks like a nice place." Max stated as he saw

Cera feels looks can be deceiving

"1572 sounds very familiar.…" Zoe then said out loud having heard this somewhere in school one time, as Jonathan was about to make it clear.

"It was the age of civil wars." he said which made them all widen their eyes in shock!

"Huh!?" Of all the times they visited to be right in the middle of a war, it made the Roman empire and pirate infested seas seem like mere school fights, something they preferred to have forgotten.

Rex suddenly widened his eyes as he remembered something about this particular period in time, "Wait, I heard about this back in history class!" he gasped. Upon mentioning school Max and Zoe both soon picked up on it too.

"Yeah! It's that time when Takeda Shingen and Ieyasu Tokugawa were at war with one another for control over Japan!" Max pointed out with his finger.

"No way…..we're now actually going to see that historical battle first hand!?" Zoe widened her eyes in both amazement and shock.

Cera narrowed her eyes as she walked over to the glass front, "Way I see it, if there's a cosmos stone in play here," she said as she placed a hand against it, "Chances are we may get ourselves involved in that war, and way I see it, adding dinosaurs to a war like this is never good." she said as her expression hardened.

"I can see where you're going with this….." said Rex in agreement as he folded his arms in thought, "One wrong move and we could end up altering the course of Japan's history for years to come…." As he said that silence came upon the entire lot, a they realised their situation gad grown even more serious, not one were they in a dangerous time but they also had to keep the space pirates and even themselves in check form doing anything that could do something to alter history for centuries to come. Never had the stakes on their adventure been any higher…..

BEEP! BEEP!

A ringing sound soon came at the Alpha gang's station which caught their surprise, "Hmm?" Ursula curiously pressed it and answered, "Hello?" The person who answered back at the other end nearly gave them a heart attack.

"Ursula! You and your twits get down here now!" Dr Z's voice screamed from the other end which made the trio stutter in surprise as they jumped up and out of their seats!

"R…Right away Dr Z…." Ursula gulped as she sweated her ousel before cutting the call off. "Come on guys, let's not keep him waiting." She then said to them as they walked out to the back door to Dr Z's room to see what he wanted.

"Yeah, last time we didn't answer his call he ended up ruining our lunch and causing the dishes to fall on us…." Ed added in agreement, shivering nervously remembering he picked Terry and the others on them right after they cleaned up, only to ruin their noodle lunch and cause the shelf to fall on them, no way did they want a repeat of that again.

After they left the D Team looked back to one another to discuss their battle strategy and approach for this era, hoping to brainstorm a possible plan of attack or determine their next move in locating the next cosmos stone before they did. "So what do we do now guys?" Max asked hoping someone would suggest an answer.

"Until those space pirates come knocking with a dinosaur there's not much we can do." Cera answered rather reluctantly, "Unless you want to take a chance going in blind through uncharted territory with army troops or maybe even ninjas lurking about that is." she suggested as the rest of them shuddered nervously at the thought of that happening to them.

"Good point, wouldn't want to come back looking like swiss cheese with who knows how many soldiers are down there." Zoe gulped hard as she hugged her arms around her own waist wanting to stay perfectly intact.

Max then gritted his teeth in annoyance, "Man this really bites…." he grunted as the others looked to him.

"What Max?" asked Rex as the brunette looked back at him.

"I mean the fact that we're not just out to save our parents but the fact we also have to keep the cosmos stones from falling into the space pirates' grubby hands yet we still don't know why." he huffed with a hard scowl on his face, "The only one who can gives clues about this is the Pterosaur herself, and last I checked every time we see her we alway end up with more questions than answers." he said voicing out his frustrations at them being shoved into this responsibility with so much pressure and high stakes on their shoulders, just when they had gotten a happy ending the first time when Rex finally found his parents, only to have them and their own snatched away by enemies they knew next to nothin about nor why.

Around him similar expressions of concern and worry appeared on the faces of his friends as they realised the situation they were all in, "You're right Max." Cera replied in agreement with his words, "Maybe she doesn't trust us fully or worries we might not be able to handle the truth." she then suggested her opinion though it didn't seem to make it any better for them.

"If only there was some way we could find out why the pirates want the cosmos stones or what they are and can do," Rex thought out loud as he folded his arms, "Then maybe we could stay a step ahead of them, or at least not lag several moves behind." he said as they all drifted into thought once more, though moments passed not one of them could come up with an idea which seemed feasible with the resources and knowledge currently at their disposal, which further added to their list of frustrations.

"….."

As Cera began to ponder over a possible edge they could have over their foes, she then snapped her fingers upon realising they may have something they could utilise, "Actually, I think I might be able to find just the edge we need." she said as the others looked to her intrigued.

"Really?"

"How so Cera?" Rex and Zoe asked blinking their eyes.

"Yeah, just what do you have in mind?" Max asked suspiciously as he folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her.

She then gained a confident smirk on her face as she walked towards the back door, "How about I show you then you'll see." she said waving to them as she took her leave and the others followed after her down the hallway.

The gang soon entered the elevator as they went down to one of the garages stationed in the Backlander. As the doors opened, and they all stepped into the room they widened their eyes and gasped in surprise at what they saw.

"Whoa…."

Before them was a red ship the shape of a red sphere with 4 spiked legs around it and the space pirate symbol in the middle of it, settled in gently in the middle of the room as a number of droids were trotting about, either bringing in tools or supplies, or using them at the pod, where several orange sparks were flying out as they tested it for areas of weakness. There were also a number of computer screens around the room depicting the inside of the ship's components and circuitry while a set of cables were being hauled over to an open port of the ship from the main computer as the droids began to plug it in. The D Team couldn't believe their eyes at what they were seeing.

Max pointed out, "Is that?"

Cera nodded which confirmed their assumptions, "Yeah, it's Foolscap's pod back from China." she said as some droids pushed in a cart filled with pieces of scrap metal and debris from another corner and then settling it right in front of them, "As well as some leftover parts I recovered from Sheer's back at Rome. I had Jonathan bring it in, you know, so that nothing brought in gets left behind in the past and maybe altering future events." she said taking one piece and eyeing it carefully all round before putting it back. After that she turned around to look back to them, "But then I thought, with some salvaging or maybe even some decryption we might be able to dig up a little dirt on these space pirates and hopefully shed some light on the situation we're dealing with at the moment, like who the pirates are or what their plans may be." she said which made her friends widen their eyes and gasp in surprise at her idea which made a lot of sense and could no doubt work, "When we do, it might help illuminate new strategies to address how they work and operate so we can be better prepared for them. Or better yet when things get really drastic we could maybe find out where their hideout may be and take the fight straight to them too."

As she finished it the others all smiled with excitement and hope which they hadn't felt in a long while, "Hey that's like a really great idea!" Rex cried as a big smile came across his face.

"Yeah! They'll never see it coming for sure!" Max grinned punching to the sky excitedly, "Heh, when that time does come I can't wait to see the look on those pirates' faces when we break in and take the fight to them." He then smirked punching his hand into his open palm.

"And make them pay for all the trouble they caused." said Zoe with a firm nod.

Rex meanwhile walked over to the pod and leftover parts eying them and the working droids all around with interest, "I'm amazed Cera, didn't think you'd actually think this far." he whistled impressed.

"Heh, well I do have my moments." she chuckled blushing red sheepishly before it became slightly more serious, "Though I can't promise anything yet, I still have a lot of work to do and it's only a hope I have." She then said as she walked over to the pod where the droids had finally managed to open the hatch with a crowbar before tumbling backwards and crashing into one another! "With the advanced tech here and the more simpler tools available to me, I'm not even sure if I can get anything useful out of this tin can…." she said looking rather pained and worried if she can live up to the others' hopes, "So….don't get your hopes too up okay?" she added at the end which made the mood turn slightly more down than earlier.

The D Team could see that despite not having her parents being captured by the pirates (if she had any….) Cera was feeling pressured about failing them and just how much she cared about their cause as much as they were. That though was enough for them to smile lightly as Rex walked in to put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "Just do your best Cera, we'll take what we can get." he said to her.

"Yeah, the fact you're trying really hard yourself is good enough for us any day." Max added as he smiled folding his arms behind his head.

"We're just grateful we have you on our side." Zoe said at the end smiling brightly, which helped lift Cera's mood up a bit as she nodded back at them.

"Thanks you guys, and I promise I'll do my best." she swore as her expression hardened with determination.

The D Team smiled back, "And we promise to help you find out about your old memories when this whole mess is cleaned up too." said Rex to her in response giving her his word they'll do everything they can for her as they are for them and their parents now.

She smiled and nodded back at them, feeling touched they were still going to keep their promise on helping her since the day they first met, and also feeling confident they could do just that, "I'll be sure to remember that." she said as they all smiled happily with one another.

BEEP! BEEP!

A familiar beeping sound from their bracers soon broke the silence and ruined the mood, as they widened their eyes and gasped, "Ah!"

They took out their bracers and saw a beacon lit up on the map, "A dinosaur!" Max gasped seeing it had showed up, and that could only mean the space pirates had begun to make their move now.

"We'd better move now before we lose it." said Rex to Max and Zoe as they nodded with him.

"You guys go ahead," said Cera, "I'll stay here and see if I can speed things along here."

They then nodded agreeing with her decision, "Sure thing, we'll contact you if we need backup." said Max with a nod before rallying everyone together, "Come on team, let's move out!" he said as they all punched to the air and cheered with confidence.

"Yeah!"

"Good luck you guys." said Cera to them as they ran out of the lab room to head to the control deck where Jonathan was awaiting them. As the door closed leaving her and Miku inside she then narrowed her eyes before turning around to see the wires being installed into the time pod and data slowly being transferred out of it and into the mainframe. As it did small lines of data began to light up on screen as Cera looked up at them appear one by one, "They're counting on me, they all are…." she thought as the images of the D Team's parents and the D Team themselves appeared before her. "So there's no way I'll let them down…" She told herself as she went to the computer to begin typing, hoping to be able to decode them and unlock whatever secrets the pod may have been carrying in it before it crashed, or hopefully give her a sneak peak at their systems and security so she'd know what to expect if they did ever manage to get on board.

A task easier said than done she soon came to realise, after nearly half an hour of typing away non-stop she sweated tiredly as she took her hands away from the keyboard and stepped away to take a breather. "Hmm these files are really encrypted, this pirates must really want us to stay out of their business." She noted seeing decoding the data was very slow and had several firewalls and other security measures implanted in them too, which hindered her progress much to annoyance. Yet despite that, the urgency and her friends' hopes in her spurred her to keep trying, "Well that's not going to stop us one bit, I'll keep trying no matter what it takes." she thought as she keyed in a command routine into the computer so that it would decode the remainder without the need for her supervision.

"Meantime I think maybe I should get to that other project I've been working on too." She then said as she moved off to a different part of the lab to where she and Dr Cretacia once developed the dino bracers. Taking some components and installing a program into it she eventually developed a new chip in the shape of a dinosaur footprint, which she held together with a pair of forceps and she smiled proudly at what she accomplished, "Excellent once I install this new synchro chip into my dinoshot, I should be able to pull off fusion moves alone without anyone else like Max and the others." She said to herself as she opened a compartment in her dinoshot and implanted it inside, "Of course I'll still need 2 dinosaurs for it but it wouldn't hurt to have a backup plan in an emergency." She said before closing it shut. "Shame I can't use this for Max and the others since they use the stones though." she sighed feeling bad for them before cheering up again, "But they'd prefer working together much more anyways." she then said to herself knowing they wouldn't accept it anyways since they preferred to work with dinosaurs around their own element specialty.

With that out of the way she then returned back to the computer to see how much progress had been made regarding the data decryption, "Alright let's see what we've got here…." she said to herself as she brought it up on screen. So far what she uncovered wasn't anything too new, except the fact that each of the 7 cosmos stones contained the power of an entire galaxy in them. She began to shudder at the thought of what horrors may unfold when all of them are brought together like the Pterosaur feared. It was highly likely the pirates had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but even if they did would they really possess a way to control it? If they did, should it be done? The thought of it was far too risky to be used regardless of good or evil. "No way can we let those goons get their hands on the others after already having 3." She then said to herself with determination as she clenched her hand into a fist while Miku let out an agitated snarl sensing her worries.

Another thought soon crossed her mind as she flashbacked to the Cretaceous era, back when they were just about to leave a massive meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere, carrying 7 colours in it before colliding with the planet's surface, "I wonder…." thinking about it as there were 7 stones there were also 7 stone plates as well. No doubt there had to have been some connection there. The fact was clear, as she remembered Chomp, Tank and Spiny seemed to have some sort of reaction to the cosmos stones of the same matching color as their dinosaur stone element. Also what was the reason the stones were separated throughout time if that were the case? Couldn't the pirates try to take them all at once in 1 time period alone? "I need more info first…." Cera shook her head deciding to leave it at that for the time being since they didn't have any answers to work with and all they could do is wait and hope they could get more out from the pirate pods back in the lab.

As she pondered over those thoughts, Miku soon pecked at her cheek making her turn curiously to her, "Something Miku?" she asked. The young raptor then leapt down onto the work table in front of her before pointing at her pocket. Doing as she said and reaching into them, she pulled out a pair of fruit seeds which were spat out by Miku not long ago back in China, "Oh yeah, I forgot about these." she then said with a smile as she took her leave from the lab thinking it was time she took a break on this and then get back to it afterwards.

Entering the museum room, she headed to an empty slot which was nearby the displays for Rome's pizza recipe and the Caribbean's treasures and map. "Here you go guys, some nice warm soil and water for you." she said as she gently nuzzled the seeds into a clay pot filled with soil, before adding in a sprinkle of fertiliser and some water to them, making the soil moist and firm. Settling it onto the pedestal from China before leaning in and smiling at them, excited for the kind of plant they would eventually grow into. "If we're visiting 7 time eras we might as well set up 7 trophy displays too." She then thought as she pressed another button nearby, which caused a couple of vacant trophy displays to open up around the room, awaiting for a priceless relic that would soon fill in the empty space.

After that was taken care of she then took out her dinoshot and began to dial on it, "Maybe I should check in with the gang to see how they're doing." she thought since a while had passed and no word from them she felt a little worried having received no word from them as she began to initiate the call, "Max, Rex, Zoe? Come in." she said through the communicator as Max's smiling face appeared onscreen.

"Hey Cera, how's things going over on your end?" he asked her.

"Pretty slow but steady, that's best I can say." she answered him shrugging her shoulders. She then squinted her eyes slightly to see Max himself was alone much to her interest, "How about you? Where are the others?" she asked him.

"Rex and I have gone on a little scout to check out for any paths we can follow, we may have found a lead to the next cosmos stone." he answered with a smile which made her widen her eyes.

"That's great news!" she cheered with excitement, "So where is it? Maybe I can help you out while I'm here. Any helpful clues I could work with?" she asked.

Max soon sighed and shook his head with disappointment, "Afraid not….The shogun didn't give us so much as a hint as to where it is." he muttered.

"Shogun?" Cera asked blinking her eyes curiously.

"Oh yeah that's right! Get this! We actually met Ieyasu Tokugawa himself in the flesh! Can you believe it!?" Max then answered sounding quite excited.

Cera widened her eyes in surprise at Max's words, "Whoa! For real! As in the founder of the Aeto Government!?" she gasped, "Wow, it must be a real honour to have met such a great leader in Earth's history face to face, you guys are so lucky!"

Upon finishing her sentence, Max sweat dropped in dismay, "Err…not so much actually…." he replied scratching his cheek looking away from her.

His unusual response perked her interest once again, "Hmm? How come?" she asked as he let out a deep sigh.

"It's er….complicated…." He soon began to explain from the start that the shogun they found, whom they believed to be a great and noble leader was actually a grown man around the same shape as Dr Drake, only his mentality was equal to that of a spoilt brat, who made plenty of noise and complaints over the smallest things and he treated the D Team like mere peasants despite everything they did for him.

Hearing his story, Cera could only stare in disbelief at what she heard, "That's…not how I envisioned the leader of an army to behave…." she said unsure of what to think of it.

"Same here, so much for historical accuracy…." Max muttered feeling let down that everything he thought the shogun to be was a big juicy lie.

"Anyways, the fact remains he's an important historical figure so make sure to keep him safe at all times, one wrong move and it can change Japan or even the word forever."

"We'll keep that in mind, meantime let us know if you do find out anything important." he nodded back at her in acknowledgment of her warning and concerns.

Cera then began dialling on her dinoshot, "I'll send you what data I've gotten so far, I'll report back to you if I learn anything more. Over and out." she said to him before the call got cut off.

"That's quite the adventure they're having down there, sure wish we were down there too Miku." she said to her partner feeling slightly jealous that they were having a lot of fun down there, more than she thought for a dangerous time period. It was then she remembered the topic around Tokugawa, that she brought a finger to her chin in thought, "Still, if Tokugawa looks like Dr Drake, you think they could be related? Like he or even Zoe may have ancient samurai blood in them?" she pondered curious before shrugging her shoulders, "Who knows?"

All of a sudden as soon as she was done with that, she felt a strange sensation in the air which she soon picked up and put her senses on alert, "Wait a sec…." Miku too soon picked up on it before she nuzzled at Cera's cheek and squawked at her with concern, "You're right Miku, it's way too quiet." she nodded to her in agreement with her. By now they would've heard some kind of commotion by the Alpha gang by now, but so far they've heard nothing at all not even a peep….and that was worrisome because that meant something had happened to them for sure, "We'd better go see what's really going on…." she said as they took their leave and headed out to find them. Little did she know was that as the door closed behind them, a small shoot began to grow out of the soil in the pot…..

Meanwhile in Dr Z's room, the old man groaned painfully after having barely managed to finish the last mouthful of mush that Helga forced on him, as he sank back into his bed seeing the room spin around him dizzily, the putrid taste and sensation still lingering inside his palette much to his dismay, "Ugh…that's the worst thing I ever put in my mouth…..curse those nitwits for creating this nasty concoction in the first place…." he moaned in agony as he did his best to take the pain off his mind with a storybook on dinosaurs but to little success.

Before long the door opened and stepping in was Cera with Miku on her shoulder, "Hey Dr Z?" she asked politely which woke him up.

"Hmm?" Sitting up his mood turned sour as his eyes locked with her, "Oh it's you, what do you want?" he grumbled before gritting his teeth with irritation at the fact she barged into his room disrespecting his privacy, "Also, didn't anyone ever tach you to knock? Whoever said you could come in here!?" he cried out shaking his fists demanding she leave immidiately.

Ignoring him Cera took a clam look around the bedroom and to her surprise she saw no trace of the Alpha trio anywhere, and that worried her somewhat as she focused her attention on Dr Z, "Where are Ursula and the others? I haven't heard a peep from them almost all day." she asked him.

He blinked his eyes in surprise, "You're actually looking for those 3 stooges? That's a first…." he mused before lying back down in his bed uncaringly, "I merely sent them down to go get me a new dinosaur, nothing new." he muttered before strapping on his eye mask and nestling into his soft bed.

Upon hearing his statement, Cera's jaw hung and she widened her eyes in disbelief at what she heard, "You did what!?" she exclaimed before shaking her fist out at him furiously, "You sent them alone and unattended in the middle of a Japanese civil war!?"

"Your point?" Was all he replied with without even looking at her in the eye, which served to irritate her even more so at his laid-back attitude.

"Grrgh! You moron! Don't you see those idiots could end up causing more damage to the timeline than the space pirates ever could!?" she growled before taking a breath to calm herself down, "Argh! There's no point talking sense into you, I'm going down there myself!" she grunted in annoyance and frustration, seeing no reason in wasting her breath a second longer with Dr Z's careless and selfish attitude, though she wasn't about to let him get away with this. Taking out her dinoshot she pressed a button on it which caused her to vanish in a beam of light as she left the room and Dr Z alone in it.

"Go ahead and knock yourself out, see if I care." Dr Z muttered uncaringly as he nuzzled in under the covers for his afternoon nap. He didn't have long to enjoy it though as his stomach suddenly began to churn which spurred him to sit up straight again as he clutched his stomach tightly in the hopes of reducing the unbearable pain coursing through his digestive system! "Urgh….my tummy hurts….need bathroom now….." he moaned as he hopped out of his bed and headed outside for the bathroom post haste.

Moments later after he left, Helga came in with a dish and a warm toasted sandwich on it, "Doctor! Your grilled cheese sandwich is ready!" she called as she stepped towards the bed only to see it was empty much to her surprise, "Hmm? He's gone?" Looking around to see no sign of him she pouted in disappointment, "How rude, and I went through all the trouble of preparing this for him…." she muttered.

 **(Meanwhile)**

A light soon appeared in the middle of a forested area and emerging from it was Cera, with Miku on her shoulder as she stepped out onto the field and took in a breath of air. Surveying her surroundings and determining them to be safe, she then looked to her dinoshot and dialled on it, "Jonathan, send me the coordinates for the Alpha gang's last position." she asked.

"It's nearby your current location, sending it to you now." his voice replied on the other end as a map appeared on screen depicting a red marker beacon which she narrowed her eyes at.

"It's close by…" she thought to herself before looking to her partner who rested comfortably on her shoulder, "Keep your eyes and ears open Miku, we're in dangerous terrain so stay alert." she said to her, trusting the raptor to be alert and on guard too, considering her senses were far sharper than hers. Seeing the urgency in her expression, Miku nodded back at her as Cera smiled back in reassurance of her partner's capabilities, before heading off towards the beacon.

Coming upon the last marked location which was in a rather forested area, Cera soon came upon a large opening in a forested area which she end with interest, "A cave?" she asked herself before taking notice of something lying on the ground just by the entrance,"Hey it's a scanner." She said picking it up and opening it to reveal Spiny's card there, "It's Spiny's….so they were here…." she said noting the situation. After that she noticed something on the ground as she squatted down and put her hand on the ground for a closer look and examination, "Bear tracks…and footprints…." it didn't take her long to put 2 and 2 together to realise what had happened.

Apparently the gang no doubt stumbled into the cave looking for dinosaurs and ended up disturbing a family of bears that were minding their own business in there, which they chased them out of their hole and after them. Way she saw it the Alpha gang either threw the scanner at them or dropped it out of fear, "Of course….it's just like them." she muttered in annoyance knowing what they did could have easily costed them their lives, sure they survived all kinds of tight situations before but now she wasn't so sure….

Seeing standing around doing nothing wouldn't solve anything, "Well better follow them to see where it leads." she then said deciding to hit the trails. As she followed along the path through the woods she didn't know who to worry about, the A Team getting eaten by the bears, or the bears for getting attacked by a dinosaur or to get sick from eating them. Either way she had to find and save them before they hurt themselves or anyone else around them by doing something stupid.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the bathroom the sound of a toilet flushing was heard from outside, and stepping out of it was Dr Z, who was breathing rather heavily after having finished doing big business in the lavatory, "Phew….finally I got that garbage out of my system…." he wheezed before waving his hand to whip away the smell that came out of it. After that he felt a gurgle in his stomach which made him clench it with his hand, "Ugh…I feel so worn out I almost don't want that sandwich anymore…." he moaned as he walked off hoping to get back to his bedroom and lie down again.

Along the way he passed by the open door of the research room Cera left behind which caught his attention, "Hmm? Now what do we have here?" he asked himself as he stepped in to see the pod wreckage and the fully intact pirate pod settled in nicely in the middle of the room. Connected to one of the pods was a set of cables which were connected to a main computer, where streams of data and energy were flowing out of it and into the mainframe. As Dr Z went over to it he began to type on it and it brought up all the currently encrypted data on screen, which made him widen his eyes in amazement at the newfound potential he may have discovered! "Ah….how very interesting hee hee!" he snickered to himself deviously seeing he had great plans for his dinosaur kingdom which he couldn't wait to put into action, if he could just get his hands on one of them….

 **(Meanwhile)**

A while later Cera, after being pointed by Miku with her sharp eyes, came to a clearing where 3 pieces of honeycomb was nestled on the ground. Looking down she saw bear prints along with shoe marks in the ground hitting she was on the right track though she had just missed them much to her and Miku's disappointment. Up ahead they took notice of a device lying down on the ground as she walked towards it for a better look, and upon closer inspection she recognised what it was, "Another scanner…." reaching for it and picking it up, she opened it to find a saichania inside it, "It belongs to Tank…." she noted before frowning, "Looks like they were here just now…." She couldn't tell whether the A Team threw their best weapons away or had slippery butter fingers.

Either way there was only one path open to her as she looked ahead, "Let's keep going." she then said to Miku as they hurried along the game trail, following after the prints they ended down a rather steep slope, which she slid down before finding an opening in a rocky hill side. "A cave….maybe they went down here….." She thought out loud as she and Miku went inside to investigate. A while had passed as they trekked through the dark caverns, the only sounds to be heard was the wind blowing or drops of water trickling down from the ceiling. Other than that was an eerie silence, "It's really dark and quiet in here…..and I don't like it…." said Cera tensely as she looked around, keeping her eyes and ears peeled as she looked around surveying her surroundings, with Miku too keeping her guar dup against anything that might try to surprise them in the shadows. Unfortunately nothing would prepare them for the surprise they were soon about to experience, as a massive explosion further off sent shockwaves through the area and caused the hanging stalagmites to rattle!

BOOM!

"AH!" Cera gasped as she was thrown off balance and off her feet, Miku screeched in alarm as she leapt off Cera's shoulder as she fell backwards! "Oof! Ow…." she groaned rubbing the back of her head as it banged against the cave ground before sitting up and looking around seeing it had passed thankfully, "What was that!?" she gasped in surprise looking around seeing nothing, which worried her since there was something dangerous down here and she and Miku may have trapped themselves with it! As Miku hopped over to her, she picked her up and put her back on her shoulder before looking ahead with narrowed eyes, "We'd better go see….." she then decided. Explosions don't just happen suddenly, especially in caves, so no doubt someone caused it, and if that was the case there was a chance of casualties. "I hope no one got hurt…." Cera thought to herself as she ran on ahead towards the direction the explosion and shockwaves came from.

As she ran ahead she widened her eyes to see a huge pile of rubble lying in the middle of a clearing, with the Alpha gang and a bear strangely removing rocks on one side, and with Chomp and Ace at full size pushing away large boulders from the rock piles, while Max, Rex and chibi sized Paris were working with the smaller ones. Seeing Zoe to be absent from the group, her heart skipped a beat and she just knew something terrible had happened just now, "AH! Guys!" she then yelled out to them as she ran towards the scene.

"Huh?" Looking up, Max and Rex brightened up with joy to see help had arrived on the scene when they needed it most of all.

"Hey look it's Cera!" Max pointed.

"Man are we glad you're here, we could really use the help!" Rex breathed out loud with relief.

As she ran up to where they were she asked with urgency in her tone, "What happened here? Care to fill me in?" as she looked to see the rock pile they were gathered around, as well as the massive bear that was with them too, "Also, where's Zoe and Shogun Tokugawa?"

Rex then pointed out at the Alpha gang trio, "You should ask them, they're the ones who did this!" he yelled angrily which made them turn pale seeing he was putting the blame at them!

"EH!?"

Ursula gritted her teeth and flared red with anger, "How dare you, you little brats!?" she growled taking her fists, till she froze and shuddered in terror as Cera looked towards them menacingly, piercing red eyes shone from a shade above her face and her entire being was being enshrouded with a dark aura and Miku too, her usual white and fluffy exterior turned ruffled as her eyes became slit and she snarled with the ferocity of a tiger flaring out her wings as she shrieked like a nightmare which made the Alpha gang's blood run cold!

"Urk…" they gulped and huddled together in terror as she stepped towards them.

"Start….talking…now…." she demanded as they began to sweat bullets, unable to look away or even move because of the glare she was shooting them!

"W….Well you see…." Ursula swallowed what seemed to be a rock in her throat as it ached immensely. Zander and Ed were right about to wet their pants and lost their ability to speak, and seeing that Cera wasn't going to take their nonsense a second longer Ursula twiddled her fingers seeing there was no way out for them but to confess….though it wouldn't bode well for them either way…."It's quite a long and funny story actually heheh…."

As she stated everything that had happened since they left the ship-

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Cera exploded in a rage so loud her voice echoed through the entire cavern system some of the stalagmites above even shook too! It was one thing to go rescue 3 idiots who were only talented at getting themselves and others into danger, but for them to carelessly toss away their dinosaurs and endanger her best friend like they just did was really crossing the line for her, as she stomped towards them popping her knuckles, while Miku's snarling jaws dripped with saliva ready to sink them into warm flesh and blood!

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" They all screamed in terror, flailing their arms out like terrified birds before prostrating themselves before her, "We're so sorry!"

"You'd better be," she hissed before looking away from them in disgust as she been to grab some of the larger rocks and toss them away with little effort, "Cos if I see so much as a scratch on Zoe or the shogun, I swear I'll serve you 3 up as sushi then feed you guys to Spiny in a heartbeat!" she swore as the Alpha gang gulped hard and lowered their heads in shame before resuming their punishment of rock removal without another word, for their sakes….

Nearby Max and Rex stared in complete and utter disbelief at what they just saw, "Remind me never to get on Cera's bad side ever Rex…." Max whispered to him.

"Noted Max." Rex nodded in agreement knowing even she could even pacify Terry in full sized form if she went all out like she just did as they returned to clearing the rocks away without another word. Suddenly Ace began to look up and sniff the air rather restlessly, which Cera soon took notice of as she looked to Rex feeling concerned, "Hey Rex, Ace is acting kinds funny." she said alerting him.

"Hmm?" He then looked up and saw she was right, "Hey what's up Ace? Is there something wrong?" he asked puzzled as the carnotaurus suddenly ran off in another direction further ahead, "Where're you going? We've got rocks to move!" he cried out to him, but his pleas were ignored which spurred him to follow after his suddenly wild partner.

As they ran off, Cera and Miku both looked on curiously, "Is he sensing something close by? Like an enemy? Or is he hungry or-" Cera then widened her eyes as she recalled a similar situation like this, "Wait, I remember…." Her mind flashbacked to the time Spiny was agitated back at Treasure Island, and then Tank who had apparently gone berserk in the mountains. Both times they were near a cosmos stone that matched their element, "Could it be?" she had to see it herself to confirm as she looked to Miku, "Let's follow him and see what's going on." she said as her partner responded with a squawk to which she nodded back at as she followed after both Rex and Ace as they ran down a certain tunnel further away from the cave in.

"Ace!" Rex called out to him but once again his cry was ignored as the carnotaurus kept running onward to what appeared to be a dead end. It was then Rex began to slow down as he carefully observed his surroundings with interest, "I don't think we've been down this tunnel yet..." he noted as Cera soon came up to him.

"I don't think we've even covered a fraction of this entire cavern system yet, so everywhere can look new." she said after catching up with him.

"Good point." He nodded back at her in agreement before looking ahead to see Ace, who was wagging rather excitedly in front of a strange case that was sitting nicely in an opening on the cave wall, "Ace there you are!" Rex called out to him, but getting no response and his attention solely fixated on the case he felt he had to step in and intervene. "Come back Ace! We need you!" He said to him rather crossly at being unhelpful in such a time of need. It was when Ace began to reach out for it, that he and Cera soon realised the reason for his strange behaviour, "Huh?" Lifting the case's top half open it revealed inside a glowing white stone shaped and looking exactly like the other 3 before it! It didn't take them long to realise what it was, "A cosmos stone!" He gasped in amazement that they actually found the legendary stone that Tokugawa spoke of and now it was theirs!

"It...looks like the same colour as the wind stone plate..." Cera breathed in awe as she saw it indeed matched the element of wind, and seeing how Ace was indeed reacting to it there had to have been some connection with the cosmos stones and the dinosaurs, like the stone plates did….but what? She felt that was a mystery she should try to unravel and hopefully it would shed light on the situation they were dealing with at the moment.

Ace however soon began to stare at the stone and wag his tail restlessly as if he was being influenced by the stone and not in a good way, it was when he started licking his lips and tried to snap it up that Rex decided to call him back! "Whoa!" he gasped in surprise as he pressed a button to return Ace to card form and then summoning him back in chibi size. "Easy there Ace! We can't have you gobble up our bargaining chip with the pirates can we?" he said with nervously laughter as he reached over to take the case with the stone inside. As he took it though, Ace still couldn't help but tug at Rex's pants or jump up with excitement at the case, prompting Rex to hold it higher where he couldn't reach though it didn't make things any better as Ace also tried nibbling at his leg too.

"It's just like...with Chomp, Spiny and Tank..." Cera thought to herself putting a finger to her chin in thought, which confirmed for her the stones were no doubt connected with the dinosaurs like the stone plates were, or at lea thad some sort of effect on them, "We'd better tell the others about this." she said to Rex as he nodded back at her.

"Let's go back. Hopefully they've gotten Zoe out of there by now." he said as they hurried back the way they came to the main chamber.

As they arrived back they saw Max helping Zoe out of the rubble much to their relief, but also to see the Alpha gang run for their lives again as the papa bear and cub charged after them once more, resuming their chase skit as before much to Rex and Cera's dismay.

"Oh boy..." Rex frowned as he shook his head and face palmed.

Cera then let out a deep sigh she was holding in, "Guess I'd better go after them again...just when I finally found them." she muttered as she asked off ahead of Rex and Ace, "Sometimes I wonder why I bother…." she added at the end.

"You be careful Cera, it can be really tricky finding your way around in this place." he said to her with concern as she nodded back at him.

"I will, thanks for the heads up Rex." she said back to him as she focused on ahead where the Alpha gang and bears had disappeared into the darkness and out of sight, much to her annoyance now that she had to find them in the dark too. Along the way she decided to stop by check on Zoe, who was being supported by Max a bit while Paris was nuzzling at her with relief she was alright, "Hey Zoe, glad you're okay." said Cera as she and the others looked up to her.

"Yeah," she nodded as a bead of sweat dropped down her cheek, "It's a miracle but me, the shogun and that bear cub are all in one piece." she said which made Cera herself smile relieved too.

"Glad to hear it." she replied before hearing the sounds of the Trio screaming up ahead which made her frown return upon being reminded, "I'd love to stay and catch up on what happened, but I've got to go find those 3 baboons before they do something destructive again like they just did." she said as the others nodded understandably as well as in agreement.

"Yeah, please do, wouldn't want anyone else to get tangled up in their mess like we just did." Max added as she walked past them.

"Take care of yourself!" Zoe waved to her as she ran past the rubble pile.

Looking to it, Cera widened her eyes slightly as she saw a plump man pull himself painfully out from the rocks, as well as taking note of his face and body features, "That's...Tokugawa?" she breathed as he began gasping for air, recuperating after the shock of the rock collapse just now. She stared in amazement, not jut at the fact he was a notable japanese figure but also at the resemblance he bore to Zoe's father, "He really does look like Dr Drake..." she noted, "Could it be they're related? Like he's the ancestor of Dr Drake?" she thought to herself, "If so, then maybe Zoe's got warrior blood in her too?" Which wouldn't be too farfetched since she's fiery and spirited. She then shook her head reminding herself she still had a trio of stooges to rescue from a pair of hungry bears so that had to wait for now, "I'll worry about that later, right now I've got work to do." she told herself before running ahed and looking back behind her, "Keep that stone safe you guys, we're counting on you." she then thought to herself wishing them the best as she entrusted them with the stone and to look after both it and each other, before parting ways with them for the time being.

"Hey! Guys!" Rex then called out to Max and Zoe as they turned to him, "Man you're not going to believe what Ace and I just found." he said excitedly as he brought in the case.

"Oh great, what is it now? Is it another bear? Or something worse?" Max asked feeling worried after all the bad luck they've been having all day.

Rex's smile however proved otherwise, "Actually it's something better, a lot better." he smiled before looking down to the container, "Check it out!" As he opened it everyone widened their eyes at the sight of the beautiful white gemstone which was nested gently inside it.

Tokugawa widened his eyes as he saw it and he rushed over for a closer look, "Ooh! You did it! You found the legendary stone!" he breathed in awe and amazement, the stone was far more pleasing to the ey then he had ever imagined, and with it now in his possession he just knew he could not only defeat Takeda and anyone else who would dare threaten his territory, but even have the entire world grovelling at his feet!

The dream didn't last long though as a certain individual with evil intentions for the stone soon dropped in on the group, "I'll be taking that!" he yelled out surprising them.

"Huh!?" As they all looked up they saw Gavro was floating right above them aiming for the stone.

"It's that space pirate!" Zoe gasped worriedly.

"Hey! Take a hike Gavro!" Rex yelled out angrily as he shook a fist at the burly pirate.

"I already hiked quite a long way to get here. So I'm done hiking." he answered before charing at them with his arm out! "What I'm going to do is take that cosmos stone!" Everyone gasped as he lunged quickly at them, thankfully Ace quickly responded as he jumped out and bit onto his arm much to his surprise! "Gaah!" He cried as he shook the young carnotaurus off his hand! "Hey! Pick on someone your own species!" Gavro then growled in annoyance as he placed a dinosaur card at his chest plate! It then glowed and then called forth an orange spinosaurid dinosaur which hissed viciously as it stood by Gavro's side!

"A baryonyx!" Max gasped upon recognising it. Seeing the situation to be getting too dangerous for him, Tokugawa quickly ran to the sidelines behind some rocks for cover as he looked out and watched to see what would happen, at the same time wishing the D team the absolute best.

"Let's go Ace! Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Rex cried out taking initiative as he called Ace forth in full sized form! Ace roared and rushed forward fearlessly while the baryonyx snarled and charged ahead at him! Both dinosaurs bashed heads against one another a couple of times before Ace managed to get under it and fling his larger opponent away.

The baryonyx however was able to manoevre itself as it landed on its feet, "Nice move! But not as good as aqua whip!" Gavro called out as he activated a water move card! Stomping its foot the baryonyx snarled viciously before firing a water whip which ensnared Ace before slamming mercilessly into the ground multiple tomes while he struggled helplessly!

"Ace needs help you guys!" Rex called out in concern seeing he couldn't take too many more hits.

"Then let's add Paris and Chomp into the mix!" Max yelled.

"You got it!" Zoe followed in agreement as they took out their cards and slashed them!

"Dino slash!

"Triceratops! Roar!"

"Spring up parasaurolophus!"

Chomp charged in, the baryonyx unable to respond in time, was then knocked down hard causing him to lose control of the water whip which in turn freed Ace. After that Ace collapsed down to the ground in exhaustion as Paris went over to his aid. "Oh no Ace!" Rex then gasped in concern.

"I'll take care of this in a jiffy!" Zoe cried out in response taking out a grass move card, "Nature's blessing!" Paris glowed green and breathed out an aura of grass and leaves which swirled around Ace, filling him with energy as he got back up and roared fully energised!

"Heh, thanks Zoe." Rex smiled with relief seeing his partner in good health again before hardening his expression looking ahead, "Now let's take him down!" He then yelled punching forward spurring Paris and Ace to get right back into battle!

Up ahead, Chomp rushed in and tossed baryonyx up into the air as it then crashed down to the ground struggling in pain! "ARGH!" Gavro growled in frustration before looking ahead angrily to see himslef outnumbered, "3 against 1? That's not very fair is it?" He muttered putting a finger to his chin in concern before reaching into his pocket, "How about I make things even then?" He then smirked as he placed a pair of new dinosaur cards on his chest plate! "Utahraptor! Achelousaurus!" Appearing on the field beside baryonyx was a speedy raptor and an orange and blue ceratopsian which both rushed in forcing Ace and Paris to back off upon facing new opposition!

"Now he's got 3 dinosaurs…." Rex narrowed his eyes as he and the others sweated anxiously.

"This'll be tough…." Max gritted his teeth as things were about to get worse.

"Alright time for spectral armour!" Gavro then cried out activating the armour for all 3 of his dinosaurs causing them to be encased in purple crystal armour!

"Let's boost this up a notch!" Max then cried out.

"You got it!"

"Let's go!" Rex and Zoe both responded as they prepared to armour up their dinosaurs too!

"AAAARGH! Element booster! Dino tector on!" All 3 of their dinosaurs were soon armored up before rushing ahead fearlessly towards their foes!

"Bring it on!" Gavro then bellowed not afraid of them in the slightest as he activated a normal move card! "Segnosaurus slap!" A brown and white therizinosaur appeared on the field and raised out its arms flashing its massive claws as it screeched at Paris making her back away warily at its arsenal of weaponry!

"Ah! A segnosaurus!" Zoe gasped taking a step back as the lumbering beast swung out its arms at Paris's face, before slapping her around with little effort disorienting her before delivering a hard punch which knocked her down, giving Achelousaurus the chance to ram into her belly repeatedly without mercy to Zoe's horror! "AH! Paris!" She cried.

"And next up! Cyclone!" Gavro followed up activating a wind move! A large tornado surrounded the utahraptor as it rushed forward towards Ace, striking him hard and sending him skidding several feet back! He dug in his claws as dust built up under them as he then crouched down trying to recover from the shock he felt!

"Grrgh!" Rex grunted covering himself with his arm before narrowing his eyes ahead seeing this was going to be tougher than they thought. Little did he know he dropped the case containing the white cosmos stone which soon caught Gavro's eye as he smirked sinisterly at it.

Nearby the baryonyx swung out its tail and knocked Chomp through a stalactite as he crashed hard to the ground! Despite the hit he took Chomp stomped his foot on the ground as he forced himself back up with determination! "Oh yeah!? Now it's our turn to attack!" Max yelled punching his arm forward!

"I couldn't agree more!" Zoe smirked taking out a move card, "But first I'll call in some backup! Go Egg attack!" Slashing the card, 3 oviraptors were soon summoned as they hissed out viciously at segnosaurus which backed away momentarily after being surprised by their sudden appearance! It then swung out its claws at em, but they easily dodged the attack as one of them spat eggs at its face making it bellow out as it tried to get the stinging sensation out of its eyes! Distracted the other 2 raptors charged in, one biting hard into its leg while another pulled back at its tail!

Instinctively it swung out its arms repeatedly hoping to be able to take them out or scatter them, but with egg fluid in its eyes it couldn't see well as its smaller but smarter enemies easily evaded its attacks before it ended up getting its claw stuck in a wall! Jerking and tugging in vain ti free itself it found itself helpless to the oviraptors as they fired out a barrage of eggs at it! Unable to defend itself it bellowed in pain before succumbing to its injuries and returning to a card which Zoe went in to grab!

Paris meanwhile was able to kick off achelousaurus as it rushed in to ram her again, before getting up and batting it away with her tail! Ace on the other hand managed to keep up with the utahraptor's speed as they struck out and vanished in blurs at one another, sparks flying as they clashed claws with horns at one another! Neither one of them giving up! As the baryonyx grabbed out at Chomp's horns and held him back a bit, he was able to muster his remaining strength to loft up the spinosaur over his head before throwing him into the wall!

Nearby, the shogun could only watch speechlessly in awe at the ferocity and fighting spirit all 3 children had, for being so young they had the hearts of true warriors in them.

"Come on Chomp! Yeah!"

"Go and take em down Ace!"

"Hey Paris! Show em who's boss!" The D Team cheered their partners on.

Little did they know, Gavro had snuck around behind them using his dinosaurs as decoys as he focused on Rex! "Ahahaha! Speaking of bosses, mine's gonna be real happy when I bring this back to him!" He snickered to himself as he reached out for the case behind Rex!

As he reached out and was about to grab hold of it, "Hey you kid! Look out behind you!" Tokugawa cried out to him in time!

Hearing the shogun's warning, Rex turned to look and widened his eyes seeing what was going on. "AH!" He grabbed hold of the case, but Gavro unfortunately managed to get ahold of it too as the 2 of them began to wrestle for control for it!

"GRRR!"

"URGH!"

"Hand over that cosmos stone right now!" Gavro grunted in annoyance, also slightly surprised Rex was able to hold him off fairly well.

"No way! You're not getting this one!" Rex retorted gritting his teeth determined to secure the stone in the hopes of saving their parents, while at the same time beginning to lose his grip! It almost slipped from his hand when Max took notice of him and cried out.

"Over here! Throw it!" He called, as Rex wrestled it out of Gavro's hands and then tossed it over to his friend!

Before it could reach Max, a mysterious man suddenly jumped out if nowhere and then snatched it in mid-air! "I'll be taking that!" The ninja cried out grabbing hold of it!

"Where did he come from!?" Rex gasped in alarm at the new arrival at how easily he took the stone and landed skillfuly next to Tokugawa with ease, as the shogun gasped his name in surprise.

"Hanzo!"

"The legendary stone is ours shogun now let's get out of here!" His loyal servant bowed to him with respect before turning around and squatting, "Quickly sir! I'll carry you!"

"Well done." Tokugawa complimented him as he proceeded to get on his back.

"Wait!" Zoe cried out making him and Hanzo turn to her.

"Huh?"

"Remember what we talked about?" Zoe pleaded with him as tears began to form in her eyes, "You can't leave with that stone! I need it to rescue my dad!"

Upon hearing her pleas, the shogun was beginning to feel torn and unsure. Under the circumstances he'd chosen the wellbeing of his own people as well as his goals in a heartbeat, but since traveling with the D Team he had grown rather attached to them, especially Zoe after all she and the others did fir him. Now he was beginning to feel unsure on what to do as he and Zoe stared at one another conflicted over what to do with it.

"Please…." She asked once more begging him to comply, as important as it was to the shogun it was just as important to her and the D Team as they saw it as their only hope.

Seeing how they were all conflicted and distracted over who should get the cosmos stone, Gavro quickly took to the air, "Hate to interrupt but I'm the one leaving with the cosmos stone!" He yelled as he made a rush at them!

"Paris and Ace stop him!" Rex yelled out urgently as the 2 of em responded and stood in front of the pirate's way much to his frustration!

"Grr! Gah!" He grunted backing away at the sight of both dinosaurs blocking his path!

"Shogun please we must go!" Hanzo pleaded once more with his master, "After you left I put a double in your place but there's only so long he'll be able to keep up this charade so come on please!"

The news made Tokugawa widen his eyes in surprise, "Someone's pretending to be me right now!?" He gasped.

"Yes sir, I was fortunate enough to find a man who looks almost exactly like you." Hanzo replied which caught Zoe's attention.

"Could it be my dad?" She breathed feeling a sense of hope come over her.

"Shogun at this very moment this double is leading our army on the plains of Mikatakahara. Takeda invaded our territory and we had to respond!" Hanzo continued with utmost urgency.

"We're battling Takeda!?" The shogun then gasped in shock, which was enough to convince him what he had to do, "Why on earth didn't you say so!?" He then climbed onto his back, "Let's move!" He said seriously as Hanzo managed to leap with ease while carrying his master through the cave back to the entrance, leaving Zoe to ponder over the last couple of words they said.

"So dad's acting as the shogun? And he's leading troops into battle?" Zoe mouthed in shock fearing the wellbeing of her own father, he may be tough with animals but in a war zone he'd be completely doomed...

Meanwhile the achelousaurus and utahraptor had both rushed in at Ace and Paris, lunging and striking at them both! While they were kept at bay Gavro seized his chance to get pass them! "Hey you're not going nowhere!" He then yelled out angrily while making another attempt at the cosmos stone! Hanzo however, being blindsided by him once wasn't about to let him get away with it a second time! In response he threw a smile bomb into his face "Not with my cosmos sto-whoa!" He cried covering his face as smoke erupted at his face and eyes! "I can't see!" He cried coughing in the smoke, leaving him unable to command his dinosaurs as The D Team went back on the offense!

Seizing the opportunity Max took out a move card, "Here we go Chomp! Thunder driver!" He slashed the card causing Chomp to roar as he glowed yellow! Charging forth he tossed baryonyx high into the sky! Surging with electricity he leapt up high above hid helpless foe before spinning like a pile driver and piecing down into the spinosaur and driving it into the ground while delivering a massive shock! The baryonyx then shook uncontrollably with electricity flowing through it before returning to a card.

"Zoe! Let's do a fusion move!" Rex then shouted out to her while she was still in her thoughts and spacing out after pondering over the possibility her dad had escaped the pirates' ship! Seeing she didn't respond, he then shouted once more, "ZOE!" He yelled desperately which managed to wake her up.

"Huh!?" She gasped looking to him but soon was able to get her head back in the game as she hardened her expression seriously, "Oh! Right!" They both took out a grass and wind move each before slashing them in unison!

"Botanical ninja attack!" They yelled as Paris and Ace both roared and glowed white and green! Paris summoned out a cloud of leaves with leaf slash which began to swirl and envelop around the gust of wind Ace generated when he sped up with ninja attack! Splitting into 6 clones they all surged with the sharp serrated leaves around them as they leapt out and circled both achelousaurus and utahraptor, trapping them and confusing them, before striking out mercilessly at them both! After repeated attacks from their multiple sided attacks and sharp leaves from Paris, they both roared out in pain and were completely overwhelmed by the D Team's teamwork almost instantly!

As both dinosaurs returned to card form, Zoe and Rex both ran out to grab them as they floated down to the ground slowly with the battlefield fading away. After picking them up though, a noise nearby soon caught their attention as they looked ahead in the direction it came from, "Grrrgh!" Gavro grunted rubbing his face as he smoke began to clear out. "Speedy footman I'm gonna catch you!" He then growled in anger as he charged out on the path where he saw Hanzo took off.

"There he goes!" Max pointed out the burly pirate flying off after Hanzo and Tokugawa, just as he and the others recalled their dinosaurs.

"Quick after him! Don't lose him no matter what!" Zoe then shouted out suddenly which surprised the boys at how sudden and unexpected she was.

Seeing no reason to argue or ask why she got so uptight all a sudden, both Max and Rex nodded in agreement, "Y...yeah sure we're on it..." They said still rather caught off guard before they all ran off in pursuit.

As they did, Rex then looked over to Max who ran next to him, "Hey Max." He said to him making him look.

"Yeah?"

"You get the feeling Zoe was a little distracted with the shogun earlier?" He asked him feeling suspicious of her behavior earlier.

Max then narrowed his eyes as he began to think about it, "Now that you mention it...yeah kinda." He thought out loud, "Wonder why."

Rex then narrowed his eyes, having suspicions that this would also have to do

feels they were talking just now

"Either way we have to find him and that cosmos stone before we lose another shot at saving our parents." He then said seriously as Max nodded back to him.

"Then let's do it!" He said firmly as they continued onwards.

 **Hope you all enjoyed this opening to Ancient Japan. As shown here I wanted there to be more dinosaurs since Gavro only used baryonyx against the D Team in the anime which I found rather unfair, and also because Chomp did most of the work, also here the gang got achelousaurus back and the utahraptor that kicked out Dr Drake. Also wanted Gavro to use an assist move too. And shown here Cera does a little work too with the space pods, so stay tuned to see her efforts bear fruit in later chapters. Also it shows here how Dr Z suddenly began to take interest in the cosmos stones due to Cera's research too.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-While that's true there are some bad guys are honourable and do keep their words though that doesn't mean you shouldn't have your guard up at all times, also this should teach Sanzo to be wiser too. Glad you liked the battle too.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-I plan to keep it to just dinosaurs in the series.**


	38. There's no business like shogun business

Chapter 38

There's no business like shogun business

Further off in the caves, Cera and Miku continued trekking uncomfortably through the rocky terrain in search of the alpha gang who ran off being chased by bears, which for reasons she couldn't comprehend. For one thing she couldn't understand why the bears would exert so much effort into chasing 3 buffoons who would be hardly worth the effort, nor why she bothered with the effort having to put up with their nonsense and babysit them at every single step. Nevertheless, as painful as she had to admit it, the D Team alone weren't enough to stop the space pirates from accomplishing their vile ambitions and they needed all the help they could get no matter how small or ridiculous it was, so she had no choice but to save them.

Although, that didn't mean she had to like it, for she had to trek across very hard and bumpy terrain to get to where she currently was, along with coming across close shaves with falling stalactites almost flattening her and Miku, while pitfalls nearly taking her by surprise. On top of that even if she did find them there was the matter of saving them from a pair of wild animals that could make a meal out of a human with ease...she much rather fight with dinosaurs than risk her own neck for the 3 stooges who have a just as great knack at getting into trouble as much as causing it.

Be that as it may she decided to focus on finding them first, which had proven to be rather difficult, "Now where did they go?" She grunted in annoyance as she came to another opening where a number of tunnels spanned around the perimeter and the ground as hard as bone meaning finding footprints wasn't an option now, "Sigh...man this place is like a maze, they could've gone anywhere..." She then sighed as she began rubbing her temple in annoyance.

She would've continued to dwell in her frustrations and the bad stroke of luck she was dealt, she suddenly opened her eyes as she recalled a solution for such a situation like this, "Wait, I remember installing a tracking function into my dinoshot," she then said taking out her device, remembering she developed that while installing her elemental sync function, "With luck I should be able to track down their alpha scanner and hopefully it'll lead us right to them." She said typing into it. Before long a beacon lit up on her screen which made her smile seeing it work, "Ah there it is..." She said seeing it wasn't too far from their current location and looking up to see it was along the largest tunnel path. "Come on Miku, lets go find those idiots." She said as the 2 of them went through.

After walking along the path a while, the light began to dim but it was still visible enough to get a good look ahead. As they closed in on the signal, Cera soon narrowed her eyes seeing the signal suddenly stopped in place much to her surprise. "Huh?" Blinking her eyes she began to worry slightly fearing the bears had caught up to them snd the unthinkable had happened. Shaking her head clear she decided to remain focused and positive before continuing onward hoping nothing terrible had befell the alpha gang for even they didn't deserve something so cruel. As they came upon it, a wave of relief soon washed over her as she saw a device on the ground which she came in to pick up, "It's Terry's scanner." She said noting it as it beeped red with her dinoshot's scanner.

Looking around she could see no signs of a scuffle nor any blood around so it meant the bears hadn't caught or made a meal of them thankfully. On another note it brought up another problem for them, "So much for finding them...giving scanners to those guys is like giving pearls to pigs..." She sighed facepalming hard. Way she saw it, Either they couldn't hold onto it while they ran or they threw it at the bears, wouldn't put it past them on that. "On the bright side Terry's safe with us again with Spiny and Tank." She smiled slightly before it soon turned to a scowl, "On the bad side, we're still lost and have no clue on how to find the alpha gang..." She then sighed seeing they were back to square one again. She was about to ponder over how they ought to proceed from here, when a voice echoed through the caverns which their ears picked up.

"Man oh man how did things end up like this?" A familiar but unsettling voice echoed through the caves which caught Cera's attention as her ears perked up at the voice.

"Hmm?" It didn't take long for her to recognize it as she hardened her expression into a scowl, "That voice….I know who that is…." She muttered off as she hurried off after it in the direction it came from. Despite the cave being dark and like a maze, the sound of the voice was so loud she was able to figure out where it came from and after a while of navigating the underground labyrinth she came to a large clearing and found the source of the yelling.

Foolscap was breathing heavily, under huge stress and pressure shown by his tense expression, heavy sweat and angry stomping about as he shouted out loud his frustration, "It was my big chance to score a cosmos stone and some well deserved credit, but now I'm stuck having to look for Sheer while Gavro gets all the glory!?" He cried out in anger as he scrunched up his spiky haired and ruffled it all up, "Heck I was the one who got the cosmos stone from China! What did I ever do to deserve this!? GRRR!" He then growled as he began stomping his foot on the ground in a rage!

"Maybe for starters you ought to stop your crazy ambitions, give up on your mad goals and let my friends' parents go!" A voice yelled back at him which caught him by surprise and made him jump and make his heart skip a beat!

"HUH!?" Turning in the direction it came from he widened his eyes to see Cera leaning against a stone stalactite rather causally, "Gah! You!" He gasped in surprise.

"Quite the drama queen aren't you Foolscap? Didn't take you for the type to shout out his thoughts in order to blow off steam," said Cera shrugging her shoulders with a small smile out of pity, "Then again when you're up against us I can't blame you for getting so worked up." She added at the end with a smirk as he began to sweat nervously.

"Urk…." He gulped before pointing out nervously at her, "H…How long have you been standing there!?" He asked.

"Long enough." Vera replied looking up at him, "Word of advice, stop thinking out loud so much, you'd give yourself away to an enemy who wouldn't hesitate to take you down on sight!" She then said angrily as she got into a battle stance with Miku snarling aggressively at their enemy.

Their remarks made Foolscap gnash his teeth in annoyance as he began popping his knuckles while itching for a fight! "Oh, so you think you're tough huh?" His scowl soon turned to a grin. "Well you're now all alone without any of your precious little friends, not to mention with only that puny pipsqueak of a dinosaur to hide behind!" He laughed pointing at Miku mockingly as she narrowed her eyes and flared up her feathers angrily.

"You'll eat those words soon enough…." Cera hissed angrily as anyone insulting her partner Miku was crossing a forbidden line which no one would get away with.

"Oh I'm so scared!" Foolscap cried feigning worry before grinning maliciously and taking out 3 cards from his pocket, "Too bad that pile of feathers can't save you from this! Ha!" Placing all of them on his headband 3 bright lights shone out, being a Daspletosaurus, amargasaurus and saurolophus! All of which roared out ferociously before string down at Cera and Miku, who stepped back in face of the opposition they were presented with.

"3 dinosaurs…." Cera thought as a bead of sweat dropped from her cheek. As it did a small confident smile soon came on her face, "This should be fun." She turned an eye to Miku, "Hope you don't mind sitting this one out Miku, could get a little too rough." She asked. At first a little hesitant her partner soon nodded back agreeing with her reason as Cera smiled back at her, "Thanks."

"Not so tough now are you?" Foolscap snickered feeling full of himself which soon subsided when he saw Cera wasn't worried in the slightest.

"Actually," smirked Cera much to her foe's confusion and soon concern, "I'm feeling better than I've ever been thanks to these!" She said holding up 3 cards then slashing them on her dinoshot! "Dino slash! Flame up tyrannosaurus! Shake em up saichania! Gush out spinosaurus!" Appearing before her were Terry, Spiny and Tank in full sized forms as they roared out furiously at their foes who roared back!

The cave turned multicolored, the same time as when the D Team was fighting Gavro, seeing the battle before him, Foolscap couldn't help but whistle impressed seeing it was a big one, "I've gotta say kid, you've definitely bring in the big guns this time." He admitted with s nod before grinning excitedly, "So you can be assured I'll be bringing in even bigger ones!" He cried then holding his hand out, "Go get her!" He yelled as his dinosaurs roared and charged ahead!

"Together guys!" Cera yelled as her own dinosaurs responded in turn and attacked!

First Terry engaged the daspletosaurus in up close combat. Lunging forward and opening his jaws, his smaller opponent managed to side step him before biting into his neck and shoving him against a rock wall! Terry though responded by kicking out his leg and knocking his foe off him.

"Eat Heat strike!" Foolscap then growled as his dinosaur became clad in flames and charged ahead towards Terry!

Cera narrowed her eyes taking another card, "Then I'll counter with Critical bomb!" She yelled as Terry flared red, as flames erupted around him he sidestepped in time grab before turning around to grab the daspletosaurus' tail before swinging it around and throwing it mercilessly into some nearby rocks!

"Grr!" Foolscap grunted in annoyance before looking to another battle where his saurolophus rammed into Spiny and sent him skidding back slightly. The move only succeeded in angering the spinosaurus as he roared out and snapped on the hadrosaur's neck and then bringing it down hard! "So you wanna play rough huh? Fine! Let's play!" Foolscap grunted clenching his hand into a fist before taking out a move card, "Take this! Tupuxuara dive!" Activating the move card, saurolophus cried out for help as it glowed, causing a tupuxuara to fly out and then strike Spiny from the side and knocking him onto the ground!

"Spiny!" Cera gasped seeing that as he kept trying to get up the pesky pterosaur kept swooping from above and knocking him off again! Whenever he did get up he tried swinging his tail and leaping up to snap at it but to no avail, only to get sucker punched by the saurolophus which had rammed him from the side and thrown him off balance!

"Haha! No way you can win against this!" Foolscap laughed smugly as his saurolophus bellowed out making the tupuxuara dive down again for another attack at the now weakened Spiny!

Cera clicked her tongue in response,"Tch! If you've got allies from above, I'll just call up some help from below!" She yelled taking out a water move card and slashing it, "Ocean panic!" As the tupuxuara swooped down, Spiny roared loudly glowing blue as a pit opened up below his flying adversary! At once 2 opthalmosaurus leapt out from the pond and snapped at the tupuxuara causing it to stop in place mid-flight! As it tried to back away more soon kept leaping out at it snapping at it in almost every direction it tried to go in, further confusion and disorienting it! Eventually one successfully got hold of its legs in its jaws before pulling it down underwater! Losing consciousness underwater, it and the opthalmosaurus school returned to cards before returning to Cera's hands as she smirked in Foolscap's displeased face

"Why you! How dare you use my own move against me!? The nerve!" He growled stomping his feet in frustration, taking the tactic as an insult or like salt being rubbed in old open wounds!

Nearby Tank roared at amargasaurus before swinging her tail out and managing to delover a swift blow to its head causing it to back away painfully. Seeing he was on the losing end again, Foolscap grunted and sweated anxiously before reaching into his pocket for one more move card, "Okay, third time's the charm! Bubble attack!" He growled activating it, making his amargasaurus blow out a large bubble before smacking it with its tail and sending it hurtling straight at Tank!

Cera narrowed her eyes at the incoming move as she took a card of her own, "Too bad that move won't get through Earth barrier!" Slashing it Tank glowed purple before roaring out and slamming on the ground! Bits of earth rose into the air from her stomp which then collected around her and shielded her from the incoming bubble which popped harmlessly in front of her!

Seeing how easily their advances were thwarted, the 3 enemy dinosaurs slowly backed away nervously seeing how outclassed they actually were in contrast to their rivals! "Hey! What do you think you're doing!? Get back in there you! Are you dinosaurs or chickens!?" Foolscap yelled in annoyance before fuming red, first he was put on side duty and now he was getting his butt kicked really bad, this clearly wasn't his day. "Grr! She's just like a bad rash on Gavro's back….very stubborn and hard to eliminate no matter what you try….well I've had it! No more playing nice!" He grunted to himself before taking a breath and smirking with confidence, "So you overcame my moves big deal!" He said cockily as he held up their 3 grey cards, "Let's see how you hold up against a triple dose of spectral armour!"

"Ah!" Cera widened her eyes Realizing she couldn't armour up all of her dinosaurs, but soon she realized she did have a solution, "Oh no you don't! Not this time!" Responding quickly she took an earth move and slashed it, "Go Tank! Spike arrows!" Slashing it Tank roared out as energy surged through her body up to her tail before she fired a barrage of arrows at Foolscap catching him off guard!

He widened his eyes at the incoming arrows as he desperately tried to dodge them, ducking and zipping out of the way, a handful of them nearly tearing his wings off or even shredding his backside! "Wh…What the!? Hey!" If it wasn't for the fact he was quite flexible with yoga he'd have more holes than swiss cheese by now as he zipped away from another shot! "Cut that out! You can't just attack me like that!" He yelled out in protest shaking his fist, "You good guys are supposed to fight fair with honor and stuff! Sto-"

WHAM!

Not looking where he was going he ended up flying striaght into a nearby stalagmite before falling down to the ground in a daze, "Urgh…." He groaned as his eyes spun around and he lost consciousness.

"With him out of the picture, his dinos are toast!" Cera grinned as the 3 dinosaurs backed away nervously seeing they had no way to fight back their stronger opponents now, "Now to take care of these guys for good!" She yelled before looking taking a fire and water move card out, "Terry! Spiny! You're up! Mist sword!" Slashing both moves both theropods flashed blue and red, Terry fired up overheat from his tail while Spiny called forth a water sword! Both blades merged into one steaming geyser of heated water which made the saurolophus back away nervously. It didn't get the chance to flee as both Terry and Spiny brought the blade down on it, slashing it through and causing it to collapse unconsciously before turning into a card!

"One down!" Cera cheered pumping her arm up while Terry and Spiny roared triumphantly. Seeing the fall of their comrade, the remaining 2 dinosaurs turned around and tried to make a run for it, "You're not getting away so easily!" Cera yelled at them, "Tank! Your turn!" She called giving the ankylosaur a head up as she roared back at her in acknowledgment, "Magma quake!" She yelled slashing an earth and fire move! Tank roared as she slammed down on the ground causing a massive crack to form and then open up beneath daspletosaurus as it fell through and roared out in a panic as it struggled to get out! Terry soon followed up with firing volcano burst init the crevice causing it to become magma as it erupted through daspletosaurus' body as it roared in pain before Tank sealed the deal before slamming her tail into the crack causing it to close shut and it roared out one final breath before turning to a card again!

"And last but not least-" she smirked seeing the amargasaurus trying to flee but she knew it wouldn't get far with what she had planned for it in the form of a water and earth move fusion! "Water mole attack!" Tank flashed purple before leaping into the air and spinning into the dirt! After that Spiny fired falling water into it, and further away the amargasaurus felt vibrations coming under its feet! It stopped to look around to figure out where it came from, a fatal mistake as Tank suddenly shot out and struck its underside in a huge pillar of water! Smashing it into the roof of the cave she came down and landed on her feet while the amargasaurus crashed onto the ground and let out a pained moan before returning ti a card!

"Alright! Way to go guys! Woo hoo!" Cera cheered happily as her dinosaurs roared together victoriously with the battlefield disappearing. After that she recalled her dinosaurs and turned them to chibi form as she looked down and smiled on them all proudly, "You all did awesome, I couldn't have been more proud of you all at such great teamwork." She said complimenting them as she leaned down to stroke them one by one as they purred and cooed with content. She was proud not just by their success but also the fact they were now becoming true friends with each other, having the same trust in one another like the D Team dinosaurs, and that made her filled with hope and joy for them. Unable to contain their excitement anu longer the 3 of them quickly jumped on Cera, knocking her down and began snuffling into her or licked her face rather affectionately as she giggled out loud, "Ahahaha! Stop that tickles! Cut it out!" She laughed out loud as Miku got back up, having been knocked down by accident after her partner was tackled playfully by her friends.

Looking at them she smiled feeling glad her partner was making such good friends with their former enemies yet she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at all the attention she was getting from them. The moment didnt last long as a hanging stalagmite, loosened from the battle earlier suddenly crumbled and fell down which Miku quickly noticed as she squawked in alarm and jumped out of the way before it could crush her!

Cera looked up and widened her eyes seeing what had happened, "Ah! Miku!" She cried as she quickly got up and picked up her friend holding her close, "You okay?" She asked worried, before being answered by a calm coo which made her smile with relief as she rubbed her close to her cheeks, "Thank goodness..." She then breathed. A rocky part of the wall soon crumbled away. Too as a result of the fight. Looking up the gang saw a small but secret cavern had been revealed, with a sacred looking box inside.

The sight was most pleasing to the eye as Cera couldn't help but approach it with awe, "Hmm? What's this?" She then asked herself as she noticed a way to open it, as she did she found inside it was a glowing silver sword, the blade carrying a scale like pattern and it glowed flowing with power. A power Cera couldn't put a finger on yet knew it was special in its own way, "What a beautiful sword….seems rare and valuable….how did this get here?" She asked herself eyeing it curiously while the other dinosaurs gathered around her for a look at the blade.

"Grrgh…." A groan soon caught her attention as she and the others turned to look.

"Hmm?" Looking behind her she saw Foolscap had already gotten back up on his feet and was making his way to his last dinosaur card as he grabbed it up. After that he clenched his hand into a fist and punched the ground, "I had 3 dinosaurs and a perfect plan to use them! How could you beat me!?" He growled in frustration, "Wait I know, it's because they're weak that's why! I'll need to go get better ones!" He then said with a smirk unwilling to take any of the blame for this failure, something which served to tick Cera off a lot.

"Hey! Don't you dare call those dinosaurs weak!" She yelled at him, "If anything you should blame yourself for using them so poorly!" She then pointed out at him, "If anyone should be called weak it's you!"

"Say what!?" Foolscap cried out loud widening his eyes at the offense, he then gritted his teeth and began popping his knuckles as he began stomping towards her, "You snobby little kid! Why I oughta-"

Grr!

"WAH!" He suddenly stopped in his tracks as Terry, Spiny and Tank stood in front of her defensively and growled out at him viciously along with Miku who stood perched on Cera's shoulder, despite being small sized they looked as though they could tear his head off if given the chance! He gulped and turned pale nervously as he began backing away from them, "Err….hehehe, on second thought I've gotta run now! Catch ya later!" He cried out in a panic before stretching his wings and taking off down the cave path!

"Get back here!" Cera yelled out angrily as she and the others quickly gave chase! Despite their best efforts though the flying space pirate was able to out speed them quite easily and as soon as they made it into another cavern clearing with a few paths to choose from they saw no trace of him as Cera clicked her tongue in annoyance, "Tch! He got away…again!" She shouted out loud in frustration and lowered herslef forward in disappointment at letting her friends down.

Speaking of them, she didn't have long to find them as a voice cried out to her from behind, "Hey Cera!"

"Huh?" Turning around she saw Max, Rex and Zoe running towards her with her chibi dinosaur partners by their side.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked as they came up to her looking rather urgent.

"Have you seen the shogun come by?" Zoe asked with a hard look on her face which made her step back a but in surprise.

"N...no I haven't," Cera answered her as she scratched her cheek a bit, "I was chasing after Foolscap just now but i lost sight of him before you arrived. Why?"

Max stepped forward, "The shogun got away from us on a ninja servant with the white cosmos stone!" he cried.

"And Gavro took off after them!" Rex ended which made Cera widen her eyes in surprise.

"Ah! We've got to find them fast!"

Max then pointed ahead of them, "I think the entrance is up ahead from here! Follow me!" he said pointing forward as they all ran together in a group down the path Max pointed, and before long they saw the opening up ahead and soon they stepped out into the light and on to the grass again.

"It looks like they all got away..." Said Rex as he and the others looked around seeing no trace of them for miles.

"Man that other guy was fast..." Max grumbled in annoyance at how inept they were at keeping up with them despite their best.

"I don't see a trail or footprints or anything..." Said Zoe after that.

Cera ten folded her arms on her hips and looked around, "Well ninjas are pretty good at tracking and covering their own tracks to make sure they themselves aren't followed so its's no surprise there." She then said.

"On the bright side that means Gavro wouldn't be able to find them so easily." Rex added looking at things positively.

"But that means we're in the same boat though..." Said Zoe as she put a hand to her chest rather unsurely.

"We've got to find them and get the cosmos stone before the space pirates do!" Max then said firmly, but before the D Team could act some screaming soon caught their ears making them look.

"WAAAAH!" Before long the A team soon came into view, swinging their arms out frantically as the father and baby bear bounded after them! Seeing how they were still in trouble made the D Team sighed in dismay or eyed em with sympathy.

The alpha gang still hasn't gotten away from that bear?" Max sighed.

"Guess they've got a way with animals..." Cera commented shrugging her shoulders.

"What's their problem?" Max groaned wondering at how bad their misfortunes were, unaware that that same bad luck was about to fall on them.

Some rustling behind them caught their attention as they turned to look, "Huh?"

The children's eyes widened and their hearts skipped a beat as they saw an enormous mother bear stand before them on her hind legs, towering over them like a giant! "Gwah!?"

"I don't know but suddenly we have a bigger one!" Rex gulped turning pale as the bear let out a ferocious growl!

"Aaaaaah!" The D Team screamed before quickly turning to run ahead as fast as their legs could carry them, not stopping to look back as the mother bear charged forward like a mad bull towards her prey! Even Terry and the other alpha gang dinosaurs felt their survival instincts spurring them to run despite how much they hated fleeing! Eventhough it was a known fact to never run away from a bear they didn't want to take their chances as they picked up speed best they can, screaming their heads off and even managing to run past the 2 other bears ahead of them! "WAAAAH!" They cried as the bears soon caught up to them! When it all seemed hope was lost for them and they'd end up as lunch for the family of bears, they ended up running past them instead much to their surprise! "Huh?"

"Bear! Bear! Bear! Bear! Bear!" The alpha gang screamed waving their arms frantically as the family of bears chased after them down the forest path as the D Team stayed in placing staring in disbelief at what they witnessed.

"Looks like we're safe…." Max muttered in surprise.

"Those bears seem to like alpha gang, especially the old lady." Rex commented which made Cera raise an eyebrow at him.

"Did you really have to say that?"

Ursula suddenly stopped in place as she ranted out loud, "I can't bear it when someone calls me an old lady!" she growled, spurring Ed and Zander to run back for her.

"You'll have to bear it this time Ursula!"

"Cos can't bear the thought of being eaten by bears!" They cried before picking her up and resuming their desperate escape attempt from the bear family!

"AAAAAH!"

As the D Team looked on unsure of what to make of the Alpha gang's comedic escape which looked like something out of a cartoon, Cera was beginning to have second thoughts over whether she should save them or not. On one hand she didn't want them to get eaten by wild animals, but on the other hand she was actually quite scared herself and couldn't bring herself to get into a tussle with animals capable of slaughtering a human in less than a minute.

Suddenly Zoe ran off into the forest which caught her attention as she turned to look and see her disappear into the brush, "Hmm?" The others looked in her direction too, curious a to what she was up to.

"Where's Zoe off to?" Max asked.

Cera looked to them, "We'd better go follow her, these are dangerous times to be alone." she said seriously as they nodded with her and ran after Zoe. Stopping briefly to see the Alpha gang and the bears disappear at the end of the trail she shrugged it off believing they'd be fine on their own, after all they survived worse, as she turned her attention to see what Zoe was up to, as of now she was way more important.

Very soon the team managed to catch up to Zoe as she suddenly tripped and fell forward to her knee!

"AH!"

"Wait up Zoe!" Max cried as they caught up to her.

"Are you okay?" Rex asked with concern as they knelt down to her. Cera

"Where are you going? Why are you in such a rush?"

"What's gotten into you all a sudden?" Max and Cera each asked feeling worried too

Zoe then forced herself up to one leg as she looked towards her friends, "Because, my dad may be leading the shogun's army into a giant battle right now!" she said pointing ahead of them when she got up.

Cera widened her eyes in surprise, "Huh!?" she didn't know what was more shocking, the fact that Dr Drake actually managed to escape from the space pirates or that he's now in the shogun's shoes! Either way it'd be bad, since he's now alone and vulnerable in this dangerous time period, and while he's fearless and strikes terror into the hearts of animals in the clinic he'd be completely helpless in an actual battlefield!

Max however wasn't entirely convinced, "What are you talking about?" he asked feeling that Zoe may have gone nuts all a sudden.

Zoe though was certain of herself as she tried to back up her point, "The shogun and my dad look exactly alike and that Hanzo guy said something about a shogun look alike who was about to lead their army into war!" she pleaded for her friends to believe her.

"Yeah but…our parents are being held captive by the space pirates." Max replied still not buying it nor finding it possible.

"Maybe Zoe's dad escaped somehow." Rex then suggested not wanting to give up on Zoe's theory.

Cera then gained a rather conflicted expression on her face, "It's….a possibility….." she said rather painfully, as much as she wanted to remain hopeful and optimistic, she still wanted to remain realistic and didn't want to get everyone's hopes too up otherwise they'd be greatly disappointed if it wasn't the case.

"I know it's him Max." Zoe then said firmly and assured of herself knowing it couldn't be anyone else but her beloved father. Looking to the others she then focused on Cera hoping she'd believe her more than the others.

Seeing how fully assured of herself she was, Cera then nodded and smiled back at her deciding to take the chance and support her, "If you really think so Zoe, then we'll believe you." she said which made her friend smile back in relief.

Max and Rex then smiled too deciding to believe Zoe too, "Well if he escaped then maybe our parents did too Rex." he suggested.

"Maybe," he said looking to Max before taking out a device from his pocket, "Let me check the TPS…." dialling on it he then scowled hard disappointed at the results he got, "Nope, I'm afraid I'm not getting any kind of signal that can help us find them…." he grunted before easing up at his friends, "But that doesn't mean that guy isn't Zoe's dad, I say we head to this battle."

"Yeah, besides that's where the shogun and Hanzo are headed and they have the cosmos stone!" said Max firmly as he clenched one hand into a fist.

"Let's go!" everyone else said in agreement knowing what they needed to do now.

Cera then looked ahead and pointed towards the woods, "Guys, I say we head into the brush." she suggested much to the others' surprised and confused looks they shot at her, "I know it's tricky in there, but if I know ninja they'd never go somewhere so exposed and in the open where they can be easily seen." she then said backing up her reasons.

Rex folded his arms in thought before nodding back at her, "You make a good point Cera." he said narrowing his eyes, "Looks like we'll need to rely on our eyes and ears if we're gonna track them down."

Cera then looked to all 7 dinosaurs with them, "You guys too, stay sharp and keep a lookout." she said to them as they barked back in acknowledgement, not just for the shogun but for any sign of danger that may be lurking about in the forest. As they traversed through the bushes and undergrowth in search for any signs of the shogun's trail, they kept their eyes and ears peeled for any signs of movement. Their dinosaurs too sniffed the air hoping to get a whiff of the ninja's scent to track down, but it was clear that they covered their tracks well as they turned up with nothing.

"They have to be here somewhere…." said Zoe rather anxiously as she and the others made their way out of some bushes.

Rex then put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "We'll find them Zoe, we promise." he said to her with assurance before looking around them, "Plus we have to….this is our best chance at a cosmos stone and we can't blow it….." he added as they moved on to the next trail.

As they did Cera began to ponder over the cosmos stone, even if they intended to use it for good the risks were far too great considering the stone can be unpredictable in anyone's hands, far too much for any human to bear. For the shogun's own sake it'd be in everyone's best interests to get it away from him the second this conflict dies down.

Little did they know, Ace held back from the group, sniffing the air and catching scent of something most enticing, as if it was calling out to him specifically. He could feel it, the white cosmos stone was nearby long with the sent of humans. Sniffing the air, following his instincts and his nose, he walked up to an unusual looking rock sensing something wasn't right about it. Biting onto an end sticking out, he pulled hard, yanking it off revealing it to be a camouflage tarp hiding 2 grown men underneath!

"What the!?" Hanzo gasped in surprise at his cover being blown.

Hearing his voice the D Team turned around, "Look!" Max gasped.

"It's the shogun!" Zoe cried.

"Come on!" Cera yelled as they all ran towards the 2 men whom Ace had literally uncovered. As they approached them, looking to the tarp on the ground Cera had to admit was a good disguise, though nothing beats an animal's keen senses, especially one tuned to the white cosmos stone.

"Hanzo and I were just looking for you kids, weren't we Hanzo?" said Tokugawa with a smile as he looked up to his trusted servant who didn't know how to respond.

"Err…."

"And we were just looking for that battle you guys spoke of." Zoe replied, "The one Hanzo said your lookalike was at."

"We'd like to hear more about it if you don't mind sir." Cera asked respectfully.

Tokugawa and Hanzo both looked to her curiously in response, "And….who might you be miss?" the shogun asked blinking his eyes.

"Oh she's Cera," Max answered for him as he put a hand on her shoulder, "She's a friend of ours who helped get you out of that rockslide just now."

"I see," he then mused before smiling lightly and bowing in respect, "Well thank you very much for that. I truly am grateful for it."

Cera smiled back and shook her hand at him, "There's no need of thanks, it's something anyone should do." she replied humbly.

Hans however widened his eyes in disbelief at what he heard his master say, "You were buried under rocks master!?" he exclaimed in shock as Tokugawa sweat dropped and scratched his head with a nervous smile.

"We'll…save that for another time," he chuckled anxiously before sporting a more serious look, "Right now we have more important things to worry about." He then said, "What is the story with this lookalike Hanzo?" he then asked the taller ninja, "Who is he? Where did you find him? Could he be this girl's father?"

"In truth I don't know much about the man except that he looks like you and carries a big spear he says uses for helping animals." Hanzo admitted, "And when I say big I mean REALLY big." he added as he opened out his hands to prove his point.

"That sounds like my dad's needle!" Zoe gasped finally realising it had to be her father.

The rest of the gang didn't need anymore proof either, "There's no doubt about it for sure!" Cera narrowed her eyes seeing they now had a chance to save a parent.

"It's him! Where'd you find him!? Is he okay!? Was my mom with him!?" Zoe asked urgently.

"What about our parents!? Were they there?" Max then asked as he and Rex pleaded for more vital information.

"Tell us everything."

"I'm afraid the lookalike was by himself when I found him…." Hanzo replied reluctantly, "No one was with him."

"So then….your dad must be the only one who escaped…." Max muttered.

"Or maybe my mom and your parents were hiding nearby and my dad was out looking for help or something." Zoe then suggested.

"Yeah! Maybe so!" Max responded in agreement.

"This could be the big break that we've been waiting for!" said Rex seriously as Max became fired up with determination with the others.

"Oh yeah!"

"Shogun sir please take us to this battle!" Zoe then begged Tokugawa and Hanzo, "It's really important that you do!"

In his heart Tokugawa felt he owed it to them for not only helping him find the cosmos stone but also for saving his life time and time again, for once in his life he was experiencing true gratitude and he knew he had to repay them, "These children not only helped me find the gemstone but they protected me in several battles against with Takeda's ninjas." he said to Hanzo firmly, "They're coming with us! No more arguments!" stand firm

Seeing there was no way to change his master's mind, who couldn't be more sure then he ever had been in all his years of service, Hanzo finally conceded, "Understood…." he then bowed down allowing Tokugawa to climb on him, "Alright we'll be moving fast so try to keep up." he said to the D Team before rushing ahead unexpectedly without warning!

"Whoa! Wait up!" Max gasped in surprise as they hurried after him as fast as their legs could carry them!

"He did say try to keep up and he really meant it!" Cera cried out widening her eyes and seeing they could barely maintain a good pace with Hanzo despite the huge weight he was carrying on his shoulders.

"It's gonna be tough getting the cosmos stone from this guy…." stated Rex, having a feeling that even after they were done with the stone it's likely they wouldn't give it up easily, not to mention he was very strong too.

"Yeah, I'm having a hard enough time just keeping up with him!" Zoe cried.

"He's giving a piggy back ride, no way he can keep up this pace." Max then said confidently which made Cera look to him.

"I don't know Max…." Cera sweated uneasily as fatigue slowly began to creep into her legs, "This is guy is no doubt Tokugawa's right hand, no doubt he's probably used to dealing with his antics on a daily basis so I'm certain he's used to this for a while now." she stated hoping he wouldn't get his hopes too up.

"We'll see about that!" Max then grinned confidently as they continued their pursuit after him through the forest, refusing to give up for even a second..

After that Cera looked ahead and focused her gaze at the shogun, from him she could sense that there was indeed change in him. From what the D Team mentioned he was selfish and greedy, but perhaps after their recent time together he's finally opening up to them and acting more responsible and grateful too. No doubt they inspired some good feelings in him which would help prepare him for the future ahead as a great leader of Japan.

A while had passed and yet Hanzo hadn't shown down for even a second, in fact it seemed as though he was picking up speed much to the D Team's surprise! Looking around her Cera could see her friends scrunching up their faces with

Luckily for the D Team, Hanzo soon halted his pace before stopping near a clearing much to his master's surprise, "Is something wrong Hanzo?" Tokugawa asked him with concern. The answer was soon made clear to him as the echoing sounds of war and battle cries echoed through the forest as they looked over the forest canopy ahead of them, "Oh now I hear it…the sounds of battle." he said sensing the tension in the air growing making them both rather angst knowing conflict lies beyond the trees.

The ominous tension was interrupted as the D Team came into view, panting heavily and gasping for air.

"Okay…I was wrong…he kept up the pace…." Max wheezed as he rested his hands on his knees, Zoe put a hand on her chest to still her racing heart and Rex slouched forward.

"Guess carrying his master sound like some heavy weight no doubt worked up a good sweat for him." Cera muttered though she fared much better than the others as she managed to keep herself straight though she was sweating pretty hard, "We've been spending way too much time on the Backlander lately…." she thought as she rested against a tree to support her slumping body. Surprisingly despite their size difference, none of the dinosaurs apart from Miku who nestled comfortably in Cera's shoulder, were still relatively okay despite the long run.

"I don't mean to complain but how much further do we have to go?" Zoe then gasped in exhaustion.

The sounds of war cries and clashing soon echoed through the forest which caught their attention as they looked up.

"Don't you hear that fighting kids?" Tokugawa asked them, "The battlefield is just beyond that bamboo forest!" he then said at the end warning them in advance and urging them to prepare for whatever lay ahead.

Suddenly Hanzo sensed something amidst which the dinosaurs seemed to pick up on as they looked around rather agitatedly, even Miku too as her eyes became slit and she shook tensely sensing danger which Cera quickly picked up on. "Footsteps are approaching!" the ninja warned them, "Look out!" he then yelled jumping out of the way as several shurikens suddenly flew out at where he stood right in front of the D Team's eyes!

"AAAAAAHHH!" They all screamed in alarm at the rain of razor sharp shrikes which came out of nowhere! Before long leaping out from the shadows were 4 armed ninjas and a familiar lady pirate whom they instantly recognised, "Sheer!?" they exclaimed as the 4 females honed in on Hanzo as he desperately tried to shake them off but to little success!

"I've come to take the legendary gemstone in the name of master Takeda!" The lead ninja yelled as she clashed blades with Hanzo, the 2 warriors disappearing as fast as lightning as their weapons made contact!

"I'm a tree! I'm a tree! I'm a tree!" Tokugawa yelped as they headed to the upper branches, as Sheer threw out a curved boomerang which nearly struck Hanzo before he dodged it and it bounced off a tree trunk! Hans then drew his blade against another ninja and they fought each other a bit before he leapt back putting distance between himself and his foe before being forced to leap away from shurikens and the boomerang again! "WAAAH!" Tokugawa cried out as the boomerang shredded a branch they leapt off and all 4 ninjas closed in on them! "I'm not a tree!"

The D Team saw despite his skill it was clear Hanzo was at a disadvantage, seeing he wasn't just outnumbered but all hindered with Tokugawa still on his back, and even if he did drop him down he'd only put his master in danger by exposing him as an easy target! As much as they wanted to do something they feared getting caught in the crossfire and putting themselves and the shogun at risk by making themselves targets too. They could only look on tensely seeing the ninjas and Sheer gang up on him, dogging him at every turn!

The D Team meanwhile looked on "He's an awesome fighter but he's outnumbered…." Zoe said worried for their lives.

"No way he can keep this up forever….." Cera narrowed her eyes. She could see Hanzo was indeed strong and skilled to fight off so many foes while carrying the shogun this long, but she sweated anxiously as she wondered how long more he could last.

"Then what do you say we even things up a bit!" Max then suggested unwilling to stand back doing nothing anymore while their friends were in danger.

"Good idea! Ready Ace?" Rex said to his partner as they both retuned their dinosaurs to their cards.

"Dino slash!" They summoned both the carnotaurus and triceratops to their full sized forms as they roared out fiercely!

"Take on those ninjas!" Max pointed out without hesitation.

"Careful guys! Don't underestimate them cos they're smaller than you!" Cera warned them which put Rex on alert.

"Those ninjas have lots of sharp things, we should add some armour." Rex he suggested cautiously.

"Oh yeah good point!" Max replied in agreement as they took out their element boosters!

"Element booster! Dino tector on!" Chomp and Ace were soon equipped with their battle armour before charging in to attack!

"Good luck…." said Cera as she looked on, knowing that this may be their greatest challenge yet….

"Look! Behind us!" The lead ninja yelled to her comrades as they quickly engaged the dinosaurs in battle! Cera had to admit despite being outsized and clearly outmatched they were not only courageous and devoted in service to their master, she had to give them credit at least for that.

Throwing out shrikes which easily bounced off the dinosaurs' armour, their blades easily bounced off their thick scales. Resorting to use small bombs, it caused some degree of a nuisance to Chomp and Ace but nothing too significant. Having had enough of these pesky annoyances, Ace swung out his tail forcing them to back off into he trees before Chomp charged into them shaking them up violently!

"We'd better retreat and regroup to somewhere more open," Cera then suggested to her friends, "We'll never be able to fight them on even ground here in the forests."

Nodding at her, Max quickly noticed Tokugawa and Hanzo recuperating in a nearby tree as he yelled out to them, "Guys! This way! Come on!" he yelled spurring them to join them quickly as they retreat to a better position! As they ran off, Chomp and Ace followed behind them closely, abandoning their attack on the ninjas as they headed for a larger clearing further ahead.

They didn't get too far though as a trio of armoured deinonychus suddenly appeared before them!

"Guess Sheer's still on their side and she just released 3 deinonychus!" Max yelled out.

"Ace! Watch out!" Rex warned as their dinosaurs turned around to face their incoming attackers!

The 2 subordinate raptors engaged Chomp and Ace, using their smaller size and agility to evade their attacks and launch counterstrikes at their vulnerable spots! Their diversion created an opening for the leader raptor to rush in towards the D Team and the gang!

As the D Team backed away nervously at the charging raptor, Hanzo saw it was time he stepped in, "Take the shogun to safety." he said lowering his master to the ground, "I'll deal with these beasts!" he then yelled before leaping out and unsheathing his sword!

"Come on! This way shogun!" Zoe said to him as she lead him away into the woods.

Cera then hardened her expression and held back behind the D Team, "I'll stay here and help Hanzo and the others keep these guys in check!" she then yelled to them with urgency, "We'll make sure you get away!"

They looked back at her with hesitation, but seeing they didn't have any time to argue with her and how determined she was to take this choice, they knew they couldn't stop her either way, so reluctantly they nodded, "Alright, good luck Cera!"

"Be careful!" said Max and Rex as they gritted their teeth hard, painfully looking away as they took the shogun down the forest path to the open plains!

As she saw her friends leave, a screech caught Cera's attention as she and the other dinosaurs quickly turned, and they widened their eyes in horror at what they saw. Looking ahead, Hanzo dodged the deinonychus' attacks while matching its claws and teeth with his blade! Both were agile and swift as the wind, as they leapt past one another's attacks before striking back harder, sparks flying as claws met sword! It was a sight only a classic could feature as Cera and her dinosaurs looked on in awe, "He's doing quite well for a person…." she said as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek and her dinos look on in awe with their jaws dropping.

She however narrowed her eyes seeing Hanzo was beginning to wear down as the deinonychus' armour easily held off his sword and began to aim for his more vulnerable spots as he exerted more energy evading them in time! "But he won't last long…." she gritted her teeth tensely while clenching a fist hard at her helplessness and inability to do anything for him. She slowly began to curse herself for making a promise she couldn't keep to her friends, "If only there's something I could do to help him too…." she thought seeing Hanzo slowly being overwhelmed by the deinonychus leader while Chomp and Ace struggled to deal with the other 2. She was going to consider summoning one of the dinosaurs to help out, even though it wouldn't be able to get to Hanzo in time, when she widened her eyes realising she did have something she could use, "Wait! I remember now!" Looking down to her side, she remembered the mysterious sword she found inside of the case in the cave as she reached for its' handle unaware she was being attacked from behind!

"You let your guard down child!" a voice shouted at her which caught her by surprise!

"AH!" She and her dinosaurs turned around in alarm to see the 4 ninjas had gathered together and were arming their blades and ready to unleash them on her, seeing she was vulnerable and exposed herself!

"Young or not, this is war and anything counts!" the lead ninja said in a ruthless tone as she flashed her katana whose blade reflected Cera's horrified face on it! "You were unwise to tread here on the field of battle, now you pay the price for your carelessness! HA!" She yelled leaping into the air and preparing to swing her sword down on the helpless Cera as she widened her eyes and the sharp end of the katana was reflected in her pupils!

After having kicked the lead deinonychus in the gut and making it stumble back, Hanzo turned around and widened his eyes to see the unimaginable, "NO!" he cried holding his hand out to Cera, seeing her life was about to be cut short….when suddenly-

SLASH!

It all happened in the blink of an eye….something none of them ever saw coming…..

Ofu stepped backwards with widened eyes, caught off guard and rendered completely speechless upon seeing her sword had met with another, faster than she could have seen. A sword which Cera held, with a scale like pattern glowing in a red aura which was enveloping around Cera's body. A sight so incredible and also startling, Miku, Terry and they other dinosaurs could only stare paralysed in awe and amazement at what was happening to her.

"AH!?" Hanzo's heart skipped a beat and froze in place, dropping his sword to the ground as he lost the use of his hand.

Cera then shook her head regaining her senses as though she had just woken up from a dream or trance, "Whoa…." was all she could say as she looked to the sword in her hand which was glowing as much as she was, "That was not what I was expecting…." she said surprised herself. She thought it was just a blade, but it was far more special than a s simple heirloom or treasure, beneath its' beauty was incredible power which was filling every vein and drop of blood in her body! She couldn't explain it but it was incredible indeed….

Being caught by surprise now, the ninjas backed away nervously seeing the unexpected and extremely dangerous new threat presented before them, "Impossible!"

"That sword…." 2 of them said, which Hanzo took notice of.

He knew he saw something like that in a book he once read about legends in the land, how alongside the half moon stone there was a legendary sword known as the sword of the snake which was found in the flesh of the Yamata no orochi itself, containing a power which rivalled that of the stone, "It couldn't be…." he breathed out in awe and amazement, after having found the stone he knew the sword had to be real too, but to see it with his own eyes right here and now….he didn't know what to believe anymore. The sounds of screeching suddenly snapped him out of his spacing out, quickly looking ahead he saw the lead deinonychus had recovered and was rushing back at him! He gritted his teeth and picked his sword up before clashing it with the raptor's claws! "Urgh! How foolish of me to lower my own guard…." he grunted to himself cursing at his naivety before turning an eye to Cera who was still dangerously outnumbered by several foes, "Forgive me Cera, but you'll have to face them alone for now…." the thought reluctantly before forcing the raptor back an engaging it in close combat!

Back with Cera, the ninja leader held her arm back to her subordinates telling them to stay out of her fight as she intended to test Cera's skill herself. As they backed away, Cera then thought it best to do the same for her friends as she looked down to the chibi dinosaurs, "Get back you guys," she said seriously with a firm expression before looking back ahead, "This is going to get ugly…." As she said that she hardened her gaze. Seeing how dead serious she was, Miku chirped to the other dinosaurs spurring them to retreat and hide in the brush so they wouldn't get in Cera's way or risk getting caught in the conflict too, as they popped their heads out and eyed the battle closely, watching closely for any signs of foul play while rooting for Cera as well.

Meanwhile both Cera and the ninja leader faced off one another, flashing their swords at each other as a show of strength while keeping one another's guard off. The tension between the 2 of them so thick one could cut through it like butter, especially when no words were said nor a move was made between them both for several seconds, known the first wrong move would be the last for either side. Seeing it was indeed a stalemate, the lead ninja smirked under her hood seeing there was a tactic she could implment, one that Cera wouldn't see coming. Putting her sword back inside her sheath much to Cera's confusion, she then clapped applaudingly at her, "Impressive skill with the sword for someone so young." she complimented Cera, though despite that she kept her guard up and narrowed her eyes anticipating the possibility off this being a trick. The ninja lady however then bowed down with respect a she introduced herself, "I am Ofu, master ninja and humble servant to Lord Takeda Shingen." she greeted in a polite manner before stating straight once more, "What is your name?" she asked.

Cera kept her guard up, but sensing no ill will from Ofu and seeing the other ninjas had no intention of ambushing her for now, she narrowed her eyes as she decided to play along. "Cera," was all she answered back with, "And I'm not too fond of what you and your pals tried to do to Tokugawa and my friends just now." she said hard and with a hint of spite as the aura around her glowed somewhat tensely, "For that I'll make you pay for it!" she yelled out in anger as she raised it out and got into a battle stance as Ofu readied herself too!

"We shall see…." she narrowed her eyes and smirked seeing Cera to arrogant and immature in thinking, and felt certain that would be her downfall. Seizing the chance she struck out attempting to deal a preemptive strike to Cera's vital spot! "Ha!"

Her attempt to make a clean and quick kill was met with a swift counter as Cera swung her arm out and matched the enemy blade with her sword! The dinosaurs barked with enthusiasm, cheering for Cera as the 2 of them clashed sword to sword with each other! Neither giving in nor giving up! Ofu's experience with the sword meant she knew the best parts to attack as well as openings to exploit as she continued swinging out her attacks consecutively! Cera however, her senses and reflexes amplified by the sword, allowed her to anticipate where the next strike would come from as she managed to parry or block each attack as they came! Despite he enhanced senses and reflexes, she wasn't able to get in any good attacks herself as Ofu soon smirked smugly at.

"Your reflexes are sharp yet your technique is crude." Ofu commented as they locked both blades and eyes with each other and then began pushing at one another, "There is still much room in you for growth and improvement." As she said that the 2 of them broke away and met in a stand off on opposite ends, "Your talents are squandered with the likes of that cowardly imbecile Tokugawa, and especially with meaningless trifles such as friendship." Hearing her talk so low about what she held most dear made Cera tighten her grip on her sword tensely in anger, "Should you swear your allegiance to our master Takeda, perhaps we might consider sparing your life." Ofu then offered as she sheathed her sword and offered a hand to her, "Your skills have great potential and under the guidance of our cause you can indeed become a mighty warrior greater than any ninja or samurai who has ever lived!"

Her 3 subordinates then stepped in beside their commander before joining in, "Agreed, with such power at your disposal you can make a powerful lieutenant or even a general under his new rule as master of the world."

"Lands and kingdoms can be at your feet and at your mercy, with riches far beyond your wildest imagination should you accept."

"What say you?" They each said as Cera tried her best not to give in to her emotions at being insulted and having her ideals stepped on by these agents of evil.

Recollecting herself, Cera then spat out with venom, "After what you did to my friends just now I won't even scrub your footwear!" she yelled, "I'll never join scum like you who oppress the innocent all for the sake of power! People like you are the kind I despise the most!" she growled flashing her sword violently, "You're going down hard!" she swore seeing the ninjas' actions similar to that of the pirates who fought with vile intentions all for self gain, even seeing the war they were fighting like that of an old dark memory buried deep inside her heart….where people in a futuristic city ran and screamed being oppressed by gel monsters whose faces were that of the pirate symbol and along with dinosaurs such as panoplosaurus, siamotyrannus and an indosuchus hunting down people who couldn't get away as they punched on them or blasted them away sending them flying into other structures with huge crashes as destruction bloomed all around them! The war and villainy rounder reminded her of that dreadful time even though she couldn't put her finger on why she remembered it, but regardless she knew evil when she saw it and vowed to end it with every fibre of her being.

Hearing her answer greatly disappointed the ninjas as Ofu narrowed her eyes, "You would refuse an offer of glorious power and conquest over a childish notion such as friendship?" she questioned.

"In a heartbeat!" Cera yelled back without hesitation much to their disappointment, made evident by clenched fists and hardened expressions.

Ofu then calmly closed her eyes as she realised she had to do it the hard way now, which she hoped to avoid in order to save time and effort but alas it came to that, "What a shame…..how very disappointing indeed, but perhaps you are young and immature you would think as such." she sighed before taking her sword out again, "It's clear that I am the far better swordswoman, though there's without a doubt your weapon is the superior blade. Such youthful vigour…..how sad to see it all wasted…." she said shaking her head in disgust before getting into a battle stance, "Your weapon shall soon belong to Lord Takeda, and soon the world shall follow, right after we've given you a brutal and merciless end!" She declared as she snapped her fingers! "Ninja! Regroup!"

Upon her command, the 3 other ninjas vanished into thin air before appearing around Cera, surrounding her in a circle formation on all sides with no way of escape!

Cera sweated tensely as she looked around her on all sides which made her feel slightly overwhelmed, "Ganging up on me alone? Where's your honour?" she questioned which only seemed to amuse her attackers as they laughed back at her..

"Honour? Ha!"

"Such meaningless notions will do nothing more than hinder one's abilities in battle."

"To think you actually believe with such nonsense."

"Which is why you shall fall right here in battle to us right here and now!" Ofu yelled angrily as each of the kunoichi armed selves with chains, katanas, smoke bombs and shurikens real to go for the kill!

"4 against 1? Not the odds I like very much…." Cera thought to herself before calmly smirking to herself seeing she had an easy fix to this, "So how about I call in some backup then?" With the power of the sword flowing through her, Cera quickly grabbed her dinoshot and pressed a button faster than the ninjas could react as she recalled her dinosaurs to their cards and slashed! "Dino slash!" 3 lights shone and Terry, Tank and Spiny appeared in full sized forms, putting themselves between their friend Cera and her merciless attackers as they roared out fiercely in defence of her, showing they were willing to fight to the death if the situation demanded it, which forced the ninjas to step back anxiously in sight of the huge beasts which now stood in their way!

"So you possess monsters too…." Ofu grunted underneath her mask, and yet despite the opposition she faced her loyalty to Takeda and honour as a warrior refused to allow her to back down so easily, as she did a hand gesture to her subordinates, "Ninja! Attack formation!" she commanded gesturing forward as they split up each going after one dinosaur and splitting them up from each other as they disappeared into a blur and appearing in the middle of the group catching the dinosaurs by surprise and off balance before breaking them up!

One go for Tank's legs

One ninja lunged out, ducking under Tank's tail as she swung it, only to be delivered a swift cut to her back legs with the scythe end of the chain! Another threw out a flurry of shurikens at Spiny as he held out his hands trying to shield his face as they pelted at his hands! Another one threw a set of bombs which exploded in Terry's face as he roared out in annoyance and stuttered backwards, shaking his head in disorientation!

As Cera looked up from where she was fighting Ofu, she clicked her tongue seeing they were in trouble, "Tch! They need help too…." she grunted seeing these ninjas meant business if they cud give the dinosaurs trouble. Shaking Ofu off and kicking her aside, she quickly took out her dinoshot with 3 move cards which she chose carefully for this situation, "Tupuxuara dive!" she cried slashing the first card, summoning a tupuxuara from the sky, as it knocked away 1 ninja as she leapt into the air to have a go at Spiny!

She soon took out another, "Critical block!" slashing it, she summoned a trio of velociraptors which lunged out at the ninja attacking Tank's legs! She backed away and fought hard to keep the little hunters off her back as they circled around her and flared out their vicious teeth and claws! Finally for Terry she chose one card he was quite familiar with, "Tag team!" She yelled slashing the next card. As she did, a pink pawpawsaurus materialised in front of Terry, tanking the bombs that exploded harmlessly in its face before bellowing out loud much to the ninja's annoyance seeing her attacks had no effect as they both roared out at her.

Seeing their efforts easily shaken off, Ofu narrowed her eyes angrily and gritted her teeth under her mask as she jumped out of the way of Cera's next swipe before seeing her subordinates back away at the massive army of dinosaurs stacked against them as they roared out in a rage at them! "Tch! There's no end to these monsters!" Ofu grunted narrowing her eyes and sweating anxiously. Clearly it was time they changed tactics, "Perhaps if we hold one of her friends captive it should make them all surrender-" She suddenly widened her eyes realising something wasn't right, "Wait a minute…." Looking behind she saw the rest of the D Team along with Tokugawa had escaped while they were being held back here! "They've escaped! Blast!" she hissed clenching her fist seeing now that she and her team were tricked as she raised out her arm, "Ninja! Regroup and pursue Tokugawa!" she ordered as they nodded back in acknowledgement!

They then threw out several smoke bombs which landed around the dinosaurs which exploded into a massive smoke screen which caused them all to roar out in disorientation as the smoke blocked out their senses of sight and smell! Also with them all roaring in a panic hearing wasn't any good either and in a panic they began crashing into one another in a panic and a desperate attempt to escape. "Sheer! Delay them!" Ofu then commanded before she threw a smoke bomb where she stood causing the rest of her troupe to disappear!

"As you command." Sheer smirked as she took to the air.

"No you don't!" Hanzo then yelled out in anger as he prepared to respond to the enemy ninja about to go after his master.

"Hanzo look out!" Cera yelled seeing he turned his back to his opponent who then rushed at him furiously!

"Huh!?" He tuned around too late as the raptor knocked him back with its head before tackling him in multiple directions and then charging at him head on, ready to go for the kill as he landed hard on the ground unable to respond! "Urgh!"

Cera widened her eyes and turned to the only dinosaur close enough to reach him "Chomp! Get in there quick!" she yelled to him as he threw off his opponent from his face before charging in and knocking the leader deinonychus away like a rag doll in the nick of time!

"Thanks for the help." said Hanzo grateful to the triceratops before bowing down to Cera for saving his life.

"Don't mention it," she replied helping him up. "But it's not over yet, keep your guard up." She said as they birth turned to face the deinonychus leader which kicked itself back up again! Shaking its head clear it snarled viciously at them as the both of them got their swords ready for a fight! "We have to finish this quick, the others no doubt need us." said Cera grasping the sword tightly in her hand.

"I know…." Hanzo narrowed his eyes and sweated tensely before turning an eye to Cera, "But if anything happens….know that I am honoured to fight alongside you." he said as a small smile came on his face, "Though you are young you have the heart of a true warrior in you."

"I appreciate that very much." she replied feeling deeply honoured, "But it isn't needed." she then said looking ahead which surprised him till she answered back, "Because nothing's going to happen. We'll win and save everyone!" she declared as he nodded in response with confidence they'll do just that!

"Absolutely!"

"AARRGH!" They both yelled as they charged into battle with the leader deinonychus which leapt at them!

The 2 of them, despite being outmatched one on one, were able to turn the tides on the raptor as when one blocked or distracted the dinosaur's attacks, the other reached in and struck out at it, or forced it to jump away and expend energy! Each time the deinonychus struck back, they'd either lure it into a tree to hit into or they blocked it together with both their swords before counterattacking its' exposed stomach! For a while as they kept up their teamwork they eventually drove the deinonychus into a corner as it panted with exhaustion before leaping away to rejoin its pack, as Chomp and Ace came together in front of the 2 humans ready to protect them both against the raptor trio!

It seemed as though they had their foes on the run and planned on pressing their advantage, when a scream echoing from the other side of the forest caught their ears!

"AAAAH!"

"AH! My shogun!" Hanzo cried out in alarm realising he was in danger.

"They're in trouble…." Cera gritted her teeth as she looked over to Chomp and Ace who perked their heads up at the cries of their partners in danger, "Chomp! Ace! Go help them! We can handle things here!" she yelled to them as they turned around, disengaging their opponents before running into the open fields beyond the trees!

Despite that, the deinonychus refused to allow them to escape as they immediately went into pursuit, "The deinonychus are going after them!" she quickly looked to the only other person she could rely on in this dire situation, "Hanzo you have to get to them first!" she pleaded seeing no one else who could intercept their enemies in time!

He gritted his teeth knowing it was a tall order for him but nevertheless nodded seeing it was war now and there was no time for hesitation as he nodded in response, "I'll do my best!" he said as he sped away, drawing the deinonychus' attention as they rushed after him hot on his heels!

Looking to the side where her own dinosaurs were she could see the smoke was beginning to clear meaning they'd all be free and ready to join the fight soon enough, "We're right behind you!" she then cried out to him.

"I think not!" a sudden voice yelled out surprising her.

"Ah!" Looking ahead she saw Sheer fly over her till she positioned herself in front of her!

"You're about to get your hands full with an even bigger problem!" she gloated as she took out a card, "Come forth megalosaurus!" Placing it on her necklace, it glowed as a large purple and black carnivore appeared on the field and roared out fiercely which made her step warily back.

"Rats…." Cera clicked her tongue in frustration as the dinosaur's appear ance would no doubt give her trouble as she backed away slowly to her own where she'd be much safer.

Sheer grinned as she added the card to her necklace next, "Spectral armour!" The megalosaurus' marks glowed before encasing the fierce beast in purple and red armour before roaring out ferociously!

"Tch!" Cera clicked her tongue in frustration as she looked up to see Sheer waving her hand playfully and mockingly at her.

"Ta ta now." she said as she took off ahead of them, following behind her raptors after Hanzo while leaving the megalosaurus to delay her!

Seeing she couldn't waste time here, Cera whistled which got the attention of her dinosaurs who all had recovered their senses as the smoke screen finally cleared, "Altogether guys! Get him!" she yelled out courageously pointing at their one foe as Terry, Tank and Spiny along with their allies charged head on towards their single armoured foe planning to overwhelm him with their sheer numbers as fast as possible!

Unfortunately her haste had got them in great danger, as megalosaurus suddenly glowed in a rainbow aura and activated Zero G throw, which began to lift up all the dinosaurs till they were helplessly suspended in the sky! "Oh no!" Cera gasped as they struggled helplessly up in the air before releasing them, causing them all to crash hard to the ground and causing a huge cloud of dust to erupt! As it cleared, tupuxuara, pawpawsaurus and the velociraptors were returned to their move cards while Terry, Spiny and Tank lay on the ground badly injured! "Get up guys! Quick!" she cried desperately as they tried to force themselves up!

Sensing what they were trying to do, the megalosaurus glowed rainbow once more firing a psychic bind over the 3 downed dinosaurs which froze them helplessly in place! Seeing them at its mercy, the armoured carnivore liked its lips ravenously as it turned towards Terry and walked menacingly towards him, opening its jaws wide and ready to deliver the killing bite to his neck!

Cera could only stand and watch helplessly as the megalosaurus prepared to do away with her friends one by one, saving her and Miku for dessert after it was done tearing their last hope apart to shreds. "They don't stand a chance against him now…." she sweated anxiously and her heart began to race, as though she was seeing a real life horror movie about to unfold before her eyes and there was nothing she could do about it! She couldn't accept it and she knew she had to do something, for no one else could.

"But…What can I do?" she asked herself seeing she didn't stand any chance against a dinosaur, much less an armoured one. She was about to consider recalling them and then else herself exposed in order to save them, when a poke at her shoulder made her look down to see her partner Miku was nudging her for attention, squawking out frantically hoping to get through to her. "M…Miku?" Lowering her head down she leaned in her ear to her partner who began to chirp an idea to her. After she finished explaining her plan, she widened her eyes in alarm, "What!? Are you crazy!? You could get killed!" In response Miku chirped back at her seriously and after seeing the look in her eyes, Cera claimed down and gritted her teeth understanding her reasons, "Tch! You're right, it's the only way…." she clicked her tongue painfully as she pressed a button and returned her to card form. "Don't make me regret this." she said reluctantly to the card before slashing it on her dinoshot, "Dino slash! Microraptor shine!" Miku appeared in full size and screeched furiously while perched on Cera's shoulder!

Despite that she didn't manage to get the megalosaurus' attention shrugging it off as a mere insect as it neared Terry. Seeing they had to do something big to draw it away, Cera then narrowed her eyes to Miku who nodded back at her, as she entrusted the sword of the snake to her. By then as the spectral dinosaur was about to bite onto Terry's neck, "Stick it to him!" Cera yelled out loud throwing Miku at the megalosaurus with all her might! Spreading out her wings and shrieking loudly, the megalosaurus turned only to see Miku jab the sword straight into its exposed neck, blood gushing out as it roared out in pain enraging it as its mental focus and hold on the other dinosaurs began to weaken!

But they weren't done yet, not even close! "Parasitic Perch!" Swooping up high, she clamped herself onto the megalosaurus' neck and began to tap into its brain stem, causing it severe mental pain as thrashed about trying to keep her from controlling its mind! Try as it might, it's arms could reach her nor could it turn around and bite! It had immense trouble trying to hold its larger adversaries down while trying to keep the microraptor acting like some sort of brain parasite and taking over its own mind! Eventually as it jumped about and swung its tail, smashing down trees to no avail, it relinquished its control over Terry and the others before resuming full focus on Miku, throwing out its neck and eventually dislodging her off who screeched loudly in alarm as she lost her grip and crashed hard onto the ground several feet away!

"Miku!" Cera widened her eyes as as she ran to her partner's aid, scooping her into her arms and bringing her in closely, "You okay!? Please say something!" she begged with concern looking over her partner who remained motionless. As she stirred and open her eyes she widened her eyes and squawked in alarm, making Cera turn around and her heart skipped a beta as the megalosaurus roared out furiously and made a full frontal assault on them as it rushed at them with full bloodlust fury! Unaware that Terry began to stir and open his eye having regained consciousness at that moment.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed holding her arm out and closing her eyes tightly as the megalosaurus' jaws leaned in ready to snap on them!

ROAR!

At the last second Terry, having mustered the last ounce of strength left in him, kicked himself up and responded quickly to Cera's cry of help! Lowering his head he charged forward, catching the megalosaurus by surprise he rammed it on its side and sent it crashing through some trees! Looking up Cera widened her eyes in joy to see Terry stand roaring triumphantly! "Terry!" she gasped as he lowered his head down to see whether they were okay as he sniffed them, "Thank goodness you came in time, otherwise we'd be dinosaur food." she said gratefully petting him on his snout as he snorted back in pleasure. Hearing a roar behind them, they turned and narrowed their eyes seeing the megalosaurus kick itself back up and roar at them in anger as Terry roared back furiously! "Alright, let's take this guy down together!" Cera yelled punching forward as Terry and Miku roared out in unison! After that throwing her arm up, Miku jumped up and landed on Terry's head before glowing in the colours of the rainbow! "Energy equaliser!" She commanded as her partner began transferring much needed energy into the tyrannosaurus and energising his depleted strength!

Enraged, the megalosaurus roared and rushed ahead planning to end this battle once and for all! "Now Volcano burst!" Cera yelled slashing the move card, causing Terry to glow red as he charged a flame in his jaws, shook it around before throwing it at the incoming carnivore! It shot across the ground before enveloping the megalosaurus in a punishing flame! Roaring in pain and unable to withstand the heat and power of both dinosaurs working in unison, it collapsed to the ground as its' armour shattered returning it to a card!

With their foe defeated, Terry and Miku both cried out victoriously while Cera smiled brightly and jumped up in joy, "Alright!" she cheered before running over she to grab its card. Looking up she saw the skies were returning to normal though it was now late evening as an orange hue coloured the skies above, "The battlefield's over too, guess Max and the others won." she said smiling knowing the won for sure, and that had to be a good sign. Looking ahead to see Spiny and Tank still on the ground and having difficulty getting up, Cera nodded at Miku as she hopped off Terry and glided over to where they were, glowing in a rainbow aura as she used energy equaliser to heal them all as she placed a claw on their heads.

"Let's go guys, they're waiting for us." She said as she ran on ahead with the rest of them following after her. As they made it out into the clearing, they could only watch as Ofu picked Sheer up before grabbing the case containing the cosmos stone! "Oh no the stone!" she cried out in alarm as she tried to run ahead in vain, only to see the bounding ninjas disappear in a cloud of smoke! Seeing their opportunity lost again, Cera's knees slowly buckled as she fell down to them and fell forward on her hands in despair, "No…..not again…." she breathed painfully before punching hard into the ground and screaming her frustrations out, "AAARGH!" She remained still where she was, unable to handle the feeling son defeat going through her heart and mind, even her dinosaurs didn't have it in them to go comfort her, worrying she'd only lash out in response.

The sounds of war cries soon echoed ahead, and the cries and screams of her friends in trouble soon woke her up.

"WAAAAAAH!"

Opening her eyes with a full on glare, she was in a most terrible mood after having lost the stone and now the army was preparing to tear her fiends apart before her eyes? "Not on my watch…." she breathed deeply she forced herself up to her legs, clenching her hands into fists which shook tensely with rage. Taking a move card out she slashed it with all her might, "Earthquake!" Tank roared glowing purple before slamming on the ground causing a huge chasm to open up in the path of the incoming troops causing them all to stumble and fall back, others even fell off their horses that were started by the sudden quake which shook them up while others even fell into he chasm, some barely managing to hang on to the edge!

"GAAAAAH!"

"That should hold them…." she said, feeling tempted to end them on the spot, she held herself back from using more drastic moves like magma blaster and fire cannon, knowing the line she shouldn't cross. After a calming breath she looked ahead and noticed the D Team, Hanzo and Tokugawa up ahead, who were staring in surprise and shock at what just happened as some of the soldiers began to back away from the chasm.

"What….just happened?" he croaked almost speechlessly feeling overwhelmed by what he just saw with his own eyes.

Hearing the sounds of feet stomping, Max and the others smiled or smirked as they looked in the direction they were coming from, "Heh, Cera happened that's what!" Max grinned.

"Yeah! Here she comes now!" Rex called out as Hanzo and Tokugawa widened their eyes in surprise to see Cera running towards them with Miku on her shoulder and Terry, Tank and Spiny right behind her!

She ran ahead of them first noticing the deinonychus card one the ground which she reached and picked up before reluctantly turning to her friends, "Sorry I'm late you guys….Sheer held me back just now…." she apologised in a painful voice feeling responsible for this, "If only I got here sooner the cosmos stone-"

"We'll worry about that later." said Rex interrupting her.

"We're just glad you're here to save us." Max added with a smile which made her feel somewhat better though the bitter after taste of defeat still lingered on her mind.

Looking ahead, Tokugawa suddenly sweated nervously seeing big trouble coming their way, "Let's not celebrate just yet kids! Look!" he cried in alarm as they turned around to see what was going on, only to widen their eyes at the army having worked the courage to leap over and cross the chasm to get at them!

"AH!" They widened their eyes seeing the soldiers take out their swords and spears while charging at them!

Wasting no time, Rex quickly looked to Ace who ran to him, "Let's make a run for it!" he said Rex looking to the others as Ace helped him up on his back.

Everyone soon did the same, Max getting on Chomp, Cera on Terry and lastly Paris lowered herself down as Zoe got on top of her before holding her hand out to the shogun, "Hop on!" she said to him.

He sweated nervously with hesitation, having been out off by Paris growling at him earlier in the day, but seeing there was no time to waste he'd much rather take his chances with this monster rather than Takeda's army, "A…Alright…" he gulped nervously as he took her hand and he helped her up onto Paris' back, which strangely felt quite comfortable, "Hey this is actually quite fun…" he said patting Paris with appreciation.

"But where do we go now?" Hanzo then asked with concern, "Those soldiers will chase us to the ends of the earth!"

Rex then smirked confidently in response, "Heh, which is why we'll be going forward!" he cried punching forward in the direction of the army much to everyone else's alarm!

"Wha!?" Everyone widened their eyes in shock and disbelief at his idea thinking he had gone nuts, but he looked back at them seriously.

"Trust me on this, let's go!" he yelled assuringly as Ace roared and ran ahead towards the incoming soldiers, spurring the other dinosaurs' instincts to follow them in suit much to everyone else's shock at what was happening!

"WHOA!"

Meanwhile further off in some dense bushes, Foolscap poked his head out from the underbrush as he began rubbing his temple sorely after having been struck head on by Paris' tail earlier. "Urgh….my head…." he groaned in annoyance before grasping onto it, "I've had enough for one day, I'm going home." he muttered as he flew away for the forest where he parked the space pod.

As soon as he left Gavro stumbled out from behind some trees he knocked down after crashing through them, as he looked around curiously to see no one around, "Hey where did everybody go? Hello?" he called putting a hand over his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings only to find no one around or answering him, "Oh well, guess I'm going back to the ship on my own again…." he said shrugging his shoulders before taking off for the sky, "Although, what am I going to tell the boss when I show up empty handed…." he shuddered nervously only knowing the beginning of the horrors Specter would give him since he hadn't brought him a single cosmos stone this entire time.

Meanwhile back on the open plains Paris lead the team up front with Zoe and the shogun on top, Chomp and Ace followed in second with Max and Rex, and Terry, carrying Cera and Miku, held back with Spiny and Tank in order to guard the rear. Upon sight of 6 massive dinosaurs running at them, many of the soldiers lost their will to fight as they began to scatter running away in several directions!

"Hey Rex, when you said we should run." said Zoe with concern, "I didn't think you meant towards the soldiers!" she then cried out.

"With the calvary we've got, why not?" Rex cried out excitedly as the soldiers ran out of the stampeding dinosaurs' path! They saw no benefit or even no sense in engaging such monstrous foes, they'd much rather face their Master Takeda's wrath then throw their lives away foolishly as they and their horses ran past them without a backward glance!

"Heh, he makes a good point there!" Max grinned with excitement as he punched his arm forward, "Yee haw!" he cheered as they bulldozed over any soldiers that didn't get out of the way int time, flattening enemy troops or knocked aside anyone who was foolish enough to dare stand against home, punching huge holes in the enemy ranks! Some who were daring enough to strike at Terry ended up getting snapped up by his jaws before being thrown away screaming several feet away, others were swept off their horses and feet by Spiny or Tank when they got too close to their tails!

Eventually, as they passed over the hill, on the horizon stood a camp surrounded by white tents and soldiers in greyish armour, along with men that Tokugawa recognised instantly, "There! My camp is over there!" he cried pointing ahead in excitement.

"And my dad should be there too!" Zoe then added sounding hopeful.

"Let's go!" Max yelled as they rushed after onwards to the end goal in sight!

As troops of Tokugawa's men gathered around at the front of the camp, Paris and Zoe soon stepped forward before them as Tokugawa waved out to them, "Ahahaha! What's with those looks men?" Tokugawa laughed in a jolly manner as his men stared at him in shock, paralysed with awe and surprise at what they were witnessing, "You men act like you've never seen a guy ride on the back of a giant monster before!" he chuckled feeling powerful and proud of himself.

"That's our shogun!"

"Tokugawa?" His men asked in surprise, though they couldn't decide which was stranger, the giant monsters, their leader riding on one fearlessly or that their usually cowardly and childish master was doing something rather heroic for once.

"But….we just saw you leave earlier…." another man asked curiously as he pointed to the back of the camp.

"And you gave us such horrible parting words…." Another cried out who still hadn't managed to get over it.

Tokugawa blinked his eyes in surprise at what he heard, "What!? I did?" he asked in confusion as Zoe widened her eyes in realisation.

"It must be my dad!" she gasped in alarm before turning to the soldiers, "You've got to tell us which way he went!"

Before the soldiers could answer her back though, the sound of a battle horn sounded behind them catching their attention.

"Hm?"

"What's that?" They wondered looking up and around, unable to pinpoint what it was, though from what their past experiences taught them it couldn't mean anything good at all.

"Shogun look!" Hanzo yelled in alarm as he pointed behind them!

As they turned to look they widened their eyes to see a massive army of Takeda's forces amassing together as an enormous wave of foes charging upon them like a red tidal wave about to sweep over and bury them in destruction!

"AH!" They gasped feeling overwhelmed by the enemies that were charging at them with weapons bared!

"Reinforcements!"

"So many of them!"

"There's no way we can win even with our 6 dinosaurs!" Max and the others each cried feeling anxious and alarmed knowing they didn't stand a chance, while Cera hardened her expression tensely knowing for a fact if they stayed and fought they'd be slaughtered in seconds!

Assessing the situation, Hanzo's expression hardened with reluctance as he knelt down to his shogun with respect, "We have no choice but to retreat sir." he said, even if meant putting the rest of their land at risk under the circumstances this was a fight they couldn't win and he hoped his master would be able to understand and see it too.

Tokugawa gritted his teeth begrudgingly, knowing it would ruin his reputation as leader of his army…..eventhough he already had done more than enough of that by all his cowardly whining and complaining, but observing their situation and seeing how much damage his own forces had taken in his absence, all because of his own selfish quest for glory and power, he felt it was his responsibility to make things right again. Closing his eyes and taking a breath, "You're right…." he sighed admitting it before holding his arm out to his troops, "Fall back! We'll regroup at the castle! We'll have the advantage there!" he commanded.

The rest of his men were surprised by his sound judgement for once, but instantly they responded, "Y…Yes sir!" They saluted him before giving the command to the remaining troops.

"All forces retreat!" As they said so the men began gather whatever supplies they could carry as well as muster all the horses available before they began scattering in several directions as fast as they could. After that the D Team got back on their dinosaurs and headed out from the camp as they made a run for Tokugawa's palace as fats as they could go!

Along the way the sounds of war cries echoed behind them, as the Takeda troops tore through the Tokugawa base camp and were making another attempt on their lives!

Seeing how cut off they were from escape, Zoe then huddled down to Paris and hugged her tightly out of fear, "I'm really scared…." she shivered and sniffled wondering what could they do now, if the shoulders caught up with them they-

"We'll get through this Zoe," said Tokugawa as he placed a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her negative thinking as he looked to her with a compassionate smile, "We promise." he said in a gentle fatherly tone.

Zoe stared at Tokugawa, as the image of her father materialised around him, which reminded her of a time when she was little and during a thunderstorm at night, he came in to comfort her when she was terrified of the lightning which kept her awake. He stayed with her through the night until morning, and his presence kept her safe and secure, and Tokugawa's single moment of compassion reminded her of that as she nodded at him, "Y…Yeah…." she said trusting in his words as he smiled back at her.

The moment was sadly interrupted as a handful of arrows suddenly shot out and landed in front of Paris, making her stumble a bit in alarm as she reared up on her hind legs and bellowed in alarm!

"WAAH!" Zoe cried hanging onto Paris with Tokugawa as the gang looked back to see several archers aiming their bows and arrows at them!

"Pick up the pace! We need to go faster!" Max yelled which spurred the D Team to hasten their efforts in their attempt to escape and regroup at a better location! As they ran ahead form their spot several arrows landed where they were and before long horses and footmen began trampling over the footprints they left behind!

No matter how hard they tried running through forest, over hills or over streams the enemy troops were never far behind them much to their chagrin, "Man these guys are relentless…." Cera huffed seeing that quality in them to be both admirable and most annoying seeing the wouldn't let up until they all were dead. As another arrow landed near his leg, Terry snorted in annoyance and growled fiercely, which spurred Cera to pet him gently on the face to clam him down, "I know you detest fleeting Terry, but we have no choice now, too much is at stake." she said to him comfortingly, while also letting him know if one of them lagged behind they'd risk endangering the others and they'd all end up in a bloodbath within minutes.

Their dinosaurs soon began to tire and stumble, unable to keep up their pace any longer! They seemed doomed as they began to slow down and gasp for air, worrying the D Team as they would have to fight their innumerable foes with exhausted dinosaurs in a fight they couldn't win, when Tokugawa quickly pointed out a glimmer of hope! "There it is! My palace!" he pointed out and they looked ahead to see the massive Japanese palace lying beyond them!

"It's huge!" Zoe widened her eyes in awe at its' size and magnificence.

"Maybe Dr Drake went and took shelter somewhere there." Rex then suggested.

"Let's hope so." said Cera with a firm nod, with the goal in sight the dinosaurs gave one more burst of speed as they rushed off to the final stretch, as night soon blanketed the sky covering it in darkness and stars.

As they headed through the main entrance down to the gates into the courtyard, the enemy troops began to converge on their position faster than they anticipated!

"Faster! They're gaining!" Max yelled to the gang as they picked up speed best they could, before managing to get through the gates in time much to the shock of the men stationed inside! As they did, Chomp, Ace and Paris lowered their partners down and panted with exhaustion as the D Team got off to tend to them, "They've reinforced their ranks! We're no match…." he said sounding deeply worried that even with their dinosaurs at full strength they'd be outmatched with sheer numbers.

Despite the D Team's dinosaurs on their last legs, Terry, Spiny and Tank turned around and roared out at the gates facing down the enemy troops that strangely had stopped in their tracks, "We'll make our final stand here guys." she said to them hardening her expression and readying herself for battle, while the Alpha dinosaurs snarled, "Don't let them in no matter what." As she said that they roared out, vowing to fight to the death if that's what it took.

As they did, Tokugawa yelled out to his troops as he pointed to the gates, "Don't just stand there! Can't you see the Takeda forces are right outside the fortress!? Close the gates at once!" he ordered.

"I don't understand sir!" One of his servants said as he walked up to him, "Just a minute ago you told me to leave the gates open!"

Tokugawa then raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Why would I tell you to do that? That's a terrible idea…." he muttered.

Overhearing him Cera sweat dropped and sighed with relief that they did, or better yet Zoe's father did, otherwise they'd be locked out with the enemy forces and be driven int a corner literally.

"Oh maybe my lookalike said that but what could he have been thinking?" Tokugawa then wondered.

Zoe soon brightened up with a smile realising her father was close, "My dad's here!? Where is he now!?" she asked hopefully.

Ignoring her Tokugawa returned to the more urgent matter at hand, "Come on! Close the gates you buffoons!" he ordered.

Hanzo then stood before the shogun and bowed before him, "If I may point something out?" he asked politely, "The open gates seem to have given the enemy pause." Everyone then turned to look ahead to see the enemy troops had indeed froze in place and hadn't moved an inch since arriving at their doorstep.

"Why aren't they charging in?" Rex asked feeling unsettled, sensing that they may be planning something like some sort of surprise attack from behind them as they kept their guard up at the gates.

"Maybe they're wary about something." Cera thought out loud.

Zoe then widened her eyes in realisation, "Wait, I remember now." said Zoe as she snapped her fingers catching the attention of her friends.

They then leaned in closer to her to avoid spilling the beans to the shogun, "What Zoe?" asked Max.

"My dad studied Japanese warfare one time, he mentioned something about Shogun Tokugawa doing something like this and-" she soon stopped as they realised what truly happened, "Wait…."

They then sweat dropped in dismay, "If he did everything the book said then…." they soon realised they basically created their own past.

After that came stunned silence between the D Team as they began to contemplate whether any other events in history which they felt were a mystery may have actually been caused by their actions here in this time hopping adventure of theirs to save their parents, "Wow…."

It was soon interrupted by the sounds of pounding hooves and boots as they looked ahead to see Takeda's army fall back and retreating! "Look! They're leaving sir!" Hanzo gasped in surprise and in relief that the battle was over at last, "Thank goodness your lookalike left the gate open, it spooked the enemy and gave us a safe haven." he said seeing it was a complete miracle they made it out alive this day.

As everyone became more eased and relieved, Cera narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "After coming all this way it'd make no sense for them to just give up and leave like that…." she thought to herself before a possibility crossed her mind, "Wait….according to history Takeda mysteriously fell ill and perished causing his army to eventually fall apart…." she recalled knowing it happened at this point in time, and while nothing could explain why a theory soon crossed her mind, "Maybe the cosmos stone….." If it was indeed the case, then perhaps losing the stone was a blessing in disguise after all….

"Well, well, well Zoe," Tokugawa smiled at her oblivious to the truth, "I must reward your father. That crazy reckless strategy of his seems to have paid off." he complimented before looking to his servant, "Tell me quickly, where is he? Where did the other me run off to?"

"Well he said something about having to rest in a room or umm…finding the rest of a room or some what…" he replied confused to what he was told just now.

It didn't take long for the D Team to realise where he had gone, "He's in the restroom…." they muttered feeling he doubt got nervous and wet his pants or something….though no one can blame him, anyone would easily cave into pressure of this scale, especially one with no experience in battle.

"It's right this way." Tokugawa pointed up the stairs as he ran up them and the D Team, after recalling their dinosaurs all to card forms, followed after him, while Hanzo remained behind to coordinate the troops still there to help explain the situation at hand to them as well as plan out their next move against Takeda.

After running through the hallways they soon came upon a wooden door at the end, "Over there!" pointed Max as Zoe ran ahead of him first to it.

"Daddy are you in here!? Hello?" Zoe called as she knocked on the door hard, hoping he was okay himself both physically and emotionally too after everything he went through today. As she did the others looked on unsure whether she had the right of interrupting Dr Drake on his private time or whether it was just plain rude. "We're coming in…." she then said in advance unable to wait a second longer after no response.

The shogun reached for the door knob and opened it, as he sighed with disappointment, "Empty…but it looks like he was here…" he said seeing evidence of his presence all around the room.

"Huh!?" Zoe gasped looking in and soon the others followed.

"He took off his armour!" Max gasped seeing the vest and helmet on the sides of the hole.

"Yeah and from the looks of it he climbed out this window." Zoe pointed out, seeing a huge cloth tied in several knots leading out to the roof and down the palace as she looked out the window, "He must have taken off into those woods." she said sad at the fact they just missed him by a few seconds!

"Come on let's go look for him." Rex suggested

"Yeah!" Max nodded in agreement.

"I can help you, I know the forest." said Tokugawa seriously as they all looked to him with a smile, glad to have his support.

"Thanks shogun." said Zoe feeling grateful this time as he smiled and nodded back at her, deciding it was time he repaid the debt he owed them and his lookalike.

Before long he lead them to the back entrance of the castle which lead out to the forest as they hurried along the open trail through the trees, "Come along, if we hurry we might be able to find him." he said as they ran along it hoping to catch up to Dr Drake in time before he fell into bigger trouble, for who knows what kind of wild animals dwelled here and at night.

As they did, Cera and Zoe narrowed their eyes hard with determination, vowing not to leave this time period without him and if they couldn't get this era's cosmos stone than they were going to find and bring him back no matter what it took.

As they neared the edge of the forest, Tokugawa looked up and heard a certain rumbling noise ahead as he pointed forward, "I hear something going on over there!" he said before running ahead to investigate.

"We'll go look!" Max yelled running ahead with Cera following him behind.

"W…Wait up Max!" Zoe gasped as she and Rex struggled to keep up with her friends who just had a head start on them!

As soon as they made it out to the other end of the forest, they found a red space pirate pod about to take off, along with 3 certain passengers in it, "Look! There he is!" Tokugawa gasped in surprise to see the lookalike had a striking resemblance as everyone said.

Max soon followed in and he was shocked at what he saw, "Ah! Dr Drake!" Max gasped widening his eyes in shock to see Dr Drake together with Foolscap and Sheer!

"It really is him!" Cera's heart skipped a beat to see it really was him as they had suspected. She saw him ye still couldn't believe it!

Dr Drake blinked his eyes in surprise to see the D Team had came for him, "Hmm? Hey Max and Cera, is that you!?" he gasped. A second too late as the pod suddenly shut, locking him inside with Sheer and Foolscap!

"Wait! Let me out of here!" he pleaded with his captors but to no avail.

"No way, you had your chance of freedom." Foolscap responded smugly as the ship began to start up!

"NO!" Cera cried out widening her eyes seeing Dr Drake was about to be taken away again and they couldn't do anything about it! She gritted her teeth and shook a fist at them in spite, "Give him back! Don't you dare!" she yelled but her threats fell on deaf ears….

"Everybody's okay Max! Cera!" Dr Drake then cried out to them assuring them not to worry.

"Dr Drake wait!" Max cried out as he, Cera and Tokugawa ran towards the ship only to see it take off into the sky!

"Tell Zoe I'm okay!" were his final words as the pod zoomed away and disappeared into the night sky.

As it did, Cera fell to her knees weakly as their hopes were once again dashed, "No…." It was a bitter lost, not only did they fail to get the white cosmos stone but now they lost Dr Drake once again….how could she ever bring herself to tell the others or live with with this failure? Such thoughts were beginning to fester in Cera's mind as she lowered her head down feeling ashamed at having to tell Reese and the others back home.

Before long Rex and Zoe soon came upon the discouraged group, "What happened?"

"Was that my dad?" They asked.

"That was him but…." Max choked at the last bit knowing they wouldn't want to hear it, "The space pirates took him away again…" he said at the end forcing them out of his pained throat. While he said that Cera gritted her teeth angrily vowing not to let this happen again.

"No….daddy…." Zoe sniffled feeling utterly devastated that their hope had just been stolen from them and they couldn't do anything about it.

Hearing Zoe's defeated tone made Cera punch her hand hard into the ground, so hard it nearly made a dent in it. Looking up she narrowed her eyes vowing that as long as blood was in her veins not only will she and the D Team never give up trying to save their parents but also make the pirates pay for their crimes.

Standing up she and the others wanted to say something to Zoe to comfort her, but they couldn't find the right words for this situation.…if there were any….

Not wanting her to dwell in sadness any longer, Tokugawa placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, as she turned he smiled at her warmly, "He told us to let you know he was okay." he said, "I could hear the love in his voice Zoe and I know that strong love like that means that one day you'll be back together." he said with assurance and hope which helped lift her spirits slightly along with he others as they stared at the starry night sky that had just dawned upon them.

Taking a breath and realigning her thoughts, Cera then looked to Zoe and tried to put on a brave face for her and to convince the others not to be discouraged, "He got out once…there's no reason he can't get out again….so let's not give up hope just yet." she said which helped ease their worries and discomfort slightly.

"Yeah…." Max muttered softly though it didn't help much that they failed to get him back when they had their chance right in front of them, all because of dumb luck….

Rex then shook his head remembering what was urgent now, knowing there was no time to mourn or dwell on defeat, "But our work's done here, we have to get a move on before they take off." Quickly he typed on his dino bracer and activated his communicator, "Jonathan! Beam us up now!" he yelled into it and right on cue, the Backlander appeared out of nowhere right above them much o the shogun's surprise as a beam shot down from above and enveloped the group!

"Wh…What is this!?" Tokugawa widened his eyes and stepped back in shock at a giant monster in the sky and was apparently swallowing up the children! He ran off to try and bring them back but seeing them smile back at him made him realise they weren't in danger but in fact….leaving…

"Shogun Tokugawa." said Zoe rather painfully before smiling lightly to stay brave, "We have to go now, we have to save my dad." she said to him as a single tear shed from her eye, "Thank you for everything, it may have been short but we'll never forget what happened."

Max and the others nodded as they bowed in resect to one of Japan's future great leaders, "It's been a great honour to meet you."

Tokugawa said nothing back, feeling bad that they would have to leave so soon, he had barely known them but had gotten used to having them around and even grow to appreciate them despite not knowing them at all. This would be an experience that would edge itself into his heart and carry on into the rest of his life, as he soon bowed back for the first time ever to another, "I understand…." he said, "I wish you all the best of luck on your journey in rescuing him and your family." He then looked back at them with a firm look in his eyes, "I truly am grateful for all you've done for me too, and I'll always remember it."

Zoe smiled back feeling touched at his words, "You may not have been my dad but….Thanks for helping to fill in for him even if it was just a bit…." she said to him as they soon vanished into the ship itself which then flew off away and turned invisible once more.

As it disappeared Tokugawa shed a single tear himself wishing he had the time to say one final piece to her before parting ways forever, "I may not be your father Zoe." he said with slight regret before shaking his head firmly and becoming more confident and serious in himself, "But I'll say this, I'd be the proudest man in all the land if I was."

 **With that concludes the Ancient Japan Arc and soon on to Ancient Persia, hope you enjoyed Cera fighting with all 3 dinosaurs and also holding her own against the ninjas, how she gets her talents and skills will be revealed in season 3 as to who she truly is as well. Also this arc didn't have the alpha gang do much so wanted their dinosaurs to shine so hope you enjoyed what I put together. As for megalosaurus let's say Sheer got its card after beating Foolscap and leaving with the ninjas.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Yup**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Agreed, which is what Cera did here also with the tracker.**

 **Also it was the same achelousaurus.**

 **Guest**

 **-Tag team is the pawpawsaurus move but not sure what you meant by the user of which fusion move?**


	39. The 39 thieves

Chapter 39

The 39 thieves

"Jonathan! Do you know where the space pirates went!?" Zoe cried to the android at the wheel as soon as they reentered the ship.

"Err…no…" he replied reluctantly knowing she wouldn't like the answer.

"They took off with my dad 2 minutes ago!" she cried out her frustrations at having come so close to both the cosmos stone and her father but only to end up with nothing.

As Max and Cera need her with sympathy and also feeling bad at their recent failure, Rex then reached for a device in his pocket. Bringing it up he frowned at the result, "We're too late Zoe…" said Rex sadly as he eyed the TPS with nothing on the radar, "No signal…our parents just took off out of this time!" he said much to her distress.

"Oh no!"

"Then let's go after them!" said Max with firmness in his voice.

"Yeah! What are we waiting for!?" Cera nodded agreement with him before looking over to Jonathan, "Jonathan! Fire up the engines!"

Before he could reach for the controls however, "We can't!" Dr Z then yelled stopping him as the others turned to him in surprise.

"Huh!?"

"Why not?" Cera asked demanding an answer and a fast one too, considering the urgency of the situation.

"Not until Ursula and the others get back here…." he then answered which made Cera facepalm in dismay having realised they were forgetting them, and as unbearable as they were they couldn't just leave them here.

"Oh right…..how could we forget about them?" Cera regretted it, because of her oversight they now have to waste time finding idiots who could be in the bellies of beasts by now

Cera realise they forgot-smack head wonder if they got eaten by bears

"But where are they?" Max

"The sooner we find them the sooner we can leave this place!" Max

"Last we saw they were being chased by bears!" Rex

"That was hours ago, they could be anywhere by now!" Zoe

"They just had to throw away their scanners…." Cera mutter taking them out

"If only I placed a tracker on them….."

"But maybe…." remember cave

"I might have an idea where to look."

"Where Cera?"

"Here."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Trust me, they'll be there."

"If you say so." Jon

Come there and see them running out of the cave

"There they are!"

"And the 3 bears too!"

"Again? Really?"

"Beam them up now before they become porridge!" Dr Z

Press button

"Phew…..we're saved….." all gasp and slump down in exhaustion out cold as Jonathan go into warp drive

"Finally we can go now!"

"I'm on it."

"Now why were those bears so intent on catching you guys anyways?"

"Don't know…."

"Frankly we don't care….."

"All that matters is that we're safe and sound…."

"Hmm? What's this?"

"An opened packet of fish flavoured crackers?"

"Oh yeah….I remember opening that and feeding that to the bear cub when we first found him."

"No wonder they kept finding you and wouldn't let you go." Must have wanted them to stay and feed them

"Next time don't carry food around when you go into the wild, who knows what kinds of beasts you'd attract that want to eat you alive."

"Noted…." they say

"Still nothing from the time positioning system…." notified Rex seeing no signal on his radar yet, which was rather concerning.

"We came so close…." Max hissed rather bitterly as a flashback of them losing Dr Drake replayed itself in his mind, "We saw Zoe's dad on the pirate ship but we couldn't stop them!" he growled feeling angry at himself, a feeling that was shared amongst the rest of the D Team seeing this was their closest they came to victory only to have it stolen from them.

Zoe too was hurt but remained determined and unswayed as she spoke up with confidence, "It's alright! Knowing my dad's okay makes me even more determined to find our parents!"

"Yeah! You said it!" Max then smiled with a thumbs up and Rex nodded firmly vowing that they'd triple their efforts from now on.

Cera was feeling most glad at their determination and refusal to give up, after everything they did to come this far if they stopped it'd be for nothing, they were going to see this through to the end regardless of what happens. However, she then began to worry for their parents, after that experience in Japan she hoped they would remain strong as their children did, also what would happen if they were no longer needed by the pirates? Would they be then used as bargaining chips if they did manage to acquire even one cosmos stone? What then?

Fortunately her train of worried thoughts was interrupted as Jonathan called out to the group, "Attention everyone, we're receiving a transmission." he said as they all looked ahead as a screen lit up along with a familiar face.

"Jonathan! Do you read? Respond Jonathan!" Reese called hopeful for a response.

"It's Reese!" Cera gasped as everyone focused on the screen.

"This is D Lab calling for Backlander, do you read? Over." While she could see them on her end she was more concerned about whether they may be able to communicate, fortunately she didn't have to worry about that.

"This is Jonathan. We read you." Jonathan replied as she smiled with relief that the firm connection was made.

"Oh there you are, I was starting to get worried."

"Guess what Reese!" Zoe interrupted feeling it to be urgent, "We almost rescued dad!"

Reese then widened her eyes in surprise, "Ah! You actually saw him!?" she gasped.

"Well…yeah…" Zoe replied uneasily as she began to feel sorry for all the horrible things he went through back in Japan, "Somehow he got mistaken for Shogun Tokugawa…"

"What!? They thought dad was a shogun!?" Reese gasped in surprise at the thought of her father being in armour and leading an army to battle….which seemed pretty impossible given his personality traits.

"Big time…." Cera sighed feeling bad for him before gulping hard at the worse news, "Then when we were about to get him back he got snatched by the pirates again…." Just saying that out loud made her sick to the stomach knowing how hard it would hurt both hem and Reese who sighed in disappointment.

"I see…." she lowered her head and felt her heart sank as much as the D Team felt having some close yet to lose sight of the goal like last time, it was both infuriating and discouraging.

From out of nowhere Rod and Laura soon popped in with bright warm smiles on their faces which helped to lighten the mood a bit, "Hey guys!" Rod greeted them, "How's our grandad doing?"

"Not causing trouble I hope!" asked Laura cheekily which brought about mixed feelings from the rest of the gang,

Dr Z frowned, Cera pondered over whether she should tell them the truth but before she could say something Max interrupted her, "Err not at all! He's been on his best behaviour!" he smiled folding his arms laxly behind his head before eying Dr Z with a grin, "Isn't that right doctor?" he smirked smugly as the old man widened his eyes at him.

"Good!" the siblings said happily together, feeling glad it was all working out so far between them all.

As much as Cera wanted to rat him out on all the trouble he and the A Team caused them so far she didn't want to make the siblings feel bad nor was it the time to say it knowing it'd only complicate matters, so she decided to leave it at that for now.

"Huh?" Reese soon caught sight of a bright rainbow coloured light glowing behind the ship on her screen, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before as she she and the siblings stared mesmerised by its majestic beauty, "Oh wow! What's that behind you guys?" she asked interestedly.

"Huh?" As Zoe looked to the side she widened her eyes in surprise at their new fellow time traveller who flew past them, "The Pterosaur!"

"Pterosaur? Reese asked curiously as they all focused on the pterosaur flying ahead of them.

"We don't know much about it, but it's been guiding us to all these different times and places." Rex explained as the Pterosaur began to speak to them once more, wasting no time in the limited window of opportunity she was given.

"Follow me, you must hurry."

"Pterosaur sorry, but the space pirates got the fourth cosmos stone!" Max apologised.

"We tried really hard to stop them but we couldn't…." Zoe added feeling guilty.

"You must try harder." she responded with a hint of fear in her voice, "Remember, the 7 cosmos stones contain all the energy of the universe. And if they are brought together it will mean the end of time and space as we know it." She said before taking off further into the depths of the time stream, "You are the only ones who can stop this from happening." were her final words before disappearing from sight.

"AH! No pressure!" Max exclaimed horrified at the immense amount of pressure the Pterosaur once again piled on their shoulders, as Cera clicked her tongue in frustration at being reminded at the importance of their mission and how much they've fallen behind the pirates at this point.

"Tch…."

"So the space pirates have 4 stones?" Reese then asked.

"Which means there are only 3 left!" Max gasped, "Do you think just collecting all of the stones could really mean the end of the universe?" he asked Rex

"I don't know…." was all he could say. As far as he knew as long as the cosmos stones existed this threat the Pterosaur warned them will always be present, which meant they'd have to do something more than keep them apart….but how can they prevent something they still knew next to nothing about?

"I'll do some research and see what I can fin-" it was at that point where Reese's end began to fuzz out much to Zoe's worry.

"We're losing her again!" Zoe gasped hopping her sister would hold out a little longer, though her hopes were dashed as the screen soon fizzled out much to their disappointment.

"How worried she must be about us…." Cera thought to herself feeling bad for the Drake sisters, though there was nothing they could do about the time space interference, it was far beyond their control.

Although despite that, Jonathan wasn't about to leave Reese with a blank end as he began typing away as fast as he could, "Before the signal cut off, I managed to send Reese data from all the eras we visited." he said much to the group's relief.

"Good!" Max cheered as Cera smiled and nodded at it.

"Hopefully with it she'll be able to help find some clue to the cosmos stones back in the present day." she thought as the Backlander soon began to accelerate towards a bright light ahead!

"But I think the Pterosaur has just lead us to a whole new era!" Max then cheered excited for whatever brand new adventure awaited them at the end of the tunnel, though little did they know destiny had a big surprise awaiting for them that would soon turn the tide of their battle in ways they wouldn't expect.

The ship soon shot through into a dark but starry night over a vast desert, diving down before quickly pulling up in time though not before getting noticed by a man and his camel who were passing through, which surprised them suddenly before the camel ran away in terror while pulling its owner with him!

"What time and place is this?" Rex then asked as he looked through the windows over the vast sandy area.

"We're in the desert of Ancient Persia in the year 757." Jonathan explained as multiple display screens lit up around them.

"Is it dangerous?" Max asked cautiously, seeing it'd be best to know the land and time itself before they tried hunting for stones so they know what to avoid or watch out for.

"It was a time when the desert was full of traders carrying goods between east and west." Jonathan explained calmly as locations and routes linking them appeared on the map, but his next word soon worried the gang, "But…"

"But what?" Zoe asked anxiously as she and the others came in closer to hear what he had to say, though what he said next would make her regret it.

"Along with the traders the desert was full of bandits and thieves!" he cried as the D Team widened their eyes in alarm!

"WAAH!?"

"Oh great!" Max groaned lowering his head down in defeat, wondering why each place they visited was still shoving all kinds of hard challenges and troubles in their path on top of their difficulties in keeping up with the pirates in stopping them from achieving their goals and saving their own parents.

"Well we've managed to fight off Takeda's forces in a civil war so handling a couple of crooks shouldn't be too much trouble right?" Cera then suggested to the others hoping to look on the bright side, though it didn't seem to instil as much confidence in them as she thought as they looked away uncertainly or appeared slightly insecure.

"Maybe…." Max gulped down hard, "But that doesn't make it any less dangerous."

"Also it's a desert, it's pretty much a swelching wasteland in the day and as cold as the poles at night too." shuddered Zoe as she chattered her teeth and sweated nervously.

"It's like each place we visit is getting harder and harder for us too." Rex added as he folded his arms and narrow his eyes.

"You….make a good point there…." Cera then muttered standing corrected.

As the D Team pondered over the best way to approach this situation they were soon interrupted by Helga as she stepped into the main deck, "Well worrying about what's down there isn't going to do us any good will it?" she said as everyone turned to look to her.

"Hmm?"

"You all just had a very long day today. Perhaps a good night's sleep will help take off some of that stress." she suggested folding her arms before smiling warmly, "But before that, I just finished dinner! In fact I made pizza tonight! Get it while it's hot!" she sang.

"Pizza!?" The entire Alpha Gang squealed with delight and excitement!

"Now that I'm definitely not missing out on!" Dr Z cheered running ahead swinging his hands out like a child.

"I hope there's double pepperoni with BBQ sauce!" Ed drooled following after him.

"Chow time!"

"YAHOO!" Zander and Ursula cheered as they followed after them, laughing joyously that they were going to get a taste of heaven on Earth in the kitchen!

"Ahahahaha!"

"I'd better make sure they don't hog it all to themselves…." Helga muttered rubbing her temple as she followed after them to keep them in check.

"I'll stay here and monitor the situation Master Rex." said Jonathan to the blond boy who looked to him with the others, "Meantime take the night off, you all deserve and need it." He said as he returned to typing away at the computer to scan for any pirate activity or any unusual readings that might relate to a cosmos stone.

"I agree with Jonathan," said Cera as her friends looked to her, "We can search in the morning, no way we'll find anything when it's so dark and cold now." she said looking outside seeing the conditions were far too inhospitable to go searching, especially when they have no leads as of yet. So it'd be best they take the time to conserve their strength and recuperate while they had the chance. With that said and done she headed through the door to the kitchen hoping to get a taste of that pizza Helga mentioned, with a hint of eagerness on her face too.

"Yeah I guess….." Normally the D Team kids would be pumped and psyched for pizza, but after their recent losses and near success at rescuing Dr Drake, they weren't in the mood for it as they simply followed after her only because she asked…..

At the kitchen, on one half of the long dining table sat Dr Z and the alpha gang, who were stuffing their faces with loads and loads of pizza slices, chowing on them ravenously like there was no tomorrow! They couldn't understand how it was this good, even considering it to rival the legendary pizza they chased in Rome.

On the other end the D Team calmly ignored them as they kept to themselves, though apart from Cera the rest of them went about their business rather quietly an without any kind of emotion or even life from them. The only noticeable signs of enjoyment came from the pet corner where the dinosaurs were all gathered eating out of several bowls of kibble, while Miku simply helped herself to a small dish with bugs which Helga found in the trash chute.

"Mmm, this is actually pretty good." Cera thought to herself feeling impressed by Helga's handiwork, the pizza crush had the right balance of chewiness and crunch in it. The cheese was melted down to perfection, being both savoury and stretchy, and the toppings too which ranged from mushrooms, tomato or chicken were all home made and prepared on the spot, making it both delicious and healthy at the same time! No doubt this had to have been from that recipe she acquired from the pizza parlour in Rome a while back and it no doubt was as legendary as the rumours were back then. Now they had something to take back for the future too when this was all over. "How's your pizza guys?" She then asked her friends hoping they enjoyed it, only for her smile to vanish when she saw her friends either staring blankly at their food or merely poking at it with their forks….almost lifelessly. Their eyes may be focused on the food but clearly their minds and hearts were someplace else. "Hey, is something wrong?" She asked feeling concerned, wondering what was going on but she got no reply from them.

"You've barely touched your food. If you don't eat your dinner it will get cold." said Helga as she walked up tot he children and noticed they hardly even nibbled at it. She then frowned when she got no response from them, "Is it not to your liking?" she asked with concern but also with a hint of disappointment that they might not appreciate her good food which she worked so hard to prepare, "Or is it by chance past your bedtime? If so I can prepare a nice room and a warm bath for you all." she then suggested wanting them to feel comfortable but still no response from them.

Seeing how much the kids had on their plates, Ursula snickered cheekily as she tiptoed her fingers over to Rex's plate which was closest to her, "Hey if you're not eating we could-" before she could grab hold of it she was met with a huge smack! "YOW!" She squeaked pulling it away to see it throbbing red! She then gritted her teeth and growled, "Hey! What was-" She quickly shuddered when Helga shot her an even more furious glare as she folded her arms crossly, shutting down any further attempts she or the others harboured in snatching the D Team's food.

Unable to take this a second longer, Max gritted his teeth and stood up shouting out what was on his mind, "How can we eat and sleep at a time like this when there are only 3 cosmos stones left to find and the fate of the universe at stake!?" he yelled seeing it unthinkable that they take things so lightly as if nothing happened.

"Wha!?" The A Team and even Dr Z jumped up in shock at Max's sudden outburst. For a kid he sure had a big voice and knew how to speak his mind as good as or even better than most grownups did!

Helga and Cera too were taken aback at Max snapping, as Zoe and Rex both stood up with him.

"Yeah, we should be out there finding them right now!" Zoe cried.

"Who knows what kind of horrible things they're going through right now!" Rex added feeling worried for the rest of their parents' wellbeing, after one of them escaped the chances are they'd all get punished for it, and they couldn't sit still and let that happen knowing their parents needed their help and every second counted.

Cera's heart sank a little upon hearing their statement, "Guys…." she could understand their worries and concerns….but at the same time…..

"Time's a wasting, we're heading out there to find that cosmos stone!" said Max as he and his friends left their seats and prepared to run for the upper deck, only to be stopped by helga as she zoomed in front of them much to their surprise! "Wha!"

"Absolutely not!" Helga she bellowed authoritatively as she shot them a couple of hard looks and folded her arms on her hips crossly like a tiger mother, "Do you not realise that without proper preparation you could freeze to death out there in the desert at night?" she asked raising an eyebrow at them, "Tell me then how will you find this stone or save the others if you are all encased in ice hmm?"

What she said next stopped the D Team in their tracks and took the words out of their mouth, "W…Well….yeah but-" Max screeched his cheek uneasily, she had a good point but he wasn't about ti give up so easily, in fact none of them intended to let even Helga stop them from going out.

Cera then decided to say her piece seeing she couldn't let this continue, "Guys, I understand you're worried about your parents and the universe too, believe me we all are…..Or maybe most of us…." she added at the end rolling her eyes at the Alpha gang who pouted or huffed at her taking offence.

"Hmph!"

She then folded her arms on her hips with authority as she looked to each member of the D Team one by one, "But tell me first, do you guys even have a plan on how to find this era's stone?" she questioned them as her friends lost whatever words they could say back to her, "And even if you do, how do you guys plan on getting it or fighting off the pirates and any threats down there if you or your dinosaurs aren't in top form?" She then said firmly looking down to Chomp and the other dinosaurs who were eating the kibble in their bowls ravenously like they hadn't had a decent meal for days. "Even with everything that's on the line, it's no excuse to neglect proper rest and nutrition your body needs to function at its best. Both for you and your dinosaurs." She said to them calmly, as worried as she was she didn't want to let her emotions or those of her friends to overlook their own personal health, "Your parents work hard everyday to make sure you all are perfectly fit and healthy to take on each new day and its set of challenges. They'd be heartbroken if you got hurt really bad and threw away all their efforts because of your rash decisions that you'd make now, not to mention they'd blame themselves too…." She then said in a rather saddened tone at the end.

The D Team said nothing back to her, but only looked down with expressions of guilt and shame upon realising how selfish they actually were, their hearts feeling heavy it weighed down on their chests as they sat back down in their seats after hearing Cera's heartfelt speech which moved them deeply, enough to make even the most stoic of hearts waver.

"….."

"You're not the only ones who has their eyes on the prize at the end of the race." she then said empathetically, "I know it's hard to accept, believe me I'm just as worried too…..But if you can't take care of yourselves then what chance do you have of saving the universe let alone the others?"

Looking upon at her they let out deep sighs realising they had been selfish and inconsiderate, not taking into account the others' feelings apart from their own. "You're right Cera…." said Max softly before looking up at Helga, "Sorry…." he apologised on the D Team's behalf to her and Helga as well for not appreciating what she was doing to make them feel comfortable so they'd be at peak performance.

The burly housemaid looked upon them with a stoic extrusion before a smile came upon her face, she then began to clap and applaud for that well thought out speech of hers, "Well said," she praised mature attitude before smiling at her proudly and putting a hand on her shoulder, "You all ought to take a cue from Cera here, she is an excellent role model and you lot can stand to learn a lot from her." she said to the whole group as she looked down on her with approval, making Cera herself blush feeling honoured to be praised.

"Err….Thanks…?" Was all she could respond with as Helga then squinted her eyes at the Alpha gang.

"Some of you more than others that is." she then muttered as the Alpha gang lowered their heads down in shame.

"Ugh…."

"Hey Cera?" said Zoe to her which made the redheaded girl look to her and the boys.

"Hmm?"

She turned to see light smiles facing her, "Thanks for that pep talk, we really needed it." said Zoe admittingly.

"You're absolutely right, every word of it." Rex nodded in agreement, "We shouldn't be selfish and think it's just our problem. It's everyone's too. If we're going to save the universe we'll have to be properly prepared for it."

Max then grinned with excitement as he focused his entire heart and mind on the food in front of him, "And that means it's chow time!" he cheered and before long the entire D Team was in full dinner arty mode as they chowed down on their 5 star cuisine meal!

"Yay!"

As the D Team began to put their heart into dinner, sinking their teeth into the juicy cheesy pizza. As they chewed and let the hot meal pass down their throats, their eyes opened widely and it appeared as though time stopped for them as they indulged in an all new sensation they never once experienced inter whole life!

"Hey this is actually pretty good!"

"My compliments to the chef!"

"I'd give it 5 stars if I were a critic!" They each cheered giving Helga thumbs up and lots of praise as she smiled warmly, before they dove upon the rest of their meal like ravenous hyenas, either savouring each bit done at a time or wolf it down all at once!

"Now that's the D Team I know." Cera smiled as she joined them in what may be their best dinner party ever.

Seeing everyone enjoying their meals made Helga's robot heart feel all warm and fuzzy inside, "Ah seeing everyone smiling and happy again makes the meal all the more sweet." she said clapping her hands together feeling appreciated for her hard efforts and everyone being happy as she hoped for. "Well then, time to prepare the beds." She then said before taking her leave to prepare the guest rooms for the D Team.

As she left Zander and Ed both pouted jealously, "Aww why can't she be nice with us for a change…." they then whined wishing she gave them respect once in a while.

"Yeah….Keep dreaming guys…." Ursula moaned as she face planted on the table and began to whine over a dream that would never come true.

Dr Z on the other hand had paid close attention to every word they said since the start, narrowing his eyes he then took the last forkful of food and chewed calmly before swallowing it down. After mopping his mouth with a napkin, "You 3!" He then shouted suddenly at them which made them jump from their seats catching them off guard!

"AH!" They yelped before saluting him like soldiers reporting for duty, "Yes Dr Z!"

He then stood up from his seat and began to walk off towards the door, "I want you in my room later, I have an important assignment that only you lot can do!" he said looking back at them with a snarky smirk which made their eyes brighten up with hope and joy.

"Count on us Dr Z!"

"Whatever job you have for us bring it on!"

"We won't fail you!" They each said to him as he smirked pleased with their enthusiasm and eagerness to serve.

"Excellent." He replied as he turned to the door to take his leave. Before exiting he then stopped, "Oh and make sure you bring me that new dinosaur card you promised me too. I'll be waiting!" he said at the end rather excitedly as the doors shut behind.

As soon as his presence vanished from the dining room, the trio turned pale and their jaws dropped to the floor having realised they hadn't brought him a dinosaur card at all since they got back! "Ack!"

"Oh no! We've spent so much time running away from those bears we totally forgot about the dinosaur card we were supposed to bring back!" Zander cried grasping his head in terror.

"But we can't show up empty handed! Otherwise Dr Z will think he can't trust us with this really important task of his!" Ursula squealed as she began biting on her finger nails and they began to sweat profusely fearing what kinds of torture he was going to put them through, or even weapons he intended to test on them this time around for blundering!

Fortunately for them, luck decided to show some mercy on them just this once, "Since when does he actually trust you with anything important?" a voice said to them from behind which caught them off guard as they jumped up in a fright!

"ACK!" Turning around they saw Cera tapping her foot and shooting a piercing glare at them which could make even a tiger turn tail and run.

"How much of that did you just hear?" Ursula gulped down hard as if there was a stone in her throat.

"And how long were you standing there?" Zander then asked as he and Ed began sweating mad like sunbathing orangutans.

"Long enough….." she responded shaking her head knowing she would regret this, but decided to do it only because she pitied them, "And honestly I don't know why I'm doing this." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card before tossing it to them, "Here."

Ursula soon got hold of it in her fingers, "Huh?" She and her friends looked at it to see it had a tupuxuara on it, "Is this a move card?" she asked blinking her eyes curiously as to how she acquired this, and why she'd give it to them out of the blue.

"I got that thanks to the help of Terry, Tank and Spiny." said Cera as she scowled hard at them, "Whom you guys three away so carelessly…again…" she said raising an eyebrow at them which made their stomachs churn and become filled with both guilt and shame.

"Urk…."

Cera then let out a sigh hoping she wouldn't regret this, "Since they were the ones who helped get this card, it should at least cover you up." she said to them before looking away from them in disgust, "Don't expect me to pick up after your slack again, otherwise you'll be slack next time I see you."

"Got it!" They said saluting her on the spot, "We'll never forget this token of gratitude! You're our best friend forever!" They cheered as they jumped up and prepared to do a dog pile of companionship on her!

She quickly sidestepped them as they crashed down on the floor.

WHAM!

"OOF!"

"Thanks but definitely no thanks…." she then said to them turning down their offer of friendship as they face planted on the ground and groaned in pain.

"Urgh….."

After that drama was over she then looked over to the rest of the D Team who were moving onto seconds at the dinner table, "I'm hitting the hay early tonight guys, see you tomorrow." she said as she waved her hand to them.

"Good night Cera!"

"Sleep well."

"Catch you tomorrow!" They said looking up to her and waving back before returning to indulging their appetites and stuffing their faces with delicious cheesy pizza!

"You too." she smiled happily as she exited the hall and the doors shut behind. As soon s they did, her expression turned serious as she vowed to herself inside that she'll do everything she can to protect them and make sure they succeed in their mission for everyone.

Before heading to the bedroom Helga mentioned, she decided to make a small detour to the dinosaur storage room, where she gathered all the cards the collected so far before putting them into the vault with all the others. After that she headed to the artefacts room, and before one of the spare display cases she placed the Sword of the snake on it, a very valuable and special treasure indeed to remember Ancient Japan by. Looking to the exhibit next to it, she smiled brightly to see a shoot had grown out from the soil in the pot she got from Ancient China, "Wow, you're growing pretty fast there..." she thought with a smile as she nuzzled the leaf gently with her finger, "Can't wait till you're all grown up, wonder what your fruit tastes like if Miku enjoyed it so much despite being a carnivore." she said at the end before exiting the room, unaware that the shoot began to grow a little taller...

Finally, for the last stop she went to the pod too to check on how much progress was made so far in fuel decrypting. Looking over it on the computer screens, she then sighed seeing it was only barely half complete from the time they left the ship in Japan till they turned just now, "Not much decrypted…." she sighed seeing they secured their data very well, though that meant what they had in storage was indeed valuable so they had to get it no matter what it took. "But it's better than nothing, let's see what we've got." she then said as she began to look over it all. From what she managed to gather, much of the data originated from a time several thousand years into the future where time travel had become perfected it made the Ancients' work in the Backlander like child's play. While that was interesting it didn't look like it could help them much at this point.

Looking through the last section, she came across a few files containing codes in them which caught her interest as she narrowed her eyes at them, "Access codes to bypass security? That can be useful for infiltration." she mused putting a finger to her chin in thought before looking at it more closer, "It's only half decrypted though. Nothing we can do about it for now." she then said before her eyes began to droop heavily, "Yawn….it's getting late, maybe a warm shower and a good night sleep will do me some good." she yawned to herslef as she turned around and exited through the back door as she headed to her living quarters for the night to turn it in.

 **(Later)**

"We're here as you requested Dr Z!" Ursula saluted as she and the A Team stood firm and straight reporting for duty as Dr Z eyed them while sitting on his bed cross legged.

"Heh, you lot seem confident," he smirked rather smugly as he folded his arms, "I was expecting you to be grovelling on your feet and begging for me not to pulverise you into pudding."

Hearing him say that made the 3 of them shudder and shiver anxiously, already recognising he was only half-joking, "Err…hehehe….Wh…whatever do you mean doctor?" Ed snivelled rubbing his hands together.

"Yeah, we have no reason to believe you'd do something so heartless." said Zander waving his hands.

"Especially since we brought you a new dinosaur card!" Ursula cheered punching her hand up as her henchmen followed suit.

"Oh yeah!" They cheered as the 3 of them struck a team pose they put together with pride and at last minute.

Dr Z widened his eyes and nearly got a heart attack at the new they brought him, "You did!? For real!?" he exclaimed in astonishment before quickly picking himself up and shaking his head clear, "I don't believe it one bit!" he huffed looking away from them without batting an eyelid, his actions only making the A Team snicker in delight seeing they were going to surprise him good.

"Then watch as we make a believer out of you doctor!" Ursula proclaimed as she reached into her pocket, "Ta da!" she sang flashing the card out at him!

"Let me see!" Dr Z cried changing his mind as he quickly snatched out of her hand and eyed it, as the A Team eagerly awaited their hard earned but well deserved reward. What he said next though made them rather unsettled, "Hmm….technically this is a move card not a dinosaur…." he mused narrowing his eyes at it which made them gulp down hard at seeing his dissatisfaction.

"Urk…."

"But it'll do I suppose…" he then said at the end much to their relief as he put the card away, "Well done….I suppose…."

"Phew…." They wheezed in relief as if a huge weight was lifted off their chests.

"We're really grateful for your words of kindness Dr Z." said Ursula sweating nervously while smiling grateful for the miracle they were just given.

"Not that we're asking for a reward but we did go through a lot of hard work to-"

Zander and Ursula quickly covered Ed's mouth to stop him from pushing their luck any further.

"The only reward we desire is making you happy dear doctor." Ursula chuckled nervously.

"And of course whatever new assignment you have for us." Zander added.

Dr Z then clapped his hands in approval much to their surprise, "Well said Ursula. In that case let me give it to you." he said with a smug smirk on his face. As the A Team grinned and giggled with glee for whatever bonus Dr Z was to give them, he quickly lay down flat on the bed and patted it to get their attention, "Rub my back this instant!" he then demanded which ruined their fantasies of being rewarded with new toys and money.

"Huh?" They blinked their eyes in shock before frowning and lowering themselves forward in immense disappointment, "That's it?"

"Rubbing your back? Don't tell us it's acting up on you again?" Zander pointed at him.

"Oh no…." Ed yelped biting his finger nails as he recalled the nightmarish days back when Helga wasn't around to help tend to him when he was bedridden and they were forced too act as his nursemaids at nearly every waking moment making their lives a living nightmare!

Fortunately though it wasn't the case, "No I'm just feeling a bit tense after being cooped up on this ship for so long." he answered gripping his aching shoulder which was as tense as a rock, "Plus, I'm making a breakthrough on the cosmos stones and I can't think with all these knots in my back! So do something about them!" he then cried out in frustration.

"AH!" They widened their eyes in shock at him possibly discovering an edge they can use against the pirates next time they face off.

"Well why didn't you say so?!" Ursula cried before turning to Ed and Zander, "Come on men, let's get right to work! Dr Z is counting on us to relieve him of his aching backside and we're not about to let him down!" she announced pumping up her arm.

"Okay!" They saluted her before jumping on the bed to join Ursula in giving Dr Z the best back massage ever!

 **(Next morning)**

The next morning, after waking up Zoe and Cera got themselves cleaned up and properly prepped with supplies like water and snacks in their bags before heading out to the cockpit, only to see Max covering his mouth over a yawn wirth Rex following behind him, "Yawn…."

"Morning Max and Rex." Zoe waved greeting them as they looked up and smiled seeing the first face of the morning were friends of theirs.

"Hey Cera, Zoe."

"You girls sleep well?" Max and Rex answered back as both girls smiled back.

"Yeah, slept like a rock." said Zoe stretching her arms back and then folding them behind her head.

"Have to thank Helga for making the beds well." said Cera feeling rather dreamily content after having had a good night's rest, and feeling tempted to sleep in had it not been for Miku pecking at her face earlier to waker her up for their mission.

"Mhmm, not to mention the ear plugs too, they really helped keep Max's snoring to a minimum." Rex nodded in agreement which seemed to offend Max having been standing next to him the whole time.

"Hey I don't sound that loud…." Max pouted taking offence before brushing it off and folding his arms on his hips, "Well breakfast isn't going to eat itself." He said as they nodded together and headed to the dining room for their morning meal, "I sure hope Helga made pancakes." said Max feeling eager for whatever delicious meal she'd whip up for them as their first meal of the day.

As with dinner last night, breakfast was made to perfection with a wide choice of dishes made to please both the eye and stomach, a fresh assortment of baked pastries and freshly made dishes were laid out on preparation for D Team, courtesy of Helga and Jonathan, on order to prepare the team for their mission and to ensure they were at full strength now with the stakes being so high. The D Team's eyes brightened with delight before diving down on the breakfast buffet!

"Mmm, now this is great stuff." Max licked his lips with delight before shoving another forkful of waffles down his throat!

"Yeah it's way better than any hotel food or restaurant cuisine I've tried before." said Rex after swallowing a mouthful of french toast before gulping down a fresh glass of fruit juice. As the boys stuffed their faces ravenously Zoe and Cera calmly and politely helped themselves to some fresh fruit and a bowl of apple strudel, not wanting to act like animals like the boys were doing.

"I can actually get used to living here if I can eat good food like this everyday." said Max while his face was still stuffed.

A statement his friends couldn't agree more with, "Yeah me too!"

"This is the life!"

As they said that Cera looked up at them with a raised eyebrow, "Wonder how your parents would think of that…." she thought before mopping her mouth with the napkin having eaten her fill. As the gang were about to leave they were startled as Helga suddenly appeared in front of the door as fast as lightning!

"This is no hotel," she said glaring at them menacingly with folded arms, "Remember to clean up after yourselves or you can forget about lunch." she growled pointing at the mess which they left on the table, making the 3 of them slump down in dismay, having eaten so much they now had to take responsibility for a lot of messes to clean up.

"On second thought…." they moaned as Cera couldn't help but let out a laugh in amusement.

"Hahahah!"

As soon as they finished eating, the team was put to work in picking up the dishes and washing them thoroughly in the sinks, and needless to say despite their combined efforts it was;t something they enjoyed in the slightest.

"Now I know how mom feels…." Max muttered as he scrubbed away at a stubborn stain with a sponge while Rex grunted in annoyance at having to thoroughly clean the utensils they used.

"I promise to never take her for granted again…." Zoe sighed sadly as she struggled to keep the dishes in her hands from tumbling down onto the floor and ending up into an never bigger mess to clean up!

"You never should've from the beginning…." said Cera to them as she began to throw away any food scraps left behind into the trash bin. Sensing it was awfully quiet she soon looked up from the trash can and observed her surroundings, "Say, where's the Alpha gang run off to?" she asked as the rest of the gang looked up too.

"Yeah it's not like them to miss out on an important meal like breakfast." said Rex knowing how gluttonous they were…..till it hit them and they looked to one another worriedly.

"Don't tell me…."

"They left last night." Helga answered them as she supervised, which made the D Team widen their eyes in shock.

"Say what!?" They all exclaimed.

"Dr Z mentioned something about finding a rare stone in the desert." Helga explained, "So they went looking for the cosmos stone before we did?"

"Tch! They must be wanting to hog it all for themselves I bet." Cera clicked her tongue in annoyance seeing they split up once again, if she had to go out and save their butts from trouble like before…..

"They'll have much better luck getting buried in a sandstorm…." muttered Zoe folding her arms behind her head, which further added to Cera's annoyance at the likelihood of them getting sidetracked and having to rescue them were very high.

"Without a doubt…." Max and Rex nodded in agreement.

They then looked to Helga with rather stern looks on their faces, "And you let them go?"

"After you told us not to?" said Zoe and Max raising an eyebrow at them.

"I made it extra clear to them that there would be sheer consequences if they returned home with a single scratch on Dr Z's head." Helga replied calmly as she began to wipe the table clean, "So rest assured they won't be of any trouble this time." She said feeling confident they'll keep their end of the deal….though it didn't seem to make the D Team any better than they already were.

"We'll believe it when we see it…." said Max seeing they may have to get started and make a move earlier than they thought, as he finished wiping the last plate clean from water, "Alright guys, we're done with the dishes, now let's go to the upper deck and check on them!" He said to them holding up a tensed arm.

"Yeah, no way we can let them run loose for more then 5 seconds anywhere." Cera nodded as they rushed out the kitchen and headed for the upper deck. Entering through they saw Jonathan already at the controls typing away.

"Hey Jonathan!" said Rex as he ran up to the android first, "Anyway we can locate Dr Z and the others?"

"Yes actually." he said looking up at the young master before resuming, "After our last few close calls I made sure to embed some tracking devices into their clothes in the event they lose their scanners." He added as he pressed the last button and a connection began to establish on screen, "Patching in….There!" He pointed as a red dot appeared on the map which was quite a ways from their current location much to their surprise.

"Whoa they've sure gone a long way in just 1 night." Rex whistled impressed.

As they were just about to head to their location and pick them up, a beeping sound soon came up on Max's dino bracer as they all looked.

"Guys! A dinosaur signal!" Max gasped as Jonathan brought it up on screen.

"It's nearby our location." said Rex.

Zoe and the others sooner hardened their expressions, "That means it has to be the space pirates." she said clenching her hands into fists.

"Yeah, come on guys, we have to investigate!" Max cried out.

Rex nodded, "I agree, no doubt they must have found a lead to the next cosmos stone."

"What about Dr Z and the alpha gang?" Zoe then asked.

"We'll worry about them later," said Cera without a second thought, "We've got way more important things than chasing after them and cleaning up their messes." she said having had enough of dealing with their shenanigans for 2 time era trips already which had voted them valuable time and effort, "Besides with a dinosaur signal up they'll come to us like a moth to a flame." she then added with a small smile as the gang nodded in agreement at her.

"Good point there." said Rex before looking to Jonathan, "Okay Jonathan, beam us down!" he ordered.

"Right away!" He nodded acknowledging his master's orders before pressing the button, teleporting them to the surface.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off in the distance, sheltered behind some large boulders the A Team slept….rather uncomfortably cramped together inside a makeshift tent with Alpha gang logos on it, which they patched up in order to tale shelter from the desert night. Being a small tent they had to squish up rather uncomfortably with each other, Ursula resting her head on top of Ed's belly as a pillow, Zander lying squashed at the side next to them while Dr Z rested on top of them, refusing to let his head touch the desert sand.

"Zzz…."

The loud combined snoring would be enough to keep anyone awake, but nevertheless they fell asleep together due to exhaustion at scrambling for the best sleeping position considering they had only 1 tent to work with. In their state it would be impossible for anyone or anything to wake them up from Dreamland….well almost anything….

BEEP! BEEP!

"WAH!" Dr Z widened his eyes upon hearing the sound of his alpha scanner's dinosaur detector going off! Rubbing his eyes he noticed the scanner beeping red as he took hold of it, "Huh? What the?" looking at it he widened his eyes and brightened up, "AH! A dinosaur!" he gasped before screaming his head off, "Wake up you buffoons! NOW!"

"GAAAAAH!" The trio jumped up in a fright at Dr Z's voice waking them up, causing the entire tent to collapse on them and get them all tangled in a huge bundle of mess and trouble!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Behind a large rocks outcrop, the teleportation beam soon descended from the sky and emerging from it was the D Team. As soon as they did they could hear the sounds of large pounding from behind the rock they were at. Rex then ran out to investigate, but quickly widened his eyes in alarm and stumbled back at what he saw! "AH!" Max caught him before he could fall. Before he could say another word, Rex put a finger to his lips seriously to keep him from saying a word, meaning there was someone here and they ought to be quiet and keep a low profile for the time being. Narrowing their eyes, the D Team peered behind the rock cautiously and hardened their expressions at the space pirate in front of a large sealed rock door, and an afrovenator that was banging its head against it!

"It's that guy Gavro…" Zoe whispered grumpily to see the space pirates had come much to their discomfort.

"Yeah…." Cera grunted angrily still holding a grudge against him and his cohorts for all the trouble they caused them.

"Talk about banging your head against a wall…." Max commented feeling bad for the torture Gavro was putting his dinosaur through, not even Chomp could keep hitting his head that long against a rock wall so who knows how much the afrovenator was suffering now.

A while soon passed, and Gavro began to scratch his head as he came to a painful realisation of his own, "Maybe when the boss said it's a secret door he meant you'd have to have a secret word to get it open…." he sighed seeing he'd have to leave for now as he returned Afrovenator to card form.

"Secret door?"

"Secret word?" Zoe and Cera muttered curiously hut also with interest, seeing he may have given them a clue to where the next stone would be.

"He's taking off!" Rex pointed out as the burly pirate flew away somewhere else, leaving the entrance alone and unguarded now, thus giving the D Team the chance they had been waiting for.

"Good! Let's check out that door!" said Max eagerly, but before he and the others could make a move, Rex caught sight of something requiring undivided attention.

"Hold on Max…." he said stopping them before they could move.

Max pouted seeing Rex was spoiling his fun, "What's wrong?" he muttered as the others looked to him curiously.

Seeing where his eyes were focused on, Cera followed and blinked her eyes in surprise to see something peculiar going on with Rex's dino bracer, "What the?"

"Afrovenator's gone but the dinosaur signal is still on!" he pointed out showing the dinosaur signal was indeed still active.

"Ah! That must mean there's another dinosaur around somewhere!" Zoe gasped as she surveyed their surroundings but saw no signs of any tracks nor noise for miles, which meant only one thing as they focused ahead at the sealed door.

Cera narrowed her eye suspecting it couldn't be anywhere else but inside behind that door. Though the fact remained, if it wasn't a pirate dinosaur could it be an alpha gang dinosaur or even a wild one? She soon shook her head lear from those thoughts, either way they had to get it out fast, who knew how long it was deprived of air, food or water so saving it was also a priority as they headed towards it.

"Gavro sure wanted whatever's inside her…." Rex mentioned as he put his hand on it, feeling it was really thick and dense so no way could they hope to break down even with all their dinosaurs combined.

"It's gotta be a cosmos stone…." said Max seeing they had no other choice but to go through it if they wanted to protect the next stone.

"Then we've gotta find a way to open this door!" said Zoe with determination, after having lost the first 4, this time they were going to get this one no matter what. With the stakes so high, failure was not an option as it meant the end of all they knew and loved, so it call came down to this.

As Max held back stretching himself a bit while trying to come up with an 'intelligent' solution, Rex, Zoe and Cera began checking the wall or around for any kind of fulcrum, lever or secret trigger that could open the door, but after feeling through the sand and the wall for several seconds they couldn't find anything remotely close to what may be a switch. They were about to consider going over possible passwords as Gavro mentioned earlier, when Max suddenly beat them to it, "I know! Let's try magic words!" he pointed out before shouting out the only words he knew, "Open Sesame!" he cheered at the top of his lungs while pointing out at the door with full confidence!

There was a stunned silence between the members of the D Team as they stared blankly at Max, shocked that he actually would consider something as cliche from the movies as that to be used as a secret password…..

"You can't be serious Max…." Cera sighed as she began to rub her temple in exasperation, though all of a sudden the door suddenly began to rumble as it slid open to the side revealing a secret passage behind it, stunning the D Team even more than before!

As Max grinned excitedly to himself then smirked smugly at Cera she then rolled her eyes not wanting to give him any satisfaction at being proven wrong, "I stand corrected…." she then said calmly and humbly admitting it, though still unable to comprehend how that was possible.

"Weird….."

"There is no way that just worked….How did that just work?" commented Zoe and Rex who were still speechless at what just happened. It was one thing to work at Zeta Point's door but to be working here too was beyond anything they expected.

"Hey! Maybe there's a reason that saying became famous," Max smiled excitedly before strolling off inside, "But who cares? Let's go get the cosmos stone! Oh yeah!" he said as the others decided to just roll with it and follow him into the fray.

As they strolled down the cavern pathway they could see a set of lit torches lightning the way to a glowing end of the tunnel, which caught Cera's eye as she looked at them closely, "Look at all these lights, someone has to have been down here before." she pointed out as the others followed her gaze.

"Yeah you're right….." Zoe noted feeling suspicious that this had to have been used recently too. As to what it was used for, they were soon about find out.

"Huh?" Max blinked his eyes seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, shining brightly and sparkling almost like gold. Like moths to a flame they hurried closer to see what it was, only to be stunned speechless to find hills…no…mountains of gold, chests, artefacts and jewels littering nearly every nook and cranny of the cave! "Wow! Look at all that treasure! Man that's bigger than my pile of dirty laundry!" Max exclaimed as he looked all around with the others.

Upon hearing his snarky comment, Cera raised an eyebrow at him, feeling disappointed upon being reminded at how bad a slob he still is back home, as well as feeling bad for Aki. Hopefully after they saved her and the others he'd appreciate her better and take much better care and responsibility of the house whenever she wasn't around…..despite how impossible that seemed….

"And there's no one here guarding it at all!" As soon as he finished a tremor rumbled through the ground, shaking the D Team up and catching them off guard!

"You had to say it so soon!?" Cera exclaimed as she nearly stumbled and lost her footing, only to plant her foot in hard enough to stabilise herself in time!

"What's that!?" Rex then gasped going on high alert, "Sounds like something big is headed this way!"

"The dinosaur?" Max wondered, seeing the signal on his bracer was coming closer!

"And from, it's no little sauropod either." Rex gulped as they looked ahead to see where the tremors were coming from! Soon, stomping out of the gloom was a massive sauropod indeed, bulky and armoured on top, coloured swampy green with a muddy brown underside as it came into view, stunning the D Team beyond belief as it revealed its full form!

"Whoa! It's an isisaurus!" Max gasped in awe at the huge and np doubt powerful dinosaur which now towered over them like a mountain!

"You're right! You can tell by its' super thick neck!" Zoe breathed seeing its entire muscular neck was as thick or even thicker than a tree!

As it lowered its head and closing its eyes irritated by the blinding light of the glowing treasure Rex pointed at it catching sight of something, "And look! It doesn't have the spectral pirate's mark on its forehead!" he pointed.

"Well that's a relief, but if it's not theirs' then whose is it and how did it get here?" Max then asked curiously.

"Good question." Cera nodded in agreement before narrowing her eyes at it, "Also, what do we do with it now? We can't just leave it here…." The herbivore seemed peaceful enough so she couldn't bring herself to fight it, even if they had to return it to a card and get it out, it also appeared to be very powerful too so if they had to fight it'd be one they'd have a challenge with too.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps snapped her out of her thoughts causing her and Max to look ahead. Right behind one of its massive pillar like legs, a young female, dressed in light greenish blue bedlam pants and wearing an orange bra with a cream strapless top, a white sash around her waist and red arabian slippers.

"Hey look, there's someone by it's leg!" Cera pointed out as Rex widened his eyes.

"Miss look out!" he cried in alarm, eating on instinct he ran to the girl passing by the isisaurus who looked at him curiously, "Get away before it crushes you!" he gasped grabbing her hand and preparing to take her out of the sauropod's way!

To his surprise the girl held back, "No." she said which stopped him from running any further.

"Huh?" he looked back to her in surprise.

"Genie's not going to hurt anyone." she then said calmly.

"Genie?" He was puzzled by what she meant, but as the light in the cave began to shine brighter, he soon blushed red as her face was revealed, "Ah…." in an instant Rex was stunned by her captivating beauty and could only stare unblinkingly at her. He could see the girl was slightly taller and possibly a bit older than they were with very long black hair that extended down to her legs, she also wore a gem embedded tiara on her head along with a pair of heart shaped earrings and a necklace around her neck which helped bring out her bright green eyes sparkling brighter than any gemstone in the cave.

"That's right, I summoned him with a magic lamp so he must be a genie." she then said calmly with a smile, assuring them the giant behemoth meant no harm.

"I thought genies were big bald guys with pointy shoes." Max then asked which made Cera sweat drop and roll her eyes at him, apart from 'Open Sesame' clearly he watched too much tv….

"Lamps? Genies? Treasure? The only thing missing is a princess." Zoe commented as she and the others approached them since the girl didn't feel threatened which meant it had to be safe.

"Heh, well I was missing until you found me." the girl giggled, "I'm Princess Zahrah." she said introducing herself which surprised the gang that she was royalty.

"You mean you're a real live princess!?" Zoe exclaimed in amazement as the others looked on in awe and surprise.

"Yup." the Princess nodded back.

Seeing a wild dinosaur in another time period was one thong but for it to befriend a royal princess? The surprises just kept coming….

"I'm just plain Zoe…." she then pouted unhappily, still holding some attachment to royalty herself.

"You can call me Max." the brunette smiled.

"And I'm Cera, nice to meet you your highness." Cera bowed respectfully.

When it got to Rex's turn however….

"Uhh…My name is…." he felt the words taken out completely from his mouth as he stared unblinkingly at Zahrah and his cheeks blushed red, mesmerised completely by her beauty and all he could utter out were a few inaudible murmurs, "Uhhhh…."

The others soon saw what was going on as they began to snicker and grin cheekily behind his back. Not wanting him to remain silent and awkward in front of Zahrah, Zoe decided to step in and lend him a hand out of pity, "He's trying to say his name is Rex and he's usually not so touchy feeling." she said teasingly as Max grinned and pointed at him while Cera sighed and shook her head feeling sorry for him.

"Huh!?" he gasped in alarm before looking back to see he was still clinging on to Zahrah's hand! "GAH! Blech!" he cried in embarrassment as he took it away and jumped around, clearly he wouldn't be able to live this down and the others wouldn't let him hear the end of it when this adventure was over with….

Max soon decided to move on past the romantic comedy skit and get to the matter at hand, "So what's a princess doing here in a cave with an isis-" he stopped at that point as he corrected himself quickly in time, "I mean here with a gigantic genie!?"

It was then that the princess' smile vanished, "I found the genie in the lamp after the 39 thieves left me here." Zahrah explained uneasily which shocked the D Team beyond belief.

"39 thieves!?" They gasped that a lot of criminals had banded together as an entire gang and was still at large in this time era, meaning they had to be on guard since they could come back anytime.

Cera then put a finger to her chin in thought, "I thought it was 40…." she asked herself, maybe they or the pirates did something to change that number, or there may have been some kind of historical inaccuracy….

"Mhmm." Zahrah then nodded as she began to explain her whole story from start, despite how much the traumatic experience was still edged into her mind, "My caravan was returning to my main palace when we were attacked in the desert. The thieves overpowered my guards, then they took me out here to this secret cave and left me here." she said in a rather scared tone.

"That's awful…." said Zoe putting a hand to her mouth feeling bad for her, while Max and Cera narrowed their eyes.

"How dare they?" Rex snarled gritting his teeth and clenching his hand into a fist tightly, swearing under his breath that if he ever found them he'd make them pay for this atrocity.

"It was…." said Zahrah as she lowered her head down, "I thought I would have been locked in this horrible place all alone with no one to rescue me….." she then looked up at them, "But then, as I ventured further in I discovered not only all this treasure, but this lamp as well." she said showing them the golden lamp clamped around the side of her long pants, "When I rubbed it, Genie appeared before me like magic!" she gasped in amazement before looking up at the isisaurus who lowered his head down at her, "I was really scared, seeing how massive he was he could easily crush me if he wanted." she soon smiled lightly feeling at peace, "But he didn't hurt me. In fact, at first all he wanted to do was fill his belly. He would eat and drink just about anything." she giggled stroking his head gently as Cera eyed the huge dinosaur pityingly, a huge creature like him being cramped up on such a dark and tight space like this must have been a horrible experience for him. "I soon realised that the genie of the lamp, despite his great size was really just a gentle giant." Zahrah continued, "And then when I made my wish to get out of the cave, he brought me back to the direction of the cave's entrance with the intention of breaking it down." she then looked to the gang and folded her arms at them, "We were headed for the door when we met you." she concluded.

"So whether he's really a genie or not at least we know he's friendly." said Max folding his arms laxly behind his head, "What I don't get is why those thieves would just lock you up in this place and just leave?" he then asked.

"Probably to hold me for ransom." Zahrah suggested though still feeling suspicious.

"Why would they need more riches if they already have all this treasure?" Rex asked seeing it made no sense at all.

"Talk about greedy…." Cera muttered, though at the back of her mind she suspected that there had to be more to this than mere wealth, perhaps the thieves had something more dastardly planned in mind for her since she happens to be the daughter of a ruler.

"Is it the treasure that brought you here?" Zahrah then asked suspiciously, "Did you come to steal it?"

"No, we were just looking for 1 gem in particular called the cosmos stone that's about this bug." Rex replied motioning with his fingers the shape and size of the gem. In fact even if they did know about the treasure here they'd never steal it and keep it for themselves, that would make them no different than the thieves who hoarded it in the first place.

"The cosmos stone?" Zahrah replied having never heard of it before as she folded her arms curiously.

"Right!" said Rex back to her.

"It glows brightly too so you can't miss it." Cera added.

"You're going to need some help finding it in this huge cave." Zahrah then smiled before looking up to someone who could do just that, "Maybe Genie will help us too and we can all look for it together." As she finished Genie lowered his head down and bellowed happily in agreement which made the others smile to see they had help and from both a royal princess and a big dinosaur on top of that!

Rex suddenly cut in front of them unexpectedly, "We'd be honoured to have you help us Princess!" he said excitedly wth eagerness much to his friends annoyance noticing he was still infatuated with her.

"Oh well, the more the merrier!" Zoe smiled folding her arms behind her head gladly while Cera and Max calmly nodded before they headed deeper into the treasure chamber, near the small pool where Genie drank from earlier seeing it was a good place to start looking.

"Let's split up and see what we can find." said Cera to the gang, "Just remember, if you do find it, don't touch it with your bare hands." she then warned as the others nodded.

"Gotcha."

"Right." said Max and Rex giving her a thumbs up and okay sign respectively as the D Team split off from Zahrah and Genie to look in different piles. As Zahrah began digging through some of the smaller clumps of gold, Genie used his head to clear away larger ones and even using his huge tail to sweep away some piles like dust, while still feeling a unusual tingling inside his stomach after having swallowed a strange red rock earlier from the pool which he intended to use as a gastrolith.

Meanwhile as the D Team went to investigate 3 large piles further off, Cera caught sight of a couple of gold coins and small gems that were sticking out from the bunch on a chest which she took notice of, "These ones look really pretty….." she smiled feeling captivated by their appearance. In fact she felt this treasure was more than enough to put the one on Treasure Island in the Caribbean to shame. Looking around to see no one looking she smirked as she reached out and plucked a few of them like grapes from a vine, "Maybe I'll just take a couple…to remember this place by." she thought as she nestled them gently into her pocket.

"You guys! Look at this!" Max cried getting their attention as they turned to see him lean down and pick something up, "It's a dinosaur card capsule."

"It must be Genie's." said Zoe seeing it couldn't have belonged to another dinosaur but him.

"There were capsules even in this time?" Rex asked surprised.

"Seems so…." Cera noted as she narrowed her eyes and picked up the other half. "Makes me wonder if we may have missed some through the other times we visited." She then wondered as she took the other piece from Max and closed it together. When she did, she closed her eyes and began to collect her thoughts, slowly piecing together her old memory when she was caught in some sort of explosion while in an egg shaped pod that was travelling fast through the time space stream and then losing consciousness….

As it passed she shook her head seeing there were more important things to do now than chasing after old memories and ghosts of the past, "Let's keep looking, that stone has to be here somewhere….." she said to her friends before they could ask her what was going on.

They didn't have the chance to keep looking though, as suddenly a battlefield appeared around them followed by loud fierce roars echoing from around them in the caves!

"Wha!? More dinosaurs!" Rex gasped in alarm as he and the others looked back, caught by surprise at the sudden development!

"Wh…What's going on!?" Zahrah gasped looking around shocked while Genie bellowed out loud in agitation.

Since it was a battlefield, Zoe soon deduced one possibility, "It's gotta be the alpha gang and the space pirates I bet." she said seriously as she clinched her hands tightly.

"Then we'll have to hurry and find the cosmos stone fast!" said Max as he tried to dig through the nearest pile as fast as he could, hoping the Alpha gang might be able to buy them enough time to find the stone if they could.

"Yeah!" Zoe, Rex and Cera said as they quickly dug through the piles closest to them! They grabbed handfuls of treasure and threw them out as they dug through the mountains of riches, keeping their eyes peeled for a glowing jewel the whole time.

Soon however the battlefield disappeared as the D Team looked around curiously, "Hey it's over…." Max muttered, but where one danger ended another soon arrived as the cave roof above began ti crumble and shake unsteadily, with bits of rock and eventually a huge pile of dust fell out and landed in between the D Team!

"AH!" They gasped barely avoiding it in time!

"That's not a good sign! We better get out of here!" Max suggested in alarm.

"Zahrah come on it's not safe! We gotta go!" Rex called to her as she looked up from her pile.

"Huh? Oh okay…." she then said as she got up to follow them.

As they tried to make a run towards the exit they stopped when a pair of figures stood in their way!

"AH!"

"Oh no!" Max cried as a familiar red space pirate and an armoured afrovenator stood before them, bloc,ion their path to escape!

"Oh man this is just what we don't need!" Cera grunted angrily as she gritted her teeth in frustration seeing their troubles were just getting worse, also seeing that he was no doubt the victor in the battle just now…unfortunately….

"Gavro's back!" Zoe grunted.

"Is he another genie!?" Zahrah gasped in alarm, seeing him and his dinosaur to be trouble.

"The opposite! If you have a wish he takes it away!" Rex answered her, wanting her to stand back.

"Big time…" Cera hissed gritting her teeth and clenching her fist ready for a battle!

"I'll grant one wish." he then said bluntly while pointing out at them, "Hand over the cosmos stone and you can leave." he then stated his demand

"Step aside Gavro there's no time for this!" Max yelled in response, his heart racing seeing they could be crushed under the falling debris at any moment.

Despite that the space pirate reminded undeterred in his mission, "Well then you had better make some time." he grunted as his afrovenator snarled viciously in front of Max! "Or else!"

Quickly turning over to their only means of getting past this enemy, "Help us out Genie!" Zahrah pleaded as the isisaurus bellowed ready for a fight!

Seeing that if Genie were to fight would bring the ceiling down on them faster, and also wanting to impress her too, Rex decided to take charge, "It's cool Zahrah, Ace can handle this." he said to her with assurance.

"Wait? Who is Ace?" she asked as he took out a card from his pocket.

"Heh, get ready Princess," Cera smirked knowing what was coming, "For a magic trick you've never seen before."

"Dino slash!" Rex cried slashing he card, "Carnotaurus! Blow them away!" Ace roared as he appeared on the field before leaping ahead and kicking the armoured afrovenator away from Max!

"Urgh!" Max grunted bracing himself as the battlefield returned and the 2 wind dinosaurs engaged in close combat with one another!

"Wow Rex, I didn't know you had a magic genie lamp too!" Zahrah breathed in awe, seeing she clearly underestimated him.

"Not just him," Max smirked as he and Zoe flashed their dino bracers at the princess, "We all do!" he cheered proudly as Cera also held up her dinoshot which made Zahrah widen her eyes in amazement.

"Really!? That's incredible!" she gasped while Rex pulled out his element booster!

"Let's go Ace! Dino tector on!" Equipping it, Ace soon armoured up right on time as the afrovenator charged and swung his tail at him! Responding quickly, he jumped behind his foe before kicking it further back!

"Now's our chance! Go!" Max cried seeing their opening as they planned to run while they had the chance, only to be stopped by Gavro as he hovered in front of them holding his arms out!

"You're not going anywhere until I get that cosmos stone!" he yelled refusing to leave empty handed.

"Look we didn't find the stone okay!?" Max yelled in defiance, while also finding him mad if he was going to be risking everyone's lives all for the sake of that one stone. Cera on the other hand narrowed her eyes hard, if they wanted the stones that badly that they'd do any dirty trick to get them, their goal must no doubt be that diabolical to everyone else if they did get their hands on it, so it made their mission all the more important.

"And even if we did we'd never hand it to you!" Cera shouted while shaking a fist at him in defiance, shooting him a furious glare and gritting her teeth showing they weren't backing down this time.

Despite their words and display of courage Gavro still was unconvinced. Looking closely to see where they might hide it from him, he focused his attention on the lamp curled around Zarah's waist, "Oh I know, you hid it in the lamp didn't ya?" he muttered as he flew over Max, who jumped up and failed to grab him in time as he headed for the Princess!

"You say away from her!" Max yelled out but his words fell on deaf ears as Gavro reached out for her!

Rex ran in front to shield her with his own body, but right in the nick of time, Genie charged out from the depths of the cave and rammed Gavro hard with his head sending him flying into a hue stone pillar! "WAAAAH!" he cried as more rocks soon began to collapse around him and the cave grew increasingly unstable!

"Nice shot!" Cera complimented Genie.

"We've got to end this fight and get out of here!" Rex then called out seeing with Gavro out of the picture their opening had just revealed itself, and with time running out he had to take it while he had the chance, "Let's go Ace! Hurricane beat!" Slashing the move card, Ace summoned a pair of tornadoes and sent them at the afrovenator, ensnaring it before leaping at and pummelling it down hard with several kicks before finishing it off with a somersault and tail swipe which sent it flying away! Shattering its armour as it returned to card form! "The cave's about to give!" Rex yelled as he ran in and grabbed its' card, "It's now or never! Move!" he yelled to them as they made a run for the exit as fast as they could go!

"You heard him! Come on!" Cera yelled out to the others as they followed him and Ace to the door! As they headed back the way they came they soon caught sight of the Alpha gang carrying away many bags filled with treasure. Feeling the ground trembling beneath their feet they widened their eyes to see Genie charge out straight towards them!

"AAAH! An isisaurus and he's coming fast!" Ed gasped in alarm.

"You guys better start making a run for it! Forget about that treasure!" Max yelled as they appeared beneath Genie's legs.

Ursula widened her eyes taking offence to that, "Why!? So you can take it away from us!? No way!" she growled shaking a fist at them stubbornly.

"No! So you don't get crushed!" Max retorted as he and the others ran past them.

"Even you guys should be smart enough to see that!" Cera shouted as she followed after Max without a backward glance, not wanting to waste any time talking sense into their non existent brains in this life or death situation!

As they did, Zahrah ended up tripping over a rock and fell forward unexpectedly! "AH!" The others looked back in shock to see her fall on the ground.

"Princess!" Zoe cried wanting to go back, but Cera ended up pulling her away to ensure her own safety, while also knowing help was on the way as she smiled seeing it coming.

"Get her Ace!" Rex commanded his partner as the carnotaurus ran to her and picked her up in his teeth, "You okay?" he asked her with concern as she processed how to address this unusual situation, before nodding at him unsurely.

"Uh huh…."

Seeing this was no way to carry a princess let a lone a lady, Rex had a better idea which he quickly implemented, "Hop on and hold on tight!" he yelled as Ace tossed her onto his back with Rex before running out as fast he could after Genie and the others in the D Team!

As they ran off and the cave began to collapse all the more quickly around the Alpha gang, Ed began to shudder nervously as he tapped on Ursula's shoulder, "Umm Ursula?" She turned to him sharply which made him jump back in surprise, "M…Maybe we should have taken their advice, ditch the treasure and make a run for it now?" he whimpered twiddling his fingers.

"Yeah what good is all this gold if we won't live to spend it!?" Zander cried waving his arms out frantically in a panic.

Ursula however shrugged it off as she folded her arms behind her head uncaringly, "Oh please we survived worse don't worry about it." she said with a smug look on her face, though it soon melted away into a pale face of anxiety when a set of massive boulders fell out from the cave roof right above them!

"Uh oh…." The alpha gang gulped turning pale as ghosts as the rocks smashed down all around them!

CRASH!

At the other end of the cave, the D Team alone with Genie, Ace and Zahrah made it out into the open desert in time as the cave collapsed in on itself erupting a huge cloud of dust as the turned back in time to see it completely blocked off.

"Whoa…that was close…" Rex breathed as a wave of relief passed over him an the others.

"Phew….a second longer and we'd be people pancakes…." Max wheezed as he let out a deep sigh he held in as Zoe and Cera went to pat him on the back to comfort him.

Rex then turned his attention to Zahrah who sat next to him on Ace, "Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"I am, all thanks to you Rex." she said with a warm smile, "How can I ever repay you for saving me?" She soon got an idea that would suffice and no doubt surprise everyone. Taking Rex's cheek she leaned in and gave him a light kiss causing him to blush red in surprise and shocking his friends who widened their eyes at the sight of it!

"AAAH!?"

Rex blushed a deep red before steam fizzled through his ears, his brain shutting down and losing all self awareness while Zahrah smiled seeing he was no doubt satisfied with her little gift, "Aaaah….."

Max suddenly snapped out of his funk as he realised there was something more important they forgot, "AH! Wait, where's the alpha gang!?" he gasped in alarm as he looked around to see they weren't with them!

"Oh…they didn't make it out in time…" Zoe sighed sadly clapping her hands together in pity.

As Cera looked on at the large pile of rubble at the entrance, her heart began to sink. For the first time she actually felt sorry for them….sure they may have been idiots and complete jerks sometimes…."Even they didn't deserve that…." was all she could say as she lowered her head down giving them their condolences and hoping that they and their dinosaurs could now rest in peace. While she wanted to think about the good things that were in store for them now that they were gone…..she knew now wasn't the time for it….also now they'd have to continue the rest of this journey on without them….also how would they tell Rod and Laura if they found out what happened to their grandfather?

Meanwhile Zahrah and Rex jumped off Ace, with Rex still spacing out and daydreaming about his moment with Zahrah, Ace then returned back to a card and smacked him on the back of his head to snap him out of it as Rex tried to play it cool and take hold of his card.

The moment didn't last long though, as Zahrah soon heard the sounds of many approaching footsteps coming their way. Turning around she gasped to see a huge gathering of armed men on camels heading their way! "Oh no! The 39 thieves are back!" Zahrah she gasped worriedly as the others widened their eyes in alarm to see they were trapped with no way of outrunning them in the open desert!

"AH!"

"Quick guys we've gotta hide somewhere!" Rex said to them with urgency.

Looking to the side of the cave to see a rocky outcrop just big enough to hide them, "This way!" Zahrah cried out as they made a beeline for it, managing to make it in time as the thieves made it to the front door of the cave.

As Genie lay low on the ground and kept quiet best he could, Cera motioned to the others, "Let's listen and observe for now." she whispered with a hard gaze as they nodded in agreement, peeping their heads out slowly and cautiously as the leader of the thieves, a large man with a thick moustache and beard, and thicker clothes than the others stepped forward to the entrance.

"The cave door is blocked!" He growled angrily to see their treasure trove was now lost, before noticing what appeared to be a hand holding jewels sticking out from the rubble much to his surprise, "Huh?"

"Hey look? The old lady!" Max whispered out loud, which made the rest of the D Team more relaxed to see their allies had survived….though barely….

"Why you! No one calls me an old lady and gets away with it!" Ursula growled as she mustered all her strength and busted out from all the rubble that was pressing down on them! She then ranted and stomped down in frustration, intending to get payback on whoever insulted her, before wheezing and gasping for air.

Looking at her Cera couldn't but help but smile with relief, realising that not even a nuclear explosion could kill them….though her optimism was short lived…..

"Who are you invaders?" the boss of the thieves then demanded as Ursula snapped out of her gasping.

"AH! Wait a second where did you come from?" Ursula pointed at them uneasily.

"Zayid! The invaders have bags filled with out treasure!" One of the thieves pointed out to his boss as he took a closer look ahead.

"Hmm?"

Catching sight of the many bags of treasure they hoarded, the Alpha gang turned pale and shiver with fear, trying to hide the bags behind them though it was an effort most in vain as Zayid hopped off his camel and approached them menacingly!

"There is nothing that Zayid the thief hates more than getting robbed!" he growled taking his scimitar out and flashing it at them! "You shall pay for this!"

"WAAAH!" They screamed as the thieves threw several ropes around them, tying them up completely which left them at the mercy of the armed bandits! For them it was like out of the frying pan and not the fire!

Max and Zoe were tempted to act quick to save them, but Rex and Cera held them back in time, shooting them firm expressions and shaking their heads knowing that charging in recklessly would only expose themselves and Zahrah to even more danger, plus the Alpha gang would only get caught in the crossfire. Seeing their logic, reluctantly they held back and continued to observe, hoping they might be able to learn something about their motives.

"Now, what have you done with the princess?" he then demanded as he and his men interrogated the Alpha gang.

"What princess?" Ed muttered in confusion at what he meant.

"He must mean that girl that was with the ankle biters when they were running for the door." Zander then suggested.

"So Zahrah escaped….this will anger Rasheed…." Zayid muttered uneasily knowing they'd have to face harsh consequences from their master if they brought him the bad news. Nevertheless they gave him their word they'd report every single action of their's so upon his command he ordered, "To the palace!" as the thieves rallied together on their camels and took off they ended up dragging the entire alpha gang with them in tow!

"Can we take a taxi!?" they cried as they were dragged away across the hard course sand with the thieves before they disappeared over the dusty dunes!

As they did, Cera sighed and face palmed herslef hard seeing they had to go rescue them once more, "Not again….." she groaned wondering why this kept happening to them.

Zahrah however was more concerned with something else, "Zayid knows Rasheed?" she wondered curiously as the others focused on her.

"Who's Rasheed?" Rex asked.

"Well….he's the sultan's prime minister." she answered him uneasily which made the rest of the D Team most puzzled and uneasy.

"A minister? Why would a bunch of thieves be reporting back to someone like that?" Max asked suspiciously seeing something very wrong with that picture.

"Would Rasheed have something to do with me being captured?" she then wondered seeing there could be a coincidence.

"I'm no all knowing genie but it sounds fishy." said Zoe as she shrugged her shoulders.

"A double cross I bet…." Cera suspected as she folded her arms and hardened her expression seeing this as a possible plot to usurp the throne….something she also saw in the movies which was still kinda cliche but made complete sense.

"I have to reach the palace and let my father know!" said Zahrah seriously knowing what she had to do now, seeing that her kidnapping must be some kind of scheme the thieves and Rasheed were cooking up, "I can't promise, but it may be that this stone you're looking for is acutely in the palace somewhere!" she then said to Rex hoping that he and the others would join her on her own quest to save her kingdom.

"Then what are we waiting for!" said Rex in agreement with her plan.

"Yeah let's go!" Max cried pumping up his arm ready for action.

After that they looked up to the isisaurus who was eying them curiously the whole time, unsure of what was going on but no doubt it was something serious, "Genie, for my second wish, please take us to my father's palace." Zahrah pleaded as she clapped her hands together. In response and sensing the concern in her heart, Genie bellowed out obediently before lowering his huge head and neck down to the desert floor making Zahrah and the rest of the gang smile with relieve.

"Oh thank you so much!" Zahrah smiled gratefully as she climbed onto Genie's neck first before being followed by the rest of the D Team who boarded behind her.

Soon after that, Genie stood up tall and turning in the direction the thieves went he bellowed loudly before stomping through the desert sands, "Now this is riding in style!" Zoe cheered.

"Yeah, we'll be there in no time for sure!" Max smiled while having a great feeling there was nothing but smooth sailing from here on out for them…..tough little did he know was that he spoke too soon and as the universe worked, karma was always around the corner for anyone who ever tempted fate…..

 **(Later)**

The desert sands soon swirl up as winds blew, eventually picking up speed and blowing dirt and dust up in the path of the D Team as they continued their trek across the desert towards Zarah's city. Max had summoned Chomp hoping his sense off smell would be sufficient in helping them find their way out of the winds, but to no avail as it began to blow into his nose and eyes making him cough out violently, so Max had to shield him in as he hugged him tightly so not to get blown away.

"I can hardly see, we must be in the middle of some kind of sand storm…." said Zoe feeling worried.

"Urgh! We need to find shelter!" Max grunted rubbing his eyes which were heavily irritated by the sand that was just blown in! In fact the same was said for everyone in the group as they did their best to shield themselves from the dusty winds.

"Princess? How far to go until we get to your father's palace?" Rex asked uneasily.

Despite the bad weather Zahrah was feeling confident they could make it in 1 piece, though what she said next started the gang, "One more day's ride I'm afraid." she said while trying not to worry the gang with a smile, though her words themselves were enough to give the exact opposite effect as they widened their eyes.

"WHA!? We'll be buried in sand by then!" Max exclaimed in bewilderment wondering how she was able to stay so calm not just in the weather but also that it'd take them a really long time to reach shelter! Suddenly he noticed something approaching them in the distance as he looked up in worry, "Huh? What's that thing?" he asked anxiously as a twister made of the desert's sandy winds began two pick up and sail towards them!

"A sand cyclone!" Zahrah gasped recognising it as it closed in on Genie!

"Looks like we're gonna be buried in sand sooner than we thought!" Rex cried seeing there was no way they could evade it in time!

Everyone froze stiff and widened their eyes as Genie held fast and braced fro the incoming twister! "It's gonna blow us away! Oh no!" Max cried as it soon swallowed them up!

 **With the beginning of Ancient Persia, the stage is set for things to come soon. With the title being the 39 thieves and being my 39th chapter I'd say that's a sign for something too right? And wanted to state here that genie's capsule came from Cera's old pod too. Also stay tuned for a special surprise coming up next chapter too.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Yup and it won't be the last fight with all of them together down the road. Shame it had to be cut short by what happens here but there's no helping it sometimes.**

 **Yeah all the dinosaurs that weren't taken by the D Team are back on the pirate ship, he called them weak because he didn't want to take responsibility for his loss.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Alright then.**


	40. Desert heat

Chapter 40

Desert heat

"Sand cyclone!" Rex gasped in alarm as the massive whirlwind of sand came straight at them and they had no chance of evading it in time!

"Everyone! Close your eyes and cover your faces!" Cera warned them as she held her arm in front of her eyes in an effort to block out the incoming particles of dirt from flying into her face!

As everyone did their best and hung on, Max suddenly lost his grip on Genie while covering himself before being blown off with Chomp in his arms! "WHOA!"

"Max! Oh no!" Zoe cried out in horror as he vanished in the cloud of dust!

"WAAAAH!" As he and Chomp tumbled uncontrollably through the desert winds, Chomp opened his eyes with determination as he was barely able to make out Genie's tail in the sand! Mustering all of his strength he opens his jaws and clamped down hard!

SNAP!

Miraculously he was able to get a firm grip on the isisaurus' tail, hanging on long enough with Max till the cyclone soon passed by. "Thanks Chomp…." breathed Max gratefully and with relief as Genie held up his tail to see them hanging by the end of it.

"A close call…" Zahrah smiled with relief.

"Something tells me it's not going to be the last one…." said Rex uneasily since they barely escaped by the skin of their teeth.

"Yeah….." Cera nodded as the cyclone passed by and everyone kept a firm look at it to make sure it didn't turn back at them, "Well at least it's the last we'll see of that storm." she then said looking at the bright side of it, though it would;t be long before their troubles would return.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off in the distance, at a drinking pool away from the sand cyclone, another kind of storm was brewing, one which wasn't as kind and merciful to the Alpha gang compared to the D Team. They along with Dr Z were surrounded on all sides by several bandits who took out their scimitars and aimed them directly at their throats as they turned blue and shivered in terror!

"EEEEK!" They squealed like children seeing sharp objects pointed at them ready gut them like fish while they were tightly bound up by ropes and had no hope of escaping whatsoever!

Zayid soon made his way to the front of the group and folded his arms and landed down menacingly in the gang as they looked up at him, turning pale and rendered speechless, "Give us one good reason why we shouldn't slice you 4 up and leave you for the buzzards?" he smirked with a sadistic grin on his face.

The males in the group were stunned silent by the sight of the menacing grins and glares that were being shot at them from all sides by the thieves, as well as the razor sharp blades aimed at them, they were on the verge of wetting themselves and couldn't find it in them to force out even a single word knowing one wrong word would leave them as minced meat!

Ursula gulped down hard seeing it was on her now to hopefully talk some reason into the thugs despite how impossible it seemed, "W…Well that's because-"

"That was a rhetorical question!" Zayid yelled interrupting her which made her yelp, "Your fates were sealed the moment you thought you could steal from the 39 thieves!"

"Now accept your fates!" Another of his men said as he took out a dagger from his tunic!

"WAIT! Maybe we can work something out!" Zander pleaded for mercy.

"Ha! And what could simpletons like you possible offer that we can't take?" Zayid laughed as he was just about to run his scimitar straight through their heads like skewer!

Ursula suddenly mustered all her courage and shouted out the first thing that came to mind, "W…Well we can help you capture that runaway princess who got away!" As soon as she uttered those words Zayid held back at the last second, the tip of his blade just barely grazing her face as she widened her eyes and fainted from the shock at coming so close to meeting her maker!

Ed then took initiative, "Yeah that's right! With our help you can get her back by sunset or maybe even before that!" he nodded.

"Oh? And just how do you plan on doing that?" Zayid then mused.

Dr Z soon gained a rather sinister smirk of his own, "Heheh, of we have power over dinosaurs!" he chuckled much to the curiosity of the thieves.

"What are these….dinosaurs you speak of?" One of the bandits asked scratching his cheek having first heard of that word.

"Why only the biggest and scariest creatures that ever walked the face of the Earth!" Dr Z snickered smugly at their ignorance before holding up his head high, "And you're looking at their future king too! Hahahaha!" He then laughed out boastfully, though none of the thieves around them seem convinced in the slightest. In fact even Ursula and the others sweat dropped at seeing him pushing his luck and patting himself on the back for it.

"In fact if you guys were smart you'll accept our offer," said Ursula with a grin, "Because that princess happens to be body guarded by some really tough dinosaurs too! You need us and you know it." she added at the end.

As the bandits listened in, Dr Z saw they had their attention as he then decided to add in a little more to the deal, "And in exchange for our cooperation, you'll set us free and help us get a certain jewel we're after, called the cosmos stone." he said, "So what do you say interested?"

Zayid then looked to some of his men, and they huddled around to discuss amongst themselves over what they should do. After a few minutes, they looked back to the Alpha gang as their leader folded his arms while shooting a firm look at them, deciding to hear what they had to say and offer, "We're listening…." Hearing that made some of the Alpha gang let out a deep wheeze of relief while Dr Z snickered with a grin.

 **(Later)**

Meanwhile, the D Team continued treading at a slow and steady pace through the desert sand under the war sun and for the time being all calm and good much to their relief. "Genie sure can move." Max complimented the huge sauropod at how impressed he was at the progress they've made, "We should reach your father's palace in no time."

"Yes, he's surprisingly light on his feet." said Zahrah in agreement while also feeling proud of her friend.

"He'll need to be if those bandits come back." Rex then stated with concern.

"Indeed…." Cera thought to herself before looking around and surveying their surroundings, "Though in this sandy landscape and being a huge sauropod that won't be easy." she thought feeling uneasy, because they could be ambushed at anytime in this place, and there was no way they can possibly outrun camels on their own home turf in the desert.

"So Princess Zahrah do you really think your father's prime minister had something to do with your capture?" Rex then asked curiously.

"Oh what was his name again?"

"Rasheed…." Zahrah answered Zoe as she narrowed her eyes, "And all I can think of is that maybe he's plotting something against my father." She thought feeling suspicious of the man's intentions ever since she first laid eyes on him, "We must reach the palace and warn him."

"And hope that cosmos stone's there." said Rex on top of that.

"That makes 2 birds with 1 stone." Cera added seeing they'd still be on track on their own mission too.

"Right! So let's get a move on!" Max called out energetically seeing nothing that could stop them now, lifting up everybody's spirits and getting them all fired up.

Max's enthusiasm didn't last longer than half an hour though, very soon the midday sun soon began to beam down powerful rays of light coupled with immense heat which was punishing to the small and weak, as well as those who were ill equipped for desert life. Zahrah though wasn't one of them, having been used to this kind of environment and climate since the day she was born as she shrugged it off like it was nothing. Feeling confident she found herself able to stand on top of Genie's and and balance herself perfectly as she bathed herself in the sun's rays with the gentle wind blowing on her face, "The warm desert air….oh how it cradles the soul…oh how it lifts the spirits!" she cheered.

If only the rest of the D Team could share in her good perception of things….

"Oh how it burns…." Zoe moaned as she lay down on Genie's back losing the will to continue.

"I feel like a fried egg…." Max moaned feeling just the same as she did.

"I'm so thirsty I'd even settle for drinking my own sweat…." Cera wheezed as she felt tempted to lick herself in order to keep cool. It was a wonder how there were humans who were able to not only survive but even adapt and thrive under such conditions.

"Tell me there's an oasis up ahead…." Max begged as he looked ahead to Rex, "Or even….the mirage of an oasis?" strangely though he got no response from the blond boy who seemed to be staring into space. "Rex? Hello?" As Max looked on Rex remained silent and still stared stiffly ahead without moving a muscle. At first Cera assumed he was out of it due to the heat, but what Rex did next soon confined otherwise.

"Ehehehe….." he giggled blushing red while fantasying about Zahrah kissing him earlier, which was enough to keep his mind off the desert's sun. Good for him though not for his friends as Cera squinted her eyes at him and frowned with disappointment.

"Ugh….the heat must have gotten to him now….." she groaned seeing he was indeed hallucinating in the wrong way, "I'll have to stay strong so it doesn't get me next…." she muttered lowering her head down over Genie's side while trying to face away from the sun's light, even if it meant she'd get sick looking down it was worth it.

"Earth to Rex! Come in!" Max then called out impatiently waving his hand in front of his face, which snapped the blond boy out in time.

"Hmm!?" He widened his eyes in surprise before acting all flustered, "Ah!? Err right! A mirage! Hehe! I get it! Cos we're in the desert!" he smiled nervously before looking away in embarrassment, "Sorry! I spaced out there! Must be the sun!" Rex laughed as he did some stretches to not seem suspicious at all.

Though the others didn't seem to buy it well, "Yeah, it must be, your face is beet red." Max stated rather cluelessly.

"He's overheated but I doubt it's from the sun…." Zoe muttered in dismay at how dense the boys were.

"Tell me about it….." Cera groaned, sighing in defeat and losing hope in them having any sort of common sense….till she wore up at the sounds of incoming stomping, "Huh?"

"The 39 thieves!" Max cried in alarm at the sight at the huge wave of bandits charging at them in full force, putting the others on high alert as they sat up and saw themselves surrounded.

"We're in trouble!" Zahrah gasped as Genie stopped in his tracks uneasily at the sight of so many enemies cornering him out of nowhere!

Cera soon raised an eyebrow in suspicion, finding their actions to be rather unusual. It wouldn't make sense for anyone in their right mind to charge ahead when they can see a full grown dinosaur right in front of them….either they were mad or confident….because they had something planned….either way it meant they wouldn't be getting out of this without a fight and that could spell trouble…

"We have been looking for you princess." Zayid called out in annoyance as he stepped forward from the group, "Why don't you just be a good girl and come with us?" he demanded.

In response, Zahrah petted Genie on the head encouraging him to let her down safely on the desert sand so she can speak to the leader of the thieves face to face, "The only place I'll be going to is to my father's palace so I can tell him about this treachery!" she huffed with confidence that she'll be able to do just that with her new friends backing her up.

"Is that so?" Zayid replied in amusement.

"Yeah! So back off or else!" Rex then yelled out defensively as he stood by Zahrah's side courageously holding his arms out.

Despite his heroic act Zayid remained unfazed, "Or else what?" He then smirked sinisterly, "I'm ready for your monsters this time!" As he finished speaking he signalled to his men as 3 camels soon came up, and sitting on them were a group of familiar people whom the D Team were surprised to see again.

"Look! It's Dr Z, Zander and Ed!" Max gasped at the sight of the alpha gang who appeared to have been taken hostage.

"And the old lady!" Zoe then pointed out as she faced Ursula, who then exploded with anger as per usual after hearing her snarky remark!

"GRRR! How dare you call me an old lady!? I'll jump off this camel and I'll show you!" She yelled out angrily taking her frustrations out on the poor camel, till some of the bandits had to silence her with their sharp blades aimed at her head,

"Quiet!" They yelled in annoyance at her ranting to which. She immediately submitted seeing she had no other choice.

"Y…Yes sir…." She squeaked meekly.

Seeing them in trouble once more Cera couldn't help but facepalm, "Oh great…." She sighed exasperated at the fact they got themselves again into a sticky situation they had to bail them out from for the umpteenth time, if they had dinosaurs they should, use them to escape by now so why didn't they? It was then she gained a suspicious look on her face before narrowing her eyes at the situation, "Why is that crook so confident? Is he planning to use them as blackmail material? Or perhaps when he said he was ready for us he meant-"

Her thoughts were soon cut off as Max yelled out, "You let them go! They're with us! You hear me!?" He threatened.

"With you you say?" Zayid mused before looking to Dr Z, "Is this true?"

Dr Z sighed, "I'm afraid….." Suddenly he sported a smirk and held up his alpha scanner much to everyone's alarm! "It's not true! Alpha slash! You're up Terry!" Slashing the card Terry appeared and before long Zander and Ursula both followed!

"Alpha slash! Do your thing Tank!"

"Alpha slash! Tear them to pieces Spiny!" Appearing on the field were all 3 alpha gang dinosaurs as they surrounded Genie which made him anxious being surrounded by several foes at once as the skies turned colorful!

Cera then gritted her teeth realising what was going on, "I don't believe this…." She hissed seeing they no doubt kissed up to them either to save their own skins or to find the cosmos stone for themselves. She was also starting to regret giving back their scanners and dinosaurs too, as well as bailing them out the other night. When this is over they'll never hear the end of it…..

Max and Zoe quickly jumped down in response to the threat they were faced with, "What are you doing!? Siding with them!?" Max yelled out angrily,

"Yeah! Have you lost it or what!?" Zoe yelled out after him.

"The only thing I'm about to lose is you guys as competition for finding that next cosmos stone." Dr Z muttered uncaringly while stroking his beard.

Before charging forward into battle, Cera jumped off Genie and yelled out holding her hands, "Spiny! Tank! Terry! What do you think you're doing!? Stop now!" She cried. Her unexpected appearance and loud shouting caused the 3 of them to hesitate momentarily. Looking to one another then to the back where their owners were with the other thieves they then looked back to her and roared out in response. Narrowing her eyes hearing their side of the story her expression loosened slightly upon learning the Alpha gang's reasons were in order to keep themselves from getting sliced up earlier along with their dinosaurs, "I….see….." She said as a bead of sweat dropped from her cheek. "I understand…but still we can't let you guys do this…." She then sighed seeing it was a hard choice to make, "So no hard feelings okay?" She then said smiling lightly feeling only slightly bad they had to fight back too, eventhough they were friends the fact remained they were planning to do harm to the princess so no way would they make it easier for them.

Seeing how their dinosaurs were standing still and doing nothing, Dr Z then yelled out impatiently, "What are you 3 doing!? Get in there and take down that isisaurus!" He yelled shaking out his fists. Terry then roared in response as he rushed in while Tank and Spiny both held back in reserve.

Terry first rushed in and he clashed heads with Genie who was struggling slightly despite their size difference, "No! Stop it! You're hurting Genie!" Zahrah cried as she ran in trying to stop the fighting, but Terry stomped his foot which caused her to back away, "AH!" She cried as the impact swirled dust around her!

"Watch out!" Rex cried pulling her back and holding her from getting closer and endangering herself!

Max unable to sit back any longer took out his card, "Dino slash! Triceratops! Roar!" Chomp took to the field and ran out, striking Terry from his side but in response the tyrannosaurus swung out his tail and sent Chomp flying back! "AH!"

"What are we going to do Max!?" Zoe cried to him feeling worried.

"Hahahaha! There is nothing you can do!" Dr Z then laughed in amusement, "Except surrender to Dr Z and his 42 thieves!"

"So what? Now you're a desert bandit!?" Max yelled in retort.

"No! What I am is a dinosaur king on his way to getting his crown!" He answered.

"Alpha slash!" Zander then yelled slashing a move card causing Tank to sprout a crystal sword on her tail! "Quake saber!" Swinging it out the blade slashed against Genie causing him to crash down and bellow in pain!

"No Genie!" Zahrah cried out worried for him.

"Help's on the way!" Rex responded taking action.

"Let's join in too Zoe!" Cera called to her as she nodded.

"Yeah!" The 3 of them then took out their cards and prepared to join the battle.

"Dino slash!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!"

"Micro raptor! Shine!"

Ace then ran in taking Tank by surprise tossing her away! In turn Spiny ran out to back her up only to be blocked by Paris who jumped in his way and Miku hissing out while on top her back!

"Zoe! Let's take care of Spiny!" Cera suggested to her as she nodded back.

"Sure thing!" She said before looking ahead, "Go Paris! Get him!" She cheered punching forward as Paris and Spiny clashed heads with one another, pushing and shoving and neither giving in! Spiny quickly broke away and snapped down on Paris' neck and brought her down, as she bellowed and struggled helplessly, Miku screeched and leapt onto his head catching him off guard!

"Sorry Spiny, but this is for your own good!" Cera cried out with a hint of regret as she yelled out, "Power siphon!" In response Miku glowed brightly as she began to absorb energy out of Spiny causing him to thrash and roar out in annoyance as she stumbled back, swinging and flailing out his arms and tail which began to scatter several of the bandits around him!

"Grrr! Shake that pest off Spiny now!" Ursula ordered shaking her fist out impatiently. As much as he wanted to, Spiny couldn't bring himself to hurt her not just because they were friends but also because he knew anything he tried would end up endangering her severely and he could never look at Cera in the face again. He could only struggled helplessly before losing his balance and crashing onto the desert sand in disorientation!

After that Miku launched herself off his head and glided back onto Cera's shoulder, "Heh, he never saw it coming." She smirked as she and Zoe high fived.

"Yup, now that's what I call girl power!" She cheered holding a pair of thumbs up.

Ursula fumed red with humiliation as she began pulling on the camel's face again, "Grr! I'll show you runts what girl power is!" She growled before pointing out, "Get back in there Spiny! Show them that I'm a real woman!" She ordered as the spinosaurus kicked back up and shook his head clear of sand before rushing ahead!

Miku quickly jumped off Cera's shoulder and landed back on Paris, "Energy equaliser!" Glowing brightly she began transferring energy back into the parasaurolophus and she stood up strongly again and bellowed.

"And now for Flower garden!" Zoe followed slashing the grass move making Paris glow green as she absorb energy out of Spiny making him thrash and roar out painfully as his energy began to sap away! Eventually he lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground returning to a card!

"GRRR! NO! NO! NOOOO! I hate losing to kids!" Ursula screamed loudly in annoyance as she shot out a claw and grabbed Spiny's card back before pulling on the camel's ears, "Its so not fair!"

"Sorry about that Spiny, but you left us no choice…." Cera sighed feeling a bit guilty about what they put him through, at least it was done peacefully and with minimal violence as possible on the bright side.

"Yeah….I kinda almost feel bad for that….Almost…." Zoe added after her.

"Princess! I'll protect you and Genie!" Rex said to Zahrah confidently.

His words were put to the test when a rope suddenly lassoed around Zahrah which surprised them both, "Huh?" A camel soon ran by and she was dragged along for the ride! "WAAH!"

"AH! Princess!" Rex then gasped in alarm! He tried to go after them but Tank got in his way and stopped him from getting any closer!

"I tried asking you nicely…." Zayid smirked smugly as he continued dragging Zahrah across the desert sand!

"AAAH!" She cried out in pain catching the others' attention!

"That snake! We've got to do something and fast!" Cera growled clenching her hands into fists, not only did he pull off a dirty sneak attack, but he was also being needlessly rough to her too.

Seeing none of the others could get there in time, "Chomp! Save the princess!" Max yelled to his partner, spurring Chomp to knock Terry away in time before stomping down hard on the rope, snapping it much to the bandit leader's frustration!

"Blast you!" He cursed.

"Now let's take care of Terry!" Max then said as Terry got back up and approached them, "Gatling spark!" Surging with electricity, Chomp roared and rushed out towards Terry, striking him multiple times with Lightning bolts before thrusting upwards, sending the t-rex flying and then returning ti a card on the desert floor.

"No fair! I…I had sand in my eyes! That shouldn't count!" Dr Z whined in annoyance as he ran up to grab Terry's card with a claw.

"Fall back men! Fall back!" Zayid yelled seeing they were outmatched which forced them to beat a hasty retreat.

"They're splitting…." Cera noted as she observed them regroup and leave.

"Phew, that was close…." Zoe breathed a sigh in relied seeing they were in the clear, though Cera herself narrowed her eyes seeing them begin to vanish in the desert horizon, knowing they hadn't seen the last of them for sure...

Meanwhile Max went down to check on Zahrah to make sure she wasn't injured, "Princess…Are you okay?" He asked with concern after helping to undo the ropes that were on her.

She smiled looking up at him, "Yes Max, thanks to you and Chomp." She said thankfully before pulling in his face and unexpectedLy kissing him on the lips! After that Max remained stunned and stared speechlessly at what just happened as his own brain switched off completely and he lost focus on all his surroundings.

Taking notice of it, Zoe blushed red with jealously before crying out loud in horror that Zahrah got Max now, "GAAAAAAHHH!"

"Uh oh….." Cera gulped as she sweat dropped unsure what to think of it now. "Rex better not find out about this..." She thought knowing the kind of trouble he'd get himself and Max into if this got out.

Fortunately he was still distracted by the battle as he and Ace clashed tails with each other, "Yeah! Let her have it Ace!" He cheered as Ace quickly shoved her away!

"NO! What are you doing Tank!? Fight back!" Ursula yelled out loud in annoyance as she continued taking her anger out on her camel once more,"This smelly old camel is more ferocious than you!"

"Uhh Ursula?" Ed then said to her worried.

"The fight…it's kinda over…." Zander then added which surprised her.

"Huh?" Looking behind she saw the rest of the group had already abandoned them as she exploded in frustration, "Now you tell me!? Try keeping me in the loop!" She grumbled before joining them.

"Later losers!" Ed and Zander then waved out to the D Team as they followed the rest if the bandits over the desert dunes after recalling Tank and the battlefield disappeared.

As they took off and disappeared behind the dunes, Cera looked back and folded an arm on her hip as she narrowed her eyes, "What is up with them today?" She wondered, while Miku went to go heal Genie as she transferred much needed energy over to him which helped him get back up to his feet slowly, "When I find out what it is I'll make sure Helga gives them more than a stern lecturing to." Cera then swore under her breath after she and Zoe returned their partners to card form.

Rex soon recalled Ace and then ran back to check on Zahrah, who was walking up to Genie, "Princess!"

"You were very brave genie…." Said Zahrah kindly to him while petting him as he got back up to his feet having just recuperated from his wounds.

"Princess! Are you okay!?" Rex asked her with concern, before noticing Max was staring blankly into space, "Whoa, maybe I should be asking you Max…" he then commented which snapped him out of his thoughts at last.

"Ah! What! How's that!? Yeah! Actually I'm fine! Couldn't be better!" Max gasped all flustered as he walked away to stretch himself away from Rex.

"Now he's all red, guess the sun got to him too…." Rex then commented oblivious to what had happened behind his back.

"Right! The sun…." pouted Zoe looking away jealously while Cera looked on.

As she began to process everything that had just happened before her eyes, she began to notice how flustered Zoe was about this. She was fine letting Jim kiss her but now she was getting jealous over Max getting one? Maybe she was kinda developing feelings for him in a way she assumed...though that was something she ought not to speak about for the time being...

As for the boys, she hoped they wouldn't get too attached to Zahrah, cos they'd have to say good ye eventually and that would be much sweet sorrow. Also what would that make Zahrah though? Does she kiss anyone who saves her or is it for something special? In any case that would be complicated for any man shed choose as her sultan when she becomes queen no doubt...

"Quickly! We must get moving! We must get to the palace!" She then said getting everyone's attention after getting back on Genie.

Cera then shook her head and narrowed her eyes, "She's right…." She thought remembering the more important task at hand before looking back to her friends, "Everyone, I know the 'heat' is getting to us all, but let's not forget the prize at the end okay?" She then asked which woke Max up.

"Huh? Prize?" He blinked before widening his eyes and snapping his fingers, "Oh yeah! Saving the sultan and the cosmos stone! Right!"

"And you can be assured that you'll be safe the whole way!" Said Rex butting in and putting a hand to his chest on confidence.

Zahrah then smiled feeling secured to have their support, oblivious go the feelings they were developing for her, Thank you…you're all so very brave…." She said thankfully which made them both blush red and smile weirdly.

"It's nothing hehe…." They both laughed all infatuated with her much to Zoe's jealousy and Cera's dismay.

"Hmph!" Zoe then huffed and pouted blushing red with jealousy, which the boys were completely oblivious to as they climbed back up onto Genie's back thanks to him lifting them up with his tail before moving onto Cera and Zoe next. Cera meanwhile hung back thinking it'd be best ti stay out of the firing line fir the time being, knowing how complicated love triangles were thanks to dramas and soap operas she'd seen...who knows how dangerous this one could get.

As they resumed their trek across the desert sand they were unaware that they were being watched by Foolscap who was going to wait for an opportunity for them to let their guard down before moving in.

Not long after that, the sun had begun to set leaving a tint of orange in the sky which the D Team and Zahrah soon noticed as dark blue clouds of the night were beginning to come in as well, "It's already sunset…." said Cera as she looked up, "I'm surprised at how dark it's gotten already," as a breeze suddenly blew upon them, she and the others began to shiver as the cold came in, "Not to mention how cold it is too…." she shuddered hugging herself in an attempt to preserve body heat!

"I can't believe I'm actually starting to miss the sun and heat from today…." Zoe chattered through her teeth along with the boys as they hugged themselves or were forced to huddle close too.

Zahrah narrowed her eyes as she and Genie surveyed their surroundings, "It's no good, we'll never see where we're going at this rate." she said sounding disappointed, "We'll have to continue when morning comes." she suggested.

"Guess we'll have to make camp somewhere then." Max muttered in agreement seeing they'd need to seek shelter too, not just from the cold but also for cover in case the thieves would come after them again while they were all exposed in the wilderness.

"I'll take a look!" said Rex suddenly as he shoved past Max much to his surprise!

"H…Hey! Watch it!" he grunted in annoyance as he was forced back.

Squinting his eyes and putting a hand over them, he carefully scanned the horizon before noticing what appeared to be a grove of trees further in the distance! "AH! Over there! It looks like an oasis!" he cried pointing ahead alerting Zahrah and the D Team!

"Huh?"

"Hey let me see!" said Zoe as she put on her goggles and zoomed in on Rex pointed. As she did, she could see he was indeed seeing a genuine oasis, since it wasn't hot or bright anymore it couldn't be a mirage! "Hey you're right! I see some trees growing there too so there has to be water!" she gasped as Cera and Max smiled with relief that they now were blessed with welcome relief.

"Wow Rex, you certainly have very sharp eyes." Zahrah praised in amazement as she clapped her hands together.

A gesture which made Rex fold his arms on his hips and hold his head up high, "Hehehe, I'm great at many things Zahrah! Not only can I keep an eye out for danger I'll be sure to protect you from it too!" he spoke out boastfully. Cera had to admit this was rather out of character for him considering he was usually polite and humble, to be letting his ego get to his head was a first for her….

The rest of Rex's friends didn't seem to take it too well either as Zoe huffed and looked away jealously, "Hmph…."

While Max scoffed and folded his arms eying Rex with a glare, "Show off…." he muttered as they soon reached the oasis.

Heading through the glade, Genie lowered himself down on the ground and allowed the gang to get off him and not the war desert sand as they surveyed their surroundings, and they all smiled pleased with it, "This place looks like a good spot to camp here for the night." said Rex to himself, feeling proud for finding it for them in the nick of time.

"Yeah, it's well sheltered and there's plenty of water too." Zoe nodded seeing there was a small pool of water for their dinosaurs and them to drink after their long trek through the desert earlier in the day. A sudden breeze with cold night air made them their smiles melt away as they began to shiver uncomfortably again, "Now if only we can stay warm till morning….."

"Good thing I made sure to pack some blankets for this sort of situation," said Cera as she began taking out some old drapes she packed in her backpack before passing them around to her friends who wrapped them around their bodies quickly. Though even with them on it didn't seem to help as much as they hoped.

"Brr, even with these on it's still kinda chilly…." shivered Rex as even Zahrah hugged herself, she was more used to having the castle walls shield her form the cold at night, though that wasn't a luxury she had at the moment.

"Then I'll just whip us up a campfire then." Max grinned as he came in with some sticks which he then threw down on the ground.

Zahrah blinked her eyes in surprise, "Really? You can make a fire Max?" she asked feeling both interested and amazed considering this was the first she heard of it, for she was used to seeing fire started by oil in the palace.

He smirked with confidence seeing this was his moment to impress her, "Heh, a little wilderness survival trick I picked up from my dad." he said pointing to himself with his thumb before grabbing hold of a pair of stones nearby, "All you need are just some wood and a couple of stones." He then began smacking them together, scraping them across one another, "Clap them together…." a set of sparks soon came out from the rocks which landed on the dried wood he gathered. Before long a fire soon started much to Zarah's amazement, "And voila! There you go, fire!" he said showing it off as Rex and Zoe quickly huddled around it for warmth and relief from the night's cold.

"Wow Max, to be able to start a fire with simple rocks and twigs….I'm most impressed." clap hands

"Hehe well I'm not one to brag but I do have my moments." Max grinned and blushed red cheekily scratching the back of his head much to Zoe and Rex's annoyance.

"Yeah right…." Zoe huffed looking away with envy.

"Hmph…" Rex pouted seeing Max was hogging the princess' attention and was making him look bad too.

Not wanting to be involved in this love triangle of complicated situations, Cera decided to step out for a bit seeing she needed a little time to herself so she could think. As she did the others looked up to her curiously as she walked away from them, "Huh? Where are you going Cera?" asked Max blinking his eyes.

Looking back to them, "I'm going to…scout the perimeter for a bit and keep watch." she answered firmly, "Make sure we're safe and that we aren't followed. Can't take any chances out here in the wilderness with bandits out and about where they can just attack us out of nowhere right?"

Blinking their eyes in surprise her friends soon nodded with approval at her suggestion, "Good call there." said Max.

"Yeah I wouldn't want to have my sweet dreams interrupted by thugs." shuddered Zoe at the thought.

"Nor would we want to wake up and find ourselves tied up and at their mercy first thing in the morning." Rex added with concern in his voice.

"Be careful." Zahrah said with concern to Cera to which she nodded in response.

"I will princess." she said as she headed off through the grove, just as Genie got up and walked over to some nearby trees to eat while Max and Zahrah followed closely behind to observe. On the outskirts of the oasis right past the grove of trees, Cera was able to let out a deep breath of air, taking in the fresh surrounding atmosphere and being able to hear herself think once more, "Finally, some peace and quiet….I don't know how much more of all that lovey dovey rom com talk I could take…." she sighed deeply, seeing the excuse to patrol their surroundings perfect so she could get some time away from the others to keep to herself a bit, so she could reflect on the day's events. Truly a lot had transpired, not only were they down to finding only 3 stones but now the Alpha gang had teamed up with the 39 thieves, so who knew how much more complicated their mission in this era could get now. If only she had kept a tighter leash on them….

She had pondered so much over the many obstacles thrown at them the whole way, she began to wonder whether if everything would really work itself out if they did manage to secure a stone, also would they be able to save their parents and the universe at the same time? The thought of it all was far too overwhelming, till she was able to look up at the sky….as a spell soon came over her….with a sea of stars glittering across the dark night sky. She couldn't explain how or why, but the sensation peace and harmony seems to filled the desert atmosphere which made her feel completely at peace and that perhaps there is indeed hope for them in the end. "Wow….the stars really are beautiful tonight…..it's all so…tranquil…." Unfortunately as with all their other past experiences on this time travel adventure, their moment of peace and relief would soon pass as several cries for help echoed across the desert sands.

"Hey! Get your hands off me!"

"Let me go!"

"Hmm? What's that?"

"Help! Someone! Anyone!?"

Cera's heart skipped a beat and she widened her eyes recognising them instantly, "Those voices….they couldn't be…." she shook her head to make sure she wasn't hallucinating herself, but soon hardened her expression realising she had indeed heard right. Though how it was possible…. "I'd better go see….." she said suspiciously as she headed off in the direction they came from.

As she came to a nearby clearing in the desert beside some large rocks, she widened her eyes at the sources of the voices, standing before her were the 6 parents they travelled far and wide across the boundaries of time and space to find, "AH! The Taylors, Drakes and Ancients!" she gasped in shock and amazement that not 1 but ALL of them were able to make it off the Space pirate's ship! This was an opportunity she couldn't let slip by! Her optimism was short lived as she ran in for a closer look, only to stop and see they were being taken hostage by several slime robot monsters, all of which carried the pirate symbol on their faces!

"They're surrounded…." she said weakly as she eyed the robots restrain them against their will, as they jerked and tugged but to no avail, "Those creatures…." A flashback came to mind as she recalled those robots along with the enemy dinosaurs were responsible for destroying several cities and attacking innocent people too….from a vision or perhaps….an old memory? Whatever the reason was she knew they were bad news and that they were no doubt planning to make their escape efforts worthless if she let them do as they pleased, "There's too many of them…." she noted looking around to see there were so many of them surrounding the 6 parents on all sides, eliminating all hope of escape they had. She clicked her tongue, not about to let them get away with it on her watch, "Tch! I have to tell Max and the others!" she was about to reach for her dinoshot and make contact with them, when suddenly-

"Well well what do we have here?" another sinister and familiar voice soon laughed out loud catching her attention!

"AH!" Realising she was exposed she ran to hide behind some rocks nearby making sure we was out of sight from all sides. Keeping a low profile and looking up, she saw a shadow fly over her head and appear above the captive parents as they looked up at him with spite. His figure soon was illuminated by the light off the stars in the sky, which made Cera grit her teeth and clench her fist with hate, "Foolscap…." she hissed as he hovered over the parents and looked down on them smugly with folded arms.

"I was about to get my hands on the cosmos stone your kids swiped but then I got word from the boss that you 6 somehow managing to break out of our ship." he grinned, "Looks like we're going to have to fix that." snapping his fingers a portion of the gel jarks began to lead them away somewhere, "This time when we put you away we'll make sure to lock you up and throw away the key! Hahaha!" he laughed out loud boastfully as some of the parents like the Drakes and Aki, fell into despair and lowered their heads in defeat.

While others like Spike and the Ancients glared angrily at hm, trying in vain to get at him while he remained out of their reach and being restrained by the Gel Jarks! "Why you…."

"You won't get away with this!"

Foolscap however shrugged off their comments as he looked to the remaining group of gel jarks, "Meantime, rest of you are with me." he said as he began to fly away, leading them in another direction, "We've got a cosmos stone to find and I know just the kids who have it!" he said as they followed behind him towards their intended target!

"Grr…." The parents could only look on helplessly as he took off with a squadron of gel jarks heading for where Max and the others were resting!

"You leave them alone!"

"Wait till I get my hands on you!" Spike and Dr Ancient yelled out as they struggled and tugged at the jarks holding them against their will!

Cera clicked her tongue as the space pirate passed over her hiding spot with his troops passing by, "Tch! He's going after the others!" she clicked her tongue in frustration, while also relieved she was able to slip by unnoticed. "I can't let him hurt them while they're still sleeping…." She thought seriously clenching her fist tightly, her instincts were telling her to save her friends and warn them, however her consciousness said otherwise, "But…." Looking ahead to see the D Team's parents being lead away a purple teleportation beam soon enveloped them as they were being taken up to the space pirate mothership high in space! Widening her eyes and seeing them taken before her eyes, she made a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret, shouted out at the top off her lungs, "Grrargh!" rushing forward towards the light, jumping inside it just before it vanished!

 **Things take a twist as Cera infiltrates the pirate ship in the hopes of rescuing the adults! Stay tuned and find out how she goes! Also wanted Spiny, Miku and Paris to be involved in the fight here too. Also when Helga mentioned making sure the Alpha gang took care of Dr Z it involved her giving them the warning about their strudel privileges.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Anonymous**

 **-As what was shown here, Cera won't see it happen since she'll be on her own mission, so it can be assumed what happens on the D Team's end will be the same as in canon.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Since the D Team were on edge before the start of Persia wanted to explore on it, Cera is just doing what she can for the team with a level head. Yeah on the part with Genie, let's just hope Genie was the only card that got found and activated in Persia while most got dug up later in Present age and then activated.**


	41. A necessary sacrifice

Chapter 41

A necessary sacrifice

"Urgh….my head hurts…." Cera groaned as a throbbing ache rumbled through her mind. As she slowly opened her eyes she could feel the entire world was spinning before her as she struggled to get back to her feet. As she pressed hard on the ground to push herself up again, she soon felt the ground itself was stone hard unusually and it felt rather cold when her hands were on them just now as her feeling and senses came back to her, "Huh? This isn't the desert sand…..it's a hard floor…." she then mused pressing on it with her feet, also seeing it was solid metal too. Looking around and surveying her surroundings she saw herself in a room with glowing contraptions sticking around the walls and circuitry being embedded around the ceiling and walls as energy and data coursed through them inside.

"Where….am I?" Wherever she was she could tell they didn't have anything like this in Ancient Persia, let alone Earth. As she looked ahead of her next, she froze stiff and her heart skipped a beat upon locking eyes with a familiar mark on one of the walls in font of her, a purple hexagon with black markings on it which she saw on every dinosaur that the space pirates used against her and her friends! "Oh no….that symbol….." Taking a step back she soon began to realise there could only be one possible place this could be, "If that's here then that means….wait-" Blinking her eyes she recalled seeing the D Team's parents being taken in by a group of Gel Jarks and she acting on instinct and impulse ran after them before the beam took them in!

Returning to the present, she noticed a nearby window which she trolled towards. Looking down from it she turned pale seeing she was inside some sort of flying vessel suspended several thousand miles above the surface of Planet Earth itself! "AH! I'm in space!" she cried as she stumbled back and fell down in shock, unable to take this sight in! Around the blue planet was deep black space and many stars swirling across the galaxy, as much as anyone wants dot go into space she never meant it to be like this! Though since she was in a ship with the mark of her enemies plastered on the wall, "Then that means…..I'm on the space pirates mothership!?" She then cried in alarm. Looking around she saw no sign of the D Team's parents or any guard around, meaning fortunately or unfortunately she was teleported to a different location from them. That meant she'd be safe from the guards but at the same time she was now lost herself!

Acting quickly she took out her dinoshot and began to dial into her communicator in an attempt to call for help, "Jonathan! Come in this is Cera! Can you read me?" she called but sadly got no response but static much to her disappointment, "Jammed….so much for calling for backup….guess I'm on my own here…." she grunted in annoyance before looking around to see herself in the enemy's lair, danger pretty much lurking around at every corner and with no way of knowing where she was going she could very well end up a prisoner just like the D Team's parents were! She was about to curse her own dumb luck and for making such a stupid decision on such short notice before taking in a few gasps of air and calming herself down, "Okay…take a deep breath and clam down Cera….you got yourself on board there's no reason you can't get yourself off again." She told herself, seeing now it was too late to go back on her choice. On the other hand, when life gives one lemons the best course of action would be to make lemonade.

"Maybe I can use this to my advantage somehow…." she then thought to herself pursing her lips, seeing she could maybe work this to her advantage, "If I can find some kind of computer or terminal to hack into maybe I can find out where everyone or even the cosmos stones are being kept, and if not, maybe even get some top secret info that could help us out and shed some light on what's going on here." She then thought seeing the options she had available to her, before looking up and around her to see no such device in the room she was in. Not wanting to take her chances going through the ship blind, she then took out her dinosaur card, "Dino slash!" After that Miku the microraptor appeared in full sized form and perched herself on her shoulder.

Opening her eyes and laying them on the Spectral pirate logo on the wall, Miku's eyes turned slit and she hissed rather viciously in agitation, sensing very bad vibes emanating all around her making her go crazy as he ruffled her feathers and began to snarl and bear her teeth! "Easy Miku," said Cera scratching her chin gently which made her coo contently and ease up, "I know you want to get off this place as much as I do." she said before turning serious, "But right now, since we're here we can maybe get the D Team's parents out and take back the other cosmos stones while we're at it too." She said as Miku calmed down understandably. Looking up and around for any sort of exit which didn't involve going through the doors and getting spotted, she smiled upon catching sight of an open air vent up above, just the right size for her dinosaur to go through.

"I'm gong to need your help to go in through those ducts and find us some kind of computer terminal to hack into, okay?" she asked looking to her partner in the eye. Miku looked up and hesitated slightly, feeling anxious about leaving Cera alone while also at the same time having to go deeper into enemy territory on her own. While it was a risky gamble their options were limited and this was their best course of action to take whether they liked it or not. In the end she took a breath and chirped back at Cera with a firm nod which made her smile with relief that she was on board with it. "Thanks, good luck out there and be careful." She then said as she threw her arm up, allowing Miku to get the lift she needed to flap hard enough and then grab onto the edge of the vents before climbing through them, leaving Cera to await her return. "I'm counting on you….as much as the others are counting on me….." said Cera as the end of Miku's feathered tail disappeared inside, praying for her safe return and fast, looking around she gulped and began to sweat nervously feeling the pressure and sense of danger making her skin crawl and weigh her down like an immense weight.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Inside the air vents, Miku grew increasingly agitated at being cramped up in such tight spaces and the fact it was still rather dark and difficult for her to make out her surroundings or what was ahead of her, on top of the fact she was in the enemy's lair it was driving her crazy inside as she restlessly navigated the nooks and crannies of the ducts hoping to find an exit or any source of light she could find. Her feathers ruffled up and her eyes went all slit as she hissed and gnashed her shape teeth together, as if something in her own dna was acting out against the environment itself and she wanted nothing to do with it more than she needed. She couldn't explain why but she knew that if she gave into her primal instincts she'd lose sight of their mission, as she did her best to suppress them despite how difficult it was, pressing on as she sniffed the air hoping to catch a whiff of something that could be an exit or opening for her.

Fortunately her perseverance paid off as a light soon began to shone at one corner which helped provide her some relief as she scurried over towards it. As she got to where it was though, she then frowned slightly in disappointment to see that it was a small opening in the vents which was blocked off by bars which prevented her from being able to squeeze through much to her disappointment. Looking down though, she then gulped nervously upon hearing some angry growls and noticing where they were coming from. Beneath her were 3 large containers used for holding dinosaurs in a rather sinister looking lab filled with advanced equipment from pieces of spectral armour laid out on a table as well as a tube used for growing the crystals which made the armour. Inside the containers were 3 dinosaurs, a black triceratops with orange spots, a brown stegosaurus with white stripes and yellow plates, and finally a white tyrannosaurus with deep orange spots around its body. All of them roared out viciously upon being contained in such tight spaces and were cursing their fates of captivity while waiting for their chance to be free so they could unleash their pent up rage. The sight of it all was enough to put off Miku as she looked away and crawled on further down the vents hoping to find an opening she could use as well as that being the last she'd see dinosaurs about to be experimented on again…..something she wished to never lay eyes upon since Seth….

Speaking of which, had she stayed longer she would have noticed the lab doors open and a familiar man in spiked blue hair wearing red face paint, now in a white-and-black cloak over a blue jacket with white sleeves and trim. A red belt also held his jacket closed and underneath it were white pants and navy blue boots. Accompanying him was a gel jark, one he had grown rather attached to and had grown increasingly loyal to him since being assigned under his command by Specter and now it devoted its entire life and being to pleasing the former Alpha scientist. As he entered the 3 dinosaurs stopped their restless thrashing at the containers and looked down at the man who was gazing upon a tablet which depicted various clips of the space pirates' dinosaurs being defeated by the D Team and Alpha gang time and time again, the results he was seeing made a disappointed frown appear on his face as he recognised the dinosaurs and no doubt whom they belonged to.

"I never expected those children to have made it this far nor give us this much trouble…..their interference is really starting to becoming a nuisance." he muttered in displeasure seeing how much stronger they had become and how well they were overcoming the spectral armour with their new ultimate moves. Ruining his plans for a new race of dinosaurs was one thing, but for them to come after him across space and time is another matter altogether. Then again it was to be expected since their parents were abducted, he had to give them credit and admire their tenacity, but too bad it would all be for naught for their feeble attempts to delay the inevitable won't stop him from achieving his destiny as a sinister smirk appeared on his face.

Seeing how powerful their ultimate moves were, perhaps it was time he upped his game and tip the balance of power back in his favour, "Once my next experiment is complete and this new spectral armour is perfected, their meddling shall soon be a thing of the past." he said switching to another screen which depicted 3 new armour designs he had recently designed that would prove to be more than capable of handling all 6 of the D Team and Alpha gang dinosaurs. "Of course this new design exerts a power no normal dinosaur can contain or control." He then said to himself before closing his eyes and smirking to himself with delight, "Then again, I've never considered normal an acceptable quality, after all I seek perfection." He then said looking up at the 3 dinosaurs in the containers that were still eying him closely wondering what he was going to do, though they'd soon wish they didn't know. "Now, to begin your next stage of evolution." He then said pressing a button and pushing on a lever, causing waves of energy to shoot out at the top of the containers, infusing all 3 dinosaurs with power as they thrashed about and roared furiously, their primal instincts kicking into overdrive as energy coursed through their veins while their angered cries echoing through the lab like a dreaded nightmare awakening.…

 **(Meanwhile)**

As Miku continued traversing through the dark vents, still desperately looking for a sign of light or an opening to use but to no avail, she was on the verge of losing her patience and then going crazy with agitation, when a voice up ahead soon caught her ears. "Hey! Get your slimy slug hands off me!" A male voice shouted at one end, one which she recognised almost instantly. Despite being in such a dark tight space she was able to determine where it was coming from despite the many echoes inside. Crawling towards it, she found another opening which reached out into a rather empty tunnel hallway in the ship and she widened her eyes to see a large number of Gel Jarks travelling down it!

With them, 4 of the D Team's parents, being the Drakes and Taylors, who were lead away back to the house while being restrained by the gel monsters, with looks of disgust or sadness on their faces for being caught again, "Ugh I'm going to need a shower after this…." Dr Drake cried uncomfortably as the slimy hands of the jarks gripped and wrapped around his body to prevent him from struggling or resisting.

"We were so close….." Aki sight deadly as she put up no resistance, having been greatly discouraged after coming so close.

"Oh Zoe….please stay safe….." Mrs Drake prayed clasping her hands over her chest as they were lead to the other end of the tunnel and the door shut behind, though it had not gone unnoticed by Miku.

Narrowing her eyes and hissing viciously at the sight of the vile slime monsters treating the D Team's parents so harshly, Miku wasted no time backtracking through the vents scurrying back to Cera, intending to inform her about what she discovered so they could mount a rescue mission to save their friends and hopefully take down the Space Pirates and their base while they're at it.

Back at the other room, Cera was pacing about restlessly back and forth before looking up at the vents where she had tossed her partner to. Much time had passed since then and she was growing increasingly worried after getting no response from her, fearing she may have gotten lost in the vents or worse trapped or caught which would leave her at even more of a disadvantage than she was now, also making her lose hope of rescuing the D Team's parents, let alone escape from the enemy ship. Lowering her head down she began to purse over her lips and sweat with anxiety, "What's taking her? I sure hope she's okay…." she asked herself as she became close to biting her own nails as the pressure slowly got to her.

Luckily for her, a chirping noise echoed from the vents making her look up, "Ah!" she gasped then smiled with delight to see the micro raptor's head pop out from the opening of the vent, "You're back, thank goodness…." she said putting a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart while letting out a deep sigh of relief she held in. After that Miku spread out her arms and launched herself from the vent before gliding down gracefully onto Cera's shoulder once again, giving her partner human peace and security ti have her back by her side, "Did you find a computer we can use Miku?" Cera then asked but to her surprise, Miku quickly responded with urgent squawking and chirping which put Cera off seeing how flustered and agitated she sounded, which was rather unsettling based on her panicked tone.

Though after listening to her long enough she widened her eyes upon learning what she discovered, "What!? You found where they're held!?" she exclaimed as Miku nodded back. After that Cera narrowed her eyes, forget gathering data, rescuing the adults was top priority as she eyed her partner seriously, "Show me." In response Miku nodded and pointed out with her feathered arms to one of the doors ahead, having marked out most of the ship's pathways using the vents she crawled through she pointed ahead with her head like a compass' arrow as Cera followed through the door which opened and closed as she entered through.

Passing by several rooms which depicted advanced technology unlike any she had ever seen nor did she know what it was used for, she also kept her guard up to make sure they weren't followed and also keeping her eyes peeled for any guards or signs of the parents. She also passed by a landing dock containing several red time pods like the ones the pirates used constantly, as well as a launch bay for the pods to both enter and leave when necessary, something she made note of as they left it.

Entering another room she was surprised to see a number of large tubes filled with purplish liquid and energy surging into them, along with the shape of what appeared to be glowing cards inside them. The whole feel of the room gave a very eerie vibe which made both Cera and Miku tense up. Eying one of the cards closely and making out the silhouette of blazing spin attack on one of them, Cera narrowed her eyes realising what it was, "This must be where they produce all their move cards…." she breathed looking around to see there were 6 tubes, one for each move element stationed around them, followed by some large cage like pens in the background close to where the next door was.

Looking down she noticed a few consoles at the move capsules, which she noticed could be used to access the ship's mainframe, "Maybe I can access their terminals here." she thought to herself curiously as she began to type on it while Miku hopped off her shoulder to explore the room a bit, sensing a strange vibe coming from the pens at the door. As Cera looked on screen to see various lines of code light up she narrowed her eyes hard at what she was met with. "Hmm the security here is pretty tight, not even Zeta Point could compare to this….." She noted seeing there was no way she could decode it all in the limited time she had, and even if she did have enough it would take too much away when her main priority was to get the adults off this flying prison. "It'll take too long to break in here, I'll just have to plant a receiver and hack it remotely." She said to herself as she began establishing a link to the codes and her dinoshot like how she did at Zeta Point one time, and she soon smiled upon finishing it. "There that should do it."

She smiled pleased with herself but then turned upon hearing the sounds of agitated squawking coming from her partner as she turned towards her curiously. "What is it Miku?" Looking in the direction her microraptor was facing, which was towards a couple of the enclosed pens which appeared to hold dinosaurs for some odd reason. Curious, she decided to take a closer look through the viewing glass on one of them, but upon doing so her heart skipped a beat and she widened her eyes in shock to see a trio of pink velociraptors all cramped up inside the pen, with so little room they bare;y and any room to turn around or even move! Upon sight of her peering inside, one of them jumped up and snatched agitatedly at her which made her back away in shock, "Ah!" she gasped nearly falling down as Miku went to her face and licked her comfortingly. "Thanks Miku…." she said taking a breather in relief before looking ahead sadly to hear the velociraptors inside the holding pen thrashing and scratching at the walls inside but to no avail, their angered and sad cries echoing inside.

It was a sad sight, not wanting to bear with it any long Cera decided to look to the next one, hoping for something better, but instead she saw a purple cryolophosaurus curled up on the floor of the tube looking rather miserable and even malnourished. Following onto the next were a trio of pink tapejaras and the last holding 3 pteranodons, being red, yellow and light blue. It was then she began to realise this was how they held the dinosaurs they used for move cards, and seeing them as no more than moves it was clear they didn't get as much care as full sized dinosaurs did seeing how weak and depressed they were behaving, being forced to live in such decrepit conditions before being needed to be used by their captors and forced into battle too.

"Oh you poor things….." she sighed with compassion, feeling a spear struck her heart before hardening her expression bitterly with spite, "How dare they treat dinosaurs like mere weapons and objects….." she cursed the pirates under her breath before looking ahead at all of the pens, "Come on, let's get you out of there." she said determined to rescue them all first, also it wouldn't hurt to have backup while they had it too. Walking up to the velociraptor pen first and seeing a big red button on the panel, she assumed it to be the release button. Pressing it, it caused a bright light to shoes around the whole inside of the holding pen, which made the velociraptors shriek before they returned to the form of a move card and the pen opened up. Reaching in to pick it up, Cera did the same to the remaining assist move dinosaurs before gathering them all in her hand and eying them with compassion, "You no longer need to suffer anymore, so rest easy all of you." she whispered into the cards kindly before putting them in her pocket.

After that was taken care of, Miku petted her on her shoulder with her arm to get her attention before pointing ahead, "So that way Miku?" Cera asked as the microraptor chirped back in response. "Okay, you lead then." She then said following the dinosaur's lead through the door which then lead into the tunnel where the adults were taken through earlier. As the doors opened she came upon a massive room with what appeared to be a giant glass dome located in the center of it, encasing over a large hollow space down below which resembled a crater in a way. Piquing her interest she hurried up towards it and looked through, and once she did she widened her eyes in shock and disbelief to see a familiar house located down below!

"That's Max's house!" She exclaimed stepping back slightly in surprise. Eying it closer she then smiled seeing she had finally found where they were being held now the next step was to get down to where they were. Looking ahead behind the house she saw a kind of stairway which lead to where it was and saw it was on the other side of the dome, "Looks like I can get down from there…." she noted seeing she would need to make a long run around it to get to them. At first it seemed all too easy, but when a pair of Gel jarks left the house, she soon widened her eyes "AH!" Looking closer and leaning in, she turned pale upon seeing there was like an infestation of gel jarks surrounding the house on nearly every corner! Nearly covering the floor in a sea of pink and grey as they beeped to one another while surveying their surroundings closely, monitoring for any signs of movement around or in the house. It was no wonder why she didn't see many guards on her way here. The space pirates no doubt stationed them here to prevent any more future escape attempts like before….smart for them but really bad for her.

"So many of them….." she mused seeing that getting to the house and getting the others out of it would be really difficult, one even a veteran commando would have trouble with. Looking all around and seeing guards on nearly every side and corner of the room she hardened her gaze and sweated anxiously seeing almost no openings or blind spots to use, "It'd impossible to sneak past them, we'll have to draw them away and get past them somehow." she said coming to the only logical conclusion. As she began to ponder over how, she felt the move cards she gathered press against her leg side her pants. Reaching in to take them out, she then smiled seeing she had just the answer, "And I think I might know just how." Eying the move cards in her hand, she soon gained a rather sinister smirk on her face knowing exactly what she was going to do, "Well guys, time for some well deserved payback hehe…." she snickered as she prepared to slash them and give the Gel Jarks a surprise they'd never forget!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Inside the house living room, Spike was stomping hard in frustration on the floor where their escape hole was once, only to find it was now completely sealed up with metal plating which the gel jarks bolted over after discovering it No matter how much he tried he couldn't even put a single scratch on the floor seal, and soon after a while he sweated with exhaustion and rested his arms on his knees conceding defeat most reluctantly, "Looks like there's no going back down there again…." he huffed in exhaustion as the others looked on discouraged.

"Days of hard work digging underneath the house all wiped out in a few hours….." Dr Drake sighed as he shook his head sadly in condolence.

"Now what do we do?" His wife then asked with concern as she looked to her friends hoping for ideas.

"A good question, after what happened just now it's likely they'll never take their eyes off us again." Aki sighed as she put a hand to her chest which was beginning to ache with grief and worry, "What if we never see our babies again?" Feeling overcome with emotion she began to sniffle and tears began to form in her eyes.

Spike then moved in to comfort her with a close embrace, "Easy Aki, don't think like that." he said patting her on the back gently to calm her worries and then wiping away a dripping tear from her cheek. She then looked up with teary eyes to see her husband's warm smile and confidence in his eyes, "We'll get out of this I promise, or better yet Max and the others will save us. I just know they will, everything's going to be alright." he said to her with faith and assurance in his voice as she nodded and wiped the tears away with her finger.

"Oh Spike….." she said calmly with a light smile, as a feeling of peace washed away her worries before hugging her husband closely and he returned it with a hug too while the Drakes looked on happy for them as they nuzzled closer to one another. Spike was proud of himself for being able to make his wife feel more secure, but his expression turned serious soon after, as much as he wanted to keep their hopes alive realistically how could they possibly escape now? After their last attempt and now being watched on all sides 24/7 it would take a miracle now….

CRASH!

THUMP!

Some sudden sounds outside the house suddenly caught the ears of the parents as they perked up in surprise.

"Huh!?" They widened their eyes at the loud smashing and thuds outside the house which were soon followed by the fierce cries of dinosaurs!

ROAR!

SHRIEK!

"What was that?" Aki asked nervously as Spike held her back with his arm to keep her from stepping outside the house or looking out the windows, for safety reasons.

"I'll go take a look." said Dr Drake volunteering to take a look outside the window to see what was going on. Lifting the curtain covering it, he widened his eyes and gasped in surprise at what he saw, "Whoa! It's a complete pandemonium out there!" he exclaimed catching the attention and interest of the other parents.

"Say what?"

"Hmm?" Mrs Taylor and Drake mused curiously.

"Let us see too!" Spike cried with interest as he ran ahead towards the window and pulled back the curtains. What they saw came as a complete surprise to them all.

"Oh my!"

"AH!?"

Outside the gel jarks were being scattered about in a panic by several dinosaurs! The velociraptor packs were lunging and pouncing on several of them who flailed their arms in a panic before getting knocked down, a light blue and pink cryolophosaurus were ramming through several of them or sweeping them up with their tails! A flock of tapejaras from above swooped down, both blue and pink and pecked away at other jarks before driving them into each other as they collided into a big slimy mess and a large brown one swooped down and swept several others off their feet! A segnosaurus flailing its claws cleaved a couple of them to pieces and some stegoceras began bashing another on the backside till it was sent flying on top of its comrades!

"What's….going on here?" asked Aki clasping her hands over her chest feeling worried. As fun as it was to see the Gel Jarks running around in a panic like before, she worried about what might happen if those wild dinosaurs were to break into their home and make lunch out of them next! Noticing it, Spike got his lasso ready in the event those dinos wanted to make a meal of them next they'd have to go through him first, while Dr Drake readied his huge needle with a cartridge loaded with heavy duty tranquilliser in case.

Mrs Drake however was more curious about something else though, "How did those dinosaurs get inside this room all of a sudden?" she asked scratching her cheek curiously, puzzling the other parents who didn't realise the front door of the house opened and a young girl stepped inside with a bright smile.

"Because I brought them in." she said which made them all turn around to see the person speaking.

"Huh?" When they did, they were taken aback by surprise, so much that Dr Drake dropped the needle he was carrying.

Overwhelmed by emotion and rendered nearly speechless, "C….Cera!?"

"Is that you!?" Aki and Spike choked painfully forcing out their words, laying eyes with one of the children they hadn't seen for many moons they prayed that the red haired girl who stood before them wasn't an illusion.

Cera soon answered their prayers and chased away any doubts they had with her own words, "Heh, who else would I be?" she smiled cheekily with a grin before looking at them all, relieved to see none of them were without injury thankfully, "It's great to see you're all doing alright."

They all soon brightened up with hope and joy seeing their prayers were answered with an even greater miracle they could ever hope for, "Oh Cera!"

"You're here to save us!" They cheered or clapped.

One of them however went a little too far though as he felt overcome by his emotions, "Ahahaha! It's a miracle!" Spike cried dramatically as he opened his arms out wide and quickly enveloped Cera in a very affectionate hug, giving her all his appreciation and joy in the form of a vice grip around her waste which ade her shoe and slowly turn blue!

"Ack! Not so….tight please!" she croaked feeling the life and breath being squeezed out of her body and soon her soul would too!

Fortunately Dr Taylor realised his mistake and over affectionate actions in time before suddenly releasing her in time, "Oh sorry about that!" he sweat dropped nervously before twiddling his fingers before his cross wife who was mad at him for nearly killing their saviour! "It's just, it's been so long since we last saw you and we were worried about how you were doing." he pouted shamefully, "To see you come for us….is like a breath of fresh air."

"Air…." Cera wheezed as she gulped in as much as she could and telling herself to never take it for granted again. After that she straightened out her own clothes and looked to the 4 parents present with a warm smile and firm nod, "Of course, I'd come for you, you mean the world to my friends in the D Team." she said to them before smiling more hopefully, "I'll tell you this, they're fighting hard non stop with all they've got and doing everything they can to not only save you all but also to stop those space pirates from getting their hands on the cosmos stones." she added which further pleased the adults and relieved them to hear the good news.

"Hahaha, that sure sounds just like them!" Dr Drake laughed and nodded feeling glad that despite their absence their children were still as strong as ever.

"That's a relief that they're doing fine." Aki breathed in relief seeing they were growing up and were so brave to face all sorts of dangers chasing after them since. Perhaps she could now trust them to look after themselves next time she or Spike left them alone.

"Yes, if only we could tell them just how proud we are of them." Spike nodded wiping away a small tear from his eye hinting that was the only regret he had after hearing Cera's heartfelt tale. He soon however blinked his eyes in realisation, "Wait a second…." he pointed at her curiously, "How did you manage to get on board in the first place?" he asked as his expression was shared amongst the other parents.

"Yes, please do tell." Mrs Drake then asked wanting to know more, also if the other children were on board the ship too somewhere.

Cera then scratched her cheek sheepishly wondering where she should start, "Well it's a strange story…." She then explained to them how she broke off from the rest of the gang that night in order to patrol their surroundings and make sure it was safe to camp out. After that she overheard them crying for help and being take hostage once more on board the ship. She then was forced to make a most difficult decision between helping her friends as Foolscap went after them, or save the parents. Seeing she may not have another chance at this she ran after them as they were taken in only to end up getting separated from them till she found her way to them now.

Spike suddenly widened his eyes hearing her words, "So then…Max and the others were nearby too!?" he cried as Cera looked to him and nodded rather nervously.

"Well yeah…." she gulped which made Spike fall forward and face fault comedically on the floor upon realising how close they were to freedom yet so far from it too.

"Urk…."

Mrs Drake then scratched her cheek rather sympathetically, "I see…..it must have been a very hard choice for you to make." she sighed feeling bad for her and what she went through on her own through the ship before getting here.

"It was…." she said sadly looking away before shaking her head clear of doubts, "But I have no regrets, besides I'm sure Max and the others can hold their own just fine against Foolscap, we have nothing to worry about." she said with confidence.

"I agree, no way will our boy ever lose to those flying rats with wings." Spike spoke out with a confident grin to which Aki nodded back at.

"Mhmm."

Cera smiled for a bit but soon turned serious as she stepped in between the group, "As much as I love to stay here and play catch up, I think we really should be going." she suggested, "After that disturbance outside there'll no doubt be more guards coming." she said as she looked at the door and hearing no noise from it meaning things had to have quieted down now, but that didn't mean no one else heard it so unless they acted fast they all could end up being detained for life!

Spike then turned to the others with a serious look, "She's right gang, we'd better get a move on now while we have the chance."

As Aki and Mrs Drake nodded back, Dr Drake suddenly spoke up, "We can't leave, not yet." he said as the others blinked their eyes at him in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Why not?"

He looked to each of them seriously, "Not without Dr Ancient and Cretacia." he answered.

Spike then widened his eyes in realisation, "Oh yes that's right! How could I forget!?" he gasped patting his fist into his palm.

"We can't leave them here that's for sure." said Mrs Drake with concern for them.

Upon hearing their words, Cera then took a quick look around the living room and now only noticing that there weren't any signs of Rex's parents at all, no doubt they would've heard the commotion by now and come running to see, but since they didn't that could only mean one thing. "Where are they? You mean they're not with you?" she asked the other parents curiously.

"No I'm afraid not." Spike sighed in disappointment shaking his head, "After those jelly monster goons recaptured us, they separated us from Rex's parents for some reason." he said recalling how Ancient and his wife were pulled away from them forcefully before being lead back here.

"And we haven't seen them since we got back here, meaning they must still be held somewhere." said Dr Drake hugging his mega needle tightly feeling worried about what they might be going through since they were pretty much the ringleaders of this ragtag team of theirs, and also the most important to the pirate's plans so they'd no doubt punish him more than the others for trying to leave behind their backs.

"Is that a fact?" Cera responded seriously before putting a finger to her chin thinking to herself, "They must be using them for some sort of purpose no doubt." Though for whatever that purpose could be it might have to do with the cosmos stones….as for what that was a mystery they had to unravel fast.

As she thought to herself, Spike folded his arms and looked around the ceiling of the house which was actually symbolising the entire of the ship as a whole, "How will we ever find them in this place? It's like a needle in a haystack." he said stretching his arms wide which made the others go quiet since they had no ideas of their own to contribute unfortunately, meaning it was up to Cera now.

Pursing her lips in thought then folding her arms, Cera noted it was a difficult challenge…but one she had no intention of letting it stop them when they've come this far. Looking around and seeing the TV and then taking not elf the possible equipment in the Taylor house, she then came up with an idea, "Maybe I can help narrow our search down a bit." she said confident she has what she needs to work with.

The other parents looked to her puzzled by what she meant, "Hmm? How so?" Dr Drake asked her, to which she smirked and held a thumbs up.

"Just leave it to me." she said to him before looking to Spike for his permission, "Sorry Dr Taylor, but I might need to do a little rewiring of your TV if I'm going to find where the Ancients are." she asked politely, "So you might need to cut back and sacrifice whatever favourite shows you have for a while now."

Spike scratched his head in confusion at what she was talking about, "I'm not sure how you're planning to do, but if it means we'll have a shot at getting off this flying prison then do what you must." he answered giving her the green light, "Besides the cable here's awful, no matter what channel I try there's always static." he then pouted grumpily seeing that even as prisoners they didn't get any privileges of the sort too, how rude…..

Cera then smirked in response seeing she got the all clear she needed, "Then it's a good thing you'll be getting something better than cable tv." she said as she headed to the side drawers and took out a toolbox before heading over to the TV screen and then began tinkering behind it, using the screw driver to open up some parts and then rewiring circuits while welding in new parts together which she found lying around in the toolbox. As she worked hard at the TV, the others looked on with deep interest, tempted to ask what he was getting at but decided to be polite and not interrupt her, also because she was greatly focused and ought not to be disturbed if she was going to get them all out….however she was doing it.

After a while of typing away, "Almost there….." she sweated tensely and then wiped her brow dry with a handkerchief, seeing she was at the final critical stage, one slip up and it could run all her hard efforts! As the adults looked on with anticipation, Cera squinted her eyes hard as she took 2 ends of a live wire which began to spark when she brought them close to each other. Upon connecting them, a current soon transferred through them and into the entire television set much to her joy at managing to pull it off! "Got it! We're logged in!" She cheered as the others roared with excitement and applauded.

"Woo hoo!"

"Nice!"

"Well done!"

Dr Drake's smile soon vanished as he asked out of curiosity, "Umm….so what did you do?" he asked breaking the mood of celebration.

"Oh just rewired the TV so that it can hack into the ship's frequencies and feed," she answered back casually, "That way we can make a call over to Rex's parents and let them know we'll be coming to reduce them shortly."

Her answer caught all 4 adults by surprise, "Whoa! You can actually do that!?" Aki breathed in surprise as she clapped her hand over her mouth.

"I just did." she answered her with a smile before returning to the screen which displayed a loading icon, "Now all it needs is a little time to boot up then we're good to go." she said narrowing her eyes at it as it neared completion.

"Incredible…." Spike then breathed putting a finger to his chin as he observed her and the work she did to establish this link. He always knew she was skilled but this was absolutely amazing. As the other parents were stunned speechless by her great talents, "How in blazes did you manage to pull it off Cera?" Spike then asked her both in awe and also seriously, wanting to know how or where she learnt to do all this on her own, in fact for someone so young her skill rivalled that of even Reese!

Upon hearing the question, Cera then sighed upon being reminded of her missing memories and the emptiness she had inside her which she carried along all this time for not being able to remember, "To be honest…..I'm not all that sure myself." she replied softly in a pained tone, which the adults soon picked up on, "All I know is that when I lost my memories all I remember retaining were some old talents I had no idea how I picked up on….I just had them that's all….too bad they didn't help much as clues as to who I am though hopefully after this is over I might be able to find out." she said as they all grew silent not wanting to make her feel anymore uncomfortable.

"I see….." was all Spike could say as he looked away, feeling regret for asking in the first place,e as Aki patted him on the back gently.

Cera smiled lightly though, understanding he meant no harm, as it reminded her she still had something to solve for herself later when this was all over, "Anyways, just a few more seconds for it to boot up….." She said seeing the loading bar had just completed. Before long the screen began to light up and on it was the face of a familiar man appeared on it, in a brownish laboratory room and a reddish globe like device in the background.

"Hello? Who's this?" Dr Ancient asked eying the screen curiously, surprised that his tablet could actually receive calls.

The sight of his face and the success of the remote link brought big joyous smiles and grins to the faces of Cera and the other parents, "Dr Ancient! It's you!" she cried joyfully while the adults cheered with excitement.

"Yippee!" the men hugged one another in a jolly way while the moms simply clapped hands together in a more modest manner.

"Yes!"

Dr Ancient widened his eyes and his heart skipped a beat at the other end, "Impossible! Cera is that you!?" he exclaimed.

"What!? Let me see!" Dr Cretacia's voice cried in surprise offscreen before suddenly forcing herself in and having the screen focus entirely on her. "Oh sweetie it is you!" She cheered happily to see Cera's face before letting her husband come in to see too.

"Long time no see." Cera smiled back at the both of them, "Glad you both are okay, Rex and the others would be relieved."

"Heh…that depends on your definition of okay…." Cretacia sweat dropped nervously, rubbing her head from a throbbing headache after just thinking about Specter being overbearing and obnoxious, not to mention the many tone deaf off key notes he called singing still ringing her ears, which she found to be more deadly than any sonic weapon ever developed in the future.

"More importantly, how did you manage to get on board?" Dr Ancient then asked her, "Also how were you able to get this line?"

"I snuck in by chance after I saw you guys in the desert just now," Cera answered as she began to tell them the same story she told the other parents earlier before, "I was checking the surroundings to make sure our campsite was safe then I stumbled upon you guys by chance." She explained, "I managed to get here into the house and hack the line so that we can talk right now."

"That was very brave and resourceful of you." said Cretacia complimenting her in serious manner, for someone so young to undertake such a challenge all by herself had to require one of great spirit and determination.

Cera nodded back, "Mhmm, it was a little nerve wrecking but luckily I managed to pull it off." she replied before turing serious, "Anyways, what's the situation? What are the pirates planning and what do they want with you?"

As she finished her question the Ancients became more serious and the atmosphere of the room became more tense. Looking to one another they nodded at each other before turning back to the screen ready to fill in their friends about the terrifying truth they discovered, "About that, by now you realise that Specter and his pirates are after all 7 cosmos stones." said Rex's dad.

"They think that by acquiring them they'd be able to control all time and space." his mom followed.

It was then that Dr Ancient frowned sadly and shook his head, "But we ran the numbers, and the results are catastrophic. In fact the stones contain more energy to destroy the universe and even dimensions several times over!" he then said which stunned Cera beyond belief.

"Say what!?" she gasped as the other parents present with her couldn't believe their ears. She heard about how powerful the stones were as the Pterosaur warned her and the D Team, but after hearing what Rex's parents discovered she wasn't too keen on finding out how they worked anymore.

"Oh dear, that doesn't sound good….." said Aki covering her mouth in shock realising there could be nowhere in the universe they could go to hide even if they got off this ship, had the pirates manage to unite the 7 stones they'd all be doomed. In fact it'd be the end of everything, as Spike gritted his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist, it was clear that if it came to it they couldn't allow their children to trade their lives for even a single stone.

"Honey please hold me…." Dr Drake whimpered as he hugged his wife close and she patted him on the back calmingly.

"And no matter how many times we tell him it's too dangerous he never listens…." Dr Ancient then sighed as he rubbed his temple in annoyance, "Him and reasoning will never go together in a million years. Honestly he's more mad than Dr Z…." he grumbled at the end seeing that to be a red alert sign for both others and even himself Even if his plan did work, he shuddered to think of a universe with that lunatic in charge.

"All the more reason we have to get you all off this place." said Cera seriously knowing this rescue operation became even more important, "Once we get you guys, we'll head out for the escape hatch soon."

"Mind telling us where're you being held?" Spike asked as he leaned in at the TV screen.

"Specter's holding us in the main control room," Dr Ancient answered as he stepped aside to reveal a cracked globe like device with pirate marking around it.

"He's having us repair the cosmos stone detector, wanting precise coordinates this time so it'll make finding the stones that much more easier." Cretacia finished after him showing they had gathered several tools to piece the thing together along with spare parts they managed to scavenge together as well.

"In that case….." Cera then smirked, "Why not give him an entirely new detector altogether Dr Ancient?" she suggested much to the confusion of the Ancients and the other parents as they blinked their eyes in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm…not sure what you mean." Rex's parents asked.

"Where are you getting at with this Cera?" Mrs Drake asked in confusion.

"I thought the idea was to make sure he DOESN'T find the other cosmos stones?" asked Spike raising an eyebrow at her while folding his arms on his hips.

Cera smiled, "Yeah, which is why you'll make one that works so well, it'll put him in an extra good mood so he'll let his guard down and go easier on you." she answered, "At the same time, it'll work perfectly in giving out false coordinates that should send him and his goons on a wild goose chase so that he won't get in the way of Max and the others from finding the actual stones before he does. Killing 2 birds with a single stone as I might say." She added at the end sticking up her finger to show her point.

Everyone's eyes brightened up at the sound of her idea, "Genius!"

"It's so brilliant why didn't we think of it before!" The Ancients gasped as they began to quickly look over the blueprints they had for the detector hoping to find some sort of part they could remove in order to destabilise the machine or cause it to malfunction in the long run.

"You're a very clever girl Cera," Aki praised clapping her hands together, "Max and the others really are lucky to have you a a friend, they can sure stand to learn a lot from you."

Her compliment made Cera blush red rather sheepishly, "Hehe thanks Mrs Taylor, I appreciate that." she chuckled.

"Alright, now that it's settled there's no time to lose!" said Spike taking initiative of the group in the house as they looked to him for leadership. "Dr Ancient, we'll come for you and in the meantime do what you need to throw those pirates off our trail and the kids." He said as Rex's parents nodded back at him.

"We'll do what we can to slow down the repairs as we can." said Ancient.

"Please come as soon as you can," Cretacia then pleaded dramatically as she jittered insecurely, "I don't know how much longer I can take being in this awful place." she then cried with teary eyes to show her agony.

"Got it. Over and out." Cera answered them with a firm nod as she pressed a button switching off the television and cutting off the call, hoping that they weren't traced since she was using the pirates' own frequency to communicate with them earlier.

"Alright team, you heard him, let's roll!" called out Spike as he pumped up his arm into a fist and grinned with eagerness as everyone else punched up to the sky in agreement!

"Right!"

The group then headed for the front door and as they did they were greeted by the surprise of a Gel Jark on their doorstep!

"AH!" They gasped as it seems like it was going to grab them, only for it to fall down face flat on the floor unconsciously much to their relief!

THUD!

"Phew…that almost gave me a heart attack…" Spike muttered as they stepped around or over it and headed outside. What they saw was complete and utter chaos, where the floor littered with the defeated bodies of Gel jarks and dinosaurs either kicking them while still lying down or just wandering about the chamber looking for a way to get out. It was clear which side was the victor in this battle, as Miku flared out her arms and screeched victoriously having lead the dinosaurs in an all out rebellion against their former captors.

"Wow, looks like we missed the party here." Spike whistled as he folded his arms and looked around to see nothing but fainted Gel jarks or dinosaurs stomping on gooey slime in nearly every corner.

"Just be glad none of you were a part of it." said Cera to him as she pressed a button on her dinoshot which returned all of the other dinosaurs apart from Miku to her hand which she then kept away in her pocket. After that, she helped Miku back up onto her shoulder before looking over the knocked out Gel jarks that were still lying down on the ground, either on their backs or on their stomachs. As some of the parents tapped them with heir hands or kicked at them they gave no reflex or movement in response, "They're still out, let's hope they stay that way." noted Cera before looking to Zoe's dad, "Alright Dr Drake, since you got off the ship before, which way is the exit?" she asked him as he pointed ahead towards the exit doors.

"It's right where the pirates hold their dinosaurs," he answered, "They send me there to make sure the dinosaurs are in perfect health before they get sent out into battle."

"Lead the way then." said Cera as he nodded back at her and the other parents who awaited for his directions.

"Right, follow me and stay close." As they headed up the stairs and through another door at the upper levels they soon passed through a long tunnel where the walls were lined with more pirate markings and circuitry as they came towards a door at the end with a huge pirate mark on it. "Here, this is it!" He said as they stepped forward and the doors opened upon sensing them, revealing a set of large dinosaur holding pens scattered around the room. Above were a number of large dinosaurs ranging from rajasaurus, daspletosaurus, iguanodon and ankylosaurus either lying down or pacing around restlessly in their tight enclosures. Eying them, Cera narrowed her eyes recognising some of them as dinosaurs she and her friends fought once. "The exit hatch is just over there!" Dr Drake cried interrupting her thoughts as he pointed at the wall and at the marking where the emergency escape door was situated.

"Excellent, once we get the Ancients out we'll be home free for good this time." smiled Spike with enthusiasm while the moms gasped with relief that they would soon see their children again.

"Yeah, Max and the others will be really glad to have you back." said Cera understanding their excitement, "Also, that would mean we won't have to risk trading the cosmos stones for you too…." she thought to herself seeing that as an added bonus later on. Though first things first, "Now we just have to figure out where to go from here to find Dr Ancient." she said as she found a hexagonal computer screen at one end. She walked towards it for a better look and the other parents followed her closely behind, "Maybe this computer can help us with that." she thought putting a finger to her chin.

"Think you can work it Cera?" asked Aki in a hopeful tone.

"I'll see…." said Cera looking to her firmly before turning more unsure as she eyed the console, finding it rather hard to understand or read. Despite that she didn't want to worry the others after coming this far as she tried to look over and figure it out, which proved to be more challenging than she anticipated, "Urgh most of this is in a language I can't read…." she grunted in annoyance hardening her gaze before focusing on one particular function, "But I can at least make this out to be a card function for the dinosaurs in those containers." she then said as she came to a blinking red button on the middle screen which had just appeared, "Pressing this should activate security measures that should return them to cards which we can then take out." she suggested, "That way the pirates would have way less dinosaurs to use next time they go after the cosmos stones."

"You know that doesn't sound like a half bad idea." said Mrs Drake seeing the logic in doing that.

"If we can do something to help make things easier on our kids' end then we should do it while we have the chance." said Aki suggesting that they go for it and think about finding Dr Ancient and Cretacia later.

Seeing how their wives were up for it, both Dr Taylor and Drake looked to her seriously, "Do it Cera." they said to her as she nodded back with affirmation.

"Let's do this then….." as she pressed a button for one of the cages, it caused a bright light to shine in the pen of the saurolophus. It let out a startled bellow having been woken up from tis nap before turning into a card and floating down to the floor of the pen which then opened up. As Aki went to get the card, Cera continued doing so and before long they gathered together the cards of saltasaurus, amargasaurus, acrocanthosaurus and ampelosaurus before handing them back to her.

"Alright, we've almost got half of them down," said Cera as she looked up to see the remaining dinosaurs being held in the upper holding pens. So far eerything was going smooth and she hoped to keep it that way, "Just a couple more and the space pirates won't have anymore dinosaurs they can use."

"And without dino muscle, all those flying buffoons can do is twiddle their thumbs unable to do a thing." Dr Drake smiled.

"Yeah, and after we rescue the Ancients and get out for the last time we'll be home free!" Spike cheered with excitement seeing salvation was at hand for them at last, "With the way things are going, what could possibly go wrong?" As soon as Dr Taylor uttered those words, he completely jinxed it and sealed their fates…..as the front doors ahead opened much to their alarm!

"AH!" The escaping group widened their eyes and froze stiff upon seeing Gavro stomp inside grumpily while rubbing his head in annoyance.

"This is not fair…..I mess up one time and then I get put on dino duty again?" he complained, having to have just put all the escaped dinosaurs earlier back after they all escaped somehow, not to mention being forced to clean up any kind of messes they've made both from wreckage and otherwise. After that he gritted his teeth and punched down on the floor so hard it made a huge dent and several large cracks in it! "Why do Foolscap and Sheer get all the fun and I get stuck doing the lousy jobs!?" he then growled out loud cursing his fate and bad luck before stomping in frustration! Looking up though, he blinked in surprise to see the D Team's parents were all out and staring at him in shock, "Huh?" rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly, he then pointed out at them realising it wasn't a hallucination, "Hey! What are you guys doing out here!?" he yelled before seeing Cera with them! "And how did you get on our ship!?" he then demanded which further complicated their escape plan!

"Oh no we've been spotted!" Mrs Drake cried a she and Aki backed away, with their husbands jumping on front to protect them and Cera at the upmost front as they faced off against their one foe who stomped towards them while popping his knuckles itching for a fight!

"Don't worry, we've got him outnumbered, we can take him!" Spike grinned with confidence as he took out his lasso and whipping it on the ground creating a loud crack sound!

"My trusty mega needle will take care of this." bellowed Dr Drake as he wave out his signature trademark tool and then aimed it at Gavro.

Cera however hardened her gaze, waiting for what he might try next while Miku screeched viciously, flaring out her wings and baring her sharp teeth trying to intimidate the approaching space pirate.

Despite the resistance the parents put up, Gavro remained unfazed as he had exactly what he needed to take care of this loose end, "You'll need more than those toys to beat me!" he growled angrily taking out a card and playing it on his chest plate, "Anchiceratops! Time to clean house!" He yelled as a green ceratopsian with curved horns appeared on the field and bellowed out aggressively as it reared up on its hind legs and slammed back down, shaking the parents and Cera off balance momentarily!

"WAH!" Looking up they turned rather pale and anxious as the anchiceratops bellowed out loudly and narrowed its eyes at them!

"Hehehe, I'm gonna enjoy this after what you and your friends did to me back in the desert!" Gavro grinned sinisterly as he popped his fingers with anticipation as his dinosaur began scrapping the ground with its front foot as it prepared to mount a charge!

Seeing the display and recognising it, Cera gritted her teeth and Miku narrowed her eyes as they waited for the moment it would rush ahead and they'd have to time their dodge right otherwise it'd be game over.

The men on the other hand though, weren't as ready for it as she was, "Still think we can take him Spike?" Dr Drake quivered, nearly wetting his pants as Spike gulped down hard, taking back his words from earlier.

"Go get em!" Gavro pointed out as the anchiceratops rushed forward full speed ahead towards them!

"On second thought….run!" he cried as everyone screamed and ran away in separate directions only to get as far as possible from Gavro's dinosaur!

"AAAAAAH!"

"EEEK!"

"Scatter! Quick! He can't chase us all down!" Cera cried out to them as the parents split up and ran behind or between dinosaur pens where they couldn't be easily reached, causing the anchiceratops to stop in its tracks as it turned around in confusion, unsure of which target to focus on!

"Before I put you guys back in that house where you belong." said Gavro before turning around to see Cera having ran in the wrong direction only to come up at a wall. Turning around she and Miku sweated as the anchiceratops turned to them, "I'm going to enjoy getting some good payback on you kid!" Gavro grinned as he began popping his knuckles eagerly. Seeing the red haired girl on the ship put him in a way worse mood as it reminded him of being trapped inside the cave under rocks earlier because of her and the D Team, now he had his chance to get some much needed payback at last! He grinned menacingly with anticipation as the anchiceratops halted its pursuit of the adults before turning around to stomp towards Cera and Miku much to the parents' horror!

"Oh no!"

"Cera!"

"Run now!" They cried out to her but she found herself cornered against the wall at the escape hatch and the controls being at the other side!

"Tch!" Cera clicked her tongue and Miku hissed ready for a fight as she nodded to her partner, "Go Miku! Get him!" she yelled to her as she threw the little microraptor forward intending to latch onto the anchiceratops' face! However in response the ceratopsian swung out its tail, sending a burst of wind which sent Miku flying away in the opposite direction at the wall, which she crashed into letting out a squawk of pain as she slid to the floor! "AH! Miku!" Cera widened her eyes seeing it could be a bad injury as she ran towards her believed partner as fast as her legs could take her! "Are you okay!?" she pleaded scooping her dinosaur into her hands. Miku opened her eyes weakly and let out a pain squawk, as Cera began checking her for injuries, thankfully apart from the impact and being shaken up, nothing was broken as she let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness….don't do that again okay?" she asked her partner who licked her face in turn as they smiled at each other.

The touching moment between them didn't last long unfortunately, as the anchiceratops bellowed out loud, catching heir attention as it charged straight towards them like a mad bull to their alarm! "AAAAH!" Cera screamed out in terror seeing no way she could escape or fight back now, while Gavro grinned and rubbed his palms together eager to see the human splatter like roadkill all over the place!

"Hehehehe…."

As the large dinosaur neared crushing over Cera, she closed her eyes and hugged Miku tightly to her chest, who buried herself in her partner's embrace as they braced themselves, only for a part of the wall next to them to open up and a bright light shine out from it much to their surprise! "AH!"

The anchiceratops halted its' charge at the last second, surprised at the sudden open escape hatch while Gavro blinked his eyes in surprise, "Huh? What the?" he muttered scratching his head in confusion.

"Cera go! Get out while you still can!" Spike shouted at the end where the controls were, where Dr Drake had just pressed the button to open up the hatch!

"AH!" Cera widened her eyes and Miku squawked in alarm realising what they were doing, "No way! Miku and I came too far to leave without you! I'm not leaving you behind!" she retorted refusing to leave them behind again, otherwise her efforts would have been for nothing.

Despite that, Spike had more of a reason why she had to leave them behind, "Don't be stupid! If you stay you'll be captured and detained like the rest of us!" he yelled knowing she was more important to the D Team than they were, "And then Max and the others will be even more worried too!"

Cera began to lose the ability to shout back, seeing time was short and they were absolutely right, nevertheless it didn't make things any easier for her and she couldn't accept it, "But…."

"He's right sweetie!" Yelled Aki as she and Mrs Drake came up to where their husbands were, "This isn't up for debate!"

"Go now while you still have the chance!" Mrs Drake added as they all shot her firm expressions telling her to go, for it was what they wanted

Feeling weak and unable to think of a decision herself, Cera froze in place, losing energy from her limbs and finding herself unable to move due to the overwhelming pressure and guilt she'd feel the moment she would jump through that door, "Everyone…." she didn't know if there would be another chance to come back like this, and if there wasn't she'd never be able to live with herself or look her friends in the eyes for letting them down, and if there was….would she be able to save them again?

While they were caught in a conflicted situation, Gavro saw his chance to move in, "Well it ain't happening again if I have anything to say about it!" he yelled gritting his teeth as he charged right at her and Miku himself!

Seeing no other way, Cera's heart sank as she took one last hard look at the D Team's parents, giving themselves up selflessly for her, entrusting their hopes and wishes, as she turned away painfully, "I'm…sorry…." she breathed as Miku clung onto her shoulder and she jumped through the hatch as Gavro widened his eyes that she was getting away!

"NO!" he cried as the hatch closed before he could grab her, and he slammed straight into it!

SMASH!

"Urgh…." he moaned painfully before sliding down to the floor.

As the hatch slewed itself shut, the 4 parents looked on hard seeing their one chance of freedom and escape now slipped away, "Good luck Cera….we're counting on you and the others…." thought Aki clasping her hands together in prayer as she and the others entrusted their hopes to her and their children, "Save the world….no matter what it takes…." she thought at the end as Spike an the others regrouped with her.

"Grr!" As Gavro regained his senses and looked up at the hatch, he gnashed his teeth hard and punched at the hatch causing it to crack apart with ease! A sight which made the D Team's parents turn rather pale at his immense power, "Boss ain't gonna like it when he hears one of those kids got on board and stole some of our dinosaurs…." he muttered putting a finger to his chin in thought before patting on the now sealed escape hole, "Although, once I close up this little escape hatch for good, maybe I'll be able to get back on the boss' good side again so that's looking on the plus side of things." he thought with a light smile before grinning rather maliciously, "As for you guys." He turned around and his anchiceratops bellowed menacingly at the 4 parents they backed away nervously.

"Uh oh…." Spike gulped as Gavro opened up his wings and hovered above them.

Knowing they were helpless and at his mercy, Gavro began to pop his knuckles eager to take his anger and frustration out on them for making his bad day even worse, "You're going to be in a lot of trouble when I'm through with you!" he growled as the parents readied themselves for their fate.

"Urk…."

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back in his room, sat Specter the leader of the spectral space pirates on his throne with Seth next to him as they observed the events that had just transpired on screen, and needless to say being a child at heart Specter couldn't contain his excitement as he blew a party favour and applauded with joy, "Ahahaha! Well done Gavro, with this all the holes in our ship are finally plugged and we don't have to worry about anyone sneaking off into the night without my permission." he chuckled in amusement before stroking the blue apatosaurus he had napping on his lap, "Isn't that right Brontikens?" he cooed to the chibi dinosaur who purred and yawned in content.

After that, he looked down to the former member of the Alpha gang who had proven to be his most trustworthy ally of all, "Oh and Seth, do make sure our friend Gavro gets the first new super dinosaur that you've been working on. For his outstanding performance today I'd say he deserves it." he instructed the blue haired man who then nodded and bowed in response.

"I'll be sure to just that Specter." he said politely with an emotionless expression before taking his leave to return to his lab generously provided to him by the leader of the pirates.

"Ahaha, I knew I can always count on you for anything." Spector chuckled as the door closed behind the scientist, knowing he could always expect great things from him, to him their meeting was written in the stars and it would only be a matter of time with his genius and his own plans for conquest that the universe would be theirs to conquer.

Little did he know, behind the door, Seth soon gained a sinister smirk of his own behind the door, "Heh…." he chuckled seeing his own plan of biding his time and waiting for the right moment to strike was paying off. He detested Specter's flamboyance as much as Dr Z's childishness, but once he had all 7 of the cosmos stones himself he'd soon be able to remake the universe as he saw fit, one where his evolved dinosaurs would reign supreme over all and he would be rule over them as their god.

After that he then brought up his tablet which featured Cera's face on it as he narrowed his eyes and smiled sinisterly at her. For her to have gotten on board and so far was most impressive, in fact he was almost proud of it. While it did risk having to disrupt his plans and sabotage operations on board somewhat, he could see that her skills were still as, if not sharper than they were the last time without a doubt, and in the back his mind he was looking forward to seeing her again soon as he switched off the screen and returned to his lab to retrofit one of the special dinosaurs he prepared for the new armour he finally managed to perfect.

 **(Meanwhile)**

It was midday already over the desert of Persia, and the sun was burning bright and high in the sky. A light soon shot down from the sky and appearing below it right before it faded away was Cera, with Miku by her side as she lay on all fours in the warm sand of the desert, "Urgh…." as Miku looked to her with concern she could only see her partner staring blankly into the sand, with the thought of failing to save the D Team's parents still echoing in her mind and how helpless she was to do anything about it….Suddenly without warning she gritted her teeth and began to punch her fist into the sand suddenly much to the micro raptor's shock as she jumped back in recoil! "NO! No! No! Noooo!" She screamed as she pounded repeatedly into the sand cursing herself for letting them all down, before bitter tears dripped from her eyes and she hissed spitefully, she made a hard choice and was so close to achieving it only to turn up with nothing. To her this was a bitter failure to see all of them in front of her and not being able to rescue even one of them…..

Miku looked on nervously while also deeply concerned for her partner knowing she couldn't leave Cera in this state otherwise it could have dire consequences on her performance later on. She tried chirping at her to get her attention but became disheartened upon receiving no response back as Cera stood up on her 2 feet without so much as batting an eye to her. She then took out her dinoshot and began to dial on it, hoping to lock onto the ship's position, "Come on….lock on….please…." she prayed desperately for a silver lining or sign of hope that she could still go back and save the adults. Sadly not so much as a flicker of a signal turned up on her radar, which shut down her hopes as her heart sank heavily, "No…." feeling overwhelmed with defeat and her emotions filling her with sorrow and grief she fell to her knees and forward on the ground once more, "Everyone….I'm so sorry….." she breathed before gritting her teeth and a pair of tears were squeezed out from her eyes which then dripped from her cheeks and then sank into the desert sand.

She was so caught up in her thoughts of despair, that she failed to notice Miku had just climbed up her leg and onto her shoulder. Unable to see her partner suffering any longer, she then nibbled onto her ear to get her attention, before squawking fiercely into her face which surprised the girl when she realised how come she had gotten. It was then when she began to listen more carefully to her partner's words of concern that were just the same as she was, she began to realise it was the parents' choice for them to escape in the end. "Miku…." Now she began to realise they gave themselves up knowing she and the others would save them in the end, no matter how dark the tunnel is at the end there will always be light if they continued onwards without hesitation or worry.

"You're right…what's done is done, no point dwelling on the past, we'll have to move forward from here on, it's what they wanted." she said shaking away the doubts from her thoughts and clearing her head so she could think straight once more. She then took breath and managed to calm down her restless thoughts as she analysed the situation at hand, "They'll be fine, the pirates still need them and as long as we can get one stone there's a chance we can save them later." She then said to herself holding on to the hopes that there will be other chances and as long as they can get a cosmos stone they can still keep then universe safe form the pirates' evil.

"Where are Max and the others?" she then asked herself worrying for her friends' wellbeing as she dialled on her dinoshot, which showed their location on the map which was located in the center of a large palace depicted on the map. "They're in the city now, it's too far on foot and way too hot to travel…." she thought narrowing her eyes. Thinking clearly she decided the best course of action as she keyed in a call to the Backlander, "Jonathan, come in it's me." she said through the communicator and thankfully it didn't take long for the android to respond on the other end.

"Cera? Is that you?" he asked sounding surprised, "Where were you? Master Rex told me to keep a lookout for you since you went missing the other night." He explained which made a small frown appear on Cera's face, "I tried contacting you but I couldn't reach you for some reason. What happened?" he asked concerned.

Cera then swallowed hard, "It's a long story….." was all she could force out from her mouth painfully, "I'll explain everything soon, but right now could you pick me up? It's getting too hot down here." she then said before he could respond.

Jonathan paused a bit before accepting her request, "Right away, I'll be at your location in 5 minutes." he said before the call was cut off.

Not long after that Cera noticed the Backlander approaching from the sky above, its' silhouette appearing as it dropped its cloak before it hovered above her, providing her with much needed shade and relief from the sun. As it began to release its' tractor beam to pick her up, Cera looked on and tensed herself knowing what awaited her on the other end of that beam, "I have a lot to explain to him and everyone else when they get back….just hope I can face them when that time comes…" she thought to herself seriously, as she and Miku looked up to see them both get teleported inside.

 **(Later)**

"I see…..how most unfortunate…." sighed Jonathan as he closed his eyes sadly giving Cera his condolences. After hearing what she had been through all by herself and still turning up without anything to show for her efforts despite giving it her all….was most disheartening to hear especially considering close she was too.

Cera was still choking on the bitter taste of her failure but swallowed down hard ready to accept whatever harsh words the androids would have for her because of this screwup, "I'm very sorry Jonathan….I did my best….but it wasn't good enough." she said sighing heavily unable to look at him in the eye but readying herself for anything he had to say or do to her. Nearby Miku sat at one of the consoles looking on, cooing sadly herself but looked up as Jonathan then stood up and began walking towards her partner.

As Cera closed her eyes and braced herself, Miku too looked away unable to bear with the pressure as Jonathan stood before the young girl staring at her firmly and seriously. He raised out a hand to her and as they closed their eyes almost fearfully, they were surprised to see that Jonathan began before patting Cera comfortingly on her shoulder, "Do not blame yourself for what happened." he said kindly as she looked up to him, "They made their choice because they believed that you and the others will save them, so don't regret over something that wasn't your doing. It's what they would want." he said to her as she sniffled feeling deeply touched by his words and then wiping a small tear from her eye.

"Yeah….you're right about that…." she said before her eyes narrowed and she became more serious, "And we will save them, no matter it takes." she vowed under her breath as Jonathan smiled and nodded pleased to hear her get her spirit back.

"Well said." he said as he walked over to the controls and began to plot a course for the D Team's last known location.

"How soon till we get to the city?" Cera then asked him as the ship began to move and she began receiving dinosaur signals on her dinoshot.

"Not long from now, we should be arriving in a few minutes." he answered her as the ship began to soon hover over the palace grounds situated within a large village like square.

As the signals soon disappeared from her device, "Bring it up on screen." she then requested. As Jonathan brought the live feed in, Cera was beginning to wish she hadn't asked seeing several damaged sections around the area followed by one of the water towers being cleaved off no doubt by a move card and panic ensuring amongst the townsfolk down below. "Whoa that place sure seen better days…." she whistled while Miku stared at the damage done, "Hope the sultan doesn't hold the others responsible for this." she thought hoping Zahrah might be able to put in a good word for them when this was all over.

As the image zoomed in closer, it depicted Max and Rex regrouping with Zoe near a gigantic hole and all seemed calm as it should be as Zahrah, the sultan and a young man met with them followed by the palace guard who were bringing in the 39 thieves along with the Prime Minister with them. "Still it does look like they took care of things already at least so they should be fine." She then said seeing that things could finally quiet down now that the criminals were brought to justice and they no doubt earned the trust of the royal family wth their heroic deeds.

A beeping sound soon came on screen as Jonathan tapped on it and blinked his eyes, "Well well, it looks like Helga and the Alpha gang just returned." he said which caught her ears.

"Good." said Cera acknowledging it before smacking a fist into one of her open palms, "Now I can give them a piece of my mind for double crossing us in the desert earlier." she grunted still remembering what they did back in the desert. Even if they had their reasons it was no excuse for endangering the process and their lives when they could've escaped at any time, even choosing to sell out her and the D Team on top of that to the thieves.

The evening sun soon came upon the Persian Kingdom, and as the D Team and their dinosaurs gathered on screen Cera could tell they were no doubt saying their goodbyes. However as Zahrah leaned in she began giving each of the D Team along with their dinosaurs a friendly goodbye kiss each, "Oh dear….." Cera muttered knowing this would make things rather awkward for Max and Rex since they actually believed they had some sort of special connection with the princess after what they did for her. Not wanting to leave things as they were, Cera then looked over to Jonathan, "Well, looks like we better get going, hopefully with some good news regarding the cosmos stone too." she requested as he began typing onscreen.

"I'll beam them up right away." he said as the beam from the Backlander took up the entire D Team before he propelled the ship to take off for another time.

As a bright light began to shine in the control deck a few steps below her, Cera swallowed down and her heart began to beat hard against her chest knowing she had a lot to fess up to the moment they appear inside. Summoning up whatever courage she had she hardened her expression and tightened her hands into fists tensely, as Miku looked on with anticipation, "Alright…here goes…." she said taking in a deep breath as her friends soon appeared in front of her.

Max then spoke out to Jonathan firmly, "Alright Jonathan, now that we're on board let's go find Cera and-"

"I'm already here guys." said Cera cutting them off as they quickly turned behind in the direction of the familiar voice.

"Huh?" They quickly widened their eyes in shock and disbelief to find her back on the ship after spending a long time worrying about her all day in the desert.

Max and Zoe quickly broke into smiles of relief and joy, "AH! Cera!"

"You're okay!" They cheered.

"Yeah….I am…." was all she could say, smiling with relief to see them again and that they had no reason to worry about her anymore.

Rex though wasn't about to accept a rosy reunion but instead stomped towards Cera, demanding an explanation from her "Where were you!?" he suddenly exploded letting loose all his pent up emotions inside him which was more than enough to make Max and Zoe along with the dinosaurs jump in shock!

"WHA?!" To them seeing Rex act like this was one of those once in a blue moon events you'd want to stay clear of, as they stared at him in disbelief while he panted heavily with anger, Cera meanwhile just stood and looked on, knowing she accepted this much from him for just disappearing behind their backs and worrying them.

"Whoa Rex, take it easy." said Zoe with concern not wanting him to scare Cera all a sudden right after meeting again.

"Yeah you scared the pants off me just now…." said Max hoping he'd calm down though he ignored them and continued.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were when you disappeared into the night last night!?" he yelled, "We thought you got lost, captured or worse when you sent us some message about forgetting and going on without you!" He shouted shooting a harsh glare at her which made whatever confidence she had slowly leak away as she could only look away with guilt in response, "Tell us now what the big deal was with this!" Rex demanded.

Upon hearing his reasons Max and Zoe soon began to side with him though reluctantly, "Rex does have a point there." Zoe admitted with a sad look on her face.

"Yeah we really thought something bad had happened to you when you didn't respond back to us." said Max as he then scratched his cheek, "We could have really used your help a bunch of times earlier today…."

Calming himself down and having shouted all his concerns just now, Rex soon began to clam down thankfully as he spoke in a more mannered tone, "So then….what gives? What happened to make you leave us like that?" he asked more gently, though still wanting a valid explanation from Cera.

All she could do though was look away with a most guilty expression on her face which made Rex begin to regret his harsh outburst just now. "Umm Cera?" She said nothing in response as Rex looked away feeling bad about how he acted. Max and Zoe too were feeling sorry for her as well, she wasn't the type to keep things from them so whatever happened to her must have been so serious she didn't want to talk about it, as much as they had a right to know since they were friends that didn't mean they could demand from her straight up like that, "If you really don't want to talk about it, it's-"

"No guys, you're absolutely right and I'm sorry…." she interrupted with a deep sigh admitting her faults, "But I couldn't tell you even if I wanted at the time since it happened so suddenly and I couldn't miss that chance." she said painfully which puzzled her friends.

"Chance?"

"What do you mean?" Max and Rex blinked their eyes curiously as Cera took in a deep breath and let out a deep sigh, as she knew she couldn't hide this important fact from her friends.

Opening her eyes firmly she began to confess the truth, "Well….it started right when I split off to go scout the area last night….." She began to explain what happened from the moment she left the campsite in order to scout their surroundings to make sure they were safe. As she soon explained what she discovered and went through after that, the D Team couldn't believe their ears at what they heard.

"You were on the space pirates' ship!?" They all exclaimed in alarm as she finished her story, "No way!"

"I know…I didn't believe it myself either but I got on somehow….it's an experience I won't forget for a long time." Cera replied.

"I agree." Zoe nodded, "I'm even more surprised that our parents got out again." she then put her hand to her chest sadly, "And they were so close too…..if only we went with you last night…." Zoe sighed lowering her head down feeling bad that Cera went through all that on her own, it must have been very scary for her and Miku without a doubt.

"No wonder you didn't answer back no matter how many times we tried to contact you." said Max now understanding her side of things.

"I'm sorry for worrying you guys, but under the circumstances there wasn't anything that could be done about it." apologised Cera once more as she looked away from them still feeling guilty.

"Fair point there." said Max shrugging his shoulders understanding her side of things, had it been them things would probably have turned out the same.

"Well let's not dwell on what we couldn't do," Rex then suggested as he walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "What matters is that you're back here safe and sound."

"That's right." Zoe smiled as Max nodded encouragingly, before suddenly realising something.

"But more importantly, did you manage to rescue our parents while on board?" he then asked sounding hopeful as the others all focused like minded expressions at Cera, who became paralysed by that very question, losing the will to stand she then fell onto a nearby chair and sat it in. The weight of her guilt bearing down on her shoulders as she sat down and sank into the chair, losing the strength from her legs and falling completely silent, unable to express the truth as it would only serve to remind her of failure.

"….."

Her friends blinked their eyes in surprise or in uneasiness seeing how quiet she became all a sudden, "Cera?"

"Is something wrong?" Zoe and Rex asked, now beginning to realise they may have asked something wrong…..or that something did happen to her while she was on her own, which made them almost regret asking.

Seeing she couldn't hold it in anymore, she mustered all her courage inside her and forced out her words, each one hurt like daggers stabbing her heart and soul, "I'm sorry…I couldn't get them out….I tried but…..on the way to escape hatch we got cut off by Gavro." she sighed, tightening her hands on her knees as the memory continued to haunt her inside her mind, "Because of him they had to give themselves up in order to help me and Miku escape…..we barely made it off with our skin intact…" she hissed at the end recalling their sacrifice which she still felt regretful at not being able to do a thing for them.

Upon receiving news of her devastating defeat the D Team soon began to sympathise with her, understanding why she felt so pained to say it to them, "Oh….."

"That's….too bad…." Was all Max and Zoe could say while Rex looked away feeling regret for being so upfront and aggressive earlier with his demanding the truth just now.

Cera gritted her teeth hard as that bad memory began to flow her kind with negative thoughts of defeat and also fears of what the adults could go through now because they gave themselves up for her, "I….I really tried but….urgh…" she looked away gritting her teeth, shedding pained tears from her eyes as her heart felt like it could crack at any moment. All Miku and the other dinosaurs could do was look on wishing they could do something for her but couldn't figure out what could ease her burdens as great as what she told.

She soon felt a hand being put on her shoulder, looking up in surprise she saw Max a small smile on his face, "It's….not your fault Cera." he said to her understandably while Rex nodded.

"Yeah, it happened so sudden and we weren't there to back you up," said Zoe supporting her, also feeling bad that one of them didn't go with her at the time, "I mean just getting thrown in there without properly preparing it's not like…..never mind…." she then said stopping herself and biting her own tongue, not wanting Cera to feel more awful than she already was, "We're sorry we couldn't be there for you…." she said at the end feeling partially responsible for not going along with her, perhaps she could have made a difference in that near impossible situation.

Rex then smiled supportively before putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, "The fact you were able to get so far into the enemy's lair like that all on your own really is something…." he said complimenting her courage and efforts, "You also did the best you could at the time, and we're proud of you for that." he said as she smiled back feeling better.

"There'll be other opportunities," Max followed folding his arms behind his back, "Right now we're just glad you're okay and back safe, that's what really matters now, I'm sure our parents think the same way." he then added.

"If you had got caught you'd be imprisoned with our parents on board the pirate ship and things would be way worse." said Zoe, "And don't worry, we'll make sure their sacrifice won't be in vain, that we promise!" she said as they all nodded with her in unison.

Hearing all their kind words of encouragement helped chase away her doubts and regrets, and it helped convince Cera to continue on and follow through with her choice and course of action now, "Thanks you guys, it means a lot…." she said gratefully, vowing in her heart to see their cause through.

"So while up there what did you learn?" Rex then asked hoping to settle for some kind of consolation or gain at least, "What do the space pirates need our parents for and what are they planning?"

Cera then folded her arms and closed her eyes in thought, "All I know is….they plan on harnessing the powers of all 7 cosmos stones for the intention of controlling the entire universe." she said uneasily as Max gulped hard nervously.

"Whoa that's really big…." he croaked as a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek while Zoe and Rex listened.

"They need Rex's parents to fine tune their cosmos stone detector so they can find exact coordinates." Cera continued looking at the blond boy first, who narrowed his eyes hard, before turning to Zoe next, "For Zoe's they're having them vaccinate their dinosaurs and keep them in prime fighting condition before using them to get the stones like they always do." She said as Zoe gritted her teeth feeling hurt at the fact her dad was being used to treat enemy dinosaurs that would serve as no more than mere tools. "As for Max's…they're just there along for the ride." Cera then sighed looking to the last member of the D Team, feeling bad his parents may have ended up getting the shortest end of the stick of all.

"No way…." a feeling of despair and crushed hopes came upon Max and the others upon realising what she and their parents went through without them around to help.

"This is serious…." Rex then narrowed his eyes hard seeing their situation had grown even more difficult. He also worried about what would happen to their parents now, he shuddered at whatever horrors they might be put through at this very moment.

"Well at least we know they're still alright so there's still a chance we can save them." Zoe then suggested trying to look on the bright side which helped alleviate some anxiety from her friends though not all of it.

"I made sure to tell your parents to stall them as long as they can," Cera then said remembering what she told the Ancients, "They won't be able to do it forever though, so until then they're counting on us to either find the stones before the pirates do or rescue them before all 7 are found." The way she saw it, they'd eventually cross a bridge where they may have to trade their parents for the cosmos stones even if they did get one, in the end would they have to sacrifice one of them to save the other? Would it be possible to protect them both? That was a question which she had no answer to, and it haunted her to think of what would happen when they do reach that point.

"In that case we'll do just that." said Max as he clenched his hand into a fist tightly.

Rex and Zoe soon looked to him and nodded firmly in agreement, "Yeah, no way will we let them get away with what they've done!"

"Everyone's counting on us and we've got no intention of letting them down, that's a promise!" They said feeling more fired up and determined than ever.

Seeing everyone's spirits ignited with hope and determination helped ease Cera a little more, perhaps there is still hope for both the adults and the universe as long as they ever gave up and kept at it till their last breath. "Mhmm, well said." she said standing up with them, showing them they had her support to the end as well, before deciding to ask a question of her own, "Enough about me, how did things go on your end?" Cera then asked curiously, "Hope you guys and Zahrah didn't feel too bad about saying goodbye to each other." As she finished asking, Max and Rex suddenly sighed deeply and lowered their heads down, acting completely devastated and heartbroken much to Cera's surprise and Zoe's amusement as she shook her head and sighed pityingly. "Umm…did I say something wrong?" She then asked blinking her eyes in surprise.

Zoe then walked to beside her and then put a playful arm around her shoulder, holding in a cheeky snicker, "Hehe funny thing Cera….." she began to whisper to them what had happened down on the ground earlier, from how they arrived at the palace and battled the Alpha gang once more, to Sheer controlling Genie and taking Zahrah hostage only for her to meet up with another man named Aladdin who then saved her, even giving him the same 'reward' as she did for the boys.

"Wow….I have no words for that…." she whistled at the end of the story, feeling bad for Max and Rex getting their hopes crushed.

"Yeah, it was truly heartbreaking."

"The friend zone really is a cold and lonely place where your feelings will never be returned." They each said feeling utterly devastated lowering their heads in shame that it was never meant to be. "But who Zahrah chooses to love is her choice in the end….plus we come from different times and places so it's a harsh truth we had to face in the end." he then admitted with a heavy heart

Max then brightened up though looking on the positive side, "So as long as she is happy and her kingdom is safe then that's good enough for us." He then said at the end with a satisfied smile at the end shared by Rex for that was all that mattered in the end.

Hearing the boys' sappy story of heartbreak made Cera sweat drop in response, "That's a…mature way of looking at it." she laughed nervously while Zoe merely squinted her eyes and pouted jealously.

"Right….mature…." she muttered looking away in disgust.

Cera soon shrugged it off and got serious once again, "Though now the fact remains." she then said which made the others look to her, "The alpha gang will still have to answer for all the trouble they caused." After that a big tic mark appeared on her forehead as she began to pop her knuckles with anticipation, "What say we go give them their just desserts?" she suggested as the others nodded back at her without hesitation.

"Now that I can agree on." Max gritted his teeth punching his hand into his palm.

"Yeah…." Rex nodded as he scolded hard bitterly, still unable to forgive them for endangering the kingdom and Zahrah.

"Although on the bright side if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have gotten the red cosmos stone." Zoe then pointed out suddenly catching Cera off guard.

"Huh!?" She exclaimed widening her eyes in disbelief, "What did you say!?"

"Hey that's right!" Max then said, "Genie had the cosmos stone this whole time!" He said adding to Cera's ever growing surprise.

"Yeah and after we beat him the cosmos stone got carried away with the Alpha gang after they were brought back up." Rex then concluded at the end sounding much calmer now that he thought of it.

"In that case…..maybe we should be thankful for them I guess….." Cera then said at the end sounding rather conflicted on how to think of it. On one hand the Alpha gang did cause them and many innocent people plenty of trouble, bit on the other hand thanks to their buffoonery they finally got a break and have an edge over their foes.

"Though that doesn't mean they're off the hook just yet." said Rex firmly, "Especially for all the trouble they caused us in the desert and at the palace just now."

On that note Cera had to acknowledge that fact that they needed to answer for their actions, "I agree, let's go pay them a visit." They all stood up together and with firm, angered expressions they stomped out from the upper deck and headed to where the Alpha gang were, hoping to give them a piece of their mind and their just desserts for all the trouble they caused them.

 **(Later)**

Right after that, the D Team went straight to the laundry room to find Dr Z and his crew all in their underwear, apart from Ursula who had a pink towel wrapped around her, for after their recent skirmish in the desert Helga had them remove their clothes on the spot so they could be washed properly and thoroughly. As the D Team glared daggers at them, the Alpha gang couldn't bring themselves to utter a single word all put of shame, one for betraying the D Team all for their own goals and putting the kingdom in danger, the other for being pretty much stripped bare in front of them. "A…A…Achoo!" Dr Z then sneezed as he began to catch a chill without his clothes on to keep him warm in the air conditioned Backlander, "We're umm really sorry about joining up with the thieves down there." he pleaded in vain already knowing what they were in for, though none of the D Team bought it for even a second.

"I trust that apology about as far as I can throw Ed!" said Zoe as she folded her arms on her hips crossly.

"You should consider yourself lucky we were able to get the red cosmos stone." Cera hissed menacingly as her hands throbbed indicating she was barely able to contain her immense rage and going primeval on the A Team for endangering Zahrah and forcing them to fight one another for selfish reasons. Her tone sent shivers down the spines of the Alpha gang, as well as their souls as they could see a black and purple skeleton dinosaur like aura emanating from her, only barley held back by her own self restraint which was on the verge of giving out. Luckily for them she took a slow breath to calm herself down and let it go….though that didn't mean she was going to let them off the hook. She planned on finding the right punishment for them eventually, just now. A display which made the rest of her friends slightly uneasy when they saw her.

On that note Cera did remind Rex about just that as he then asked, "What did Helga do with the cosmos stone?"

Noticing a red glow next to his eyes, Max turned in the direction it was and noticed a glowing red ball on the wall, "Oh it's right here." he said as he began walking towards it.

As the others turned to where he was headed, they blinked their eyes in surprise as to how it ended up there in the first place without them noticing it. It was when Max reached out his hand for it that they widened their eyes in shock.

"No! Don't touch it with your bare hands!" Zoe cried, a second too late as Max grabbed it with his hand causing red energy to surge through him!

BZZT!

"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!" he screamed writhing uncontrollably as power cursed through every course of his body!

 **Sadly despite the success of the D Team things turned out to be rather bittersweet for Cera, let's hope she has better luck next time to come. Also as to how the parents hacked into Specter's computer from the house in Bad Deal, let's just say what Cera did here helps with it since her tinkering helped provide what they needed to do it.**

 **Also showcased here were alternate coloration of move dinosaurs from the arcade like the pink velociraptors for example, as well as the pteranodons with different colourings in Carnival of Chaos (Which I don't really consider canon though, so let's just say Reese upgraded their dinoholders at some point for their upgraded function). Also using other move card dinosaurs like the tapejaras from quick trike and tapejara dive, cryolophosaurus with haste and special recovery etc.**

 **In response to reviews**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Yeah the dinosaurs will get off easy but the A Team…not so much. And as shown here things ended off rather bittersweet but not completely a loss at least.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Sheer will use Genie, just that Cera won't be there to see it.**

 **Guest**

 **-After this one I have 6 more chapters till season 2 ends.**

 **-The matter with Seth's cryolophosaurus will be settled later, not now but she does get the move card cryolophosaurus if that counts.**


	42. Raiders of the pirate ship

Chapter 42

Raiders of the pirate ship

"No! Don't touch it with your bare hands Max!" Zoe cried though her warning came too late as Max grabbed hold of the glowing red orb, causing a jolt of electricity to surge through every vein, nerve and cell in his body!

BZZTT!

"WAAAAAAHHH!" He screamed flailing about uncontrollably with the huge amount of power flowing through him! His friends could only look on helplessly, unable to do a thing knowing if they grabbed him they'd suffer the same as he did, but they couldn't leave him to suffer such a cruel fate!

Just when they were about to take a chance and pull him away from it while risking their lives, Helga who stumbled by noticing what was going on, walked over to a nearby plug and pulled it out, causing the energy surge to ceae as Max fell down to the ground, despite the thud he felt as he landed on he ground he was relieved that his ordeal was finally over with.

"Max! You okay!?" Cera gasped in alarm as she and the others ran over to check on him, thankfully he was as tough as they come so apart from being relatively shaken up he didn't suffer anything major, which came as a relief to the group.

"Hey wait…." said Rex as he looked up and eyed the red orb that Max took hold of earlier which was now revealed to be no more than a red bulb, "That's not the cosmos stone, it's just a red lightbulb." he said.

"Oh yeah?" Max muttered as eh regained consciousness before sitting up straight, "Well it's a mean one…." he then pouted crossly.

"Must have just given you an electric jolt." Rex stated.

Cera then gulped feeling rather worried, if grabbing a mere bulb on the ship could give one a huge shock, who knows what other appliances could give one a nasty backlash in turn, way she saw it their own base could be a live minefield so she'd better tread carefully from this point on.

"You're lucky, if that was the cosmos stone who knows what might've happened to ya." Zoe added looking on the bright side.

"Yeah….who knows…." Cera sweated anxiously, having recalled in Japan that Lord Takeda had received a terrible ailment after coming in contact with the white stone, so whatever stones they secured would need to be handle carefully….though it was a statement that not everyone shared.

"So let's find out!" Dr Z cried out in excitement looking forward to experiment with the stone in their possession, "Where is that stone anyhow?"

"In the worst place possible!" Ursula suddenly moaned as the others looked to her curiously.

"Worst place possible?" Max questioned getting back up, "Where's that?" he then asked.

"The washing machine!" Ursula cried out rather dramatically which made them eye her questioningly.

"Say what?" Cera raised an eyebrow as they walked over to her.

"Ruining all my latest fashions!" Ursula then added in a panic which made Cera facepalm in exasperation.

"Seriously? That's your big emergency? What's the worse it could do?" Cera thought the old lady was being vain and overdramatic as usual. But as she and the others looked inside the machine, they widened their eyes in shock to see it wasn't what the stone would do to the laundry but more on what the washing would do to it as it tumbled about inside the wash with the soapy water and clothes!

"AH!"

"The stone will get destroyed in there!" Rex cried in alarm.

"That might not be the worst idea….." Cera gulped nervously as she backed away a bit slowly in case. Since the stone was as powerful as the space pirates and the Pterosaur said it was, no way it could be destroyed that easily….but in the event it did get destroyed? What then? Forget about losing an edge over the pirates, there could be repercussions on a cosmic scale which could doom them all to destruction! She sweated tensely as the stone blowed inside the wash and it appeared it could blow at any moment!

Thankfully a few seconds later the machine soon slowed down before the water drained away and the hatch unlocked itself as Helga opened it. Seeing it to be safe at least for the time being, Cera took a breath of relief as she went back in feeling it was safe to get close again. Slowly Helga began sorting out the freshly washed fabrics from the bundle before tossing them out to each of the Alpha gang, as they scurried to the corner to change in private before returning to the waning machine, where Helga had uncovered the red cosmos stone from under the remaining clothes and then picking it up with ease much to their surprise.

"Helga….what was the cosmos stone doing in with the wash?" Max asked curiously.

"What else? Keeping the clothes from getting tangled." the housemaid android answered

The casual answer made Cera sweat drop, "Not what I was expecting at all…." she thought having assumed it got into their pockets somehow in the wash, though for it to be thrown in deliberately was something she thought wouldn't happen. Especially considering how important it was to their cause she assumed she'd know it by now.

Ursula feeling exasperated herself walked over to one of the nearby baskets in the lower drawers, "Next time maybe use, oh I don't know….The actual detangled ball!?" she cried grabbing one of them before tossing it to Helga.

"There it is…." she said eying it closely before looking over to the others, "Thanks, here's this back!" she said with a smile as she tossed the red cosmos stone over to the D Team much to their alarm!

"WAH!" They quickly jumped out of the way in time to avoid suffering any side effects of the REAL cosmos stone! Miku leapt out to try and grab the stone but failed as it slipped out of her grasp at the last second! What happened next turned rather chaotic as the dinosaurs saw this as game of catch and decided to join in on the fun, which further added to the group's ever growing list of worries!

Chomp flipped up the stone with his horn while Tank batted it like a ball. Afterwards Paris let it slide down her back before flicking it with her tail as it passed by Spiny and Ace! All the while everyone cried out frantically to their dinosaurs to stop playing or grab the stone, all of which were blissfully ignored as the dinosaurs continued to play, as Helga watched on blankly. As much as everyone wanted to go in and get old of the stone before things got further out of hand, none of them dared to get in between the dinosaurs and their fun, either fearing they;d make contact with the stone and suffer the consequences, or that by ruining their fun the dinosaurs would take their anger out on them instead which could be just as worse!

As Spiny and Ace tried to get they turn with the stone they ended up bumping into each other and falling back, only for it to roll away and almost out the door….till it was stopped y the foot of the last dinosaur in the room…Terry….

Eying it closely and finding it to be rather intriguing, Terry opened his jaws wide and swallowed it down in one gulp, which made everyone turn pale upon witnessing what might be their own undoing.

Cera wonder-if it made Tank crazy and Ace affected-what could it mean for Terry?

"Uh oh…." Cera gulped down hard as she swallowed what may have been a rock down her throat. Recalling how Ace, Chomp, Spiny and Tank reacted when coming close to stones of their matching attribute….now that Terry, their strongest and most vicious of their dinosaurs made contact….

"That's a good boy Terry…." Ursula muttered nervously praising him, sensing the same bad vibes as everyone else did as Terry glowed with a red aura around him and becoming rather more menacing than he usually was. Despite that Ursula still held onto the hope that he'd be reasonable after all they went through, "Now give us the-" Immediately Terry, now surging with power like he never felt before went crazy as he rushed forward, speeding past and running circles around the gang before running all over the walls and ceiling with ease! Everyone could only look on in awe and terror at how much more wild he had become and no one dared to stop him knowing he could make mince meat out of them even in his small size now! Had he been in full size though he'd tear the entire Backlander apart piece by piece with his jaws in the blink of an eye, something Cera was deeply grateful for that he wasn't now.

"Someone grab him before he breaks something!" Dr Z cried clasping his face anxiously, Terry barely listened when normal but now he was both nearly unstoppable and uncontrollable! The worst of combinations possible. Despite that seeing they couldn't let him run loose as he was. Taking a chance, Ursula, Zander and Ed were able to get the jump on Terry at some point, as they were barley able to restrain him from moving any further, but still he was putting up a tremendous fight as he resisted and struggled with all his might!

"No Terry! Thats not yours!" Ursula grunted as she and her 2 friends felt themselves dragged slowly across the floor despite her best efforts.

"Ursula's right! It's mine!" Dr Z then yelled out which stopped him at last. Strangely enough, Terry stuck out his tongue holding the stone on it obediently to Dr Z, a rare momentous occasion which thankfully came with good timing as things began to settle. "Thank you, now come along." Dr Z then said calmly, "Let's have a look at that stone!" He quickly grabbed hold of the chibi tyrannosaurus before heading out the door towards his bedroom as the others looked on.

"Technically that stone shouldn't belong to anyone." Cera squinted her eyes crossly, "Not to the space pirates and definitely not you…." That kind of power should never be in anyone's hands, it could easily corrupt the noblest of intentions in the blink of an eye.

"We'd better go follow him and make sure he doesn't do something stupid with it." Rex suggested to the group as they all nodded and followed after the old man to make sure he didn't do anything foolish with the stone….despite how impossible that seemed.

Entering his room they found him gazing rather unsettlingly at the red stone inside Terry's mouth, as he began fantasising about the immense power now in his possession and how his dream of going down in history as dinosaur king would soon be realised. His train of thought was interrupted as Max suddenly shoved him off the bed wanting to look himself, "Let me!" he cried in excitement as he and the others got on the bed, crowding it up for a look at the jewel, "Ahaha, look at it glow!"

"It's kinda like a lava lamp…." Rex commented seeing it sparkle inside besides glowing.

"Yeah you're right…." Zoe breathed seeing the resemblance, "But way cooler….looks like there's a whole universe inside there…" she then pointed out as what appeared to be a galaxy swirling inside could be seen.

As the group looked on, Cera then gulped down hard nervously. She had to admit while it was beautiful beneath it was deadliness and unimaginable power. It unnerved her to think of what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands, and 4 of them were already in possession of the space pirates as they speak.

"Whoa…I'm getting carsick…" Ed suddenly groaned ruining the mood seeing the swirling stars make his stomach churn.

"Enough of this stargazing!" Dr Z then yelled interrupting them and further spoiling the moment as he got back up from the floor, "Let me study that stone now!" he demanded as he reached out for it!

"No way doctor!" Max yelled as he pulled Terry out of the doctor's reach in time!

"Hey!"

"It's too dangerous to study!" he protested hugging the little dinosaur close to him. Eying him Cera couldn't help but feel bad at the torture Terry was going through by having everyone stare, restrain or fight over him like a stuffed toy, not to mention having his mouth kept open so uncomfortably.

"Max is right, the space pirates know we have it and you know they'll come after us for it." said Rex with concern for what they might have planned for it or the means they'll do to achieve it. Knowing Dr Z he'd also try to harness it for his own means and no doubt put everyone at risk doing it, and even if he did succeed by some miraculous occasion that kind of power was still too dangerous if it was up for grabs.

Having known that Cera began typing into her dinoshot to activate the Backhander's jamming device remotely so that they could hide the red cosmos stone's energy signature and therefore keep them from getting traced.

"Why would they do that?" Ursula then questioned, "Don't they have 4 cosmos stones already?"

"Yeah, but they want all 7. I heard Sheer say so." Max answered.

"Me too." Rex added.

"And the Pterosaur told us that bringing all 7 together would cause big trouble." said Zoe worried for what kind of calamity the stones would bring forth.

"I believe it, one of them nearly destroyed all my laundry…" Ursula pouted as Max thought to himself seriously and Cera raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's nothing, try the universe." he then said making the whole Alpha gang gasp in bewilderment.

"AAAAH!?"

"You guys didn't know that already?" Cera sighed immensely as she smacked her forehead, "Weren't you guys listening to what the Pterosaur said the last 5 times she met with us?"

"Well in that case, I say we find a better hiding place for it than Terry's mouth." Ursula then suggested something rather intelligent.

Before Cera could think up a secure place to keep it, what Max said next startled them, "Or we don't hide it at all. And just give this cosmos stone to the space pirates, in exchange for our parents!" he suggested much to everyone's alarm.

"HUH!?" everyone gasped in shock at his words.

"But you just said they shouldn't have them all!" Ursula pointed out finding his idea to be crazy.

Rex suddenly caught onto Max's idea, "Wait I think I know what Max is thinking."

"Right there's still 2 more stones out there so if we can find one more, we'll be safe and have our parents back." Zoe smiled with hope that they still had a chance after this as Max nodded in confirmation.

Thinking about it, Cera saw the logic in their plan, but her eyes soon narrowed hard. Considering what was at stake on it was still too big a risk to consider playing the odds. In the event of an emergency they'd have to think up a few failsafe measures in case, any way to manipulate the odds in their favour would help, so that meant she'd have to analyse that stone later on as risky as that idea already was, then again the moment they set foot on this adventure they already took a huge risk themselves so there was no turning back or going through it half heartedly.

Unfortunately, someone else had beaten her to that idea seizing the opportunity while everyone was distracted by Max, "Now you see it! Now you don't!" Dr Z interrupted as he came in and swapped and switched Terry in Max's hands with Tank much to his surprise!

"Wha!?"

"At least let me study it until we run into the space pirates again." Dr Z suggested looking to them with a smirk on his face, "Just for some tests." Then he began doing something rather embarrassing, "Come on please! Pretty please with sugar!?" he begged acting innocent, "I'll be your best friend!"

Max's eye twitched and his stomach began to churn at the act, "Oh alright…." he reluctantly conceded seeing that Dr Z would no doubt keep it up till he got his way, "But be careful. There's just no telling how much power these cosmos stones have." he then added seriously.

"Oh yes! Quite right!" Dr Z then replied before grinning eagerly eying the stone in Terry's mouth.

Narrowing her eyes at it, Cera could easily tell Dr Z couldn't care less about their cause and he only wanted it to further his own petty ambitions, so it seemed she would have to take this matter into her own hands knowing Dr Z couldn't be relied on this, "I'd better keep an eye on it, seeing no one on this ship can be trusted with it." she thought to herself seriously, now all she had to do was wait for her chance, which shouldn't take too long considering how arrogant and clueless the old man could be.

Suddenly Jonathan appeared on screen getting everyone's attention, "Pterosaur communication!" he called as the rainbow Pterosaur appeared once more.

"Look! We got a cosmos stone Pterosaur!" Max pointed out pleased that they finally got success at last.

"Very good." she praised them while sounding relieved, "But there are still 2 left. Follow me to 1 of them." She said making a turn for a nearby time vortex as the Backlander followed after her.

"Lead the way! We're ready!" Max cried out in response eager for a new adventure as the ship shot through a light at the end of a tunnel, before appearing over a rather classy city which reminded them of a certain place back home. "So where'd the Pterosaur take us this time?" Max asked.

"The year 1615, Paris France." Jonathan answered.

Upon hearing his answer, Ursula and Zoe suddenly turned all bright and googly eyed before jittering with excitement over the fashions and classy garments that would await them down below, on top of that being in ancient China too so trends long forgotten in the present were no doubt here as well, the anticipation filled them with immense joy as they couldn't contain their excitement on wanting to go down as they began posing like models and speaking all kinds of french words the others couldn't understand nor would they want to…..

"Oh boy…."

"Here we go again…." Max and Rex both groaned knowing how this was going to end up. Cera on the other hand simply just observed, though she couldn't get why they'd make such a big deal of it, in the end clothes were still clothes and she was happy and content with what she wore right now. To her trends and fashion were just ways of businesses advertising their goods so they can make more money, a never ending cycle which ends up with most former versions being discarded or wasted, with customers buying into a scam which would only repeat itself in another never ending cycle later on.

She and the boys soon walked up to Zoe with serious looks on their faces as she stopped dancing and snapped back to reality, "Listen Zoe, we're on a hunt for a cosmos stone, so no shopping for any new clothes this time around got it?" said Rex pointing at her seriously.

"Aww can't we do both?" Zoe pleaded clapping her hands together flashing puppy dog eyes, "We should enjoy ourselves too right?" she then added smiling innocently. Her 3 friends raises their eyebrows or squinted at her, causing her smile to disappear before pouting with disappointment, "Okay fine…." she muttered with reluctance.

Dr Z on the other hand decided to enforce even more stricter discipline into his men as he shouted at the top of his lungs like a drill sergeant, "Listen up you 3!"

The Trio jumped together in a bunch and saluted him on duty, "YIKES! Yes sir!?" they cried widening their eyes and their hearts skipping several beats.

"Don't even think for a second that I forgot that stunt you pulled in Paris back in the 21st century!" he growled menacingly remembering how they deceived him behind his back, "You'll be spending every waking moment of your lives finding that next cosmos stone, if I catch you with even a single new piece of clothing, I'll take away all your allowances for the next 50 years!"

"AAAAAH!" They all screamed in terror before bowing down and prostrating themselves before him.

"You got it Dr Z! Loud and clear!" Zander cried out.

"Heck we'll even make sure we don't bring any spending cash at all when we go down!" Ed shouted which made Ursula perk up in alarm.

"Say what!?" she cried before shaking a fist at him, "Now that's just going too far! You can just forget abo-"

"Grrr….." A low growl and a fearsome glare from Dr Z quickly silenced her as she gulped down hard and waved her hands out.

"Right….no clothes or anything to do with fashion this time….not even saying one word of it…." she chuckled nervously before bursting into tears. She cried herself into the floor as a puddle seeped out from under her arms, dying inside from such cruel and unusual punishment as Zander and Ed patted her on the back comfortingly.

"Glad everyone's in agreement this time around." said Max with relief now they could all be fully focused.

"Meantime we'd better find a safe place to keep this stone." said Zoe as she looked to Dr Z holding Terry, whose mouth was still held open with the cosmos stone inside.

"I'll take charge of that part." Cera then volunteered while also seeing her chance as she quickly grabbed a nearby Alpha grapple claw, "Along with the stone itself." Using it she shot it out which took hold of and retrieved the red stone in Terry's mouth which caught everyone off guard.

"Hey!" Dr Z cried while the others widened their eyes and gasped at Cera's unexpected action..

"Huh!?"

"Don't worry, I'll find a secure place for this, so tight not even Reese could hack into it let alone Dr Z." she said confidently as she patted the claw in her other hand as it held on tight to the cosmos stone, "You can count on me for sure guys, I promise." she said to them seriously as her friends nodded nervously at her, deciding to trust her while also worried considering she was holding the immense power of a galaxy in her hand.

"O…k…." Max nodded as a bead of sweat wrinkled down his cheek.

"If you say so Cera…." Zoe gulped down hard.

"We'll trust you on this then since you're so sure about it." said Rex at the end with a hard look on his face.

Dr Z however, wasn't about to let a little girl like Cera one up him like that and get away with it, "You give that back this instant!" he demanded as he lashed out at her, "Or else you'll-" As Cera suddenly shot the claw holding the cosmos stone towards him, he stopped in his tracks and fell backwards to the floor! "AH!" he cried as the stone was held within an inch of making contact with his face as the glowing red light of the jewel illuminated his face. From that point he could tell that one wrong word and she may end up dropping the whole thing into his hands and he'd end up taking the entire power package which was no doubt way more than his shrivelled old body could handle.

"You want it? Here you go, it's all yours." said Cera as she had her hand at the trigger button for release, as everyone else stared in shock or backed away worried she might look to them next. Dr Z gulped down hard deciding to take back his words as he began sweating profusely when Cera looked to him with a rather smug look on her face, "What's the matter Dr Z? Didn't you say you want it just now? Go ahead and take it then." She said wagging it in front of his face!

Dr Z gritted his teeth in terror before smiling at her, "Ehehe…on second thought you hold onto it for now!" he pleaded conceding defeat, though inside he was screaming his head off in a rage at being beaten and having to relinquish his prize over to her when it was he and his gang that got it in the first place.

Seeing he learned his lesson for the time being, Cera retracted the claw and pulled it back towards her as Dr Z nearly passed out on the floor after the big shock his weak heart just got. After that she looked to the Alpha gang who froze and turned pale as she shot them a glare, "Anyone else want to try their luck and see if you'll be able to hold it without experiencing any side effect hmm?" The 3 of them gulped and shook their heads frantically in response as she smirked satisfied with their smart answers, "Heh, I thought as much." After that she turned around to take her leave, "Now if you'll excuse me I'll be putting this in safe storage." she said politely as she headed for the door.

As she began to take her leave Max, Zoe and Rex could only look on in sheer shock and amazement at Cera's boldness.

"Remind me never to get on her bad side." Rex muttered.

"We should be thankful she's on our side to begin with…." Zoe wheezed hard letting out a large amount of pressure inside her chest, while Max simply nodded in agreement to both their statements.

Soon after Dr Z awoke and sat up from where he was before shaking a fist in frustration at Cera, "You better not try anything with that stone behind my back! You hear me!?" he threatened though she shrugged it off without a backward glance.

"Hmph, I'm insulted if you think I'm anything like you Dr Z." she scoffed as she prepared to exit the door, only for a few of the dinosaurs follow a little behind to get a closer look at the stone.

Ace, wanting a closer look out of curiosity, jumped up and looked at the stone directly, but its red glow suddenly made him rather woozy as he then fell down on the ground and slipped down as if he was exhausted, his energy instantly drained as he let out a weak moan.

"Ace!" Rex gasped his eyes as Max and Zoe widened their eyes in surprise at what just happened.

"AH!"

"Oh!" Cera stuttered realising whats he did as she leaned down and patted him on the back, "Sorry Ace, I'll be more careful next time." She said holding the stone high up so the others couldn't reach it. After that Miku hopped off her shoulder and glowed slightly, transferring a portion of her energy to the chibi carnotaurus as he slowly began to push himself up again. After that Cera took her leave and exited the bedroom, leaving the D Team to ponder over what they witnessed.

"Did you guys just see that?" Rex asked his friends as Max nodded seriously.

"Yeah…." he mused noticing there may be something relating to the dinosaurs without a doubt.

Despite the shocking experience he just suffered, Dr Z still stubborn and persistent as always refused to accept defeat especially with his dream being so close at hand as he clicked his tongue, "Tch! If she thinks she can get away with stealing away the keys to my future dinosaur kingdom she's got another thing coming!" he hissed with determination before calling his henchmen together as they huddled together for a strategy plan, "Alpha gang, let's tail her and swipe that stone right under her nose!" he whispered knowing that once she leaves the stone unguarded they could do with it as they pleased.

"Y…Yes Dr Z."

"Right behind you." Zander and Ed nodded obediently though still scared as they always were.

Ursula on the other hand was looking forward to one upping the snotty girl as she grinned rather sneakily, "Hehehe, she'll never see us coming." she giggled as they tiptoed after her out of the room.

In one of the research rooms, Cera looked around carefully to see where would be a good place to hold the cosmos stone. She soon set her sights on a certain platform with several cylindrical tubes laid out nearby. "This looks like a good place to put it." she said as she headed to the console with Miku observing on her shoulder. Looking down she took a tube which resembled the Backhander's reactor core before plugging it in. Opening up the tube she carefully dropped the red cosmos stone inside and then closing the cap on it tight. As it did the container began to scan the stone and absorb samples of its energy as the tube glowed and twirled, "And now for a little extra precaution…." Typing into her dinoshot it caused the console to beep momentarily before she smiled pleased at her work.

"Anyone who think they can take this stone out or even lay a finger on this plugged in container while it has the stone in will be in for shocking surprise the moment they try." she snickered to herself wanting Dr Z and his goons to try their luck, it would be so funny if they did. While the security function would only activate while the cylindrical tube with the stone inside was plugged into the console, it would remain inactive if touched itself and unless a new tube was plugged into it. Way she saw it, it was a foolproof security measure as only she knew the deactivation code to turn it off, so it was pretty much in good hands. After that though she then narrowed her eyes seriously, "Still Dr Z did make a good point about analysing this stone's properties…." she then thought to herself as she keyed into her dinoshot which recorded the data the console recorded thus far after scanning the energy from it. "That should be enough, now to take a closer look at it in the lab." she thought to herself as she exited out through a different door which headed for the base's underground laboratory.

As it did, another door on the opposite end of the room opened, and peeping inside was Dr Z along with his 3 men as they looked all around the room to find no trace of Cera for miles much to Dr Z's relief, "She's gone! Now's our chance!" he said to them as they grinned sneakily at the console with the red stone inside before rushing over to it. "Hehehe, this is what she calls secure?" Dr Z snickered smugly as he rubbed his hands together with eagerness, "I could crack this container open with my eyebrow curler if I wanted to!" he then cheered as he fingers twitched ready to grab hold of the tube and yank it out where it was.

"She's really taking us lightly if this is the best she can come up with." said Zander feeling rather offended as he folded his arms and eyed the console in disappointment.

"Yeah it'll be easier than taking candy from a baby, only she's the big baby here!" Ursula giggled snobbishly. Though Ed on the other hand put a finger to his chin in thought, suspecting a booby trap without a doubt knowing how Cera always liked to think 2 steps ahead of her opponents, making sure they thought they won and accounting for whatever situation possible while doing the best she can with the current means available to stand against them. It was soon he realised it looked too easy but that didn't mean it was!

Dr Z unfortunately, having no sense of danger reach out for the tube, "Hahahaha! Now with this stone in my possession I'll finally become the dino-"

Ed widened his eyes, "Dr Z wait!" His warning came too late as Dr Z grabbed hold of the tube, causing a surge of pink electricity to surge into his body!

BZZT!

"YAAAAAAAHHHHH!" he cried out in pain while spasming hard all over!

"EH!?" The trio gasped taking a step back, surprised Cera really did have security set up and from what it looked it was a good one!

"Dr Z! We'll save you!" Ursula then yelled as she jumped in to pull away her boss with Ed and Zander as they bravely risked their lives together, though bravery turned to stupidly toon after as the electricity soon flowed from Dr Z into the 3 of them next and soon all 4 of them began spasming out with the power causing through them!

BZZZT!

"WAAAAAH!" They all screamed as their bodies became overloaded before finally and luckily being blown back into the wall!

CRASH!

The 4 members of the Alpha gang groaned on the floor in an almost dead like manner, while still charred black to a crisp and seeing their life flashing before their eyes.

"Urgh….."

"We just got cooked….." Zander and Ed groaned as Dr Z soon stood up stumbling about in a dazed manner.

"Alright Alpha gang…." he wheezed coughing up some black smoke, "New plan, let's not do that again…."

"I agree….I doubt even Terry could handle 3 seconds of a jolt that big." Ursula moaned while lying down on her back.

"And even if we did break into it somehow…knowing that brat she's probably rigged some explosive into it too…." Zander muttered with his face buried in the floor while sticking his finger up.

"Yeah or something way scarier…." Ed shuddered as he lay down on his belly, stunned and unable to turn himself.

After the evidence he was shown, Dr Z soon came to a definitive conclusion, "In that case we'll just have get another stone of our own….everyone on board say I…" he said raising his hand and accepting feet for now

"I…." They all said in unison standing up and raising their hands, before they all stumbled about dazedly.

"Urgh…." they then moaned before falling back down on the ground and passing out cold.

THUD!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Before heading down to the lab, Cera decided to make a quick stop to the Backhander's museum, where she placed her pocket full of jewels on top of an empty pedestal before taking notice of her potted plant from China, which had begun to grow quite well from its pot and sprout a couple of green leaves and even outstretched branches and even a wooded core stem too much to her amazement. "Wow, you're really growing fast, wonder what kind of plant are you." she said in surprise as she reached out and brushed its' leaves gently with her fingers before smiling lovingly at it, "Well, when this is over I'm sure Rex will find a nice patch of soil to plant you in back home." she whispered to it before leaving it be, knowing there was a more important matter at hand now. "Now to analyse that data Miku." she said to her partner who rested on her shoulder as they left, unaware the plant slowly began to grow an extra set of branches and spread out from where it was.

As they came down from the elevator, the doors opened up revealing the inside of Seth's old laboratory. Stepping inside and looking around, she felt bad vibes emanating from nearly every device and every corner of the room as she narrowed her eyes and feeling the tension in the air, "Never thought we'd actually come down here again…." she thought as bad memories of Seth experimenting on dinosaurs like stegosaurus and saurophaganax returned to mind. In fact just the thought of his name was causing many bad memories and traumatising moments to flood her mind and she could done anything to dam up the rush of old mental scars she harboured because of that one man and his dastardly deeds….especially for one particular incident that stood above all as her worst experience ever….

Before she could dwell on them for too long, she quickly shook her head clear much to Miku's relief, "No, Seth's gone and now we can turn this lab into what Dr Ancient intended it for." she told herself firmly not to dwell on the past as she had to focus on the present, "And that's to help ensure a bright future for dinosaurs and people," she said taking a calming breath and smiling at her partner who sat on her shoulder, "Which is exactly what we'll do right now Miku." she said to her as she cried in joy to see Cera was getting her act together and moving on.

Loading up the data she collected so far, and seeing the energy readings were spiking rather hard confirming her theory that the stones were indeed consisting of great cosmic energy. However, when she decided to bring up some past readings depicting the fire stone plate, she discovered the energy levels were the same, the only difference were that they seemed to be in reverse to the cosmos stone. "Interesting….the red stone's properties are similar yet different to that of the fire stone plate…..almost like an equal but opposite….." she theorised as she squinted her eyes at the readings closely, seeing that part from being opposite almost every figure was exactly the same, something which Miku took interest in as she hopped off Cera's shoulder for a close look.

"No doubt there's a connection that would piece this puzzle together, now we only need to find that connecting piece and how they fit in…." Cera then mused as began typing on the screens again, "Maybe some data from the pirate's pod and wreckage could help with that," she thought to herself as she brought up a fresh batch of newly decrypted data. "Let's just hope the computer's managed to decode more that can be useful." She hoped as she began searching through the records thus far. On it she discovered a function on the pod was designed to control wild dinosaurs like it did Genie, though it didn't work on dinosaurs summoned and controlled by users though since they have an activator signal on their controllers which shield them form being controlled by outside devices. She felt there wasn't any need to worry about that, considering the likelihood of another wild dinosaur to be very small.

When it came to information confirming the cosmos stones, it was rather limited though Cera decided every single bit of info to improve their understanding of the forces surrounding the stones would matter as as she looked through it carefully. When she did, she narrowed her eyes discovering something rather monumental, "I knew it….each of the stones had an effect on a dinosaur matching their corresponding element…." she thought to herself as she flashbacked to when Chomp was excited by the yellow stone in Rome, Spiny became agitated when in the Caribbean Islands and nearing the blue stone, Tank went crazy after being exposed to the light of the violet cosmos stone, then Ace sniffing out the white stone and eagerly trying to get at it. The evidence was as clear as the sun in the sky, though that brought up another question to her theory, "So then….why wasn't Genie affected after swallowing it whole like Terry did?" she wondered putting a finger to her chin in thought.

She suddenly widened her eyes realising something that could explain this, "Maybe…." After recalling how Ace was weakened when exposed to the red stone, she recalled the elemental matchups she once recalled it then hit her, "Of course…it's just like with elemental matchups." she gasped patting her fist into her palm seeing how much stronger the red stone made Terry because he was a fire dinosaur, while Ace being wind had the opposite effect. As far as she could tell, dinosaurs which matched the colour of the cosmos stone in question would be strengthened tremendously no doubt but to the point they are unable to control it as it would warp their minds and turn them berserk if exposed to too much of it, while weaker elements would suffer under its influence instead. Genie on the other hand being a water dinosaur must have been able to resist the properties of the fire stone or better yet neutralise it to which it felt no effect at all. The possibility of dinosaurs which may not have any weakness or strength towards certain cosmos stones meant they could resist it too though not as well as though with a stronger element. After putting together said theories she decided to record them on the computer for future reference.

This soon brought up another idea for her as she narrowed her eyes, "They're similar to the stone plates no doubt…." she thought as she looked through the decrypted data but frowned in disappointment at what she found, "But none of the data here explains why…." she huffed in disappointment though it did lead to her thinking up a brand new theory, "Come to think of it….7 stone plates and 7 cosmos stones…..7 elements…." she scratched her head in deep thought before realising from the cosmos stones already found there had to be only 2 left that were missing from the connection, "If I'm not mistaken there has to be a green stone and after that….maybe….a stone acting as the counterpart to the central stone plate….for secret element…." she thought seeing no other explanation for it. She looked over to Miku who looked back at her curiously as to why she suddenly focused on her all a sudden, a thought crossed her mind but Cera quickly decided against it as she shook her head chasing it away, "No…even if it could make you stronger, I wouldn't want to put you through that kind of craziness like it did Terry and Tank." she told herself not willing to take that risk.

She soon decided to consider an alternative as she put a finger to her chin in thought, "But still….if we can somehow manage to harness that energy and somehow manage to control it….maybe it can work to us like some kind of trump card even." she considered, "To do that I'll need more data on the stones…." suddenly she widened her eyes in realisation of an important clue to the pirates' motives, "Wait….Maybe that's why the space pirates need dinosaurs in the first place….it's not just using them as mere tools and means to an end, it could be because they are the key means to acquiring them." Bringing up an old clip on screen it displayed the armoured yangchuanosaurus being able to withstand the attack of the yellow cosmos stone when Spartacus attempted to attack with it. "Also….that armour seems to be able to resist the effects of the stones being used against them directly considering how it was able to block Spartacus' attack back in Rome…"

As she keyed in that information to the data logs, she then closed her eyes and folded her arms thinking deeply to herself, "Any dinosaur with the matching element as the stone becomes stronger but falls under their influence entering a berserk state." she noted before remembering the space pirates and their spectral armoured dinosaurs and how they nearly obey their orders perfectly, "But….with the spectral armour that dinosaur becomes completely under the control of the space pirates….so if they do manage to control that kind of power….." she began to shudder at the thought. Though the question remained, why haven't they used their dinosaurs with the attribute stones they've gathered so far? Only idea she could come up with was that they haven't perfected the technology needed to control a powered up dinosaur yet and won't want to risk it, or prefer to save their hand till they gather all 7 together.

In any case, Cera knew that the space pirates couldn't be allowed to have even 1 cosmos stone with them and she had to consider the possibility of a worse case scenario, "In the event we do fail to protect the cosmos stones, we'll probably have to destroy them without a doubt. An emergency failsafe measure if we have no options left." she thought to herself before typing into the computers once more, "Of course I'll still need more data to determine how to do that….." With that they soon came to a block in their research as they completed all the decrypted files thus far, which in fact was all the data uncovered from the pod as some of it was lost upon damage. "Though I wonder what happens if we do put the plates and cosmos stones together?" She then wondered out loud as she considered the thought of experimenting the result if they were to be close to each other, if they're opposite would some sort of reaction or neutralising action occur? It was worth considering.

Before she could try to do it, Miku suddenly squawked out at her, catching her by surprise as she looked down to see her jumping up and down flapping her wings frantically. Hearing what she had to say made Cera reconsider her idea, "You're right Miku, we don't have time for that. Also it'd be way to risky without everyone else's approval….plus it's just a theory so we can't be certain." she said to the micro raptor's relief as Cera began to send Reese the data and research they uncovered so far hoping she may be able to find something on her end.

Seeing their research had now hit a dead end with what limited information they had, Cera soon realised she had only one option left to her and she didn't like it. But her hand was no doubt forced and like it or not she had to play it and take a huge gamble if they were to gain an edge, or else they'd still be playing catchup which would be dangerous in their current position in this race against the end of time and space. "It seems the space pirates know a lot more about the cosmos stones than we do," she admitted knowing they knew more at what was going on than they did, so that meant only one course of action as Cera stood up and hardened her gaze, "We'll need to go straight to the source for that info." she said as Miku jumped back in surprise as Cera brought something up on screen, "And we might have the means to do it too." she said with a confident smile, looking at the schematics of the pirate ship pod they recovered back in China. If this belonged to them, there was no reason it couldn't be used to return back to the mothership and therefore give them a second chance at the enemy base once again!

Miku squawked in surprise at Cera's idea, as her partner looked to her with a firm look, "Yes I mean it Miku, we'll have to get back on board the pirate mothership, not just to save the D Team's parents, but also to get back the 4 stones those flying scumbags stole." The microraptor squawked in protest and Cera only lowered her head in response, "It's risky I know," she admitted before looking back at her seriously, "But now that we know what we're up against I say we take our chances. Besides…..I still have a little ace up my sleeve in case things do get a bit hairy this time around." she said smirking confidently with he ever trusty dinoshot in hand. "And these access codes will be our ticket in." She said as she plugged in her dinoshot and downloaded them into it from the computer. Seeing her partner wouldn't be talked out of it, and feeling assured in her own capabilities, Miku conceded and squawked back deciding to give her full support on this, which made Cera smile with relief to have her partner watching her back on this, "Thanks Miku, I always know I can trust you." she said as they eyed the ship on screen which was now docked in the garage and left like garbage, though not for long if she had anything tommy about it, "With a little tune up, this ship will be in a good enough shape to fly." she said to herself confident she could patch it up in no time at all, till a ring on her device soon caught her attention.

RING! RING!

"Huh?" Taking out her dinoshot she saw who the caller was, "It's Max." She pressed a button answering it, "What's up?" she asked curiously as the spiky haired boy appeared on her screen.

"Hey Cera, we just spotted Sheer on screen heading towards some kind of location on the outskirts of the city." he answered her as she narrowed her eyes hard upon receiving word that the space pirates had just made their move, "We think she may have found out where the next cosmos stone is, so we're going to intercept her first before she can make off with it."

"Hopefully we can get her to exchange the red one in our possession for our parents, then secure this era's stone after." said Rex behind him after he finished.

"I see…." Cera replied. It was then she recalled how the Ancients were probably sending her on a wild goose chase like she hoped they would, though she didn't take into account possibility of crossfire and innocent civilians, also they have no leads at the moment for the cosmos stone so their only course of action would be to tail them for the time being and hopefully find clues on their own while they were at it. "I still say it's a rather risky plan, but do what you must." she then said wishing them good luck. On top of that, while the space pirates were distracted chasing after illusions and false coordinates, this could be the perfect chance to get on board the ship undetected and maybe do some behind the scenes action, anything to either learn the enemy plans or sabotage them in the process. "I'd love to help you guys but I'm on the verge of making a breakthrough on the cosmos stone we have, as well as on a new strategy." she said keeping the most important part hidden so as to not worry her friends. "One which would help tip the odds more in our favour, in this situation we'll need every edge we can get and I can't afford to get sidetracked…." she said at the end, as much as she hated keeping secrets from them she knew there was np other way and hoped they would understand, which thankfully they did as they nodded back understandably.

"Okay…." said Max with a light smile, "Whatever you do or plan we hope you know what you're doing, so be careful okay?" he said at the end before the call was ended.

"I was just hoping the same thing." she then said to herself hoping she wouldn't regret the choice she would soon make, as she stood up and walked towards elevator which would take her to the garage where her new operation would begin. As the doors opened for one of the holding pens for vehicles, inside was the recovered space pirate pod where the outer hull was mostly repaired apart from the main systems, something which Cera intended to see to. Taking out some nearby tools and a welder mask she clipped it on as she switched on the welder which made a blue flame spark from it, "Let's do this." she then said as she got to work in bringing the pod back to 100% condition if it was to serve her needs.

The next couple of hours she worked hard to salvage whatever usable parts she could gather from the junk piles on board the ship, while also retrofitting any pieces she could piece together form leftover Alpha parts. While she handled the main mechanics and welded them in, Miku aided by crawling into tight spaces to install any circuits or tie together wires ensuring they connected. After a long while of working, they both sat in the cockpit as it came down to a single final touch, "Alright now to fit in one last wire…." a drop of sweat dripped tensely from her cheek as it came to the last crucial moment. It was all or nothing, the deciding factor of all her efforts so far. As she brought them together, to her delight a spark emitted between them as it was connected!

BZZT!

After that the consoles and switches began to light up around the ships' cockpit signalling it coming back to life and ready of light at last! "Aha! It works!" she cheered pumping up her arms while Miku chirped happily at last. After that she went over the controls one by one, seeing some functions which seemed to enable movement and flight as she closely observed them, "Okay controls seem straightforward enough….maybe I can get this to fly…." she thought to herself as she flipped up a few switches causing the engines of the pod to start up before it slowly began to levitate off the floor. "Steady….." Cera breathed knowing the equipment she put together was still rather sensitive so she had to be careful in how she handled it. Grabbing hold of the controller in front she began to steer it and it slowly floated around the chamber and it seemed to hold together well, in fact better than she first thought.

"Phew it works….thankfully…." she breathed letting out a deep sigh of relief. Having installed and retrofitted substitute parts and servos made from leftover Alpha mech bits she assumed the pod would become unstable and breakdown, or wore explode….it was a miracle it was working in perfect condition! She smirked with confidence as she prepared to press the switch on her dinoshot to open the launch bay so they could be clear for take off, "Okay now we-" before she could reach for the switch, the laboratory elevator opened up and stepping inside was none other than Jonathan himself!

"What's going on down here?" he demanded as he ran in, only to stop and step back in surprise to see the space pirate pod airborne and Cera was inside operating it! They both locked eyes with one another and widened their eyes in shock.

"Ah! Jonathan!"

"My word!" They each exchanged words of bewilderment.

Cera gulped down nervously seeing she had some big time explaining to do, "What are you…doing here?" she chuckled nervously as she began to sweat profusely under pressure, while Miku decided to hide from sight, jumping into Cera's lap unwilling to look Jonathan in the eyes considering the menacing aura he gave off.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." he responded as his eyes narrowed at her suspicious activities now, "I heard you were planning some sort of stratagem and discovered something about the cosmos stones so I decided to assist you per master Rex's orders." he said remembering the blond boy's instructions, "I heard all kinds of noises outside this door so I thought I come assist you with whatever you were building, though never expected you to be actually working on that pod." he then turned serious, "Don't tell me you're planning to deliberately infiltrate the space pirate's ship behind our backs once more." he then asked hoping that wasn't the case, for if it was he would have to resort to extreme measures to stop her.

Realising she got found out, Cera gulped down hard and scratched her head wondering how she could excuse herself from this, "I…err…well…." seeing how she planned to sneak off being everyone's back again and wanted to take the pod out for a spin to do it didn't really instil any confidence or trustworthy feelings in Jonathan, as his gaze remained firm, serious and unblinking as his eyes locked onto Cera. Eventually seeing there was no way she could excuse herself for the actions she was taking now, she consented deciding to take her lumps and confess the truth most reluctantly, "Yes that's right, I admit it Jonathan. I intend it do just that." she admitted after taking a long deep breath, hoping for the best that Jonathan would be able to see and accept her reasons.

Hearing her answer with no hesitation or hint of lying, Jonathan narrowed his eyes seriously, "If I may ask what drove you to making such a foolhardy course of action?" he asked politely though not in an approving tone, "If I don't like the reason I will stop you myself," he then said, "Master Rex gave me orders to protect him and his friends, which includes you as well. It would pain him most dearly if they were to lose you to the space pirates just like their parents did." he said to her with concern, hoping she wouldn't do anything rash or reckless.

"Yes, I'm aware of that Jonathan, and I completely understand and respect where you and the others are coming from." she then clenched her hand into a fist tightly and closed her eyes while tensing up with guilt, "But you weren't there….I lost them and I couldn't do anything to stop it…." she then hissed bitterly as Jonathan gasped being taken aback, "Because of me….they gave themselves up….I was their long awaited hope and then willingly gave it up just to save me….I let them down….." she sniffled as a single tear was shed from her eye. The feeling of guilt was welling up inside her consciousness, for crushing their hopes and making them feel they were deceived by an illusion after they prayed and waited so hard for a miracle only for it to be snatched away, she felt it was on her they were going through a difficult time right now as well for helping her get off the ship too.

"It's because I lost them I felt an enormous guilt wishing upon my shoulders and a hole in my heart….one which I haven't been able to forget and move on from." she said seriously, "I feel unless I rectify this failure, it'll continue to gnaw at my heart and haunt me to no end. Plus, with only 2 more stones on the line, I plan to give us every edge we can get, and there's so much more I can do to help behind enemy lines rather than out in the field or in here, and you know it." Jonathan said nothing back to her but listened to her side of the story, in fact seeing motive and sound understanding behind it as well, "In a war, we all have to take necessary risks and make needed sacrifices to achieve the final goal….." she said closing her eyes momentarily before opening them again, "And if the final goal means salvation of the universe then I'm willing to make this choice, even if it means I'll have to aim the sacrificial blade at my own heart."

"Cera….." Jonathan found himself unable to speak anything against her reasoning, seeing she took it most personally too. Seeing no other way of talking her out of it he then nodded with affirmation, "If you really must do this then I will respect your decision." he said as he conceded, seeing her resolve was strong followed by immense determination to back it up, it wouldn't be right to stop her when she's already made her decision. "But….you shouldn't bare this responsibility all alone. I can call the others and inform them about-"

"I don't want to add to the others' list of growing concerns," she cut him off, "Especially while they're out there they need to be at their best and fully focused." she then looked ahead of her as she began to type in some buttons and pull a lever to start the pod's thrusters, "You and Helga are needed here to keep things in the ship under control, plus make sure Dr Z and the alpha gang stay in line too. On a mission this big chances are they'll screw it up seconds upon entering." she said at the end.

"With logic like that I can't argue with you there." Jonathan mused putting a finger to his beard in thought, before his eyes glowed causing the roof hatch to open up, giving Cera the space she needed to take off. "In that case….all I can do is wish you good luck and pray for both your success and a safe return." he said as he bowed respectfully to her as he gave her his best regards and support, as he would await both the return of the D Team and her.

"Thank you….That's all I need Jonathan." was all she said back to him as she pressed on the lever in front of her which caused the ship's engines to roar and power up, "I promise I will be back." she said to him, "With everyone else…or at least doing something of equal value."

"I'll hold you to that promise." nodded the android in response as the pod let loose the power it was building up, and before long Cera and Miku both led away into the sky and disappeared behind the white clouds that rolled in. "When this is over, we'll do everything we can to help you remember the person you once were too. This I swear upon every circuit in my being." he then vowed to himself as he closed the hatch and returned to his station on deck to maintain communications with all sides, though in Cera's case she'd be on her own so all he could do was pray for her success, though considering it was her he was talking about….what was there to worry about?

 **(Later)**

"WHOA! EEEK!" Cera screamed as she spun out of control while inside the newly patched space pod, which suddenly acted up on its own and began spiralling wildly, spinning while moving in all kinds of random directions as she struggled to grab hold of the controls! Inside Miku too screeched as she grabbed hold of a nearby piece to keep herself from being thrown about inside like a rag doll! Cera's eyes began to tear up as the pressure pressed against her face, either she didn't know the controls as well as she thought or the alpha parts she installed were malfunctioning as she feared!

Thankfully, as she reached out and pressed a random button the first chance she got the ship soon stopped spinning and straightened itself at last, "Phew…okay take it slow and steady now…." she breathed deeply before stabilising her breath. After that grabbing hold of the controls and moving them smoothly rather than tugging at them hastily the ship began to plot a smooth and straight course from then on much to her relief, "Looks like I've finally got the hang of this….I hope…" she muttered still feeling very dizzy after the constant spinning she suffered earlier, but her will to press on and see this to the end helped her in resisting those feelings of nausea. Mike on the other hand, unable to withstand the experience, stumbled about as the world spun before her eyed before she fell down on her back passing out from the shock.

"Now if I can just lock onto the mothership's signal and isolate it from the jamming…." she then thought as she eyed the ship's radar and pressed in a few buttons, guessing them to involve contact with he mother ship. After a few failed attempts with nothing turning up she soon got a return beep which brightened her with hope that something went right at last, "Alright! We've got it!" she smiled with hope before her expression turned serious as she pushed on the lever which made her ship accelerate further ahead. Eying her ship's radar, it depicted a large beacon on it which was represented by the Spectral pirate mark, and that could be only one thing, "It should be right up ahead…." Cera looked up ahead to a blanket of white clouds covering the upper skies. Swallowing hard and readying herself she pressed on the controls which took them higher into the clouds above, as she and Miku (who just came back to her senses and recovered) both turned serious as they prepared themselves for whatever awaited them above.

Unfortunately, nothing could prepare them for what they were about to discover past the clouds. As they emerged from below, they widened their eyes and their hearts skipped a beat upon seeing a massive dark purple ship with spiral like ornaments orbiting it. It's very appearance gave off a malevolent aura as if there was a heart of pure evil lurking deep inside its' metal husk. Cera was soon beginning to feel she had bitten off more than she could chew, while Miku's eyes turn slit and she hissed upon sight of the ship, every fibre of her being detesting that mechanical monstrosity down to her core. "Whoa….that thing is even bigger than I thought it would be." As well as a whole lot bigger and meaner looking too. Cera gulped as a bead of sweat dripped from her cheek down to the floor of the pod, seeing a ship of that size and construction no doubt had the means to be able to travel through time much faster than the Backlander could, and considering the Backlander was the only time travelling vessel built in Rex's time, it was clear evidence that the space pirates may have come from an even further future or perhaps even from another planet.

She shook her head soon after, "We'll worry about all that later, right now we have a job to do and everyone's counting on us." she told herself to remain focused on the task at hand. Pressing a button a screen was brought up depicting a layout of the ship's exterior, "According to these schematics….the loading bay should be right about…here!" she pointed on it as a point on the ship's lower side glowed red marking her destination. "Here we go…." She then said bringing the pod down as it slipped under the ship. As she did and its shadow covered over them she couldn't help but feel small and insignificant in comparison, as she gulped down hard before looking ahead to see an opening she headed for. As she got in she found herself in the loading bay where several other pods just like hers were parked. Taking herself down she parked it closest to the exit so that she knew just the one to use when she would need to leave later.

"We got in without being detected or contacted." said Cera in relief before patting the console proudly, "Didn't think the minuscule jamming function would actually work." she thought having put it together using spare parts and based it off the Backlander's jammer with a smaller power need since it was downscaled for the pod. Opening it up and getting out she and Miku scanned their surroundings and to their relief found no enemies in sight thankfully, "No guards, guess they won't be expecting anyone coming through here." she thought. Considering the situation, with only 2 stones left for grabs, it's likely all 3 of the space pirates would be absent so there would be less security on board, a situation Cera intended to take full advantage of while their base is left mainly unguarded. "Okay Miku, now that we're in, let's to see our options here." she said to the microraptor as she brought up a small list she put together before they left, listing all the possible objectives they could aim for the moment they set foot in the enemy ship once more.

As listed they were:-

-Sabotaging the enemy ship's time drive so it couldn't get away to another time

-Disable the ship's jammer so they can locate it more easily and even invade it later as a group in case of an emergency

-Destroy the machines which supplied the pirates their forces, which may include their dinosaurs or move cards

And then, listed last but on her most important priorities were to either retrieve the 4 cosmos stones already on board, or try rescue the D Team's parents once more.

"You can choose if you want to, way I see it they're all equally important." she suggested to Miku letting her decide what they do first. Looking over their options, Miku then squinted her eyes closely at them before chirping at Cera who smiled at her answer, "Whichever's the closest huh? Smart thinking." she replied as she took out her dinoshot. Seeing it, the communicator was still jammed preventing any calls other than space pirate ones from leaving the base, as well as any outside calls from getting in too. Fortunately, from the schematics she downloaded from the pod earlier, she was able to download a map displaying the layout of the ship and its floors. Seeing it was massive beyond imagination, she then narrowed her eyes focusing on one room which caught her eye and was also the closest to their current position in the loading bay.

"This gel generator room seems rather suspicious…." she said seeing it was also worth checking out too, "Let's go see that one first." she said to Miku as they headed towards the door that lead to it. Heading through and entering down a narrow hallway, they soon came entered a room and widened their eyes in alarm to see multiple gel jarks patrolling the area! Quickly she leapt behind an isolated computer module, in time before a patrolling jark looked to her side and saw nothing, before shrugging its shoulders and moving off somewhere else. Peaking out from it carefully, she focused her gaze at where a large conveyor belt was placed at one end of the room and was surveyed by several gel jarks as they observed several ball shaped rocks that were laid out along the conveyor belt as they entered in from another room.

After that, a large mechanical part came from the ceiling came down and enveloped the rock at the end of the belt, and steam erupted from it as it glowed brightly! As it retracted itself back to the ceiling, as the steam cleared it revealed a full formed gel jark which beeped, communicating with its brethren which welcomed it to their ranks, before it hopped off the conveyor and the process repeated once more. Having seen enough, Cera could tell this was the generator room for all their foot soldiers, "So that's how they make those disgusting abominations…." she said seriously, "We'll have to take it out, that way we'll have less trouble, we already got plenty with the pirates and their dinosaurs so we don't need anymore." Miku chirped back to her in agreement as they noticed what appeared to be the control unit for the entire system, so no doubt the access codes for the machine were on it too.

"Now to get in range….." she said to herself before she and Miku nodded hard at one another. She carefully stuck to the shadows, hiding behind any large walls or consoles as they came while narrowly avoiding the scanning gaze of the guards thanks to Miku watching her back. Several times she had narrow close calls made evident as she had to hold in her breath or cover over her chest to still her shaking heart! Thankfully with her best efforts and their combined teamwork they were able to bypass the guards before managing to get behind the main console in time before a pair of freshly made gel jarks were able to spot her. Taking position, she began to type into her dinoshot before successfully isolating the control signal in it, "Alright, once the receiver fully loads I can hack this thing remotely." she said establishing a remote link into it though frowning soon after realising she couldn't access every part of the ship from here, "Too bad each of these systems are isolated, otherwise I'd be able to hack the entire ship at once." she said in disappointment.

Regardless she and Miku were able to complete their work and it was time they moved on to the next room….though in the time they did so, a large number of newly made gel jarks stepped off the conveyor belt and began walking about the room to get a feel of their surroundings and bodies. With so many more enemies than before now it would be that much harder to leave now. They both sweated tensely, but Cera, not giving into fear, observed her surroundings and thought carefully as she surveyed around her for anything she might be able to use as a diversion. Feeling something near her leg as she leaned back, she picked it up seeing it was a wrench. Taking hold of it she quickly threw it far ahead and it flew across the room till it smacked the back of one gel jark's head! Rubbing it sorely and picking it up, it looked up to see another one near it, assuming it to be responsible the first delivered a swift sucker punch knocking the other one down! After that as the other jarks turned to look to see what was going on, the 2 jarks soon began to get into a rather violent brawl with one another, employing hard wrestling moves like choke holds or suplexes, spurring the others to rush in to break them up while Cera and Miku, seizing their chance, scampered off past them till they came out the way they came!

Covering her mouth to hold in her laughter, she snickered hard after removing it, finding what just happened to be rather humorous indeed. "Thank goodness they're just as dimwitted as Dr Z's alpha droids are." she said in relief as she existed the room completely unnoticed. After that she brought the map up once more on her dinoshot and looking at her options available she settled on the next closest room to them, "Okay…the armour room sounds best now." she said as they headed there next. Passing through some connecting hallways they came upon a purplish room with a giant tube like device connected to a computer console, the tube looked big enough to house a full sized dinosaur too and it had a hexagonal mark at the top of the tube with what appeared to be a glowing light in it.

Looking closer she saw an ankylosaurus was roaring out in agitation inside it, slamming its tail in agitation on the ground before slamming at the walls of the tube to no avail. Seeng the poor dinosaur suffering inside made Cera clench her fist as feelings of rage began to build up inside her seeing how inhumane the conditions the dinosaurs were forced to go through or live under. It turned worse as a nearby gel jark walked over to the console at the machine and pressed a button on it, causing purple energy to emitted from a light above which then shone on the ankylosaurus itself! It roared in pain as it thrashed about and tried to escape the light which appeared to be forcing some kind of control on it, but its efforts were in vain as 3 spectral pirate marks appeared, 2 on its sides and 1 on its head as it soon submitted to their control and returned to the form of a purple dinosaur card which then fell through a hole in the floor of the containment tube and ejected out for the gel jark to retrieve and then leave the room to hand it over to the space pirate awaiting it.

"So this is how they do it…." Cera hissed in disgust as she gritted her teeth furiously, "Well not anymore." she then swore under her breath. No way was she doing to sit by and let them continue to do this to more innocent dinosaurs, also by doing this she'd be able to cut off their supply of dinosaurs too and make it all the more easier for the D Team to work too as they'll have fewer problems getting in their way. With the coast clear, Cera ran up to the console and did the same as she did earlier, isolating the unique signature of the armouring device before gaining a remote link to it like before. "The move card room's next." She then said next checking the map and seeing it was close by as they headed for the door connecting to it next.

Returning to the familiar room to find it still the same as before apart from the now empty move dinosaur pens, she typed into her dinoshot and smiled at what she found, "Looks like the receiver I planted here before is fully loaded, now all I need to do is press it and goodbye to new enemy attacks." she thought deciding to wait for the right moment to use it. After that, bringing up the map she saw 3 options to choose from here, "Up next is the time drive engine, the jamming room, the Taylor house and…" she slowed down as she came to what appeared to be her number 1 on her priority list, "The cosmos stone vault…."

As she weighed her options she felt sabotaging the time drive or the hamming room would render the space pirates incapable of escaping to another time period, as well as revealing their locations too, though both rooms weren't only far apart but were also the furthest rooms from where they were, and chances of getting spotted were very high and in the event they were it'd be a long way back to the space pod so it wasn't worth the risk. After that she soon moved on to the possibility of going after the D Team's parents again, this time with a clearer mindset of thought as she put a finger to her chin.

"Hmm….last time we were here we took the long way to save Max's parents and the others….." she thought to herself before frowning at the memory of being forced to abandon them, "But….after what happened before I can only assume they're now under even heavier guard now…." And by now that escape hatch had to have been sealed and there was no way she'd be able to carry them all out on her own. She soon clicked her tongue in frustration after being reminded of blowing her one chance last time, "Tch! As much as I want to go for them…..I…I think we should play it safe and get the cosmos stones first." she hissed deciding on their closest and highest priority of all as they headed towards the door leading to it.

The closer they got, the tenser the air became "Here we are….." she breathed heavily upon finding themselves at the large armoured door with the spectral pirate symbol on it, "Stay quiet Miku, we're getting close to the heart of this place." she warned Miku as she looked down to her, "Get ready, who knows what's inside waiting for us Miku." she said as the little dinosaur tensed up and nodded signalling she was ready for battle. As the doors opened, it revealed a rather empty room with circuitry implanted all along its walls, and despite being devoid of any sort of life the room still gave off a very eerie feeling, one which put Miku and Cera both on edge as they entered, looking around restlessly and remaining on high alert for any sort of booby trap or ambush lying in wait for them.

Despite their sense of caution, the 2 of them soon eased up as they lay their eyes ahead of them, a massive glass case in front with a nearby console, and inside it were 4 glowing lights, which she quickly recognised in an instant. "There they are….." she breathed pitting her hands on the continuer holding them in. At long last after their hard search had paid off, after losing them despite their long hard battles before, fate was kind enough to give them a chance to get them back. "The 4 stones….and yet….it all seems….too quiet….." she then said as her awe turned to concern. Looking around, she still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something still amidst but she couldn't tell what it was. She expected many guards and heavy security but couldn't see anyone or anything of the sort, and that was what worried her the most, it's what that couldn't be seen that was the most dangerous. Regardless of the possibility of a trap, she couldn't turn back now, she had to risk it as she took out her dinoshot and began to try and release the locks as she keyed in. Her eyes narrowed seeing extremely heavy level of security ranging from subroutines, firewalls and alarm triggers, the sight of it made her sweat somewhat nervously as she saw what she was up against.

"Okay….security here's tighter than anything I've come across so far on this flying fortress…though that's to be expected since these happen to be the pirates' most prized possessions." she said to herself before smirking confidently seeing it as merely another challenge to surmount, "Good thing this kind of thing never stopped me before." Taking out her dinoshot she began to type into it, and like before she began to scan for weaknesses in the security protocols before finding loopholes in the system to pass through and exploit, while hacking through and breaking down any blocks she came upon. It was a tiring process and with what she encountered she began to sweat tensely seeing it was a very close one as she had to decrypt the layer upon layer of security…..but her persistent remained as strong as ever as she pressed on, avoiding every subroutine that would take her off course or lead to her triggering the alarms, till at long last-

"Alright, one more firewall and then…" A click noise sounded at where the containers were, causing the glass seal to open and then the holding case to lower itself down to the floor, revealing all 4 cosmos stones inside them, the yellow, blue, purple and white stones all glowed together before her and both Cera and Miku's eyes glowed with bright joy at their beauty and their success at cracking the code! "Okay! We got it!" she cheered as Miku jumped up and down squawking with sheer joy. Their celebration and success was sort lived though, as soon after the containers fell out and hit the floor an alert alarm suddenly sounded inside the room and began to echo through every corner of the pirate ship!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"GAAAH!?" They both cried out in alarm and looked around to see flashing red sirens and the loud unbearable noise ringing! Cera then began to realise to her horror that the stones' container must have had some built in alarm that would trigger should they be opened by unauthorised means! That had to be the reason why there weren't any guards around, for the moment the alarm sounded everyone on board the ship would know and then come straight for the thieves who broke through in mere heartbeats! "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" Cera cried frantically scrunching up her hair seeing she blew it again, cursing her carelessness, while Miku screeched flapping her wings like a spooked chicken! Seeing no reason to act cautious anymore, nor being able to, she quickly reached out into her backpack and pulled out a toolbar and emptied it, revealing several tools including a wrench, scissors, wire cutter and a hammer! "Okay new plan, forget hacking, I'll smash through this thing with this!" she cried urgently, grabbing hold of the hammer and raising it up high above the containers!

"HA!" As the hammer made contact with the glass container it caused them to smash open into pieces, thankfully none of them made contact with Cera or Miku, as she quickly emptied her bag of its contents and quickly scooped up all 4 stones into them post haste! "Now let's get out of here!" she cried to Miku as the alarms continued to ring! As she tried to make a run for the door, a large gang of gel jarks suddenly burst through the doors making her stop in her tracks! "AAAH!" she screamed in horror as the army of slime robots charged at her with open arms wide open! She soon recovered from her initial shock and gritted her teeth. She had come so far and was now near the finish line, "Tch! You clowns aren't going to stop me!" she clicked her tongue in retort unwilling to let these slugs stop her from getting out!

Courageously she risked everything as she rushed ahead towards them much to their surprise, "HA!" expecting her to turn tail or avoid them, the jarks were unable to respond in time as Cera jumped up and kicked up on one of their rocky faces, instinctively she knew full well not to touch their slimy bodies and focused on their solid body parts as she used them as stepping stones, kicking off or kicking them away before making it to the other side where the door was! "Catch me if you can slime balls!" she taunted them as they ran after her, only to be stopped as she shut the door at the last second and they all slammed into it like a massive pileup! Down the halls she ran, narrowly avoiding gel jarks as they came and ignoring the sounds of the alarm ringing red alert as she focused on the end goal in sight! Once she got into her ship she'd be home free!

At last her persistence and determination paid off as the doors to the pod depot lay ahead of her, "The loading bay!" she smiled in delight as she entered through them, "Alright time to make a beeline for our ship and-GAH!" She stopped at the last second, her heels screeching a bit as she dug in and halted her run, as she found herself surrounded by a large group of jarks which anticipated her path to come through here as another bunch of them entered from the door behind her and they had her completely boxed in on all ends with no way of getting out! Sweating nervously, Cera swallowed down what felt like a rock in her throat as a sea of spiky pink blobs began to close in on her and her partner, "They must really not want us to leave with those stones huh?" she croaked to Miku who looked around frantically for a way through but saw no way through, as she snarled and flared up her feathers in agitation, though it did nothing to slow down the incoming army of gel jarks that were closing in and beeping rather angrily!

As they surround her and were on the verge of taking them both captive, Cera sweated tensely as she looked to Miku knowing it was time they played their trump card, "Looks like we'd better blow this joint Miku…." as her partner nodded back at her they both smirked, much to the gel jarks' confusion upon noticing it, "And I mean that quite literally!" she said out loud pressing the button on her dinoshot! At the armour machine, move card maker and gel jark generator, upon receiving the signal they began to blink red rapidly before suddenly-

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

3 separate explosions throughout the deep halls of the ship rumbled simultaneously, shaking the entire vessel and throwing many of the gel jarks off balance as some stumbled, fell down or crashed on others like domino blocks as they fell together in big slimy messes while trying to put themselves back together! Others began to notice smoke emanating through the vents and cracks made, panicking realising a fire had broken out several of them scampered off to put them out as fast as possible! Thinning the masses and giving Cera and Miku the opening they needed.

"Now if you boys'll excuse us!" she cried out as she ran ahead and leapt up high, as one gel jark which had just gotten up, turned to her in surprise as she and kicked down on its face, knocking it back to the floor as she used it as a springboard to launch herself and then somersault at her pod as she quickly hopped in without a second to lose! "We'll be letting ourselves out thank you!" she said with a wink as she started up the engines, getting her pod airborne which then shot out through the exit hatch and finally speeding away from the ship and to safety below the clouds! With the cloak now activated, she was finally home free and with the 4 cosmos stones in tow on top of that! Needless to say the break in was a huge success overall as they both fell back in their seats and let out deep gasps of air in relief considering they barley made it out by the skin of their teeth.

"Heh….we did it Miku….we actually did it!" Cera then cheered as she punched up to the sky with all her joy and energy, "Hahahaha! Woo hoo! We rock!" she cheered out pud at the top of he lungs while Miku squawked out her loudest and happiest bird cry ever. With that fiasco finally behind them, Cera felt it was time she got the cosmos stones someplace secure on board the Backlander, as she prepared to establish a call to it, "Now to give Jonathan the good news." It was a little tricky isolating the Backhander's unique frequency especially since it was in stealth mode, but after a while of trying she was able to pinpoint it and initiated the call through the ship's comm link, "Hey Jonathan! Come in it's me!" she called through the communicator, a while had passed and still no answer, which began to worry her slightly as she feared it may have gotten damaged or that something happened onboard the ship. She was about to consider landing the pod somewhere and call for pickup, when Jonathan's face appeared on screen at the last second.

"Cera? Is that you?" he blinked in surprise before smiling with relief, "When I received a pirate communication I was a little hesitant, but I never thought it would be you."

"Heh, yeah I get what you mean there." she breathed in relief admitting he had good reason to be wary but thankful he answered.

"How are things on your end?" he then asked her hoping for good news.

Cera then sighed slightly in response, "Let's just say the break in didn't go as I initially hoped for…." she said shaking her head, wishing she could do all she wanted but failed to do so.

Misunderstanding her words, Jonathan assumed it to be another big failure as the past experience as he closed his eyes and frowned in disappointment, "Oh….I see….I'm sorry to hear that….." was all he could say wishing he could offer emotional support and encouragement but couldn't find any way of doing so.

To his surprise, Cera juicily recovered and smiled strongly at him, "Don't be," she said to his confusion as she began reaching down off screen and pulled out her toolbag, "Let's just say I managed to make off with a little consolation prize." As she unzipped the sack and opened it up towards Jonathan, he widened his eyes to see the blue, yellow, white and purple cosmos stones glowing together inside them! "Or should I say prizes."

"AH! The cosmos stones!?" he exclaimed in disbelief nearly falling off his seat. Getting closer to the screen and pulling it in till his face nearly covered it entirely, he choked on his words and found himself nearly speechless, "H…How did you-"

"I'll explain it all later." Cera cut him off seeing this was no time for it now, "Right now prepare the loading bay for my return, also switch on the jamming signal now, I don't want us to be followed after the smash and grab I just pulled." she said to him as he nodded back firmly.

"I'll do it right away. Master Rex and the others will be most pleased to hear this when they return." he said at the end before ending the call.

Before long as she looked below her, she saw the Backlander drop its cloak as she could see it clearly and the opening of the landing bay appeared before her on top of the massive ship, "Heh, they'll be in for a big special surprise when they get back and get a load of this." she smiled feeling pleased with herself and with the odds now turning in their favour at long last….though with the old saying with pride soon comes a fall, they would soon face an unexpected hurdle coming their way soon enough…..which could once again shift the balance of power in a way they'd never expect.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back on the space pirate ship however, Specter was not taking the surprise event on his ship very well. Having been woken up by a beauty nap himself by the explosion, he checked on screen and saw all the events that had transpired so far on his own ship and under his watch. As he saw Cera not only cause severe damage to many of his devices like a rat sabotaging a vehicle, he shook tensely like an earthquake as his immense anger and hatred, usually held back by his holy flamboyance was slowly building up in every cell of his body before it erupted and he exploded with uncontrolled pent up rage! "GAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!" he roared at the top of his lungs, turning red and steaming hot before slamming his fists on his chair till they were on the verge of cracking! No words could describe the sheer anger and emotional instability that was going through his mind at this point, one phrase to describe it would be beyond furious.

"This is unacceptable! How did one of those meddling tykes possibly get on board my ship!?" he screeched so loud that some computer screens around his room shattered at the sound of his voice. He gritted his teeth and gnashed them like a feral beast as he went over the computer footage repeatedly, from Cera's arrival on his ship to hacking his devices remotely and having planned her escape by using the explosions as a diversion and then throw his guards off into chaos, "Not only did she get onboard like some stowaway rat and caused my ship a whole lot of problems that'll cost a lot of precious time to patch up, but she also made off all my precious cosmos stones!" He then teared up and began biting his pink handkerchief and stretched on it while throwing a childish tantrum, like a baby had his toy taken away.

On his lap, his blue apatosaurus opened its eyes groggily before yawning out loud and grunting in annoyance. Hearing him, Specter gasped in realisation before gently stroking his beloved pet and partner along his scaly back, "Oh! I'm terribly sorry my sweet Brontikens….did I disturb my precious little boy's nappy wappy?" he said talking babyishly as the chibi apatosaurus yawned dreamily before falling asleep again and nestling comfortably in Specter's lap. "There there, thats a good boy…." he said with a bright smile as he petted his dinosaur with a gentle hand, in fact Brontikens was the only one he ever showed love to, and he always had since the day he first met him after his revival from a fossil in a restoration room, he knew it was love at first sight between them.

His smile soon vanished as he looked up and became reminded of the thievery which happened under his nose, "Grr! Those brats….they've been nothing but bothersome thorns in my side all this time….dogging poor old me and my crew at every corner….." he growled cursingly as he tensed a fist which hook with immense fury, "But for one of them to sneak on bar day ship not once…but TWICE!?" he growled as he recalled not long ago this happened and she nearly made off with the D Team's parents, but she escaped. Now she did the same, this time successfully stealing something of most important value to him, "That goes too far!" he snarled as he chomped hard on his hanky once again. After that he took a deep breath to calm down his racing heart and rising blood pressure before his pupils glowed a rather sinister red. "I swear I'll get them back and make each and every one those meddling kids pay if it's the last thing I ever do! Even if I have to level every city to the ground or turn this very planet inside out to do it! RAAAAARRRGGGHHH!" he then roared shaking his fists out in the air as his blood shrilled cries echoed the halls of his ship.

"You need not waste valuable energy chasing after a mere rat Specter." a clam voice spoke to him which caught the lead pirate's ears.

"Hmm?" Turning around while seated in his chair he saw Seth, his most trusted partner walk in before standing before him with a composed expression on his face.

"For you see, I already have a plan in motion which will result in all of the cosmos stones being returned to you on a silver platter, I can assure you." he said with a small smile which peaked Specter's interest.

"Oooh? Do tell Seth, I am most interested." Specter jittered excitedly as he brought his floating chair down so he was on equal level with Seth.

"Gladly." Stepping in and whispering his carefully calculated scheme into the pirate's elf like ears, the leader pirate's eyes soon brightened up with anticipation.

"Oh ho ho ho! Now that does sound delicious indeed!" he clapped his hands together with joy before grinning sneakily, "Those troublesome ankle biters think they can sneak on board my ship and steal right under my nose do they?" his grin soon turned psychotic as he rubbed his palms together as he turned around again to the screens, "Well wait till they get a taste of their own medicine! Oh yes, payback will be so sweet. Hehehehe!" he snickered.

"Indeed," Seth nodded in agreement, "They are far too trusting and naive. That's what makes them all the more predictable and easy to manipulate." As he said that his gaze soon turned sinister as he pointed it right at Spectre, "Just like you…." he thought as he patiently waited for the perfect opportunity to not only have his enemies destroy each other but in the end stand above as a God over an entirely new universe he would forge with his own hands.

Specter, still oblivious to Seth's treacherous nature, soon turned back to him in a smitten manner, "Oh Seth you always come through for me, it truly is a blessing that the universe gifted me with such a reliable and faithful friend." he said lovingly as Seth quickly hid his smirk to conceal his motives, though Specter was almost as dimwitted as Dr Z was, he didn't want to take his chances yet.

"Yes…indeed…." he said monotonously, with a hint of annoyance as well.

Spector himself though turned serious as he looked back to the screens and focused on one of them which featured Cera in the center, "Still, the fact that one of those kids was able to make it onto my ship a second time around, no one ever gets that lucky!" he growled before strong his beard with his fingers, "You don't think this is entirely a coincidence do you Seth?" he asked.

"Not a chance." Seth shook his head, "The fact that Sheer, Gavro and now Foolscap haven't managed to locate this era's green cosmos stone by now is clear evidence that this is all the work of sabotage." he then narrowed his eyes, "And I can only guess who the ringleaders of this operation are." Pressing a button on his remote it showed the Ancients being lead back to the Taylor household.

The sight of the realisation made Specter grit his teeth and clench one of his hands into a fist, "Grr…those weasels think they can pull wool over my eyes and get away with it do they? Well not on my watch." he then grinned and snickered eagerly knowing just the right punishment fitting for this, a special song he wrote specifically to torment prisoners which he wrote himself! "They'll soon remember their place and learn to never step out of line again hehehe!" he giggled with glee before taking some throat spray from his pocket so he could clear his throat and prepare his voice for his musical mayhem of doom!

"And in the meantime, I'll be sure to build you an entirely new cosmos stone detector." Seth then stated intending to get more on the pirate's good side so he could further exploit his position to his advantage, "One which will lock onto the cosmos stone's energy signatures and pinpoint true coordinates on top of that."

"Heh, I like the sound of that very much." he smirked but soon hardened his gaze at the image of Cera once more, this time seriously as he put a finger to his chin and leaned in for a closer look, as if her very own face had stirred up some rather old memories of his at the back of his ancient mind, "Still….I have this itching feeling on the back of my mind….that girl…." he thought out loud, but being unable to put a finger on it he clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Tch! Just looking at her face really gets under my skin…." he then hissed, "In fact….she almost reminds me of….no…it couldn't be…." he muttered, finding it impossible to be her.

Seth blinked his eyes catching his words, "What do you mean Specter?" he asked feeling rather interested in what his connection to Cera may be.

Spector however shook his head and shrugged him off, "Never mind! There'll be plenty of time for stories later, and plenty of it once we have all 7 cosmos stones in our possession." he replied before looking to Seth, "Right now you have your orders, succeed in them and I'll generously reward you a seat as my right hand as ruler of the universe when this is all over with. Do not disappoint me." He added at the end with a hard gaze as Seth nodded and turned around to take his leave.

As the doors began to close, Seth soon regained his trademark malicious smile, "Yes….as you wish…." he whispered softly as the doors closed behind.

Back inside Specter took a look once more at the screen and leaned in closer for a look at the girl who managed to infiltrate his base , "Still…the resemblance is all too clear….not to mention her level of skill…don't you agree Brontikens sweetie?" he said to his partner who opened his eyes but soon locked them with Cera's image. The little sauropod narrowed his eyes and growled low apparently recognising her too. Eventually Specter began to feel so nauseous he couldn't take the sight of her a second longer as he switched off the screen and looked away, "Nah, I must be getting so old my mind's playing tricks on me." he then said shrug it off before clearing his throat and beginning to practice his solo serenade for the D Team's parents, "LA LA LA LAAAAA!"

 **With the first and last chapter for Ancient France, Cera has managed to make big success in shutting down the pirates' attempts in making more armoured dinosaurs and retrieving the yellow cosmos stone! Surprised it was the stones and not the parents?**

 **Here it also shows Seth being the one to build the new detector used in the stone age era too, wanting to address as many plotholes as I can. Now the real challenge that shall test the D Team will soon come, stay tuned as the final arc approaches!**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Guest**

 **-What Sheer did was use her ship to implant the control marks on Genie, as in the anime.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Yup I agree with you, was also enjoyable to write as well.**


	43. Bad deal

Chapter 43

Bad deal

A long while had passed since Cera had returned to the Backlander, after her narrow escape from the Space Pirate ship which she informed Jonathan about and to which he was deeply impressed by, not just by her achievement but also the fact she was able to get back relatively unharmed, a feat which exceeded every expectation he had of her. She told him not to inform any of her friends yet, for she wanted to keep it a surprise and make sure they stayed focus on their current mission, to which he agreed to, as she soon left to undertake another project of hers.

Now she was hard at work in one of the lab rooms, having acquired some samples of spare scrap metal she worked tirelessly, after scanning the shape and size of the cosmos stones she had begun to carve out replicas of them using parts the alpha droids were able to gather for her, which she then melded together into a perfect ball shape and then spray paint them till their colors, shape and size were as close to the originals as they could be down to the smallest dimension.

Not long after she finished she soon got word about the D Team and Alpha gang having just arrived back on board the Backlander, she decided to head over and fill them all in on everything that happened on her side as well as hear about their adventure in France. Along the way to the cosmos stone storage room, she soon came upon a rather unusually sight, "Hmm?" she noticed the Alpha trio, Ursula limping out with her back hunched while drooping her arms heavily forward, with Zander and Ed walking alongside her as they passed by Cera without acknowledging her presence much to her surprise.

"Urgh….why did Dr Z have to do that to us?" Ursula moaned as she looked up and her eyes were rather heavy with tears of pain, "We were just complimenting how warm and cuddly he truly is underneath that hard and wrinkly exterior of his and this is the thanks we get? Talk about ungrateful." she then sniffled feeling rather devastated on the inside.

"I think it's something everyone calls tough love Ursula." said Zander looking to her.

"Well he didn't have to be so tough….." Ursula pouted after that before feeling a sharp sting cross her backside, "Oww my back…." she cringed as she rubbed her throbbing with her arm.

Ed then gave her a small smile, "You the more you complain like that over a bad back, the more I'm starting to get why those kids kept calling you-" he quickly clammed up and turned pale as Ursula shot him a demonic glare, complete with red eyes and a nasty dark purple aura, looking ready to consume his soul!

"Don't you dare….." she hissed menacingly as Ed quickly gulped down hard and stated profusely.

"Uh huh…." he nodded swallowing hard before they continued on to the upper deck where Jonathan was.

A they passed by her Cera couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and fold her arm on her hip in question, "Wonder what happened to them?" she mused, feeling it was no doubt involved doing something stupid as usual, must have messed up or something and then got punished by Dr Z as per usual. Hearing footsteps ahead, she turned and smiled seeing her friends the D Team had just came upon the same hallway and were heading for the upper deck too, only to find Cera in their way as she waved to them, "Hey guys!" she greeted welcoming them back as they smiled brightly too.

"Ah Cera!"

"You're here!" Zoe and Rex called out back to her as they ran up to where she was.

"We were looking for you just now," said Max rather excitedly, "We've got great news, we just know you'll love to here it!" he added with a grin.

"Oh? Do tell…..I'm interested to know." she mused as her fiends looked to one another and chuckled or smiled before deciding to give her the great news, as well as important info as well.

"Heh, you won't believe what we just went through earlier." said Rex.

"Yeah it was quite an adventure." Zoe nodded before clapping her hands together, "And we got the green cosmos stone too! So it's a huge score for our side!"

She soon widened her eyes in amazement, "Whoa! You guys got the green stone!?" she explained in shock. Cera expected to hear great and interesting things, but admittedly that wasn't one of them, as she leaned in closer to them wanting to hear the while story, "How'd you do it!? What happened!? You've got to tell me everything!" she pleaded taking them back by surprise.

"Hey! Hey! Slow down Cera!" Max waved his hands out feeling his space was being violated.

"Yeah we only just got back so calm down." said Rex trying to calm her down before folding his arms on his hips, "You should've come with us you know, it's way more fun and action packed than staying up here all cooped up in the Backlander."

Cera then stepped back realising he did have a point there, "I get what you mean…." she admitted scratching her cheek before looking to them seriously, "But I did manage to come up with a new strategy in mind which could come in really handy later for us, not to mention I managed to make some really big breakthroughs too."

"Okay fair enough…." Rex replied shrugging his shoulders, "Glad you were able to keep yourself busy and come up with something good."

"In fact, any little tidbit you come up with that can give us an edge or help us understand the cosmos stones or our situation always helps." said Zoe feeling interested to hear what she had to say too.

"In that case let's trade secrets." Cera then suggested, "You share what took place on your end then I'll spill the beans on what happened on mine."

Max then grinned deciding to accept this deal of hers, "Heh, better get some popcorn Cera, cos it's a pretty long story." he added folding his arms with confidence.

Cera then smiled back at him, "I'm all ears, please tell me everything and leave nothing out."

Her friends soon began to bring up their entire French adventure from start to finish. How it started out with the space pirates and the french government going after various monuments and structures, tearing them down even and ruining the livelihoods of the people there all in order to find the next cosmos stone. Ransacking properties and persecuting the lives innocents, starting with an orphanage then to a noble's household, nearly destroying his precious heirloom. While the orphans didn't get along with the D Team at first, blaming them for the destruction of their home, things eventually got off to a much better start when the D Team taught them about working together and eventually managing to give them a new place as the King's guard. What was even more surprising was that the Alpha gang helped play a huge role in acquiring the green cosmos stone, and not just that, they were even orphans taken in by Dr Z much to Cera's surprise as well and without them they'd never have been able to defeat the space pirates' newly upgraded armoured dinosaurs.

"Wow…..I have to say that was quite the adventure." she whistled feeling deeply impressed, she was filled with mixed emotions, among them involved congratulations for their efforts but at the same time some concern now that the stakes were that much higher now and they were faced with new opposition now that the space pirates had grown ever more desperate. Though one feeling in particular stood out among all the others as she looked behind in the direction where the trio exited to, "In fact…..maybe the alpha gang aren't all bad after all…." she then said with a light smile.

The others then nodded with her in agreement, "Yeah, I think I may have developed a newfound respect for them too….even Dr Z." said Rex, having nearly all his past animosity towards the doctor disappear.

"If he was more like how he used to be, maybe he wouldn't be such a bad dinosaur king after all." said Max as he folded his ams behind his head in thought.

"Maybe…." Cera replied before putting a finger to her chin in thought as a worried look appeared on her face, "Though I am quite worried….about those new armoured dinosaurs you talked about."

The others soon mirrored her expression feeling the same way, "Yeah, they're like nothing we ever seen before." said Zoe.

"They nearly creamed us too…." Max croaked, seeing that not even their ultimate moves could scratch them.

"We could barely handle one of them and they have 3 of those monsters." Rex added, recalling it took everything they had to bring down Gigas and how the space pirate had 3 of those armoured dinosaurs. What's to say they'd have more and would have to fight them for the last cosmos stone eventually.

"Paris and I were lucky," said Zoe with relief as she let out a deep sigh, "If it weren't for the green cosmos stone giving her the boost she needed, I don't think we would've made it." she said before scratching her hair uneasily, "Even though she did go a little crazy after that….."

"Yeesh….let's not do that again…." Max then shuddered as Rex nodded with him, knowing it was a rather close call when Paris turned on them and they were able to get her under control before things got more out of hand.

Hearing their story, Cera then folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, "Hmm….Looks my theory and research was proven to be right after all…." she said to herself though failed to nonie she was thinking out loud as the others looked to her curiously.

"Huh? Theory?"

"Research?" Rex and Max both asked as they blinked their eyes.

"Oh sorry, I was talking to myself there." she apologised snapping back to reality before deciding to inform them what she uncovered so far, "I may have came upon something while analysing some data from the red cosmos stone earlier."

"You mean you were studying the red cosmos stone along with Dr Z?" Zoe asked.

Cera shook her head, "Research yes, with Dr Z? No…." She corrected, considering Dr Z wasn't the most cooperative lab partner around, being highly egotistical and wanting to do things himself.

Hearing she uncovered something about the stones perked the D Team's interest, "Okay so, what did you find out?" Max asked.

"Yeah, think you could share with us what you figured out?" Zoe followed just as curious as her friends were.

She nodded in response, "Gladly, though get ready because it might take a little while." She soon began to explain how she noticed the cosmos stones hold elemental properties that corresponded to certain dinosaurs. And like elemental matchup, she made note of the fact they had similar effects too, and the fact that Paris was made more powerful by the green stone was proof of it.

"Whoa now that's really deep." Zoe whistled while the boys looked on in surprise.

"Yeah, I never would've thought the cosmos stones would be connected in some way to the dinosaurs while also containing the power of an entire galaxy within them." Cera replied, "And that their effects on them are kinda like the stone plates and elements too…." Looking back she recalled to when each of the dinosaurs who were in close contact with the stones began to act rather erratically, such as Terry, Tank or Paris as they went crazy after taking them in. On top of that those who were in close proximity to them like Ace, Chomp and Spiny were able to sense where they were and even hone in on them.

"Since we found 6 stones representing the 6 attributes, perhaps the 7th stone could be for Miku?" Rex then asked as they looked to the young microraptor who was nested on Cera's shoulder before looking to them curiously, unable to discern why they were staring at her.

"That's possible, though I can't say for certain…." Cera replied putting a finger to her chin in thought, "All I can say was that they were probably made around the same time as the stone plates were and are connected somehow." she added, sensing there was some kind of difference between them too but that was where her research had hit a block, "But other than that I've pretty much hit a dead end." she then said lowering her head a bit with a sigh.

"I see…." said Rex soon after, having a feeling that the last piece to this cosmic puzzle could be the most important one of all, maybe even being the deciding factor between victory and defeat. Soon after that he smiled encouragingly as he reached out and put a hand open her shoulder making her look up to him and the others, "Well keep trying Cera, anything you figure out we'll take it." He said proudly while Max and Zoe smiled on.

"Thanks for the support, and good work out there too." Cera nodded before smiling appreciatingly too, "For the time being, I'd like to continue examining the stones we have so far and hopefully find out if or how we can utilise their power to our advantage. See if there's a way we can control it so that our dinosaurs wouldn't be so easily influenced." she said, "That way we'd stand a much better chance against our enemies the next time they come knocking with those super armoured dinosaurs of theirs."

"Was that the strategy you were coming up with earlier when we called?" Max then asked.

"Part of it." she answered him which came as a surprise, hinting there was more she had been up to since they left. She soon realised she had to spill the beans, knowing they'd figure it out sooner or later from Jonathan or the space pirates, so taking a deep breath she opened her eyes firmly as she braced herself for whatever response they'd give her, "You see-"

Moments after she spilt the truth about what else she had been up to in their absence-

"WHAT!?" They all exclaimed in utter disbelief at what they just heard.

"You went on board the space pirate ship again!?"

"This time deliberately!?"

"Are you serious!?" They each screamed before glaring at Cera so furiously, despite that Cera held firm where she stood showing almost no sign of weakness…almost.

"Y…Yes…I did…" she said looking away unable to look at them in the eye while Miku shuddered and covered up her face while shaking in terror. Despite that she had no regrets for whats he did and was prepared for whatever punishment or consequences there would be.

Losing control of himself out of anger, Max rushed in and grabbed hold of Cera by her collar, "What were you thinking!?" he yelled angrily, "Last time you were lucky to get out, were you trying to see if you could do it again!?" Zoe was tempted to pull Max back not wanting to go too far, but Rex held her back with his arm and stopped her with a firm look, not wanting her to get in between them, plus he wanted to hear a proper explanation from Cera, "Why didn't you tell us anything!?" He shouted once more glaring into her eyes.

Despite the fearsome aggression she was shown, Cera held firm as she swallowed hard and stated her point, "If I did would you have let me go through with it?" As soon as she asked, Max's anger slowly subsided as he was at a loss for words or on how to respond, causing Cera to pull his hands down as she freed herself from his grip, "Of course you wouldn't….." she then closed her eyes seriously, "And I knew the risks all too well, after all I was there the first time."

"Then why'd you sneak behind our backs and do it again!?" Max then demanded angrily as he tensed his fists at her, "We're a team aren't we, we don't keep secrets from each other let alone do anything reckless that would endanger us all!"

Cera then sighed deeply, feeling Max's firm words pierce her heart like an arrow, "Reckless yes I admit it was…." she said before looking up at him seriously, "But from a strategic perspective, I had to think of a smarter way to fight against the space pirates," she said as Max and the others blinked in confusion at what she meant, "Because it was clear if we kept doing things as we did we'd only be several moves behind them and you know it. I simply saw it as a way to infiltrate their base while they were all focusing their efforts on finding the next stone, to see if I could learn anything about their plans so we'd be ready for them." as she said that she then turned rather downcast as she soon came to the main reason for her rash decision, "Also….because I couldn't save your parents the first time….I…felt it was on me to make it right the only way I knew how…."

Upon hearing her final reason, any hostility the D Team bore towards her soon disappeared and was replaced by sympathy instead, understand her pain of failure was just like their own…or perhaps maybe even more so.

"Cera…." was all Max could utter out as he lowered his head feeling rather ashamed of his shouting earlier, when he should had taken the time to understand her motives first.

Rex and Zoe looked to one another before looking to Cera sadly, "We understand…." said Rex empathising with her, "But still, you don't have to bear this all by yourself. You've already done so much for us, if anything were the ones who wish we could do more like you could." he said.

"The way you keep getting on board without us to back you up, it doesn't just make us worried….but it also makes us think you don't trust us enough to help you." Zoe added, "And you didn't let us get the chance to see our parents too…..it's been so long since I last saw my mommy and daddy…." she then said clasping her hands sadly over her chest.

Cera could feel her own heart beginning to crack inside her, mad evident a she grasped her own chest tightly feeling a massive ache of guilt come over her as she hissed, "I know that….and I'm sorry for worrying you still….I know it was selfish of me to not consider your feelings….but…." she forced out whatever word she could from her soul before she came to a loss of words, as Miku cooed and nuzzled at her cheek hoping to bring some comfort to her, sensing sadness and regret from her, and feeling sad herself when she realised her efforts to make her feel better didn't bear much fruit.

Feeling more at ease, Max gave a small smile as he then patted her on the shoulder lightly, "What's done is done, let's not dwell on the past." he said forgiving her while also apologising for his earlier behaviour.

"What matters is that we both learn and move on from it." said Rex as he nodded firmly.

"Which is what we'll always do." Zoe smiled at the end.

Cera sniffled and wiped away a small tear from her eye before nodding at her friends' words, "Yeah you're right…." she then said.

As soon as that was over, Max then turned bright and hopeful, "So then….did you manage to get our parents out this time around?" he asked excitedly hoping for some great news as the others listened in closely to what Cera would have to say.

When those words left Max's mouth, Cera gulped down hard feeling rather hurt at having to answer a hard question. She hoped to surprise them with what she had achieved first, but to be reminded of what she couldn't do made her feel rather defeated inside, "No…." she said looking away still feeling rather ashamed at both her failure and for letting them down again, "Sadly things got even more complicated and out of hand this time around after I got off the first time." she admitted, looking back on it last time she was ill prepared and the second time was due to her underestimating the enemy's defences.

"Oh…." was all Max uttered out as he and the others sighed heavily, feeling their hopes crushed once more.

"But!" Cera then called out catch their attention in time, "I did manage to reap some rewards from that trip," She then took down the small bag she was carrying and laid it out in front of them as they eyed her curiously at what she was presenting them, though nothing would prepare them for the surprise she had in store. "Rewards I'm sure you'll all be really proud to see." she said with a confident smile as she opened the bag widely, revealing the other 4 cosmos stones tucked away neatly inside them!

As the stones glowed together in a spectrum of bright shiny colours, the D Team gaped in awe and were stunned speechless at the gift she presented before them! They felt their eyes were playing tricks on them but there were the real thing! The first 4 stones they lost to the space pirates were now before their very eyes!

"WHA!?" Max exclaimed sending back in disbelief.

"No way…." Rex breathed.

Zoe pointed out unsteadily as she looked to Cera for confirmation, "Are those-"

Cera nodded, "The first 4 cosmos stones." she answered them with a smile, "And now with the 2 we have, that means we have 6 out of 7."

"You…got them all back?" Rex breathed.

"By yourself?" Max then asked.

She nodded back at them once more, "Wasn't easy….but I did it. And that's not all." She added to their surprise as she smirked, "I also managed to do a little sabotaging too from the inside." She said holding up her dinoshot and twirling it in her finger, "And let's just say we won't be seeing anymore NEW dinosaurs from them for a while. Not to mention their supply of slime soldiers will be running pretty low too."

Immediately, her friends soon sported very bright and hopeful smiles before jumping at her in a huge dog pile of joy and excitement! "Ahahahaha! Cera you're the best!" Max laughed out loud as the others joined him in celebration of this miraculous moment gifted to them.

"Ah!" she gasped in surprise unable to respond in time as her fiends began hugging her affectionately in nearly every corner of her body! Thankfully Miku was thrown off her and didn't get engulfed by them otherwise she'd soon join her partner in the afterlife from before having the life being squeezed out of her!

"Yeah! To think you pull off 2 break ins and a heist too!? You're like….amazing!" Zoe squealed completely unaware of what she and the others were doing, while unable to put her feelings into words.

Cera smiled understanding their excitement as she felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside her which helped chase away her doubts from earlier, "Hehehe…you're welcome guys….like I said anything to help the team." she said, keeping her word to do her best for their cause as they soon let her go and decided to give her space.

"Okay I take it back Cera," Rex then admitted as he bowed apologising to her, while she helped Miku back onto her shoulder, "Maybe some risks are worth taking in the end."

"And this may be one of them." said Max before patting her on the shoulder giving her his approval of a job well done, "Good job, you really did the team a lot of good. Though next time, please keep us in the loop next time?" he then asked her.

"That way we won't be worried so much and we can trust you better too." Zoe followed.

Understanding their reasoning she nodded back at them, "Noted."

After that, Max grabbed hold of the bag and eyed the stones closely with excitement with the others, "This awesome! With all 6 cosmos stones we'll definitely be able to get our parents back for sure!" he cheered.

"And if we can get the last one and keep it out of the space pirates' hands then we'll still be safe." said Rex to him seeing the end goal in sight now.

"Yes we could do that." said Cera after hearing their plans, "But….rather than risk it all and play the odds…." As she said that the others looked to her curiously as she handed them a small brown cardboard box she also had on her, "How about we manipulate them more in our favour instead?" Opening up she revealed 4 unusual looking round balls inside them which the D Team took notice of as they agtehrend around for a closer look.

"Hey….what are those?" Zoe asked curiously.

"They look almost like the cosmos stones you showed us." said Rex.

"I spent a lot of time making these copy stones from leftover parts lying around the lab." Cera answered them, "It took me some time to carve out pieces exactly the same size, shape and colour." She said picking up one of them harmlessly, "As well as a little touch of glitter powder and glue on top of that." She said showing it off all around, "It may not be a perfect counterfeit, but it's better than nothing right?"

Seeing where she was going with this, Max soon grinned and snickered rather deviously, "Hehe yeah. Just wait till we see the look on those pirates' faces when they find out all they got back were just a bunch of coloured rocks." he thought rubbing his palms together eagerly.

"And we'll have our parents back too so it's a huge plus for us too!" Zoe cheered pumping up her arm before realising a loose end they had to tie up, "Though that does leave the last cosmos stone." she then said as everyone looked to one another seriously.

"Yeah, no way we can just leave it unresolved can we?" said Rex, "And even if we do get our hands on it, what do we do with it?" He then asked knowing it'd still be very risky if they kept it on board together with the 6 stones they had now.

"Good question…." Max then admitted as he put a finger to his chin in thought with the others pondering over how they should address that last loose end. He then shook his head seeing no point in worrying about what they couldn't do now, "We'll worry about that later." he said as the others looked to him, "Right now let's just focus on getting our parents back, then we'll focus on the last cosmos stone." he said pumping up his arm firmly.

"Mhmm." The others nodded back at him.

"Meantime now that we have 6 stones maybe I might be able to study them more efficiently." Cera then stated, "With enough data and understanding of their properties perhaps we might be able to find a way to destroy them too, that way we'll eliminate the threat they pose once and for all. Plus it right also work as a better barter in comparison to a trade in case it negotiations don't go as planned." she suggested.

"That's actually a pretty good backup plan too." Rex nodded seeing that to be a way better bargaining chip than the stones themselves.

Max and Zoe then smiled proudly at her in turn, "Always thinking of the bigger picture and several moves ahead."

"That's Cera for you." they complimented her as she smiled feeling greatly encouraged by their kind words.

She then lowered her head down nervously, "I just hope I'll be able to find it too….." she then said at the end as she gulped down and sweated somewhat, feeling slightly pressured now with everything coming so close to the finale she could sense, and working over whether she can do her part or whether her best would be enough.

Thankfully her friends had faith in her that she'd always come through in the end, as Max reached out and put his hand on her shoulder again as she looked to him, "Hey, no sweat it Cera." he said to her with a reassuring smile along with everyone else, "You've helped us come this far, if anyone can figure it out it's you for sure."

"Yeah, you can do it, we believe in you!" Zoe cheered punching her hand up.

"We're counting on you Cera, we couldn't have been more proud to have you as both a friend and member of the D Team." Rex concluded at the end.

Looking around her, Cera could feel her heart touched seeing how much faith that was showered on her, as she put a hand to her chest and smiled emotionally, "Guys….." she breathed unable to express the joy and appreciation in her, till she wiped away her tears and nodded, "Thanks….you're the best friends someone like me could ever ask for…." she then pumped up her own hand with confidence, "And I promise I won't let you down." she said as she turned around to leave. It wasn't long though before she was called back unexpectedly, as her friends quickly remembered something.

"Wait Cera!" Rex then cried out making her stop as she looked back curiously to them.

"Yes?"

"We almost forgot," The 3 of them then walked up to her with something in their hands each, which appeared to be clothes of a sort. "Before you go, let us give you something first!" Each of them handed to her a blue outfit complete with maroon hat and even a sword too.

"Wow, nice musketeer outfits." she whistled impressed as she eyed them intently, "They even come with swords too." she said seeing them to be authentic indeed.

"We got these as a nice momento from the teen musketeers earlier." said Max, "It'll be a nice way to remember them by."

"Also there's this." Zoe walked up and held a purple card in her hand which she then gave to Cera, which featured an ankylosaurus on it.

"Foolscap dropped this card when we were fighting earlier." Rex explained recalling when their combined ultimate moves blue him off and he ended up dropping this card as a result which they quickly grabbed before making a run for the rope bridge, "If you can find a way to get that spectral armour off that'd be great for the dinosaur too." he said, not wishing to have to fight and hurt it, and also considering it was quite a challenge too.

Looking at the card she narrowed her eyes on it as she recognised it as an ankylosaurus that got armoured on board the spectral pirates' ship, no doubt this had to be the same one. "I'll do just that." she said to them vowing to free it from their control, "And maybe it could provide a clue to finding a chink in the new armoured dinosaurs you fought earlier today as well." she added on top of that hoping she could find a way to give them an edge over their foes now that they were taking things to the next level at the most crucial point in this battle. "After I'm done storing the other 4 cosmos stones and with all this, I'll join you guys up above later when you make the trade." she said to them after getting all the things she passed to them while trading them the fake stones she carved from scratch.

"And we'll let you know how it goes too." Max replied, "Good luck in your research Cera." he then said to her.

"And best of luck to you guys in making that deal." She answered back as she went past them to the cosmos stone vault and the D Team went to the upper bridge. As they did, she narrowed her eyes seeing they were reaching the endgame of this adventure across space and time soon, so they'd have to give it their all now and make every action of theirs count from here on out.

As she passed through the doors, she took notice of Dr Z doing a rather jolly jig as he began fantasising over the power the cosmos stones the 2 stones he had wielded, and the almighty dinosaur kingdom of the universe he'd be able to build with it as his disposal, with it he could no doubt reign as king of the world even! His moment though was cut short when he realised he wasn't alone as he stopped what he was doing, "Hmm?" As his met with the young red haired girl of the D Team, staring at him blankly at his strange dancing, his mood instantly soured, "Oh it's you, what do you want?" he grumbled in annoyance, "Can't you see I'm busy trying to figure out how these cosmos stones work?" Looking at him now Cera was finding it very hard to believe he was the same good man her friends and the Alpha trio described, then again old age can deteriorate anyone's health and personality in due time. "Scram! Beat it! Shoo! Leave me alone! I can't focus with you around to distract me!" He then yelled out shaking his fists demanding she leave the premises at once, while at the same time feeling bitter towards her from instilling a trap into the cosmos stone holder that he hadn't been able to crack for hours and that was really gnawing away at his ego at being outdone by someone as young as her.

She then smirked smugly knowing exactly what to say in this case, "So I guess you don't want the other 4 stones then hmm?"

Dr Z soon froze at her words, "Say what?" He stared and watched

Flash

"AAAH!?"

Drop jaw and he fall to knees

"You….You actually…."

Tries to take but she closes bag

"AH!?"

"Since you want me to leave so badly, I'll just let myself out and take these with me."

As she turned to leave the room with the 4 stones in her hand, Dr Z couldn't take it a second loner as he suddenly exploded, "WAIT! STOP! DON'T GO PLEASE!" he suddenly pleaded desperately grovelling on the floor, as she stopped and looked back to him with a smirk seeing she had him in the palm of her hand now. "Ehehehe….what I mean is….I've been working so hard with deciphering the secrets to these stones that perhaps I may have been a teensy little bit….uptight…." he chuckled nervously as he rubbed his palms together trying to look as innocent as possible though she didn't buy it for a second.

"A bit?" Cera

"And for you to bring back not 1 but now 4 cosmos stones, I say good job you….you!" can't find words to say, pained that he have to take back and be grateful to D Team

"So umm….why not put them together with all the other stones so they won't get….umm…lonely?"

"Since you asked so nicely Dr Z I'll do just that."

Take out tubes and plug in

Dr Z wanted to knock her out but hesitated fearing she may retaliate

"AAAAAH! Just look at 6 stones glowing together, it's so beautiful!" he grinned widely as his eyes sparkled with the glow of all stones together, seeing such beauty and powerful before him and now in his hands, "Almost as beautiful as the dinosaur kingdom I'll build using them too!" he squealed childishly as he couldn't wait till he started putting them to good use, just as soon as he discovered their secret and found a way to use it.

Decide to leave it to him, see him as child with big dream, kiddish but pure dream

Dr Z excited about kingdom and they decide to leave him to it for now

But sees inside may be good after all

"Now leave me be! I need some alone time with these sparkly jewels and I don't want you breathing down my neck!"

Somewhere in there….

Deciding to respect his wishes for the time being she turned around and excused herself from the premises, but not before stopping at the entrance and looking back to him, "You know Dr Z." she said with a small smile as he perked up and looked to her, "From what I heard from Ursula and the others maybe you might not be such a bad king after all."

He then grinned and chuckled to himself proudly, "Ehehehe, why it's natural they'd think that. After all there's no one worthier to have that crown other than me! Hee hee!" he snickered folding his arms on his hips and snickering with narcissi.

"I'm sure you could," she replied deciding to entertain him and his thoughts, "After all you're a really nice guy deep down." she added at the end which made him freeze in place.

"Huh?"

"I mean you did save Rex's parents and raised your henchmen up since childhood, come one there's no denying it." She said grinning mischievously at him.

Dr Z's heart began to race and he sweated anxiously as he shook his arms out, "Y…You! You're talking nonsense!" he cried trying to maintain his evil scientist facade and save whatever pride he had left in him, though not was far too late for that.

"Come now, there's no denying it, I heard the whole story already from everyone else." Cera chuckled which made him turn pale, "I almost gave up on you changing, but maybe now there's actually hope for you yet." she said at the end before turning around and leaving him to his work.

As Dr Z froze stiff, stunned speechless that his biggest secret of all was blown, Cera could see that it would take time for him to turn his life around, old age may have taken a toll on his outlook on life and even made him slowly grow rather senile, making him more rash and impatient in achieving his dreams, but perhaps there might be good in him after all and he could probably achieve his life long goal in due time.

He soon exploded in a massive hissy fist, "GRAGH! Those tattle talking weasels! I'll get them for this if it's the last thing I doooo!" he yelled out loud, stomping his feet and flailing his arms swearing vengeance on the trio for spreading gossip behind his back.

"Eventually…." she sighed with a light smile as she left the premises, though also with a better impression of Dr Z now.

Cera soon made a small trip to the artefact room, putting the D Team's musketeer outfits on display at the podium there before eying the 7th empty one, pounding over what might fill that spot to come. As she left the room, she didn't take notice of the tree in the pot that was slowly beginning to sprout white flowers along its branches.

After that, she headed back to the labs below, where she placed the ankylosaurus card on a scanning pad and its image was brought up on screen, followed by various readings as the entire armour dinosaur card was flipped around and scans were performed a over. "Hmm….getting this armour off won't be easy…." Cera thought to herself as she pursed her lips eying the readings which were rather unsettling, seeing that the dinosaur's energy levels had to have been enhanced in order to make it be able to handle the spectral armour. Not just that, the armour in the card also acted like a kind of shield to prevent the cards from activating by external sources too meaning other controllers or elements like sand or water wouldn't trigger an activation, which could only be done by the pirates' own activators. Looking back on it she recalled how the armour was forced upon the innocent dinosaur, which made her tense up and harden her expression in disgust seeing how easily they saw dinosaurs as tools rather than living creatures.

Looking at the results all over, Cera turned rather sad when she couldn't find any way of removing the armour through other means with the equipment around her, and battling wasn't an option since only the pirates could summon it to the field. She was about to give up and give in to her frustration and stress at finding no answer, when she heard some flapping noises behind her, "Hmm?" Looking around she turned to see Miku bouncing up and down on an unusual blue and grey machine shaped rather like a cross between a cannon and a stapler, which she assumed to be rather sensitive considering most devices in the room were made by Dr Z, and were just about as stable as he was on a normal basis. "Hey Miku, stop jumping like that, you'll hurt yourself." She said while walking up to her, before picking her up and putting her away from it.

After that she blinked her eyes and looked back to it curiously, "Hey…What's this anyways?" she asked herself as she stroked her hand across it. Walking around and getting a 360 degree examination of it, she soon realised it was the alpha controller Dr Z used, "This machine was what the alpha gang used to control their captured dinosaurs….even alter their personalities to improve control over them." she said to herself before hardening her expression at it seeing it to be just as despicable as the pirates' methods. She soon however widened her eyes them in realisation at an idea, "Wait….could this maybe?" Eying the ankylosaurus card she placed it on the platform inside the controller, and after keying in some protocols into it she took a breath as the moment of truth arrived, "Okay, fingers crossed, let's hope this works."

Clipping down on the alpha controller, a bright light soon shot out from where the card was placed before some steam erupted from it. As she lifted up the top half of the controller and picked out the card which was hidden underneath all the smoke, she widened her eyes seeing it was back to being a normal dinosaur card again, every trace of the spectral pirates' armour was wiped clean from it! "Alright, it's back to normal now!" she cheered happily at the successful process seeing now the dinosaur was finally free to live as it wanted to. "Maybe this insidious contraption can have a use for good after all….." she then thought eying the alpha controller and patting it with approval, as a pink support droid soon entered the room waving its long wire arms out, "Put this in the dinosaur vault with the others please." she asked it as it took the card from her hand and went off in the direction of the vault.

BEEP! BEEP!

After the droid exited the room she returned to the hug monitor and began to type on screen, "Now….I think it's time to see what those new spectral dinosaurs that Max and the others told me about are like….." she said with slight hesitation in her voice, worrying about what she might find on the other end of the screen. Mustering up whatever courage she had, she took a calming breath before pressing the enter button and the windows were brought up. What she saw on screen was far worse than anything she could ever imagine. Cera felt her heart skip a beat and her arms grew limp as she saw 3 heavily armoured dinosaurs, a tyrannosaurus, stegosaurus and triceratops, encased in spectral armour unlike any they encountered before. Named Gigas, Armatus and Maximus respectively, she saw it wasn't just a new appearance but also a new power.

Giggs was able to handle the attacks of Ace and Paris at the mansion, and even withstood Ultimate Earth and Ultimate water from Spiny and Tank! Not just him, the other 2 dinosaurs too were just as powerful, and the armour didn't merely act as a means of improved defence and attack power, it too carried a kind of armour ability, seeing Spectral Lancer and Spectral Punisher being utilised to wipe out nearly any opponent that was unable to get away in time! It was similar to the ultimate moves except their required no move card to be activated, this was a clear sign that their enemies were getting desperate and improving their arsenal in the process as well.

"These dinosaurs….that armour….these power readings….." Cera breathed as she read the energy charts which spiked hard, "Compared to the armour we've faced so far, these are on an entirely different level….." she said looking over them and comparing them to other armoured dinosaurs they fought. Seeing how it took the strength of Chomp, Ace and Spiny to beat Gigas and now they had to fight 3 was very worrying. Another eerie factor was that even after defeat Gigas' armour didn't break off either, which could only mean one thing, "It's even permanently attached to them…." Cera wheezed, "No normal dinosaur could handle that kind of power….unless…." She soon came to the realisation that these dinosaurs had to have been experimented on in order to be implanted with such power! The thought of dinosaurs being experimented against their will, it brought up an old memory she had locked away deep inside her….one she had buried deep down hoping she'd never recall it again since the day they last saw I'm disappear…..but seeing all this before her eyes reawakened those old nightmares and scars of hers and it made her hiss bitterly as the form of that man responsible for all this appeared before her…Seth….

"Tch!" she hissed and shook her head hard, doing her best to erase any image of that despicable man from her mind, but the evidence before her keep bringing back those bad memories of being tortured in the prison by him and the altered dinosaurs he used as well. No matter how hard she tired she couldn't forget, as if they had embedded herself deep into her psyche and she couldn't dig them out no matter how hard she tried! "How dare they experiment on dinosaurs like mere tools!?" She then yelled banging her hand on the console which made Miku jump back in shock at her sudden outburst. Taking in a few deep breaths, era began to recollect herself and realise she should have seen this coming….that the space pirates would do anything to achieve their dastardly means so they couldn't care less about methods or even morals…just as long as their end goal was met…..so she shouldn't have been surprised.

Seeing the reality of the situation, Cera then opened her eyes firmly as she let it all flow away through her, instead of fighting against those bad memories she used them as an eye opener to realise that there was only one course of action open to them now that their opponents had played their hands, "If we're going to match up against foes like that, we need to upgrade too." she said reluctantly feeling they may need to strengthen their dinosaurs too if they were to prevent the end of the universe. She didn't want to cross the line like Seth did, and prayed deeply that she would never have to. Thankfully, after looking over at her available resources she saw she may have had the answer they needed, as she brought up the images of the 6 cosmos stones on screen, "Perhaps with these energy samples from the 6 cosmos stones I might be able to whip something up to give us a bit more of a fighting chance hopefully." she thought to herself after that knowing her next task would be her most important one of all.

Though first things first, "I'd better send all this to Reese, maybe she'd be able to figure something out on her side that we can't." she said to herself as she typed on the console and sent the data to the present day D Lab, and hoped she not only received it but may come up with something on her end that could help them out. "Still….even with all this happening…." Her heart soon grew heavy and sank, seeing they were nearing the endgame, one wrong slip-up could spell disaster for them and she worried about whether her best would be enough, if she should take any kind of precaution now to help the team, she feared not just filling their parents but her fiends too…could she bear that kind of responsibility if that were to happen? She then quickly shook her head upon recalling that it wasn't just her fight, "No I mustn't think so negative. I should look at things on the bright side now." Her friends were fighting hard too and they believed in one another that they would succeed. That hope and their bonds would carry them to the end, they fight for a just cause and the space pirates don't so that could be the deciding factor as it is, on top of that they already had 6 of the stones so they shouldn't have much to worry about now, "Maybe things will soon quiet down and we can have a moment of peace too." she then said feeling more relaxed and at ease resting in her chair while Miku hopped closer to her and smiled.

The peace and serenity didn't last long though, it wasn't before long as tragedy suddenly struck the moment they dropped their guard.

BANG! RUMBLE!

"WHOA!" Cera widened her eyes as she felt herself thrown off her feet as a massive rumble came out of nowhere! She tried to steady herself but unable to respond in time, she felt the entire room shake like an earthquake before suddenly feeling herself fly out and fall it not he wall behind her with Miku! "AAAAAAH!" she screamed, widening her eyes as she ended up crashing face first into it and then blacking out unconsciously!

CRASH!

Not long after that sudden crash, Cera began to open her eyes weakly as she slowly regained consciousness, "Urgh…." she groaned opening her eyes and finding herself down on the floor and as her vision cleared she could see the lab was turned upside down, equipment and inventions tossed around and aside, leaving it to be more like a dumping ground than a laboratory. As she slowly began to push herself up again, fatigue and dizziness made her stumble a bit off balance, but she slowly began to recover and regain her footing. Before she could ponder over what had just happened, she saw Miku lying down on the ground on front of where she was nearby a wrench and a gear. As she opened her eyes and chirped weakly, Cera walked over to where she was as she scooped her into her hands and eyed her with concern and compassion, "You okay Miku?" she asked her partner who let out a weak chirp as she looked up to her.

"Ugh….my head probably hurts as much as yours…." Cera then winced, rubbing the side of her head where she collided with the wall before feeling herself around, finding nothing on her to be hurting, before doing the same to Miku and smiling with relief to see nothing out of place either, "On the bright side nothing's broken." she said with a smile as Miku flapped her arms happily. Still she was shaken up rather badly, so she returned the microraptor to card form so she could rest easy. After that she turned serious and looked around surveying the now damaged lab and equipment surrounding her, "Still….what was that just now?" she mused as she put a finger to her chin in thought. Suddenly she widened her eyes, "AH! Max and the others!" she gapped in realisation as she then hurried out through the lab doors to check on who they were doing.

Heading up to the bridge as fast as her legs could carry her, "Guys!" she yelled as she burst into the upper deck through the doors, where the D Team, Jonathan and the Alpha gang were at their seats.

"Huh?" They looked to see her panting hard and all flustered, no doubt from the very fast and panicked running she did coming up from the lab all the way to the upper deck.

Looking up she was sweating profusely but soon got to the point, "What happened!?" she gasped in alarm before blinking her eyes in surprise to see the outside of the ship which was surround by a very lush forest, with thick trees surrounding them on every corner an a blue sky and mountains ahead, "And…where are we?" she asked curiously seeing the were now out of the time vortex.

"We're in the jurassic period, that's where." Jonathan answered her as he returned back to typing at the controls hoping to assess the damage done so far and hopefully determine whether repairs could be made.

Cera then blinked her eyes in surprise, "The….jurassic period?" she croaked as she looked around and surveyed their surroundings in awe, "How'd we end up here? And….why?" she asked. Everyone remained silent, unsure of what to say to her as they looked to one another hoping someone would volunteer to answer on everyone's behalf…..though no one said a word. Looking to her friends around her, she soon had an idea of what was going on, "Did it have something to do with the crash just now?" she asked.

Max swallowed hard as he decided to be the one to tell her the truth, "Unfortunately yes….." he said painfully while looking away, feeling it was his cockiness that landed them in this situation.

"Just now we tried to make the deal with the space pirates and their boss Specter." said Rex when he realised Max couldn't bring himself to say anymore.

"But it turns out they were playing with us the whole time," Zoe pouted crossly, "In fact they were merely stalling till they got a lock on our position."

"And as soon as they did they instantly started blasting us!" Ursula cried grasping her hair in terror, still unable to move past that horrendous experience from before.

"I knew they were desperate to get the stones back but I didn't think they'd go that far!" Zander then squealed.

"That was way too close for my comfort….." Ed muttered as he let out a deep sigh and fell down on the floor after the huge shock his weak heart just experienced.

"Guess Specter didn't appreciate you causing chaos onboard his ship and then swiping their cosmos stones all too much." Rex then muttered shaking his head thinking that could have also set him off too.

"I see….." Cera put a finger to her chin in thought, realising she should have figured sooner that someone as maniacal as him would never let go of a grudge. Though the fact of toying with them over their parents was what set her off, "Tch! I knew they'd never play fair from the start…but even this is downright low…." she hissed clicking her tongue as the others hardened or sighed unhappily at their rotten luck.

"Yeah I couldn't agree more."

"Those guys are the worst." they said amongst themselves.

"As bad as that was, there's no point in dwelling on what's already been done, what matters now is our current predicament." Jonathan then spoke up with a serious tone as the others looked to him bringing up the Backhander's schematics, "We've sustained heavy damage to nearly all major systems during the attack. We'll have to see to repairs immediately, otherwise we could be stranded here in the jurassic forever!"

Max and the D Team gasped, while the Alpha gang then began reacting to the news rather dramatically like they always did, "YEESH! I don't want to end up like a fossil! This could be worse than being stranded in the present day like before!" Zander cried.

"Yeah! I have a whole life to live and I'd rather not spend it living like a caveman or getting eaten by a dinosaur!" Ed whined.

"Well on the bright side at least if we do become museum exhibits at least the people of the future will put me on a gorgeous display where everyone can stand in awe of me! Hahahah!" Ursula then laughed snobbishly before striking some lady like poses wondering in what position she should be in after she'd get buried under layers of dirt then get uncovered for people to take photos of her remains and writing all kinds of stories about her for ages to come.

"…."

Her snarky remark and outlook on their situation wasn't really shared amongst the others unfortunately.

"Come on this is serious!" Max yelled.

"Yeah! We may never see our parents again or even go home again!" Rex growled shaking his fists at the old lady's clueless and laid-back attitude towards their current situation.

Ursula then hardened her expression and folded her arms crossly, "Tch! It's always about you and your parents! It's because of them we're in this mess in the first place!" she spat angrily.

"Yeah! Can't you selfish brats ever think about the rest of us for once!" Zander then yelled shaking a fist at them which made them widen their eyes in shock and anger at the nerve of them.

"Selfish!? Why you-"

"Enough! Be quiet!" Cera suddenly shouted stepping in between and holding out her arms and preventing them from getting any closer, "You guys are acting like idiots! All of you!" Glaring at them furiously they all backed off nervously, not wanting to try her patience. Seeing she made her point she then let out a calm breath as she thought things more clearly, "Alright…fighting isn't going to get this ship fixed or anywhere at all. Let's just go down and see if anything's damaged on the outside, we'll take the bottom half," she said to the D Team before looking to the Alpha gang, "And you guys look on top." As she said that the 3 adults nodded obediently. "And meanwhile Jonathan sees to repairs inside." She said looking to the android at the front in the driver's seat before looking all around her to make sure they all were in agreement, "Okay?"

Seeing no point in arguing and that they'd have to put up with each other a little while longer if they wanted to get out, Max and Ursula scoffed and looked away from one another before agreeing reluctantly though also begrudgingly too, "Fine…."

"You got it…."

After that, as both teams went outside and split up, the D Team made it out to the forest floor to investigate the damage done. When they did, they instantly saw signs of life all around them, prehistoric life to be precise.

"Hey! Check it out you guys! It's a group of yangchuanosauruses!" Max then pointed out at 3 medium sized carnivores climbing up a slope through the forest.

Looking around for more dinosaurs, Rex soon spotted something up ahead, "Oh! And hey look over there!" he pointed seeing a pair of spiked herbivores followed by a long necked sauropod, "It's a shunosaurus and a tuojiangosaurus!"

"And over there is a saurophaganax!" Zoe then cried as the largest carnivore of the jurassic strolled by further off from where they were in search of prey, thankfully it took no notice of them or the other dinosaurs otherwise there'd have been a battle breaking out.

"Yup, this is the jurassic period alright…." Max smiled happy with everyone else to see so many live dinosaurs in their natural habitat before their eyes.

Cera too as well, in fact she knew Miku would really love it here more than anything, after all the jurassic was her original home and she'd love to climb trees and glide around in search of insects and lizards to munch on.

Rex however soon turned rather sour as he snapped back to the reason they were here in the first place, "Yeah but it would be a lot easier to enjoy it if we had our parents here with us…." he said sadly as everyone caught on, "Guess Specter was never going to make that trade from the start." he sighed.

"I know…" Max followed feeling regretful at blowing their best chance to save them.

"We were nuts to think we could trust him in the first place." Zoe added making sure they wouldn't make that mistake again or let their guard down.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out guys…." Cera sighed apologetically.

Max shook his head in response, "It's okay, it's not your fault at all." he said.

"It's ours for thinking something so stupid like believing a word those pirates said." Rex added.

Zoe then smiled lightly as she looked around them to see all was peaceful and calm, "On the bright side, at least we got away from them and we're safe, that's all that matters." As soon as she finsihed, the sound of a ship's engine roared over them, and as they looked up they widened their eyes in alarm to see a pirate pod pass by over their heads!

"Oh no we didn't lose them!" Max gasped in alarm as the ship began turn upside and its 4 points poked into the ground as the hatch on top began to open up.

"Here they come, get ready for a fight you guys!" said Rex as he tensed up hard and the others readied for battle.

"Oh yeah." Max nodded as he prepared his bracer to summon Chomp, readying himself for whichever pirate had come to attack them.

The one who emerged from the pod, was someone none of them ever expected to see again and was far worse than any of the 4 spectral space pirates put together in their book! Emerging from the pod was none other than Seth! The ex member of the Alpha gang who plunged Sanjo City into chaos with his Black T-Rex, to see him back again was like waking up to a nightmare…..which was to be said for one of the D Team as her heart skipped a beat.

"It….can't be…." Cera choked as her arms grew limp, the sight of the blue haired man before her eyes reawakened several dormant bad memories inside her mind, as well as send chills down her spine. She had thought to be rid of him and his maniacal ambitions after he disappeared into the time vortex, to see him turning up again like a bad penny from the grave soon brought back hard and bitter feelings she harboured towards him for all his crimes!

Her friends too felt the same way, "Is that!?" Rex glared.

"Yeah, it's our worst nightmare!" Max growled with spite as Seth jumped out from the pod, along with a strange purple and grey dinosaur like creature, with a body design similar to that of the space pirates' gel jarks. Slowly he got out and began to walk to them emotionlessly, "I can't believe it! It's Seth!" Max then cried out seeing it was indeed Seth, the very same men who happened to be the D Team's worst enemy!

"Get ready, here he comes…." she said warning them as he slowly approached them and they got their dino bracers ready!

He had barely made it halfway to where they were, before he suddenly fell to his knees and collapsed down on the ground!

"AH!" They widened their eyes in alarm as he fell down to the ground. Quickly they began to rush over to him at the field to check his condition.

"H…Hey, what's wrong!?" Max cried as he approached the fainted man, but before he could get closer Cera quick shouted at him.

"Get away from him Max! It could be a trick or a trap of some sort!" she wanted him as he held back at the last second.

"AH!" he then recalled Seth indeed was the most descriptive villain they ever came across during they time as the D Team, how he bided his time patiently waiting for the right moment even if it took many months, but to see him lying weak and defenceless like this, "I…I know but…." he said unsurely as he looked down at Seth's unconscious body again, gritting his teeth unsure of what to do.

"Cera's right, remember what he did last time?" said Rex on high alert as he held Max back from getting any closer, "He plunged Sanjo City into chaos with the black t-rex and experimented on dinosaurs inhumanely!" he yelled angrily before clenching his hand into a fist which shook with rage.

"Not to mention what he did with Rex's parents too?" Zoe reminded before looking at the ship he came in, "If he's in a space pirate pod, he's gotta be in league with them too!"

"And that…dinosaur thing he had….it looks absolutely disgusting!" Cera then yelled at the hideous robot, startling it as it jumped back at her loud yell.

"AH!" Max then gasped as he was being reminded of all the horrible things the man had did to them and countless innocents, both people and dinosaurs, all for his own selfish ambitions of dinosaur evolution. Yet despite that, seeing him weak and helpless, he couldn't help but feel rather conflicted seeing his old enemy as he was now, "I get what you're saying guys…." he said to them before looking back at Seth who was still lying down on the ground, "But….we can't just leave him out here when he's all hurt can we?" he asked thinking that would be too cruel.

"Max…." Cera then mouthed out.

"You can't actually be serious about helping him!" The D Team turned around to see Ursula and the alpha gang come over to their location as soon as they saw them together from up above the Backlander.

"Yeah, he's nothing but a lowly backstabber!" Ed yelled shaking his fists, "He kicked us all out of our own home once and we'll never forget that!"

"He also planned all sorts of evil things with the dinosaurs! That's something only Dr Z should do!" Zander protested.

"Plus he's always been moody and disagreeable, not to mention being very antisocial too." Ursula then pouted before shouting out her thoughts on this, "I say we leave him out here in the middle of prehistoric nowhere! Better yet feed him to some jurassic carnivore! It's the least he deserves after all the trouble he put us and the doc through!"

The D Team widened their eyes at what they heard, "Say what!?" Max gasped in disbelief.

"Now that's just going too far!" Zoe protested.

Even Rex, despite hating Seth as much as the others, didn't think he deserved something that extreme.

Cera then said something which shocked them all, "You know for once I actually have to agree with them guys." she said as they all turned to her in bewilderment.

"Huh!?" Her friends widened their eyes shocked that she would want that, in fact even the Alpha trio too were surprised that she was on board with them.

"C…Cera?" Zoe croaked uneasily seeing her friend's expression was stoic and firm, showing she meant every word she just said.

The alpha trio meanwhile still blinked unsure of what to make of this startling development, "You…do?"

"Thank about it," Cera continued before looking down with disgust at the fainted man with the robot dinosaur sniffing him, "He's been lying to Dr Ancient and Dr Z since the start of all this, in fact he's responsible for what happened before in Sanjo City and the events before that." she said seriously, recalling every word of Jonathan's story before moving on to his most recent actions, "On top of that he not only manipulated Rod and Laura and many others to do his dirty work, he even went to perform all kinds of immoral experiments on dinosaurs too." She then closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as her mind flashbacked to what she believed was his most inhumane act of all, "And….and…." she shuddered uneasily as she began to relieve that traumatising experience in Seth's prison cell and the torture she suffered from him, before shaking her head and deciding against letting the others know, not wanting to go back to that horrible time. "I can't ever forgive him for that…." She then spat looking away as the others eyed her sympathetically.

"Cera…."

Way she put it, they had to admit she had a good point, one that couldn't be argued with easily….then again…should it?

"We understand what you're saying…." said Max with uncertainty in his tone before shaking his head and turning serious, "But….even so, we can't just leave him for dead when he's all weak and helpless. It just….doesn't feel right…." he said gritting his teeth feeling conflicted.

"Max…." Rex breathed as silence came upon the group as they once more found themselves at an impasse over how to decide Seth's fate.

"He does have a good point there…." Zander then pointed out seeing he did state a well thought out case too.

"…." Cera had to admit Max was right too in his own way….but….that didn't mean she had to like it either. Just looking at Seth began to make old wounds in her heart open up again, as her old mental and emotional scars from the nightmares she suffered days since that time slowly began to come back to her. "You can't actually forgive or trust him after all he did to us and countless others can you?" she asked him once more, to confirm whether he was absolutely sure with what he was doing.

Max looked to Seth once more and shook his head, "I don't, in fact I probably never will." he admitted agreeing with Cera's statement, "And I know for a fact he'd abandon any of us if we were in need if our positions were reversed," he then shook his head again clearing his conscience knowing what the right thing to do was, "But I'm not going to cross that line. In fact I'm sure none of us ever would, otherwise else we'd be no different than he is right?"

As he said that the others looked to one another and muttered seeing he made a good point, "That's true…."

"Can't argue with that…."

"Urk…."

Rex then turned serious seeing they had wasted enough time already, "Look guys, we're getting nowhere just arguing out here." he spoke up taking charge before looking down to Seth who still appeared to be unconscious, "We'd better take him inside, if he was with the pirates maybe he has some valuable information on them too." his suggestion brought up mixed feelings n the members of the group around him.

"I don't know about that, bringing him onto our ship just like that….." muttered Zander scratching his cheek uneasily.

"Then again if he did use their pod to come to us, there's a chance they'll come after him soon so we can't stay out here exposed, that much I can agree with." Cera then stated.

Max nodded in agreement, "Yeah, out here either the pirates or some carnivore looking for food could spot us easily." he said before tensing his hand into a fist, "And we're wasting time too, we have to get repairs done quickly or the space pirates will find and attack us again and you know it!" he said raising his voice.

"Then there's no time for a debate," said Rex after him, "We're bringing him on board and that's that!"

As Zoe then nodded together with Max, Cera, deciding to take a gamble, reluctantly sided with them seeing they were getting nowhere at this point so they had to take him with them. The alpha gang too, seeing the logic in their words decided to agree with them in the end, though they didn't like very much hinted by their spiteful expressions and hissing after that, "Tch!"

"Okay fine…." Ursula then spat, "But if he tries something again for the umpteenth time it's on you!" she yelled pointing at them.

"Yeah yeah, we get it." said Max as he and the D Team ran around to try and help lift up Seth's upper body, "Now come on and help us carry him up please?"

"Hmph!" Ursula scoffed as she and the rest of the trio went for his legs and hoisted him up.

"Curse me for being so nice…."

"Hope Dr Z doesn't kill us for this…." Ed and Zander both muttered as they walked all the way back to the ship much to their discomfort.

Cera didn't like it much either like they did, in fact seeing Seth's face again was torture enough for her. But looking at it another way, Max was right too, they couldn't just leave someone in need like that.…though on the topic of second chances, Seth would need to earn it and it wouldn't come easy, plus now with him in their custody, things should be fine she hoped. Little did she or the others know, was that as Seth's face hung down out of side, a small but sinister smirk appeared on his face as everything went exactly as he predicted, phase 1 of his plan had begun and soon phase 2 would commence…..

 **(Later)**

A long while had passed since the group returned to ship, and since then many interesting events had transpired, as well as numerous startling revelations regarding to the cosmos stones, the space pirates and Seth's involvement with their goals and plans. Upon first sight of him Dr Z was furious beyond belief, and he wanted nothing more than to get up close and personal with the man who betrayed his trust for so long. The only thing holding him back literally was Ursula, as she was barely able to restrain him while Helga calmly talks him down, though Cera herself, given her old history with the former Alpha gang member, actually would have liked Dr Z cut loose on him….if only Seth himself wasn't as dangerous and skilled as a fighter as much as he was an evil scientist.

Dr Z refused to back down though, till Seth's pet robot dinosaur, whom he dubbed his assistant appeared, and in an instant Dr Z was absolutely smitten with the slimy dinosaur before taking it off somewhere to play on the ship. Cera narrowed her eyes, seeing how easily Dr Z bought into the abomination of a dinosaur as well as seeing it as a complete disgrace to the real thing, while also unable to shake off a gnawing feeling at her mind that something wasn't right with it. Seth then tried to play innocent, insisting he regretted his past actions though none of the trio bought into his words, bizarrely for once Cera was in complete agreement with them, plus it felt rather forced and out of character for him.

Nevertheless, some of the others despite their raw feelings towards the blue haired man, still believed he deserved 1 chance at most to explain himself at least, as they had someone on the inside to part with valuable information that could help their cause, though what he revealed to them was a complete shock to everyone present. Apparently what happened last time, after Seth got sucked into the time vortex they thought they had seen the last of him, but that turned out to be just the beginning, in fact everything that happened in the present day was but a prologue to the real story which was now. After that he met with Specter, who rescued him and he offered up his services in supplying dinosaurs to them in order to acquire the cosmos stones. What he learned about them came as even more of a greater mind-blowing revelation, which none of them could ever fathom.

Based on Seth's words, the cosmos stones and stone plates were on an equal but opposite polarity and were formed during an asteroid which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, the very same one which wiped them out before the D Team's eyes when they first time warped. As it turned out the space pirates were present during that time, aiming to retrieve the stones only for them to be blown off into the time vortex where they found Seth, and only being able to repair their engines and get the idea of finding the cosmos stones using the Ancients, an idea proposed to them by none other than Seth himself, hearing that made Cera tense up realising he was the cause of their parents getting kidnapped and forced to help their enemies against their will, and whether his actions were willing or not he had to see justice for what he did and no way could he be excused for the other comes he committed as well.

As the D Team and Alpha gang were stunned beyond belief over the power the cosmos stones they had and the connection they had to the stone plates, Cera then began to realise why the Pterosaur was so afraid of them from the start, and why she had to keep it a secret from them each time they met. After he finished his story, Seth then swore his intentions were good and revealed the fact that the other parents were still alive and well on board the Space pirates' ship, which brought smiles and relief to Cera's friends. In fact even she too smiled feeling a weight removed from her shoulders despite the events that had transpired over the past couple of days…..though she couldn't shake off the feeling that that Seth may have had ulterior motives of his own, and that he could be lulling them into a false sense of security…..

Helga then decided that they give Seth time to rest seeing he had been through much since their last meeting, and so she had a guest room prepared for him before moving on to cook some food. Despite that, Cera could feel her instincts on high alert, realising that he'd best be put under high security. Her friends were against it at first and argued, but she soon pointed out they couldn't overlook the possibility of him pulling off another deception, though if he was telling the truth it was likely the Space pirates would come looking for him soon and they might have a fight on their hands while they were still down and vulnerable. After stating her point it was soon decided that he be temporally put on lockdown at least until he rested and got his strength back, as they lead him to his room and he settled on the bed prepared for him.

"I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning Seth." said Max.

"Yeah just get some rest, and we'll have Helga bring you some food and water okay?" Zoe added.

"And thanks for understanding why we have to keep you under lock and key for now." said Rex calmly, "It'll just be until we are absolutely sure we can trust you."

While everyone was easing up around him, Cera soon narrowed her eyes still unable to let go of 1 certain action Seth was responsible for, "I'm still not too fond if you being the one to supply the space pirates with dinosaurs as weapons, not to mention having created Gigas, Armatus and Maximus on top of that…." she said hardening her expression, "Not only were you experimenting on dinosaurs again like you always do, you made it that much harder for us to get the green cosmos stone too, not to mention the last one that's still out there."

"I understand your reasons, but tell me honestly, did it look they gave me a choice though?" he responded calmly which made her eye him hard, pondering over whether that may be a truth or not. "I know I've done many things I'm not proud of but I can assure you that's all in the past and it'll stay that way." He then said with a small smile at the end which seemed to satisfy the rest of the D Team, though Cera still has her suspicions though she still said nothing, "….." She remained quiet for a while before concluding off with one final remark, "We'll be keeping a close eye on you. So don't try anything because we'll know." she said still remembering that haunting past memory of what he did to her when he took her prisoner, and he did so with a smile of delight and enjoyment, one she'd never forget.

"Anyways, good night." said Rex politely, oblivious to what Cera was thinking, as they closed the door and activated the locks on it before walking off to someplace else.

Along the way, they began to discuss over what they should do now, though some lingering feelings of doubt and conflict were still harboured on Cera's mind, "Do you think we can really trust him?" she then asked making the others look to her, "Just seeing his face is bad enough…but to welcome him on board…." She clenched a fist tightly to her chest and gritted her teeth. Cera feels the place more dangerous like it used to be, eerie because of his presence last time

As she said that, Rex then looked down to the floor narrowing his eyes, flashing back to Seth's involvement in him being separated from his parents and the Black T-rex attack in Sanjo City, "I'm not sure myself," he then admitted seeing the logic in Cera's words and even starting to reconsider leaving him like that alone.

"But he didn't seem like he was lying about the cosmos stones and about what the space pirates plan to do with them." said Max not wanting to point fingers at the man straight away, seeing he knew more about their foes than they did so they had to trust him on this, "Considering he did fall through a time warp because of his own crazy plan, maybe he has changed for the better.….I think…." he then said scratching his head in thought wondering if that was possible.

"Don't worry about it too much," Zoe smiled with hope, "Besides he's locked up tight and his room has a camera so we can keep an eye on him anytime we want." she said before eying Cera, "Also, the cosmos stones are locked up pretty tight thanks to you too, so what's there to worry about?"

"Plus, he's still a human like us," Max then added, "I'm sure even he wouldn't agree completely with what Specter and his goons are planning…right?" he asked feeling rather confident before pumping up one of his arms into a confident fist, "I'm sure we can believe what he's saying."

Cera then looked away away from them and sighed deeply, "I don't know…." she was hesitant to tell them the truth about what she thought about Seth, firing that to go back to those memories would waste her months of effort trying to wipe that horrible experience clean. On top of that, if he truly had changed….could she possibly forgive him? As insecure as she was, she decided to take a chance…. believing in order to move forward this was the best way to do so, plus she wanted to believe in her friends, "If you guys really believe him, I suppose we could give him the benefit of the doubt…for now at least." she said as the others smiled at her.

"Glad we're all in agreement, now we have one less thing to worry about." Rex nodded, "Right now we'll focus on getting the ship fixed then moving on to find where the 7th stone is so the space pirates don't get it."

"How about you leave that part to me and Jonathan?" Cera suggested as the others looked to her in surprise.

"Really Cera?"

"You don't mind?"

"You sure there's nothing we can do to help speed things along?" They asked.

She shook her head and smiled, "It'll be fine, don't worry." she said assuring them, "Besides, you guys have done a lot of hard work fighting the space pirates and getting 2 cosmos stones earlier. This time why not go take a little break and have some fun while we patch things with the Backlander up?"

"O…Okay then, if you say so." said Zoe deciding to trust her on it.

Max then looked to his friends and smiled, "You know while we're here why not we go down and have some fun in the jurassic forest outside?" he suggested.

"Yeah, I bet Ace and the others would love to go meet some new dinosaurs outside too, from a different time period on top of that!" Rex added eagerly in agreement.

"Haha, I bet they'd love that." Zoe laughed in excitement as the D Team saw it as a chance to cut loose and go back to relaxing like they used to before. After that they summoned out their partners to chibi form as they wagged their tails looking forward to going outside.

"Heh, don't let me keep you waiting." Cera smiled, nothing pleased her more than seeing her friends happy, "Do be careful though," she warned, "Not all dinosaurs are friendly, they're still wild animals and can be unpredictable too after all."

Max and the others though didn't seem to worried though as they smirked with confidence, "Heh, we've spent a lot of time facing wild dinosaurs, I'm sure we can handle anything down there."

"Hahaha, good point." Cera then laughed in amusement before turning around to another hallway ahead, "Well have fun you guys." she waved as she headed to the engine room to make repairs.

"You too Cera!" Rex waved to her before he and the others headed for the exit so they could go outside for some fresh air, unaware that Seth, who had just broken out from his room with the help of his gel jark assistant, was watching from behind the corner, with a sinister smirk on his face as he and the jark headed off for where the cosmos stones were being stored.

Meanwhile, Cera then made it to the engine room where the ship's reactor core was, as she got out a set of tools, a pair of gloves and put on a welder's mask on top of that, "Alright….time to get to work." she said to herself before looking up at the core, seeing sparks flying out in certain parts of the core, parts having been blown off as a result of the laser attack earlier with holes piercing through the upper ceiling and the jurassic sky could be seen above. "Question is….where do I start?" Basically it was a mechanic's worst nightmare seeing so much to be done and so little time to space. She then narrowed her eyes knowing she had to get tarted sooner or later otherwise they weren't going anywhere, "Well staring at this isn't going to get it fixed, might as well get cracking." She said to herself putting on the welder's mask then heading off to battle against the damaged reactor as she did her best to patch it up wherever she could.

She worked through the damages she could see, patching up holes in the core or welding new parts to replaced damaged ones into the circuits, she couldn't shake off the gnawing feeling she had on the back of her mind, questioning whether it was a mistake to bring Seth on board. "No no, if the others are willing to trust Seth it's not my place to judge." she then told herself deciding to support her friends' decision while also wanting to make sure she wasn't paranoid. After all, she couldn't keep holding onto a bad past as it'd only affect how she'd be in her own future to come, and she wasn't going to let the events of the past control it. On that topic of past events, it made her pause in her work as she put a finger to her chin in thought, "Still…what he said about the cosmos stones and stone plates being so connected with each other….An astroid during the Cretaceous….could it be-" As she flashbacked and recalled when she saw a giant meteor amongst all the others crashing down into the cretaceous landscape, and it glowed in 7 colours before colliding with the land.

"That has to be it!" she gasped patting her fist into her palm realising that had to have been the cosmos stones then. "If only we had known we could have gotten them then." She then huffed, seeing hey could have prevented all this from happening if they had just gotten the stones then, though she soon began to think more rationally soon after, "But then again….who knows what it would do to our ship if we were caught in the blast…." she then sighed seeing there was nothing they could do then, she really hated it when fate dealt them bad hands. She then realised she had to think of another way they could approach this situation, "Come to think of it….if the stones happen to be opposite in nature to the cosmos stones….could they…." she widened her eyes in another realisation, "Ah! That's it! They could be the key to destroying the stones!" If the plates and cosmos stones were of equal but opposite polarity, perhaps there was a chance the plates could be used to cancel out the power of the cosmos stones therefore neutralising the threat they posed to the universe permanently! This was something she had to let the others know post haste! "I'd better tell the others about this!" she thought in alarm as she dropped her tools and ran out of the rooms to inform everyone else about this, though not realising she left the time systems half done…..

As she ran down the halls and prepared to give the others a call on her dinoshot, a certain strange noise rang out from the wall next to her which she passed by on the way to the bridge.

BANG! BANG!

"HELP!" a trio of voices cried out desperately which made her stop in her tracks in surprise.

"Huh?" blinking her eyes then turning look around she saw nothing out of the ordinary, but suddenly it happen again, only this time louder and closer than before.

BANG! BANG!

"That sound…." She turned in the direction it came from, which happened to be a nearly unnoticeable hatch on the wall, "It's coming from there…." she walked towards it curiously and leaned down on her knees as she pushed the flap open to see what was making a racket, "What's going on-" As she looked down she widened her eyes in shock to see all 3 members of the Alpha gang bound together in a sort of jelly bind, widening their eyes with hope and joy seeing light shine in as well as her face too.

"AH! It's you!"

"We're saved!"

"Freedom!" They squealed with delight!

"What the!?" Cera gasped stumbling back in alarm and shutting the flap in the process!

"NOO!" They all cried out in unison.

"Hey! Come back!" Ed then wailed, terrified at being left alone after getting a taste of freedom at last!

"Yeah you can't leave us like this!" Zander then screamed in a panic, "Get back here and get us out now please!"

Shaking her head recovering from her initial shock Cera slowly waked back towards the flap and lifted it up eying in curiously at the trio, "Wh….what are you guys doing down here? Playing hide and seek?" she questioned, she knew they had bizarre interests and habits but this one took the cake.

"Ha ha, very funny…NOT!" Ursula yelled back, "I told you that dirty snake Seth was no good and couldn't be trusted! But did you listen? NO!" she shouted in frustration at being confined in such a small tight space with her henchmen breathing down her neck and squashing her against the floor.

Cera's heart skipped a beat at her words, "Wait….what?" she blinked her eyes…..wanting to believe her ears had just played a trick on her, but what the trio said next confirmed her greatest fear and worst case scenario.

"Seth! He caught us by surprise then tossed us all down this here chute!" Ursula shouted in frustration thinking that Cera either didn't hear her clearly the first time or wasn't paying attention.

"And it's getting really hot and stuffy! Plus I need to use the bathroom post haste!" Ed then whined childishly.

Ursula and Zander widened their eyes in alarm realising he was now a massive stink time bomb about to blow at any moment, "GAH! Hold it in Ed!" Zander yelled sweating profusely.

"Otherwise I'll plug it in with a plunger!" Ursula growled threateningly as she gnashed her teeth like a beast, making Ed sweat and nod nervously.

Cera on the other hand froze, going over their words and seeing them to be absolute truth, "Seth….." she breathed before realising he set this all up from the very start, and if this was the case, "Oh no, it was a trick! I knew it!" she gasped in alarm as she looked away down the hall, realising if he let himself captured there could only be one reason why, "The cosmos stones! I have to move now!" she cried as she prepared to make a move.

The trio widened their eyes seeing she was about to leave, "H…Hey wait!"

"You can't just leave us down here!"

"Pretty please!?" They each begged for her to help them out.

She looked back to them before she could run off, "Hang tight guys, I'll get Helga and she'll get you out in a jiffy!" she shouted to them before sprinting off down the hall towards where the cosmos stones were kept, leaving the trio trapped uncomfortably down in the darkness once more.

"Hang tight!? Easy for you to say!" Ursula screamed her head off as Zander and Ed cringed, hearing her voice at full volume at such close range wasn't the most pleasant of experiences, "You'd better get help otherwise when we do you'll never hear the end of it!" he loud voice echoed from the hatch.

Further away, Cera rushed ahead, her eyes fully focused and hardened to a point where a single glare from her would cause even Terry to freeze in place! She had good reason too, now seeing that Seth as someone whose heart was as dark as a black hole, having intended to use their sentimentality to his advantage the entire time. That was the last straw for her, using her friends to get her to lower her guard, this time he made things personal and she meant business! "GRRR! Seth….if you lay hands on even 1 of those stones I swear I'll make sure you never set foot on this planet again…." she swore under her breath as she charged full speed ahead down the halls towards where the cosmos stones were held. Along the way she passed by the kitchen, where Helga was stirring a pot of stew she had whipped up just for Seth. Slowing down she soon remembered at the last minute she couldn't forget about the trio, knowing they need saving and she might need their help, "Helga!" she shouted to the robot house maid getting her attention.

"Yes? What is it Cera?" she asked looking up to her from her cooking.

"Seth got loose and he locked Ursula and the others down some chute at the end of the hall!" Cera shouted in a panic,"If he gets his hands on the cosmos stones and hands them over to the space pirates we'll be doomed!"

Helga then covered her mouth in shock at her bad news, "My word! How terrible!" she gasped before hardening her expression at the soup she just made, "It seems that I made this stew for nothing then!" she shouted crossly before dumping the entire load away down the sink!

"I'm going for the cosmos stones, once you get the alpha gang out of the hatch at the end of the hall meet me there." Cera said to her before running off once more resuming her hunt for Seth.

"On the double!" Helga saluted as she shot out of the kitchen and ran down the opposite direction to save the trio!

"Seth…I swear when I find you….you'll wish you stayed in that time vortex and never came back….." Cera then vowed under her breath intending to make this their last encounter ever.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Helga quickly sped through the halls as fast as her legs could carry her till she arrived at the hatch where the Trio had been dumped. Leaning down an pushing on the flap, "There you are!" she cried spotting them at the end as they all brightens up with expressions as well as tears of hope and joy.

"Helga!"

"We're saved!"

"I never thought I'd be glad to see her!" They each said gratefully as she crawled in and grabbed hold of them with her large bulky arms.

"Hold still." she said firmly before turning around and tossing them out! "Out you go! HA!" she yelled as they were flung out and spun straight into the nearby wall!

"YAAAAH!" They cried with tears flying out from their widened panicked eyes as they slammed into it straight!

CRASH!

After that massive collusion which left a huge dent in the wall, they slumped down to the ground as their eyes spun around in a dazed manner, out cold for the time being much to Helga's annoyance.

"Urgh….."

She then walked up to them, using her huge hands she grabbed hold of the gel bind around them and with ease she ripped it apart in 2 freeing the trio! After that she looked down the hallway and narrowed her eyes before beginning to pop her knuckles, "Now to give Seth some well deserved discipline!" she said with a furious expression before speeding off in the direction of the cosmos stone holding chamber in order to back up Cera. Knowing Seth, she'd need it, plus he had this coming for a long time.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Hold it right there you fiend!" Cera yelled barging in through the doors as she came face to face with Seth, who was at the console containing the 6 cosmos stones inside.

The moment she set foot in the room, he looked up to her before a sinister smirk came on his face, "Ah, Cera…I've been expecting you." he said greeting her, "I had a feeling you were the one I had to be most wary of….given our history of course." he said it in a way he had no remorse at all whatsoever fro what he did to her. In fact it was clear he enjoyed every second of doing it from the start, and that was only the beginning of what he had in store.

She narrowed her eyes hard, seeing nothing but a heartless monster behind Seth's human face, "I knew from the second you couldn't be trusted you traitor." she hissed clenching her hand tint a fist, regretting not trusting her instincts earlier and letting herself get blinded by false hope of a Seth ever having any capacity for change.

"Traitor? Whom could you be referring to?" he said smugly shrugging his shoulders, "After all how could I ever betray you, if I was never on your side to begin with."

"Grrr…." she then tensed up, gritting her teeth and hardening her hand into a tight fist, she wanted nothing more than to last out at him with every ounce of anger and hatred in her veins, but restrained herself from doing so knowing he wanted her to be riled up so she'd slip up and leave herself vulnerable, plus he himself was a capable fighter too so she' only put herself at a disadvantage.

"Such hostility, surely you should've seen this coming the moment you let me on board." he said shaking his head while wagging his finger mockingly, "How sad, that it was so easy to get your friends to fall for such obvious acting. Clearly they learnt nothing from past experience, then again what's to expect from such short sighted fools."

"More like you're the one whose learn nothing, in fact I'd say you're way worse than last time." Cera hissed bitterly in response, "And don't you dare speak so ill of my friends like that! Take it back or else!" she shouted.

"Ha, or else what?" Seth scoffed undeterred, "I merely speak the truth, after all, I only needed to put on a good enough show and convincing act and you all opened the front gates for me." he said shrugging out his hands, "Everything went exactly as I predicted."

Cera lowered her head and sighed, "Everyone believed you deserved a second chance….because of that I decided to stand by their choice." she then opened her eyes and shot him a fierce glare, "But you betrayed their trust….because of that I won't repeat that mistake ever!"

He then grinned, "And you never will again, after all that one mistake is the very reason why I'll be taking the cosmos stones and once I eliminate you, all the loose ends will be tied up." he said at the end.

Cera narrowed her eyes, "How could you do this? You even said it yourself that if the cosmos stones are brought together they'll be the end of everything!" she yelled, seeing him to be mad if he actually believed he or the pirates could control such power.

"Heh, let's just say I have my reasons." Seth answered before looking down at the stones held in the tubes before him, "These stones are but a means to my ends, just like Dr Z and soon the space pirates as well, after they've served their purpose that is."

His statement made Cera tense up and wince, seeing he was playing them too like how he played Dr Z and Dr Ancient, "So you plan to betray them too huh?" she thought to herself, "Typical Seth….You're digging yourself a really deep grave this time around….Even Dr Z's much better than you are." she said pitying him, believing he hadn't changed at all in the slightest, in fact he only turned out far worse than before.

Seth's smirk vanished taking insult at her comment, "Hmph, you'd be wise not to compare me to that old buzzard." he scoffed, "Unlike him I have true vision, and with the cosmos stones I'll soon realise it!" he yelled out maniacally which put Cera on full alert as she readied herself.

"Not while I stand here." she said firmly.

"Heh, and what could you possibly do to stop me?" he chuckled in amusement, "I believe I've wasted enough time talking. It's time I got what I came for and be on my way." he said disregarding her presence as he reached out for one of the tubes holding the cosmos stones, unaware Cera had a sly smirk of her own as he neared grabbing hold of it.

BZZT!

"Tch!" he hissed in annoyance as a small jolt of electricity gave his palm a minor shock as he quickly took it away before the full surge could be delivered.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy did you?" said Cera as he clenched his hand with the other one and looked to her coldly.

"When we fought hard to acquire the red cosmos stone, I made sure to implant a security measure into the container to make sure it can't be removed through unauthorised means." she said to prevent theft, especially by Dr Z knowing she had to keep him from tampering with the stone and risk dooming them all, "Basically only I can get it open and that's not happening." she then said with confidence and a small smirk before she turned serious and glared at Seth, preparing herself for a fight.

But to her surprise he remained strangely calm and undeterred, and she felt deeply unnerved as he suddenly began to snicker "Heh, you have good instincts I'll give you that." he complimented her now seeing why she didn't act to stop him just , he planned something too for this kind of situation and he knew like before he was always one step ahead of his enemies, "Too bad they won't do you any good, security of this level won't stop me for long, I'll get those cosmos stones one way or another." he said, "Though since I'm rather short on time, I'd find it far more preferable if you'd cooperate."

Cera narrowed her eyes with suspicion, "And just what makes you think I'd be stupid enough to do that?" she asked keeping her guard up and her senses on high alert, though nothing she cud do would prepare her for what Seth had in store for her.

"Simple, because you have no choice in the matter." he smirked as he lifted one of his hands and snapped his fingers. Right on cue a set of sluggish and smily footsteps were heard coming in from the side which made Cera turn to look in curiosity.

"Hmm?" Her heart skipped a beat to see a gel jark lumber in, carrying a helpless hostage in its bulky arms and silencing him by covering his mouth over, Dr Z! Cera widened her eyes in horror to see the old man helpless in the arms of the hideous slime monster, "AH! Dr Z!" she gasped stepping back in shock. She expected Seth but not to be accompanied by one of those things, for it to get onboard unnoticed made no sense especially since they had their alarms on, "How did that thing get on-" She then widened her eyes in realisation, the only time a slime monster got on board when the space pirate ship wasn't around was the one that accompanied Seth! "Tch!" She clicked her ton due in frustration, realising that Seth played them for fools, especially Dr Z, seeing he planned this from the start and intended to use Dr Z's naivety to get the better of him.

"Now be a good girl and open the containers, unless of course, you don't care about what happens to him now do you?" said Seth in amusement, seeing now she had no choice in the matter and had to play according to how he planned whether she liked it or not, and that was what he enjoyed the most when they realise it too late and being unable to do a thing about it. Snapping his fingers one more the gel jark slowly began to engulf Dr Z into its body, as he widened his eyes and thrashed about, his screams covered up by the arm of the jark!

"MMPH!"

Cera gritted her teeth as she gapped back at him, "Let him go Seth! He has nothing to do with this!" she shouted.

Seth then clenched his face and began to snicker deviously, "Hahaha! Don't tell me you actually care for this worthless old fool." he laughed, "Why should you after all the trouble he caused you and your friends?"

"MMPH!" Dr Z then growled furiously, though no matter how hard he struggled he couldn't break free from the park's grip on him.

"His life is worth more than yours will ever be!" Cera retorted defiantly as she threw her arm out. "Unlike you he knows exactly where he went wrong and he has learnt from them too, unlike you who's still blinded by ambition and unable to see where he's going!" As she reflected back on the D Team's words, how Dr Z was once one of the kindest and respectable men one would find in the world, she could see traces of whom he used to be in his eyes and that was the hope she had that he could turn his life around for the better. "I'd trade your life for his any day!" She shouted out loud once more, stunning Dr Z speechlessly as a small emotional tear dripped from his eye.

"…."

Seth however remained unmoved and instead smirked back at her response, "My my, how noble…." he clapped before a sinister grin spread on his face, "Heh, how predictable. Your feeble sentimentality is the reason why you'll always be several steps behind no matter how hard you struggle or what you try. Unlike you I have no such weaknesses that can be exploited." He then concluded shrugging his shoulders, "But enough of that, unlock it now. I won't repeat myself." He then said at the end as he started to grow impatient and his tone turning hard, ready to snap at any moment, .

"Tch!" As he said that, Cera soon began to realise Seth had to have thrown away his sense of moral, ethics and closeness with others the moment he set foot on this path of mad ambition. All she could sense and see in him was a deep black darkness that no one could reach into…. Reluctantly she shot him a hard glare as she slowly made her way to the cosmos stone holder and took out her dinoshot. Eying him hard, "Don't think this is over….you'll get what's coming sooner than you think…." she hissed under her breath as she typed into it, causing the containers to unlock themselves from the console as Seth smirked with deep pleasure.

"There, now was that so hard?" he said as he began to take them one by one into a hexagonal shaped container he brought with him. Cera could only look on helplessly with gritted teeth, being unable to do thing to stop him, whileDr Z screamed in anguish as Seth soon closed the container with the stones inside them!

"MMPH!"

He then typed onto a communicator on his wrist, "Specter I have the cosmos stones." he said through it as another voice spoke out on the other end.

"Excellent Seth! We've pinpointed your location and will rendezvous with you soon." the leader pirate's voice chuckled happily before the call ended.

"Grr!" Cera clenched her hand into a fist realising he and the pirates planned this the moment the D Team tried to make the deal at the very start!

Seth then smirked seeing as usual they caught on far too late and there was nothing they could do to change it, though he had to be absolutely sure to take care of the loose ends once and for all, "Can't have either of you follow me now can I?" he smirked knowing how to dispose of bothersome pests like them, "Now to take care of you both once and for all-"

BOOM!

"AH!" Seth gasped in surprise as the gel jark, was suddenly struck on the back of its head by surprise, by none other than Helga herself with a large frying pan as she burst into the room as fast as the wind, as it lost consciousness and released Dr Z who then scurried away to safety before collapsing down on the ground!

"GAH!" he gasped for air as Cera brightened up with hope and joy.

"Helga!" she smiled as the housemaid nodded back at her while Seth gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Hmph!"

"Thank you so much Helga!" Dr Z then said ever gratefully as ran in and hugged her waist, "Always here to save the day in the nick of time, oh I'll never take you for granted again." After that he looked down to glare at the gel jark which betrayed his trust, "And you! How dare you toy with my feelings like that!? HA!" he growled before kicking down on its head, taking his frustrations out on it!

Cera smiled happy to see Dr Z was safe, but there was no time to rest on laurels as she quickly turned forward towards Seth as he narrowed his eyes disappointed to see his hostage strategy had failed, "Alright, Seth! Give up the cosmos stones now!" she then yelled furiously, unwilling to let him get away with what he did.

He then hissed, having no intention of entertaining her, "Tch! Such trifles are far beneath me." he grunted before rushing out the door as fast as he could!

Dr Z widened his eyes as he looked up to see the traitor leave the premises, "Hey! Get back here with my stones!" he yelled angrily shaking his fists. He tried to run out and stop him but to no avail as he was already out the door by the time Dr Z reached it!

"I'll go after him!" Cera yelled urgently as she prepared to run out the door, "Dr Z! Warn the others fast!"

He hesitated momentarily, unsure of whether he should entrust the retrieval of the stones' to her, but seeing the urgency of their situation he reluctantly nodded, "Alright….good luck." he said, but before she could head out, "And…thanks….for just now…." he said looking away, while also feeling sorry for being the reason why they were now lost to them.

Understanding him, Cera nodded back and smiled lightly at him as she headed outside down the hallways in pursuit of Seth, while Dr Z proceeded to alert the others, "Grr! That triple crosser Seth will pay for this dearly!" he growled gritting his teeth.

Meanwhile Helga stood upon the struggling Gel Jark and looked upon it with a menacing glare, "I know exactly where to dispose of garbage like you." she said with a threatening tone which made the slime monster sweat bullets as she reached out her hand which then grasped over its face!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Give it up Seth! There's nowhere on this ship or any other period in time we won't find you!" Cera yelled as she caught sight of Seth in the halls as she pursued him, seeing he was making a run for the hole in the floor which lead to the outside.

"Tch!" he hissed in annoyance at how fast she caught up to him already, she was annoyingly persistent like a leech but once he got back to his ship he'd be able to shake her off with ease.

He smirked seeing the escape hatch just up ahead, a task he felt was far too easy, of not for 3 other unexpected interferences ambushing him at the front, "Hold it right there you slime ball!" Ursula pointed at him as she and the A Team leapt out in front of him blocking his way!

"Tch!" he clicked his tongue in annoyance, to see that they crawled up like cockroaches from the trash chute he threw them down. It seemed he may have to resort to extermination now….

"You're gonna pay big time for what you did to us just now!" Ursula yelled spitefully at him as she tensed up her hands into fists.

"That's right!" Zander and Ed growled gritted their teeth as they stepped toward while Cera cornered him from behind, surrounding him in a pincer attack!

Despite being surrounded by enemies on both ends, Seth narrowed his eyes undeterred, "Oh please, you don't seriously think I actually came ill prepared did you?" he scoffed unimpressed before a sinister smile came upon his face, "Perhaps it's time I taught you all another lesson, and your last!" he yelled out loud as he pulled out his black dinoholder from under his cloak along with a dinosaur card! "Come forth cryolophosaurus!" he yelled slashing it which caused a bright light to shine out before them blinding the gang as they covered their eyes to shield them from the discomforting glare! As it died down they widened their eyes to see a mid sized blue and white theropod dinosaur with a crest on its head appear, as its presence caused a frosty mist to form around it as it roared out loud!

Cera and the alpha gang were caught completely by surprise, "WHA!?" they gasped stepping back.

"A cryolophosaurus!?" Cera exclaimed widening her eyes, shocked that he himself had a dinosaur of his own too, "When did he get that!?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Seth smirked seizing the opportunity now that they were thrown off. As he finished the cryolophosaurus roared and rushed at full speed towards the trio!

"AAAAAH!" They screamed flailing their arms out and split up, barely making it out of the way as the cryolophosaurus almost bulldozed over them!

"Now if you'll excuse me I'll be on my way and I'm taking these with me!" With the path clear, Seth grinned as he rushed ahead and leapt down the chute and off the ship much to the horror of Cera.

"Oh no he's escaping!" she yelled out loud in alarm seeing he was getting away.

"After him quick!" Ursula pointed as the 4 of them tried to make a run for the escape hatch only for the cryolophosaurus to roar our fiercely and stomp in front of them, blocking them from proceeding any further after its master!

ROAR!

"YIKES!" The trio squealed huddling together, shivering in fear and from the cold its aura and breath gave off!

Cera stepped back and sweated tensely, "Tch! We're going to have to get past this guy first!" she hissed seeing no other way.

Ursula soon smirked smugly with confidence, "Ha! This'll be as easy as apple pie!" she boasted taking out her alpha scanner and card, "Alpha slash! Flame up! Tyrannosaurus!" Terry appeared an roared out fiercely and glared down on the seller theropod as the scene turned colourful in the battlefield, "Go take him down Terry!" she cried punching forward as Terry roared out fiercely and charged ahead courageously into battle!

He lunged in baring his jaws wide ready to snap close, but to his surprise the cryolophosaurus was able to jump out of the way as he snapped shut and only swallowed a mouthful of air! As Terry turned around he was caught off guard as the enemy dinosaur rushed ahead and head butted him, throwing him off balance as he stumbled backwards, shaking his head in disorientation. As he recovered, he saw a flash of blue as the cryolophosaurus rushed in and head butted him straight under his chest causing him to nearly fall over! He tried to swing out his tail but again the cryolophosaurus avoided the attack with little effort as it somersaulted backwards over the tail and then dashed away out of reach! Already the battle started and Terry was starting to pant, wasting energy in missed attacks while taking several hard blows from a small but fast dinosaur was beginning to take a toll on him.

"Ursula use a move card to wrap this up quick!" Ed cried to her in alarm seeing they'd never be able to match its' speed let alone beat it at this rate.

"No prob! One barbecued dinosaur coming right up!" she smirked taking out a fire move, "Burning dash! Ha!" Terry glowed red furiously as flames gathered in his mouth and he rushed ahead fearlessly! In response the cyrolophosaurus glowed in a bright rainbow colour aura before breathing out a breath of cold snow like energy as it encased the floor and even the walls in a layer of thick hard ice! Stepping on it Terry stumbled and was barely able to maintain his footing as he quickly dug in his claws and held fast to stop himself from crashing hard to the ground! Despite hi efforts the cryolophosaurus swung out its tail and knocked him into the nearby frozen wall as it slammed hard into it before crashing back down roaring in pain!

"AAAAH!" Ursula cried flabbergasted at the startling development, "That wasn't supposed to happen!" she cried as Zander and Ed grasped their faces and cried out in alarm!

"WAAAAH!?"

"Ursula use this move card!" Cera yelled urgently as she tossed a new fire move over to the older woman.

"Huh?" Looking up she quickly caught it in between her fingers before eying it curiously.

"That'll even the playing field a little more!" Cera then shouted urging her to play it and fast!

She was about to ask but the cryolophosaurus roared out loud which urged her to trust what the D Team girl was saying, "O…Okay…" she replied before looking ahead, gritting her teeth as she slashed the card, "Burst of flames!" Glowing red, Terry opened cup his eyes fiercely, stomping on the ground and forcing himself back up before throwing a stream of flames all around him! The immense heat caused the frozen ground and walls to melt away, heating up the area and forcing the cryolophosaurus back as it was met with intense resistance!

"Alright!" Zander and Ed both cheered pumping up their fists.

"Heh, now we're cooking!" Ursula smirked while Cera smiled happy to see Terry back on his feet again. "Turn up the heat Terry!" Ursula then cheered as he roared and rushed ahead once more, throwing his head he swung out and knocked the cryolophosaurus back a couple of feat, but it somersaulted and quickly recovered landing on its feet again with the grace of a feline. As Terry tried to run in again to attack again, the cryolophosaurus sped out of the way of his jaws before darting in and striking at his sides at multiple angles! Each time Terry got him in his sights and lined up for an attack, his foe leapt out of the way and then struck at another of his blind spots!

"Oh man Terry's getting his butt whooped!" Ed then whimpered as he began to bite his nails in a panic, "He can't take much more of this!"

"WHOA! It's fast!" Zander gasped looking all around and soon starting to spin dizzily unable to keep up with its erratic movements.

It then swung out its tail at Terry's face, knocking him down to the ground before rushing back several feet away, putting distance between itself and Terry!

"And strong too!" Cera cried in alarm, never before had she seen an unarmored dinosaur so powerful before. Furthermore….something about it seemed different, unlike the previous dinosaurs Seth experimented on, this one didn't seem to have any kind of alteration or anger in its cry, in fact, it was completely unaltered and fighting willingly without being under any sort of influence….and that deeply puzzled her.

The cryolophosaurus then roared out a battle challenge at Terry from afar, and as he got up the tyrannosaurus stomped his foot and roared out in a fiery fury as Ursula gritted her teeth just as furiously as he was, "Grr! Alright Frost Face! You want to play rough? Fine! Let's play!" she growled pointing at it before taking out another move card and slashing it, "Go explosion!" Terry roared as he charged and propelled himself forward, spinning and wrapping himself in flames till he shot himself out like a meteor ready to take his frosty foe down for the count!

Cera narrowed her eyes seeing the cryolophosaurus hadn't moved an inch, and stayed in the path Terry was speeding on towards, which made no sense till she saw it begin to glow she widened her eyes, "Oh no its a trap!" she gasped in realisation, "Ursula! Get Terry to back off quick!" she yelled as Ursula quickly turned to her in confusion.

"Say what? Something about a trap?" Looking away she failed to realise in time that the cryolophosaurus as finished charging up blizzard smash, unloading a furious wave of ice and snow at the fiery meteor!

Everyone quickly held fast and held their arms forward, bracing themselves against the powerful ice attack "WAAAAAAAHHH!"

"URGH!" Bits of ice and first began to form on their clothes and faces, even small shards of hail pelted away at them too!

Terry however was having it far worse than any of them, taking the full front of the attack as the cold wind quickly overwhelmed and snuffed out the flames of his attack, and before long Terry became encased in a huge block of ice much to the horror of everyone else gathered there as they looked up!

"No way!"

"That dinosaur just put Terry on ice!"

"I thought fire was supposed to melt ice!" The trio cried in disbelief as Cera gritted her teeth tensely seeing how powerful Seth's dinosaur was and how easily it took down one of their best with little effort!

"This is bad…." she hissed seeing now they were left vulnerable and exposed! To make matters worse, the cryolophosaurus had no intention of letting them summon a new dinosaur now, as it roared fiercely and rushed towards them at full speed! "Tch!"

"WAAAAAAHHH!" The trio screamed before huddling together in a bundle not wanting to look!

To their surprise, the cryolophosaurus suddenly glowed in bright rainbow light before transforming into a beam of energy which exited through the hatch, causing the battlefield to disappear in the process!

As Ed looked up uneasily, he blinked his eyes in surprise and looked around to see the dinosaur had vanished mysteriously, "Hey it's gone!" he point ed forward as the others looked ahead in surprise.

"Seth must have called it back." said Cera narrowing her eyes with suspicion.

"But why?" Zander wondered scratching his head in thought.

As he did, Ursula, not wanting Terry to stay frozen and catch cold in the ice a second longer, pressed a button which turned him back into a card inside the ice block. Losing it's form the ice quickly crumbled away, leaving the card exposed which she then reclaimed with her Alpha claw.

BEEP! BEEP!

An alert siren caught their attention as they turned to see a screen brought up before them, "Huh?"

"Everyone! It's an emergency! Get to the bridge now!" Jonathan yelled urgently as the screen quickly swapped over to depict a scene with a forest fire scorching the jurassic land outside and around the Backlander!

"AAH!" They widened their eyes in alarm to see it was happening before their eyes!

As the screen zoomed in, it showed an armoured white tyrannosaurus roar out furiously from a field surrounded in flames, "It's Gigas!" Ed pointed out in alarm.

"The space pirates…." Cera hissed, if he was here the rest of them couldn't have even far behind.

"Look at that fire!" Ursula then cried seeing the fire surrounding them on all sides.

"It's really huge!" Zander gasped as he adjusted his glasses for a better look.

"Good thing we're safe and sound in here…." Ed gulped.

While that was true for then, Cera could feel her own heart growing limp and weak, as the sounds of trapped or dying dinosaurs echoed through the flaming forest, and it was all their fault…for trusting Seth and letting him into their base…."All those dinosaurs…." she felt her knees going limp, realising they brought harm to so many innocent dinosaurs and other creatures living in there, "How dare they attack innocent dinosaurs like that!?" she then gritted her teeth and yelled, seeing they only saw the dinosaurs as tools and didn't care about the others that were free and living in the wild, they did nothing that would deserve such a cruel fate.

The armoured t-rex then fired magma blaster into the forest, setting off an even bigger fire in the process as Chomp and Ace barely managed to avoid it in time!

"Max and Rex need help!" Cera then yelled not wanting to standby and watch a second longer, "We've got to get this ship going now!" she yelled to the Alpha gang as they turned serious and nodded.

"I've just finished the final repairs!" A voice cried out from behind as they turned to see Dr Z waving his arms frantically at them.

"Dr Z!" They gasped in surprise as he urged them to follow him to the bridge.

"Everyone! Battle stations now! Seth will NOT get away if I have anything to say about it!" he demanded as he turned around and made a run for the upper deck.

"Yes sir!" The trio saluted before chasing after him.

"Right behind you!" Cera cried out in response before doing the same.

As the 5 of them ran as fast as they could to the upper deck, they passed by a room where Helga had just managed to shove the gel jark into a hibernation pod as it emitted sleeping gas to return it to solid rock form. After that she folded her arms and smirked proudly at her work.

Meanwhile, Dr Z, the alpha gang and Cera made it to the bridge as Jonathan looked to them from the drive seat, "There you are!" he yelled acknowledging their presence before pressing several buttons and flipping up some switches, "Hold on tight! We're taking off!" he said as the ship soon started up and took to the air, where they could get a bird's eye view of the chaos and devastation taking place down below them in the primordial forest.

"This is horrible….." Cera breathed placing a hand over her chest, as her heart began to crack painfully as she could somehow hear the cries of dinosaurs engulfed in the flames, and unlike their own, they didn't have the luxury of being returned to cards, they were being burned alive. Realising that Seth and the space pirates were responsible for causing all this, she hardened her expression and cliched her fist swearing vengeance inside.

"Don't worry about it," said Ed encouragingly as she turned to look to him, "The Backlander will help snuff out those puny flames in the blink of an eye!" he said holding her an okay sign with his hand.

"I guess," she replied feeling a little eased before getting to the hard part, "But what about the poor dinosaurs that may already be…." she stopped herself not wanting to go there, as Ed and the others became solemn at what she meant by that.

"Oh…."

"We'll worry about that later!" Dr Z suddenly yelled catching everyone's attention, "Right now look!" pointing ahead it depicted Seth making a run for it to a hill. Focusing on him, Jonathan turned the ship towards him and soon they floated directly above where he was, ready to pull him in with the tractor beam, "There he is! There's nowhere left for him to run! We've got him!" Dr Z cried out eager to exact vengeance, Cera too was hoping for it, as well as dish out some well deserved justice and punishment to the villain for all his crimes.

Before they could do so, suddenly they came under attack as the space pirate ship suddenly unloaded a barrage of laser attacks upon them!

BOOM!

"WAAAH!" They all cried as they became shaken up!

"That is if the space pirates don't get us first!" Dr Z he then cried before he and the others began to scream loudly as they were pelted mercilessly by their enemies' attacks!

"AAAH!"

Jonathan gritted his teeth and saw the screens bringing up red alert on screen, "The repairs aren't fully completed and the ship can't take more of this!" he growled as another attack rattled the ship and shook the interior violently!

"GRRGH!"

"I'm sorry everyone but we have to retreat!" he yelled as he was forced to speed away from the incoming lasers, which left Seth clear to be beamed up by the space pirates along with he cosmos stones!

"NO!" Dr Z cried as both Seth and the cosmos stones disappeared before his eyes on screen. As they did, he could feel all his hard work and dreams slowly slipping away as he fell to his knees, before banging his fists on the floor in a fit, "ARGH! We were so close! It's not fair!" he cried out loud as the trio went around to pat him kindly on the back.

"Ch…Cheer up Dr Z…." said Ursula warmly, "There'll be other opportunities don't worry." she said with assurance in her voice that they'd see him again soon as well as another shot at the cosmos stones, though her words fell on deaf ears as Dr Z was swallowed up by grief and despair.

"Right now we need to focus on what we can do, and that's regroup!" Cera then yelled, still frustrated but not letting that cloud her sense of duty, "Jonathan! Any sign of Max and the others?!" she yelled desperately to him.

"They're over there!" he cried pointing ahead to see a yellow triceratops and a carnotaurus backed into a corner in the blaze by Gigas! "I see Chomp and Ace!"

"Hurry Jonathan! They can't take much more of this!" she yelled to him with urgency as he punched on the lever.

"On it!" he yelled as he flew over to their position.

As they soon passed over the sight of the battle, an urgent distress call from Max came to them, "Jonathan! We need you to beam us up pronto!" he cried urgently as the blaze surrounding them grew increasingly intense and their dinosaurs were on the verge of defeat!

"I'm locked onto your location!" Jonathan responded as he typed on screen, "Prepare to return to the ship!" he yelled as he activated the teleporter beam.

"Right! We're on it!" Max replied as they all looked up to see the Backlander arrive on time. Immediately, Max and Rex recalled their partners before Gigas could lunge at them, and after that they were beamed up to the safety of the Backlander.

"Wait, what about the fire?" Cera then looked up to see the fire was spreading out of control and several dinosaurs became trapped by falling logs coated in flames! "We need to put it out now!" she pleaded to Jonathan, who gritted his teeth in frustration knowing that wasn't possible now.

"The Backhander's too heavily damaged!" he yelled before looking to see the space pirate ship still nearby, "And the space pirates are still out there, we can't afford to risk another attack from them in our current state." he said before reluctantly preparing an emergency time jump, "I'm sorry Cera but we'll have to come back later."

As much as she wanted to protest, thinking clearly Cera could see he was right, if they stayed they could risk being destroyed, and if that were to happen they'd not only be stranded in the jurassic forever but they'd of no help to anyone. With a heavy heart she let out a deep sigh, "Okay….do what you must…." was all she said as Jonathan nodded in turn, pushing the buttons and pulling on a nearby lever which caused the ship to speed ahead through a time warp hole. Looking out behind them, seeing the huge fire they were leaving behind, "I'm sorry…." she breathed shedding a tear from her eye before looking away, unable to bear with the thought of innocent dinosaurs perishing in the blaze.

Not long after that, while Cera and the alpha gang were trying to recover from their ordeal and close shave with doom, Max and the D Team strolled in to where the others were, "Wow…that was a close one…." Max breathed in relief the they managed to get out of that close brush with doom and now they could rest at least for a bit, and recuperate before going back after the space pirates and Seth again.

"Thanks for saving us again Jonathan." said Rex grateful to his ever faithful servant for coming in at the nick of time once more. Though sadly for them, their troubles had only just begun and weren't about to let them have a moment's rest just yet.

BEEP! BEEP!

A loud beeping sound rung which caught everyone's ears, "We're receiving a transmission!" Jonathan stated as he answered it.

On screen, a familiar face on a rather fuzzy screen appeared, "This is D Lab, please respond immediately." the woman on the other end pleaded desperately as everyone widened their eyes to see who it was.

"It's Reese!" Zoe gasped seeing her sister again before realising something wasn't right, "But what's she saying!?"

"Something terrible has happened! The fate of the world, it's changing!" Reese sounded at the other end as the connection turned most fuzzy and she looked to the side worried as the screen was swallowed up by static!

"Reese! Come in! You're breaking up!" Max cried in horror as everyone turned speechless and shocked to see her disappear off screen, "Come in Reese! REESE!"

 **As shown here Cera has managed to free the ankylosaurus the D Team rescued from Foolscap and managed to hold off Seth a while though unfortunately still losing the cosmos stones, which I thought were lost a bit too easily in the anime so wanted a fight to be put up first before that, as well as the trio getting rescued from the trash chute. Personally I found writing the conversation between Cera and Seth here to be my favourite part, second being the battle.**

 **Stay tuned as the gang battle mad plants and enormous insects in order to save their home from being taken over and turned into an urban jungle!**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Who? Seth or Dr Z? This case it's Seth though Dr Z kinda was an unfortunate casualty which forced Cera's hand though he tried to help. Though they lost the stones they did manage to gather some energy from them which will play a role later on.**

 **I wanted to address ankylosaurus' fate so I had him be reclaimed by the D Team after Foolscap was blown off by the ultimate move collision.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-No I just reply to each review as they come, just replying to Guest's review on another chapter**

 **Guest**

 **-I won't spoil anything yet.**


	44. The forest fire effect

Chapter 44

The forest fire effect

"Jonathan! Can you get her back!? Please!" Rex cried to his butler with panicked urgency in his voice as he then quickly typed away at the console, desperately trying to reestablish the connection with the D Lab.

"I'll do my best Master Rex." he said as he narrowed his eyes hard at the console, feeling somewhat pressured with everything that's already happened and on the line, "But considering the damage we've taken along with the interference of the time space flux this will be a challenge…." he breathed heavily as he kept his full focus on screen while everyone looked on tensely.

"Come on…." Max gritted his teeth tensely as he sweated with anxiety.

"Reese hang in there…." Zoe pleaded clasping her hands together and praying for an answer soon while others like Cera, Dr Z and Ursula either remained serious and steadfast or Ed and Zander bit their nails deeply pressured, especially Zander since his crush suddenly got cut off and that could only mean trouble in the worst possible way.

Nevertheless, Jonathan remained firm and determined to reconnect with their allies back home, for their survival depended on it as it seemed, "Almost….Got it!" he cried as everyone else brightened up.

"Yes!"

"Nice!"

"Yay!"

"Alright! Now patch it in!" Rex then ordered him as he responded with a nod.

"Doing that right away!" Before long the screen depicting Reese's concerned face reappeared, with some static in the background making it difficult to make out what she was saying.

"Jonathan! Are BZZT there!?" she said with a muffled voice as noise interfered with the call, "City BZZT attacked! Send BZZT Help!"

Even with the muffled call, that didn't sound like good news at all to the D Team when they heard what she said, "Wh….What was that Reese?" Cera asked uneasily.

"Speak up! It's kinda fuzzy over here!" Max then shouted loudly, hoping she'd be able to hear them better than they could for her.

As far as he and the others could make out she did say the word attack, and they didn't want to believe it but they had to make sure….though what they were soon to find out would make them wish they didn't.

Looking to the side, Reese typed again on her end of the line, this time managing to stabilise the connection so they could hear her again clearly, "Again! The city is under attack! Do you read!? I'm sending you video feed now!" The screen soon switched from her to live feed and snapshots of the city's buildings slowly being overrun and overtaken by strange eerie vines! Thorny ivy erupted out across the roads and burst through buildings before slowly smothering them over, moss growing on many walls of the town, while roots and vines began to ensnare over lampposts and cars and even strange flowers began erupting out at the tops of buildings too as people looked on in terror and confusion!

Everyone was caught completely my surprise, what they saw seemed like something out of a science fiction movie only it was happening for real!

"AH!"

"Huh!?"

"They're under attack by plants!?" Max exclaimed in disbelief, a sight that would make him and the others unable to look at vegetables the same way again.

The mess didn't stop there, as a second screen shifted to groups of people running away from a group of giant snap jawed ants, a mother and her child running away from a 4 armed scorpion and then a pair of giant mantises, one dark and the other light green, rampaging about in downtown district as they brought down their scythe like arms and pierced into a nearby car before tossing it aside!

"And giant bugs too?!" Max then gasped in alarm as if things weren't already bad enough!

The alpha gang huddled and shuddered, worrying that this was some kind of nature rising and retribution for the all bugs and grass they trampled on carelessly in their lives.

"That's right Max!" Dr Owen responded off screen, "They come out of nowhere and now they're everywhere! And still spreading!" he screamed in a panic.

"We're running out of places to hide! We don't know what to do!" Rod cried as he found himself being ensnared by a wild vine!

"Grampa you have to help us!" Laura cried out pleadingly before the call was cut off again!

"NO!" Cera cried fearing the unthinkable may have just happened to all their friends back home.

"Help is on the way!" Dr Z cried out loudly, showing a rare glimpse of selflessness which he only made known to those he loved and cared for more than anything or anyone else in his life, "Jonathan! Take us home!" he then demanded. Cera too nodded with him wanting nothing more now than to save their friends, and also supporting Dr Z to save his grandchildren.

Unfortunately things were never that simple, "I can't! Time systems are offline!" Jonathan yelled back reluctantly much to their growing discomfort.

"Oh no…how are we going to help them?" Max then asked feeling weak and helpless with his friends as they could only watch as their loved ones suffered under the merciless green thumb of wild plant and gargantuan insects terrorising them out of nowhere!

"More importantly, how are we going to go anywhere?" Cera then asked thinking of the bigger picture, seeing they were also unable to go back and stop Specter and the space pirates from going after the last cosmos stone, "We could be stuck here lost in the vortex for all eternity…."

The others looked to her seeing she was right before sweating nervously, "No….this can't be…." Zoe croaked as her heart sank into despair.

Max gritted his teeth defiant at the odds, "We have to keep trying! No way we can just sit back here doing nothing while our friends are in danger!" he shouted tensing his fist.

"We know Max." said Rex looking to him with empathy, "We want to help as much as you do…..but….what can we do in our current situation? You heard Jonathan, even if we wanted to we can't just zoom over there on a moment's notice…." he said looking down finding this challenge to be really difficult.

As everyone turned silent seeing the logic in his words while harbouring feelings of doubt, even Max was beginning to become infected with such thought no matter how hard he tried to fight it, "But…."

"Come in Backland!" Reese called at the other end catching everyone's attention and lifting up their spirits momentarily, seeing she was still online, as they looked back quickly, "Are you there!? Backland come in!" she cried desperately for a response from the others, hoping she'd be able to get help from them in time.

"This is the SS Backland! Good to hear from you guys! Thought maybe all those greens had you creamed!" Zander replied cheerily as Cera and a few others narrowed their eyes with disapproval at him.

"Not a good time Zander…." clearly he didn't understand the gravity of the situation at hand.

"Have you been leaving all of the different time periods you visited just as you found them?" Reese then asked getting straight to the point.

"Yeah! Of course we have Reese!" Zoe replied as she thought back to the past events that happened in each time they went for the cosmos stones, "When we left Ancient Rome we left things as they were. When we left all those pirates everything was the same. Even when we left China things were just as they should be, which isn't to say that they weren't weird but they were normal." She said as she flashbacked to all the close calls they had while also making sure they didn't change anything big.

"Apart from a few small meetings with people in those times as well as a few….small involvements with our dinosaurs in Japan, Persia and France nothing significant was really altered." Cera added seeing nothing wrong so far.

"We've left each time like we found it." Zoe concluded as Paris chirped after her.

"Maybe not!" Rex then pointed out as the others looked to him, "When we crashed in the jurassic period and had to make that quick escape? We didn't have time to make sure everything was the way it was when we first got there!"

Cera widened her eyes and her heart sank upon realising he was right, "Oh no…." she mouthed out, seeing that they did cause not just the past world to suffer but the present as well.

"Please think!" Reese cried, "Did anything happen there that could have changed the course of history?" she asked.

"The course of history? No not really…" Ursula muttered as she drifted into thought, "I mean I guess there was that fire that Gavro started when we were fighting him and his dinosaur…."

"But 1 little blaze couldn't change all of history." Zander replied feeling doubtful that anything significant could have happened since then.

Ed though begged to differ, "Yes it could! Look here!" he said bringing up a white board as he began to explain a very long and detailed theory he put together after piecing together the evidence shown so far. Due to the fire and lack of available food, the plant eating dinosaurs would die out, followed by the meat eaters and eventually the ancestors of the mammals which relief on the forests for home and food, a devastating chain reaction like the one caused by the meter and the extinction of the dinosaurs which thus gave the opportunity for mammals to replace them. Although that didn't mean life would die out completely, any lucky surviving plants and insects would eventually emerge to fill in the roles left behind by the larger vertebrate animals and eventually grow unchecked by them till they took hold of the planet as its new rulers which they now saw on screen!

Everyone else became completely speechless, either the fact that Ed made sense for once or that everything he predicted was happening exactly as he had predicted.

"Whoa…." Ursula then muttered telling herself not to underestimate his intelligence ever again.

"Wait, so if history is now correcting itself to reflect the fire that happened millions of years ago…." Rex then spoke out as he processed this altogether.

"Right?" Max, Cera and Zoe asked curious as to where he was going with this.

"Then it's just a matter of time….before the entire human race, all of mankind is wiped off the face of the Earth!" he explained.

"Right! Because humans are mammals! We would never have existed!" Zoe then gasped in realisation.

"Not just them…." Cera then spoke out uneasily as the others looked to her uneasily holding Miku in her hands, "The dinosaurs too….we'll all fade away into existence…." she said trembling with few and sadness before hugging in her partner close to her chest, while she and the other dinosaurs remained rather oblivious to the danger that surrounded man and dinosaur kind!

"So how long do we have?" Zoe then asked nervously.

"At the rate this plants are spreading? I'm afraid…not long!" Rex cried growing ever increasingly anxious.

"So let's move!" Dr Z yelled defiantly stomping his foot, "We need to head back to present day at once! No way I'm letting some overgrown side salad take down the entire human race!" he yelled determinedly, not just to save his precious grandchildren but without people no one would bow down and worship him as the dinosaur king, plus he didn't himself or his precious dinosaurs to fade away into oblivion either.

Cera, though she could figure his real intentions, still had to admit it was great he was thinking both good and about others for a change….though if not for one problem which Dr Owen soon pointed out.

"Haven't you been listening doctor!? That won't help us!" he yelled in exasperation which startled the old doctor, "Coming back here to the present won't accomplish a single thing! That is…unless you're looking to go extinct along with us!"

"Ugh!" Ursula shuddered at the thought.

"Dr Owen is correct!" said Reese seriously as she shoved him aside to speak to the others, "Only by going back to where this started can you set things straight! You must go back to the jurassic period!" Reese

"That may be true," Jonathan answered her though reluctant to tell her the catch, "But I'm afraid unless we repair the ship's time systems, we're not going to be going anywhere, jurassic period, present day or otherwise!"

"Then let's repair the systems. It shouldn't be too difficult." said Reese, not giving up knowing that there was no other way to save humanity, "After all we have all the original schematics for the ship's time travel apparatus right here at the lab. I'll send them to you." She said as she began sending the data they needed, though unaware that several vines had managed to break through the lab's walls and were slowly creeping in on their next victim!

"Very well. Standing by…." Jonathan replied as he awaited to receive.

"I'm uploading the plans as we speak, the file transfer should be complete-" Before she could finish her sentence the line was suddenly cut off again much to everyone's shock!

"HUH!?"

"Reese!" Max yelled hoping she'd respond back but unfortunately there were no second chances.

"NO! Where'd she go!?" Zander cried in despair.

"Those plants and bugs must have messed up the connection somehow." Cera thought narrowing her eyes. Without any dinosaurs there to back them up, they had no way of defending themselves against nature's hostile takeover of the planet.

They tried once more to establish contact but sadly nothing came up much to their discomfort, "D Lab's not responding!" Max cried before looking to the others seriously, "We have to make sure everyone's okay! There's no time to spare! We need to get to the present now!"

"Right! That's what I've been saying all along! So let's get going!" Dr Z then yelled in agreement.

As rash as both their ideas were it was the only way they could secure the repair data they needed, and sure it would take valuable time to achieve but their hand was now forced and only one course of action was available to them whether they liked it or not.

"Guys we're not going anywhere." said Rex with great discomfort, "Remember? The ship's time systems are still offline so we can't lock on to any time coordinates!"

"Right, and we lost contact with Reese before she could send us the schematics we needed to get the time systems working again!" Zoe added to their growing list of worries and problems, which they already had more than enough of already.

"Great, so there's nothing we can do?" Zander whined.

Cera and most of the others didn't want to give up, though in this situation it was really hard to stay positive or to think clearly on a plausible clause of action.

"Hmm….No, we can blame people! And I blame you!" Dr Z then whined childishly, which made it increasingly difficult for her to think clearly herself.

"Tch! Yeah real mature Dr Z…." she hissed bitterly, wishing he'd make up his mind on whether he'd want to anger her or make her respect him.

Though while things grew ever increasingly hopeless and downright impossible for most of the others on board, Jonathan soon managed to isolate what may have been a silver lining of hope which also carried a degree of risk, "Actually…there may be a way…" he breathed as he eyed the screen and typed away at what may be their only shot and last desperate measure.

Over hearing him, Cera looked to him, "There is Jonathan?" she asked as she went over to where he sat. As she looked at what he was doing, her eyes brightened up to see they still had a chance!

He soon isolated the signal he was looking for, "Aha! Yes it's just as I thought! There's hope!" he gasped alerting everyone as they eyed him.

Everyone attention

"Uh…you're going to share with the rest of the class or what?" Ursula asked.

"Though we did loose all communications contact with D Lab, the transmission we established with them is still secure." he answered, "By locking onto its' radio frequency we can plot a course for D Lab's time coordinates."

"Then what are we waiting for!? Lock away!" Dr Z demanded impatiently.

"Of course, if we don't achieve a precise lock then we'll all face certain doom in the temporal flux stream." Jonathan added at the end which unnerved some of them.

Cera then sighed deeply, she knew it was just too good to be sure, "There's always a catch….why can't we ever get a good break?" Looking at it, they had only one shot to get this right, a slight miscalculation or error and they'd be in certain doom. However if they did nothing they'd be running straight into oblivion anyways, be it by the time correction or by the space pirates. She wondered why the universe had to be so cruel to them after all they're doing to try and save it from destruction. Just what did it want from them?

"Say what!? Temporal flux uh huh? Well guess now I know what we're waiting for then." Dr Z then muttered having second thoughts and deciding to enjoy his last moments of life while he could still stand.

Max however thought far differently, "We're not waiting!" he yelled, this time with determination and assurance.

"Huh!?" Everyone else gasped.

"It doesn't matter what the risks are! Our friends and the entire human race are depending on us!" Max yelled out loud not wanting to hide and do nothing while letting the others suffer, plus if they were going to disappear he'd much rather them use whatever time they left trying first, "And you better believe we're not gonna let them down!" he yelled as he punched his hand into an open palm.

His words soon inspired some positive feelings in his friends as they felt their spirits fired up, "Max is right, this may be the only way we can make things right." said Rex in agreement.

"We have only one shot to get this right, mess it up and it's over." Cera said cautiously before smiling, "But we do nothing and we're doomed anyways….way I see it we've got nothing to lose so let's go for it!" She said energetically, pumping up her arm and backing the others up as they smiled happy to have her support.

"Well then? What are we waiting for?" Zoe then smiled eagerly.

"For the temporal flux thing and certain doom! I thought we covered that!" Dr Z cried and protested.

At that moment Helga came in most unexpectedly with a hard glare towards Dr Z, "I will cover you in Spaetzle and serve you with Schweinshachsen unless you man up, Doctor!" she growled menacingly as he froze in terror at the burly housemaid's threat! "To fix the past we must start in the present so we're going! Do you understand doctor?"

"Fine…." he gulped submissively in the end as Helga smiled pleased to hear his cooperation. It was clear who truly kept the Alpha gang in line on Zeta Point was.

Cera smirked, knowing they can always count on her when the time demanded it, plus she had to admire her caring nature towards Rod and Laura would always come out on top.

"I just hope the old lady's up for it!" Zoe then said to the alpha gang.

"You just had to squeeze that in didn't you?" Ursula muttered crossly.

"Yes, yes she did." Cera nodded, considering they were all such nincompoops…..

"No one asked you!" Ursula glared at her shaking a fist though Cera remained undeterred.

"Then it's settled, we're going!" Max yelled out having made the final decision with everyone on board.

"Kay…." The trio muttered seeing no other choice on it, though they themselves felt rather insecure on whether they'd make it out of this.

"Very well, then shall I initiate?" Jonathan then asked waiting for their final confirmation, for there was no turning back after this.

"Yeah, and let's hope for the best." Max answered him.

"Yes! Let's!" Dr Z shouted in full but fickle minded agreement.

"Fingers crossed…" Cera swallowed hard as she narrowed her eyes as they readied for their leap of fate.

With his interactions clear, Jonathan proceeded, "Alright, hold on everyone this might get bumpy!" he went in and pressed a button, causing the Backlander to make a very sharp U Turn before it zoomed back in the opposite direction!

It wasn't an elegant move, as the ship's alarms beeped red as everyone held tight on what would be their biggest and fastest rollercoaster ride of all! "URGH!" They all clung on to whatever they could, securing themselves so they wouldn't fly back!

Chomp however, was unable to hold fast as he flew straight into Max's face and then suddenly biting it in order to keep still!

SNAP!

"AAAAH!"

Jonathan closed his eyes, focusing for just the right moment, as soon as it came, "There!" he cried timing it just time right as he made a quick turn and shot into the portal at the side of the time tunnel! Zooming through, with immense pressure being exerted on the ship, they managed to hold on a little longer till at long last the leith shone at the end of the tunnel, "We did it! We've arrived back in present day!" Jonathan cried out in relief as they erupted out at the other end and into bright light of day over Sanjo City!

"I knew there was nothing to fear." Dr Z muttered, though on the inside his heart was racing like a galloping horse….at least things would finally quiet down a bit for them he believed.

Unfortunately he spoke far too soon, despite making it back to Sanjo City, it was no time to celebrate as everyone widened their eyes to see the unthinkable before their eyes.

"Ah…oh my…." Jonathan gasped in disbelief, what he saw outside the windows was far worse than what they first saw moments ago on screen by Reese. In the short span of time between that call and now so much of the jungle had taken over the city and it was only a matter of time before all of civilisation would be swallowed up by nature's complete and hostile takeover! Several umbrella shaped trees with outstretched branches spread out over the city lot and vines sprouted and wrapped themselves around various building lots and sprouting unusual shaped flowers. What was even more bizarre was that some plants seemed completely autonomous as one wriggled like a slug down on the street while passing by another that seemed to be a celery walking on its roots!

"No…" Zoe breathed.

"This can't be present day…" said Rex feeling devastated.

"It is…just…not the one we know…" Max muttered Max at the end as they flew over the city, the streets now barren and devoid of any human or animal life. Where people once crossed or cars rode, now vines

"It looks like some kind of mutant jungle down there…." Zoe commented.

"Or more like an alien planet…." Cera added.

"So this is how things would be if plants and insects ruled the world…" said Max looking over the urban jungle through the screens.

"No this is how things are." Zoe corrected before her eyes began to water, "And as much as it hurts to admit it's all our fault." she sniffled fearing they put people in danger all because of their stupid decision to not only call Specter but also letting Seth both on board their ship and getting away wit their cosmos stones.

Cera and Rex looked at her sympathetically, till Rex spoke up, "Never mind whose fault it is, let's just worry about fixing it." he said encouragingly.

"Right, and to do that we have to repair the ship's time systems and get back to the jurassic period!" said Max determined, since they were still alive and had time they might as well use the chance they have, "You with me?" he asked hoping for her supports.

Wiping away her tear, Zoe then mustered up whatever strength she had left in her, "Yeah…" she said ready.

"Let's get to the D Lab!" Rex then said with affirmation, "We'll fix communications then upload the schematics to repair the ship and then correct history."

"Sounds like a plan! Let's go for it!" Dr Z yelled punching his arm forward feeling pumped up himself.

Out of nowhere the ship suddenly began to rumble, as if it had crashed into a mountain out of nowhere!

RUMBLE!

"AAAAH!" Jonathan gasped in surprise as uneasiness came upon the others.

"Wh…What was that!?" Max cried.

"Trouble!" Rex yelled as a massive cloud of insects began to surround the ship in every corner and angle!

Bringing it up on screen, "We hit a swarm of giant dragonflies!" Jonathan cried. To make matters worse, it wasn't just dragonflies were present but also some large vicious wasps and eerie green cicadas, the size of dogs began to attack the ship, ramming into it or firing projectiles like detachable spines seeing it as an invader on their territory!

"More like mutant flies!" Cera widened her eyes seeing their appearance with 4 red eyes or disproportionate body shapes to be almost alien!

"EWW! I hate bugs and this doesn't make it any better!" Ursula squealed as she hugged herself feeling their itty bitty legs crawling over her precious skin.

"They've jammed the engines! We can't move!" Jonathan then yelled as he found himself unable to turn the ship, as several insects had managed to find their way into the engines from outside and began to mess up the controls inside out!

"Alright, we're gonna have to get to the D Lab on foot! Send us down!" Max yelled to him seeing no other way.

"Right! Be careful!" Jonathan nodded as he prepared to activate the teleporter to send them to the city streets.

"Meantime, the rest of us will deal with the bugs that have gotten on board!" Cera yelled to them as her friends nodded back in turn.

"Alright, we'll leave things to you then." said Max as they shone in bright light before vanishing, "Good luck!"

Cera nodded back at them as they left, "You too…." she prayed before turning around to see Dr Z rallying his team for battle.

"Okay team! It's time we put those overgrown bugs and weeds in their place and show them that man will always rule the world!" Dr Z he declared powerfully as he pointed upwards, "It's time for those pests to get pummelled!"

Despite his great and passionate speech, his men didn't seem all too keen on getting outside into the jungle where they'd be no more than morsel mouthfuls for the invading insects, "A…Are you sure Dr Z?" Ursula asked as she pointed out to the screen which showed several long vines trusting out from the street before grabbing hold of a passing by dragonfly.

"Those things are really prickly…." Ed muttered before turning pale as the vine threw the dragonfly into a nearby giant man eating plant which had a truck sized head as it chomped down on the dragonfly and chewed it up!

"And slimy and icky…." Ursula gulped as the plant licked its lips and grinned baring rows of dagger like teeth in its jaws.

The tables were soon turned as a huge 4 purple clawed scorpion snuck up from behind, cleaving the head of the carnivorous plant with its pincers from the stem causing the plant to screeched in pain, spasming as it died before the arthropod jammed in its stinger into its head and then sucking the juices out of it! "And they've got claws and stings!" Zander yelped grabbing his own neck to make sure it held in place where it belonged.

"We don't want to become plant or bug food!" They wailed out loud in protest and terror before hugging together in a bundle, much to Dr Z's disgust.

"What are you!? Ninnies!?" he growled impatiently stomping his foot on the ground, "Where we come from we stomp on bugs, heck we even eat them too in some places and they taste good too!" he growled which made the trio turn green as they held in their mouths so they wouldn't throw up their last meal.

"Ugh…." they groaned feeling sick as they forced themselves to swallow back down their lunch, as their stomachs churned and they felt nauseous.

"We've even got dinosaurs for crying out loud!" he shouted impatiently, "So get your butts off and let's go do some weed whacking and bug bashing already!" he demanded as he pointed out at the door.

"But Dr Z…this isn't the world we came from….let alone time…." Ed pointed out.

"Yeah plus those things are huge!" Zander cried out loud as he pointed at the screen which showed a mantis screeching viciously as it flared out its arm scythes, "You see the size of those claws, and those mandibles!? I'm not going out there even if you paid me!" he screamed while Ursula nodded frantically.

"I do pay you…." Dr Z muttered in disappointment. Looking back though he gulped and sweated rather nervously after taking another look at the mantis on the screen, "Though I see your point….I hate to admit it but those insects would surely give our dinosaurs a run for their money as rulers of the world…." he muttered putting a finger to his chin. Given the arthropods' history of being on earth long before humans set foot on the planet did and even outliving the dinosaurs themselves to present day he had to give them respect for that. Nevertheless he wasn't about to let those insects and plants stop him from saving his grandchildren and protect his crown as Dinosaur King, "Fine then, we'll put on bug repellent and herbicide, then we go out and do some squashing with our dinos! Happy now?" he then said.

Upon hearing his suggestion, the 3 of them perked up eager and ready for action! "Yes sir!" they answered as he smiled with satisfaction and they headed out through the doors to get fully prepped.

"Hehehe! Those bugs will never know what hit them!" Ed chuckled rubbing his hands together.

"I'll probably have to get my shoes cleaned for the next couple of weeks after this….." Ursula gulped uneasily as she lifted up her shoes for a look at them, treasuring their clean and clear appearance while she could, "But at least it'll be really satisfying to grind some pesky cockroaches under my heel!" She then grinned maliciously as she stomped on the floor and grounded her shoe into the floor.

"But those bugs are way to big to step on." Ed responded.

Ursula then narrowed her eyes at him, "It's a figure of speech you dimwit." she said bonking him on the head with her fist as he clenched it in pain.

Zander on the other hand kept to himself, but snickered and grinned seeing he had his big chance to impress or better yet win over Reese now as the doors shut behind them.

As they left the premises, Cera and the 2 androids looked on, having doubts on their chances of survival, "They're going to get munched alive aren't they?" Cera asked seeing this could only ned badly for them.

"High probability." Jonathan nodded in agreement with her statement.

"Especially since they forgot their scanners." said Helga as she pointed to their 3 alpha scanners which they left near their stations, no doubt they slipped out of their pockets when they weren't noticing, which caused Cera to smack her forehead in exasperation. She knew their chances were bad at first but now they were pretty much zero.

"Sigh guess it's up to us now Jonathan…Helga?" Cera asked them both, as she took the scanners deciding to use them to help out since no one else was going to.

"It would seem that way." Jonathan noted.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Helga asked her as they both looked to her awaiting her ideas.

She looked to them with a serious expression, "I do," she nodded, "I'll take care of the bugs outside on deck, while you deal with any that may have gotten inside." she told the housemaid before looking to the butler, "And Jonathan, see what you can do to get the ship's defences online again while we buy you time, also keep us up to date on where any bugs are coming from or gotten into."

He saluted her, "I'll make sure to keep track of everything."

She smiled seeing they were clear on their tasks as she punched to the air, "Okay team, it's extermination time!" she cried out loud as both robots cheered with her too.

"YEAH!" They yelled punching up as well.

"Be very careful up there my dear." Helga told her as she began to head for the elevator. "I've dealt with bugs before and even the smallest of them can cause the most trouble." She said shaking her head in disgust, "Oh, and in case of an emergency, use this." Reaching into he pocket she held out a can of blue aerosol spray which had a big red logo called 'BBB-Bye Bye Bugs!' listed on it along with a dead cockroach and its soul and halo leaving its body posted on the front, "My ace in the hole against the most pesky of pests! Guaranteed to eradicate any creepy crawly on contact!" she said proudly with a thumbs up before tossing it to Cera as she caught it.

Eying it she didn't find the packaging to be very pleasing to the eye but coming from the future she decided to take her word for it, "Thanks Helga….much appreciated…" She also wasn't sure if something from a vanishing future would do anything against super evolved bugs but it was better than nothing.

With that done, Helga popped her knuckles as she prepared to rally the troops for battle, "Now it's time to clean house!" she announced as she sped past Helga through the doors and down the hallway.

After that, as Jonathan worked on getting the energy shield up, Cera quickly made her way to the elevator room and entered it before taking out her cards and readying her dinoshot. Hardening her gaze and preparing herself as the elevator reached the upper deck, "Let's do this!" she shouted out with confidence as the doors opened and she rushed out! She soon stopped and froze in place to see a huge crowd of giant insects swarming all around the Backlander from all angles! There were as many bugs as the stars in the sky, and seeing them all around ready to come in at anytime and anywhere, Cera gulped realising she may have bitten off a little more than she could chew….

She then shook her head clear and hardened her expression bravely, having faced dinosaurs before this was nothing, also if they destroyed the shio they'd be going nowhere, so like it or not she was going to have to make her stand here! "Altogether now! Dino slash!" Slashing the 4 cards on her dinoshot, it caused Terry, Tank an Spiny to materialise around her and Miku on her shoulder as they all let out battle cries to the swarms, their roars echoing through the skies which made the swarms stop in place as they looked down to see their new adversaries. Cera smirked seeing their behaviour to be both a mixture of curiosity and fear, "Let's show these flying freaks where they belong on the food chain!" She yelled as the dinosaurs roared eager for battle!

In response, the swarm moved like a single entity and charged at the front! Terry first fired out blasts of fire cannon to punch holes in their formation, reducing any bugs hit on contact to ash and scattering them! Spiny came in next, glowing blue as he actitad hydro cutter, generating a blade of water before launching it at the split up swarm, splitting them in half while even slicing them in half or decapitating their heads completely as green or blue blood splurged out onto the deck! Tank swung out her tail to keep several others at bay when they got close to her. Some wasps fired out stings at her but the bounced off her armoured back like toothpicks before she retaliated with spike arrows, skewering them in a rapid fire flurry of crystal spines! As one green beetle swooped in, Miku shrieked as she launched herslef from Cera's arm, wooing out of its way then turning around to pounce from behind! Grabbing hold of its wings and wrestling it down to the ground before sinking her teeth into its neck and ripping it to pieces without mercy!

"Nice work you guys!" Cera cheered unaware that a wasp had flown behind her in the midst of all the chaos! Hearing the sound of buzzing wings and a shadow pass over her, she turned to look and widened her eyes to see the wasp dive bombing straight at her! "AH!" she gasped seeing it intended to skewer her! Responding quickly she grabbed the bug spray Helga gave her, "Eat this!" she shouted before letting loose a big fume of insecticide straight in its path! The wasp was unable to turn in time as it swooped through the cloud, inhaling a breath of the powerful toxic gas as it lost control and crashed to the ground near Cera! She eyed it with horror and disgust as it began to spasm violently before eventually dissolve in a huge puddle of purple slime which bubbled as the last of its limbs faded away inside!

She gulped down hard stopping herself from falling sick as she looked to the spray she had in her hand, "Whoa…this is really dangerous…." not to self she should never doubt anything from the future. The swarm of bugs soon began to mobilise as reinforcement from down below came in to fill the space left behind by their fallen comrades! As the second wave arrived for another attack, Cera and the dinosaurs rallied together ready to make their stand! "Alright! Who wants some!?" She yelled holding out the spray like a gun and her dinosaurs all roared together as the huge mass of insects charged at them straight ahead at all sides ready to engulf them as the dinosaurs responded back with magma blaster, falling water and spike arrows!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Down below in one of the hallways, the battle of the century was brewing. A clash of the ages, on one end a group of futuristic and advanced robots of different sizes and shapes, the alpha droids lead by Helga, faced off armed with fly swatters, bug zappers and bug sprays, faced off against the housemaid's worst enemy, a swarm of invading insect pests! The massive infestation of dragonflies, beetles and wasps crawled along the walls, floor and ceiling before buzzing their wings with agitation. A fight between futuristic technology against millions of years of insect evolution was about to go underway!

As a small breeze blew in from the ventilation ducts, blowing away a speck of dust like a piece of tumble weed, the swarm took to the air and rushed towards the robots like a massive wave of eyes and legs!

In response Helga narrowed her eyes as she threw out her arm which held a massive bug zapping racket, "CHARGE!" she bellowed as the machine rushed towards the incoming insect invaders!

At a pair of incoming dragonflies, Helga swung out her arm and as a few sparks flew out upon contact with the zapper, she smacked the bugs into a wall where they slid down to the floor with charred faces! As she batted them away repeatedly, some droids charged ahead and tackled some bugs down, larger ones used their fists and brought them down, squishing some of the insects into shy piles, or punching them down then stomping on their heads!

Helga then whipped out a can of bug spray from her apron which she sprayed in the face of a large wasp, after digging its stinger projectiles then getting in range! As a result the wasp fell down to the ground and spasmed before dissolving into a puddle of goo! "Works every time." She said smugly with confidence after whipping the can around and blowing its tip and the fumes away, "Maybe now you'll learn better than to tread foot in my kitchen!" she pointed out at the swarm!

Her actions though spurred the insects to become even more ferocious, as a larger wave of them erupted from the back of the hallways and even broke in through the air vents, taking the droids by surprise as they were picked up and ripped apart! Others joined in and piled on some droids, overwhelming them with their numbers till causing them to overheat under their beating wings! Eventually the droids were outnumbered and outmatched by the insects' tenacity and teamwork before soon resulting as a massive pile up of sparking and twitching parts and bolts around Helga's feet. Looking up seriously the swarm rushed at her in full force as she narrowed her eyes and steam erupted from her nose like a mad bull! "Hmph! Bring it on!" She bellowed as she charged into the fray and the swarm engulfed her before a cloud of bug spray gas erupted from within!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back outside Tank managed to shoot one beetle out of the sky, her spike arrow piercing its wing causing it to crash down in front go her, before she brought her club down and smashed it to bits! Terry on the other hand was able to grab hold of a dragon fly before shaking it in his jaws and then slicing it in half before roaring out! Spiny swung his tail at some incoming wasps, sending them flying away like baseballs before using his huge front claws to disembowl one that was crazy enough to charge head on at him! For a while the dinosaurs were able to hold their own rather well against the insects, but no matter how much they managed to defeat it did little to slow down their ever increasing numbers as more and more came in to replace the ones slain!

"Urgh! There's just no end to these guys!" Cera cried out in frustration, as she sprayed a few more that were coming in! After those ones fell to the ground and dissolved she felt the can growing lighter, and as she shook it, she found it to be completely empty much to her annoyance, "And of all the times to run out of bug spray…." she hissed before throwing the can off the ship's edge. The insects though weren't running out of tricks, in fact they were just getting started! As suddenly a few of the green beetles began to spit out brown acid from their mouths! Miku squawked in alarm as she jumped out of the way and the goo hit a passing dragonfly instead! As a result the dragonfly became glued to the surface of the ship and unable to move no matter how much it struggled!

"YIKES!" Cera jumped back in shock as Miku climbed back onto her shoulder where it'd be safer for her. Looking up and seeing slimy saliva dripping from their mouths, she gulped down hard feeling unsure about whether she might be able to handle this new opposition. "That's new….." With that now she could see why the insects were able to survive for so long. Despite being small, they were tenacious and adaptable, clinging onto a world dominated by giants when they themselves were once rulers of the world. And even after the dinosaurs they still survived till the modern age, and with no giant animals left to dominate the land after the fire in the jurassic they were easily able to fill the roles left behind and thus grew and evolved unchecked to become the monstrosities they were now! One thing she had to give them credit for, was their resilience, something they shared with humans and that deserved some respect.

As the swarm regrouped and amassed, Terry, Tank and Spiny began to sweat and pant, gasping for air after having used up most of their energy and barely wiping out a fraction of the invasion! They hunkered down, barely able to keep themselves upright as the insects prepared to aim their ranged attacks at them for one final assault! "Tch!" Cera clicked her tongue in frustration seeing they would outlast them with sheer numbers at this rate. But upon taking a closer look, she noticed something peculiar going on with the dinosaurs, "Huh?" For the briefest of moments she saw them fading slightly and before long she saw her own body start to fade slightly as she widened her eyes realising their time was running out! "AH!" she cried as Miku hugged her close, afraid of disappearing herself and not wanting her partner to leave!

The swarm however wasn't about to let them have a moment's rest as the noise from their buzzing intensified and they were preparing to launch their final assault! Despite the odds, Terry and the others refused to back down as they stomped hard on the ground and roared out in defiance to their foes! Feeling their strength and determination to live, Cera too responded back as she took a stand, "No…not now…not while we're still here!" She yelled talking herself to keep fighting as she managed to resist the effects of the time paradox with her will alone. She then closed her eyes and took a breath to clear her thoughts, "If we're going down….We go down fighting." she said calmly before shouting out at the top of her lungs, "To the end!" She screamed as the dinosaurs roared with her, prompting the swarm of insects to charge at them as a single entity about to sweep them off the ship and into oblivion!

As Cera narrowed her eyes readying herself with the dinosaurs to face their fate, a beeping sound suddenly rang from her dinoshot!

BEEP! BEEP!

Quickly she answered it hoping it to be good news, "Jonathan?"

"Cera! I need you inside now!" He yelled urgently on the other end.

Cera blinked her eyes, "Huh? You mean you've got the defences ready?" she asked hopeful.

"Not yet but I'm getting close," he answered shaking his head, "Right now I need you to back inside! Helga's getting overwhelmed by the bugs that got in!" The screen switched to Helga being surrounded on all ends by the huge swarm of insects as she gritted her teeth in frustration, barely managing to dodge their incoming attacks from multiple angles!

"AH!" Cera gasped in alarm seeing she needed help and fast! There was only so long she'd be able to hold them off on her own.

"I've managed to seal off the vents so no more can get inside, but right now we need you to help back Helga up!" said Jonathan urging her to get back inside both to save her and for her own safety too, "Plus you don't want to be outside when I do get things set up." he said at the end.

Hearing that was more than enough reason for her to comply, "Alright Jonathan! Got it! I'm heading inside now!" She said as the elevator was brought up again! As the doors opened, she rushed inside and quickly recalled Terry, Tank and Spiny to cards which retreated into her hand! As a result the bugs missed their mark with their stings and acid which hit where the dinosaurs were at first and could only watch as Cera escaped from their sight as the elevator descended!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Grrgh! These things are crawling everywhere!" Helga grunted in frustration as she managed to somersault over several sting projectiles in time! Looking around she widened her eyes and gritted her teeth in anger and disgust seeing bugs, bigs and more bugs no matter where she turned to look! Flying over her, crawling on the walls, through the vents or from the floor, they were everywhere! "This is the worst infestation I have ever seen!" she then cried out loud in frustration as they began to back her against a wall and she held fast, holding out her bug zapper as she prepared to give it her final all!

Fortunately, hope was kind enough to bless her with a miracle, "You called for pest control?

"Hmm?" Looking to the side she brightened up to see Cera had arrived in the nick of time!

"One extreme extermination coming up! Ha!" She cried slashing the cards and summoning Terry, Tank and Spiny to the field as they roared out fiercely! Their combined cries disorientated the warm, allowing Helga to rush through and bat them out of the way as she regrouped with Cera and the dinosaurs! "We'll handle things here! Right now go help Jonathan!" she said to the burly housemaid.

Seeing all the other droids were reduced to spare parts and how she was running low on ammo herself, Helga didn't object to Cera's offer as she nodded firmly, "Very well, but do be careful now. Good luck!" she said saluting her before speeding off down the other end of the hall to help Jonathan initiate the ship's defences!

Cera then looked ahead as the swarm of insects inside the ship began to converge from all around the interior of the ship from the lading bay and the kitchen all the way to the time engine room till they were gathered against her and the dinosaurs, "Okay, now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice." she said to them giving them one last chance of piece. Either they didn't understand or didn't care, the bugs buzzed angrily as they rushed at her in full force! "You asked for it!" she shouted as she threw her arm forward, "Let em have it!" She cried to Terry and the others as they rushed forward! Tank charged and curled into a spike ball as she rolled ahead and bowled through or flattered several insects as they became crushed like pancakes under her weight and spikes! After that she unfurled and swung out her tail like a baseball bat or brought it down like a hammer squishing them to mush!

Spiny swung out his claws cleaving several wasps and dragonflies in the way, and then even managing to grab hold of one that got too close! Opening his jaws wide he chomped down, ripping of its head then swallowing it down before devouring the rest of it! Licking his lips he snarled ravenously as he went on a mass killing spree rushing ahead and snapping up any insects that got in his way like an all you can eat bug buffet! Terry meanwhile stomped hard, sending a shockwave which caused several craving beetles to fly into the air before ehe swung his tail and sent them flying into others as they splatted against the wall! One managed to jump onto his back and bite down, angering him as he roared and turned around, yanking it off before chomping into it!

Seeing the opposition they were met with to be more than they could handle, the flies began to back away, as they cleared the path and allowed a trio of mantises to take the next turn! "Looks like they've brought in the big guns now." said Cera narrowing her eyes before clenching her hand into a fist, "Then we'll just have to bring in the heavy artillery!" As the mantises charged forward so did the dinosaurs! Spiny was able to grab hold of 1 mantis' scythe arms before pushing it up against the wall! "Aqua whip!" Cera cried slashing the move as Spiny ensnared it in a water whip before bringing it up and slamming it hard into the ground, leaving it as a green mushy pile on the floor!

Another mantis brought down its scythe arms on Tank, but she hunkered down as the scythes ended up cracking and breaking off after making contact with her heavy armour! It screeched in pain and stumbled back, giving Tank the opportunity to slam her club into its thorax! "Quake saber!" Tank sprouted a huge crystal blade from her tail and slashed through the mantis' thick carapace with ease as it was sliced in half and blood splurged out from its other end as it fell tot he ground spasming hard!

Terry roared angrily as he charged ahead, biting onto his foes' arm while it locked his head in a vice grip with it's blades! It was able to hold him back a while, but with determination, Terry was able to swing his head and throw it off balance as it stumbled and its grip loosened around his neck as he threw it into the wall! As it crashed Terry stomped hard on it before glowing red, "Take this! Burst of flames!" Cera slashed the card as Terry roared firing a stream of flames at it! The mantis screeched in pain as it became charred to a crisp before Terry grabbed hold of its head and ripped it clean off is body! Slamming it down before crushing it underfoot and roaring in triumph! "Way to show them who the true rulers of the planet are guys!" Cera cheered as the dinosaurs all roared in celebration of their victory!

Seeing their most powerful had fallen, the rest of the insects chattered nervously before turning around and attempting to escape though Cera wasn't about to let them have their way after all the trouble they caused! "You guys aren't getting off that easily!" She shouted taking a move card out, "Time to pay for all the trouble you caused! Magma blaster!" Slashing the move card, Terry stomped his foot on the ground and fired off a massive beam of magma which swallowed the entire remainder of the swarm in flames and as it died down all that was left were charred bits of dust!

At last after a gruelling and hard fought battle, it was finally over as Cera fell to her knees in exhaustion, "That takes care of them….phew….finally…." she wheezed heavily, but then smiled seeing their ordeal had finally passed. After that she pressed a button, returning the dinosaurs to cards before summoning them in chibi form, "Great job you guys….you deserved a good rest and relaxation after all that." she said petting them on their heads as they came up to her for praise for their good efforts, which he did as they barked happily with her. With the situation down below taken care of for the time being, Cera then patched in a call to the upper deck to check on the situation there, "Hey Jonathan, I took care of those insects inside already." she said on her dinoshot as he smiled back at her on screen.

"Excellent timing, I just managed to drive off the rest of the swarm outside, plus I received the schematics from Reese and now the ship's systems are repaired." He replied, "Not only that, the communicator also seems fully functional and now we'll no longer suffer any interference from the time vortex." he added.

The news brought a big smile to Cera's face, "Great, that means not only did Max and the others manage to fix things down below, now we can go back to the past fix the trouble the space pirates caused." she said.

"I'm on my way to pick Max and the others from the D Lab," Jonathan replied before a beeping sound came from the console which took his attention from her a bit, "Oh? Seems Helga has just arrived back with Dr Z and the alpha gang. I'll bring them up too." He said as he exited the call to beam them back to safety.

"Well, let's go up there and rendezvous with the rest of the gang." said Cera to the dinosaurs as they headed for the elevator and and went back to the upper deck. Stepping through the doors and into the bridge they found Helga, smacking her hands clean as the Alpha gang breathed out deep sighs of relief after their narrow escape from the mantis she saved them from.

"Phew….I almost thought we were bug food…." Ed muttered putting a hand over his beating heart as he sweated like a stuffed pig.

"Remind me never to step on ants ever again." Zander wheezed as he collapsed down on the floor.

Helga shook her head in disappointment at their whining attitudes, but brightened up when a light shone getting their attention, revealing the D Team along with 2 unexpected guests with them, as Dr Z welcomed them with a smile, "Rod and Laura! You're safe!" he cried with joy happy to see his grandchildren face to face after being separated from them for so long.

"That's right!"

"Hey grampa!" They each said greeting him with big smiles, to them even if it was a few minutes a lot had transpired and they were glad to be with family and in familiar surroundings again.

Cera smiled happy to see them again, it had been a long while since they were on board their own home too, plus now they had their chance to go back home to their parents again. "Nice to see you guys on board," she said making herself known as they looked to her, "Makes me feel a whole lot more safe with you backing up the team now." As she said that Jonathan began to type on the consoles and send the Backlander into the time hole again.

"Hey Cera." waved Laura happy.

"Long time no see." Rod smiled as he folded his arm on his hip.

"Mhmm, same here," Cera nodded back before stepping aside, "Also here are some friends who missed you quite a lot too." As soon as she said that, Terry, Tank and Spiny came up and wagged their tails with excitement before running up and jumping at the siblings!

"AH! Terry!" Rod cheered opening his arms out and welcoming the chibi tyrannosaurus in! Easily Terry tackled down Rod before licking his face all over, "Ahaha! That tickles stop it!" he snickered as he held him off from going too far.

"Tank and Spiny too!" Laura smiled as she knelt down and hugged the 2 of them in, "Oh I really missed you!" she smiled nuzzling her face into theirs.

"Aww I always love a happy reunion." said Zoe clapping her hands together as she, the D Team and Dr Z smiled happy to see them together again.

Though the trio pouted jealously seeing their dinosaurs smothering the children with affection instead of them, "Why don't they ever do that to us?" Ed pouted.

"I take it everything went well down there?" Cera then asked as she looked over to Max and Rex.

"Things were pretty crazy…." he replied scratching his head before smiling, "But we did manage to save Reese, Dr Owen and Patrick in time before they became plant chow." It was very weird being the one on the other side of the dinner plate for a change.

"That's good to know." Cera noted.

"Tell me about it…." said Rod with a deep sigh, "I'll never look at ants or vegetables the same way ever again…."

Laura muttered, "Me too…"

"Same for us…." The A Team an Dr Z whined as they slumped to the floor relieved to have escaped being stomped on by a giant bug.

Cera frowned seeing they didn't have it any easier than she did, "Things were pretty chaotic up here too," she sad before filing her arms and smiling with confidence, "But we took care of the pest problem so we won't have to worry about any bugs bothering us for a long while." she said as the others brightened up relieved it was over with.

"Good," said Max as he turned serious, "Cos now we can finally nip this problem right in the bud." he said grasping his hand into a fist as they looked ahead to see a light at the end of the tunnel, signalling they were nearing the jurassic where this problem first began. Everyone remained focused on what they had to do, their top priority to set things right, as they shot through and returned to the prehistoric world again.

"We're here!" Ed cheered as they arrived back over the burning forest down below.

"Actually…it looks like we're…already here!" Ursula gasped pointing ahead as they saw both the Space pirate ship and another Backlander right ahead of them!

"It's us from before!" Rex stated as the past Backlander soon disappeared into a time tunnel, "See! We're just leaving!"

"And so are the space pirates thank goodness." said Max as their enemies vanished from sight.

Cera nodded in agreement, "If they saw us things would get way more complicated…." she muttered.

"Now then, let's do this!" Max then told Jonathan as he quickly responded post haste.

"Right! Putting out the fire and restoring vegetation now!" Pressing a button, the Backlander released a bright light of energy which then spread as huge waves over the prehistoric landscape, wiping out all traces of the blaze and restoring the surroundings to their original and pristine state.

"Alright! Everything looks good as new!" Zoe smiled brightly as she clapped her hands together to see the forest healthy and the prairies lush once again.

Rod and Laura then rushed out and leaned at the windows for a closer look, as their eyes glistened with excitement and amazement, "Wow, it's so cool….." Rod breathed.

"I haven't seen the prehistoric world since like…forever!" Laura cheered having saw it once and it was amazing, and even though she went on time travel once to the dinosaur world she never got tired of it, in fact who would and why should they?

Max didn't stay to enjoy the view though, for there were other important matters at hand, "Only way to make sure everything's okay." he thought out loud as Rex nodded back at him knowing what to do.

"Jonathan, patch in a call to D Lab." he instructed as the android responded obediently.

"At once master." Jonathan initiated another call to D Lab, as a screen slowly began to form with static on.

"Reese! Come in!" Max cried hoping for a response and that nothing bad happened at the lab since they left it.

To their relief Reese quickly responded and answered, "This is D lab."

"Hey Reese! How's the situation back home!?" Zoe cried as they all waited in anticipation for her answer on the situation.

She soon smiled with ease, "See for yourself." she said as she brought the live view of Sanjo City screen, all traces of the plant and insect invasion were disappearing, leaving no trace of their existence and their city untouched by nature, "The plants are all gone, things are back to normal. Mankind is safe." she said calmly as everyone erupted with joy and cheers.

"YEAH!"

"Still, remind me to be nicer to my houseplants from now on just to be safe." said Ursula calmly to Ed as he nodded back to her.

As screens lit up, they depicted the charred or bloody remains of the defeated insects inside the ship, as well as the stains on the walls and even the taste of bug from Terry and Spiny's palletes slowly begin to fade away from existence just like in the present day. While everyone smiled with delight at their victory, Cera though couldn't help but feel a little sorry for having to cut their reign short, but there was no other way to ensure the survival of mankind, plus what happened was because of an accident and was never meant to be.

"Good work all of you. Thanks to your efforts you saved humanity, we owe you much." said Reese at the end before ending her call to do a final check to see if they hadn't missed anything.

With the age of plants and bugs behind them, the gang decided to take the time to enjoy the scenery a little longer while they were at it, this time happy to see the dinosaurs weren't suffering anymore and thankfully apart from some mild burns or the shock from close brushes with a flaming demise, the dinosaurs seemed to be able to settle down once more and return to their normal business of feeding.

"WOW! How cool!" Rod gasped in awe as he looked down to see a tuojiangosaurus herd drinking from a nearby lake.

"Neato! Look at that big one over there!" Laura pointed out at a shunosaurus which was grazing at a tree on the edge of the forest. Miku even chirped out hyperactively seeing the jurassic forests again, especially when she noticed another microraptor down below too, as Cera looked on happily to see everyone enjoying themselves, especially the children.

"Oh can we go down there?" Laura then asked Dr Z as he smiled at her and her brother.

"Yeah and get a closer look?" Rod pleaded.

"Sure, you kids go and have yourselves a good time!" he replied with a big smile thinking they deserved it after what they went through.

Cera liked seeing this side of Dr Z, now convinced that there was good in him. Like the siblings she too wished they could stay and enjoy the moment, but her smile soon vanished as she recalled they still had a duty to fulfil, as Helga soon bluntly stated.

"They will do no such thing!" she bellowed starkly much to the chagrin of the kids and Dr Z.

"What!? Why not Helga!?" Rod moaned.

"Is it cos I didn't finish my lunch? 6 pounds of schnitzel is a lot…" Laura muttered.

Cera sweat dropped hearing her statement, "Who eats that much?" she wondered, also someone of Laura's age and size should never consume that much fried meat in one go.

What Helga said next came as a big shock to the others, "It's because we must go after the space pirates right away!" she bellowed which surprised some of the others that she of all people would think about their mission, she was unpredictable but no one would have expected her to say that.

Max smiled in agreement as he popped in, "Helga's absolutely right! Let's move!" he said to Jonathan.

"And 6 pounds is not too much!" Helga then added at the end going back to her usual quirky self, which made Cera's stomach churn a little when she imagined having to consume that much food in 1 sitting.

With their next course of action decided, Jonathan fired up the time drive as they shot straight into the time stream once more, this time to finish things with the Spectral Space pirates once and for all. After a few minutes of travelling through the time stream, they managed to catch up with the one who had guided them for so long since the start of this journey, "Look! The Pterosaur!" Rex called out as the massive multicoloured energy bird flew in front of where they were and glided gracefully, riding the currents of time and space itself and signing brightly.

Rod and Laura, having seen her for the first time up close, couldn't help but feel completely entrance by her beauty as they stared with mouths gaping widely in awe, "Wow…it's way prettier than I saw it on screen the other time." Laura breathed unable to describe her feelings towards this incredible moment.

"Yeah…." Rod nodded, before blinking his eyes realising something, "Wait a sec….doesn't it-" Looking to where Cera was, he eyed Miku on her shoulder and squinted his eyes to see a slight but sharp resemblance the microraptor shared to the pterosaur.

"Pterosaur! Guide to the time where the seventh cosmos stone is!" Max then called out to her, interrupting his train of thought as he looked ahead again.

Strangely though, the Pterosaur gave him no response, an that unsettled the group since she never did such a thing before.

"Pterosaur are you okay?" Zoe she asked with concern.

"No…" the Pterosaur said in a sad tone, "The closer Specter gets to collecting all 7 cosmos stones…the closer he is to destroying all of space and time…and me…." she cried before vanishing into the depths of space…..

"Just great….we saved all of mankind and already we have to worry about space and time." Ursula muttered unhappily seeing they get no sort of break or relief after all they just went through.

"And the pterosaur…" Zoe added.

"And in case no one noticed, she didn't give us any hint as to where we should start looking for that seventh cosmos stone." said Rex uneasily.

"I don't blame her though." said Cera as the others looked to her, "We came so close and then we let her down…." she then clenched her hand into a fist hard, "She's probably given up on us and hope….no wonder she sounded so sad and scared….." she hissed herself feeling regretful for letting failing her, because of their mistakes now they the balance was in danger of being disrupted forever.

Despite the odds, Max still remained determined as ever, "Then we're just going to have to find it ourselves." he said having no intention of giving up yet after all they endured, "We can't let Specter and the space pirates get to it before we do, there's too much at stake!" he shouted out, "Now then, let's get looking!"

"Any idea on where we should start?" Ed then asked.

"Well we know it's somewhere in the universe so at least we're in the right place but we probably should try to narrow it down a bit…" Zander muttered.

Cera sweat dropped at their ability to state the obvious being more staggering than ever, "More like a lot…."

Rex suddenly gained an idea that just might give them the edge they needed, "I know!" he cried getting the others' attention, "By tracing our parents with the TPS we'll be able to get the location of the space pirates!" he said as he took it out and it displayed the red blimp on the radar, "And since they're sure to be looking for the cosmos stone too, wherever they are the cosmos stone probably is!"

Everyone soon brightened up with smiles and hope, but Zoe however remained a little unsure, "You think you can do that?" she asked feeling insecure, "There's a barrier around the ship like you said plus they could be miles ahead, what if we get the wrong coordinates and end up on a wild goose chase?" she pointed out as Rex narrowed his eyes at the TPS, it was a risky gamble but it was their only shot left.

"Maybe I can help with that." Cera then spoke up having thought up a way to tip the odds in their favour a little more, "I last remembered putting in a remote link into their computer systems….." she took out her dinoshot and began to type on it, "If we can just get a strong enough connection with them I should be able to disable that jammer." A rather small wavy line appeared on her dinoshot's screen as she narrowed her eyes hard at it, "The signal's pretty weak….but should be enough…." Everyone looked to her closely as she typed away as fast as she could, going through as many firewalls and security measures she came upon, "Come on…." she sweated tensely as she neared the end till she finally succeeded in breaking through! "Alright! Jammer deactivated!" she cried with a smile as the others jumped for joy and celebrated happily!

"YEAH!"

"Woo hoo!" Even their dinosaurs barked in excitement as well.

BEEP! BEEP!

Rex smiled as the signal became stronger on the TPS, "Yes! The signal's clear now!" he cheered, "And we've got a lock on them too!"

"Hehe, they won't get away from us this time!" Dr Z grinned as he rubbed his hands eager for payback for the humiliation they suffered in the jurassic an present day because of them.

"Jonathan, where is it?" Cera asked as he brought the data from the TPS up.

"Apparently it's located in the stone age, 10000 BC." he answered having inputted the exact data into the time systems.

"Then that's where the last cosmos stone is!" said Max clenching his hand into a fist as he pointed ahead, "Full speed ahead!"

Pressing the lever, Jonathan activated the warp drive as the ship shot ahead through an incoming portal and soon out of the light and into the stone age! Already as soon as they arrived trouble was waiting for them, in the form of 3 dinosaurs, fully armoured and armed to the teeth, ploughing through a village of cavemen while their owners, the trio of space pirates, hovered right behind them as they cleared the way towards a massive active volcano!

"There they are!" Max gasped as he pointed at them on the visual screen.

"Look! They're terrorising that village of cavemen down there!" Cera gasped as the others looked on with expressions of horror or anger.

"Grr! How dare they do that to our ancestors like that!?" Dr Z growled spitefully as he clenched his fists an shook it at the screen.

"I used to see tv series of cavemen living with dinosaurs but not like this!" Ed muttered as he began biting his nails.

"Grow up Ed, you know they never lived together in the first place." Ursula muttered as she rubbed her temple in exasperation.

Rod and Laura however remained fixated on Gigas, Armatus and Maximus, seeing them to be unlike any dinosaurs they've seen before, but there was something off about them too, eerie but strangely familiar, "Those dinosaurs….They're like….really scary….even more than what we saw on the data sent to us…." said Laura feeling deeply unnerved.

"Yeah…and I thought Seth's black t-rex was bad news but these guys are coming in a very close second!" Rod breathed finding them to like monsters out of a nightmare.

"Funny you should mention that." said Cera to them upon hearing that name.

"Huh?" They blinked their eyes puzzled by what she meant as she looked to them and let out a deep sigh, knowing it'd shock them to their cores but they had to hear the inconvenient truth.

"You're not going to believe who's truly responsible for those monstrosities down there." After that she told them the whole story, about how the space pirates had dinosaurs in the first place, was all because of a man whom Rod and Laura used to trust till he turned traitor, a man they thought was gone from their lives for good but how wrong they were.

"Say what!?" They both exclaimed in disbelief and bewilderment, "Seth's behind this!?"

Cera nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, he's the one who made those 3 dinosaurs down there." she said with a hard expression looking at the screen to see Gigas, Armatus and Maximus rampaging through the village, the cavemen's weapons bouncing off them like toothpicks as they crushed houses in their path, "And he stole the cosmos stones from us too when we worked so hard to get them."

"He's the one who pointed Specter towards our parents in the first place!" Rex concluded as Max and Zoe nodded with angered looks on their faces.

Hearing their horrible story and experience made Rod and Laura burn up with rage, "That snake! I thought he was gone for good but now he's stirring up even more trouble!" Rod growled as he tensed his hands into fists.

"How horrible!" Laura shouted.

"Tell me about it…." Cera muttered in agreement.

Max then tensed up his hand, "Come on, there's no time to play blame game or catch up!" he shouted.

"Yeah, we have to go down there and stop those guys before they get that last cosmos stone!" Zoe added seeing it was now or never.

"Jonathan beam us down now!" Rex yelled to him as his butler nodded in response.

"Right away!" Pressing the button the D Team was soon enveloped in bright light.

Rod and Laura waved out to them as they vanished from the room, "Be careful everyone!"

"Good luck!" They each said while Cera narrowed their eyes and looked to the screens, depicting her friends already engaging their enemies by summoning their dinosaurs and armouring them up too.

"They're going to need it….lots of it…." she thought seriously as the battle commenced between the 6 dinosaurs!

Dr Z wasn't about to sit on the sidelines and let them have all the fun and glory, plus he had plans to get the cosmos stone while everyone was distracted, "Come on team! Let's go get prepped up so we can grab that cosmos stone!" he waved to his gang as they saluted him.

"Yes sir! Dr Z sir!" They said salting him like soldiers before running off out of the room to get themselves prepped, only to leave behind their most important devices back at their same stations as before.

"And they forgot their scanners again…" Cera muttered as she face palmed and shook her head in dismay.

"And their dinosaurs….." said Rod as she looked to the side to see Terry snuggling in with him while Laura was stroking Spiny's back and petting Tank on the head. They meant well but if only they used their heads first a little more than their hearts or their guts.

The rest of them looked to the screens and already things were looking pretty bad, despite their best efforts the D Team found themselves overwhelmed by Gigas, Armatus and Maximus as their attacks were either easily overcome or they were forced to retreat from the enemy dinosaurs' attacks instead!

Rod and Laura both gulped anxiously seeing the immense struggle their friends were going through, even they were having doubts as to whether they could handle such powerful foes themselves, "Whoa…those things are really tough…." Rod gulped.

"They're barely making a dent in them!" Laura cried in shock as she covered her mouth seeing the huge damage they were taking in turn.

Despite the odds, Rod then gritted his teeth unwilling to give up on them just yet, "But still we've got to believe in them." he grunted as Laura nodded back at him.

"You can do it guys!" They both cheered together while Terry, Tank, Miku and Spiny barked for their comrades.

The battle continued to rage, and still the odds still were stacked against the D Team, as Cera narrowed her eyes, "They're fighting bravely…..but…no way can they do this alone…." she thought deciding it was time that she went down there to help them since no one else would.

Before she could bring out her dinoshot, Laura suddenly noticed something odd as the space pirate ship suddenly appeared and something came down from it, "Hey look! Something's coming down from the space pirate ship!" she pointed out as they all looked. Appearing from the ship in a yellow energy field was a red space pirate pod, and inside piloting it was none other than the notorious leader of the space pirates himself!

"It's Specter!" Cera gasped as she finally managed to get a good…or more like horrible look at the lead pirate with her own eyes. "What's he up to now?" she and the others narrowed their eyes uneasily.

If he's planning on joining the battle himself now, she could only imagine things could only get worse, though no situation she could think of would be far worse then what Specter called to the field, a massive sauropod soon materialised and landed with a thundering crash on the battlefield! It was enormous, towering over the D Team's group and encased in heavy purple armour which covered its whole back! Raising up on its hind legs it bellowed a thunderous roar which shook the land as the D Team's dinosaurs felt overwhelmed by its presence alone!

"AAAAH!?"

"It's huge!" Rod and Laura exclaimed stepping back while the Alpha gang dinosaurs looked up and widened their eyes, squawking nervously, fearing their own chances if they had to fight such a foe!

"An….apatosaurus….." Cera breathed, as Miku widened her eyes too, her heart skipping a beat as an old memory lashed through their minds. The huge sauropod's armour activating, as it developed 2 tall appendages with 6 coloured stones in them which combined energy into the center of its armour before firing a huge beam which levelled an entire city to dust as it then roared out in triumph with its eyes glowing dark purple! Recalling that memory of what the behemoth was capable of, she knew they needed help more than ever! "Tch! We need to help them now!" Cera hissed as she turned around to run to the loading bay, as Terry and the others notice her leave and begin to run after her!

"Huh?" Rod noticed their dinosaurs leaving with her as he and Laura looked to see them leave.

"H…Hey Cera what's going on!? Where you going!?" Laura cried to her as they ran after her through the hallways before they reached the open space loading bay.

"They have no idea what they're up against! Plus it's 4 against 3, they need help!" she answered them as they made a stop in the middle of the room, "Rod! Laura! We need to summon Terry and the others to full size now!" she then said seriously.

"O…Okay!" Laura nodded deciding to take her word for it.

"I don't know what you're thinking but here goes!" Rod questioned as they returned their 3 dinosaurs to cards and prepared to summon them.

"Alpha slash!"

"Dino slash!" The 3 of them summoned out Terry, Spiny and Tank to full size before preparing to equip them for battle!

"Element booster! Dino tector on!" All 3 of them glowed and gained their armoured forms before roaring at full strength!

After that was done, Cera took out a computer chip like device from her pocket, "Okay, just one last little tweak…." she said to herself as she inserted it inside, and her dinoshot glowed having completed the update! "There! Good to go!"

"Aw yeah! Time to kick some pirate hiney!" Rod and Laura both cheered punching their hands to the sky ready for action…..till Cera told them otherwise.

"No guys, it's way too dangerous for you both. You're staying here." she said as they widened their eyes in shock.

"Say what!?" They gasped before retorting in defiance.

"No way!"

"We want to help too!"

Cera shook her head, "Forget it, you don't know these pirates like we do." she said with disgust, "They're the worst of the worst, doing anything to achieve their dastardly goals and they won't hesitate to play dirty with every trick in the book or out of it. I can't let you guys get caught up in that." She said advising they stay here where it'd be safe.

"Then why'd you have us help you summon Terry, Tank and Spiny to full size then!?" Rod then demanded, "We've watched from the sidelines long enough, no way we're sitting this one out let you guys be the ones risking your lives out there!" he yelled shaking a fist at her in anger, thinking she may have just used them.

"Yeah, you also know we're just as good as you are handling dinosaurs!" Laura protested, "Besides you can't control them all at once, we summoned them with separate controllers!"

"That's why I just added this new function to my dinoshot." she said holding up her device, "With this I'll be able to command dinosaurs from other controllers that it recognises, which includes the D Team's dino bracers and the alpha scanners." she explained before lowering her head sadly to them, "We can't take any chances here…..We've got too much at stake and we've lost far too much too….we can't afford anymore mistakes or casualties…..I'm sorry you guys….we risked our own lives over and over many times….and I don't want to risk yours too." She said with a pained regretful tone, "Plus Dr Z wouldn't let me hear the end of it if he found out I put you in danger." She knew he cared about them too much and she was doing this out of respect for him as a grandfather.

"But Cera we-" Before Rod could protest any further, Laura, having been moved by her words and seeing no more time left, she held her arm out an stopped him to his surprise.

Before he could say something, she shot him a glare before looking to Cera with a nod, "Go then….but please be careful." she pleaded as Cera nodded back to her with a light smile and assurance.

"I promise." she replied as Rod looked away, folded his arms and clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Tch! Fine…." He hissed before looking up to Terry and the other dinosaurs, "Terry, make sure you and the others protect her okay?" He then punched his arm out, "And kick those pirates' butts back into space! Or you can forget about treats for the next week!"

In response the 3 of them roared out fiercely as Cera smirked and nodded in approval of their attitude, "Heh looks like I've got their full support." she thought feeling much safer with them by her side. Pressing a button on her dinoshot, a bright light erupted around her and the 3 huge dinosaurs as they prepared to enter the battlefield. "Wish me luck, and don't worry I promise we'll all be back safe and soon." She said to Rod and Laura before they vanished from sight.

"Take care….." said Rod looking anxious as a drop of sweat fell from his forehead, till Laura tugged at his arm.

"She'll be fine….they all will….I hope…." she said as she put a hand to her chest closely before they returned to the upper deck to see how things would go, hopefully for the better.

 **Hope you enjoyed the good bug squashing here with Cera and the Dinosaurs, stay tuned as the fight for the final cosmos stone draws near!**

 **On the topic of Ed's theory-not sure how else to explain it but we could say that Gigas' armoured fire move had enhanced properties that spread across the planet wiping out all life or making it nearly inhospitable for large life to be sustained except for the small like insects and plants.**

 **Some of the fight scenes I got from transformers fall of cybertron when you use the dinobots against the insecticons.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-It won't be the last deep conversation they'll have. Also Cera keyed in the controller to reset the dinosaur's behaviour to normal and erase any abnormalities in it, including the armour attachments as well. And I had a feeling you meant Seth as well in your review too.**


	45. The search for the last cosmos stone

Chapter 45

The search for the last cosmos stone

Chaos ran rampant in the stone age, as both mammoths and cavemen abandoned their homes and fled in terror upon sight of several unusual and most terrifying invaders the likes they had never seen before had appeared mysteriously and were now engaged in vicious battle for control over the area as it seemed!

The D Team was pushed heavy into a corner upon engaging the Spectral space pirate trio and their armoured dinosaurs, being unable to do so much as scratch them as their foes pushed them heavily into a corner! However, things grew worse for them as Specter, the leader of the pirates, unwilling to tolerate anymore interference decided to take matters into his own hands as he appeared from the mothership and summoned forth his strongest dinosaur! Brontikens! A massive armour apatosaurus which towered over them and let out a mighty roar before charging at full speed at them!

"AAAAAH!" They screamed as their enormous foe was about to trample over them! As if their situation wasn't bad enough it had just gotten a thousand times worse! Paris quickly charged in to protect her fiends as she deliver a swift ram to the apatosaurus' chest, but despite her valiant effort, Brontikens felt no more than a slight bomb before swinging his head like the arm of a crane and batting her to the side!

"NO! Paris!" Zoe cried as she was sent flying away like a rag doll!

Ace tried to follow up with another attack, but the apatosaurus reacted quickly, grabbing him in his jaws before throwing him away! "ACE!" Rex gasped next, "That dino is tougher than anything we've ever faced!" he growled in frustration seeing how easily their partners were being swatted away like flies! In fact it might even be just as strong as Seth's Black T-Rex was!

"Yes well that's my little Brontikens for you!" Spector boasted proudly, "Isn't he just a big sweetie pie? Mua!" he added blowing a playful kiss to show how proud he was of his most trusted partner of all.

Chomp tried to attack next, but before he could the other 3 pirate dinosaurs Gigas, Armatus and Maximus quickly joined in and charged at him! "Chomp! Watch out!" Max cried seeing he was about to get overwhelmed!

"He needs help!" Rex cried urgently.

"Ace! Paris! Get up!" Zoe pleaded desperately.

Responding quickly to their ally in danger, Ace and Paris were able to pick themselves up quickly in time as they rushed forward to back him up! Quickly all 3 of the D Team's dinosaurs were engaged in a head lock with the space pirates' dinosaurs as they tried to push at their foes in the hopes of overpowering them!

With the D Team having their hands full, they failed to notice the space pirates pass over them without much care as they then began to survey the volcano, eventually pinpointing the position of the final stone inside it!

Brontikens then began to charge pass the 6 fighting dinosaurs, before ramming his head straight into the wall of the volcano which caused it to crumble down in no time flat!

CRASH!

The sound of the smashed rock caught the attention of the D Team as they turned to look back in surprise at the pirates getting past them, "If the space pirates are over there, my guess is so is the stone!" Max then pointed to it as he looked back to Chomp who was able to knock Gigas back and off balance, "Chomp! Stop them!" Upon his command, the triceratops turned and ran as fast as he could towards the volcano hoping to catch the apatosaurs off guard!

Unfortunately, despite his great size Brontikens was not only quick to respond but also quick to react as he sensed Chomp approaching from behind! With a loud bellow he swung out his front leg and kicked the triceratops back as if he were no more than a mere stone on the path! "Oh no!" Max cried out in horror to see how easily his efforts were thrown off, at that moment Ace and Paris were thrown back by the other 2 armoured dinosaurs.

"Ace!"

"Paris! Quick help him!" Rex and Zoe cried to their partners to back him up!

As their partners tried to follow in after, Armatus and Maximus got in their way and thrust out their tail and horns to keep them back, "They can't get through!" Rex cried in frustration seeing there was nothing they could do! Also as Chomp struggled to get back on his feet Gigas was making a rush at him while he was still recovering!

"Ehehehehe! If you plan on stopping me from getting that last cosmos stone it's going to take a lot more than just you little tykes!" Spector snickered in delight seeing he was easily winning, if he had known battling was this enjoyable he'd have gone down from the ship to get the task done himself long ago!

As the D Team looked on in frustration, the situation seeming almost bleak and impossible, a ray of hope shone down from the sky in a beam of light which caught them by surprise!

"Huh!?"

As it vanished away appearing from it was Cera with all 3 armoured Alpha gang dinosaurs! "Then try us on for size!" she yelled out tensing a fist while Terry, Tank and Spiny roared out in defiance of the gigantic behemoth which responded back with a deep bellow!

The D Team quickly brightened up to see reinforcements had arrived on time!

"Cera!"

"You came!" Max and Zoe cried in joy and hope as their eyes brightened up.

"Was there any doubt guys?" She smiled back at them before looking ahead and hardening her expression, "Okay Terry! Tank! Spiny! Get in there and back the others up!" she held out her hand as the alpha dinosaurs went to divide and conquer!

Roar!

As Armatus swung out his tail at Ace forcing the carnotaurus to back away, the stegosaurus prepared to ready his spiked tail for another go, only for Spiny to grab onto it with his jaws! Armature bellowed in pain and tugged back going to free his tail from the spinosaurus' jaws, but Spiny dug in his clawed feet to stabilise himself, and then used his arms for better leverage as he maintained a tight grip on the stegosaurus' best weapon! Seizing the opening Ace jumped back in and began swinging his tail out and smacking Armatus' head multiple times as he bellowed in pain!

Tank meanwhile charged towards Maximus from behind, managing to catch the corrupted triceratops from behind as her spines and armour grazed against his sides! Bellowing in pain he thrusted his horns out only for Tank to hunker down and protect her underside in time as the horns scratched against her armour causing sparks to fly! Tank swung out her tail which clashed in a tie with Maximus' horns, allowing Paris to seize her chance by ramming his side! Stumbling back and regaining his footing he backed up slightly seeing his focus now being forced to be divided against both female dinosaurs!

As Gigas prepared to bite not Chomp's head, Terry came in time to open his jaws and bite down on white armoured t-rex's neck in time and showing him straight into the ground before throwing him back with all the strength he had! Before his foe could recover, Terry was able to swing his tail out, landing a direct hit on Gigas' head and sending him flying into a nearby rock wall causing his head and armour spikes to be caught inside as he struggled to pull himself free! After that Chomp bellowed back at Terry in thanks to which Terry responded wth a low growl of acknowledgement before they both looked ahead to see Brontikens had turned to face them both!

The sight of the tables turning greatly displeased the space pirates, "Oh great it's her again." Sheer mumbled as she hardened her expression reflecting her sour mood.

"Why oh why can't they just make it easier for all of us and just give up already?" Foolscap grumbled folding his arms in annoyance.

"Yeah, we're so close too!" Gavro grunted as he punched a fist into an open palm of his hand.

The one most disgusted by the turn of events was Spectre himself, as he took out a hanky from his pocket and chewed on it in frustration, "Grr….it's just like back in the future…." he growled as he recalled Cera reminded him of a certain person back in the past who was nothing less than a thorn in his side, the mere sight of her was bringing up bad memories for him, as his eyes flared red with rage, "Well not this time, now when we're so close to our ultimate triumph!" he growled as Terry and Chomp both charged towards the giant dinosaur fearlessly, "You want a fight? Fine then! Brontikens!" Specter shouted before pointing ahead, "Go provide our guests with the finest entertainment there is!" he commanded as the giant apatosaurus bellowed a battle cry before meeting his 2 foes head on in a full on charge!

Terry and Chomp rammed against the titan's legs but to their shock the apatosaurus didn't even budge! They on the other hand felt their heads had just slammed into a wall made of chrome steel as they stumbled back shaking their heads in disorientation! Looking up they widened their eyes as Brontikens read up on his hind legs ready to crush them both in a single stomp! Chomp turned around and ran away as fast as he could, while Terry leapt back as they managed to put enough distance between themselves and their foe as he crushed down on the ground causing it to crack underneath! Had they been there they would have been turned to mush in an instant!

As Terry landed on the ground, Brontikens swung his massive tail out at him! Miraculously he was able to duck down in time, barely managing to avoid losing his head as the swung tail sent a large force of wind which blew the others back slightly!

"URGH!" They grunted holding their arms out as they tried to stabilise themselves from being blown away!

Seeing he had to take care of that tail first, as the apatosaurus prepared to bring it back for another swing, Terry quickly jumped out and clamped his jaws on it in time as he bite down as hard as he could and tugged on it, causing Brontikens to bellow in pain for the first time in his life much to Specter's shock. "GASP! How dare you hurt my sweet little Brontikens!?" he gasped dramatically before shaking his fists out in anger, "GRR! You won't get away with this! Swat those pests off now!" he ordered as Brontikens bellowed out, mustered enough energy to lift Terry off the ground with his tail before swinging him out and throwing him at Chomp! Like a full faced bullet the size of a boulder, Terry roared out in pain as he collided with Chomp and the 2 dinosaurs crashed into some nearby rocks and were left heavily battered on the ground!

"Oh no!" Max and Rex gasped in alarm while Zoe covered her mouth in shock.

"He just swept them off like insects…." Cera berthed in both amazement and horror at the sheer might of their new foe.

Despite having a rather silly name, Brontikens himself clearly didn't reflect that, in fact he was as tough as they came and with his sheer might it was a miracle that Specter never chose to enter the battlefield himself in their previous adventures otherwise they would have been finished off long ago.

Spector then grinned and began to snicker with malice, "Ehehehe! After all the trouble you caused me and my men I expected you to put up more of a fight, shame with all that's on the line and that your best has failed you!" he laughed mocking them as the D Team could only look on in frustration.

"Grr…." As much as they hated to admit it he was right, at their current skill level and the way things were going they didn't stand a chance. If only there was someway they could fight back…..a miracle of some kind….

Right on cue, a second beam of light came down from the sky above and appearing from it was Dr Z and the alpha trio! "Careful what you wish for! Now you have the alpha gang to deal with!" Dr Z yelled as he pointed out at the pirate boss.

Cera widened her eyes at what she saw, "Are they crazy!? They can't take on the pirates without any dinosaurs! What are they thinking!?" she thought in bewilderment. To fight the good fight with nothing but their dim wits….admirable but most foolish.

"Wish!? If I was going to wish for something then," Specter blew a kiss at them, "Mua! It'd be those darling eyebrows." he said flamboyantly.

Dr Z gritted his teeth taking offence at his words, "My eyebrows aren't darling! They're thick and wiry like steel wool!" he growled jumping up and down in frustration, "But thanks for noticing…." he said calmly at the end, till massive rumbling in the earth began to make him change his tune.

They all widened their eyes in a panic as a massive armoured apatosaurus suddenly stomped towards them, "Oh how rude of me, allow me to introduce you to," Before Specter finished, the huge sauropod prepared to bring its foot down on the entire gang!

"WAAAAH!" They cried as they jumped out of the way just in time!

"Brontikens!" Spector finished proudly as the foot crushed down on where the Alpha gang once stood, as they regrouped to catch their breath in a corner near some large rocky outcrops.

"A sincere pleasure to make your acquaintance…." Zander muttered as they all groaned and relieved to have escaped their brush with death even if it was by the skin of their teeth.

"So much for backup…." Cera muttered as she shook her head in disappointment, plus they were really embarrassing them in front of their enemies too.

"Now then Brontikens, let's get back to carving this volcano!" Specter ordered seeing they wasted enough time already with minor inconveniences. Obediently, Brontikens turned around towards the volcano and bellowed loudly in agreement and triumph, "And to speed things up, how about I activate my most favourite! Spectral Destroy!" Spector blew a kiss as he activated Brontiken's most powerful move! The apatosaurus' armour suddenly grew a pair of appendages embedded with 6 coloured orbs each glowing like the 6 other elements, as they charged up into a massive beam in the center between the appendages before firing a huge beam into the volcano's side!

The gang was forced to close their eyes due to the bright glare of the move and hold their arms out to shield against the incoming winds. As the light died down and the attack ceased, there was an ominous silence for a brief moment, one which Cera could tell wasn't good in the slightest, "What….did he do?" she breathed speechlessly, and before long she could get her answer, one none of them would like. Before long the ground suddenly began to quake violently! Chomp roared out in alarm as the others looked around restlessly trying to figure out where it was coming from!

"That doesn't sound good!" Rex cried.

"When does an earthquake ever mean good Rex!?" Cera screamed at how obvious it was.

Before long, the volcano soon blew its top, spewing magma and dark ash which blanketed the sky in a sea of smog and fire as it began to rain down upon the stone age landscape!

"AAAAAAHHHH!" The D Team cried out as the ground began to shake ever more violently and the volcano began to spew both molten rock from its peak and letting out a stream of lava which ran down its sides!

"NO! We're done for!" The A Team cried out as well seeing if they stayed any longer they would be wiped out completely!

A falling rock went down and smashed the cosmos stone detector connected to Specter's pod, and with their means of finding the stone lost the pirates were forced to beat a hasty retreat to their ship, as they recalled their dinosaurs before the lava rolled down at them before returning to the ship which then vanished from sight!

"Look they're retreating!" Cera pointed out as the ship vanished.

"You know that's actually not a bad idea!" said Rex seriously as he looked to the others, "We've gotta get out of here now!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Max gritted his teeth seeing they couldn't do much now, as they recalled all their dinosaurs safely to their cards as the beam from the Backlander enveloped them and began to take them back.

As they were about to leave, Cera clicked her tongue in frustration seeing the volcano spewing lava uncontrollably because they weren't able to stop the pirates, and the village and mammoths were directly in its path, "Tch! We'll have to come back for the cosmos stone another time….we'll just have to figure out how…." she thought as they disappeared right before a spewed rock from the sky crashed where they were!

CRASH!

At that moment the 4 children materialised on the upper bridge of the Backlander where Dr Z's grandchildren were waiting for them. "They're back!" Laura cried as she and her brother Rod came in to welcome them.

"Are you guys all okay?" he asked then in concern.

"Yeah, a little toasty though…" Max answered relieved to be back safely onboard the Backlander.

"That volcano totally blew its top!" Zoe shuddered nervously, the experience still on her mind and she was unable to shake it off.

"Jonathan we've gotta get out of this area." instructed Rex.

"I concur, but not all of you have returned yet." he answered most reluctantly which alarmed the gang.

"You mean grampa and the others are still down there!?" Laura exclaimed while the D Team gasped.

"Huh!?"

"They must have stayed behind to look for the stone!" Rex gasped.

Cera gritted her teeth in frustration, "Are they insane!? They'll get barbecued out there!" she growled as Laura turned pale.

"Oh no!" she gasped before looking to Helga who had just walked in at the perfect time, "Helga! You need to save grampa and the others please!" she begged clapping her hands together.

"Never fear Laura! I shall not rest until they are safely back on board!" she saluted Laura before she disappeared in a veil of light that was activated by Jonathan.

"Please come back soon…." she pleaded worriedly as Rod put a hand on her shoulder.

"She will Laura, I promise." he said to her with a warm smile as the others nodded in agreement with him.

"Yeah. Those guys are as tough as nails, we know from personal experience." Max commented.

"Mhmm, they'll be back here before you know it." said Zoe with assurance as Laura looked to the outside with teary eyes at the smoking skies and fiery magma raining from the volcano's top.

"I hope you're right…."

A few long moments passed and the D Team along the with Alpha siblings waited in anticipation for the return of Helga and the Alpha gang. As it went on, Laura clutched her hands together over her chest on worry over what might have happened to her beloved grandfather and his henchmen. They were just about to fear the worst when Jonathan suddenly called out to them with good news.

"Helga and the Alpha gang have just arrived!" he announced much to their relief.

"AH!"

"I'm bringing them up now!" he said pressing a button which caused the Alpha gang being carried by Helga to materialise inside!

Right after that, Jonathan activated the time jump as they sped into the time stream, much to Dr Z's chagrin, "Bring me back! Bring me back!" he whined struggling desperately to stop Jonathan, as Helga quickly dropped him and his men down before leaving to do some cooking in the kitchen.

"OOF!" he grunted having slammed on the floor hard.

Laura and Rod quickly gathered around to help him up to his feet, "Grampa there you are!"

"You had us really worried Dr Z! Why didn't you come back with us just now!?" They cried.

Cera folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him crossly, "You're lucky Helga was able to come get you guys in time otherwise you'd be cooked to a crisp."

Instead of a show of gratitude, Dr Z instead blew his top off just like the volcano did, "GRARRGH! You brats ruined everything! Just like you always do! Why can't you just stay out of my business?!" he ranted childishly as he jumped up and down flailing his arms out earning many disappointed or crossed looks from everyone else around him.

"Seriously? That's the thanks we get for saving your sorry behind?" Rex muttered wondered why they even bothered if he didn't appreciate it.

What he said next came as a complete shock to them, "I don't care! I need to get back the black cosmos stone that hairy elephant stole from me!" he screamed justifying himself as they all widened their eyes at the unexpected news.

"Say what!?"

"You saw the cosmos stone!?" Cera and Zoe cried in shock.

He looked to them in response, "Yes! A black one! And I was so close to getting it if that elephant didn't swallow it in the first place!" he shouted in frustration seeing it was within his sights and grasp if only Helga hadn't pulled them back at the last minute.

Max widened his eyes, "What!? A mammoth ate it!?" he gasped.

"That's what I'm saying!" Dr Z yelled back at him in frustration, "The volcano spit the cosmos stone up then some hairy behemoth went and swallowed it down! Talk about energy food!" he yelled shaking his fists.

Hearing his story made Cera whistle, impressed that with their dumb luck the Alpha gang came through for them once more, on another note she hoped the mammoth wouldn't get sick by eating the cosmos stone.

"So now what?" Rex then asked.

"Do I have to think of everything!?" Dr Z cried out in exasperation, "Now we find that mammoth and we find the cosmos stone!" he yelled banging his fists on the console in front of him impatiently.

"But how do we find this mammoth? I mean we can't go back to his time." Zoe asked curiously.

Thinking about it Cera couldn't help but feel a little bad for the ice age mammal and the people of that world, then again they didn't have time to fix things since they were escaping in a hurry, hopefully it wouldn't affect their future like it did with the jurassic.

"Right! That big volcano is as unstable as Ursula is." Zander then grinned snarkily as he decided ti milk the moment, an idea he soon came to regret.

"I'm not unstable, look at me now cool and calm even though you just insulted me…." Ursula smiled cheerfully before sporting a menacing glare, quickly he took out a large fan and smacked both Zander and Ed to the ground! "GRRGH!

WHACK!

"Right! I stand corrected at least those of us who can stand!" Ed whined covering his head which throbbed painfully while Zander remained knocked down and out cold.

All the talk about a mammoth made Max bring up some old memories of his, "Hang on….haven't I come across a mammoth fossil once?" he thought curiously bringing a finger to his chin in thought before widening his eyes in alarm, "WAIT!" he cried loudly as everyone looked to him.

"Wh…What is it Max?" Rod asked in surprise at his sudden outburst.

"This may be a long shot but I once visited this place with my dad which had all these different kinds of fossils and one of them was a mammoth! Thing is, it was buried under a whole bunch if volcanic ash." Max answered.

"Think it's the same one?" Rex asked.

"Uhh….I don't see why not. Both mammals were from the same era and both were near volcanoes." Max suggested seeing it was a possibility.

"So was it the same place we were at in the stone age!?" Dr Z then demanded impatiently.

"Actually that may be hard to answer since the crust of the earth has moved so much since then." Zoe pointed.

"Yes, Zoe is absolutely right." said Jonathan in agreement as he got everyone's attention, "To see if it's the same location, we would need to determine where the volcano we were at ended up in present day Earth." he said.

"Can we?" Laura asked.

"Yes," he answered before looking over to Max, "First I need Max to show me where it is he saw that fossil." He then looked ahead to the console as he keyed in their earlier location, "Then I will see if it matches up to the spot we were at in the stone age."

Max walked up to where Jonathan was so he could show him, "Alright….it was there!" he pointed on the map which depicted present day, "Now fast forward the crustal movement to see if it matches!"

As Jonathan brought up both sites together, to everyone's amazement they aligned with each other almost perfectly with only a decimal point difference!

"Yes! We have a match!" Jonathan announced as everyone cheered in joy.

"YAY!"

"Shall I plot a course?" He then asked them, though it was obvious what the answer was.

"Yes! Tally ho! Plot a course I say!" Dr Z cheered in excitement, "After all we know the where and the when and…wait when's the when?" he then asked realising that was the most important detail.

"That's simple, 3 years ago! It was my summer vacation!" Max answered as he tensed up excitedly and the ship sped away towards a light at the end of a tunnel! Along the way, Cera smiled to herself with relief seeing fate blessed them with a second chance, and they weren't going to blow it this time.

The ship soon shot out of the portal over a mountainous region surrounded by trees and a large patch of sand right ahead on a high perched area, "Here we are!" Rod called as the Backlander went into cloak mode.

It wasn't long before they caught sight of their target, a mammoth fossil being excavated by a familiar palaeontologist and a young boy whom Max easily recognised, "Look! There's me and my dad!" he pointed out.

"You mean you and your dad from 3 years ago." Rex corrected him.

"We can't go down to the site with them there." said Zoe with caution.

"Right! Otherwise it could change the course of history!" Rex gasped seeing they were in a very sensitive time where the slightest change could affect their present as they spoke.

Cera narrowed her eyes assessing the situation carefully, "We'll have to chase them away somehow." she noted, though that would be a task far easier said than done, "Question is…how?"

"Any ideas?" Rod asked the group hoping they could brainstorm something smart and effective.

Ed held out his hand as they looked to him, "We could go down there and scare them with a dinosaur?" he suggested bluntly. The others then narrowed their eyes, let out deep sighs of exasperation or face palmed and shook their heads at him, as he shrugged his shoulders, "What? It was just an idea."

"And a bad one at that…." Cera muttered wondering why they put up with him, of all his stupid ideas that may be his worst. Though believe it or not Dr Z and the rest of the trio were considering of doing that.

"Wait a sec," said Max as he put a finger to his chin in curious thought, "If I'm remembering right, while we were digging there was this small earthquake that caused us to leave the site for a bit." he said.

"Earthquake?" Jonathan repeated curiously before looking to the console in front of him, "You mean something like this?" pressing a button, the Backlander emitted a shockwave which rattled the surrounding dig site which forced both past Max and past Dr Taylor to retreat.

"The ship can do that too? Wow…." Cera whistled impressed seeing it didn't just erase time changes it was capable of causing sonic waves that can be used as a weapon too.

"Wait! So it wasn't an earthquake?!" Max exclaimed before widening his eyes in sheer disbelief, "It was us!? Then that would mean I was watching me way back then like I'm watching me right now!" he stuttered seeing how they had created their own past blew Maxs mind away, to the point where even a feather would be enough to knock him over.

"Yeah that's right! It's all about you you you!" Dr Z muttered sarcastically, "Now come on! Let's find that cosmos stone!" he ranted posting ahead at the fossil as Jonathan sent them down in the teleporter.

They soon appeared right before the ancient bones, "Look there!" Max quickly ran to it, "The mammoth…." he breathed in surprise to see that old fossil from long ago now before his eyes again.

"Wow, the years haven't been kind to him have they?" Dr Z remarked snarkily.

"Yeah…" Cera couldn't help but feel a bit responsible of its cruel fate, though then again if they didn't save him chances were they wouldn't find the cosmos stone at this point in time, so perhaps this might have been a good thing.

Dr Z however didn't care in the slightest as he ordered his men to excavate the remains post haste, "Now then get that cosmos stone!"

"You got it doctor!" The A Team replied taking out various digging equipment like shovels and pickaxes before descending upon the remains like a pack of wild scavengers as they began pelting away at rock and stone with their tools to uncover the bones underneath. The others looked on in bewilderment, seeing their reckless digging may end up damaging the fossil own the process, also being completely disrespectful to the dead's rating place….though what did that mean for museums?

Before they could completely uncover the whole fossil, their excavating was cut short by the unexpected and untimely arrival of the space pirate mothership right above them!

"Huh?"

"Oh no, it's-"

"Cosmos stone! To you I go! To find you inside some mammoth bones!" a loud off key singing voice echoed from the ship.

"Really bad singing…." Zoe muttered plugging in her ears finding it to be torture.

"I beg your pardon!?" Specter cried taking offence, "My Brontikens happens to love that number!"

"Ugh then your dinosaur has just as bad taste in music as you are tone deaf…." Cera groaned as she covered her ears completely.

"Spector must have followed us here!" Rex then grunted in realisation.

"And now that I am here I want what's mine!" He demanded as he pointed out at them, "The seventh and final cosmos stone so hand it over or else you'll all be destroyed!" he threatened.

Seeing now this was their last chance at saving the universe, Cera gritted her teeth and shout out at the top of her lungs, "Never!"

"You don't scare us!" Max yelled defiantly.

"Well if he doesn't," as they looked up they saw all 3 space pirates leave the ship and were making a dive at them! "Try us on for size!" Foolscap grinned.

"Better yet," Gavro reached into his pocket before throwing out a large energy net at the whole lot! "Try this on!" he yelled as it opened widely preparing to ensnare them all with the fossil!

"AAAAH!" The gang cried and held their arms out unable to react in time! Thankfully Jonathan who had been watching and keeping the ship in cloak, was able to beam them all back to safety in the nick of time before taking them somewhere further away!

As Max opened "Hey…we're back inside the ship!"

"Phew, Jonathan got us in time…." Zoe wheezed in relief putting a hand to her chest as she let out a deep sigh.

"AAAH….smart thinking beaming back the fossil with us." Dr Z commented as he wasted no time, using his alpha claw he was able to yank out the cosmos stone which was wedged in a crack of the fossil, "And check it out it was the same mammoth! Goodie!" he cheered as he put it in a container for safe keeping.

"Wow…the last cosmos stone…" Max breathed in awe as he an the others eyed it closely.

"Not as colourful as the others…." Zander commented.

As they laid eyes on it, Miku who was perched on Cera's shoulder suddenly shook in agitation, as she looked to her Cera couldn't help but look a little put off by seeing how flared up her eyes and feathers were! "Miku?" she muttered in confusion. Instead of wanting to get at the stone like the others, the microraptor wanted nothing more than to be rid of it instead. If the cosmos stones were of equal but opposing nature to the stone plates, would that mean that the central stones of both sets are the ones which held the most power and overall influence? Perhaps secret dinosaurs detested the black stone instead since they were born of positive energy instead.

She didn't have long to ponder over it though, "WOOO! I want to see!" a familiar but most unsettling voice sounded from out of nowhere, before its origin materialised before the group as a hologram!

"Specter!" Rex cried.

Cera gritted her teeth with disgust upon sight of him, "He must have traced our connection back to us…." she hissed seeing he locked onto their signal last time they made contact so now they could continue to track them wherever they went much to their discomfort.

"Wow! It's pretty!" He then waved his hands playfully at the black stone, from what it seemed beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

"And it's mine!" Dr Z cried hugging it close, "So keep your peepers off it! It's mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" he spat while shaking around in defiance making it his claim.

"Oh is that so?" Specter commented seeing that could be easily resolved, "Well what if I were to offer you all something for it?" he suggested before a sinister expression came on his face, "Something like oh say…your parents?"

"AH! What are you saying? You're gonna let our parents go free!?" Max

Cera narrow eyes not trusting him

"Well that's entirely up to you." he replied pointing at them before shrugging his shoulders, "In other words if you give me that black cosmos stone then yes, I'll let them go!"

"So you say, but can we trust you?" Zoe questioned as Cera narrowed her eyes and hissed under her breath.

"Not a chance…." she thought considering how he used Seth to deceive them in the first place.

"Think it over and let me know. Toodles!" Spector then muttered uncaringly seeing the outcome was obvious and mattered little to him, as all 7 stones would soon be in his possession, before he disappeared from their sight.

"Hey wait! Does that mean they're alright!? Let us talk to them!" Max pleaded but got no answer much to their disappointment.

"He's gone…." Zoe sighed.

After that there was some conflict over what to do

While the kids question giving up the stone to the last time they see their parents also bad things too would happen if the pirates got it

Dr Z more concerned about dinosaur king title but Max wrestled it away from him when he let his guard down

Max in the end took charge and told Jonathan to send a message to Specter

Alpha gang think he mad but soon Rex thought of the idea and they looked to Cera

"You think you can do it Cera?" he asked her seriously.

Already seeing what Max and Rex were thinking she nodded with a serious expression on her face, "I'll make it my best work yet." she said before taking Dr Z's claw from him much to his surprise!

"Hey! That's mine too!" he cried.

She paid no attention to him as she shot out the claw into the gap Dr Z pulled the black stone from, "Let's see…..this should do the trick!" she thought out loud after feeling around inside a bit before yanking out a ball sized rock from inside it. Looking to Max, Rex and Zoe, they smiled, held a thumbs up or grinned seeing it was perfect.

Dr Z narrowed his eyes in suspicion at what was going on between them, "What are you pla-" Dr Z and the alpha gang soon caught onto their little plan as they snickered deviously, "Aaah! Clever! Hee hee hee! Now this I'm perfectly okay with!" the old man snickered as he rubbed his hands together eagerly with glee.

"Hehehe, that dimwitted space bozo will never see this coming!" Ursula grinned sinisterly while Zander and Ed snickered.

Cera took the stone from the claw and eyed all around it seeing there was still some work to be done in order to make it convincing enough, "I'm going to need some tools for carving the right shape…." she said as she narrowed her eyes at it, "Along with some black paint."

Quickly Dr Z turned to his 3 henchmen, "Alpha gang! You will get her everything she needs now!" he ordered suddenly which made them jump in surprise.

"Yes sir!"

On our way!" They said as they hurried out the door to get the needed supplies and everyone else split off to make preparations for the trade.

Dr Z decided to keep the black cosmos stone back in the same place where the others were first kept, while Ursula and the others quickly got the supplies she needed before she sent them to wait up above the bridge with the D Team, since she needed to be alone in order to focus.

 **(Later)**

"Max, the space pirates have sent me a message," said Jonathan up on the bridge as he brought up a message sent to them by their enemies, "They're saying they're waiting for us at a clearing a few miles north. They're giving us 5 more minutes and no more to make our decision." he said looking back as the others turned serious seeing it was now time.

Looking to one another, the D Team nodded deciding to take their chances before Max looked back to Jonathan, "Alright, tell them we'll be there soon." he said as the android typed on the console to reply Max's exact words.

Before long, the doors behind them open and they looked behind to see Cera come in with a container in her hand. "Is the stone ready Cera?" Rex asked as she nodded back seriously.

"I have it right here." she said as she put it inside the holding machine and then joined them.

"We're all set." said Max clenching his hand into a fist as everyone around nodded together.

"Mhmm."

Jonathan nodded in acknowledgement, "Alright, I'm heading for the rendezvous point now." he said pushing on the control levers as the Backlander hovered further off in the distance, and before long the space pirate ship appeared right ahead, before beaming down Gavro, Sheer and Foolscap in the center of the clearing as they awaited the arrival of the D Team seeing their ship approaching them.

"There they are….." said Rex as the camera screen zoomed in on the 3 pirates, the sight of them made the group harden their expressions in disgust or agitation.

"Grr…."

Cera then brought up her dinoshot, "Just one little thing left." she began typing on it before a beep sound came from it, "Done."

The others looked to her curiously at what she meant.

"What'd you do Cera?" asked Laura.

"I've managed to disable their weapon systems, so we won't have to worry about blasting us ever again." she answered which made a few of them including Ursula and Zoe let out sighs of relief.

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to go through that horrendous experience again." They each said feeling a little more at ease to hear the good news.

Nevertheless she still maintained a serious composure as she looked to her friends seeing they were the ones volunteering to go down themselves, "Be careful you guys, I still smell a trap so don't let your guard down for even a second." she said as they nodded back at her.

"Mhmm."

"Will do." said Max and Zoe in assurance while Rex looked to Jonathan ahead.

"Jonathan, do it." he said as his butler nodded in response.

"Very well….." pressing a button the 3 children were enveloped in bright light before vanishing.

"Good luck." was all Cera could say, wishing them success, as they appeared on the ground before the space pirates on the prairie, while she and the others looked on in anticipation over what would happen, "Now let's watch, if they try anything sneaky then we beam them back post haste." she said.

"Yeah, or better yet we take the fight straight to them and then take the other 6 cosmos stones back so I can be dinosaur king!" Dr Z shouted out loud in confidence clenching his fists and shaking them, as Cera and his grandkids looked to him with raised eyebrows.

"Bad idea…." they muttered back at him much to his dismay. They nearly lost the last time they faced off so it was clear that the direct approach would be the worst plan ever, then again chances weren't zero that they'd have to fight again.

A moment had passed, and it appeared as though they were discussing terms and conditions to the trade, till they eventually settled on doing it at the same time. "Jonathan you ready?" Rex spoke to him through communicator.

"Just give me the word." he answered.

The moment of truth soon came, "One…Two…Three!" Jonathan pressed a button sending the container on their end over to the space pirates' side while the pirate mother ship sent them 6 pods containing the D Team's parents all inside!

As Max and Zoe ran over in excitement to open the pods, while the space pirates went over to the container. When the pods were opened however, the parents that stepped out quickly reverted to the form of 6 gel jarks which suddenly snared the D Team as their allies widened their eyes in alarm.

"Oh no! It was a trap!" Rod cried

"Ahahah! Trap sounds so cruel, I prefer the term surprise!" Specter chuckled in amusement, appearing in hologram form to them, seeing they fell for his trick before vanishing and appearing with his minions to celebrate their victory!

"GRRR!" Cera growled clenching her fist in hate along with Dr Z, they knew it seemed too easy.

"Grampa we've got to go down and help them!" Rod cried to him as Dr Z then nodded seeing they had no choice now but to recuse them, plus he really wanted payback on them for all the trouble they caused.

"Right! The direct approach it is then!" he said strongly in agreement, "Jonathan! Prepare to-"

"Wait! Look!" Jonathan interrupted him as a beam of light erupted from the pirate's ship! Appearing there were a group of gel jarks, along with a certain man whom the Alpha gang and D Team weren't pleased to see.

"It's Seth!" Rod and Laura exclaimed in disbelief, seeing him again was like reliving a bad nightmare.

"He really is alive…."

"No way…"

"Grrr! That traitorous worm!" Dr Z growled clenching his fist in anger with the trio and Cera hardening their looks, seeing his face again reminded them of how he double crossed them not long ago.

Seth then appeared to talk with the pirates for a bit, and when Sheer threw the 'cosmos stone' to the ground it shattered into many pieces! It was then they knew the jig was up, "Uh oh looks like they figured out we were trying to double cross them." Cera gulped as the pirates turned to them in anger!

"But wait! They double-crossed us first!" Zander whined as everyone else grew increasingly anxious.

"What's that!? A quadruple cross!?" Dr Z cried.

Seeing his joke being used against him, Specter became greatly displeased, "GRRRR! Hand over the real stone at once!" he growled in fury, for the first time ever and for once he actually put a big scare into the whole group on board! "Otherwise your 3 little friends will pay most dearly!" he threatened as the jarks began to surround the whole trapped D Team and Seth walked over to where they were!

"I think he means it, we need a plan or else…." croaked Laura in worry as Dr Z felt immense pressure get to him.

"GRRRGH!"

"What do we do grampa?" Rod then asked while Laura huddled her hands close together in worry.

"Any ideas Dr Z?" Ursula asked next as they awaited his answer seeing he was pretty much next in line.

He then looked to all of the panicked or anxious expressions everyone in the room was giving him. "Uhh…err….Why are you looking at me!?" As much as he didn't want to give up the cosmos stone he knew he couldn't let the D Team face the consequences, nor could he bring himself to abandon them in such a desperate time of need knowing they'd do the same for him. His dreams of being dinosaur king aside he also feared the consequences of what would happen if the pirates got their hands on all the stones!

To their surprise the jarks suddenly turned around and began walking to them instead, "Huh?" They blinked their eyes in confusion at what was happening.

"What are they doing?" Cera muttered in suspicion, seeing Seth's actions to be most puzzling, and that didn't bring up much confidence.

"Alright Jonathan, take them." he said looking up to the ship at a spy drone Jonathan had launched to observe the situation as he did for their past missions.

"What? Those creatures?" Jonathan questioned suspicious at letting them on board.

"They're harmless, just trust me there's no time!" Seth then insisted.

Seeing time was indeed short, he reluctantly agreed, "Very well…." Pressing a button it caused the gel jarks with the D Team to be beamed up on board the bridge!

A bright light soon lit inside and the D Team looked around in confusion to see where they were.

"Huh?"

"We're…back on the Backlander?"

"Did Seth just save us?" They each asked while their allies looked at them in surprise like they were at the situation.

"What's going on here?" Dr Z muttered scratching his bald head in thought.

"No clue…." Ursula shrugged her shoulders.

"Eww….these guys give me the creeps…." Rod shuddered sticking his tongue out in disgust while his sister shivered.

"Same here…." she quivered being put off by their slimy exterior.

Cera narrowed her eyes, recalling he intended to use the pirates for his own means, so now perhaps they had outlived their usefulness. As she turned to look back down to see how things would turn out, a light shone down from the mothership and what appeared from it surprised them, "Look!" she cried pointing out as the others looked to where she was focusing on, at a jark pushing a small trolley with the other 6 cosmos stones in them.

"He's got the other 6 cosmos stones too!" Max gasped while Zoe and Rex widened their eyes in surprise.

"And he's giving them to us?" Ed muttered scratching his cheek in confusion, none of this was making any sense to him and he was the slowest of the bunch.

"So then? He's been playing them from the start too?" Rex asked.

"Who's side is he on then? Can't he make up his mind!?" Zander cried in dislike of all the surprises that were shoved at them all day.

Dr Z however was completely oblivious to the situation at hand, "Who cares!?" he cried jumping up and down in joy and excitement, "He's got the other stones so now that means we have all 7!" he cheered before looking to Jonathan, "Jonathan! Let him on board now!"

"O…Okay…." he muttered as he pressed a button which let that jark on board too. Now the D Team had all 7 cosmos stones with them now….though was that a good thing? Some of them wondered what they should do with them now.

Right after that, Gavro called out Gigas who roared out furiously, but Seth remains undeterred as he summoned forth cryolophosaurus! As Gigas rushed towards them, the cryolophosaurus effortlessly jumped over him before turning around and swiftly knocking him down with a quick rush!

Everyone widened their eyes in amazement at what they saw, "Wow, look at him go!"

"He's really strong!" Max and Rod voiced out, that was one thing they had to give Seth credit for, he knew how to handle dinosaurs as well as exploit their strengths and weaknesses to his advantage.

"We barely managed to scratch Gigas," Ed noted, "And he's doing it just fine without breaking a sweat! No fair…." he then whined.

"Hey I want a closer look." said Max with interest as he turned to pull himself free, only to realise something rather unsettling was happening to the gel hark who had him, "Um….why does it seem like this guy's grip on me is getting tighter?" he muttered looking down to se the arms around him were tightening instead!

"Hey me too…"

"Same here…" Zoe and Rex spoke out feeling deeply unsettled, something was going wrong and now they were about find out.

The remaining jarks suddenly looked to the rest of them, before beeping rather sisterly, giving off some very bad vibes which they took notice of.

"Umm…why are they looking at us like that?" Ursula sweated as she backed away.

The moment she took a step back, the jarks opened out their arms and rushed out at them!

"AH! They're coming this way!" Cera cried out loud as the others widened their eyes seeing they were crossed again!

"Run for it!"

"WAAAAH!" Rod and Laura screamed as they scattered and the jars were hot on their heels! Another meanwhile had jumped ontop of Jonathan while he was off guard too.

"Human shield!" Dr Z cried out loud as he hid behind Ursula much to her dismay!

"WHA!?" her heart skipped a beat as she swung her hands out to keep their slimy filth away, "Get away from me you disgusting slugs!" To no avail as she and Dr Z were quickly overwhelmed! "HELP!"

"AAAH! Why do we keep trusting Seth!?" Dr Z then cried out loud as he and Ursula were soon nabbed!

"Let go of me you overgrown gelatinous germ!" Ursula growled as she struggled, knowing she needed a shower after this!

"We'll save you!" Zander and Ed cried out before being surround by jarks!

"Never mind!" Zander cried as they too got caught too!

Cera then narrowed her eyes and clicked her tongue in frustration as her comrades were being taken out one by one, "Tch! Note to self, never trust a single word Seth says ever!" she swore under her breath as she jumped out and somersault kicked at one of the incoming jarks' faces! "HA!" By the sheer force of the kick it was sent back as it crashed into some of its friends and they ended up as a slimy mess on the wall which then slid to the floor! "You clowns won't get me that easily!" she taunted them. Hearing something unusual going down on the battlefield below, she stopped to have a look and found herself entranced by the battle down below. The cryolophosaurus was able to make Gigas and Armtus crash into each other before sending a powerful barrage of speed attacks against Maximus before sending him crashing to the ground.

The sight of the battle was absolutely stunning to her, "Wow, I knew Seth was tough but to be able to take on all 3 of those dinosaurs by himself and not break a sweat…." she breathed before narrowing her eyes, "Then again he did make them in the first place…plus since he's been planning this for sometime it makes sense if he also made some countermeasures knowing he'd have to fight them at some point." she thought seriously as she brought a finger to her chin in serious thought, "Though the question remains…if he can fight on even footing with the pirates….would we stand a chance against that kind of power?" At that moment, she sensed something bed her, but was too late as a gel jark suddenly shot out its arms and grabbed hold of her! "GAAH! Let me go!" she cried in protest struggling hard but was completely restrained too just like the others, "Tch! I can't believe I let my guard down!" she then cursed herself for being so careless.

"I can't believe that big sneak Seth ticked us all again!" Rod growled as he and Laura tried their best to stay out of the jarks' slimy arms and sticky skin!

"He may have tricked us but that doesn't mean he'll be able to catch us!" Laura retorted as she stuck her tongue out at them. Noticing something to the side they were shocked to see Jonathan was restrained by a jark!

"Huh?"

"They say if you do not give up, they will make the rest of us will pay dearly…" he muttered reluctantly as the 3 jarks that held Rex, Max and Zoe captive held them up and were preparing to throw them out as they cried and struggled to no avail!

"WAAAAH!"

"No they wouldn't!" Laura cried in horror.

Her brother however knew exactly what would happen if they didn't listen, "They would!" he gritted his teeth and clenched hand in frustration, clearly Seth hadn't changed in the slightest since they alt met, more precisely he turned out way worse and maniacal, meaning there were even more lines he'd cross to achieve his goals now. Seeing no other choice the siblings let out a deep sigh as they he'd out their hands, "Fine….we give…" said Rod with intense spite as the jarks took them hostage too.

Cera looked out the window to see Seth had unleashed blizzard smash upon Gigas, Armatus and Maximus, putting them out of commission with ease before recalling cryolophosaurus soon after. Seeing his strength matched by his cunning and diabolical ambitions, "Mark my words Seth, you'll pay for this…." she swore under her breath as she and the others were lead away to behind the bridge as some of the jarks commandeered the ship, and sent it into a time warp!

"Seth took our ship, took us hostage…." Max muttered as they were surrounded on all sides.

"Yeah and took our dino bracers…." Rex noted seeing their devices were taken along with Cera's and the alpha gang's so now they were pretty much helpless.

"So why'd he take off? What's he looking for on the ship now?" Zoe asked.

Dr Z widened his eyes realising what he was after, "Gah! The black cosmos stone! And if he gets it all of space and time is toast!"

"WAH!?" Everyone gasped in alarm knowing they had to stop him by any means necessary! Though there was the issue of getting past the gel jarks surrounding them on every corner! A task which seemed nearly impossible…

Without warning, a massive collision was felt outside and the impact sent everyone tumbling down and thrown off balance! "GAAAARGH!" red alert sirens soon flared out as everyone struggled to get back up.

"What's going on!?" Dr Z grunted.

"I don't know it felt like something hit us!" Rex cried as some loud angry singing echoed from the ship's communicator.

"What's that terrible sound?" Max muttered finding it to be rather annoying.

"Oh no…." Zoe croaked recognising the voice all too well.

At that moment, Specter's face slammed against the computer screen as he screamed out in immense fury like never seen before, "GRRRGH! I'm coming for you Seth! For you all!" he roared before his face blanked out! Clearly he didn't take being double crossed very well, especially by someone whom he trusted as a partner almost as much as Brontikens!

The sight of his raging tantrum put everyone else on edge fearing what he'd do to them in his crazed state, seeing that ramming their ship with his own was just the tip of the iceberg, "WAAAH! Hold me!" Ursula squealed as she shuddered.

Thankfully for them, right on time, Helga soon dropped in carrying several large pots with her. Seizing the chance while the gel jarks were down, she threw out a spoonful from the pots which splattered against some of the jarks causing them to dissolve and sizzle their bodies away!

"Look they're melting!" Rex cried as everyone looked on in surprise.

"Yeah but how?" Zoe asked in amazement.

"A good cook never reveals her methods," Helga replied calmly, "But in this case," she held out 2 of her pots, "I'll make an exception! It's salt!" she boasted proudly at having discovered their weakness.

"Let's give it to em!" said Rod as Laura took a pot and he threw a handful at some jarks causing them to melt!

"Forget a spoonful of sugar, take this!" Ursula smiled scooping 2 spoonfuls from some pots Zander and Ed were holding before showing them out! Now the tables had turned and the gel jarks began to sense fear in their circuits as they began to scatter in terror, hoping to avoid getting turned into escargot!

One splattered jark dropped a dino bracer, which Max quickly grabbed hold of, "Gotcha!" wasting no time he ran out the door to head for where Seth was.

"Max!" Rex called but to no avail as he exited the room.

"I'm going after him!" Cera yelled in response as she followed him, "We'll leave these guys to you!"

Rex gritted his teeth wishing he could come with them, but she was right they had to deal with the gel jarks fast while they had the chance, "Grr…okay! But be careful!" he yelled back to her. Before long the rest of the jarks made a run for the door, "Get back here!" Rex yelled as he and the others chased after them, intending to finish them once and for all, also still holding a grudge for deceiving them earlier.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Where are you Seth!?" Max yelled as he got inside the cosmos stone holding chamber and Cera followed right behind him.

"Show yourself you coward!" she shouted as they looked around hoping to find where he was or any clues that would lead to him.

A certain voice soon gave his position away, "Right here." They looked to the side and saw him standing there with his back turned.

"AH!"

"But you're too late, all the cosmos stones are mine." he said menacingly before turning to look at them, "And they're going to stay that way." he smirked waving the cryolophosaurus card in his hand as they both widened their eyes knowing what was coming next.

"Urgh…uh oh…"

"Oh no…."

Seth took out his dinoholder, "Come on out cryolophosaurus!" slashing the card the secret ice dinosaur appeared on the field and roared out ravenously.

As it did, Cera and Max waste no time doing the same, "Dino slash!" They cried slashing their own cards.

"Triceratops! Roar!"

"Micro raptor! Shine!"

Chomp appeared on the ground facing off against Seth and his dinosaur once more, while Miku perched on Cera's shoulder before being thrown out.

"Energy equaliser!" She then linked herself to behind Chomp's frill where she would be shielded, as she transferred energy into him knowing he'd need it more than ever!

"Get ready for the battle of our lives Chomp, because with the whole universe at stake anything goes!" Max yelled out as Cera narrowed her eyes, while Seth smirked most sinisterly as the battle that would decide the fate of the cosmos rested on this one battle!

 **Things turn rather hairy for the D Team as the 7 cosmos stones are nearly brought together! The fate of the cosmos hangs in a far more delicate balance than ever and the stakes couldn't be any higher!**

 **Also hope you enjoyed Terry and the other alpha dinosaurs doing something here too even though they weren't able to save the cavemen village or the mammoths from the volcano but that was how it was meant to be.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Same here, look forward to writing it though hope for help when I can get it.**

 **-Glad it's cleared up.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-** **Yeah it would have been cool to see but censoring would tame it down or remove it completely sadly, felt they could have didn't more fighting with insects. Since the d team dealt with rabid plants I felt era should fight the bugs.**

 **Sorry if this battle may not have went how you wanted it but things had to proceed as the anime did, as destiny had in mind haha. Still it took 3 dinosaurs to beat Gigas so even with all 6 they couldn't do much against 4 armoured dinosaurs, though it will be properly explained and addressed when it gets to the final battle.**

 **Guest**

 **-Didn't think about it but will see.**


	46. Clash for the cosmos stones

Chapter 46

Clash for the cosmos stones

Max and Cera stood against Seth, who had just acquired all 7 cosmos stones in his possession, and the only ones who could prevent him from using them for his dastardly ambitions were the 2 Team kids with Chomp being powered up with Miku facing off against his cryolophosaurus! It was tense situation and a battle neither could afford to lose with so much on the lone.

"Stay alert Max, that cryolophosaurus was able to hold its' own against Gigas, Armatus and Maximus altogether!" Cera warned him to proceed with caution nor to take his opponent lightly just because it wasn't armoured or was alone.

Max clicked his tongue remembering that fight from earlier, and if Seth was able to make short work of all 3 spectral dinosaurs like that he knew this may be even tougher, "Tch…In that case I'll just go all out from the start!" he yelled taking out his element booster, "Chomp! Go! Dino tector on!" Equipping it on Chomp became armoured before rushing ahead! Despite being empowered by both Miku and the armour, the cryolophosaurus was able to swiftly dodge to the side and out of Chomp's attack path! "Missed him!" Max then grunted in frustration.

Cera narrowed her eyes, "He's fast, conventional attacks won't cut it against this dinosaur…." she said to him.

"Then let's try-" He took out his ace in the hole move card, "Ultimate thunder!" Chomp surged with power as several lighting bolts shot around the cryolophosuaurs hoping to cut off escape, but seeing the opening, it rushed ahead and struck out at Chomp on the front thus cancelling the move!

"No way! It even countered that move!?" Cera exclaimed in disbelief seeing the dinosaur was strong enough to counter their strongest move!

"AH! Chomp's down!" Max gasped in shock as hs partner was then knocked away!

"And soon it'll be out!" Seth smirked seeing this may be easier than he first thought, "You just don't understand do you!? You cannot defeat me! Go snow crystal!" The cryolophosaurus generated a flurry of large snow crystals which fired like projectiles towards them!

"Here it comes!" Cera cried widening her eyes.

"Oh no better get Chomp out of there!" Max thought as he quickly recalled his triceratops and Cera did the same with Miku, not wanting to risk either of them getting hurt!

"Phew that was close…." she then wheezed having reclaimed her partner's card in time as Max did for his.

"Whoa who cranked up the AC?" Max then shivered as the room suddenly turned cold with frost and mist when the battlefield disappeared.

"I'll give you one guess." Cera pointed ahead. They both looked ahead to see Seth making a run for the door with the cryolophosaurus following him behind!

"Seth's getting away!" Max yelled as he ran ahead and Cera followed him.

"After him quick!"

They chased him out the door but before long they lost him down the corridors where it split off in 2 directions, "Great now where did they go…." Max grunted in frustration seeing no footprints to follow and at having lost the battle and cosmos stones so easily.

Cera though refused to give up as she narrowed her eyes and surveyed their surroundings, "Keep your eyes and ears peeled, they can't have gotten far." she stated as Max did just that.

Listening carefully, he soon could hear the sounds of roaring coming down one hallway on the left as he pointed ahed in alarm, "I hear some fighting down there!" he cried rushing down it with Cera without hesitation! Before long his instincts lead him on the right path as they found the cryolophosaurus engaged in battle with Ace, and he was making rather quick work of them too.

"There he is!" Cera cried as she saw Paris and Ace were easily getting overwhelmed by the secret dinosaur, which was proving to be just as powerful as saurophagnax once was!

Max remained undeterred and despite his earlier encounter was willing to go in for round 2 as he took out his card, "Alright, let's try this one more time! Dino slash!" slashing it Chomp took to the field and charged ahead with them, "Dino tector on!" Chomp then armoured up as the Alpha gang arrived on the scene after having disposed of the last few wandering gel jarks.

"Give it up Seth! There's nowhere to run!" Dr Z yelled.

Seth stepped back finding himself outnumbered, and not wanting to risk the stones in a fight he decided to make a tactical retreat, "Grr…Oh yeah?" he turned around to find Max and Cera cutting off his other escape route!

"Yeah! We've got you completely surrounded!" Max pointed out.

"It's time you answered for all the trouble you've caused!" yelled as she was raring to go. Before they could though a hard rumble soon sounded the ship followed by a huge impact which knocked the others off balance!

Rumble!

"URGH!"

"WAH!"

"Wh…What was that!?" Max grunted as he fell down and winced from the pain.

"Tch! It's gotta be Specter without a doubt…." Cera hissed clicking her tongue as she pushed herself up to her legs, "If only there was someway we could stop him from going completely bonkers on us, otherwise he'll destroy us all." she thought to herself.

They were soon distracted off the outside attack as Seth stumbled and ended up dropping his entire cache of stones which rolled away across the floor! "AH! NO!" he cried.

"Look! All the cosmos stones are loose!" Laura pointed out as the stones rolled across the floor.

"Let's get em!" said Rod as they both headed off to gather them up fast before they got lost.

When Laura was about to reach and grab one of the stones, "Be careful guys!" Cera then warned as she took her hand back in time and Rod looked too, "Don't touch them with your bare hands! Not unless you want to light up like a christmas tree!" she shouted.

"Thanks for the heads up!" Laura responded as she used her alpha claw to grab hold of the red stone instead.

"We'll be careful!" Rod nodded as he did the same and they slowly gathered them up one at a time before putting them into the container Seth dropped. As Cera looked on she was unaware of the black stone being replied from Max's dino bracer.

As it rolled away, Seth scooped it up in his cloak, having just recovered from his fall he now prepared to seize the opening he was given, "You'll pay for interfering!" he yelled angrily as everyone looked to him in surprise, "Blizzard smash!" he yelled as his cryolophosaurus fired off a massive stream of ice which blew back Ace and Paris, forcing them to return to their cards!

"Oh no!" Cera cried seeing they were taken out of the fight.

"Strike back Chomp and take down that cryolophosaurus!" Max ordered seeing it was up to them now.

Charge but jump out of way then bite at him and dodge again

"That dinosaur moves too fast, if only we had a faster attack…" Cera

Unable to sit back and watch a second longer, Dr Z decided to take matters into his own hands, "Please! Your attacks are useless!" he yelled in frustration as he ran over to Max and tossed him a lightning card, "Now this new card I designed on the other hand…." he smirked with confidence as Max eyed the card curiously.

"A new move card? Okay I guess it's worth a shot." he then smiled as he slashed it, "Go! Final thunder!" As he did Chomp surged with energy as he darted in, catching the cryolophosaurus off guard! Before it could react, Chomp swung out his tail knocking it down before scooping up his foe with his horns then flipping him into the air! Wasting no time nor giving his foe a chance to recover, Chomp then fired a bolt of lightning piercing the cryolophosaurus mid air before firing off several electric arrows which hit their mark before it crashed down to the ground, generating a cloud of cold mist as it returned to a card.

"Alright it worked!" Cera smiled seeing they had beaten it, and perhaps now they stood a better chance against the space pirates next time they showed their ugly mugs.

"We did it!" Max cheered.

"No I did it!" Dr Z corrected him believing it was his movie card that won the battle so he deserved all the credit and glory, "Hip hip hooray for Dr Z! Ahahaha!" he laughed out loud boastfully as Cera rolled her eyes in response to his overinflated ego.

"Yes yes Dr Z you did great, go pat yourself on the back and have a cookie…" she muttered sarcastically before smiling lightly, he did come through for them when they needed it most so that's what counted.

"Hey this is no laughing matter! Seth has disappeared!" Rex cried out interrupting their moment while the A Team looked around to find no trace of him anywhere.

Max and Dr Z soon stopped celebrating hearing Rex's call.

"Eh what?"

Looking around and seeing Seth had escaped, Cera gritted her teeth angrily "Tch! He must have slipped away while we were fighting…." she grunted. They had to give him credit though, he always knew how to exploit any opportunity and weakness presented to him, though this case it was really bad for he'd be back to try again later….maybe in an even more drastic measure too….

"And where are the cosmos stones?" Zoe asked as she and Rex began looking around too.

"They're right here!" Laura cried as she and Rod had gathered them back in the case;

"Well done! My grandchildren protected all the cosmos stones so that means they're mine now!" Dr Z cried as he and Max ran over to them…only to find something terribly wrong….

"Uhh not all of them…." Rex pointed out as the 7th slot was empty.

"The black one's gone!" Rod cried.

"What!?" Max gasped in alarm.

"Uhh hate to add more bad news but the card for that beaten cryolophosaurus us gone too." Ursula pointed out while Zander and Ed still looked around but found nothing.

"And if that dino comes back I'll have plenty of salt for him!" Helga called out at the other end of the hallway.

"Helga have you seen Seth around? He just vanished!" Max asked her.

"That's what I came to tell you." she answered before looking down the hall she came from, "He just ran past me! He was headed somewhere in a big hurry!"

"Say what!?" Max gasped in alarm before the gang began to shoot angered looks at her.

"Why didn't you stop him!?" Rex yelled.

"My apologies but my hands were rather full at the moment cleaning up the last of those disgusting slime monsters." she said before huffing at a nearby gel jark rock that rolled to her before she kicked it away in disgust down a trash chute.

"Okay fair enough…." Rex sighed seeing she made a good point before looking to everyone present, "Guys let's split up! He couldn't have gotten far." he instructed.

Ursula nodded, "Yeah, we're on a ship floating through space and time so no way he'll get off that easily." she smirked folding her arms with confidence he had no way of escaping, so it'd only be a matter of time before he turned up.

"So when we find him we'll let him have it real good!" Ed grinned as he and Zander punched a fist into their open palms.

"Mhmm!"

"Let's go!" They all said in agreement as they began to split up into teams to search for him.

Before they began to split Rex shouted out one more word of advice to the lot, "Be careful, when someone finds him, let us all know and don't take him on alone. He's dangerous." he said seriously.

"Yeah? So am I!" Dr Z protested before twirling his beard playfully, "But since we're talking about Seth I'll make an exception."

As they began to separate, Rod and Laura both ran up to Helga, "Here Helga you hold onto these," he said handing her the case with the cosmos stones.

"Hmm?" she mused in surprise as she took it from them.

"They're way safer in your hands without a doubt." Laura shouted to her as she and her brother headed down another hall, leaving Helga alone with the stones as she mused over what to do with them.

"O…Okay…."

 **(Meanwhile)**

In one of the lower rooms, Cera had just exited the room where Seth experimented on dinosaurs as she had a disappointed expression on her face, "No sign of him and we searched all his old workplaces from his lab all the way to the experimenting room." she thought having just crossed off the last possible place he might be and then letting the others know. She then put a finger to her chin in thought, "He'll try for the cosmos stones again without a doubt, knowing the lengths he'll go for his twisted ambitions. But since they're with Helga now, he knows better than to try the direct approach." She closed her eyes and folded her arms as she analysed the situation, "Let's think, if I were Seth I'd use a method that would avoid as much conflict as possible and without a doubt try something underhanded." She thought knowing him form past experience.

He may be a diabolical madman but he's no fool. Not only was he a scientific genius, he was also a calculative strategist, biding his time and dangerously patient till the time to strike comes, he'll use any means that will put up the least resistance even if it meant playing dirty. "To do that he'd need to wait for the right opportunity, which means he'll have to focus on getting off the ship first so he'll be able to have another chance." She then widened her eyes as she came to a crucial point, "Wait get off…." Her heart skipped a beat as she soon realised what he was aiming for, "Oh no!" She ran out for the escape room as fast as she could go!

As she entered the room, to her worst fears she found one of them was missing from the bunch! "Tch! We're too late…." She clicked her tongue in frustration, cursing his instincts to survive and avoid danger as well as his dangerous patience to be among his most dangerous traits. "Only thing we can do is trace where he's headed so we can take him down before he tries another attack." She then though deciding on what they could do next as she left to let Jonathan know, unaware she passed by a gel jark stone that was hidden in the corner.

Before long she then made it to the upper deck where everyone else had gathered, no doubt having received a message from Jonathan, only to see the escape pod pass by them into the depths of the time stream and then vanishing away.

"Where is Seth going!?" Max then asked anxiously.

"I'm attempting to trace his trajectory." Jonathan replied as he began to lock onto the pod's signal hoping to determine its destination.

"We have to find him! He's got the black cosmos stone and who knows what he's planning to do with it." said Rex with deep concern.

A beep sound soon came in followed by the pirate's logo on screen, "We have an incoming transmission from Specter…." said Jonathan as he observed it.

"What does he want now?" Cera wondered. He had a lot of nerve calling them after not only double crossing but even attacking them recklessly just now, endangering their lives and risking them all getting stranded in the void forever. After what he did he had no right to talk terms with them. She was about to ask to decline and ignore it, but Jonathan beat her to it as he answered it deciding wanting to at least hear out what he had to say.

When he did, Specter, in a much more mellow mood from before, appeared and began to sang another horrendous off key tune, "Ooooh! I must confess I detest that traitorous slime we all know as Seth! So I think it'd best you act quick nice and hand him over at by request!" he sang in a jolly manner before turning serious and rather impatient, "And I request now."

"Hate to break it to you but Seth's not on our ship anymore." Max answered him angrily.

"If he was though we'd be more than happy to hand him over…." Cera added thinking he deserved whatever torture or punishment they had in mind for him.

"What!? You mean he escaped with all my cosmos stones!? Just great…." Specter grumbled crossly before catching sight of something familiar, "Huh? Wait, what is that the old lady has behind you?" he asked as he pointed out to Ursula as it seemed.

"Who are you calling old you toad!?" Ursula growled in annoyance as she pounded her frustrations out on Dr Z!

"NO! The old lady behind the old lady!" he then corrected as she looked behind her to see Helga.

"Say wha?"

"The name is Helga." Helga introduced herself seeing the focus on her now.

"Helga, what's that you're holding?" he asked, "It looks an awful lot like my cosmos stones. Why don't you hand them over and I'll give the tykes back their parents in exchange?"

"AH!" The rest of the D Team soon smiled with joy and hope at the sound of his words.

"For real!?"

Cera thought keep her guard up and narrowed her eyes, "I don't buy it for a second." As she said that the D Team became reminded of what happened the last time as they shot some angry glares at the pirate boss.

"Wait! You said that before and it was a lie!" Zoe cried.

"Hahaha! Yes I do that so how about I prove I'm on the level." Spector laughed in amusement, snapping his fingers it depicted a camera shot of Gavro, Foolscap and Sheer leading out the Ancients, Drakes and then the Taylors forcibly from there Taylor house, which caught the entire group by surprise at what they saw!

"AH!"

"It's our parents!"

"This time for real!" Max and the others cried in disbelief that he really was keeping his word this time.

The screen then exited back to Specter, the sight of his ugly mug put the group on edge again, "So we have a deal then? Good! We'll dock with your ship and we'll be waiting for you at the other end." he said with a smirk now knowing it was absolute, "See you soon with my cosmos stones!" he cheered before turning angry again, "The real ones that is! And they'd better all be there this time!" he growled before his mood made another 180 degree shift back to his flamboyant demeanour, "Ta Ta! MWA!" he waved to them before blowing a kiss at them before the call cut off.

"Hey wait!" Max cried holding his arm out as static soon came on the screen which Jonathan switched off, "Grr he's gone…" he then hissed. Taking a calming breath he then looked to the others, "Well guys….what's the plan?" he asked wanting to hear their opinions first, not wanting to let his emotions get the better of him like last time, his past experience with the gel jarks reminded him to be more cautious.

No one volunteered or was able to come up with a good idea, so they looked to the one they thought was the best voice of reason among them, "Any ideas Cera?" Rex asked as she stepped back a bit in surprise at how they were looking at her now.

She sweated nervously and gulped hard, "I….don't know…." she said with great unease with everyone's gazes fixated on her, "Way I see it, he doesn't have any more of those slime goons anymore, plus I don't think he's stupid enough to try the same trick twice." she said seeing this time they could save the adults for real now, though another part of her felt conflicted on going through with this, "But still…." Chances were Specter could still trick them again, maybe even change the rules of their bargain considering they only had 6 stones now, the chances of risking the trade and believing he didn't know would still be very risky. Taking into account all these and many more possible terrible outcomes of this scenario, she felt increasingly pressured as she gritted her teeth and grasped her hair in frustration.

Seeing what she was going through they could understand what she thought, looking to one another mixed feelings of concerns over what would happen if they did or didn't hand the stones over came up. Before they could discuss it over, a beep sound caught their attention as they looked ahead to Jonathan.

"Master Rex, they're requesting we dock with their ship soon," he explained before looking over to the D Team, "We have 1 minute to respond." As everyone looked over to Rex he soon saw it was his call now, and no matter what happened they'd support him to the end….well…almost all of them….

"Please say no! Please say no!" Dr Z prayed pleadingly in one corner not wanting to give up the 6 stones they risked their lives to take back from Seth earlier.

What he said next made his elderly heart skip a beat, "Do it!" he told Jonathan as the old man jumped up in disbelief.

"Say what!?" he exclaimed turning pale as Jonathan typed on the commands to allow the space pirate ship to dock with the Backhander's rear entrance.

Rex then looked to the whole group, "Come on guys, let's go save our parents for good." he said to them as Max, Zoe and Cera nodded back.

"Yeah."

"We're with you all the way."

"Mhmm." they said to him.

He smiled feeling confident in their support as they headed for the loading dock, followed by the Alpha gang next, "H…Hey wait! Don't I get a say in this!?" Dr Z cried in protest as he ran off after them.

Much had happened from that moment on, and despite Dr Z's protests in keeping the cosmos stones, (though with the intent of using them for his own means to become dinosaur king and slightly less in keeping the universe safe) he soon relented when Laura and Rod mentioned he'd do the same for them if they were in the parents' position, to which he had couldn't deny most reluctantly. As the doors opened they came face to face with Specter and the other space pirates who were awaiting their arrival as well as the cosmos stones. This time though, they were willing to honour their end of the bargain as it seemed, as they presented the D Team's real parents before them who were all trapped in an energy cage of some sort.

Before Max and the others could deliver the cosmos stones in exchange for their parents' release, they quickly protested against it much to everyones' surprise. They stated they couldn't take the risk of Specter getting his filthy hands on all the stones otherwise unspoken doom would befall everyone! And after several minutes of exchanging heartfelt words, the D Team ultimately declined the deal as they retreated back to the Backlander, though not before receiving a paper aeroplane thrown to them by their parents. With the ultimate sacrifice made, Jonathan disconnected the Backlander which allowed them to separate from their enemies as well as their parents….possibly for the last time ever….

As they departed and sped away from the space pirate ship as fast as they could, hoping to lose them before they'd attempt another attack, it was a bittersweet parting but now it was time they made their own way in the world now, as well as to watch over the cosmos stones they had.…without their parents to watch over and guide them. If only they knew what would happen now, they'd have appreciated them more while they still had time with them. On board there was a painful silence amongst everyone on board, having witnessed everything with their own eyes, needless to say they were both touched by the parents' love and selflessness and devastated for the parting. As much as Dr Z wanted to be happy about keeping the cosmos stones, he couldn't bring himself to knowing he'd learn everyone's scorn and also relating to doing the same for Rod and Laura should they be in the D Team's position.

"I'm sorry I had to close the hatch Max I had no choice…." said Jonathan sadly, not just to part ways with his creator but also for the D Team to be forced to live with their failure at being unable to save their parents.

"It's okay Jonathan I know you didn't, we were just so close to getting them back." Max sighed heavily.

"But all we ended up getting in the end was a lot more heartbreak…" Rex muttered begrudgingly at the fact they could do nothing about it.

"And that paper airplane…." said Zoe at the end as she eyed what they were given seeing it to be a lousy momento to only remind them of their parents who they'd never see again.

"If that's the last time we'll see your parents then let's hope that's the last we see of the space pirates at least…." said Cera hoping to see that as a bright side to all this. Chances weren't 0 that the pirates wouldn't go back on their word at the last minute or maybe seize the chance to eliminate all their enemies when they had it. Even so…it was a hard choice, probably the hardest one anyone would make. Though there were times to sacrifice the needs of many when they outweighed the few, it was never easy and no one would ever like it. In a perfect world everyone would live happily ever after, but the world…no…the universe wasn't perfect….

As Max curiously opened up the paper he was surprised at what he found inside, something he didn't see coming. "Ah…"

The others looked to him, "What is is Max? It is just an airplane right?" Rex asked.

"No…it's 3 sheets of paper…" he answered as he began to hand them out, one to Zoe and the last to Rex.

"What is it?" Cera asked wondering what their parents left them, what Max answered with really touched the hearts of everyone present.

"Ah it's my mom's recipe for milkshakes." he said.

"Mine has my mom's recipe for apple pie. It's my favourite dessert she makes." Zoe answered next.

"Mine has my favourite rice for cookies, extra soft." Rex concluded sadly.

"Those desserts…." Cera then remembered trying them, all were delicious in their own sweet way, but overall they were made with love from their mothers….something they might never experience again tragically, as she looked away and sniffled, unable to bear with the emotion welling up inside her. Unlike her they were lucky, they got to know their parents and had time with them and even experienced parting with them which was inevitable at some point but a part of life. She on the other hand couldn't remember having parents let alone where she came from….she knew couldn't relate to or understand their pain completely so she could remain silent as everyone else began to feel touched by the moment.

"Guess they wanted you to know how much they really care." Rod commented.

"Yeah and since they couldn't be here they gave you a part of them…" Laura said understandably.

Thinking about it Cera recalled the siblings had parents they could get back to, at least they were luck to still have them.

"Oh isn't that the sweetest most touching thing you've ever seen? I don't know whether to smile or cry." Ursula commented feeling pity and empathy for the D Team for the first time in a long while, "How does that make you feel Ed?" she then asked him.

"Sad, happy and to be honest really hungry…" Ed cried dramatically because he was moved and starving for snacks.

"Hey how come you never made special little recipes when the 3 of us were kids?" Zander asked Dr Z since the topic of food came up.

"Uhh I tried making brownies once but my beard got caught up in the beater, I smelt like fudge for weeks…" Dr Z sighed with regret knowing that not only did it take a sign time to clear up his beard from the smell and brownie mix, the brownies he ended up making turned out to be hairy baked bads…..

"It is not a big surprise that I was created shortly after." said Helga as she spoke up feeling rather proud of herself.

The moment was soon interrupted as a beeping sound caught Jonathan by surprise, "Oh dear me!" he gasped as everyone looked to him with concern, the tone of his voice meant it couldn't be anything good.

"What is it!?" Dr Z demanded.

"Huh?"

He looked to them with a serious look on his face, "I've managed to get a reading on the escape pod from just now! Apparently it's reached our time period!"

The others couldn't believe their eyes, in all the commotion they had completely forgotten about the black cosmos stone and the man who stole it, "You've tracked Seth to our time? Are you sure?" Max asked.

"I'm afraid so Max…" he answered with worry, "It seems that he intercepted a transmission from D Lab and followed its signal back to the lab."

Cera narrowed her eyes, "That can't be good….." she thought fearing what might happen to Reese and the others while they were still there, they already went through trouble with rabid plants and bugs, a visit from Seth was the last thing they needed.

BEEP BEEP

"That's the signal now." Jonathan answered as he answered it.

As the screen lit up, everyone was caught off guard to see Seth's sinister smirk on it!

"AH!"

"What are you up to!?" Max demanded angrily.

"That's not a very nice way to say hello." he chuckled in amusement.

"Where's Reese!? Where are the others!" Max then demanded. To answer him, the screen switched over Reese, Dr Owen and Patrick being cornered by his cryolophosaurus! It was raring to punch at any moment as it snared and bore its fangs at them!

Everyone widened their eyes seeing what he was up to, "AAAH!"

"No! Don't hurt them!" Zoe pleaded.

"You snake…" Rex gritted his teeth angrily while Cera's expression flared up spiking with hate.

"You're the worst! A cowardly roach!" she shouted.

Seth soon returned undeterred by their threats, "Call me what you will but if you don't give me the 6 cosmos stones they're done for." he said his parting words before the screen exited.

"Want to bet!?" Max growled willing to take up his challenge and win, "Jonathan! Plot a course for D Lab right away! We're saving them!" he cried as the android prepared to do so.

"I am on it Max!" he responded as he keyed in the coordinates to which the Backlander prepared to head to.

It was at that moment, the Pterosaur arrived in front of them much to their surprise.

"The Pterosaur!" Max gasped in surprise at her unexpected appearance.

"Please! You must not go back to the present!" she cried in a very anxious tone.

"What!? Why not!?" Zoe asked.

"The cosmos stones must not be merged together! And it's too great a risk if all 7 of them are in the same time together! Please! I beg of you!" she pleaded desperately.

"But…we have to go back to the present!"

"Yeah! Our friends are there and they need our help! If we don't do something they're all done for!" Max and Rex cried.

"But if you do, all of space and time for may be done for as well!" The Pterosaur protested once more on the risks.

"Pterosaur…." Cera frowned sadly seeing the risks, but then again what good was saving the universe if they couldn't save the people they cared about in the end.

"I'm afraid even if we wanted to go back it's too late! The time portal's sucking us in!" Jonathan cried out to them.

"In that case hang on everyone!" Max then shouted as the Backlander passed through the Pterosaur before shooting through the light and appearing over Sanjo City's hill side!

"D Lab is just below!" Jonathan noted as they came upon the premises.

"Yeah and so is Seth and his dino!" Zoe pointed out as they saw him awaiting them as well as their friends being held hostage by his cryolophosaurus!

"Then there's no time to spare!" Max shouted out with affirmation as he looked to everyone else, "We're not taking any chances! This time it's for keeps and let's make this one count!"

"Yeah!" They all said together this time fighting with a united purpose.

"This time we're finishing that traitor once and for all!" Dr Z growled tensing up his fists eagerly as his men saluted him like soldiers.

"Yes Dr Z!"

"We're going too!" said Rod as he and Laura came up to them, "It's time he paid for what he did!"

"Yeah he had this coming for a long time!" his sisters shouted as Helga came by them too. With their forces mobilised it was finally time to go and end this once and for all.

Before leaving, Rex then handed Jonathan the cosmos stone case, "Jonathan! Hang on to this and keep it safe at all costs!" he said with a serious look as Jonathan took it from him.

"Yes sir, I'll do so with my life." he nodded before putting a hand on Rex's shoulder, "Now good luck out there."

Rex nodded as he and the others ran out to the bigger area to call forth their dinosaurs which they soon did.

"Altogether!" Max shouted loudly as they took out their cards.

"Dino slash!" They summoned out Chomp, Ace and Paris to full size.

Soon the alpha gang followed up, "Alpha slash!" Terry, Spiny and Tank were summoned too as the 6 dinosaurs roared out in unison.

"Dino tector on!" They all equipped their dinosaurs for battle as they became armoured up! They all soon disappeared in the teleportation light and then appeared on the ground before Seth.

"Don't worry Reese!"

"My love!" Zoe and Zander both cried out to the older Drake.

"We'll save you guys!" Rex cried out to them.

"Well then?" Reese asked hoping they'd do something fast, her normal calm and expressionless demeanour was now becoming panicky and anxious.

"How about you hurry up and get to it?!" Dr Owen cried impatiently and in terror.

"Yeah! Cos someone is really hungry and I don't mean me for once!" Patrick cried as the cryolophosaurus snarled at him, its cold breath blowing on him followed by ice cold fangs ready to sink into warm flesh!

"Seth! This is your last warning! Let our friends go or deal with all of us!" Max shouted out loud.

"I told you, the only way you can save them is by handing over those stones." Seth then calmly answered still undeterred, in fact it seemed as though he knew the outcome of all this so he wasn't at all worried.

"What's wrong with you!? Don't you know what will happen if you put them all together!?" Rex cried out.

"The entire universe! All of space and time! Everything and anything you can imagine will be destroyed!" Zoe shouted.

"You even said so yourself! Or was that another one lie to add to your ever growing list!" Cera followed.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear." he answered calmly, "You see there are other theories on what might happen. Theories that I've studied carefully!" his expression turned maniacal and psychotic as he got to his favourite part, "My research has lead me to believe that if all 7 of the cosmos stones are put together then yes the universe would end, but in its place, another universe will begin. One which I will rule!" he proclaimed.

It was then everyone knew he completely lost it for good, "That's it! You're officially nuts!" Max protested, "Planning to wipe out everyone and everything!? To take down all of space and time just so you can start it up again and be in charge!? You're out of your mind! I mean that's the craziest thing I ever heard in my life! It's completely bonkers!"

"Oh, I don't know it sounds kinda reasonable to me…" Dr Z commented which earned him several angry glares from the D Team in response.

"Quiet doctor!" They shouted.

"What? I'm just saying!"

Seth then smirked in amusement, "Alright then, so you won't make that trade." he said, "To be honest I figured that you wouldn't. That's what backup plans are for." Looking on his dinoholder on screen he saw his servant had arrived on cue, with the push of a button a beam teleported down which revealed his gel jark assistant whom he rescued from the stasis pod, and the other 6 cosmos stones with it!

"AH!" Max widened his eyes.

"He's got the cosmos stones!" Rex gasped in alarm.

"Tch! He planned this from the very start….." Cera hissed realising they were too late, they had played right into his hands from the very start…..that much she despised him the most, letting his foes think they were winning or had a chance so they'd feel that much more awful when he won.

TO add to their ever growing list of worries, with Jonathan out of commission, the Backlander suddenly become unsteady and lost control before plummeting out of the sky!

"AAH!" They all gasped.

"And I'm guessing he got Jonathan!" Ursula growled as it crashed further off!

CRASH!

"Jonathan!" Max cried.

"Forget Jonathan! My ship!" Dr Z yelled knowing it'd cost a whole lot to make repairs of that scale!

"How dare you…." Seeing everything had played out as he predicted, like they were puppets on a string. Cera grew ever more furious that he even had the nerve to use their bonds to their advantage, toying with them like they were mere hindrances and taking advantage of others for his own gain…everything they suffered right now….was because of him…

"The stones are all mine!" Seth then chuckled in triumph, "But don't fret, you'll get something as well." he smirked agitating them.

"Grrgh!"

"But I doubt that you'll like it! Snow crystal!" The cryolophosaurus roared viciously as it then sent a fast blizzard and barrage of hard ice crystals before sending them flying at the group and their dinosaurs!

"AAAAH!" Everyone braced themselves best they could against the powerful ice and snowy winds, as well as cover others from the harsh front, thankfully since they weren't the target they didn't suffer all that badly. Their dinosaurs on the other hand weren't as fortunate as they were easily swept off their feet and blown away!

"No! Our dinos!"

"They're down!" Max and Rex cried in worry to see their only means of defence were taken down so easily, right when their guard was dropped.

"Oh my poor Terry!" Ursula cried for him while the others were still barely recovering.

Seeing how badly they were all hurt, Cera clenched her fist and shoot with immense rage at seeing the suffering he caused her friends, "GRRR!" she turned towards him shooting a furious piercing glare, having lost all restraint and patience with him, "SETH! It's always you!" she shouted out in immense guy as the others turned to her in surprise, "You're the cause of everyone's suffering! Not just the dinosaurs but countless innocent people too!" She pouted out at him as she stood up, "You claim to be doing this for the greater good but all you care about is yourself! I'll never forgive you for this!" Everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing as they stared speechlessly at her strength and courage in face of such power and danger. Not once had they ever seen her so determined and full of rage before. What she would soon do would baffle them for life, "This ends here once and for all!" she vowed as she took out her dinosaur card, "Dino slash! Micro raptor shine!" Slashing it Miku materialised on her shoulder and screeched out at their hated foes, more determined than ever.

Seth then regained his sinister smirk, "Heh, you must be joking. If your friends couldn't defeat me what chance do you have all by your lonesome?" he taunted her as the cryolophosaurus roared back at her.

"Let's find out shall we?" she responded as Miku hopped onto her amor and she prepared to launch her with all she had!

Everyone widened their eyes at what she was attempting to do, take on a full sized dinosaur by herslef! "Huh!?"

"It's time you faced justice for everything you've done!" she shouted before throwing her partner out with all her strength, "Go Miku!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as the microrpator spread out her wings and shrieked viciously as she swooped at the cryolophosaurus! "This is for everyone Seth! Take this!"

"Cera!"

"Are you crazy!?"

"NO!" Max and the D Team cried, thinking she was insane or was overestimating herself.

"Ha! You've just sealed your own fate! Snow crystal!" Seth laughed as the cryolophosaurus fired a barrage of ice crystals at them both!

The others looked on widening their eyes seeing she didn't step away at all! "She's done for!"

"Get out of the way!"

"You can't win this!"

"STOP!" They cried to her, some even closing their eyes unable to watch!

What happened next shocked them all.

Miku quickly swooped around the incoming crystals, dodging them at the lat second as she dived down, pulled up or make tight turns one might only be able to see on the fates fighter jet model ever! Not just her, even Cera herself, as her own movement seemed to mirror her partners'! She tilted her body sideways letting a crystal pass, ducking under one coming at her head or even doing a dodge roll at one coming to her legs! What was even more bizarre was that every one of her movements was precise and exact to the smallest detail, a complete mirror to what Miku was doing right now!

It was a sight none of them could comprehend.

"AH!"

"No way….."

"I can't believe what I'm seeing…."

Seth however widened his eyes in surprise momentarily, he did;t expect a person to be in perfect sync with their dinosaur like that before. It soon passed when Miku successfully avoided all the crystals, using the wind she propelled herself with the right currents before landing smack on the cryolophosaurus' face! "Tch!" he hissed recovering from the shock then yelling out in frustration, "Don't just stand there! Tear her off!" he ordered as the cryolophosaurus proceeded to thrash and use its arms to rip her to pieces!

"No Seth!" Cera retorted defiantly refusing to give him the chance, "I'm taking you and your dinosaur down for good this time! Your madness ends here!" she screamed swearing justice as she held out her arm, "Power siphon! Full power!" She shouted as Miku shrieked, glowing in bright rainbow light as she began to siphon the energy out from the cryolophosaurus! Upon absorbing the light energy of her foe, Miku began to shine ever more radiantly as the surrounding area was soon bathed in bright rainbow light similar to that of the stone plates and the Pterosaur! It shot out from where the 2 dinosaurs were as the others were forced to shield their eyes to keep from losing their sight!

"RRRGH!"

"That light!"

"It's so glaring!"

"My eyes! I'm blind!"

"Grrrgh!" Seth growled as he had to hold his arm out and even the gel jark had to cover its face too unable to handle such direct concentrate flight!

Cera held her arm out, her eyes squinting because of the bright glare, but she gritted her teeth unwilling ti stop as she punched out, "Go!" she shouted as Miku screeched giving it all she got! The cryolophosaurus then roared in pain as it was unable to hang on, before long as the last of its energy was sapped away into the microraptor, it collapsed to the ground losing consciousness before returning to a card, which Miku swiped down and grabbed in her teeth before flying back to Cera, as she perched on her arm. Cera smiled and petted her partner on the head to congratulate her for her courage and efforts, before taking the dinosaur card fork her mouth then shooting a glare at Seth. "I told you I'd defeat you Seth, and I always keep my promise." she said to him with a hard glare as he stepped back and widened his eyes in shock and disbelief.

"Impossible…how was she able to draw out this much power from such a tiny dinosaur?" he breathed stunned, what he witnessed completely surpassed every possible expectation he had of her from the very start, who she channeled the power of the dinosaurs and brought up their full potential, "Just who…is she?" he asked himself as for the first time he felt fear and worry begin to build inside him.

Everyone else was just as bailed as Seth was as, they stared on in awe and amazement at her outstanding victory, "She did it…" Max breathed in disbelief.

"Unreal…." Rod blinked his eyes.

"Remind me to never get on her bad side ever again…." Ursula muttered while Zander and Ed nodded silently.

After having just recovered from the incredible sight they just beheld, Dr Owen then shouted out to his adopted son, "Rex!"

"Ah! Dad!" Rex cried as the others looked to see they were now free with the cryolophosaurus now defeated!

"Zoe!" Reese then went over to embrace her little sister in her arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay…" Zoe breathed feeling at peace that she still had family left to lean on.

Despite not wanting to spoil the moment, Dr Owne then took notice of another loose end they needed to address, "Quick! Seth is getting away!" he then warned seeing he and his jark were heading for the D Lab!

"Stop him!" Max yelled hoping someone could get to them in time.

"I'm on it!" Dr Z volunteered as Helga piggy backed him and they chased after Seth. "Well actually I'm on Helga but you know what I mean….Hey stop you fiend! Those stones are mi-I mean ours!" he growled as they disappeared inside the lab

"Uh oh…." Max breathed worrying for Dr Z's chances seeing it was just them alone now and that could only spell disaster.

"He's so brave…." Rod commented admiring his grandfather for doing something so selfless like that.

Seeing Dr Z's courageous heroism, Cera couldn't help but admit it was all up to him now to save the universe, "Good luck Dr Z…." she breathed. She was about to consider following them, but things were about to get even more complicated than they already were.

"Hey look you guys!" Rex suddenly pointed up at the sky. To make matters worse, the space pirates ship had just arrived at the worst possible timing, having tracked them back to the present they were ready to pick up from where they left off after having just made some last minute repairs to their damaged engines! A beam shot down and from it came the pirate trio along with their signature dinosaurs!

Quickly they wasted no time in seizing the opening while their foes were already weakened, "Spectral punisher!" Sheer cried activation her best move.

"With a side order of Spectral Lancer!" Gavro followed up.

"And for dessert! Spectral Stinger!" Foolscap concluded as their 3 dinosaurs charged in activating their ultimate moves!

Maximus flipped Terry then Paris into the air before firing a beam which pierced them both, taking them out in an instant! Gigas picked up Chomp in his crystal lancers before slamming him into a wall and turning him into a card, while Armatus sprouted crystal spikes that then fired off like missiles, piercing into Tank, Ace and Spiny, defeating their last line of defence before the remaining missiles reducing the whole D Lab to rubble!

"AAAAAH!" Everyone cried out in horror at not just the destruction of the lab, but also the fact that there were still people inside!

"Grampa no!"

"Dr Z!" The entire Alpha gang cried out as the dust cleared which revealed the lab to be reduced to rubble completely.

"He….He was in there…." Laura choked in a greatly saddened tone as hard tears began to form in her eyes.

Cera then gritted her teeth in anger, first they had to abandon the D Team's parents, then Seth got away with the cosmos stones…now the space pirates attacked….what did they ever do to deserve such a cursed fate….

A pod suddenly appeared from the space pirate ship before heading over the ruins of the D Lab, "Oh no it's Specter!" Max cried as the pirate trio regrouped with their boss.

"Oh great hasn't he done enough? What's he up to now?" Ursula groaned wondering when their troubles would end. She would soon come to regret asking.

As the D Team observed his pod send down a beam over the remains of the D Lab, their hearts skipped a beat as 7 coloured rocks rose up from rubble, "AH!"

"The cosmos stones!" Zoe cried.

"He can't be serious….if he puts them together!" Cera thought in horror, fearing the end of everything if they were united!

Their worst nightmare was soon about to become a reality as he began to pull the stones together, "He's merging them!" Max yelled as he and his friends desperately ran out to call him off

"Don't do it!"

"It's dangerous!"

"You're insane!" They cried pleading him to stop, but sadly their words fell on deaf ears, as they suddenly combined together, as a dark mist erupted from their convergence and began to grow as it sparked with dark purple negative energy in it!

"AAH!?" They cried as he did it, the final trigger to the world's end, as the energy suddenly began to grow!

"Whoa! What on earth is happening!?" Dr Owen cried in disbelief as the energy soon began to take a shape of its own!

"Wait a sec…is that?" Max widened his eyes as the cloud took on a familiar but most sinister form, "The Pterosaur!? But something's wrong!" As the monstrous pterosaur of darkness took form and hovered over the land, Cera widened her eyes and shivered in shock, while Miku, upon sight of the dark pterosaur, flared up and snarled angrily at it as her eyes became slit and she hissed in agitation.

Before long, energy from the dark pterosaur shot out which then infused Gigas, Armatus and Maximus they roared out infused with energy of darkness! After that Brontikens was called out to the field, with energy being transferred to him as he bellowed powerfully while the others looked on in shock! After that, the pirates headed back to the ship with he dark pterosaur following in tow as they prepared to use the energy to further their own plans of conquest, unaware of the Pandora's box they had just opened.

"Oh no! Specter! You're crazy! You don't know what you've done!" Max cried in despair as the space pirate ship began to shoot out beams to harness energy from the dark pterosaur to use for their means…but what they didn't realise was that they pulled their own trigger in the process.

"But I have a feeling he's about to find out, the hard way!" Rex cried out as the dark Pterosaur suddenly began to swallow up the pirate ship completely, growing to monstrous proportions and was continuing to do so as it scattered feathers of dark energy from its body!

"Guys? Remember what the Pterosaur said?" Max then asked the others looked on in immense horror at the end of all things about to befall them, "About all of space and time being destroyed if the cosmos stones were merged? Well, I think it's finally happening!" he then cried as not just humanity but the entire universe now faced their darkest hour!

 **The 7 stones have been united and now the dark pterosaur which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs has now returned to now bring forth the extinction of humanity and all reality! The final battle draws near and stay tuned for the D Team's last adventure in season 2.**

 **Wanted Miku as well to have a moment to shine in the climax, also because she hasn't fought a secret dinosaur too so who better than cryolophosaurus? Which they now recover from Seth at long last this saving the last dinosaur from their time pod. As for how these new dinosaurs came to be and where they came from, only time will tell the answer.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Lucznyski**

 **-Yeah true, sorry if it didn't meet your expectations though but hope it was still satisfactory. Not rivals here though.**


	47. Fate of the cosmos

Chapter 47

Fate of the cosmos

Chaos reigned over Sanjo City, as the 4 spectral armoured dinosaurs Gigas, Armatus, Maximus and Brontikens, began unleashing terror upon it as they fired off beams and projectiles which scattered all over from atop the ruins of the D Lab and then causing massive extensive damage to anything in the path of their attacks! They however were but the tip of the iceberg, as the Dark Pterosaur, spawned by the unison of the 7 cosmos stones, began laying everything to waste as it enveloped over the 4 dinosaurs and began unleashing total devastation in its mission to end all space and time! Nothing and no one was safe for its wrath….

The situation getting critical, the alpha gang, having managed to uncover Dr Z and Seth, retreated with the D Team to the safety of the first while they took shelter in the hopes of recovering after their previous battle, and they could only look on helplessly as all they knew and loved was slowly coming to an end….time was running out as extinction was imminent for all life in the known universe…..

"This is the end…." Max breathed feeling completely devastated at what he saw, "All the terrible things that the Pterosaur warned us about. They're happening…and the worst part there's we can do about it…." Rex looked to him just as disheartened as he was, while Cera grit teeth and hissed in frustration. As if losing their parents wasn't bad enough they couldn't protect the stones in the end. It was the worst case scenario anyone could have envisioned, and what was happening before their eyes was more disastrous than anything they ever imagined, "We had our chance…and…we failed…."

"Oh no!" Zoe sniffled scared and in sadness as she huddled to her older sister for comfort but could find little, nor could she ever turn a blind eye to what was happening for it was only a matter of time before they themselves were wiped out along with the rest of creation.

"Um…What was it that the Pterosaur said would happen exactly Rex?" Reese asked nervously.

"Your basic worst case scenario." Rex answered rather casually.

"Except way worse, like a thousand times worse…" Cera followed.

"She said that once all the cosmos stones merge, then all time and space would be doomed." Rex then concluded having heard the Pterosaur warn them multiple times but never thought they'd actually see it nor imagined it'd be this bad.

"And from the looks of it that dark pterosaur that the cosmos stones created is the harbinger of that doom." said Reese as she looked up to see the dark pterosaur unleashing waves and beams of negative energy which destroyed anything that came in contact with it, "If only we could stop it."

"But...how…?" Zoe asked as she looked up painfully to see the destroyer itself lay waste to everything around it.

"Good question….how?" Cera swallowed. Everything they did, they gave it their best shot, all their heart and soul….and still it wasn't enough, what did they ever do to deserve this, is this really the end and they can only sit by and do nothing?

Nearby, Helga, sparking hard after sustaining heavy damage from the collapse, rested down at one part of the clearing lowering a fainted Dr Z to the ground while the gel jark lay an unconscious Seth down nearby.

Quickly the alpha gang saw this and ran to them, "Helga!" Ed cried worrying for her wellbeing, but she couldn't care less about herself at this time, there was someone else who needed attention more than she did.

"Please…take care…of Doc-" Her sentence was cut off as she short circuited and smoked hard, but not before handing him over to the trio.

"Grandpa!"

"Is he okay!?" Laura and Rod cried as they came in to see him unconscious.

Desperate for their boss to show them a sign of life, Ursula and Ed tried shaking him gently hoping to stir him, "Hey, ho ho…Wake up, doctor…"

"Say something." But to no avail, as they began to fear the worse, "Oh, no… I think this is serious…" Ursula wept as tears began to run down her cheeks and before long she and her fiends began to bawl their eyes out and mourn for the loss of their beloved leader! "We never told him how much he means to us! How much we idolised him!"

"That's true!" Ed screamed his head off as his nose began to go runny with the tears.

Unbeknownst to them, their loud screaming was what awoken their boss as he slowly opened his eyes, "Well, it's never too late." Dr Z smirked, having woken up and deciding to milk the moment.

His words made the Alpha gang stop weeping as they looked to see him open his eyes, but not before one of Ursula's tears fell straight into Dr Z's mouth!

"BLEACH!" he spat it out in disgust before ranting out loud as he always did, "Haven't you ever heard of a hanky?!" he screamed.

"Doctor…" the A Team breathed seeing he was back to normal.

"Grandpa, you're okay!" Rod & Laura cried in relief.

"For a sec you almost looked…"

"You know, done for. Finished."

"Of course, you always kind of look that way." The alpha gang each said almost having believed he had passed on peacefully after that terrible tragedy at the lab.

Dr. Z then cried out jumping up and down in protest, "I do not! I'm bright-eyed and bushy browed! Beneath this great beard and bright rosy cheeks resides!" he ranted before he then smiled with confidence, "I'm not going anywhere until I fulfil my destiny and become the one, the only dinosaur king!" he proclaimed proudly as he pointed up to the sky while they looked on!

"Glad to hear he's still high in spirit," Cera smiled with relief to see he wasn't giving up, before frowning again when she returned to the reality before hand where the end of the world was happening right before their eyes, "….Not that it'll do us much good now….or anyone…." she sighed deeply seeing their situation to be bleak.

However, it was his very words that seemed to have awoken something in Max, "Destiny…? Wait a sec." he muttered as he tuned out all the background noise and drifted into the last words his parents told him.

Cera having just overheard him, looked to him curiously, "Max?" she asked him but got no response.

"All of destiny… That means everyone…From everywhere…Throughout all of time…" he breathed, flashing back to all their past adventures to all those different eras, and reflecting on the experiences they had since then.

"What are you getting at?" Cera wondered seeing he was deep in some kind of trance. But he wasn't spacing out, in fact it seemed he was on to something.

Chomp barked at him getting his attention as Max looked down to him, "And that includes you, Chomp." he then said as he recalled the day he first met his card in the forest flashback, and recalled the extinction event in the Cretaceous. Max then picked him up so his partner could lick him on the cheek, which then made him smile as he knew just what to do, "I know, I feel them all with us too." As he said that, the others looked to him.

"What is it, Max? What's Chomp saying?" Rex asked him.

"He's saying the same thing my mom said." Max answered.

"What?" His words soon puzzled them, but what he was about to say next soon made it all clear to them.

"That all of destiny's in our hands, the entire universe, all of space and time and more; they're all counting on us and in a way…they're here with us." he said, "After all, when those cosmos stones first crashed here…They nearly destroyed everything on Earth, but somehow…life found a way to keep going and lead to this moment now." he explained, how the dinosaurs lead to the Ancients coming to rescue them, Seth betraying them thus leading Rex to the D Team and then going all sorts of adventures meeting people and bonding with dinosaurs, till finally defeating Seth so then he'd set the space pirates and the gang across space and time so they'd be able to end the threat of the cosmos stones once and for all. "I know you're all thinking it all seems hopeless, but things are always darkest right before the dawn. We have to keep fighting for our parents, for the pterosaur, for the past, present and future because if we don't then there's nobody that will." he concluded in a way so determined, clenching his fist and inspiring some motivated feelings inside everyone present.

Cera was amazed and deeply moved by his heartfelt words, in fact what was just as surprising was that she could see he was connected with Chomp on a level which was almost like hers. Also his words helped her see the truth, that all this couldn't have all happened by chance or mere coincidence, in fact it was meant to be…..

"But, Max, what can we do?" Zoe then asked still pointing out that important fact.

"Yeah. We need a plan and I for one don't have one." Rex added in agreement.

Max however had just the plan in mind, "I do." he held up his arm and flashed the device on it.

"The dinobracer?" Rex asked him in surprise.

"That's right, Rex. A while back, my bracelet repelled the black cosmos stone." Max answered as he recalled what happened back on the Backlander when Seth dropped all the cosmos stones.

"Really? I wonder why." Zoe muttered in thought.

Max then began to open the bracer, "Well, my best guess is because of this." he said showing the lightning stone to them!

Rex widened his eyes in realisation, "Of course, the stone plates!" he gasped as Cera soon mirrored his expression.

She realised in all the commotion that happened since Seth double crossed them, she forgot to mention to them that the stone plates were the key to fixing the entire mess!

"Zoe, didn't Seth say the plates carry a positive power while the cosmos stones, on the other hand, carry with them a negative power?" Reese then asked her sister, "That could be the way to save the universe. Of course, since the cosmos stones have merged, they've created that powerful dark pterosaur. It's stronger than any one stone plate." she then said at the end as she pointed out at the giant monstrosity of energy reigning destruction upon the land and it still continued to grow.

"Maybe, but not all of them." said Dr Z as the others looked to him, "If all the cosmos stones have been combined, then I say we combine all the power of out stone plates! Am I a genius or what!?" he announced proudly pointing up to the sky while his men began fawning around him with admiration.

"Genuine genius and modest to boots." Ursula praised as Dr Z laughed proudly at his own genius, while his grandchildren both sweat dropped at his oversized ego becoming even more inflated, if this kept up he may no longer be satisfied being merely a dinosaur king but set his sights on way more extravagant goals.

"Great. So, we combine the plates and dole out their power with our dinos." said Max tensing up and full of determination, with nothing left to lose and no further discussions needed it was time they finished this once and for all.

"Actually, Max, that won't work." Rex suddenly spoke up which made the others look to him in surprise.

Max looked to him in confusion, "What do you mean it won't work? Of course, it's gonna work."

"No, come on think about it." Rex responded as he pointed to his own bracer, "If we're attacking the dark pterosaur with the stone plates from our bracers, our dinos won't be able to deliver the attack because our dinos can't wage attacks if the plates aren't there." he explained as it soon became clear they couldn't use their dinosaurs to fight let alone summon them if they were using them in the Backlander to fight the dark pterosaur.

"Yeah, Rex is right. The plates need to be inside the bracers for dinos to attack." said Rod agreeing with him.

"So, now what? Laura then asked feeling rather downcast that their hope turned out to be a temporary illusion.

The solution soon came from a rather unexpected source, "Now we simply create a copy of the stone plates to put in the dinobracers." said Seth as he volunteered.

"Say whaaaat?!" Dr Z exclaimed in disbelief that it was possible indeed to do something like that.

"Yes, I have the data we would need all right here." Seth confirmed it as he gestured to his head.

Thinking back on it, Cera and the others began to recall he did it before and that he made the fakes more powerful than the original, despite not being able to control the time warp generator they still could be used to summon dinosaurs so that could work….but she and the others narrowed their eyes with suspicion, for chances were he would double cross them again, and in this dire situation they couldn't afford such a huge risk as this was their final chance.

"Yeah, sure." Max grunted still holding a grudge against him for what he did and for what he planned to do with the cosmos stones earlier which brought all this in the first place.

"Trust me, Max. I know I betrayed you all before, but what other options do you have?" he then pointed out which made it all clear they didn't have much choice and there was no time for infighting or debating, "Now then, are you with me?" he then asked hoping they'd accept his cooperation knowing it was their best chance they had, plus their only one if they wanted to save the world.

While Max nodded reluctantly, Cera still had her doubts, "What's your aim this time? You're always several moves ahead as you so boldly claim." she then asked him with deep suspicion as the others began to shoot him suspicious or angered glared, "If so I guess this was your own backup plan in case you did fail to use the stones yourself?"

Seth calmly looked around to see the expressions of spite and hatred shot at him, they had good reason to think so after all he put them through and now it was his fault that all existence was doomed. Realising this, he then shook his head, "No…for once that isn't the case here." he admitted deciding not to hide anything from them anymore, "I was so certain victory was in my sights…." he said as he held out one of his hands before clenching it into a fist and gritting his teeth, "But I was blinded by arrogance I failed to take into account Specter interfering at the last moment." he hissed in frustration at his own failure, as well as now realising the calamity he brought upon and there was nothing he could do about it…except this. He then looked to everyone around him and bowed down, "Everyone, at least allow me this one chance to make things right….to set things straight once and for all." he pleaded, "I know I've done many unforgivable things and am the reason for all your suffering these past few days…..I won't deny that I brought about all of this, because of my mistake all of reality is now doomed." While the others still had great distrust of him, they could see he was their only hope of making this work, nevertheless they still didn't like the idea of letting him on board their ship a third time. Seth then looked up at them seriously, "Even if you don't trust me, you can't allow Specter to get away with what he's done can you? And you know you can't do it without my help."

Even if his intentions weren't sincere, the stones were in the pirates' possession and that couldn't be changed, so if he couldn't have them he might as well destroy them. That was the vibe he gave off, and even if he was doing it for himself and not for everyone's sake it was enough to convince the group that he'd be of no threat to them in this situation, since there was a far greater evil to defeat first.

As much as aligning with the lesser of 2 evils to defeat a common enemy was the same as siding with evil, their options were limited. With great reluctance, Cera let out a deep sigh as she nodded, "Okay fine, we've got no choice…." she said on everyone's behalf that they'd accept Seth's help one last time.

Dr Z however then pointed out at him in bitter anger, "This time you'll be on a very short and tight leash!" he shouted shooting him a fierce glare at his former assistant, "We'll be supervising you and your slimy sidekick from start to finish, no exceptions. Try anything funny and you're done! This will be your final warning!" He shouted in a way that he meant what he said for real.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, seeing the bigger picture and what was at stake, Seth then nodded without hesitation, "Very well, I accept your terms." he said giving them his word.

With his loyalty secured, Max looked to everyone as he rallied them together for the final battle ahead, "Let's go guys, the fate of all reality is counting on us this time!" he said clenching his hand into a fist, "And we won't fail! Not now not ever!" He then turned around and gritted his teeth at the Dark Pterosaur and punched out his arm at it, "For our future!" he announced at the top of his lungs.

"YEAH!" The rest of them apart from Seth cheered as they punched up to the sky and then focused on the dark pterosaur seriously, with a single purpose, to destroy it for good and end its reign of terror once and for all.

The first thing to do was to affect repairs to their ship the Backlander, and after hurrying over to it and getting on board via remote using the teleporter thanks to Seth, it was decided that they divide into separate teams. While the D Team along with Reese, Rod and Laura would go to patch up Jonathan and Helga, Dr Owen and Patrick (Who spent some time looking over the Backhander's schematics) would supervise and assist the A Team in helping to repair the Backhander's interior systems and outer area that may have sustained damage in its earlier crash. Dr Z and Seth took their leave to prepare the copy stones, but as they exited the door, Max and the others looked to Cera, "You go check on Seth and Dr Z, make sure those spare stone plates come along smoothly too." Rex suggested not wanting to take the chance leaving those 2 by their lonesome, knowing Seth could easily manipulate Dr Z like before or do something bad to him since he was alone now.

Cera nodded in agreement, "I'll be sure to keep an eye on them and keep them in line." she said as she followed out after them. Halfway there though the hallway, she then stopped and made a quick detour to one of the computer rooms away from where Seth and Dr Z were working. Using a data disk, she inputted it into the console and typed on it, as it began downloading data and transferring the stored cosmos stone energy samples from earlier into it, seeing now was the best time to use it. As much as she hated to admit it, the only who could utilise the power of the stones to their full potential in their desperate time of need had to be Seth, so reluctantly she took a breath, praying she wouldn't regret her decision before taking her leave.

She then walked past the artefacts room, where the old mammoth fossil was now placed as the relic from the stone age, taking one last look at all the souvenirs of their adventures, feeling the wishes and hopes of the people they met coming from them. She nodded in acknowledgment of them and vowed they wouldn't fail them, as she headed to find Dr Z and Seth, unaware that the potted tree had begun to sprout a small bud of fruit from its branch.

As she entered the room near where the reactor core was, he saw the Seth typing away at a computer along with the last gel jark and Dr Z observing him closely, "So this was how you did it last time?" Dr Z asked him curiously.

"Yes," Seth confirmed it, "Though those stones were inferior compared to the originals which was why the time machine malfunctioned in the first place." he said now realising what he did resulted in him getting sent into the wormhole in the first place, "These ones however will be able to summon dinosaurs at ease, in addition to that I'll make sure they also give the dinosaurs an extra added power boost which will give us the edge we need to defeat Specter's dinosaurs as well should they get in the way." he said.

"Woo! Now that's what I'm talking about baby!" Dr Z clapped his hands in excitement, "Fire it up!" he then cheered punching his arm to the sky.

"Would this help out too?" said Cera as she caught the attention of both men and the jark as she held out the drive.

"Hmm?"

Walking up to them she passed it to Seth as he loaded the data into the computer. Upon analysing it, he widened his eyes in surprise to see the energy readings were that of the cosmos stones! "This is…."

"AH! Where did you get this power!? I demand to know!" Dr Z then yelled at her impatiently.

Cera took a calm breath, not letting Dr Z's obnoxious impatience get to her before calmly explaining, "When we had all 6 cosmos stones with us, I took the liberty of harvesting a small sample of each." she said, "Seeing how powerful they were in strengthening a dinosaur, I thought that might come as a helpful trump card later on, if we found a way to control it. The way I see it now, we could use the energy from the 6 cosmos stones to boost that of the stone plates we're making. That way we might stand a better chance at beating Specter's dinosaurs and that Dark Pterosaur once and for all….or so I hope." She said at the end, "That amount of energy there is all I have, way I see it we need to use all of it if we're going to have the best chance at winning this once and for all."

Seth narrowed his eyes, finding her plans and timing to be almost as good as his own was. Despite being on opposite sides he had to admire her talent for that at least. As he uploaded the energy into the copy stone formation he narrowed his eyes noticing an advantage to using the energy, "With this power implemented into the stones, all we'll need is a single hit to cancel out the power of our foes." His expression hardened upon noticing a flaw in that strategy, "Of course, that means the same is to be said for our own dinosaurs too." he said.

"Then we'll just have to fight the best we can then." Cera responded calmly.

Seth hesitated momentarily, still having fantasies of wanting to use the energy for his own means, but with the situation already becoming critical, he swallowed his pride and pressed the button, inserting every ounce of energy into the machine as it began to create the copy stones.

As the machine began to whirr and power up, Dr Z brightened up and rubbed his hands together in excitement, "Wooo…." he breathed leaning in for a closer look.

Seeing there was nothing more she needed to do here, Cera then turned around, "I'm going to go check on how the others are doing." she said taking her leave. As she was about to exit through the doors she said a few parting words to them both, "Make sure those stones are ready soon." She said before letting out a deep sigh, "As much as I hate to say this….but we're counting you for this."

Seth eyed her back seriously before closing his eyes calmly, "And you can be assured I won't betray your trust like last time." he said before returning to his work at the console, "Even if I had ulterior motives the outcome would still be the same." Now that Specter had the cosmos stones, it was impossible to take back, so if he couldn't have it he might as well use his efforts to destroy them instead.

"Hmph! I'll be the judge of that!" Dr Z scoffed as he pointed at him, "Try something again for the umpteenth time and I'll make a fossil out of you!"

Seth rolled his eyes at his empty threats, but nevertheless decided to play nice if it meant they all had a tomorrow to look forward to, "Yes…of course…Dr Z…." plus even if Dr Z did intend to keep his threat Seth knew he could easily get the better of him whenever he wanted to.

 **(Meanwhile)**

As Cera entered the room where her friends were they perked their heads up to see her, "Hey Cera, how are the stones coming along?" Rex then asked.

She nodded at them with a light smile, "It's coming along smoothly. They should be ready soon." she said which brought eased smiles to them. Hearing some spinning and sparking noises she looked to the side and raised an eyebrow to see Helga's head literally spinning uncontrollably while moving out of place! Knowing she couldn't leave her like that she walked towards the malfunctioning housemaid, grabbed her head mid air as it spun to the top then shoved it all the way back down till it clamped back on!

CLAMP!

"Oof!" Helga muttered as she tilted her head around to make sure it was secure and tight. After giving it another 360 degree twirl, she was satisfied with it, "Aaah….that feels much better. Thank you very much." she then said with a grateful smile at Cera who smiled back.

"Don't mention it." she said.

"Wow, she actually fixed Helga so easily." Rod whistled impressed at what he saw her do.

"Well grampa did make her from a do it yourself kit so she should be easier to put back together compared to Jonathan." Laura mused scratching her cheek.

Speaking of which, not long after that, Dr Z soon came into the room with a big smile on his face, "Alright, here are the copies of the stones." he said holding up the complete set of copy stones freshly off the work table and ready for use.

"Great! Then let's go save the universe!" Max smiled with the others seeing their time had come.

"Wait." said Seth suddenly as he stepped in with his assistant by his side, "First, there is something you all must know." he said in a rather concerned tone which unsettled the group somewhat.

"What is it, Seth?" Max then asked curiously.

Seth knew this was a waste of time, but regardless felt obliged to let them know this at least so they can go on without any regrets, "The copies of the plates we've created to allow your dinos to attack, they can't be used for anything else. In other words, once you summon out your dinos in attack mode, that's the way they'll stay." he explained.

Everyone widened their eyes and gasped, the ones most shocked at this troubling news were the D Team trio themselves as they looked to one another and their partners whom they'd never see again in small form, "But that would mean…"

"We'll never be able to play with them like they're pets again; they'll be big for good….." Rex and Zoe sighed feeling reluctant about making ANOTHER sacrifice. Cera frowned seeing they had already gone through so much, as much as she understood that she hoped their will would still stand strong and they wouldn't have any second thoughts about this.

Despite their loss, Max narrowed his eyes willing to accept this necessary sacrifice, "In that case, let's play with them one last time." he said to them as his friends nodded back in response.

Seth widened his eyes in shock, "You can't be serious!" he exclaimed surprising them, "Time is running out and you're still thinking about having play time like children with your….pets!?" he gritted his teeth in frustration, bewildered that they'd still think about playing like kids when they should grow up and see the reality of the situation before hand.

Before everyone could get angry and get into a fight with him, Cera, while still as angered as they were, was able to calm herself as she spoke on their behalf, "For someone who claims to know all about dinosaurs I'm not surprised you don't understand what this means for them." They all looked to her in surprise as she held a hard gaze at him and spoke with firmness, "They've been together for a long time and they've developed a strong connection with them, so this means everything to them." She then looked to her friends, "They deserve this moment, after all they've been through." she said in a heavy breath before glaring back at him, "So if you don't give them this, then you can leave and don't come back again. We'll take care of everything ourselves."

As the others turned back to Seth with hard looks he then gritted his teeth, seeing they were unwavering in their choice, admirable but completely illogical in this case. As much as it frustrated him to no end he knew he couldn't talk them out of it. Seeing no other choice he was forced to make a compromise, "I need to repair the ship's consoles on the bridge….that's all the time you have and no more." he said turning his back to them, "Also, all of you go to the reactor core, once I return we'll put in the real stone plates into the generator and we'll finish this once and for all." he said at the end as he exited.

Once he stepped out of the room, the D Team looked to one another seeing he was right, they couldn't ignore their mission to save the world, so following his advice they decided to head there to wait for his return. "Come on guys, you heard him, let's go." said Rex.

"Yeah, we'll call Ursula and the others too," said Laura, "I'm sure Terry and the others would love to join in on the fun too."

They all smiled in agreement as they decided to hurry off to the generator room to spend their last few moments with heir friends as they were, also knowing that they'd have to part ways themselves too afterwards, so one way or another this would be their final adventure and they had no intention of wasting another precious second of it.

As they headed out, Cera soon held herself from following them, something the D Team kids realised as they stopped in surprise to see her stopping herself at the door, "Hey what's up?" Max asked her curiously, "You're not coming with us Cera?"

She shook her head, "I do, but…" she then looked to the door Seth and the gel jark exited from, "I don't want to let Seth out of my sight. In this crucial moment we can't take any chances and you know it." she said to them as Rex folded his arms in thought.

"Yeah that makes sense." But he soon eyed her suspiciously seeing there was more to it, something she was quite known for, "But…why do I feel you're hiding something?" he then said to her.

As soon as he said that, Cera stood in silence, knowing she had been found out, and yet…..she couldn't bring herself to say it to her friends as she looked away from them most hard and reluctantly.

"C…Cera?" Zoe asked in concern as their dinosaurs looked up to her sensing sadness.

"Did we say something wrong?" Max asked hoping it wasn't the case, even Rex too was beginning to wish he didn't poke further.

She then frowned heavily knowing she couldn't keep it to herself nor did she want to worry them with secrets either, "Sigh….It's just…once you guys do this, there's no going back…." she said painfully as she looked away from them, "And yet….I can't help but feel guilty when I'll be the only one who's dinosaur can…." she choked at the end, unable to look her friends in the eye, finding it unfair that they would have to sacrifice everything…while she continued to hold onto Miku as she was….it just wasn't fair or right….if only she could do the same and share in their pain so they wouldn't be alone. Miku too felt what her partner was feeling and understood that her dinosaur friends would be giving this up too, and she let out a sad coo feeling complete sympathy for them.

The D Team then sighed understanding her position, "Oh….I see…"

"We understand." Despite knowing what they'e be giving up, Max soon shook his head and smiled as he put a hand on Cera's shoulder, "But it's fine, in the end they're still our friends as they always are. So it doesn't really change a thing in the end."

Rex and Zoe soon followed his expression too, "Plus, no matter the outcome, at least we enjoyed our last moments to the fullest and have no regrets."

"Mhmm."

Hearing their most mature response and seeing how far they had grown put a smile on Cera's face as she nodded back at them, "Well said, I'd do the same thing too if I were in your position. In fact I wish I was too…." she said looking away with a slightly saddened smile too, wishing she'd be able to reciprocate their feelings after this was over.

"Cera…." they felt most touched by her selfless and kind heart, and not just that she also acted as the D Team's voice of reason and morale, and at the same time she was both smart and wise too. If it were;t for her they may never had made it this far.

"You really came through for us time and again. The best friend we could ever ask for." said Max as he smiled with eagerness at her.

Rex then recalled a promise he and his parents once made to her and it was time he kept it, "Once we save the universe, we'll go back to the future and help you find out who you are too Cera. That's a promise!" he said to her firmly and determination, something which made her nod back at him in affirmation.

"I'll remember that." She then smiled lightly at them, "Well don't let me keep you from having fun with Chomp, Ace and Paris. Go on ahead, I'll catch up soon." She said as she walked away from where they were to follow to where Seth was while they headed for the engine room. As she did, she narrowed her eyes knowing she had some straightening out to do with him, as well as close a certain account….

When she made it to the bridge, she saw the gel jark was carrying some tools an Seth had just closed up the console thus finishing the last few repairs meaning it was now ready for take off at any time, all he had to do was give them the order. But when he came back to that, he then gritted his teeth and hissed with immense frustration, "This is ridiculous, all of them, they think like infants. Can't they ever see the bigger picture? Why doesn't anyone ever understand with so much already stake?" he growled.

"This is your fault to begin with." Cera then spoke out to him which made him and the gel jark turn around to look her in the eye.

"What do you want now?" he asked her narrowing his eyes hard.

"You brought all this upon us with your own petty ambitions Seth. Like it or not this all on your head, so if we do fail, at least we treasured every remaining moment we had with our loved ones while they're still here with us, that way we have no regrets in the end. Plus, if we all perish in the end at least you'll be going down with us too." she said as Miku hissed threatening him, as well as intending to rub salt in the open wounds of his pride and ego.

Normally he kept a calm composure and wouldn't let what others say get the better of him, but this time her words hit their mark like knives on fresh meat, "How long must you continue to point that fact out?" he grunted looking away from her, even gritting his teeth in frustration, "Belittling my vision? Reminding me of the past? Will you only be satisfied once you take everything I worked towards away from me?" he shook intense with rage and spite, and it took all the straight he had to keep himself from taking it out on her, the only thing holding him back was because he had to focus on the bigger picture and saving the universe so he couldn't afford a fight like this otherwise he'd lose the little ounce of trust he worked so hard to regain.

"If that stops you from repeating these mistakes once and for all then so be it." Cera then answered him with the intention to point that out, as well as harbouring a grudge of her own towards him. She then closed her eyes and put a hand to her chest in deep thought, "After all they did for me I'll give my very life to ensure they have a bright future ahead, and not just them, for everyone in the world. Now and forever, this I swear." she vowed to him with clarity in her eyes as she looked towards him.

Her last words seemed to have struck a cord in Seth's mind, "A bright future…for everyone?" he breathed blinking in surprise before he began to chuckle unsettlingly which unnerved Cera somewhat, "Heh…immature to the end…" he then scoffed in disgust, "Just how can those children stay so positive? Even with everything as we know come to an end…how can they and the others find time to frolic with their….dinosaurs. It's incomprehensible." he muttered finding the D Team to be naive children no matter the magnitude of the situation. How they still were able to find light even in their darkest times still baffled him to this day, how they were witnessing the end of all life and yet they still hadn't grown up or took the situation seriously.

"It's because they believes they can win, and that belief and hope is what keeps him and everyone else going until the end." Cera then answered him with confidence, "It's that hope which helped us make it this far, and then discover the key means to stopping this disaster before it ruins all reality. Their experiences have indeed shaped them to who they're now yet they still remain true to who they are and full of hope." she soon smiled in honour and respect of them, "That hope and love for who and what they care for, is what motivates them to keep fighting to their last breath, for a world worth living." she said before shaking her head in disapproval at Seth, "Someone like you, who's been swallowed up by self righteous ambitions, could never understand even in a million years."

Seth then frowned as her words sunk in, "A world worth living in…..Is that even possible?" he then asked out loud which puzzled Cera and Miku as they eyed him strangely.

"Don't you think so?" she asked, curious to know what his side of the story was, for the first time.

He shook his head in response, "When I signed up to work under the Ancients, I did so in order to learn more about the world's ancient history, thereby recovering things long forgotten and learning the failures of what brought ancient civilisations to ruin, thereby we wouldn't repeat them in the present." he said before clenching his hand into a fist, "But no matter how much was uncovered, I could find the same mistakes repeated over and over again which lead to ruination. Greed, corruption, you name it, all stemming from human beings. I knew it was in our very nature that we would bring doom to wherever we go, it never got better instead to gets worse." he said with disgust, "Then when the time came for us to save the dinosaurs, all I could see was a future where dinosaurs would only be seen as animals to be used by people as mere animals." His eyes hardened into a narrow gaze, "As creatures that ruled the planet for thousands of centuries before mankind first stepped foot, I couldn't accept that. Especially since that world was unfairly taken from them and then handed to a race which in such a short period of time caused extinctions as great as the one which wiped out the dinosaurs in the first place."

Hearing his words to be sincere and sensing no ill intent in them, Cera could then see Seth cared for the dinosaurs in his own way, however he wanted them to live and evolve in the way he saw fit so they'd be acknowledged, despite his intentions though she still couldn't accept what he did to do so as she maintained a firm glare at him.

"I believed that if dinosaurs surpassed humans in every possible way, only then they could be accepted for what they were." Seth continued as he looked up, "In order to surpass people, they had to evolve, otherwise they'd eventually be utilised by those of no vision as tools of war or personal gain." He believed it'd be an inevitable outcome after seeing the same problems of humanity being repeated throughout history time and again, "Dr Ancient's ideal for them to simply coexist safely with people is but a childish ideal…no the dream of a fool. Clearly he didn't have a grasp of the future like I did." he then spat, "I saw a potential in the dinosaurs that no one else could. But I knew from the start that no one, especially not Dr Ancient, would understand nor support this vision I had. Because of that I believed I could trust no one but myself to realise this."

As she continued listening in, Cera and Miku both began to really the universe Seth wanted to create and rule over was one where dinosaurs reigned supreme as the ultimate lifeform and he'd be able to control every possible outcome, where evolution and progress would be within specifications and predictions. She then narrowed her eyes finding his goals to be despicable regardless, "Why are you telling me this? Is to make me feel sorry for you or anything?" she asked folding her arms and shooting him a hard look.

"Make no mistake, I'm not asking for forgiveness nor will I ever." he retorted as he returned to his usual calm and expressionless demeanour, "I merely wanted you to hear things from my perspective, out of all the others perhaps only you could understand." From what he saw firsthand she had an affinity for the dinosaurs that no one had, so he felt if anyone would understand his reasons it'd be her.

She then shook her head proving him wrong once more, "I don't want anything to do with your megalomaniacal ambitions, though only thing I do understand is this," she said as he looked to her with a hard scowl that she rejected his beliefs like everyone else did, what she said next though caught him by surprise, "You did see greatness in the dinosaurs and wanted them to realise it in your own way, but you decided yourself into believing it was for the good of everyone when all along you were only out for yourself, that's where you lost your way." As she said that Seth continued to listen, "Because of that you committed many horrendous acts, and now you have much to answer for, though I highly doubt you could ever atone for them even if you wanted to." She said shaking her head with disapproval, "Unlike you, the others have something to protect and fight for, something that you don't."

"Hmph! And what pray tell may that be?" he then scoffed.

"Something you couldn't see, you only focused your attention on dinosaurs but the D Team and now even the Alpha gang see the greatness in both dinosaurs and people." she explained calmly, "They fight for the good things in the world which you were blind to, something they came to learn after all our adventures together. Also, they standby one another while you are alone, because of that they altogether fight for the vision of a world worth living in, for both man and dinosaurs together in harmony."

Seth then smirked finding her to be just as childish and simple minded as the others were, "Heh, how fantastical…." he scoffed seeing he had wasted his breath on her.

"I'm surprised Seth, for a man of vision and self proclaimed genius you still can't see the evidence all too clear? Maybe you're the blind one in the end." As she said that he narrowed his eyes at her taking offence at her comment, "You said you wanted to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past? Well I'd say using the cosmos stones, the very things that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct in the first place, to destroy everything once again may be the biggest one of all. Not jus that, you'll also be adding new ones on top of that, no way would any dinosaur ever want that." As she said that Seth then began to let those words sink in. In fact….the way she put it….she was actually correct….

Cera then closed her eyes in deep thought, "Thanks to my friends whom I fight for, I truly believe that people and dinosaurs can help one another to grow to new heights neither can reach alone. That's what I believe true evolution is." She said before opening them widely with clarity and conviction, "And now I'm going to help make sure we all have that future." She then turned around to take her leave. As angry as she was at him for all his past heinous acts, the fact he warned the D Team about the dangers of the copy stones may be a sign of hope in him, since at the time he showed true concern and sincerity at the time. Before she exited the bridge, she shot him one more look, "If you try anything, I swear I'll take you down for good. This will be your only warning." She threatened him as the doors shut behind her, leaving Seth with his thoughts and much to think about.

As he lowered his head down he began to ponder over everything Cera had said combined with his past experiences with the D Team, how they clashed with his beliefs and yet despite his best efforts nothing kept them down. In fact the harder he tried to stop them the more determined they were to thwart him. In the end they fought for a cause they believed in, they fought for others and he fought simply for himself and his self righteous ambitions. "Is what she saying true? Had I been going about it all wrong?" he asked himself. He once believed evolution was about strength and power, while weak emotions like kindness and friendship were meaningless, in fact a hindrance to progress. But in the end such traits he called pathetic were able to overcome his efforts time and again….for the first time in his life he began to wonder…if her was actually….wrong this entire time….

 **(Meanwhile)**

Cera had just entered the engine room, where the D Team and alpha gang were spending as much time with their dinosaurs in chibi form as possible, knowing it was short so they wanted to treasure their final moments as they were while they could. She smiled with joy and delight to see her friends having fun with their most precious partners.

"Hop!" Max smiled as he tossed Chomp up and down before catching him in his hands, "Here we go again!

"Here I come, Ace!" Rex laughed as he played chase with Ace, the little dinosaur outspeeding him easily, while Zoe and Paris sat in the background looking on. And further away, Terry, Tank and Spiny were having a little fun with Laura and Rod who were giving them treats before being snatched away, to their dismay, by the Alpha trio!

Cera smiled feeling happy that they were treasuring every moment of theirs from start to finish, before noticing Miku who was eying them with anticipation. Clearly she didn't want to miss out on this. Looking to her she nuzzled her head with her finger, "Go on Miku….have some fun now while you still can like this." she said as her partner chirped in excitement before jumping off her shoulder and gliding down to join them.

"Chomp…" said Max a little while later as he brought his head close to his partner's nose horn, "I'm gonna miss you so much, pal. I love you." He said with appreciation, before his partner, like he always did, did a trademark nibble on his nose like he did when they first met, "Oh! haha, Chomp!" he laughed having gotten used to it and now it only tickled, "Oh, Chomp, I'll never forget you…" he said as his eyes grew slightly watery knowing they'd have to go soon, at least the bite marks he left on his nose and missing the nibbling sensation will be something he'd always remember him by.

"I'll always remember all the good times that we had together, Ace." said Rex as he picked up his partner and cradled him like a baby.

"Best friends forever, Paris." said Zoe as she hugged her closely. As emotional as their human partners showed it, the dinosaurs didn't seem to understand completely what was about to happen but instinctively they knew things would soon change forever. Cera sniffled and wiped a single teardrop from her eye after having picked Miku back up, and they looked on ever so emotionally for their friends undergo what would be their final adventure yet.

The mood however was soon ruined when a certain man felt rather disgusted with so much mushy mushy love in the air, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Put her in a card! Let's get this show on a road already!" Dr Z then yelled impatiently seeing there were more important things to worry about.

"Give them a break, grandpa." Rod responded back to him calmly, "This is the last time they'll ever get to see their dinos like this." he said hoping his grandfather would be a little more understandable.

"Ah, kids will be kids, I guess!" Dr Z then growled which surprised his grandson.

"It's not just them, the old lady's sad too." said Laura as she looked over to the trio who were hugging their chibi dinosaurs closely.

"Hey! I am not an old lady!" Ursula shouted back taking offence before snuggling up to her dinosaur, "But I am sentimental…Oh, how I'll miss you, my sweet, precious, little Terry!" she said hugging him and snuggling up to him while Zander and Ed did the same.

"Oh, this is so hard, Spiny! I just never ever want to let you go!" Zander sniffled cuddling the spinosaurus like a teddy bear.

"So, let's not! I say we hold them like this for the rest of eternity!" Ed cried as he hugged Tank close ignoring her prickly back.

Cera felt conflicted looking on, on one hand it was nice to see the trio care for their dinosaurs and show them the affection they deserved, but on the other hand they didn't seem to reciprocate said feelings and instead couldn't wait to get away from them as they cried and struggled in protest!

"And I say no!" Dr Z interrupted not wanting to waste anymore time, as he kicked them away and took the dinosaurs back, though as a show of appreciation Tank began bouncing on his head in ball form while Spiny and Terry went to nibbling his beard, "Oh, great. Don't I have enough scars to remember you three little terrors by? Get off of me already." he said now feeling emotional himself.

Before long, Seth and his gel jark assistant soon returned, having waited long enough outside and giving them their moment, "The time has come." he said seriously as he reminded them of their duty, "Let's go stop Specter."

"Right." Max replied in agreement, believing it was time they got to it otherwise they may never have another moment together. Reluctantly he looked back to his partner, "Well, Chomp…I guess this is really it…Goodbye, buddy…" he said with a most heavy heart, as he put his partner down on the floor and returned him to a card.

"Ace…"

"So long, Paris…" Zoe and Rex both said just as downcast as they turned their partners back to card form again.

The Alpha trio too looked on with saddened eyes as they returned their dinosaurs to card form as well. And the saddest part was that the dinosaurs were all completely oblivious to what would soon become of them.

Dr Z sighed with deep sadness but fought hard against it as he pointed at the generator, "Set the original plates together…" he sniffled with tears, telling them to get this over with once and for all.

They did just that as the entire set glowed brightly in unison, "Good to go!" Max cried as he and the others equipped their devices with the copy stones. "Let's do this." he said with determination as the others ran up to the top of the deck to get into position for battle. As they were teleported up to the top of the deck, Rod and Laura both looked on to see them vanish before praying for their success.

"Be careful everyone…." Laura pleaded before she and Rod nodded together and they headed for the upper bridge where Reese, Patrick and Dr Owen were together with Jonathan, who had just managed to activate the engines.

"Hold on, everyone. Here we go!" he said as the ship began to rise off the ground and took to the skies! "I'm bringing us within striking distance of the dark pterosaur!" he yelled as they soon approached the monstrous flying reptile of energy!

They all looked on and hardened their expressions seeing their moment had arrived, "Okay! Then let's get ready to strike, guys!" Max cried out to them as they nodded with him and took out their cards! Around them dark energy surged, the pterosaur sensing it was in danger and fired off several warning shots around to ward off its attackers but they didn't waver, in fact the attack spurred them to become even more determined than ever! "Dino slash!" Max summoned Chomp to full size first as he roared, fully sealed into adult form for good, "Dino tector on!" Equipping it Chomp became armoured up ready for the final battle!

"Dino slash!" Rex and Zoe cried summoning Paris and Ace next, "Dino tector on!" They too were armoured up.

"Alpha slash!" Ursula, Zander and Ed yelled summoning their dinosaurs to full size too, "Dino tector on!"

After the last 3 dinosaurs were armoured up, Cera narrowed her eyes ready to join the fight!

"Dino slash!" she summoned forth Miku as she shrieked out fiercely with the other dinosaurs as they roared a battle challenge to the Dark Pterosaur floating high above them!

"Alright, everyone! Let's blast the pterosaur with everything we've got!" Max yelled as they got out their move cards.

"We'll lend a hand too!" Cera yelled as she nodded at Mike, "Energy equaliser! Spread mode!" Throwing Miku into the air she shone with bright light as she unleashed a pool of energy streams, releasing the power she had long stockpiled inside her and now sharing it amongst all her 6 comrades as they roared and glowed in bright rainbow light! "We'll leave the rest to you!" she then said to them as they nodded back in acknowledgement.

"Let's go!" the D Team yelled as they slashed their cards and the Alpah gang followed suit! Chomp used Lightning strike which was followed with Ace's sonic blast and Paris emerald garden! Terry, Tank and Spiny followed behind with magma blaster, hydro cutter and spike arrows! The attacks soon merged into a rainbow coloured fusion move, similar to the one they used long ago against Seth's black t-rex, as the beam managed to punch a hole in the pterosaur's side!

"Whoa! Looks like we just broke the outer shield!" Max cried in surprise to see there was a deep space inside the cosmic beast! "We'll have to get there to finish the job though." he then said as they decided to see this through to the end! "Alright, go for it!" he cheered as they made a dash for it, zooming through the hole as fast as they could! Once inside the pterosaur's wound closed up and they traversed deep t find its heart of darkness in order to destroy it for good.

It wasn't long before the Dark Pterosaur began to send in some anti bodies to take care of the intruders, which were heralded by the sounds of really bad singing.

"Uh-oh." Max muttered uneasily recognising the voice as the gang soon prepared themselves for the dangers that awaited them inside.

Before long Specter, having been fully assimilated into the Dark Pterosaur, materialised before them as an energy giant appeared before them! "What are you little tykes doing here!?" he growled menacingly having thought they were rid of them. Before long the rest of his minions appeared with him.

"They always seem to find some way of showing up and being a pain." Sheer muttered in annoyance seeing they had no idea when to give up.

"That's right! And if you thought that was painful just wait!" Max yelled angrily, "Now, call all this off or you'll be sorry!"

"Having the ultimate power in the universe means never having to be sorry!" Spector protested proudly, "Not for chewing with your mouth full! Not for being five minutes late to the Opera! Not for destroying the entire planet Earth!" he proclaimed as he and Sheer disappeared further into the darkness.

"Don't worry, he's not going to destroy Earth." said Foolscap with a smirk deciding to lure them into false security.

"At least not before we have some fun with you first! Gavro growled as they both vanished and in their place appeared Gigas, Armatus and Maximus who roared out at them ready for battle!

"Urgh…" The D Team were about to fight back, but without warning Armatus and Maximus both fired out Spectral Stinger and Spectral Punisher at them! The crystal missiles and beam first headed for their strongest dinosaur, Terry!

Spiny and Tank jumped in to protect their friend, and were about to sacrifice themselves but Cera wasn't about to let them go out like that as she quickly slashed a pair of move cards! Glowing purple and blue, Tank degenerated an earth barrier to block against the beam while Spiny's shock wave shield bounced the crystals away in time!

The alpha gang was caught by surprise, "Huh!?"

"Hey I didn't do that!" Ed cried in disbelief that their dinosaurs acted on their own without commands.

"Then who did!?" Zander wondered.

"I did!" Cera shouted out to them as they turned to her in surprise!

"Huh?"

"Hey how'd you do that!?" Ursula and Ed both asked in surprise.

She smirked and was about to tell, but looked ahead and widened her eyes to see Armatus and Maximus charging up another attack! "No time to talk! Here they come again!" she cried as they instantly fired and she had no time to block with another move card!

"AAAH!" Zoe cried as the others braced themselves for impact!

To their surprise a bright rainbow light generated a huge shield which blocked the incoming beam and missiles! On closer look they recognised the source of it!

"The pterosaur!" Max exclaimed!

"But not the one with dark energy, the good one!" Rex gasped.

"She's protecting us with her light!" Zoe breathed while the others looked around in awe and amazement that they were saved by a miracle.

"But I cannot long…" she said back to them, "You must take down Specter's dinos and do so now!"

"Say no more!" Max yelled as he and his friends activated their move cards!

"Let's go!" Their dinosaurs fired their energy moves as they did earlier, which combined together and blew away Maximus and Armatus, returning them to card form! The energy given to them by the new stone plates, Miku and their resolve to win at any cost was the deciding factor in overcoming the dark power of the cosmos stones and the enemy dinosaurs!

Gigas then roared as he readied Spectral lancer and made a run at Terry! Cera narrowing her eyes held out her arm, "Energy equaliser!" Miku shrieked as she swooped over to the red tyrannosaurus and perched behind his head and infused him with light energy as he roared out fiercely!

"My turn now!" Ursula blew a kiss as she slashed ultimate fire! Both t-rexes charged at one another, before crashing into each other! Terry stomped on his foot weakened but forced himself to send back up and roar in triumph, while Gigas himself exploded into energy as he reverted to a card!

Their troubles weren't over yet, as Brontikens, the most powerful and dangerous of the spectral pirates' dinosaurs appeared before the Backlander and bellowed!

"Uh-oh! Reinforcements!" Rex gulped anxiously as the apatosaurs launches Spectry Destroy at full power towards them! Despite that his attack was still blocked with ease! "The pterosaur's still protecting us!"

"This is as far as I can go…." she then said in a weakened voice as she slowly began to fade away, "I leave the rest….to you…" were her final parting words as she vanished….seemingly into the ship itself.

No one but Cera and Miku saw this, as she was absorbed into Backhander's pole, to which she nodded and clenched a fist to her chest, "We promise we won't fail." she said before shouting out to the others, "Quickly! Now while we have the chance!" They nodded in response

"Take it to him!" Max yelled slashing his strongest move, ultimate thunder!

"Go!" Zoe cried as she and the others followed suit! Soon all 6 dinosaurs attacked with all 6 ultimate moves combined, striking Brontikens with full force! Unable to withstand their combined assault he was blown off his feet and bellowed in pain before reverting to a card too!

"We did it!"

"Yahoo!" Everyone cheered in triumph as their dinosaurs roared victoriously as well before being returned to their cards to rest!

Their moment of celebration soon came to an end as Max caught sight of a familiar vessel floating in the vast space in front of them, "Hey, up ahead!" he cried in surprise.

"It's Space Pirates' ship!" Zoe then gasped as the others looked ahead and fixated their gaze on where their parents were held, chances were they were probably still on board with the pirates having abandoned it!

While that was happening, Miku helped in retrieving the 4 dinosaur cards of their defeated foes, gliding ahead and snatching them in her jaws before finally nabbing Brontikens' card and handing them over to Cera, who then smiled seeing their foes' defeats were now secured with their cards now in hand.

"Quick, Jonathan, we have to dock with that ship!" Max then yelled out, "We have to save our parents!"

"No way! We have to take out Specter!" Dr Z then protested stubbornly that they destroy it instead, "Only I should have that kind of raw limitless power!"

His words came as a big shock to the gang as they turned their angry gazes at him, "What if something you care about was on board?!" Zoe protested in disbelief at his selfishness.

"That would make no difference! I'd still be saying the same thing!" Dr Z yelled back at them.

It seems as though the argument would turn into a civil disagreement or maybe even conflict, Seth then said something which completely changed his mind, "Doctor, our scans indicate that there are significant signs of dinosaur life on board of that ship." he said calmly knowing exactly what Dr Z loved more than anything else.

As he predicted, Dr Z soon gave in to his inner desires, "What? Dino life?" he mouthed in surprise, "In that case, hurry! Let's dock with the craft right now!" he then cried impatiently siding with the D Team, which made them roll their eyes at how typical it was for him to give in when it came to dinosaurs.

His change of heart made Dr Owen and Patrick eye him questioningly, "Wait, now you want to dock?"

"But why?" They asked him in surprise at his sudden unexpected turn.

"Why do you think?! I want to become dinosaur king-I mean, gotta rescue the parents…yeah, that…" he stopped himself in time as the Backhander's pole linked with the pirate ship's nose cone.

Initially Cera had felt guilty for now being able to save all the caged dinosaurs the first time she was on board, but looking at it now perhaps it was best she didn't otherwise they'd be in a conflict with Dr Z that would last till the end of time, which they couldn't afford with the Dark Pterosaur already being it. Wasting no time everyone made a run for the elevator as the doors to it opened up and the Alpha gang, lead by Dr Z driven by his dinosaur obsession, rushed in first as they were taken up.

"Hurry Alpha gang! To the dinosaurs!" he yelled as his trio saluted him.

"Aye Aye!" They said as the doors shut.

As the next one came, "Wait my lovely Ursula!" Dr Owen cried as he ran in first with Patrick following him.

"Dr Owen! Wait up!" he cried before being followed by Helga and Dr Z's grandchildren who wanted to find and keep and eye on their grandfather so that they could keep him out of trouble.

Last but not least the D Team's turn to board, "Let's go!"

"Quickly!" Max and Rex cried as they ran in before being accompanied by Reese as it began to shut.

"We're right behind you! Just go!" Cera cried as she lagged behind slightly, and they nodded deciding to wait for her at the other side.

As it began to shut, Seth then mention a few words of advice for Jonathan at the bridge, "Jonathan, you'd best go with them." he advised the android as he eyed him, "There's no telling what kinds of traps may be lying around in that ship."

Jonathan narrowed his eyes with suspicion, but soon nodded seeing he made sense as he then decided to catch up with his master and friends, "Understood." he responded before speeding towards the elevator doors and making it inside right before it closed!

Before long the doors opened for Cera and Miku to go through, but before she stepped in, she stopped and turned around to see Seth and the Gel Jark standing there, as if they were waiting for them to go inside.

"Shouldn't you be joining your friends to search for their long lost parents?" he then asked seeing she hadn't moved an inch.

"What are you really up to Seth?" she asked him with suspicion, knowing he didn't send Jonathan in there to protect Rex, he wanted to use the Backlander for something else….something he didn't want the others to interfere with.

The man said nothing for a while, but after thinking long and hard he closed his eyes calmly now with a clear conscience, "I'm doing what has to be done." he said having made his decision without hesitation or wavering on it, "By harnessing the powers of the stone plates I'll channel them into the Backhander's engines." He opened his eyes looking back to the inside of the Backlander, "With enough force while infused with the positive powers of the stone plates, I should be able to cancel out the negative powers of the cosmos stones once they make contact." he then narrowed his eyes, "Thus destroying both of them in the process…."

Cera widened her eyes in surprise at what he was attempting to do, theoretically it would work though at a heavy price, "But if do that….you'll-"

"Exactly, which is why I don't want any of you to be caught in the blast." he said cutting her off, "You know it's the only way but it's what must be done."

Of all the things she expected Seth to say or do this one caught her completely off guard, in fact it didn't seem at all like within his character to act so selfless, "This isn't like you….you'd never risk your life for anyone else."

Seth couldn't help but smirk at her remark, "I'll admit that was true….in a past life time. Like you said I may never be able to atone for everything I've done, but the fact remains must start somewhere, and what better time than now." He said as his smile vanished, "If I don't make it at least I'll wipe away all my past crimes and sins in the process. My only regret would be to not be able to see the new age and future you will craft with your own hands, one which my science and ambitions will have no part in." He said with a sigh along with a hint of regret in his voice, "After all I've done, I probably don't deserve to see it either, but if by doing this ensures that dinosaurs will have a future….then so be it."

Cera narrowed her eyes, not with doubt, but with some conflict. She sensed that Seth's intentions, for the first time were both pure and genuine, and after all her past experiences involving him, she wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. Whether he was doing this for himself or that he truly wished to save everyone because he realised the error of his ways, she didn't fully know. Even if he were to succeed in doing what he did and survive….would she be able to forgive him at all? She soon however got over her conflicted feelings, as she remembered about the bigger picture and what was at stake. Seeing no more time to waste she turned around and stepped inside the elevator, and with that Seth and his assistant began to take their leave.

As it began to close she and Miku looked to him seriously, and then closed their eyes, "Very well Seth….can't believe I'm actually saying this but…good luck….." as soon as she said those words, she felt a wave of peace wash over her….that she could let go and move on at last. As the doors shut behind her and the elevator began to rise up to the Pirate ship, "I hope the day comes when we all can forgive you completely…." she then thought to herself as it began to open up on the other side.

When they did and she stepped through into the ship, she was greeted by Reese and her friends who had been awaiting her with both patience and anticipation being surrounded by mists of darkness around them.

"Hey Cera there you are."

"Yeah, what took you?" Reese and Max both said to her, curious as to what caused her delay.

She narrowed her eyes slightly but then spoke up, "Sorry…I was a little held up but now I'm over it…" she said deciding to keep Seth's actions a secret, knowing they'd never approve of it but it was still the right thing to do. Looking around them, "Hey, where's everyone else?" she then asked curiously while also trying to help their minds off poking any further.

"Dr Z and the alpha gang ran off to look for dinosaurs." said Rex as he pointed behind with his thumb, "Then my dad and Patrick tried to follow them."

"Then we sent Rod and Laura to go after them to make sure they didn't get into any trouble." said Zoe after him.

"I see…." she mused putting a finger to her chin in thought. Considering they hadn't met Jonathan yet, chances were he must have gotten on a different floor from them.

"Cera, you said you got on board here twice." said Max seriously as he leaned closer to her, "Which way do we go to our parents!?"

The others then focused their attention on her and despite feeling slightly pressured with all the attention she was getting, she then nodded taking the initiative seeing only she could help guide them now. "Let's see…." taking out her dinoshot she brought up the map and then traced her finger from their current position to where she last saw the Taylor household. Seeing it was directly ahead of them she then rushed ahead of them, "That way! Quick!" she shouted with urgency as they all followed closely behind her!

"Okay!"

As they ran down the darkened hallway up to a door, it opened and they found themselves in the middle of the huge space where the adults were held captive last time! Darkness swirled in every corner of the room, and while it was most unnerving to the group, they kept their hearts and minds focused ahead on recurring their parents, blocking out any fears or worries they may have had about the dark pterosaur and the outside.

As Max focused ahead, he widened his eyes seeing his own house standing directly in front of them! "There's the house!" he pointed out as they made a break for it and then burst through the doors! "Dad! Mom!" Max yelled as they barged inside. He then switched on his triceratops lights on his head but they did little but flicker in the sea of shadows all around them.

"Mom! Daddy?" Zoe cried as they looked around the living room to see nothing but darkness flooding every corner and room. Clearly the Taylors would have to do some major time spring cleaning when thus was over with.

"Where are they?" Max then asked anxiously as they saw nothing moving, nor even a response from anyone at all.

Rex narrowed his eyes hard having come to a painful conclusion, "They're not here…." he said as Zoe suddenly shuddered and hugged herself in.

"Oh no I hope the black mist didn't get them…." she said scared as Reese came in to hug her close and keep her comforted.

Her words made the rest of them feel weak as Max fell to his knees, "No….." he breathed feeling they were too late. Rex then leaned down and put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him though he could feel hopelessness grip his heart as well.

Cera gritted her teeth and based her fist on the wall in frustration, as Zoe then shouted out another worry on her mind.

"What if it gets us too!?" she cried as the others widened their eyes and gasped in horror if they'd end up the same too!

"AH!"

BEEP! BEEP!

A beeping sound from Max's dino bracer caught their attention and snapped them out of their worries, "Huh?" They looked to him as he answered the call, but then frowned to see who was on the other end, "What is now Dr Z?" he muttered assuming he'd only have something stupid to say at this point which would make them feel all the more worse. Though this time he had a rather pleasant surprise for them.

"Hmph! Is that the thanks I get for finding where your parents are?" he scoffed as he folded his arms and looked away, "Maybe next time I won't be so nice."

The children with Reese gasped in disbelief at what they heard, "AH!"

"What did he say!?"

"They're okay?!"

"Where!?" They then demanded as they gathered around Max to get his answer, and he better not be pulling their leg.

Seeing how desperate they were to know and how he wanted to see them too, Dr Z then rolled his eyes as he spilled the beans, "They're on the bridge, in fact we're just about to head there ourselves." he answered.

"Tell them to stay put and that we're on our way there now!" Max shouted back at him before ending the call.

Rex then typed in on his dino bracer next, "I'll pitch in a call to Rod and Laura, hopefully they found my dad and Patrick too." he said as he sent them a message.

Meanwhile Cera checked her map and located the bridge where Dr Z mentioned, and she brightened up seeing they didn't have to travel far, "The entrance to the bridge isn't far from here!" She cried pointing out through the door they came in.

"Lead the way Cera!"

"Take us to them!" Zoe and Reese asked her as she nodded back.

"Mhmm!" Quickly they rushed out the door and climbed to the upper stairway stationed near the walls of the inner chamber, before running through another hallway an then making it to the elevator that would take them up! "Here's the elevator!" she said as they stopped in front and the doors opened upon sensing their presence.

"Guys!" A voice shouted behind them before they could step in.

"Huh?"

They looked to see and brightened up at the alpha siblings along with Dr Owen and Patrick running towards them! "Look! It's Rod and Laura!" Cera pointed ahead.

"Wait up! Don't go without us!"

"We want to save your parents too!" The children pleaded to them, seeing them again put relieved smiles on their faces.

"Dad! Patrick!" Rex gasped as he opened his arms up with a big smile.

"There you are son!" his foster father laughed as they embraced one another in a close hug!

"Haha!"

"So good to see you!" his assistant smiled as he hugged them close too.

Max then blinked his eyes upon noticing they were still some friends short, "Say where's Dr Z and the others?" he asked looking around to find no trace of the Alpha gang.

"Oh we sent Helga to pick them up," said Laura as she pointed with her thumb behind them, "They shouldn't be too long now I hope."

Max then nodded in acknowledgement, "Okay, then let's go ahead first." he said seeing they did;t have time to wait as they all rushed inside and the doors closed, before bringing them up to the top floor. They waited with anticipation as they traveled upwards, and as the doors opened up, they widened their eyes and gasped with joy to see the adults altogether live and well!

"AH!"

"Mom! Dad! We found you!" Max cried in immeasurable amounts of joy as he and the D Team raced towards their parents unable to hold back any longer!

The adults did the same as they opened their arms outstretched and welcomed their kids into their loving embrace, something the near felt in almost forever!

"I was so worried we never see you guys again…!" Zoe cried as she hugged both her parents closely.

"Oh, Zoe, we've missed you so much! We missed you all!" her father responded as he returned her feelings.

Cera, Patrick, Reese and Dr Owen along with the alpha siblings looked on, smiling for their friends as the room filled with the warmth of love and joy. It would take one of cold stone heart to not be able to smile or cry at such a joyful reunion. Cora's own eyes began to water slightly as she used her finger and wiped away a tear from her eye, feeling safe and relieved to see that at long last despite all the ordeals they endured they finally did it at last.

While they did that, Helga and the Alpha gang soon dropped in along with Jonathan, and were about to speak up when Helga quickly silenced them with a glare, not wanting them to ruin the moment the children were having much to their dismay.

"Oh, Rex, you've been such a brave young man." said his father proudly at him for being so brave, being separated not once but twice and still hanging to overcome the the odds. He then looked up at Cera, "And Cera….thank you for everything." he then said acknowledging her efforts too.

"Mhmm." she nodded back at them feeling honoured at their praise before they focused back on their son.

"We're so proud of you." said his mom next.

Rex's smile soon vanished, as great as it was to be reunited with family again there was still a loose end to tie in order to make this moment last, "But, mom, I'm afraid this isn't over just yet." he said which confused her.

"Huh?"

"Rex is right." said Max seriously having picked up on what he was getting at, "We still have to take down Specter and it's not gonna be easy." The mood soon darkened as the adults soon realised their children were right. This rosy reunion would be meaningless without the world to enjoy it with. While they were thinking over how they might be able to take down the Dark Pterosaur and the space pirates, Max then noticed someone at the driver's seat, "Jonathan, why are you manning the controls? This isn't our ship." he said to him curiously.

"True, but I'm afraid it's the only ship we have." he responded calmly much to Max's surprise.

"Huh? Wait, what about the Backland?" Ma then asked.

"Backland is not an option;" the android responded seriously, "It has been taken by Seth!"

"What? What do you mean?" Max asked in confusion, as the others began to suspect him doing something behind their back again, Cera narrowed her eyes, knowing exactly what he was planning.

"Say what!?" Dr Z then yelled out in frustration, "Is he trying to backstab us AGAIN!? GRR! I knew we couldn't trust him the moment we laid eyes on him! Now I'll never get the cosmos stones and become dinosaur kind!" he then whined as dramatic tears fell down his face.

The others raised an eyebrow at him, though they weren't surprised that's all he ever cared or thought about.

"I'm attempting to establish contact with him now!" Jonathan then said as he began to type, before securing a link to their ship! The screen soon lit up and everyone gasped in surprise to see he had departed from them!

"AH!"

"Where's he going!?"

"He's ditching us!" The Trio cried out in shock.

Cera on the other hand, knew the truth, "He's actually doing it….." she thought to herself as they secured a call to him.

"Seth, what are you doing?" Max asked him seriously.

"I'm doing what needs to be done and you can't stop me." Seth calmly responded much to his bewilderment.

"What!?"

"I have no choice. I've seen the cosmos stones' true power." he then replied to Max which continued to baffle him.

"Wait, Seth!" Seth ignored his cries as the space pirates appeared before him! The others gasped in surprise to see them, but what was even more shocking was how easily he then thrusted through them! They began to suspect him of sinister motives once more, but what he said next proved them all wrong, "Max, you were right. When I tried taking the cosmos stones before I was blinded by their power! But I know better now." he said this time with a calm and clear conscience for the first time in his life, "You've all done your part, now it's time for me to do mine." Before long the true dark pterosaur soon appeared before him in the distance, the heart of darkness itself, "And put an end to this once and for all!" he yelled as he kicked the Backlander into overdrive! "Faster! Faster! Full speed ahead!" He yelled with sheer unrelenting determination as he gave it all he had without slowing down!

Max gritted his teeth, for the first time feeling worried for his enemy's wellbeing, "Seth, don't do it!" he begged but to no avail, "You'll never survive the blast!"

As the others looked on, the Pterosaur of light soon reappeared, before embracing herself around the Backlnader and coating it in a shield of bright light which matched that of the stones! The dark pterosaur then folded its wings around attempting to consume them whole, but inside, Seth had fully tapped into the power of the 7 stone plates, with the Pterosaur shielding him he rammed the entire vessel straight into the heart of the dark pterosaur's core! 6 beams of light erupted from its' chest and before long, with the power of light and darkness cancelling one another out an enormous explosion like that kf the big bang erupted out causing greta blinding light to erupt!

BOOM!

"URRRGH!" Everyone grunted and held on to whatever they could as the light filled inside the ship!

Before long it soon began to die down, and they looked around to find themselves surrounded by blue skies and above a ravaged Sanjo City again!

"The darkness is gone…." Max muttered as he looked around to see no trace of the dark pterosaur anywhere, it had been completely destroyed and they won!

"I think we're back home!" Zoe smiled as they found themselves above the city and they began to cheer in excitement over their victory!

"We did it!

"Yeah!"

"We're safe!"

"Hooray!"

"Well done Seth….well done…." said Cera feeling at ease with Miku, now that the veil pterosaur had been vanquished. Her smile soon vanished though, when she felt regret at not being able to say thank you to him, he deserved at least that much, but at least his noble selfless sacrifice went out with a bang. Miku suddenly took notice of something and squawked out loud, prompting Cera and then the others to look ahead, seeing the Backlander was flaming on top of the sea surface! It was smoking hard and no doubt badly damaged….but intact!

"Ah!"

"Woah, the Backland!" Max and Rex gasped.

Jonathan then brought in live footage of the inside of the Backhander's cockpit, and as it brought up it depicted the gel jark nudging restlessly at Seth who was leaning down at the controls, nearly motionless! "Look, Seth!" Max pointed out as they looked closer at the screen. They stared at it intently, looking for signs of life and were beginning to fear the worse for him….till the Gel Jark began to beep at them.

"He's saying that the blast has left Seth injured, but very much alive!" Jonathan translated to them which brought waves of relief to everyone present.

"AH!"

Others took his actions rather differently, "Well what do you know…." Dr Taylor mused putting a finger to his chin as some of the others began to feel conflicted considering what he put them through and attempted to do.

"After everything that's happened….he actually saved us…." Dr Ancient breathed in amazement, never in his wildest dreams had he expected Seth, who caused them so much trouble in the first place….to be the one to fix it all in the end.

"I always knew there was good in him deep down! Told you so!" Dr Z bragged before laughing out loud confidently while the trio and his grandkids sweat dropped at him, "Ahahahaha!"

Nevertheless, slowly they began to let go of any grudges they held against him before smiling in acknowledgement of his noble sacrifice, and now with the battle with the space pirates concluding in their victory and the threat of the cosmos stones now neutralised…it was a time of new beginnings and celebration.

 **(Later)**

After that afternoon, the gang decided to have a great party to celebrate their triumph over the space pirates and in celebration of them saving the universe. The group could find no better way then to have an all out dinosaur party, where they summoned out as many dinosaurs they could to the Backlander's surface where they celebrated and awaited a wonderful meal cooked by the D Team's moms, which they believed their children deserved after all their hard work and troubles. While they got to work preparing a well cooked meal for everyone, the alpha droids trotted about carrying ingredients, utensils and dishes while they helped cater and set up.

To make things more comfortable for the dinosaurs, they had the Backlander generate a prehistoric forest like setting to make them all feel all at home and now they began to enjoy themselves and their time of freedom, despite its time travel engines being destroyed it still had a good amount of reserve energy left. The one most enjoying it so far was Dr Z, as many of the dinosaurs he rescued from the ship began showering him with gratitude and began to accept him as their saviour. "Check out all the dinos I found on the Space Pirate ship. And they all love me! At last, I am the dinosaur king!" Dr Z proclaimed while riding on the head of a supersaurus, shouting out to the heavens as a tupuxuara and anhanguera passed by, like he was the king of the world! Below him a daspletosaurus danced in joy, while a pawpawsaurus and isisaurus (Genie) began taking in the sights and sounds of their many new neighbours upon being summoned.

"Then could you maybe order this one to slow down!?" Ursula cried to him as she, Zander and Ed passed by on their dinosaurs, followed by a rather smitten Dr Owen as he and Patrick rode on top an iguanodon!

"Ursula! Come ride with me, my love!" he cried to her which made Rex facepalm.

"Oh, dad… You're embarrassing me!" he muttered from one side while aboard Ace.

Zoe was on top of Paris and Max rode Chomp, while Rod and Laura were nearby on board a fukuisaurus. Around them dinosaurs of many shapes and sizes ran about enjoying each others' company despite their different time origins and species. The deinonychus trio of Dino, Dano and Sue chased after the 2 velociraptor trios in a game of chase while the pteranodon trio flew over them before being followed by the tapejara. In the background a tarchia passed by with a stegosaurus, while a tarbosaurus slept in the shade. It was a prehistoric party for the entire group to remember by in celebration of this monumental victory that shall echo along the currents of time.

"Hey, guys. How is Seth doing?" Max then asked the alpha siblings, worrying for Seth after his selfless sacrifice easier.

"I just checked in with him," Rod answered having returned earlier from seeing the gel jark put him inside a stasis pod, "He's recovering. It's slow going, but he'll be okay." he said.

Nearby overhearing them was Cera, riding on board Seth's cryolophosaurus as she smiled lightly for the first time for the former villain. For once he did actual good which surprised her, perhaps the day may come when she might be able to forgive him since everyone seemed to have. Wanting to have fun, Miku leapt off her shoulder and began to fly around taking in the replicated prehistoric atmosphere which reminded her of home, while passing by Dr Drake, Taylor and Ancient who appeared to be having a conversation which perked her interest.

"Hmm?" She then listened in to them while maintaining enough distance so she didn't look like she'd be eavesdropping.

"That's fascinating….So, Dr. Ancient, you're saying that the stone plates contain the life essence of all the dinos to ever on the Earth?" Spike asked him.

"That's right. You see, when the cosmos stones crashed here all those years ago and caused the dinosaurs to go extinct, their spirits still remained and eventually all merged together to form the stone plates, which would explain why they're so powerful and why they were such an effective weapon against the cosmos stones." Rex's father answered.

"Yes, of course." Dr Drake breathed in amazement.

"So, then the voice that guided the children was the spirit of all the dinosaurs." Spike then noted seriously. He knew the kids could hear voices from the stones but didn't take it seriously the first time till much later when Jonathan came into the picture. Now he knew the children were blessed with a great honour which came with many responsibilities….and they fulfilled them admirably.

Hearing them, Cera banked her eyes….soon realising what Dr Ancient meant, "So then the Pterosaur…." she flashbacked to whenever the shining dinosaur spirit appeared before them no matter where they went in space and time, that was when they had the stone plates with them and how she found them so easily…..It was all beginning to make sense….The reason why she was afraid of the cosmos stones was because she was born from the dinosaurs who feared their destructive power and thus their last hopes and wishes merged to form the plates which would become the key to defeating them in the future which had now happened.

She then frowned upon realising when the stones were sacrificed in order to do so, "But with the stones gone now does it mean she's…." A breeze suddenly blew by her….with sparkles of rainbow like light mixed with it which made her blink her eyes and gasp. Somehow…this peaceful sensation…she felt this before somewhere but couldn't quite put her finger on it, "This feeling….it's so….familiar…." A brief memory flashed through her mind…her resting peaceful in a space like the time vortex before a great shining bird descended upon her….now that she was reminded of the Pterosaur…could they both have been-

"Alright, everyone, I hope that you're hungry! Because lunch is ready and we have all your favorites." Aki then called with a bright smile signalling it was time for lunch.

"Doctor! Yours too! Bockwurst pudding!" Helga called with a big smile as she held said pudding in one hand.

"Zoe! I made you apple pie!"

"And, Rex! You're gonna dance your socks off when you taste the cookies I baked for you!" Zoe and Rex's moms called next as the children and the others began to gather around to eat with excitement!

"Awesome!"

"Yum! I wanna try too!"

"Let's eat!"

"Leave some for us!"

Before long as the children and the adults began to dig into a well deserved lunch, alpha droids began delivering food by the truckloads for the dinosaurs gathered! Ranging from a variety of well cooked meals courtesy of Helga, which included spaghetti, curry, hamburgers, pudding and even strawberry cake, it was an entire course of delicious dino delights as they all guzzled down on the delectable food, like complete heaven to them after being either cooped up in cards or in holding pens for as long as they could remember.

Seeing everyone smiling and happy, Cera too began to feel at ease and tranquility, for the first time in a long wheels seeing dinosaurs and humans coexisting in such harmony. Something she felt she experienced one time in her past somewhere….but after listening to the winds she had the strange feeling that all would be made clear very soon. "Heh, maybe destiny might have a different plan in mind for me after all…." she smiled as she headed over to join her friends and everyone else in a feast for the ages. While on the back of her mind….she had a feeling she knew what she had to do next…..

 **(Later)**

Later that evening, it was time that everyone from the future picked up from where they left off after their last attempt to return hope got interrupted by the space pirates' attack on them. They had finished moving all their important equipment and belongings from the Backlander into the pirate ship, now commandeered by them, thanks to the help of everyone pitching in. After that was taken care of, they began to fix all the damages caused by the dark pterosaur earlier as well as return the Taylor house to where it was supposed to be. Thankfully the pirate ship was equipped with the same repair function as the Backlander was, and was even able to erase every trace of damage from the incident, leaving people speculating to believe it was some kind of crazy dream or phenomena that couldn't be explained like the Bermuda triangle.

Now the hard part soon came, with everyone being forced to say goodbye once more…..it was inevitable…but had to be done….though that didn't mean everyone was willing to go through with it. Dr Z still intended to stay in the past where he could easily become dinosaur king, but was forced to give in when Helga began comparing him to Specter's lust for power being his downfall. Dr Owen tried once more to propose to Ursula, but this time instead of running away she straight up declined his proposal thus shattering his hopes and dreams for real as he began to cry his eyes out in despair! Nearby another love story was blooming better though, as Zander performed one last magic trick for her with a flower to remember him by.

While they were able to resolve their parting issues rather well….the hardest of all was soon to come….

"Well, we should probably get back to the future now. It is our home." said Dr Ancient believing they've spent more than enough time away from it already. As great as the present was and how greater the people were, they didn't belong here and they knew that staying her would impact the future further down the temporal road, so the sooner they returned the better.

"Yeah, I guess this is goodbye then, huh, you guys?" said Rex after that to Max and Zoe, doing his best to keep a strong smile on.

"You can't come back here and visit somehow?" Max asked feeling hopeful.

Unfortunately Rex had to shut down that hope mist reluctantly, "No, the engine of this Space Pirate ship is damaged and can only make one more time jump. And unfortunately, the engine on the Backland was completely destroyed." he said, seeing there was no going around it no matter what they did sadly.

Having heard that, Ma and Zoe decided to accept it as they entrusted the rest to their best friend ever, "Well, then…take care of our dinosaurs, would you?" Max asked him uneasily as Rex nodded back promising him that.

"Sure."

"We're gonna miss you as a member of the D-team." said Zoe as she looked to Max, knowing their group would be one less member with him gone.

"Yeah…"

"It's cool. I'll be a member of the D-team no matter where I am." Rex replied with an encouraging smile knowing that even when departed across space and time thing would change that, "Who knows, maybe I'll even start up a branch in the future." he then said seeing that as a possibility.

"Do you think that I can be a member, pretty please?" Ursula then pleaded with him, having heard it'd be a better prospect than hanging out with Dr Z and the alpha gang. Something that her friends Ed and Zander too were interested in being part of as well.

"Me too!"

"I want in!" They begged.

It was a tempting offer but one the kids were more than willing to decline unfortunately for them, Um, sorry, but there's a strict kids-only rule." Max replied rather bluntly which disappointed the trio, though on the sidelines Rod and Laura smiled seeing there may be hope for them yet.

"That's right, meaning no old ladies." Zoe added at the end in agreement.

If there was one thing Ursula would not miss was being called that by them, "You just had to squeeze that in there one last time, didn't you?!" she growled as she attempted to get up close and personal with them, only to be held back by Zander and Ed!

"There! There! We'll just start our own old ladies only D-team." Zander said to her trying to calm her down and stop her from ruining the moment.

"Hey, good idea, Zander!" Ed grunted finding it hard to hold Ursula back.

"No, it's not! Then how are we going to be a part of it you twit?!" Dr Z shook his fist wanting to be part of the new group Rex wanted at first, only to be turned down himself as well and feeling greatly disappointed at it.

"Take a chill pill or better yet, take this." said Dr Drake as he casually walked in and handed Dr Z his prized mega needle, something to remember them all by.

"Hmm…? Thanks?" he blinked in surprise not sure what to make of it.

With that finally sorted out, Rex then turned his attention towards Cera, with a bright smile he held out his hand to her and she and Miku, who sat comfortably onto her shoulder, eyed it closely as he awaited her to take it, "Well Cera, you ready to head off with us too?" he asked as everyone else looked to her, the group from the present smiling for her knowing at long last she'd be able to find the answers to her own past despite being apart from them too, while the group from the future were awaiting to welcome her to the future ahead.

"It's time we now fulfil our promise to help you find out who you are and where you came from." said Dr Ancient next, "And you can be assured we will do everything in our power to make sure of it."

"…."

Cera said nothing at first. She looked to the hand and was about to take it, but midway before taking hold of Rex's hand, she then pulled it back much to his surprise.

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" he asked her curiously as the others soon began to mirror his surprised look, "We thought you'd be more excited."

"You having trouble saying goodbye too?" Max then asked her.

"We understand if you do, in fact we all feel the same too." said Zoe empathising with her.

Cera then shook her head which surprised her, "No it's not that…." she said in a pained tone, "It's just….well…." she clenched her hands into fists a little tightly, feeling deeply conflicted on the inside on having to make this choice. But not wanting to beat around the bush or hurt the others by making this harder than it had to be, she then took a deep breath as she cleared her mind of any conflicted feelings before telling it to them straight, "Actually…I think I'd stick around in the present a little while longer." she said firmly with confidence having decided on her choice earlier today and now deciding to see it through.

As soon as those words passed her lips, everyone widened their eyes and gasped in complete disbelief.

"What!?"

"Huh!?"

"Eh!?"

She knew she'd receive questionable responses from everyone present….admittedly she was feeling pressured and slightly regretful about it….but deep down she knew she had some unfinished business in the present age first.

Meanwhile unaware of her thoughts, D Team friends eyed her in confusion, unable to understand why she'd turn down the chance of a life time, could it be she'd given up on wanting to know who she truly was…or that she was far too attached to the present she couldn't let go and leave. Either way….after all they been through and how much she wanted to know the tight about herself it made no sense for her to suddenly change her mind like that.

"C…Cera?"

"But….why?"

She scratched her cheek and looked away from all the looks everyone was giving her, "It's….kinda hard to say…." was all she could utter out in a choked voice, which made her friends blink at her in curiosity.

"What do you mean by that?" Max asked her.

She gritted her teeth knowing it was really hard to say, and chances were they probably wouldn't understand it or that she might not be able to tell it to them straight, "I just have this feeling in my gut….like there's still something more I have to do here in the present first…." she then looked to Rex and the future group with firmness that she was going to abide by this choice, "Until I find out what it is and finish it, I don't think I can bring myself to come to the future with you…even with your technological expertise." she said, "It's something I need to search for myself, that's what I realise."

As she expected the others looked to one another in question or eyed her questioningly themselves, "That's not the most compelling answer I've ever heard."

"Yeah I totally agree…."

"I always felt she was the weirdest amongst them?" Ursula then whispered to the trio as they nodded in agreement, which earned them some pouts and scowls from Rod and Laura.

She then looked up to them, "I know you guys think I may sound crazy or I don't make any sense. I don't blame you, even I don't fully understand it myself." she admitted with a slight sigh, "But believe it or not, it was this feeling that helped bring to you guys in the first place." she explained as she looked to Jonathan first, "After meeting Jonathan and listening to his advice, it soon lead up to me meeting you later." she then said looking to the D Team then to everyone else one by one, "Followed by all the adventures that came right after that." she said with a smile of confidence that she knew she was doing the right thing, "And right now, my instincts are telling me theres still something more I need to do here first." she then frowned slightly, feeling hurt that she'd have to turn down the gene ours offer the Ancients were giving her despite everything that happened to lead up to this moment, "I'm sorry for bringing it this up when you're just about to leave…but…I kinda had to…" she then bowed slightly as they eyed her with understanding.

"I see…."

"We understand." said Cretacia and Rex as they smiled back at her, deciding to respect her decision, though some of the others didn't seem all too keen on it at first.

"But even so, what about your partner Miku?" Dr Ancient then asked eying the chibi microraptor perched on her shoulder, "Wouldn't she like to come with us too?" he asked as she cooed in response.

"Yes, in fact she'd be a lovely addition to my dinosaur kingdom! Why I promise she'll get the best-OW!" Helga then elbowed Dr Z in the stomach hard, silencing him before he could finish his snarky remark as he then rubbed his gut sorely.

"What grampa means, is that wouldn't it be better for your dinosaur to be among others of her own kind too?" Rod asked.

"In the future we'll be able to give all the dinosaurs the best care they could ever ask for, wouldn't that be abetter option for her compared to staying here?" Dr Ancient said with assurance to the young raptor.

As they looked to her, she then clung close to Cera who then smiled as she nuzzled her on the head on the finger, "Like me she too feels the same I do. Plus, I don't think either of us would want to be separated at all, that's the kind of bond we share. It's either both of us or neither of us, not one without the other, that's what we've decided." she said firmly, making the others feel touched at the close bond between the 2 of them.

"Aww….."

"That's so sweet…."

It was moving and they couldn't bear to break them apart….though except for Dr Z as he pouted and twiddled his fingers in disappointment, "A huge loss for my dinosaur kingdom too…."

"Plus, I know you guys will come back." Cera then spoke up as Rex and his family blinked their eyes in surprise, "After all, you can't just leave he Backlander here right? Who knows what it might do to the time stream later on."

"That's true…."

"She makes a good point." said Rex and Cretacia to Ancient seeing they did have to come back someday eventually if they wanted to prevent any changes later on. Max and Zoe also smiled wth relief hearing that Rex will eventually come back and visit sometime later on.

"But Cera-" Cretacea then put a hand on her husband's shoulder and smiled at him.

"No dear, this is her choice to make and her path to decide." she said as Rex too looked to his father wishing to standby his friend's choice. Looking around the others from the Alpha gang and then the rest of the present age group, all nodded or smiled willing to support Cera on this choice as well.

"You're right…I understand." he sighed seeing it couldn't be helped. He then smiled back at her deciding to respect her decision so she wouldn't feel bad about it either, "If that the case then so be it." He then said wishing them the best, as Cera nodded back firmly, feeling relieved it went off better than she hoped for. Some of the present age group were happy she was still sticking around, at least not all the dinosaurs would be leaving since they grew so used to having them around, and the future group was willing to wait a little longer and give her time to straighten out her own thoughts too, it's the least she deserved after all she did for them. "Take care you two….I hope you do find the answers you're looking for here then." he then said a few final parting words.

"And if you don't we promise to come back as soon as we can." said Cretacia after him.

"And when we do, maybe we'll take you guys to the future too and show what it's like." Rex smiled at the end holding a thumbs up to everyone as they brightened up.

"Yeah! That'll be awesome!"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." said Zoe and Max as they looked forward to it, while their fiends and family nodded more modestly, though they had enough time travelling for a while now so it'd be nice for them to get some peace and quiet for a while, no time like the present as they said.

"Take care my boy." said Dr Owen to his foster son seeing it was time he went back to where he truly belonged.

Rex nodded back at his foster dad and Patrick, "It's been a wild ride and it was great while it lasted too." he said promising to never forget it.

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

As everyone had gathered on the teleporter pad, Max and Zoe both saw they were waiting for them to join them. Seeing no other way around it they joined them where they were as they said their last goodbyes to Rex and the others, "Bye!"

"Take care, Rex." Max and Zoe both said to him.

"We may be times apart, but we'll always be friends." Zoe

"For eternity." said Cera at the end with a firm nod.

"Yeah, for all of time." he said back to them as the entire group waved goodbye to the Ancients and the Alpha gang, parting ways at long last before vanishing in a beam of light and appearing back down on the ground in front of the restored D Lab.

As the space pirate ship began to speed away into the sky, Max, Rex and Cera quickly ran ahead to wave and cry out to their friend their final words and wishes knowing that he could still see and hear them.

"Goodbye! See you later!" They cried together before welling up with emotion.

"Bye, Paris! I'll never forget you!"

"Take care, Chomp! Goodbye, Ace!" Max and Zoe each said crying out to their partner dinosaurs having enjoyed spending every last moment with them to the end.

Before long the ship disappeared into a time portal which then closed behind.…thus completing the parting at long last, "You guys will always be in our hearts." they said tearing up emotionally, as Cera walked in to give them comfort as she embraced them both when they turned to her and cried painful tears.

"Till the day we meet again…" Cera concluded as she and Miku shed a single heartfelt tear each, till they awaited the return of their friends and to see the world where the dinosaurs could live in peace.

Little did she know…was that a new adventure was awaiting them just around the corner….one which their past adventures had prepared them for and would eventually push their bonds across space and times to the test against true darkness…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

Several miles deep in space, a pod floated through the ever expanding cosmos of the universe, the only piece of the ship that the space pirates were able to hold onto after Seth had destroyed the cosmos stones and left them stranded in the vast sea of space. Despite their predicament, Specter, wanting to be a motivational leader for his men, began to sing in a jolly way hoping to lighten the mood and entertain his crew, "OH! Space is fine! Space is divine!" However his off key notes and tone deaf voice were only making the other pirates feel even more sour at their humiliating defeat.

"How much longer do we have to listen to you!?" Foolscap whined as he was forced upside down and to cross his legs due to the lack of space.

"Well seeing how space is infinite I'd say forever….." Sheer groaned in annoyance as she started getting a massive headache as her brain throbbed and eardrums rung with pain from her boss' 'singing'!

"Would it help if I sang along?" Gavro then offered, which brought up horrors to his cohorts.

"NOOOO!"

Spector soon stopped singing and pouted to hear his crew disliked the entertainment he worked so hard to provide them, "Cheer up space pirates!" he said smiling brightly, "Sure those tykes may have destroyed the cosmos stones and reduced all our hard work to nothing. But as they say when life gives you lemons you make lemonade! Just look at the bright side of things like I do!" he then grinned deciding to move forward with life and not dwell on the past.

His crew however were able to move on as easy as he did, "But we don't have any lemons…." Gavro muttered scratching his head in confusion at what he meant.

Foolscap and Sheer both raised an eyebrow at him unconvinced, "Oh really boss?"

"What good can possibly come out of being stuck in this tiny space on an endless space trip to who knows where for who knows how long?"

Gavro then looked ahead and pointed out, "Maybe a trip into that black hole over there sounds exciting!" he cheered with an oblivious smile!

The other pirates looked ahead and widened their eyes in terror at a massive vortex swirling before them nearly the size of a moon and they were on a collision course towards its core! "AAAAAAAHHH!" They all screamed in outright terror! Was this karma for all their crimes they committed across the galaxy? Did they finally get it coming to them?

Sheer then looked to Specter in alarm, "Boss! You've gotta steer us away now!" she pleaded tugging at his arm as he looked around sweating in a panic seeing it was all on him! Even it was pretty much hopeless with him steering them!

Grabbing the lever and controls he tried to steer them away from the portal's pull, but to no avail as the suction force from the black hole was easily overpowering the pod's engines! "GRRRGH! I'm trying! But I can't turn us around!" As he pulled harder on the controls he ended up snapping them off the console living them virtually helpless and at the mercy of the vortex!

"WHA!?" They all dropped their jaws in disbelief and turned pale!

He gritted his teeth and screamed in a panic! "It's too late! We're done for!" he cried as his crew fell into complete hopelessness!

"NO!" Foolscap cried pulling on his hair.

"Great! So not only are about to be sucked into a black hole but we'll be crushed together in this thing like a tin can!?" Sheer squawked.

"Yup, sure looks like it!" Gavro concluded as they found themselves sucked into the vortex which spun them around rapidly like an out of control roller coaster!

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Their cries echoed through the vastness of space before they were sucked into the core of darkness!

"I think I'm going to be siiiiick!" Was Specter's final outburst as the pod vanished deep inside.

Little did they know, was that the black hole they entered through….was actually a stray time vortex that had generated as a result of the energy repercussions caused by the destruction of the Dark Pterosaur. What awaited on the other side….was anyone's guess….

In another space, it was shrouded it what appeared to be eternal darkness and night. Suspended high above in a dark mist which swirled all around, were several floating islands of rock with some of them having structures of stone pillars reminiscent of a roman style architecture, ruins of an ancient civilisation without a doubt. It was barren, devoid of life….a place where hope goes to dive and light was non-existent…..

Suddenly disturbing the silence, a portal opened up in the middle of the space and flying out of it was the pod containing all 4 of the space pirates as it crashed down on one of the larger islands causing a cloud of dust to erupt out from the site!

CRASH!

As it cleared, amongst the wreckage and remains of the pod lay the 4 spectral space pirates, all of them lay scattered about the area amongst the debris and let out pained groans and moans before losing consciousness after the crash!

"Urgh…."

"Ouch…"

"Urk…."

"Oogh…"

It seemed as though there was no life or anyone else for miles in this barren landscape of darkness and solitude….till movement stirred within the mist. Several figures began to appear from the mist, followed by slimy foot steps and blinking lights at the front. As they stepped into the clearing, they were revealed to be gel jarks, many of them…which made the amount the pirates had on board their ship look like a school classroom! As they surrounded the 4 defeated pirates and brought them in together and blinked curiously, a young but sharp and most menacing voice spoke out to them from nowhere!

"Stand aside! Make way!" The voice ordered as the jarks straightened up and went on full alert recognising the voice of their supreme emperor. The ones closest to the voice began to step aside, as a young figure was soon seen from the dark, footsteps approaching at a steady pace before the figure stepped into the light. It belonged to a youth, but not human indeed as he was coloured purple with 3 red markings around his face and long elf like ears. The youth sported orange demonic eyes which shone with a petrifying glare through the dark, and he sported a set of gold, black, red and grey robes as well as a pair of gauntlets which matched his outfits' colour scheme. He also had spiked black and grey hair which splayed out in several directions and on his chest his outfit bore the spectral pirate crest on it.

"Who dares trespass in my domain?" he then demanded before noticing the 4 figures who lay out before him unconsciously. He blinked his eyes in surprise, "Hmm? Is that-" Looking at their worn out and battered bodies, he began to recall each and every one of them, till stopping at the last of them whom he recognised in an instant, "Father?" he blinked before a most chilling grin came upon his face, "Heh, it seems things have just gotten a little bit more interesting around here…." Loud thuds soon echoed around him, as the gel jarks panicked and scattered about recognising whom they belonged to! As they disappeared into the mist, a large saurian shape with purple eyes peered through the darkness! A large 3 toed clawed foot stepped in right behind Goma, and he didn't waver in the slightest. In fact his smirk turned to a deep maniacal grin as the figure relieved itself to be a theropod dinosaur, with a deep grey upper body and underbelly, followed with orange and white horizontal streaks underneath it. It stomped its foot and roared out, sending a spine chilling shriek through the darkness as the youth let out a nightmarish cackle with it, "AHAHAHAHAHHAHA!"

Where one journey ends….another soon arises….a new evil….a new darkness soon awakens…..the D Team's greatest challenge and biggest battle for the ages will too dawn upon them…..with the prologue over….the real story now begins…..

 **At long last season 2 comes to a close, hope you enjoyed how I ended it off here. Sure the D Team may be split up for now and Cera remains in the present, but they'll reunite sooner than you think! Also Cera's reason for staying will play a huge role in the next chapter to come as well as the beginning of SEASON 3! Here I also added some to Seth's reasons for his actions, also because in the anime his sudden heel face turn didn't work for me without proper reasoning behind it besides simply wanting to survive. Also wanted Terry and the others to be more useful in the final fight here too and give an explanation to how they were able to beat the pirates' dinosaurs easily when having so much trouble before.**

 **Special thanks to** **Mauselet-AliceAsuka who helped me out a lot in writing the canon dialogue-really appreciate it, also for those of you who were dissatisfied with how the anime ended, I plan on doing season 3 to pick up where it left off.**

 **I have big plans in store for it which I won't spoil but it'll be a wild adventurous ride which will make the D Team's past adventures look like school field trips! Stay tuned for an all new exciting quest they'll embark on as they face an evil like no other! This may be my biggest writing of all, if anyone would be interested in helping me out feel free to PM me, I no doubt will encounter plenty of blocks along the way so it'd be a great help if you all enjoyed this story so far and would love to contribute to it as well.**

 **As for the food served at the dinosaur party it's the food move cards in the arcade game.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Thought it would be fitting to have her deal with one of the D Team's most hated enemies after all he did, also because the cryo wasn't addressed and didn't want him to just get away. Plus all her stockpiling energy from different attributes will play a role to come.**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Glad you enjoyed my story. Took me time to build up Cera and Miku to where they are now. I plan to have their origins made clear in season 3 to come, stay tuned for it and thanks, hope I do manage to see this story to the end as well. Believe it or not, what Dr Z does now despite being selfish will play a significant role to come soon, in fact something the entire D Team did now will.**


	48. Dawn of a new adventure

Chapter 48

Dawn of a new adventure

In a mysterious room in an unknown location, lay the 4 spectral space pirates unconsciously across a dark coloured floor either on their backs or on their fronts. Much time had passed since they had crashed upon a stray asteroid in the middle of some mysterious floating ruins, and now they were beginning to come to their senses as one by one they began to stir, starting with the toughest of the bunch.

"Urgh….Ow my head….." Gavro moaned as he rubbed the back of his cranium which was throbbing really hard, "And it's supposed to be the densest thing in the universe too…." he moaned having just managed to force himself up to his feet as the others got up too, groggily as they stumbled about from fatigue and dizziness after having just woken up from a spiralling crash through the black hole!

"I feel like a boulder just crashed down on me…." Sheer muttered as she rubbed her back sorely.

"I've certainly had better days…." Foolscap grunted as he straightened out his back causing a crack to sound from it as he winced from it! "YOW!" he then cried out loud.

Hampered by his own dazed manner and from the complaining his crew was giving, Specter rubbed his temple before grunting at them crankily, "Enough whining you ninnies, all you do is complain, I'm getting sick of it." he glared at them before taking the time to look around, finding that they weren't in their small time pod anymore but now inside some sot of room, "Still though…what happened to us?" he muttered out loud, "But more importantly….Where are we?" he mused taking interest in it upon closer inspection, as he squinted his eyes for a clearer look.

The others soon followed his gaze, eying their surroundings to be a dark hall of some sort, much like that of a kind of palace but way more sinister. It was nearly pitch black and the only light came from the outside windows where the light of stars in the dark night peered inside illuminating the area with what little light they could offer. The floor had purplish tiles and a long red carpet lining the center of it which was where they stood, and the above ceiling was very dark so it was hard for them to make out anything with the little light available to them apart from noticing large crystal gems embedded in a well spaced order above. Nevertheless with what they could make up they could all sense that there was something most sinister and troubling about this place as some of them became increasingly agitated with immense pressure being weighed down upon them, whoever built this place didn't just have a flare for being evil, but being pure evil too…..

It didn't take long though for one of the pirates to figure out the answer to Specter's question, "No idea boss…." Sheer then answered him as she began to sweat nervously, "Wherever we are…this place makes even the dungeon on our ship look like a 5 star room." she shivered feeling the halls giving off a chilling aura to them, plus it seemed way more menacing than their own ship too in more ways than she could count.

"How did we get here in the first place?" Foolscap muttered looking around unable to get a clue as to where they were also, not to mention from a black hole all the way to this room made little sense.

"Well last I checked we got sucked into some gigantic black hole then we blacked out. That's how we ended up here." said Gavro putting a finger to his chin in thought.

"Brr….this place gives me the creeps….." Sheer then shuddered as her heart began to race and she looked around feeling rather angsty, sensing they weren't alone and she couldn't see….which made her feel much more on edge.

"The only creeps I see around here are us…." Gavro scratched his head in confusion at her remarks and oblivious as usual, "Does that mean this place is giving us to you Sheer?" he asked which she deliberately ignored as usual.

As Specter looked around trying to survey their surroundings, his eyes caught sight of something most familiar to them hanging on the side wall, "Hey! Look over there on that banner!" he cried as they all turned to see the symbol of the space pirates hanging on a red banner there in between 2 windows, in fact the same banner was stretched on both sides of the wall and evenly spaced between the windows too, "That's our mark…..so that means this place must be ours!" he gasped.

"You're right boss…." Sheer mused putting a finger to her chin as she narrowed her eyes, "Though I don't seem to remember this place at all." she then said as she observed the entire room, she'd remember a place like this if she had visited once.

"In that case I call first dibs as always and claim this place as my own! Hohohoho!" Spector then laughed in excitement to himself rubbing his palms eager to stake his claim as it was his right as leader.

His plan though wasn't well received by his men as they turned to him in alarm, "Hey! No fair!" Gavro whined and pouted.

"We worked for you and put up with your horrible singing for centuries!" Foolscap grunted folding his arms crossly, "But now we're over it!"

"It's time you paid up 'boss'!" Sheer hissed clenching her hands into fists. Driven to desperation and insanity having to put up with his antics for years, the pirate trio having just lost all patience with their ungrateful boss had finally begun to bear their fangs at him as well as let loose all their pent up frustration they held in at long last, and they had no regrets nor any regards for the consequences either.

Spector widened his eyes with rage at their betrayal, "How dare you twits turn on me?!" he roared out at the top of his lungs as he took a stand against his trio of turncoats, "For this mutiny, prepare for a super space smackdown you'll never forget!"

As the 4 pirates were about to engage in an up close battle royale brawl, the sounds of anonymous clapping from out of nowhere echoed through the room, which stopped them at the last second. A voice suddenly spoke out to them which caught them by surprise now that they knew someone had been watching them the entire time! "Bravo…..A most splendid performance indeed, though as much as I'd love to see such high quality entertainment….I'm afraid I have no time to spare." A young but sinister male voice echoed through the shadows which agitated the 4 pirates as they were unable to figure out where it came from.

"Huh!?" They widened their eyes, caught by surprise at the fact they weren't alone, as they began to look around curiously, trying to find out where in the dark chamber it was coming from.

"Wh…Who said that!?"

"Show yourself whoever you are!"

"Unless you want to be pounded into space pancakes!" Foolscap, Specter and Gavro growled out loud in hostile aggression while Sheer kept her ears perked and senses on high alert, clearly whoever was talking to them had no fear of them if he'd give himself away like that, either he had plenty of confidence in his own abilities or not a lot of brains….though somehow she could feel the latter scenario was NOT the case.

"Hmph! I see even being centuries apart has done nothing to tame those obnoxious personalities of yours." The voice then scoffed in disappointment as a small light suddenly shone from the floor and lit up at a high perched throne at the end of the room which the space pirates turned to! The throne was stacked up on a high platform, with the spectral pirate mark on its base where it rested and right above it on the wall as it glowed purple. Sitting on top of the golden dinosaur bone themed throne (With a carnivore skull headpiece on top and claw like features on the arm rests) was a young figure, dressed in purple, red and gold armoured robes, his faced obscured by darkness though his menacing purple eyes could be seen peering through them and his spiky hair could be made out from the silhouette he gave, "It's quite a shame, to think the great spectral space pirates who plundered the cosmos and terrorised countless lives would be reduced to such a sorry state." he said pityingly to them shaking his head, "How pathetic and utterly distasteful."

Spector then widened dish eyes then gnashed his teeth taking huge offence at the stranger's words, "Pathetic!? How dare you!?" he growled as his fingers twitched unable to contain his building up rage!

Gavro then scratched his head in confusion, "Distasteful? I can taste just fine….or does he mean how we taste?" he asked as he felt tempted to lick his own hand to find out how he tasted, though the bad smell coming from his body odour made him wince and reconsider.

The other pirates though understood clearly that this mysterious figure was talking down to them and weren't going to take it lying down, "Whoever you are you've got a whole lot of nerve talking down to us like that!" Sheer shouted back in defiance.

"Yeah! Not to mention you've got an even bigger nerve to wear OUR colors and symbol!" Foolscap shouted as he pointed at the spectral pirate mark on the wall, "That's OUR trademark symbol! Plus we patented it ourselves!" he then huffed at the end.

Spector then grinned and began popping his knuckles as he slowly began to walk up to the throne showing no fear or hesitation, "Maybe once we knock you off your high horse then we'll see who's tough!" he declared intending to show this figure who was boss and make him beg for forgiveness for insulting the one who united the 7 cosmos stones together and held the universe in his palm….even if it was for a few hours.

"But I don't see any horse boss," Gavro muttered as he squinted his eyes to get a closer look at the mysterious figure but it did little to improve his sight, "In fact I can't even see who we're talking to."

The figure however, seeing Spectre strut over towards him while readying for a fight, then shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, "My my, can't have now that can we?" he said most casually as he stood up from his seat and leapt off his pedestal much to the surprise of the other pirates!

"Ah!" They gasped in surprise as the figure landed down on the ground skillfully, while also flaring out a pair of bat like wings which quickly retracted in again.

"There, happy now?" he then stated folding one arm on his hip and eying them smugly, as a shiny grin could be seen through the darkness, one Specter didn't take very kindly.

"Grrr! Whoever you are I don't like your smug little attitude!" he growled as he stomped closer towards the figure, "Perhaps I ought to teach you some manners you punk! Once I rip out that sharp tongue of yours then you'll know not to mess with Specter!"

"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!" the figure then wagged his finger playfully at the older pirate, "Such hostility….is that really any way to greet family after so long?" he said at the end as Specter stopped in surprise at said sentence.

"Family!?" he exclaimed widening his eyes while his men gasped in disbelief.

"EH!?"

"Just what do you mean by-" Before he could finish his sentence, after processing the voice along with his words through his mind, Specter quickly began to realise whom he was talking to, seeing his body shape and recognising his tone of voice, as well as the vibe he gave off….reminding him of someone he once cared about in the past….someone he actually loved almost as much as Brontikens! Feeling overcome with emotion, his knees began to buckle, "Wait…..it can't be….." his eyes grey teary and he fell to his knees feeling overwhelmed with emotion and an enormous weight weighing him down till he couldn't move an inch from where he was!

Gavro and Foolscap eyed him in confusion, "Umm boss?"

"You want us to go beat the stuffing out of this windbag for you?" They each asked him wondering why he stopped all a sudden, if he didn't have the guts to do it they could instead.

"Hold it you guys." Sheer then called out as she held out her arm stopping them from moving forward.

They looked to her in confusion, "Hmm?"

"What's up Sheer?"

She put a finger to her chin in serious thought, "That voice…it sounds familiar….I know I've heard it somewhere before…." she mused, eventually realising there was only one other thing…or person who could make their boss Specter as passive as a kitten like he was now, other than Brontikens.

The male pirates still hadn't picked up on it just yet, "Familiar? Who are you talking about?" Foolscap muttered, "Also what does he mean by fam-"

Suddenly they both widened their eyes and looked to Specter then the shadowed figure back and forth a few times before finally putting the pieces together, "No way….You can't be serious!"

"You're kidding…." They both breathed as the figure slowly stepped towards them.

"Seems you space dust for brains finally figured it out….took you long enough…." he sighed shaking his head before stepping into the light where they all could see him, revealing him as a pirate like them, only shorter and younger but bearing a slight sinister resemblance to Specter and at the same time a more youthful appearance like that of Max! With black and white spiked hair and a demonic face only Specter could love, they soon realised who it was, "It's been far too long you guys, though not long enough….." he then smirked at them which put the 3 pirates in a rather sour mood.

"You….The spoiled brat…."

"Daddy's little monster…." Sheer and Foolscap scoffed as they narrowed their eyes at him, holding a grudge at him for being Specter's favourite of the group.

Gavro suddenly pointed out at him, "Hey! I remember you!" he cried in alarm, "You're-"

He was suddenly shoved aside as Specter cried out at the top of his lungs, "GOMA!" he smiled with his eyes brightening up with immeasurable amounts of joy and he clapped his hands together with love and adoration over this much needed reunion, "Oh my darling boy it's been too long! I've missed you so much! Look how big you've grown!" he complimented his son looking at him up and down, though his compliments only seemed to tick off the young pirate as he rolled his eyes back seeing him changing was a lot cause, "Come here and give your dear old daddy a nice big hu-" before he could embrace his long lost son in an over affectionate hug, Goma huffed in annoyance as he sidestepped with ease causing Specter to charge straight ahead and slam his face right into the throne's pedestal!

WHAM!

"Urgh…." he groaned as he slid to the floor and lay face flat on the ground.

"Sigh….apparently the more things change the more they stay the same…." Goma grunted in annoyance as he rubbed his temple, clearly his father hadn't changed in the slightest and was still the same flamboyant child in a man's body still acting far below his age.

"Aww….why are you so mean my boy?" Spector sniffled as he sat up and used his hanky to wipe away his tears of heartbreak and pain, "Is it because I didn't write to you for so long since we were away or didn't give you any birthday presents you're now giving me the cold shoulder?" he then asked as he crawled up to his son and grabbed at his cloak looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

His son let out a deep sigh wondering how he could possibly have been related to him, "Hmph! Still as obnoxious as ever….No wonder mom decided to leave him long ago…." Goma thought as he rolled his eyes in disgust before pulling his cape away from his father's hand, "No, none of that matters…father. In fact I've moved on from that long ago." he said in response as he rubbed his temple and turned to each of his old cohorts one by one, "In fact….I was actually enjoying the peace and quiet till you all got tossed in here through some time portal and soured my mood like you always do with your ugly mugs."

"GASP!" Specter turned pale at his son's harsh words, to hear such painful remarks come form his own son had struck a blow in his feeble heart as he clenched his chest tightly and fainted on the floor as he fell backwards!

The rest of the pirates scowled hard at his insults, "Great…as if we hadn't had enough kids to deal with…." Foolscap muttered as he face palmed in agony, wondering what they did to deserve such torture.

"Agreed…." Sheer nodded in agreement with him, "Ugh…just looking at him reminds me of that spiky haired kid from before." she then grunted seeing the resemblance between both boys to be dangerously close which was bringing up bad memories of the D Team's interference.

Gavro however was most ticked off by this, having reached the end of his patience and already detesting how much the spoilt brat was talking down to him and his pals, "Grr! You may be the boss' kid, but I do know you shouldn't talk to grownups like that! Especially me!" he gritted his teeth as he began popping his knuckles. As he stomped towards Goma, who stared back at him and didn't budge, Sheer and Foolscap grinned seeing this could be entertaining, "So I'm going to teach you some manners!" he growled as he threw out his fist and his friends waited in excitement for the good part!

Specter quickly sat up, awoken from his coma as he shouted out at him, "Gavro! Don't you dare touch my-"

GRAB!

At the last second before the fist made contact, Goma smirked deviously, in the blink of an eye his held out his hand which grabbed hold of the fist and stopped it milliseconds before it reached his face! A huge impact sounded through the room caused by the sheer contact of the palm with Gavro's punch!

BOOM!

Foolscap and Sheer stepped back in sheer disbelief and speechlessness at what they just witnessed, "Huh!?" Spector meanwhile stared unblinkingly as his jaw dropped to the ground, he was expecting his son to have his face caved in, but to see him stop Garo's punch like it was nothing was something he did NOT see coming at all!

"Wh…What the!?" Gavro gasped, as he tried to pull his hand away he couldn't dislodge it from Goma's grip, and could feel his nails dig into his knuckles as it tightened its grip on him!

As Goma flashed him a psychotic expression, Gavro shuddered and turned pale, "Is that all you've got? Feels like a marshmallow's been thrown at me." he hissed with a malevolent grin, which froze Gavro completely in fear seeing he was outmatched in every way and had stepped into a fight where there was only one outcome from the very start! With just the swing of his arm, the younger pirate threw him with ease like a pebble, sending him flying into a nearby wall!

"WAAAAH!" Gavro cried in terror at the speed he was going at before slamming hard face first into the wall, causing a massive imprint to be formed in it!

SMASH!

"Urgh…." he groaned painfully before sliding own to the floor nearly out cold! Almost nothing on planet earth could so much as scratch Gavro, but to see him get easily shrugged off and then knocked out like that made the pirates begin to reconsider their place.

"Whoa….didn't see that coming…." Specter whistled impressed at his son's feat having picked his jaw back up.

"Neither did we…." Sheer and Foolscap nodded as beads of nervous sweat dripped from them.

Clapping the dust off his hands, Goma suddenly shot a glare towards Foolscap and Sheer which made them jump and turn pale in terror!

"GAH!" They stepped back anxiously as he began walking towards them, having just set his sights on his next victims!

"Anyone else care for a serving of punishment?" he grinned popping his own knuckles eager for a second serving, "I have so much more to offer and I'm more than willing to share it with you all….if you're hoping for a taste like Gavro just did."

The other pirates shook their hands out, sweating anxiously and their hearts racing like there was no tomorrow, "N..No! No! There's no need for it!"

"Y…Yeah! That's right! Besides we've already had a generous dose of punishment on the way here and we're so full we don't even have any room for dessert even if we wanted to!" They pleaded frantically submitting to him, anything to avoid suffering the same cruel fate as Gavro did, "Which we really don't…." On top of having suffered defeat by the D Team and having to put up with Specter's space travel music for hours, they could see that the Goma who stood before them now was not the same kid they picked on in there earlier years.

"Hmph! Such wusses….." he then scoffed in disappointment being it was far too easy, having wanted to show off his incredible unbridled power as well as show them up after so long of being belittled and diminished by them for being the youngest of their group as long as he could remember.

Specter on the other hand, instead of giving into fear, decided to give into his admiration for his son's unexpected but no less exceptional accomplishment as he then began to applaud and clap with praise, "Ahahaha! Well done my boy! You make your dear old dad so pro-"

A sudden glare from Goma cut him off, as he froze stiff and his blood ran cold at the piercing gaze he was shot with, "You'd be wise not to take me as the same child you last saw. The child you humiliated and belittled for years no longer exists." he said as he walked passed them towards one of the large windows which stretched as tall as the walls themselves, "Now you stand before the presence of the Emperor of the shadow empire!" he proclaimed as a strike of lightning shot across the sky when he announced, sending shivers down their spines at its timing with his dark declaration!

"Shadow…."

"Empire?" Foolscap and Sheer gulped nervously as they stepped back and huddled near Specter.

"Huh?" Gavro looked up from his collapse having just regained consciousness though he missed it all.

"Woo! Now that sounds absolutely tasty!" Specter then clapped once more now in interest and excitement.

"Just how long have we been away?" Sheer then questioned, "Also what kind of trouble have you been getting yourself into since then that you'd call yourself 'emperor' of anything?"

"Long enough…." Goma replied casually as he folded his arms behind his back, "Which is enough time for me to take control of the events you've left behind, after you ditched me here and went off to acquire the greatest powers in the universe all to yourself." He then said at the end squinting at them.

Specter's heart skipped a beat hearing his son may be holding a grudge towards him, "N…Now now Goma, that was just a big misunderstanding!" he cried waving his hands frantically, "You were just too young and travelling through space and time is just too dangerous! Why think of all the really mean and nasty people out there who'd want to make mincemeat out of you! I couldn't let that happen to my sweet boy!" He then said puckering his lips and hugging himself all over, "Which was why I had you stay here, so you could be safe! Not to mention if you could succeed in taking over Planet Earth and its riches in our absence then we'd welcome you on board as a full time pirate! And you…passed! Just as I knew you would! Haha! So welcome to the big leagues champ! You earned it! Woo hoo!" He then laughed sporting his best smile he could while punching up to the sky cheerfully, praying deep down that he'd buy his act, while his men snickered behind his back.

Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case with the observant Goma, as he simply scoffed at his pathetic act, "Hmph….yeah right….I may be young but I'm no naive fool like you are…." he thought, though in fact being left behind was the best thing that could ever happen to him. With their absence, not only did he manage to get away from all their shenanigans and belittling for so many years, he also acquired a great power, one which far outclassed the older pirates in any way all on his own, and he had no intention of letting them steal it from him, something they were good at. Nevertheless he had something else on his mind he had been wanting to know from them, "Speaking of which, how did that little stone hunt of yours go father?" he then asked shifting topic as he turned his back towards them.

"Huh?" Spector blinked his eyes in confusion with his men.

"I was expecting you to return with the greatest power in the universe so you could control all reality." he said before shaking his head with a sigh, "So you wouldn't believe how disappointed I was when I found you and your crew stranded on that asteroid outside while completely empty handed." He then looked to them with a raised eyebrow, "I assume the whole conquering all space and time plan didn't work out too well in the end now did it? Hmm?"

As soon as he said that, Specter stuttered while the others clicked their tongues or hissed begrudgingly, "Uhh…w…well…you see…." Spector began scratching his head insecurely, fearing he may not be setting a good example to his son, especially when he promised to bring back the 7 cosmos stones and their infinite power back to this time s he could share it with his son as he promised. Sweating anxiously, he then shouted out the first excuse that came to mind, "I….It was those meddling kids' fault!" he then shouted bitting his hanky, "We had the power all in the palm of our hands they cheated it out of us!"

Goma then raised an eyebrow questioningly in response to this unexpected answer, "Kids?"

"Grr! Just thinking about it really makes my blood boil!" Sheer hissed as she clenched her fists tightly with rage.

"Y…Yeah that's right! It's all because of them not us!" Foolscap added shifting the blame to the meddling kids and their friends.

"Uh huh!" Gavro nodded.

This however seemed to sour Goma's faith in them, "You guys got your butts handed to you by a bunch of kids?" he questioned. He thought they were pathetic but now they pretty much sank to a new low.

"Uhh…." They soon began to realise they made themselves look way worse than they were earlier…though it was the truth. "To be precise Goma, they were really annoying children who can use dinosaurs like we do!" Specter then spoke up twiddling his fingers shamefully.

"They called themselves the D Team if I remember correctly." Sheer then pointed out.

Upon hearing that very name, Goma blinked his eyes curiously, as if it rang a bell in his memory somewhere, "D…Team?"

"Any of you ever wondered what the 'D' stands for?" Gavro then asked the other pirates.

"Dumb? Dunce? Dim witted? Who cares!?" Foolscap muttered as he shrugged his shoulders. After that he gritted his teeth and punched a fist into the palm of his hand, "What I wouldn't give for some payback!" he growled bitterly, still holding a grudge for them getting in the way at every turn and then ruining all of their plans.

Sheer then nodded, "For once I actually agree, those kids have gone too far and once we see them again we'll-" Looking to the side she saw Goma had his back turned to them as he appeared to have been fixated on something else entirely as he seemed deep in thought as he folded his arms and closed his eyes. She and the others took offence assuming he was shrugging them off and paying them no attention after they brought up and relived their humiliating failure after he asked them, "Hey!? Are you even listening to hearing us rant over here!?" She shouted out loud at him, losing patience with him taking them so lightly.

He however ignored that, as he began musing something to himself with interest, "D Team….I know I've heard that name somewhere before…." The other pirates calmed down seeing he was saying something rather important and that they ought to hear him out. He then opened his eyes as he came to a conclusion, "Ah yes….now I remember…." a sinister grin came upon his face, "Heh….it's the name of that team of legendary dinosaur wielding heroes that pesky resistance looks up to so highly. Their symbols of peace and hope they say….how repulsive…." he chuckled to himself in disgusting delight which puzzled his cohorts.

"Huh?"

"Resistance? What are you talking about?"

"And just how much have we missed out while we were away?"

"Mind filling us in oh 'great lord of darkness'?" They all asked him.

He narrowed his eyes at them in response, "It's emperor, you'd be wise to address me as such if you know what's good for you." he said menacingly as it put a chill down their spines and they nodded nervously. After that he returned to a more complexed demeanour which put them more at ease, "And you'll all understand in due time." He said pacing himself, "But more importantly…." he then gained a most sinister smile which he directed towards them, a smile so terrifying it made all of them jump and freeze in terror and their souls turn hard cold, "Perhaps your unexpected arrival, couldn't have been more perfect."

"Wh…What do you….mean?" Spector blinked his eyes while sweating anxiously, fearing he may be planning to put them through some kind of horrendous torture or eternal punishment because he could!

Fortunately for them, what he had in mind form them had nothing to do with such matters, "Let's just say….that I have very big plans in store, with even bigger goals in mind father." he replied as he turned around and walked towards the front window, "And the only ones stopping me in achieving them are a group of…..most repugnant thorns in my side….like this D Team you spoke off." he then scowled hard as he clenched one of his hands into a tight fist. He soon loosened it and calmed down, "Although, if you lot will be willing to lend me a helpful hand in plucking them and then assist me in disposing of them for good….." he said smirking at them, "Perhaps there might be a place for you in my empire….." he said before gesturing to the at the window encouraging them to come see at what he had to offer and share with them in exchange for their loyalty and great results, "And all this….can be yours too."

As the other pirates headed to look outside the window to see what he wanted them to see, they widened their eyes in disbelief to see a massive courtyard outside down below where they were! Inside the courtyard was filled with an army of gel jarks, all beeping and waving their arms to their mighty master, and amongst them were groups of controlled dinosaurs which all roared savagely as they awaited whatever command their lord would have for them as they awaited eagerly to destroy all that would stand in his way of being emperor of the universe! Among the dinosaurs included albertaceratops, metriacanthosaurus, patagosaurus, indosuchus and many other types as there were gel jarks!

The pirates widened their eyes and gasped in amazement as the hordes of evil howled through the darkest night awaiting their next battle which they intended to not only win but also crush all opposition into dust!

Before long the trio of pirates began to grin sinisterly, seeing they could reclaim their former glory and so much more now, "Hehehehe! This I like very much…." Sheer snickered as she folded her arms and smirked in deep satisfaction.

"Now you're speaking our language!" Foolscap grinned as he rubbed his palms together.

"Just tell me who to smash and I'll grind them into dust!" Gavro bellowed punching a fist into an open palm as they all then bowed to Goma, swearing their loyalty to him which pleased him deeply.

"Glad you 3 are on board." he nodded in acknowledgement before looking to the last of them who hadn't yet give him assurance of his trust, "And what about you father?" He asked the oldest pirate as he began scratching his head thinking it over.

"Hmm….I still don't know what's going on….or what we'd be getting ourselves into if we said yes….." he muttered weighing the positives and negatives of following his son's lead…before finally smiling brightly, "But who cares! To see my boy ruling his own empire of evil! You're like a chip off the old block! Ahahahaha! And I couldn't be more proud of you!" he laughed out loud as he rushed in and patted his son on the back much to his annoyance as he scowled at his father oblivious to how much he was embarrassing him in front of Gavro, Sheer and Foolscap, "Well then, since you're in charge here, just ask whatever you want and you'll receive it!" He then smiled brightly. Deep down inside he snickered to himself believing that all he needed to do was play nice and eventually he'd be able to use his authority as father to wrestle all this away from his son as easy as pulling a coin behind his ear in their early years. After all, emperor or not Goma was still his son so as father it was only natural he'd soon be in charge of it all!

Little did he know Goma then began to smirk, seeing through his father's facade of loyalty before deciding to play along with it so he'd drop his guard, knowing he and his men would still prove useful to him, "I knew you'd all see things my way." He then said as he shook off his father's arm and began to walk away from them, "Come, all of you, there is much work to be done and no time to waste." He called to them as they followed behind closely to see what he had in store for them. As he did, he then gained a most sinister smirk on his face seeing things had turned out to be better than he initially expected, "So the D Team the resistance hold in such high regard are real after all…." he thought to himself before his smirk became a malevolent grin, "Heh….maybe I wouldn't mind challenging them myself one day." He then thought eagerly to himself, if it meant he'd be able to crush their spirits and end their fruitless rebellion once and for all, then very soon all reality will be in his grasp and then bow before him as lord and master.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back in the present day, the sun had risen over the bay and was beginning to illuminate Sanjo City, where few signs of the massive destruction caused in the Dark Pterosaur's wake remained. Everything that happened just a day before seemed to have faded away from existence and become nothing more than a bad dream or a temporary illusion to the people of Sanjo who were beginning to stir from slumber and then go about their daily activities once more.

In one house though, which had been returned to where it belonged after being taken away a while back by the space pirates, a certain boy continued to sleep soundly in his room, and would've slept in till noon had the sun not peered in through an open slit in the curtains to shine on his face. Feeling the uncomfortable glare beaming down on his face, Max grunted in annoyance and rubbed his eyes as he sat up and yawned drowsily, "Yawn….." covering his mouth and then smacking his lips, he struggled to open his heavy eyelids before heading to the window and opening the curtains, revealing the sun had already come up to his surprise, "Huh? Morning already? That was fast." he muttered to himself.

He soon got over it and grinned eagerly for a new day of fun and excitement, as he folded his arms on his hips and looked to the side bed where his partner usually slept, "Oh well, the day isn't going to start itself eh Chomp?" As the light began to illuminate his room, he soon frowned to see the old dog bed where Chomp slept was now vacant….which now served as a painful reminded to him having to had to part ways with his beloved dinosaur and Rex, who too was no longer living with him. "Oh…yeah….he's gone now….." he then said with a deep sigh, he was so used to seeing both his dinosaur, Rex and Ace everyday and for them to suddenly be gone, it was one change he didn't know he could go through or should. He shook his head shaking off his negative thoughts knowing it was for the best and couldn't be helped, "No, I can't keep dwelling on the past. I have to move on and smile….it's what he and Rex would want from me." he then told himself knowing that there were some fates that were unavoidable, that couldn't be changed and you'd have to live through them and move on, that was how life worked. After that he shrugged it all off and sported his signature positive grin, "Well, time to get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast! Haha!" he laughed as he got changed into his usual red and orange wear, along with his cap and triceratops horns before heading down the stairs as fast as a velociraptor on the hunt.

Making it to the dinner table, he was greeted by his mom Aki, who looked up after laying a fresh batch of pancakes on the table, "Morning honey!" she said greeting him with a bright and positive smile.

"Hey mom, settling back down?" Max responded as he sat in his chair, "Must be really nice to be home again huh?" he chuckled.

"Why yes it does dear." she giggled back, "And by that I mean back down to Earth in our own time and not travelling through space on board an alien spaceship."

"Haha, yeah I get what you mean." her son couldn't help but laugh at that remark because it was all true.

"Now I can finally do what I love best," Aki then said as she clapped her hands together, "Taking care of the family and making sure you all behave yourselves."

Max couldn't help but nod in agreement with her, "Yup!" As he prepared to reach out and grab himself some pancakes from the pile his mom made, he couldn't help but look to the side to see where Rex usually sat….which was now vacant. His mood then soured further to see the spot where their dinosaurs once ate at were empty too, just when he thought he managed to move on reality shoved this painful reminder in his face again much to his discomfort, "Though it sure feels kinda empty….with Rex, and Chomp now gone…." he then sighed as he began to lose his appetite, the first time ever.

Aki then eyed him sympathetically, like him she too missed them, they were part of the family and no matter how hard she tried to hide it with a smile she couldn't shake off those memories so easily and they were tugging at her own heartstrings, "I know it's hard sweetie….I miss them all very much too…." she said as she walked over to her son and put a comforting hand on her shoulder to make her presence known to him and unlike them she won't be going anywhere. With 3 fewer mouths and faces, the house felt rather empty now and while it was for the best, that didn't mean it was easy nor did they have to like it, "At least Cera and Miku are still here….." she quickly stuttered and stopped herself, realising she was also reminding Max of the fact she had something he didn't…being a dinosaur. "And….on the bright side….at least now things can settle down again and we can live an average family life again without having to worry about the end of the world or dinosaurs rampaging around right?" she then changed the subject quickly at the end, twiddling her fingers nervously hoping he'd see things on the good side.

"Yeah I guess….." Max then sighed deeply as he scooped the pancakes onto his plate and began poking at them with his fork, losing his desire to eat. "But…is that really a good thing though?" he had gotten so used to weird scenarios, that to go back to a normal life as before, without travelling around the world, meeting new people and having experiences, was now feeling rather boring and empty… with a part of him gone now and he was forced to carry on in life and through the world without them.

Aki then stepped back deciding he needed his own space for a bit, "I….made your pancakes the way you enjoy them….round and spongy….I do hope they're to your liking." she said as she reached over for a bottle of honey and squirted it over his plate as he finally began to dig in with his knife and fork, eating his morning nourishment slowly and enjoying each bite, treasuring the moment like how he did when he still had all his friends with him. As Aki decided to head over to the tv area, she switched it on hoping to take her mind off recent events so they could move on, but what came on the news served to reinforce them even more much to her surprise and discomfort.

" **In a separate news report, witnesses claim to have seen a UFO yesterday which seemed to have restored the damages done by the mysteries bird which soared over Sanjo City."**

Said the anchorwoman on tv, which made Aki frown after being reminded about the universe almost ending and all they went through because of it.

"Still talking about that huh?" Max muttered with his mouthful with food as he looked up, "No surprise there since it happened yesterday…." he thought as he swallowed down his last mouthful. Though even with his full stomach it wasn't enough to fill the void in his heart and soul. Things were rather empty in the Taylor house now that it was only him, his mom and…Looking around curiously, Max blinked his eyes in surprise to see that his dad was nowhere to be seen. "Say…where's dad?" He asked curiously considering he hadn't seen him since coming downstairs also, "I thought he'd be here by now."

"Oh yes that's right," Aki replied patting a fist into her palm, "He headed off to the D Lab just now." She explained as Max looked to her with interest, "He mentioned something about assisting Reese with a new invention inspired by all the time travelling you all did the other day." she said with a light smile as Max perked up intrigued.

"Huh, sounds interesting." he thought before hopping off his chair, "Maybe I'll go check it out, give Zoe and Cera a call while I'm at it." He said feeling his taste for adventure and eagerness reawaken inside him, "At the same time, maybe we can help her out on finding her lost memories too, at least not all our adventures are over with!" he said becoming much more energetic knowing there was still something to discover after all, as he made a run for the front door, "See ya mom!" he said to her as he ran out and closed the door behind him.

"Have a nice day sweetie." Aki waved to him before standing up and taking his plate to wash at the kitchen sink. Before that, she looked outside the glass door to get a good view of the sun shining brightly in the blue sky and radiating the landscape with its light and warmth of a brand new day. This was all thanks to the combined efforts of her son and his friends, their courageous acts allowed them to see a brand new day and save all reality….wait till her friends got a load of this, they'd never believe her for sure! She then began to hum to herself, washing the dishes and cleaning up after the family with an eased smile knowing all was happy and peaceful…..but little did she know, destiny had a much bigger surprise waiting for them today….one which would embed itself into their minds and souls and would soon carry on for generations to come…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

At a room in Pet Town animal hospital, another familiar face had rested well through the night as she lay in bed peacefully and slept soundly, though she was rather reluctant to wake up from it. She was nuzzled so comfortably underneath the blanket and on top a fluffy pillow, so peaceful and tranquil, though a certain someone wasn't about to let her sleep in and miss out on the rest of the day, as she hopped off and glided from a nearby desk and landed on her head. Creeping up till she was at the head, Miku began to peck at Cera's exposed ear, as she groaned in annoyance, "Urgh…." she waved her hand away shooing off the little dinosaur, but this only spurred her to keep trying seeing it was working!

Eventually, after doing a few more multiple pecks at her ear, followed by some tugging at it with her prickly teeth, Cera suddenly shot up out of bed much to the dinosaur's alarm! "Okay! Okay! I'm up Miku!" she shouted out loud, sitting up straight and glaring down at Miku with ruffled hair, as she widened her eyes in fear to see her human partner glare down at her in such a scary way! Fortunately for her, Cera didn't take it too seriously as she soon smiled like normal, "Heh, who needs alarm clocks when you're around huh?" she smirked taking it rather well much to her partner's joy. Hopping out of bed, Cera pulled back the curtains to see the sun shining in the sky and bathing the neighbourhood in its warm light, "Ah the sun….to think we'd see the shine of a new day and a new adventure after what happened….." she thought to herself remembering the events that had transpired just yesterday. How the D Team and Alpha gang worked together to save the universe, and combining theatre strength along wit their determination they ultimately prevailed!

Despite that their victory still came at a rather heavy cost, as Rex, the Ancients and the Alpha gang soon had to return home to where they belonged, taking the dinosaurs with them while she still remained behind of her own free will knowing she had something left to do. The fact still remained that their team was now rather split apart and that reminder left her to sigh instead of smile at the end, seeing Miku was now the only dinosaur left in the present world and Max and Zoe had to part with theirs….she hoped she didn't make the wrong choice.

Miku, sensing her sorrow, hopped over to where she was and cooed sympathetically at her, hoping to give her some form of encouragement no matter how small it was. Looking dow to her, Cera then leaned down and picked her up and smiled feeling touched at her compassion, "Well no point in staying here in bed dwelling on what's done. Might as well get the day started." she said then petting her encouragingly which made her dinosaur coo in enjoyment, "And the sooner we find those answers to our past here in the present….maybe we can move on to the future….." she then thought seriously, convincing herself she made the right decision and now she'd best see through it, so that she wouldn't overstay er welcome in the present. At the back of her mind though, she could tell the day would have its fair share of surprised for both her and her friends, and decided to welcome them with a smile as she changed and got ready for the day, though no amount of preparation could get them ready them for what was about to come….

When she made her way downstairs to the Drake dining room, she found Zoe already there, having awoken earlier before her and was now enjoying some nicely made scrambled eggs with a side of bacon. Eying her, Cera noticed she was sporting different clothes, this time a black tank top covered by a yellow vest and red outlines, a colour scheme that was similar to her pants. "Morning Zoe." she said greeting her friend with a smile as she looked up to her and brightened up as much as her eggs.

"Oh hey Cera, good morning." she waved as Cera came to the table and began making herself a bowl of cereal with fresh milk.

"Trying on some new threads today?"

Zoe nodded proudly as she folded her hands on her hips and showed off her new wear, "Yup! I figured I've worn my old clothes long enough, so I decided to try something new, a girl's gotta stay in trend after all!" she said with a cute wink.

"Haha sure whatever suits you." Cera laughed back at her in amusement, "Just make sure you don't go all Ursula okay?" she snickered at the end, something Zoe took offence to as she pouted childishly.

"Hey don't you dare compare me with the old lady like that!" she shouted back at her in protest, There was a silence in the room as a breeze blew in, and after that Zoe then smirked rather smugly knowing she wouldn't need to worry about Ursula anymore and she could say old lady whenever she wanted now, "Heh, since we're times apart no way she'll hear that." she then grinned smugly as she gulped down another spoonful of egg.

"Haha, I wouldn't jinx that if I were you." Cera chuckled as she then went over to collect bird feed from the nearby cupboards and then placed them into a pet bowl in front of Miku, who then dove down on and ravenously gobbled up the insect feed while Cera sat down near Zoe to have her cereal. A little while into eating, she looked up and around to find no trace of her parents strangely, "Say…where are your mom and dad? Still sleeping in?" she asked curiously, though it wouldn't be a surprise since after their recent experience they'd want to rest up.

Zoe shook her head, "Nah, they'd never do that, whenever there's an animal in trouble, be it night or day, rain or shine, nothing will stop them from doing what they love best." she replied proudly, "Especially since there's a beached whale that needs tending to down by the bay."

"Heh duty calls as always." Cera smiled seeing they took their code of being doctors seriously, helping others to heal was a big responsibility and something only they could do in Sanjo City.

As Zoe went to her last spoonful, she looked to the side of the kitchen where Paris usually ate from her bowl, only to find the spot now vacant. Seeing that she then frowned, "Gee….it feels kinda empty in the house without Paris to talk to at the table…." she said sadly with a deep sigh as she began to feel heavy hearted, "I've gotten so used to having her around, to have her suddenly leave like that….I feel like a part of me is now missing in a way…." she said putting her spoon down having finished her food but still feeling emote on the inside.

Cera then sighed with empathy back at her friend understanding what she was going through, in fact Max was no doubt going through the same as she was. "I'm sorry Zoe….but…there really was no helping it…." was all she could say, knowing that if she was ever separated from Miku she'd be devastated too. As soon as she finished she widened her eyes noticing Miku was still outside and her presence would possibly make Zoe feel even worse! "AH!" she gasped getting Miku and Zoe's attention as quickly reached for her dinoshot, "Sorry I'll just-"

"No! There's no need to really! In insist!" Zoe cut her off waving her hands out stopping her from returning her partner to card form. After that she then smiled lightly, "In fact, I'm…happy you still have your partner with you. I don't want you or Miku to feel bad just because you 2 can still be together, in fact I want you both to be happy that you still can." she said with a nod, while also feeling touched Cera was being considerate of her feelings too, "Rex will still have Ace with him so I'm sure he knows how we feel too right this moment. So just be happy and appreciate the time you have together still, like me and Max did, as much as we're sad about our time with our friends coming to an end….we're even happier that it did happen…that's what counts most of all."

"Zoe…." Cera breathed back at her before nodding back at her feeling touched herself, "Thanks….I'll do just that….for us all…."

"Mhmm." Zoe nodded back at her as she put a hand on her shoulder, "And we'll be here for you to the end too….till you find your feet and your memories too, like you did for us. That's a promise." she said with a firm assured smile.

RING! RING!

A ring sound suddenly sounded from Zoe's pocket, ruining the moment as she reached into it and picked out the phone, "Oh? It's Max…." she mused curiously seeing the caller as she answered it, "Hello?" Max's mumbled voice sounded at the end which made Zoe blink her eyes, "Oh, Reese has a really cool invention she wants us to check out?" She then smiled with excitement, "Sweet, I'll be there right away!" She said as she ended her call and got up from her chair.

"You go ahead," said Cera to her as she continued on with her own breakfast, "Miku and I will catch up after we've had breakfast, don't let us keep you waiting." she said to her with assurance.

"Okay then, see ya!" Zoe then responded as she headed out to the front door while Cera and Miku waved to her.

"Bye!"

"Make sure to lock up before you go!" Zoe shouted out to Cera once more as she poked her head through the door.

"Will do Zoe!" she responded giving her the 'OK' sign as Zoe closed the door behind her. As she got back to her food, Miku became fully fixated on her morning nourishment of insects and larvae, but Cera began to scoop slower and slower, as she began to feel that the longer she stayed in this time, the more her presence would continue to remind her friends of what they lost. Plus she didn't want to overstay her welcome, she knew that this time was only a temporary stop so she shouldn't get too attached to it otherwise leaving it herself would make it all the moe painful. The sooner she finds out what she has to do here first the sooner she can move on and get back to her own life and time like Rex did….whenever or wherever the answer may be….

Right after breakfast she cleaned up the eating area then headed outside with Miku. Together they looked up at the sky, bathing in the warm morning air blessed to them by the sun, which they were able to see thanks to their heroic efforts. As they began to wonder where they should start looking, the best place to search for said answers could only be from one source….the Pterosaur, who seemed to be all knowing and wise, since she knew about the cosmos stones and the D Team's destiny to destroy them, she had to have known about them too being chosen by the stones and dinosaurs, so that meant she must've had answers about her true origins as well!

The only problem…was that she was now gone….after she sacrificed herself along with the stone plates…."Or…is she?" Cera then mused, as a calm breeze blew by her….followed with bright sparkles in them. As she and Miku heard a voice echo in the winds, they turned in the direction it blew in, to see they lead to the bay where the Backlander was, left behind in cloak function to prevent people from finding it. "That might be where we can start looking Miku." Cera told her partner, who nodded in agreement seeing they last saw her disappear inside the ship and the fact she was the spirit of the dinosaurs materialised in form. Typing on her dinoshot, she sent a message to the D Lab letting them know where she was headed, as they both set out on their quest to discover who they were.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the D Lab, Max and Zoe both met up and entered through the doors before making their way to the central area of the lab where Spike was observing Reese working at the computers. Noticing their presence, Spike looked behind and smiled at them, "Hey kids! Nice of you to drop by!" he greeted holding a hand up as Reese turned around and smiled lightly at them too.

"Hey dad."

"Morning Reese, Dr Taylor." said Max and Zoe one after the other. Even after everything that happened it seemed as though life was going back to the same as usual for them.

"We heard you were working on some new invention and we thought we might check it out and see." said Max with eagerness and excitement over whatever cool toy they put together.

"You're both just in time." said Reese as she pushed up her glasses before turning around back to the front to gather up her newly made device, "I just finished it, in fact, 3 of them to be precise."

The 2 kids brightened up eagerly, "Really!?"

"Can we see!?" They pleaded hoping to see what new contraption she cooked up, knowing it'd be awesome no matter what it was.

"Of course." Reese responded politely as she turned around and got off her chair. She walked towards them holding a small case the with the D Team logo on it. As she opened it up, Max and Zoe smiled brightly and waited in anticipation, but their smiles vanished and were replaced with looks of confusion or surprise as they saw inside were 3 small watch shaped devices which had the D Logo on it, a glass screen depicting the time and an image of the D symbol inside it too, each device connected to a strap.

As Reese eyed her work proudly she then sighed slightly seeing Max and Zoe weren't as hyped up about it as they were initially, "Is this a watch?" Zoe asked curiously as Max picked one up.

"Not just any watch kids," Dr Taylor grinned before she spun around, "We call it the D Watch!" he proclaimed as he struck a pose pointing up to the sky though the others simply sweat dropped at his overdramatic theatrics, "Pretty cool right!? Eh?" he grinned whiled Reese sighed and face palmed in dismay.

Cool was an interesting term for Zoe to consider, "Err….Not the most fashionable or impressive work I've seen from you sis…." she thought to herself as she picked one up and looked around it but found nothing that would make it stand out compared to the dino bracer or dino holder, "Maybe leave the fashion to Paris, France like you said to me once." she then said with a cheeky smile.

"I don't know it looks pretty cool to me!" Max responded as he clamped it on his gloved wrist, and grinned as he felt it seemed to fit him just fine.

"Of course anything excites you Max…" Zoe then muttered sweat dropping in dismay, seeing he was completely clueless about fashion as always.

"Very funny Zoe…." Reese muttered as she pouted taking offence at her sister's insult, "You should know by now I'm more into function rather than fashion." she then said seriously with a stoic expression, "This is more than a watch, I designed this so that you'd be able to contact us anywhere in space time without any of the interference we experienced last time." she explained.

That was enough to make the 2 kids brighten up in awe and amazement, "WHOA!"

"No way! This doohickey can do that!?" They gasped in disbelief and bewilderment.

"Heh give Reese enough time and she'll crack any code in no time flat!" Dr Taylor grinned proudly knowing this was child's play for a genius like her.

"After everyone's experiences across space and time, I felt quite inspired to try building an invention that might help in the event we come across a situation like that again." Reese explained her reason for coming up with the device in the first place, though hoping they wouldn't be kidnapped across time and space again like before, "That way if any of you ever found something in the present or need want to check up on Rex and his family, this will do the trick."

Max and Zoe quickly brightened up in excitement at the watch's potential, "Wow that's great!" Max grinned as he tensed his fists with excitement, "Now it'll be like he never even left us!"

"And we'll get to see how he and all the other dinosaurs are doing too!" Zoe cheered clapping her hands together knowing she could see Paris again and the 2 of them wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

"Yes you could…." Reese then nodded before frowning slightly seeing there was still a final chink she hadn't managed to address yet, "Though I haven't quite tested it yet….and without a way to travel through time I don't see any purpose for it currently." she then said which made the kids frown slightly in disappointment.

"Gee that's a letdown." Max muttered with a sigh, "Reality really bites sometimes." Especially when they came when one seemed to have secured hope in something.

Spike soon noticed something strange with the D Team present as he then pointed out, "Say….shouldn't there be 3 of you?" he asked curiously folding his arms at them while Reese took another look seeing they were 1 member short today.

"Huh? 3?" Max and Zoe hadn't picked up on it yet, but as they looked to one another they quickly realised there was someone from their trio who hadn't joined them yet today!

"Hey that's right!" Max gasped patting his fist into his palm, "Zoe! Didn't Cera say she was coming with you?" he asked her.

"She did!" she responded, "She said she wanted to finish breakfast first and told me to go on ahead without her."

Max then scratched his cheek in suspicion, "Maybe she something came up….or…is she trying to do something on her own again?" he thought narrowing his eyes, seeing that even if she did want to keep others out of her business for their own safety, he did take offence that it meant she didn't trust others to help her.

Zoe then widened her eyes in anger, she didn't want to believe Cera would behave so secretive again like before, she had changed and opened up to them since they first met and knew she wouldn't sneak behind their backs again, "Max! She'd never-" Before she could finish, a ringing sound came from the D Lab's computer, which caught everyone's attention.

RING! RING!

"Huh?" They looked to the screen and when Reese brought it up she blinked her eyes in surprise.

"It's a message from Cera." she said catching the others' interest.

"What's it say?" Spike then asked as Reese opened it up and everyone looked to see the message she left them.

' **Hey guys, sorry but I might be a little late to the D Lab, I may have found a clue to my memories on board the Backlander. I'll try to come back and meet with you as soon as I can when I've found it.'**

As soon as they fished reading it, they looked to one another questioningly, "The Backland?"

"Isn't it now pretty much abandoned since the Ancients took everything of value from it and now it's pretty much a floating island collecting rust?"

"What could she possibly find on it?"

"Who knows?" They asked one another, wondering what she could be after on it now that it was completely empty, till Max narrowed his eyes at the message.

"But if she does have an idea on where to look for answers to her past, the Backlander would be her first place to look." he said tension up at it.

"Maybe we should go help her too Max." Zoe suggested as Max smiled and nodded back to her.

"Yeah, we did promise her that after all, plus she's our great friend too like Rex, it's the least we can do after all she's done." He said as she smiled in agreement with him.

"Mhmm, let's get a move on then!"

Before they could head out, Reese handed them the remaining D Watch, "Be sure to pass this to her next time you see her you two." she said as Zoe took it from her big sister.

"Will do Reese!" She said with a thumbs up as they both made a run for the door.

"Take care kids! Don't do anything careless now!" Dr Taylor called out to them.

"We will! See ya later!"

"Bye bye!" They responded back to him as the door closed behind.

As the door closed behind, Spike couldn't help but sniffle and shed a small emotional tear from his eye, "Just look at them run off into the world ready to take on whatever challenges life throws at them with smiles and no hesitation." he wept seeing how far they had grown, being courageous and independent since their journey across space and time and to when they first met their dinosaurs, it was the best thing that could ever happen to them all, "Oh they grow up so fast…." He then said at the end as he took a hankie from his pocket and blew into it.

Reese smiled understanding his touched feelings, but then frowned slightly with concern, "Are you really sure we should let them go on their own Dr Taylor?" she asked, though they had gone through much on their own it would be unwise if they let that experience get to their head and they lose all caution.

Spike however felt confident in them a she folded his arms and smirked, "They'll be fine Reese." he said, "After all they battled dinosaurs every day of the week, not to mention they travelled through space and time braving all kinds of danger along the way. I'd say they're pretty much grownup now and know how make their own way in the world now of they wanted to." He added feeling assured they could handle themselves against anything the world may throw at them, "Besides, they'll have to leave the nest sooner or later, and I'd say they've more than proven themselves by saving the universe too on top of that. And if they can handle that, there's nothing we have to worry about, especially not some empty hunk of metal floating in the middle of the bay right?"

"Point taken." Reese responded calmly deciding to leave it at that as she began to sort out the data gathered from their excursion across time and space, also going over the videos and records from the different eras so she could see events that actually happened in the past. Something Spike too had interest in as he watched them playback their adventures from Rome all the way to the stone age one by one. Little did they know….was that the moment Max and Zoe exited from the D Lab's doors….that would be the last time they'd see them again for a very long while….

 **(Meanwhile)**

Having took a nearby pedal boat from the docks, Cera and Miku had made their way over to the Backhander's location, stepping through the cloak shield and then walking through the halls of their old stomping grounds in the hopes of finding out where the Pterosaur may be resting, considering the Backlander was the last place she was seen. Despite apparently disappearing with the stone plates, Cera and a feeling that even with the stones gone her spirit might be alive somehow. While it was impossible to explain why she thought so after seeing her and the Dark Pterosaur cancel one another out, the fact remained she was their best shot at getting answers and if there was a chance she was still alive it had to be here on the ship and she was going to stop at nothing till she was absolutely sure.

Now though, as she walked through the halls of the now forsaken ship of the future….as the winds blew through its empty halls they gave off a rather eerie howl, which made the place so much more sinister and supernatural compared to last time. As Cera walked through the halls she tried er best to tell herself that it was empty and no one else was in but them, but it didn't help that the place kept giving off the sensation that they were being stalked or someone may jump them at any moment! As the wind blew in through the halls and howled again, Cera couldn't help but shudder as she looked around again for the umpteenth time, "Ugh….this place is way more creepy without the alpha gang or the alpha droids around." They kept the place rather lively and even positive with all their ridiculous shenanigans, now that the place was more like an abandoned house haunted with voices of the past she was actually beginning to miss them, as some of the lights in the hall began to flicker or short out as the ship gradually began to lose power on its remaining limited reserves.

The feeling was shared by Miku as she kept her senses on full alert and get feathers all ruffled up in agitation as she kept a restless vigilance looking around in every corner, "Yeah I know how you feel Miku," said Cera noticing her feathers were flared up and she looked up to her with an anxious and stressed look in her saurian eyes, "Come on let's focus, the sooner we find that Pterosaur the sooner we can get out of here and meet up with the others." She said to her as they tried to focus on their task at hand, though it wasn't very easy, even if this place was home once it was eerie now making it hard for them to stay on track, along with another problem they hadn't accounted for yet, "Then again….we don't really have a clue to where were going do we?" She then sighed scratching her head in dismay.

Lately they've been at a block on finding answers in the presence, for all they knew was that the Pterosaur was the only who could possibly have the answers they need, and they somehow recognised her somewhere in a dream they had a long time ago so it couldn't have been a coincidence, something she kept secret from her friends since she didn't understand it herself nor did she want them to think she was crazy. They knew the last place she could be had to be on the ship, but so far they'd been going around in circles without any direction in mind and it was beginning to drive them crazy since they had no leads to work with. "Maybe doing this ourselves isn't the best idea, we should turn back and ask the others for help." She then thought to herself seeing they weren't getting anywhere and she was reaching her limits. On top of that she was beginning to realise her habit of keeping secrets from her friends and not letting them help was becoming quite an issue for both her and them. While she didn't want them to be involved or hurt, she now began to see that she was also being selfish and it showed she didn't trust them either, a double edged sword which she had been using for too long and was about time she discarded it.

Miku on the other hand was willing to respect whatever decision her partner made, as long as she moved forward and not dwell on the past, though that didn't mean they should leave it completely buried either. Like Cera she too wanted to learn about their origins but at the same time not forget about the present or the future either, so they both looked to each other and nodded having decided to meet the rest of the D Team and then search for answers together. Before they cold make their move though, a small but also sparkling breeze suddenly passed by them much to their surprise, and it also carried the echoes of voices in them….voices that she recalled only Max, Rex and Zoe could hear from the stones! "Miku….did you just feel that?" she asked her as the microraptor chirped back at her. It was then she recalled something Dr Taylor and Ancient spoke about the other day while they were still around, about the Pterosaur being the spirits of the dinosaurs guiding them through time. But if she represented their spirits….then the body which she inhabited from the start had to be-

"Of course! It's been right under my noise the entire time!" Cera gasped finally seeing it as she made a run to the reactor core room! As she neared there and took the elevator down to it, "I just hope it's still there….." she prayed dearly for it to be true. "But what if….." She slowed down realising that when the stone plates had to be sacrificed maybe the Pterosaur disappeared along with them…and she was just hallucinating about there being an answer here. As the elevator neared its floor though, she quickly shook her head and all her doubts, knowing she had to at least try and see for herself and confirm it.

Before long the doors of the elevator opened up and the duo found themselves inside the reactor core, which had died down and the engines were damages in several sections with parts lying all about the floor along with rubble, having been unable to contain the burst of energy released by the stone plates after they destroyed the cosmos stones. "This is it…." said Cera as they reached their destination and she walked towards the enormous machine before her. As she stepped closer, the case ahead at the core suddenly began to glow and shine, as if something was reacting to and calling out for her and Miku! "Huh? Could it really be?" she breathed in surprise before running towards it.

As she pressed the button which opened it, her eyes widened in surprise to see the central stone plate, with the red, yellow and blue spots, was still inside it! Cera couldn't believe her eyes, "The central stone….it's still here….." she breathed feeling overwhelmed with emotion and awe seeing it still survived after their great battle. It glowed and showed brightly in a rainbow aura, and voices could somehow be heard from it which grew louder as she and Miku got closer to it, "It's like it's….calling to me….to us….." As she said that Miku chirped as the light somehow enticed her to jump off Cera's shoulder as they 2 got within arm's length of the stone. Looking to one another, they could see that they were called here for a reason, and nodding together they both placed their hands upon the stone.

As soon as they did, a bright light suddenly erupted from it without warning as they jumped back in shock! "WHOA!" as it then enveloped them completely!

As it died down, Cera began to grit her teeth and rub her eyes then her head, feeling rather disoriented after the sudden flash she and Miku just took at point blank range from the stone! "Urgh….what the?" As she came to her senses and her vision cleared, she blinked her eyes in surprise to find herself along with Miku floating in a deep coloured space like that of the space time tunnel! Rubbing her eyes again and blinking them, as she looked again she found out her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, much to her discomfort and bewilderment! "AAAH!" She screamed flailing her hands out and Miku screeched in horror to find themselves floating in and endless expanding space and at the same time they weren't calling either!

Taking a little more time, and not giving into panic, Cera calmed herself slowly, as her racing heard began to slow down knowing acting all panicky would only aggravate their situation more and won't accomplish anything. She then looked to her partner, hoping she might know something since the dinosaurs were more in tune with the stones than people were, "Wh…Where are…we Miku? Are we…time travelling!?" she pleaded for an answer, but Miku squawked and flapped her wings frantically in response, "Of course…silly me…if I don't know how could you?" she then sighed shaking her head at herself before looking around them again, "But still….how did we get here? And more importantly…how do we get back?" she then wondered before a sense of familiarity began to come over, "This place….it feels….familiar….like I've been here once….but how?" she then asked herself…having recalled a situation she found herself in being very much like this….in a dream? Or perhaps….for real?

"Welcome, both of you." a strange but familiar female voice suddenly spoke to them out of nowhere, which caught them by surprise!

"Huh!?" They looked around restlessly to try and find where it came from….but could find no one else but them, "Wh…Who's there?" she then called out hoping whoever was watching them would show themselves. She suddenly widened her eyes recognising the voice.

"I have been waiting for you for sometime." the voice said to her once more before bright light suddenly erupted at the end of the time tunnel before them, forcing the pair to shield their eyes yet again!

"AARGH!" They cried as the blinding flash came again, but as it lessened they lowered their arms and then widened their eyes speechlessly in awe, "Ah….." Cera and Miku breathed and gazed upon the shining form of the rainbow Pterosaur, who appeared before them and floated elegantly in the deep space! "You…You're the…Pterosaur….." she breathed in awe at her majestic form which floated gracefully with elegance before her, "So you were never gone….you've been…inside the central stone all this time." she pointe out realising her hence had been right all along.

"Indeed," The Pterosaur replied confirming it, "When the stone plates were sacrificed in order to vanquish the cosmos stones, the remainder of my power was sealed inside the final stone which remained intact." She explained, "Since then, I have taken refuge and remained dormant….regaining as much energy as I could….in order to summon you to me….Cera."

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise at hearing her name, "You….know who I am?" she asked.

"I've known you and your friends for a very long time." The Pterosaur then continued, "The day they laid hands on the stone plates and bonded with them."

"She knew who we were….but does that mean that….she knows me too?" Cera then wondered as she narrowed her eyes, "Why does she seem so familiar too? Have we…met before?" she thought to herself.

The Pterosaur said nothing at first but soon began to speak, "I apologise for not being able to explain myself before." she said in a somewhat regretful tone, "Time was of the essence when we last met….I needed all of you to be focused on the danger ahead and to be at your best….so I was unable to properly introduce myself." She said as she flapped her wings gracefully in the deep space, scattering feathers and energy of pure light around them, "Now with it passed…we have the chance to become properly acquainted with one another as you so hope…." She then said in a more eased manner, "However, I sense inside you…that you know who I am already."

A drop of tense sweat dripped from Cera's cheek, seeing who the Pterosaur was able to catch on quick to her, there was no secret her light couldn't reveal, "Yeah…I do…" she nodded confirming the Pterosaur's words as she swallowed down hard, "I heard from Dr Ancient, that you represent the 7 stone plates…..the spirit of all the dinosaurs…the form of their combined final wishes and hopes during their final moments before extinction."

"You are correct." The Pterosaur answered her, "My very spirit was freed from the stones the day Dr Z and Seth caused the Backlander to malfunction….the stones were separated and lost to time and a burst of energy was unleashed from them….that burst of energy freed….was none other than myself."

"It makes sense now…." Cera then breathed seeing the pieces finally fall into place. The dinosaurs all perished by the asteroid which carried the cosmos stones, and the Pterosaur happened to be the energy form of the stone plates which the souls of the dinosaurs became, so it made sense why she would also fear the power of the cosmos stones too since they were what wiped out the dinosaurs in the first place. However, despite that the stone plates were also the last hopes of the dinosaurs and were the only means of ending the threat of the cosmos stones once and for all….a hope which had been answered by the D Team.

"That's how we were able to always find you in the time space tunnel. Since the stone plates were connected with you, it made sense that either they or the dinosaurs could always lead us to you." Cera then continued as she could now see why their dinosaurs were so excited and friendly with her, since she represented their last wishes too. Despite that she then narrowed her eyes with suspicion towards her, "But….I have the feeling we've met before that….in fact…even before I met Max and the others….and I can't shake that feeling off since the day I saw you for the first time….or was it my first?" The Pterosaur soon paused upon hearing Cera say that, "Why is that?" she then asked again.

"…." There was no response from the majestic spirit of the dinosaurs.

"P…Pterosaur?" Cera asked once again, worried that she may have said something wrong or offended her in some way.

"For someone as young as you are….you are indeed most wise." she then said which claimed her down, though what she said next caught her off guard, "In fact, I've known you long before your destined meeting with the D Team and the Alpha gang. For it was I who helped set you on that very path, when you needed me to help give you a second chance….in your most dire of times."

As she said that, Cera widened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat at this stunning revelation, "So…You knew this whole time…..everything I lived….was premeditated by you….." she breathed in disbelief that the Pterosaur who guided them since they began their adventures, had been watching over them even before they travelled through space and time….most of all….she knew who she was and had to have been involved with her at some point! This news made Cera feel rather betrayed that she kept such an important fact from her, something she wanted to know more than anything else, as she gritted her teeth in anger and shouted out her frustrations, "Why didn't you say anything!?" She screamed surprising Miku, despite having protected and watched over them she couldn't overlook this fact most of all.

"I understand that this must come as a huge shock to you." The Pterosaur calmly responded, "But allow me to make it clear…that this was something you yourself asked for…." Cera's anger subsided as she then reflected on her words, which seemed to have rung a bell deep inside her, "In order to achieve a fresh start, to save your very soul, you had to shake off the binds of the past which tied you down, as well as wipe away the scars of your former life so you could move forward to a new and possible bright future of hope."

"Ah….I…said that?" she croaked in surprise, before a small flashback of hers soon came back to mind….how she was floating in deep space through the time warp….on the verge of giving up all hope for some reason…till she was saved by the slimmest of chances through a miraculous meeting with…the Pterosaur. The only price she had to pay for asking her for aid….was to start over from the beginning in a new life…something she was more than willing to take upon herself, "I….understand…." She then said calming down, as Miku looked to her in sympathy. But still, she didn't know why she was in that position in the first place or why she wanted to give up her memories in the first place? Just what sort of dark future did she have that was so awful she'd want to forget all about it. She then shook her head feeling ready to embrace the person she once was knowing she couldn't leave it buried under the rug forever, she had to face it sooner or later and now she felt ready to take that upon herself once more, "But….now that the threat of the cosmos stones has been wiped away from the universe, does that mean that….I can go back to who I was once? To my own time and place where I came from? The threat which caused all our pain and suffering is no more?" she asked hopefully.

"….." The Pterosaur said nothing once more, before reluctantly parting with words that began to trouble Cera somewhat, hinting that their trials and arduous adventures weren't over yet, "That is something that only you can decide for yourself."

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise, having expected good news from her after all they went through and overcome, "What….do you mean by that?" she asked with a hint of worry, sensing something else might be amidst now.

The Pterosaur paused momentarily once more, hesitant to speak the truth at first to her guests, after they had just prevailed over a great danger she worried for their wellbeing if she were to endanger them again in another similar fight. Soon though she was able to get over it after realising the greater good knowing in the long run this new danger would threaten the present day too, "It is true that the cosmos stones and the Pterosaur of darkness have been defeated." she said reluctantly, "But I'm afraid the darkness itself hasn't been eliminated….and that very darkness is beginning to stir once more, and is on the verge of threatening all creation once more."

Hearing her words, Cera's arms grew limp and her knees began to buckle slowly, "That…can't be…." she was overcome with shock that even after all they went through and accomplished, the evil they gave their all to defeat was somehow still alive….

"All I will say is that you and your allies have passed the test, the final challenge that you were all destined to overcome….will soon come." The Pterosaur then said at the end.

"Test? Challenge?" Cera asked in confusion.

"You were the ones chosen to defeat this darkness, and it shall soon return, only you can prevent it from consuming the universe." said the Pterosaur as she slowly began to fade away and so was the space around her, much to Cera and Miku's alarm, "Your true battle now awaits you, the one you sought out to prevail in. Fight hard and strengthen your ties with one another along with new allies along the way, and you shall succeed." she said as her form slowly began to grow distant from them!

"Wait!" Cera cried pleading her not to leave, "You can't just leave us like this with more questions than before!" Miku squawked out loud too, as they tried to run after her but no matter how hard they tried to keep up she continued to grow further and further from them! "Tell us what's really going on! What's truly at stake here!? What battle do you mean!?" She cried holding her arm out as tears fell from her eyes pleading for some sort of clue and answer at least as to what was going on, given they already sacrificed so much.

The Pterosaur paused once more, hesitant to part with more information the she already had fearing the possible consequences if they knew too much, but she did however have something else to compensate for it, "Because you have fought valiantly alongside the allies whom you set out to make….I shall bestow upon you….what you have lost…." She said at the end, as Cera stopped and blinked her eyes in surprise.

"What I….lost?" she breathed before catching onto what the Pterosaur meant, "You mean-"

"This is as far as I can guide you….." she was then cut off by the Pterosaur's words, "Whatever path you choose….is now in your hands….." she said as the light around her began to shine immensely, forcing Cera and Miku to cover their eyes as they became enveloped by it completely!

"AAAAAAH!"

Soon after as the light died down, Cera and Miku quickly opened their eyes in shock, "Ah!" As they sat up from the floor, they looked around to find themselves back on board the Backlander, apparently they were returned to where they were previously. "What….was….that? A dream?" Cera asked herself as she rubbed her head which was still rather dazed from the experience. She was about to think so, but a shining light on the floor in front of her caught her eyes, "The stone!" She hurried towards it as the rainbow light around it soon faded away, revealing it in a much different form. Now instead of a small circular central stone plate, it had morphed into a moderately sized stone tablet! In the center were the markings of the 6 stone plates as they were originally, but around its edges were markings of dinosaurs skeletons which included a stegosaurus, along with ancient inscriptions written all over them!

As Cera and Miku stared at it they couldn't help but gaze at it in admiration, seeing how they had morphed completely! "It's….different…." she breathed as she reached over and picked it up and eyed it for a closer look. "What…is this? How can this-" Suddenly, Cera could feel something run through her mind, as full memories began to surge through her head like a raging river and she couldn't stop it! As she clutched her head she could feel her remember her own identity….her former self before meeting the D Team….now being added together with the memories of her current self which she made up until this point! "….I….remember everything…." she breathed as she froze stiff, recalling how she had ended up in the present day in the first place, how a tragic accident had ended up with her being stranded in the time stream…it was the only hope she had of winning a certain war in her time. Miku then squawked at her energetically, as Cera looked down to listen to her words, "Miku…you too…." she breathed as it all slowly came back to her, "I….No…We…we're…."

"Cera!"

"Miku!" A pair of voices shouted from behind her which caught her attention and cut off her train of thoughts.

"Huh?" Looking up and behind her she saw Max and Zoe running straight towards her in alarm and urgency.

"There you are!" said Max as he and Zoe panted upon reaching her.

Cera stepped back in surprise, not expecting to see them so soon, "H…Hey guys….you're here…." was all she could croak out, after what she had just learnt from the Pterosaur just now and the sudden rush of memories she experienced that was all she could utter out.

Max then looked up at her with a serious expression, "Of course we are," he said before shouting at her in anger, "You sent us that message so how could we not come!?"

Zoe then clapped her hands together in worry, "Plus we just saw that bright light shine from outside just now, so we were wondering what-" Her eyes soon caught sight of the stone tablet in Cera's hand, and so did Max. They both widened their eyes realising she must have had something to do with that light, and that mysterious stone must have been involved with it too! "What….did you do!?" she exclaimed as Max gasped speechlessly at what looked like the stone plates, which he thought were all lost forever!

"I….I don't know…." Cera replied uneasily as she looked away to eye the rest of the reactor core room, "I came back here looking for answers….but when I came upon the reactor core I found the central stone still there for some reason." She then said as she held the stone tablet up to them.

Max and Zoe couldn't believe their ears, "What!? The central stone plate!?"

"It was still here this whole time!?" They gasped in disbelief.

"And when Miku and I touched it…it glowed then….became this!" She then continued. Now that she had her memories she felt somewhat obliged to fill them in on who she truly was….but somehow deep down she felt that might not be the best of ideas for the time being.

Max blinked his eyes as he eyed the stone tablet in her hand, "So then….the stones….are all back?" he then asked as he pointed at it, "But…They look quite different now…." he said as he and Zoe took a closer look at it with deep interest.

"Yeah, almost like a stone tablet now instead of separate plates like before." Zoe mused as she took it from Cera to eye it closer, "But what does it mean? Also why did it change to this?" She then asked. As much as they wanted to be angry at Cera for sneaking behind their backs, the fact she rediscovered the stones and somehow changed them helped quell their anger and take their minds off her, now that they found her and the stones again.

"I don't know…." Cera muttered as she put a finger to her chin and eyed the tablet closet with suspicion, "Maybe we should take it to Reese and Dr Taylor, and see what they can figure out." she suggested.

Max nodded as he took hold of the stone tablet with Zoe as he could feel despite its ancient texture, it felt quite powerful, like the emerge of the stones themselves flowing through it but even stronger than before! While it felt incredible it was something they needed looking into, "Yeah and we could also call Rex with the D Watch, and then-" Before he could finish his sentence, yellow and green energy suddenly flowed out from him and Zoe and into the tablet itself, as if it had sensed the dinosaur energy inside them and now was reacting to it as it began to flash in a bright aura!

"HUH!?"

"WH…What the!?" They gasped as they dropped the stone to the ground and the 3 of them backed away from it! As soon as they did, it began to erupt with immense light energy which shone out lid and bathe the dark rooms and halls of the abandoned Backlander in bright light!

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" They all screamed in terror and in pain as the light began to scorch their eyes with its glare and there was nothing they could do or nowhere stye could go to escape it as it began to swallow them!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the D Lab, Dr Taylor paced back and forth quite restlessly, having not received any contact from the children for sometime since they went back to Zeta Point was beginning to unnerve him as he put a finger to his chin, "It's been a while and they haven't called back…." he sweated anxiously before beginning to bite his nails in a panic, "What if they've gotten into some big time trouble and need our help!?" he cried as he grasped his hair sticking out by his hat and began to pull on it, "Oh why didn't I go with them just now!?" he then screamed frantically.

"Didn't you just say 'I'm sure they can handle themselves since they saved the universe' earlier Dr Taylor?" Reese muttered as she continued typing away at her computer, compiling the data regarding the cosmos stones and stone plates she learnt from Dr Ancient before archiving it for future research, "Like you said, what's there to worry about? It's just an empty ship now running on very low reserve power while also cloaked too, I hardly doubt there's anything dangerous on board." she added at the end.

Dr Taylor stuttered and face planted at the painful reminder, "Y…Yes I did say that…." he muttered on the floor reminding himself he said it out loud, curse him and his big mouth. He then pushed himself up, "But still….for them to not say a word back to us for so long….something just doesn't feel right." he thought to himself before narrowing his eyes knowing something might have happened for them to not contact them for a while, "Maybe we should check on on them just in case, patch in a call to their D-Watches Reese." he suggested to her as she began establish a call and connection.

"Very well doctor." Before she could make the call though, a ring sound suddenly sounded on the monitor much to their surprise.

RING RING!

"Hmm? They're calling back already? That's a surprise." Reese blinked curiously.

Dr Taylor felt a wave of relief come over him, as he let out a breath he held in and then burst into joyful laughter, "Hahahaha! I knew there was nothing to worry about! What did I tell ya Reese? Huh!?" he chuckled playfully elbowing her much to her annoyance.

"Yes of course doctor…." she rolled her eyes before putting a finger to her chin in thought, "Still if they're calling maybe they found Cera or something else on board?" she wondered as she began to answer it, "We'll just have to see." As soon as she opened the connection and the screen lit up, she and Dr Taylor got the biggest surprise of their life!

"DAD! REESE!" Max shouted desperately on the other end as his terrified face appeared onscreen and light was shining all around him followed by the red alarm sirens of the Backlander ringing off in the background!

Spike and Reese were caught completely by surprise, "Huh!?"

"M…Max!?" They gasped in disbelief, not only was the Backlander somehow alive again but now Max seemed to have been caught in some kind of disaster involving it! And he wasn't the only one-

"HELP!" A pair of female voices shouted behind as Max gritted his teeth and looked in the direction it came from.

Reese's heart skipped a beat hearing them, "ZOE!? CERA!?"

"What's going on!?" Dr Taylor then cried out in alarm as his heart began to race intensely.

"It's the Backlander!" Max yelled back to them, "We found the stones and suddenly they're acting crazy!"

"What!? The stone plates!?" Reese exclaimed in disbelief at what she heard, "But weren't they-"

Before she could finish, the light from within the reactor room suddenly shone even more radiantly which forced Reese and Spike to cover their eyes to shield them from the glare!

"URGH!"

Onboard the ship however, the alarms grew louder and the light of the stone tablet began to envelop every corner of the are and even began to swallow up the 3 children inside! "AAAAAAH!" They cried from the glaring light, the harsh sound and in terror at being engulfed!

"AH!"

"Max! Zoe!" Spike and Reese cried for them, "Get out of there now! Quickly!"

"It's too late! I think the stones are taking us somewhere!" Cera shouted panicky seeing they couldn't get away even if they wanted to! "Everyone hang on!"

"Dad! Help-" Max cried but to the adults' horror the call was cut off and nothing but static remained!

"AH!"

"We've lost all contact!" Reese uttered urgently as she typed quickly on the keyboard hoping to reestablish the call, "Come in! Anyone!" she pleaded but to no avail.

"Can't we do something Reese!? The children are in danger!" Spike pleaded with her as he gritted his teeth tensely.

"Hang on! I'm bringing in live feed!" she responded as she brought up a new feed on the computer. What they saw wasn't any better, in fact it was even worse! The screen depicted the floating backhander illuminating in the bright light of the stones, as waves of water began washing out from it due to the energy it gave off as well as sparking up at the top of its antennae! To make matters worse, a huge time portal began to open up on top of it and was beginning to pull the entire ship in!

"That can't be good!" Dr Taylor cried out in disbelief at what he was seeing, just when they thought it was all over and were about to settle down this happened!

Soon the unthinkable happened, as the portal pulled the entire Backlander inside and closed up, along with Max, Zoe and Cera who were still on board as it sent a wave of water which slammed into the nearby docks hard!

It wasn't the damage done by the mild wave that got Spike and Reese, it was the fact that the children were the ones who were no lost to time! As Reese widened her eyes speechlessly and froze, unable to comprehend what had happened, Spike's knees wobbled and he fell to them, "This…can't….be…" he said in a weak and choked tone, before gritting his teeth and screaming out loud in anguish, "MAX! ZOE! CERA! NOOOOO!" he yelled before banging his fist on the floor and crying out bitter tears, how could he ever tell his wife or Zoe's parents now….after what just happened….

 **And thus begins season 3, the stage is set as Goma, ruler of the shadow empire, prepares to make his move! Also where have Max, Zoe and Cera been sent off to by the Pterosaur!? Stay tuned to see what new quest awaits them and the new enemies and allies they'll make along the way! My season 3 will hope to cover up what I felt the anime could have been, including elements from the arcade and from other dinosaur related series which you'll soon figure out as they come. Hope you enjoy the teaser I put here for the story to come and I hope I can see it through as well.**

 **As shown I included some DS/arcade game elements such as the stone plates being a full stone tablet now, along with Zoe dressed in her yellow clothes as in the games and also the D Watch from 'Alpha Fortress' being used now they can maintain contact with the D Lab. I'm not entirely sure how Goma's personality would be except being dangerously evil and suffering embarrassment from Specter at times, though hope what I portrayed so far does him justice.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Yup and with the conclusion of season 2 now comes the long awaited season 3, hope I manage to see it through. Well it's not the ending yet and yes every story has its' sad and happy moments too, that's what makes it so interesting. Glad you like it, also wanted Cera riding on a secret dinosaur too. She had her reasons for not following Rex and it's a good thing she didn't since her instincts lead up to here and onto the path of season 3, don't worry the D Team will regroup soon enough.**

 **Sadly she won't be in a relationship, since she's actually not from any of their times, though I will say I have something special involved with her and the D Team later on near the ending. As shown here the mysterious figure is revealed to be Goma, an arcade only character which I feel could've been used well in the anime. Stay tuned for their past adventures will seem like little carnival rides compared to what awaits them ahead!**

 **As for your own story, sometimes I find crossovers to be a little hard to understand especially of their themes may not mix at first but it's interesting I'll say. Hope you continue to enjoy writing it too.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Glad you like it, I hope you'll enjoy what I have planned down the line and I hope I can see it to the end.**

 **Guest**

 **-I can't promise anything but I might include moments of dinosaurs talking but will have to see.**

 **-Not sure about her having new dinosaurs to be honest since I like the role she's doing with Miku so far, will have to see how it goes.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Glad it didn't disappoint, also do have plans for Seth to make up for his past actions in season 3. Just hope I can see the writing through, I have plans for the chapters and hope the writing comes out fine too.**


	49. To the Future

Chapter 49

To the Future

It was the year 2128, in a futuristic city where humanity had taken growth and change to an entirely new level. The smaller towns and suburbs remained on ground level, which were mixed in together with grassy patches and green spaces to make sure that citizens lived in a very balanced environment between nature and civilisation. Many neighbourhoods had grassy lawns, hedges, trees or flowery bushes in their gardens and the houses themselves….were far different from the present age. Most of which were oddly shaped to resemble those looking like UFOs and space ships, and a number of them had patches on them adept for spurring the growth of plants to ensure a sustainable living environment for both people and nature. Some gardens had automated sprinkler systems like the present but on contrast some of them often had robots of various shapes, sizes and colors tending to trimming the hedges to keep them neat or to ensure that pets like dogs or cats didn't wander out too far from their respective homes and ahead on the streets were either people cycling, walking along the sidewalks or driving on unusual battery powered cars which could be recharged at any household plug like many appliances thus eliminating the need for fossil fuels.

The people needed such a lifestyle, as high above standing on huge unstacked platforms on massive pillars that held up huge cities which were almost like islands in the sky above! Many buildings were tall no doubt but also in unusual shapes and designs too, with long connectors stretching out from some skyscrapers to another with people travelling inside trains controlled by magnetic fields which helped move them from one station to another. Blimps carrying hug advertising screens which flashed ads on them floated slowly between islands or within the city so that people could get a good look at them no matter whether they were down below in the suburbs or high up in the tops! When crossing from city island to another, flying cars or jets like that the Alpha gang used, except in more generic designs (Smaller sizes for 1 driver or even a child to use, to larger models to hold families and even sharp streamline versions equivalent to modern day sports car hinting a sense of style and class still existed even in the future) were used as transport as people went about their daily activities of work and routine. It was any present day person's dream come true, something only most children could think of.

However, amongst all this, a large project was being conducted in a certain house down in the suburbs, shaped much like a large research facility with some yellow droids on top trying to mend in a logo representing the D Team, something which Dr Ancient and Rex decided on in order to start up the D Lab branch of the future time. Nearby it was the docked space ship of the space pirates, which the D Team commandeered after their victory over their enemies. In one room which was coloured mostly green but with plenty of overhanging features shaped like atoms and covalent bonds, there was an enclosed capsule device shaped like the one which held the stone plates inside once. It was shining brightly as a great operation was being conducted inside it. As it ceased and the machine spend up releasing a large cloud of steam, it revealed 4 purple dinosaur cards in them, representing Gigas, Armatus, Maximus and Brontikens, except their pictures now depicted their armour being removed from them. A hand then reached in to pick them out, a hand which belonged to none other than Seth as he eyed the cards closely and nodded in affirmation, "There….that should do it…." he noted as he put them inside a metallic case which his assistant Gel jark had brought him.

As he did, Dr Ancient then stepped up to him for a look at the cards himself. As he looked down at them he frowned slightly which disappointed Seth somewhat as he hoped he'd receive a better reaction from his former superior, "Are you sure Seth?" Dr Ancient asked him with concern, "Because these cards still seem to carry the Spectral pirates' control and influence on them."

"I did my best Dr Ancient." Seth sighed as he closed the case unable to look at his failure anymore, "But unfortunately I'm unable to completely remove the entirety of the spectral armour from these 4 dinosaurs." He then pinched his temple in frustration, "Though I suppose that's my fault there….I worked hard to design a spectral armour so powerful for the space pirates…..I never thought that my efforts would end up cursing these dinosaurs to an eternity of slavery to those….fiends…." He said with immense regret at his past actions seeing it may be too late to change some of them now, "What a fool I was…..in my search of creating the perfect dinosaur I ended up hurting countless ones in my meaningless quest for an impossible goal…." He then opened his eyes, "The best I can do is release the dinosaurs from the bonds of their armour…it's all I can do…." Was all he could say at the end wishing he could take it all back if he could, now they'll continue to serve as a constant reminder and haunting of how he nearly helped destroy all reality, a failure he could never erase completely.

After he said that, Ancient smiled lightly as he placed a kind hand on Seth's shoulder much to the former villain's surprise, "It's alright Seth." he said with kind reassurance in him, "I'm certain we can find a way to free them completely, and if anyone can do that it's you without a doubt." He said showing faith and hope in him,"You're a gifted genius who lost his way, and now you're back to use it to help serve others for a brighter future like all true scientists should." He said to him as he looked back at the case with his old assistant who had now come back like a prodigal son, "You created these dinosaurs and I'm sure you can save them too….I believe in you."

Seth smiled feeling touched by Ancient's forgiveness, but soon felt his heart tighten with guilt, feeling overwhelmed by undeserved kindness after what he put him, his friends and family through. While he would think of Ancient's actions to be naive, he knew from recent experience that some actions couldn't be described by mere words and logic, as an indescribable emotion created by both relief and guilt were welling up inside him. "I…need some time alone Dr Ancient….to straighten out my thoughts….." He said as he walked away from the other man, knowing as long as he stayed he'd continue to wallow in his past and self pity. He knew he had to take time to himself if he really was to set his own life straight now, "I probably won't return….not till I reflect on everything I've done….and ultimately forgive myself for my actions in the past." He then said at the end as he prepared to step out through the door which opened automatically as it sensed his presence, followed by his loyal assistant.

"Take as much time as you need Seth." said Ancient encouragingly which made him stop, "Just know that when you're ready to return and start over again, Cretacia, Rex and I will be waiting to welcome you back with open arms." he said waving at him for a bit.

As Seth looked back to him, a small smile came across his face as he closed his eyes feeling slightly more at peace with himself, "I'll keep that in mind Dr Ancient." he thought to himself as he and the jark exited the premises, "And…..thank you…." he breathed at the end as the doors closed behind.

Hearing his footsteps echo behind before vanishing out the front door which opened and shut, Dr Ancient smiled feeling happy himself that he could forgive Seth, something he never thought possible till his son and his friends happened. How they helped Seth see the error of his ways was something he didn't think possible, but they made it happen as well as save the universe with their dinosaurs. Truly they were most gifted and special to be chosen by the stones and to have grown so much being alongside the dinosaurs too. As he looked at the case which contained the spectral dinosaurs, the last remains of their enemies space pirates, he frowned seeing they were also a reminder of who the dinosaurs were abused and how they helped in nearly bringing about the end of the universe since they were used by the space pirates. Hopefully that would be the last time dinosaurs would ever be used like this….though inside his gut he could tell that may not be true….

The sound of the opposite door opening caught his attention as he looked up from the case, "Hmm?" Stepping inside was his young son with a rather joyous look on his face.

"Hey dad." Rex waved to him, which brightened his father up when he saw his boy come to greet him.

"Ah, hi there Rex." Ancient waved back to him as they walked up to one another.

"Mom and I just got all the dinosaur cards stored away in the back room where they'll be kept safe and sound." Rex mentioned to him as he pointed out with his thumb to behind him.

Ancient nodded back at him pleased, "That's good to hear Rex….." he said before putting a finger to his chin in serious thought, "Though….now comes the tricky part….." he said in a tone which made Rex block his eyes curious as to why he wasn't feeling enthusiastic.

"What do you mean dad?" he asked hoping he'd be more happy now that they could go back to the final stages of their Noah's Ark project in saving the dinosaurs now.

"Well, rescuing the dinosaurs from their different time periods and bringing them back to the safety of the….future, was just the start and the easy part." His father answered him as he then folded his arms, "Now the real challenge would be to get them integrated into society. Which now that I think about it…..I may not have fully thought through yet….." he admitted with a somewhat heavy sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Having heard Seth's side of the story after he recovered and confessed taking responsibility for his crimes, Dr Ancient heard his reasons to be rather justifiable though.

And not just that, they mostly had only a single dinosaur from a handful of species meaning that breeding and ensuring the survival of their species was nearly impossible. On top of that there was the question as to whether they should breed too, whether the planet would have enough land and resources to sustain them considering humans have developed much of the landscape and were already growing exponentially. Most animal species were endangered or threatened because of this so chances were dinosaurs may even put increased pressure on natural ecosystems as well seeing how fragile they were now especially if newer species were introduced into environments that may not be able to support them as before, plus whether they might be able to adapt to the climate and the problem of available water food for them too was another issue. Then came political problems, such as ethics or whether they should be given rights like that of current species too. In the end, chances were they may need to either keep them contained in cards forever or keep them in captivity like in something a zoo or holding facility…though would this be what they would want? Between extinction or living in such contained conditions it wasn't much of a fair choice for the dinosaurs in the end, something Ancient had now come to realise even though despite he and his wife's good intentions they should have thought a bit more into the future and the big picture like Seth did.

Rex frowned already understanding what his father was thinking and going through, it was a big challenge no doubt, but he soon brightened up with a smile of hope petting him on the back encouragingly, "It's okay dad," he said getting his father's attention, "We'll find a way like we always do, I know we will." he said with confidence after that.

Seeing how determined his son was helped Dr Ancient's spirits lift again, "I'm sure we will Rex." he said with a nod before putting a hand on his son's shoulder, "After all, you and your friends found a way to save the entire universe all on your own, so this ought to be a cakewalk."

"Ahah…yeah you got a point there…." Rex then laughed in agreement with him, feeling excited at this new challenge they'd be able to overcome, and with no more high stakes like the fate of the world in the balance this could actually be fun! As he thought more of the challenges he overcame, Rex soon began to sigh upon realising he never would have accomplished them nor even found out about who he was if it weren't for the help of a few other individuals form another time.

"Is something wrong?" Dr Ancient then asked him curious as to why he suddenly went all quiet.

Rex smiled lightly and shook his head, "No there isn't…It's just….well…." Rex found himself choking at the end unable to find the right words nor say it out.

It didn't take long for his father to pick up on what he was thinking, "I get it, you miss your friends don't you." he said as his son nodded at him. Ancient then brought his son closer to him by his side, "We'll miss them too." He then smiled with hope at Rex, "But this won't be forever, like Cera said we have to get the Backlander back here to the future where it belongs." he said reminding him that they will be able to see them again eventually, "And we'll do that once the engines on the space pirate ship are fully repaired and the time travel function is perfected. After that we can visit them anytime we want, or better yet they can come to the future to see how things are for us."

"Hahaha, that really is something we can all look forward to." Rex laughed before grinning in excitement and anticipation, hoping that day would come sooner….though sometimes the universe would grant one's wishes in the most unexpected of ways….

RING! RING!

An alarm sound rang through the room which caught both father and son by surprise as they widened their eyes and looked around in alarm, "Huh!?" Dr Ancient gasped as he ran to a nearby console and tried to isolate the source of the disturbance.

"Wh…What's going on dad!?" Rex asked him worried as he ran to his side to see him typing at the screen which now depicted the map with readings and graphs fluctuating all around it.

"I don't know, I'll need to investigate." His father answered him seriously as he narrowed down the readings and combined them which formed a kind of imbalance in the time space continuum, "A temporal anomaly? A portal? These readings are off the scale….yet they seem familiar…." he noted recognising them somewhat but couldn't see it to be plausible.

"What do you mean?" Rex asked him, " Also where is it coming from?"

"I'll lock in on the frequency's precise coordinates…." Dr Ancient answered him as he finally managed to isolate the signal, which depicted a live feed screen over the central park, which was green space with trees, grassy fields in the middle of the suburban area along with a small lake for duck feeding. Above it, a gathering of clouds with bursting electricity began to surge through them striking random spots around the park and streets, leaving scorch marks before combining and tearing a kind of time rift through it like how they did their time jumps! At the sight of it people nearby or at the park began to run away in panic, scattering in terror as families and groups scattered and animals ran for cover! "It's right over the central park district!" Ancient based in alarm as Rex widened his eyes in disbelief.

"What's happening!?" As Rex cried out, a bright light erupted from the portal and shone out forcing Ancient and Rex to cover their eyes to block out the glare!

"AAAAH!" They both cried and grunted using their arms to shield their eyes.

Soon it began to die down much to their surprise, "H…Huh?" As they lowered their arms down to see the light dying down from the screen the skies had returned to their normal blue colour as well as the clouds. However what caught them completely off guard was the fact that the Backlander, THE Backlander, was now resting in the middle of the central park district! "AH!" It had flattened many of the trees and landscapes in it as it lay down crashed like a fallen UFO, and they couldn't believe their eyes!

"It can't be…." Ancient breathed as his arms grew limp and heavy, overwhelmed by this starting development that none of them saw coming

"The Backlander!" Rex then exclaimed before looking to his father who was staring speechlessly into the screen which depicted his long lost creation which he thought he may never lay eyes on for a long time, and now it had returned…when he was planning to embark on a trip to retrieve it, "How did it get here!? It was supposed to be completely dead!?"

"I…I have no idea son….it defies all explanation…." was all he could say back to him, he was as stunned as his son was.

On screen people around the suburbs or from the city began to gather around the massive object as some began taking pictures of it, others descended form the city islands in hoverers to see from above to get snapshots or even selfies with them on phones or cameras. Soon news teams, blimps and helicopters were gathering around and soon investigation teams may be deployed. "Dad, we'd better check this out, it could be serious!" said Rex as he turned to his father seriously an tugged at his arm.

Ancient snapped himself out of his funk and narrowed his eyes seriously, "I agree." he said looking to Rex, "I'll call your mother and then we'll head out together." He said as Rex nodded back and he took out his phone to call Cretacia before they both headed out the door to their hoverer so they could get a closer look and investigate the cause of this unexpected development.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Inside the halls of the Backlander's reactor core room, the power was now completely dead having been overloaded by the energy release from the stone tablet beyond its maximum capacities, thus causing the whole room to shut down completely and turn as dark as a dungeon. Laying about on the floor was Cera, Max and Zoe, who were knocked out by the bright light and power surge and appeared almost lifeless in their unconscious states, thankfully it didn't take long for signs of life to show from them.

Cera's eyes twitched uncomfortably as she slowly began to feel her face, but as she slowly began to open her eyes she saw blurriness before her and a sudden rush of pain through her forehead and mind as she began to regain her senses….which ironically made her wish she didn't as the aches and dizziness came back to her as the after effects of the time travel! "Urgh….." she groaned as the pain and after effects of time travel sickness began to set in on her, something she didn't expect to experience, but nevertheless she gritted her teeth and planted her foot in the floor to stabilise herself before forcing herself to fight past her pain and then stand firmly upright. Shaking her head and her vision coming back, she took notice of Miku's card lying ahead of her, no doubt having returned to card form as a result of the experience just now with the bright light. As she reached over to pick it up and hold it close to her, feeling secure with her partner by her side again she heard some groaning nearby. Looking in the direction it came from, she widened her eyes to see Max and Zoe lying on the ground before her unconsciously. She appeared worried for them at first, but as they began to lowly stir themselves she became slightly more relieved, "Hey guys….are you alright?" she then asked out of concern as Zoe forced herself onto her hands.

"Oogh… I think I'm going to be sick…." she moaned covering her stomach which churned.

Max meanwhile managed to make it to his knees, "Tell me about it….hurf!" he quickly covered over his mouth as he turned green and his cheek puffed up before he forced himself to swallow it down much to his disgust, "I feel like I've just gone on a roller coaster loop the size of a ferris wheel 10 times straight through…." As much as he loved thrilling adventures and excitement he was still human and had his limits.

Hearing their answers, Cera soon smiled lightly but inside with deep relief, "I'll take that as a yes…." she said letting out a breath concluding that while they were shaken up and rather dizzy, at least they sustained no serious injuries. After that she looked around them to see the room was completely dead and for sure no power remained in the Backlander after that experience, though that left one more question to answer, "Still….what happened to us?" She then wondered as Zoe looked up at her.

"Yeah good question." she replied looking around to see the room appeared almost like an abandoned ghost house or something, as if it didn't already give her the creeps when she and Max first got on now she was feeling a chill down her spine just being inside, "Think it had something to do with that stone tablet?"

"Could be…." Cera thought as she folded her arms on her hips to think.

She didn't get the chance though, as Max suddenly charged her, catching her and Zoe by surprise as he grabbed hold of her in anger! "GRRGH! Cera!" he shouted at her which stunned both girls by his sudden unexpected outburst!

"AH!"

"Huh!? Max!?"

He then glared daggers at Cera and gnashed his teeth in such a way she froze completely, Zoe too, she never saw Max angry like this before and she herself too lost the will to get in between to mediate the situation, "This is your fault! Why did you have to go off on your own again!?" he shouted at her while Cera stared back and began to shake, "If you had just told us and then we all went together as a group, none of this would have happened!" He hissed closing his eyes tightly before shouting back at her with angry tears at feeling betrayed, "Don't you trust us like a team!? I thought we were past that!" he shouted.

Unable to respond at both his words that pierced her soul, as well as his completely enraged expression, Cera could only stutter finding herself entirely to blame for what they just went through, "I…I…."

Zoe, seeing the fear in her friend's eyes and knowing Max would eventually go too far the way he was, quickly shook her head and narrowed her eyes unwilling to let Cera suffer alone as she mustered whatever courage she could in her, "Easy Max! Get a hold of yourself!" she shouted as she rushed in and did her best to pull Max away from Cera, "This isn't her fault! It just happened all a sudden and we couldn't do anything about it!" she shouted back at him. As Max turned to glare at Zoe, with eyes reddened by veins and tears of hurt, she did her best to stand firm even though she was scared herself, "Besides, she didn't try to do it by herself this, she let us know in advance!" she shouted back at him, risking it all herself as she lowered her head in sadness, "None of us knew this would happen….plus we'd eventually find ourselves coming here for answers too and you know it." As she said that, Max's anger slowly began to subside, thinking about the situation more carefully….he could see Zoe did have a point….they'd eventually come here looking for answers themselves, it was inevitable that this would happen. "In fact if we waited….maybe our parents would have gotten involved in this too and we'd all be in danger…." Zoe then sniffled as she looked away from him, as Max widened his eyes in realisation that she was right….and that he had been acting out of line himself.

"Zoe…." Cera felt deeply moved by her words and how supportive she was standing up for her against Max, but on that note, she felt deep wounds have made their marks of guilt and regret from the daggers Max had left on her, as she couldn't help but look away from her 2 friends feeling ashamed for being selfish and putting them through pain again.

On the other hand, Max huffed but looked away in shame at himself, "Y…You're right Zoe…." he admitted with a deep sigh before walking up to Cera, "Sorry Cera…I…I kinda lost it there….What I did was wrong…." he said in a pained tone as he looked away from Cera in shame at what he did. True they had gotten themselves into a rather complicated situation but it was no excuse for him to lose control and take it out on his friend who had been through so much for them already, surely she had her reasons if only he had taken the time to understand her first.

Cera eyed him sympathetically, before putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's alright Max. None of that matters now." she said forgiving him, which made him smile lightly as he felt a little better and a little less weight of guilt on his shoulder, "What does is that we figure out where we are and hopefully contact D Lab, maybe they can find someway of getting us back wherever we are…." She said standing up and narrowing her eyes as she looked around, "Or whenever…." she added at the end, suspecting the possibility of time travel since the stones were capable of doing that once.

"Wait," Zoe then asked out loud, "Didn't Reese and Dr Taylor say that D Watch can be used to determine where we are in space time and even contact them too?"

The news caught Cera by surprise, "Wait, that device can do that!?" she gasped as Zoe nodded back and handed her the spare watch that was intended for her, as she took it and eyed it with interest, but then frowned to see it was somewhat cracked, must have been dropped by Zoe when the stones shone brightly just now she suspected.

"Let's find out…." Max replied as he began to type on it. As he managed to lock onto it, he widened his eyes in surprise at what he discovered, "AH! We're in the year 2128!"

"Say what!?" Cera and Zoe both exclaimed in disbelief as they ran over to see he was right!

"That's like over a century ahead of us!" Zoe cried in alarm, grasping her pig tails then falling to her knees and hugging them in, feeling overwhelmed at how far they had jumped ahead in time, "Okay clam down Zoe…just take a few deep breaths and everything will be alright…." she began wheeze uncontrollably while racing back and forth hugging her knees in, spurring Max to lean down and pat her on the back in the hopes of calming her, though they had little effect at easing her mental anxiety as her heart raced non stop and she sweated bullets.

Cera then blinked her eyes at what she overheard, "Hey wait a second….2128…."

Max looked to her curiously, "Cera? What's up?" He asked.

"Isn't this the same time that Rex and his family came from along with the alpha gang?" she then asked.

"AH!" Max and Zoe widened their eyes and gasped before looking to one another,

"So we went to Rex's time!?"

"But….how?" They looked to the now dead reactor core, where its humming had completely ceased, "If the Backlander's completely destroyed….." Then they turned to the stone tablet in Cera's hand as she held it up, "Then it had to be the stones…." she said narrowing her eyes at it, "I mean it did shine brightly and it was what powered the Backlander's time engines….But for it to do all that on its' own….It didn't just change shape, it got way more powerful too…."

"Whoa…." Max breathed feeling most impressed, maybe this time jump wasn't so bad after all. It was then he felt he had to know what she was up to in the time before they found her, "Cera, what did you do?" he asked her, keeping his own emotions in check so he wouldn't explode again like just now. "Did you like have the stones take us here to this time?" he suspected that may have been it, but he frowned as Cera shook her head in response.

"Wish that were the case, but I'm just surprised as you are." she admitted she wished it had been true, that way they would have been able to go back again whenever they wanted.

Max then sighed in disappointment, "Oh….I see…." he then could see it wasn't her fault after all…then again the stones did shine and activate once and and Zoe touched them so it was possible they were the ones responsible…but they couldn't be sure about it with the few clues they had so they were pretty much at a dead end much to their frustration.

"Though for it to bring us to when Rex would be….it can't be a coincidence…." Cera then folded her arms in quiet thought, suspecting that maybe the pterosaur had something planned for them once more like how she foretold of a new battle they would soon face….whatever or whenever it would be….

Zoe then spoke up, "In any case, staying around here isn't going to get us any answers or anywhere at all." she said catching the ears of her friends as she looked to them both, "We'd best find help…hopefully we're somewhere close for Rex or the Ancients to hear us…." she suggested knowing they couldn't do this by themselves, "Since the Backhander's completely offline our best bet is to find a phone or a way of communicating out to them and hopefully they'll respond."

Thinking about it for a bit, Max and Cera soon both nodded in agreement with her, "Yeah….makes sense." They said to her as they headed for the exit doors, despite it being so far and near pitch black Cera managed to help summon Miku, and with her sharp eyes and excellent memory she was able to lead them towards the main exit hatch on the floor which thankfully had been smashed open so they could hop down it and into the outside. As they approached it, light had peered in from where it was, as the kids were drawn to it like moths to a flame, and thankfully it was on top of lush green grass which hinted they were on solid ground somewhere and not in some canyon or over water.

Despite seeing that, Zoe then hugged herself a little nervously, "I just hope we didn't end up somewhere scary or dangerous here in the future…." she muttered insecurely.

"Same here." Max nodded to her in agreement. Though standing around doing nothing would get them nowhere, as they took a chance and held hands with one another deciding to take their first step into the future together, "Whatever happens, stay together and don't panic." said Max firmly as he looked to the girls on both his sides, "There's no telling what to expect or awaits us outside."

"Mhmm." they nodded as they took a breath, swallowed down hard and jumped down together onto the grassy floor below!

The D Team expected many interesting things as they made contact with the ground and made a run ahead out from the shade of the Backlander. But nothing would prepare them for what they would bear witness, where once roads of congested vehicles and highways would be, not there were lines of flying jets or floating vehicles travelling to and from large suspended cities held high in the sky on islands which carried enormous towers, office blocks, shopping complexes and skyscrapers!

"WHOA!" They widened their eyes speechlessly as they kept their eyes fixated high above, unable to look away and their gazes fixated in awe and astonishment at how life in the future was, it was exactly or perhaps way better than anything they ever fantasised or saw in sci-fi rides or movies! Their eyes were so focused on what was in front of them, they failed to take notice of what was ahead of them…till some loud angry yells caught their attention.

"Hey! There're some kids in there!"

"Were they the ones flying that huge saucer!?"

"Huh!?" As they blinked their eyes and looked ahead, they realised they were in the middle of a green central park district where sidewalks and smaller houses were surrounding the island of green they were in. Unfortunately the Backlander had crashed into the town's only site of recreation and green space, causing hills and trees to be flattened in the process, and now mobs of startled or angered locals were beginning to surround them on every corner much to their discomfort at the flashing photography or unease expressions they were given.

"Oh boy…." Max gulped as he, Zoe and Cera looked around to see they were surrounded on all sides and some people began pointing out at them.

"No wonder they crashed it in the middle of the park! What kind of parents would let their kids do that!?"

"Could they be aliens disguised as humans?"

"Well that fluffy bird lizard looks alien enough." Some said while children hid behind their parents feeling afraid at these mysterious strangers who appeared out from the sky suddenly.

Miku, feeling nervous and agitated, flared out her feathers and looked around in distress as Cera herself felt her heart beginning to race, personally she didn't enjoy large crowds but this really took the cake.

"Man that's a big crowd…." Max gritted his teeth as a drop of tense sweat dripped from his cheek.

"What do we do now?" Zoe asked him nervously as she hid behind him and Cera, "How are we going to explain ourselves to all these people?" she asked hoping someone would have an answer.

"Good question." Cera hardened her look, it was unlikely anything they would say would be believed or taken seriously, especially if it happened because of a magical stone tablet they had with them.

The crowds began to grow with increased numbers of onlookers, soon even news choppers began to gather above the Backlander as the D Team and it became the centre of attention in the entire city and even some people who were flying their cars above in the city came down for a closer look! Suddenly, the sounds of incoming sirens caught the attention of everyone present, surprisingly not from behind or from the sides but from above! As they looked up, the D Team gasped in surprise as a pair of blue and white robots, with red siren bulbs on their heads, black metallic visors shaped like sunglasses, as well as a police symbol on their chest, jetted from the upper city and then landed before them as their jet thrusters shut off and retracted back into their bodies before they began to stomp towards the kids, who huddled together nervously seeing they had to be local authorities for sure as the mob began to give way for them as they approached the D Team.

"Uh oh, we got company…." Max gulped nervously as he swallowed down hard…feeling almost like a criminal the way things looked.

Miku narrowed her eyes and flared out her feathers aggressively while Cera took her into her palm and hide her inside her pocket so she would be safer and so that she wouldn't act on instinct and complicate matters more.

Zoe then pointed out at them, "Oh they look like police! Maybe they can help us out!" she said trying to sound cheerful, though the others didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm she did, and frankly neither did she herself as the robots stood before them, stating tall above them rather menacingly as they sweated hard and their hearts began racing at their imposing figures.

"Excuse me you three." One Cop bot spoke to them in a deep mechanical voice.

"Y…Yes…sir?" said Cera to the robot uneasily as it stared down at them most menacingly.

"Were you the ones flying this vehicle?" The second robot then asked as they turned rather hard and painfully to it next.

As much as they wanted to deny it, they had a feeling if this was the future it was likely security would have lie detectors programmed into them so they didn't want to take the chances with it. "In a way….."

"Maybe….?" Zoe and Max sweated anxiously as she spoke as much truth as she could, even though she and the others themselves weren't very sure what to make of it.

The robots looked over them closely, examining them with close stares much to their discomfort and unease, before speaking out something which made their hearts stop momentarily, "It is under strict violation of security code 2235 that children under the age of 18 are not allowed to pilot any sort of vehicle." said Copbot 1.

"Especially one large enough to flatten nearly the entirety of the Central Park District!" concluded Copbot 2.

"Uh…oh…." They croaked painfully turning pale and their blood running cold at their words.

"I'm sorry but we'll need to take you into custody and for questioning." said the first robot as it held out a pair of mechanical handcuffs much to the children's alarm as they backed away!

"W…Wait! You've got it all wrong!"

"Yeah this is just a whole big misunderstanding!"

"We're not even from around here!" They cried out waving their hands frantically. Onlookers were unsure whether they ought to step in, it seemed much for the authorities to be arresting children…the again they did ruin their precious park so they had to take responsibility for it or at least their parents wherever they were.

Things began to heat up as the cop bots suddenly took out a pair of lightning rods which ejected from their torsos, "Do not attempt to flee or resist, otherwise we will be required to use force." they said as they flashed them which sparked with electricity! The sight of the sparking rods made the spectators murmur anxiously over what would happen next, whether they should do something or will the children attempt to resist or flee! Either way the tensions were peaking as the rods sparked and surged with power!

BZZT!

"WHA!?" Max and Zoe widened their eyes and their jaws hung in bewilderment that the robots were intending to resort to extreme measures already! The future of mankind was looking as bright as the D Team hoped it to be. Cera gritted her teeth in frustration as they were backed into a corner, as much as she didn't want herself or her fiends to be taken into to custody like criminals, it wasn't like they could run away or fight back otherwise they'd really be criminals….and it didn't seem like the robots were willing to listen to reason either….

Just when it seemed all hope was lost for the 3 children and that they would need to be taken away to a police station somewhere, the sounds of a whirring engine suddenly caught them by surprise.

"Huh?" As they looked up to where it came from, they saw a rather flashy yellow flying jet car model, shaped a little like Dr Owen's vehicle in the present, only more streamlined and rocket shaped as it landed right in behind the cop bots while the crowds backed away wondering who might be stepping in at a time like this.

"Great….What now?" Max muttered, seeing their welcome was a bad one so far, just what could make it more worse, he wondered as he and his friends waited in anticipation, their eyes firmly locked on the vehicle and the new arrival as the car's hood began to open up. They waited in anticipation on who was coming to greet them next, tensing up that it may be someone worse than the cop bots…..but nothing would prepare them for whom they were about to meet, bringing anew meaning to a blast from the past.

"AH!" As the hood opened, the D Team widened their eyes in disbelief to see 3 familiar adults appear from it, 1 an android and the other being parents of an old friend of theirs' whom they parted with not long ago!

"Hey it's Dr Ancient, Jonathan and Cretacia!" Max cried out loud as he pointed at them.

A blond boy in a blue jacket soon stood up and hopped out of the car and stood before them, bringing forth even more amazement to the trio of children, "And is that-" Zoe croaked at the end unable to finish.

"Can it be?" Cera breathed as the boy's eyes soon made contact with them, and soon his expression mirrored theirs'.

"Hey look dad!" Rex cried out in amazement as he pointed out at the trio of kids who were out at the Backlander, "Is that-"

As the adults looked, they too widened their eyes in amazement at whom they saw once again, "My word!" Jonathan gasped covering his mouth.

"By the stars…." Dr Ancient breathed in amazement, it completely defied all logical explanation and theory he could come up with, the Backlander was one thing but Max, Zoe and Cera were the ones who got it started?

"Oh my goodness!" Cretacia exclaimed as her heart skipped a beat at this stunning revelation.

The one most stunned was Rex, as he slumped out of the car, he stumbled towards what he hoped what wasn't a mirage of his old friends from the past. "Can it…really be?" he asked himself heavily, feeling choked and the breath squeezed out of him, as countless emotions welled inside him which he couldn't explain, understand nor control…..but he didn't care….

His friends too looked back at him, seeing him walk towards them slowly, and before long both sides weren't able to contain themselves as they rushed towards one another, "Rex!" the D team cried as they ran ahead towards him!

"Ahaha! Max! Zoe! Cera!" Rex's eyes welled with tears of joy as he ran towards them, and before long the entire D Team was reunited by a bind which transcended time and space as they both lay happily together on the grassy field laughing out loud!

"Hahahahah! We really missed you!"

"Can't believe it was just yesterday when we said goodbye."

"Not even the time space stream could keep us apart forever!" They said to one another as they welcomed each others' presence with hugs, high fives or fist bumps and other close greetings. Onlookers felt confused by what was going on, though most had an idea that this was a heartfelt reunion and so felt touched and moved, even shedding a tear or two as some began to leave to give them space while others stayed on to watch what would happen.

As the cop bots looked to each other and to both sides in confusion, unable to compute what was happening, Dr Ancient and Cretacia exited their vehicle and walked towards them before they bowed with respect to the local authorities, "Officers, allow us to take it from here. I assure you we'll take full responsibility for what happens from here on." Rex's dad calmly requested.

To robots thought about it for a bit, feeling unsure whether they should entrust their job to a mere archeologist….then again he had accomplished great feats especially with a most recent one involving dinosaurs and it seemed he knew these unusual visitors, so they decided to leave said matters in his hands, "….Very well sir, we shall leave these…children in your care…." they beeped before walking away from the scene and then jetted away to the higher city to report to their superiors.

"Have a good day." Cretacia waved at them with a cheery smile as she sent them off before she and her husband, along with Jonathan went up to the newly reunited D Team.

"What are you guys doing here!?" Rex cried out in uncontainable excitement, looking all around them hyperactively, "Also…how on earth did you get here to the future!?" he asked them as they looked to each other and chuckled nervously.

"We hitched a ride on that actually…." said Cera as she pointed to the Backlander with her thumb.

Her answer sparked curiosity amongst the Ancients and Jonathan, "I thought the Backlander's engines were completely destroyed. How did you manage to get it started up again?" Rex asked them as he got closer to them.

"In such a short amount of time too! Why it's barely been a day since we arrived back home here! It's like really blowing my mind!" Cretacia then cried out loud mirroring her son's curiosity.

"I am rather curious to know how you managed to accomplish such a near impossible task." Jonathan then wondered, even if it were possible to be fixed, the time it would take to repair the Backlander's engines would take much longer with the primitive tools, resources and equipment available, whereas in the future it took a single year to put together.

The 3 kids from the present day looked to one another unsurely, looking for one of them to volunteer to speak on their behalf, "Umm well….you see…." Max started as he twiddled his fingers together.

"It's a really long and funny story actually…." Cera chuckled as she scratched her head, wondering how they could explain this to them….as it was something one would only see in a fantasy movie or book. As crowds began to murmur and converse with on another, as well as begin photographing the group, Cera then frowned uneasily at how they were invading their privacy and interrupting their moment, "But now doesn't really seem to be the best time…." she said as Zoe blushed nervously, as much as she liked being the center of attention at times this wasn't one of those times. Max and ex too were put other on edge as some began whispering to each other, getting the idea they may have given them the wrong idea after their sudden appearance and what just happened with the cop bots.

"Hmm….You're right about that…." Dr Ancient thought to himself as he folded his arms and observed the situation.

"A valid point indeed….." Jonathan nodded before heading back to the car to get it started.

Rex saw he had a good idea before looking up at his parents, "Hey dad, how about we discuss this back home?" he asked him before looking around to see more news copters and people had gathered already for a look, "I don't think here is the best place to play catchup…." news sure was spreading fast throughout the city and pretty soon they'd ask questions and they'd never be able to get away for days.

"That sounds like a good idea son," Dr Ancient nodded in agreement with his son, the situation was getting tense and before long it'd be way too complicated to resolve.

"We'll have to explain this to the public too….somehow…." Cretacia narrowed her eyes as she and her husband walked ahead to try and explain themselves to the people.

As they did, Rex smiled as he looked to his friends, "Well guys, what do you say?" he said with a smiled nudging with his head to their car, "Feel like hitching a ride back to my place and filling us in along the way?" he suggested.

Max and Zoe brightened up in an instant, "Are you kidding!? A trip in a genuine futuristic flying car!? Aw yeah!"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" they cheered without hesitation, taking his offer up, "Plus now we get to see what your house is like too! That's just awesome!"

"Hahaha! Then it's a done deal!" Rex laughed holding a thumbs up as he then shook hands with them, before Cera came in last to join.

She smiled feeling happy to have the team reunited once again like they hoped. But soon she frowned to herself….feeling that perhaps the stone tablet may have wanted them to come to this time to join up with him again. No way that could have been a coincidence….but now that they have….what was in store for them now? Only time could tell.

 **(Later)**

Right after that, the Ancients did their best to talk to the crowds of people, telling them to calm down and not to panic, as some of them began to remember the ship to be Dr Ancient's backhander which he built a year ago, which helped make it much easier to explain. Right after that, as robot investigators and detectives arrived to go on board and inspect it, they also made a barrier line to keep spectators at a distance though it didn't stop them from trying to sneak pass it to get a first up close view of it or take some photos to remember the occasion by before being tossed back behind the line by guards who caught them.

In the midst of all that, the Ancients allowed Max, Zoe and Cera on board as they hopped into the flying car and took off for their house to recuperate, as well as catch up. Along the way as they passed by other flying vehicles and the cities, the present day D Team along with Cera began to explain to them how things had been since they left even if it had only been 1 day, before moving on to how they ended up here unexpectedly, needless to say the Ancients were most surprised by the news they delivered to them involving the stones and the role they played.

"So you're saying the stone plates brought you here to the future?" Jonathan asked as he steered the car ahead while the D Team sat in the back an the Ancients along with Rex were seated in the middle and were looking back to their visitors form the past, hoping they'd be comfortable in the back seat.

"Yeah that's how it went." Zoe answered him as she shrugged out her hands. Max looked on to see where the conversation would go, while Cera simply turned her eye away from them avoiding eye contact, feeling unsure of whether she should tell them about her encounter with the Pterosaur.

"Amazing…." Dr Ancient mused putting a finger to his chin in thought while Rex and Cretacia looked at him, "I thought they were all gone after being sacrificed to destroy the cosmos stones. To think they not only survived…but changed…no..evolved even!" he breathed in amazement.

"They truly are amazing aren't they?" said his wife, "Still shrouded in mystery and yet we barely managed to scratch the surface of understanding them….just like the dinosaurs." She then grinned as she pumped up her arms ready to get her working like the good old days, "Oh how I can't wait to get out my research tools and start poking around for whatever other cool secrets it may hold!" she said pumped up with excitement and psyched.

"Hahaha! There'll be plenty of time for that later honey." Dr Ancient laughed feeling excited himself for some new scientific discoveries awaiting them, though something else had to be addressed first, "But more importantly, how are you 3 feeling?" he then asked the other 3 kids politely as he looked to them.

"Yeah, I mean being teleported here all a sudden must have been quite a big surprise there, you guys feeling alright?" Rex asked hoping they didn't get hurt or scared along the way.

"We're a little shaken up and dazed….." Max muttered as he patted his head with his hand, "But no biggie, I mean we've travelled through time a lot before so nothing new right?" he shrugged it off as he and the 2 girls either smiled or grinned cheekily.

"Hehe, you make a good point there…." Rex then chuckled.

"I must say I am glad to hear you are all safe and unharmed." said Jonathan to the back though he kept his gaze fixed on the front as he flew the car.

"Indeed, to be sent travelling through time like that all by yourself….must have been quite a scary experience." said Dr Ancient feeling concerned, especially since they were close to the power source at such a close range it was a miracle they didn't suffer any side effects after that.

Max smirked and shook his hand out, "Nah we've survived way worse no worries." he insisted which made the Ancients more relieved to hear that.

"That's good to know," Cretacia breathed with a sigh before brightening up cheekily, "Because if not I'd be more than happy to nurse you all back to health personally!" she cheered putting on a bright smile guaranteed to lift anyone's mood.

"Hahaha we'd really appreciate that Mrs Ancient." Cera laughed along with Max and Zoe.

"Oh mom…." Rex chuckled in amusement though also slightly embarrassed too.

After that Dr Ancient turned his look towards her much to her surprise, "Well Cera," he said getting her attention, "Guess your instincts to stay put in the present a little longer were right in the end."

She tensed up slightly upon his mention of that as Cretacia then nodded with her husband, "Mhmm, I'll admit they may not have made much sense at first but I suppose some things do make themselves clear in the end."

"Yeah…you're right about that….not all things can be explained but that doesn't mean they should be disregarded or shrugged off as nonsense." she said to them uneasily, feeling insecure about sharing with them what she already knew.

"We'll keep that in mind next time." said Cretacia giving her the ok sign, "Well now that the stones have done their work and brought the Backlander back to the future where it belongs, I suppose there's no need for you to stay in the present any longer." she then said shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah! Plus we can help you find out your missing memories too!" said Max as he cheered up seeing they could be together to help her now in the future.

"All of us that is!" said Rex as he leaned in closer from the front seat ahead of them, "I'm sure there's a memory machine out there in the world we can find and help you out." he said holding a thumbs up, while Max and Zoe jittered in anticipation, Cera kept a more modest composure not wanting to keep her hopes too up.

"That…sounds great Rex…." she smiled happy for him, though feeling somewhat uneasy to tell them the real truth she was keeping from them, a truth she discovered about herself just recently and she didn't have the heart to tell them what it was. If they did have a memory machine however….she worried if they would see what she used to know too….

"Hey that'd be neat!" Max then grinned as he put a playful elbow around her and he smiled with excitement at her.

"Yeah, wonder what other cool stuff they have in the future too!" Zoe smiled as she clapped her hands together in deep interest in wanting to see what it had to offer.

"That sounds like a lot of fun kids." said Ancient with an enthusiastic smile. The D Team was glad to hear him support their idea of having fun, but his smile soon vanished and was replaced with an expression of concern which puzzled them momentarily, "But I strongly suggest we let your parents know what happened to you first before you make any plans." he then said to them.

Cretacia then nodded with him, "I agree, no doubt they'd be really worried about you after what just happened." she said as she began to remember a bad memory of when they got separated from their son Rex and not wanting to have their associates go through the same scare as they did.

Max then widened his eyes in shock, "Hey yeah that's right!" he gasped surprised he could forget something so important.

"Guess we caught up in the excitement we sorta forgot…." said Zoe as she scratched her cheek in thought, "Oh well, at least this D Watch Reese helped put together will help us contact the D Lab anywhere in space or time." She then said as she lifted up her hand and eyed the watch she had strapped on her wrist.

Rex widened his eyes in surprise at her statement, "Whoa! Reese actually made something like that!?" he gasped which caught the interest of his parents.

"Yup!" Max replied with a proud smile as he flashed his watch at Rex and Zoe followed.

"Here, Rex, you can hold onto mine for the time being. Take a look yourself." said Cera as she handed him the one she had on her, believing he deserved it more than she did.

"Cool thanks!" He said taking it excitedly before showing it off to his parents who eyed it with interest.

"My how utterly fascinating…." Ancient breathed as he took it from his son's hand and examined it closer on all angles, seeing it to be most simple yet also rather advanced for their time too.

"Wow, for a scientist in the earlier years Reese sure is gifted I'll give her that!" Cretacia praised clapping her hands together.

Ancient then narrowed his eyes and took notice of a few faults such as a few cracks on the screen followed by a fuzzy screen, "Hmm it seemed to have sustained some damage in your unexpected transport to the 22nd century…." he mused putting a finger to his chin in thought as the others came in for a closer look looking a bit concerned. He then smiled seeing it was a simple fix, "But not to worry, with a few more repairs and or even an upgrade or two, it'll be as good as new!" He said as the others brightened up with joy at his words, "And it's a good thing my workshop has everything we need to do just that!"

"Speaking of which, we're here!" Jonathan then cried out as the ship just arrived at their destination!

Looking down below was the docked space ship of the spectral space pirates, which had now been powered down and slowly disassembled as robots were coming in and out from it bringing in parts and equipment from it, into a large research building with a massive satellite dish docked on top, and the front of the facility had the D Team Logo fully administered to it hence completing the D Lab's first ever branch in the future!

"Whoa!" Rex's friends widened their eyes in amazement at the massive building, not only was it a research facility but also a home too! The best of both worlds combined and a dream come true for any kid who wanted to become a scientist when grown up! Not to mention it looked very classy too!

"Sweet house Rex!"

"I'm so jealous you get to stay in such a cool high tech place like that!" Max and Zoe said to him showering him with praise as we'll as hints of jealousy too considering he was living the rich life now.

"Hehe yeah it sure is…." Rex scratched the back of his head while blushing in embarrassment for the praise, it made him look like some kind of lucky rich kid….then again with what his dad accomplished and his field of work it was only natural, "Though nothing will ever replace your house Max….the one you let me stay in for so long….." he thought to himself after that, still missing it even now since he got back home to the future and slept in his new room there, which could never replace the experiences he had in his old one.

"I can't wait to tell my parents that we actually travelled to the future!" Zoe then squealed unable to contain her excitement a second longer.

"Oh they're going to be so jealous!" Max chuckled to himself, while Cera and Miku simply looked outside and smiled feeling they were blessed with so much good fortune to experience all this first hand, as the ship positioned above the landing dock on the house before descending to ground level.

 **(Later)**

Right after the D Team made it to Rex's house, they went to the communications area in order to let inform their parents about what had happened after their call got cut off last time, which needless to say they'd be more than worried after how they left off. With the Ancients' help they were not only able to repair the D Watches after the damage they sustained during the sudden energy burst released from the stone tablet as well as travelling to the future, but also add in some modifications to completely eliminate the interference from the time and space flux too. After that they plugged in Max's D Watch to the main computer so they'd all be able to talk and see the other calling side more easily, though right after the managed to make contact with the other end…..things went rather awry when Max and Zoe revealed where they ended up.

"WHAT!?"

"Excuse me!?"

"You can't be serious!"

"You're in the future!?" Each of Max and Zoe's parents exclaimed in shock and disbelief, while Patrick, Dr Owen and Reese remained wide eyed and speechless.

On the other side Rex gulped nervously, not wanting to be in his friends' shoes as the Ancients, Jonathan and Cera looked on to see how they would handle this, "Err….did you not hear us the first time or are you just shocked?" Max gulped, his heart racing terrified though he couldn't help but ask a rather stupid question thinking it'd be funny.

Spike didn't seem to take his sense of humour well though as he smacked his hands on the desk and leaned in closer with a furious glare that stared right into Max's soul! "The second one!" he roared as Max stuttered back and fell on his butt!

"WHOA!" He never saw his dad so mad before and it was something he hoped he'd never see again.

"Oh honey, I'm so relieved to see you're okay!" Aki cried as she pushed her husband aside to see her son. Max felt relieved thinking it might go better with his mom, but he was proven wrong as she suddenly shifted into a worried and serious mood, "Max! Do you have any idea how worried I was when I heard from your father that you, Zoe and Cera vanished with the Backlander!?" she then screeched which made Max's heart jump into his throat.

"S…Sorry mom but it just happened all so suddenly…." he swallowed it down again hard.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it this time!" She then shouted back which made him lower his head in shame, it wasn't their fault and yet it kinda was in the end. Either way he didn't think it was fair that they had to take such harsh words from their parents even if they did have every right to be worried.

As Cera only looked away, feeling guilty and responsible for it personally, Rex could only eye his friends in sympathy, knowing if he did something like this behind his parents' backs he'd worry them too. As much as he wanted to step in and say something he couldn't bring himself to, both out of fear and also feeling this was something they had to settle on their own.

Seeing the look on his son's eyes, Ancient then bravely stepped forward to try and reason with the other parents who were also his old associates, "It's alright everyone, I assure you than none of them are harmed in the slightest!" he said to them reassuringly but it didn't seem to have much effect sadly.

"That's not what matters!" Aki shouted at him as he soon became the target of Spike and Aki's anger.

"What does is that our children are now stranded in the future with no way of getting back home!"

Ancient looked to the side feeling a little ashamed too, as a parents had it been his own son he probably would react the same way, which required his wide to walk over to his side comfortingly.

Thankfully, for Zoe her parents weren't as furious with her as Max's were with him, "Zoe! Sweetie!" Dr Drake cried as he shoved through the other adults and muscled his way to the front, "Don't worry! Daddy will find a way to get through the fabric of time and space and save you!" he cried dramatically which made her sweat drop nervously.

Mrs Drake then looked to her husband with a light smile, "Dear, our Zoe's a big girl now….have a little more faith in her won't you?" she said to him.

Zoe then face palmed and sighed in deep embarrassment as the others looked to her in pity or with mischievous grins, "Dad please…." she then blushed red and covered her face feeling humiliated like she was his little girl in front of so many people, not only did she not want him to go time travelling again like before but he'd stick to her like a leech if he did manage to come to this time, something she didn't need at all.

"Well at least he really cares….." Cera then smiled to herself lightly, seeing how he was willing to completely abandon the whale rescue at Sanjo bay in order to try and save Zoe….even if it seemed pretty much impossible. After that she sighed uncomfortably but knew she couldn't hold it in any longer as she stepped forward where everyone could see her, "I take responsibility for this." she confessed standing up strong and firm but then lowered her head slightly in shame, "If it wasn't for me trying to investigate the Backlander on my own earlier without everyone's notice then this might not have happened….for that I'm really sorry…." she said bowing down ready to accept whatever harsh words the parents would have towards her in place of her friends whom were innocent victims in this matter.

"Cera…." breathed Max feeling quite moved by her resolve and how willing she was to stand up for them and take the blame for this…which she couldn't deny happened because of her. The others too were deeply moved by her maturity, which seemed to match that of wise grownups who experienced much, something she had to have learnt somewhere on her own somehow in such a short amount of time like the children were.

"It's…not your fault really…." Zoe then tried to speak up for her.

Cera looked back to her not wanting her friends to butter it down, for they knew she was telling the truth, "But still…."

"Please everyone do not panic." said Ancient as he spoke up once agin not wanting the blame game to continue any longer as he held out his hand to both sides of the conversation, "I assure you we're doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this." he said to the D Team kids then to the adults on screen.

"And you can also rest assured Max and Zoe will be in our upmost care." Jonathan added as he bowed down politely.

"We promise to look after them and once we complete the time gate they'll be returned home safely." said Cretacia with assurance as her husband nodded with her, something which made Rex breathe in awe at the responsibility they were willing to take upon themselves.

"Mom….dad…." He then shook his head and smiled with confidence as he stood with his parents as a completed family, "You can count on us for this, like how you guys helped look after me in the past I'll be sure to do the same for my friends," he said before looking to Max, Zoe and Cera, "It's what I owe you guys after being such great friends and all we've been through together."

"Rex…." Max breather teary eyed with Zoe, clapping her hands together feeling moved by his words, as he nodded back at them and held out a thumbs up. His parents smiled unable to be more proud of him than they already were to see him all grown up.

Cera meanwhile looked on and smiled feeling happy for the great bond her friends had with each other, to trust their lives into one another while being responsible for each other took a level of friendship very few could reach….something she hoped she could have with them too as she frowned slightly.

"Rex my boy!" Dr Owen thens house out loud in an authoritative like tone which surprised him.

"Y…Yes…umm….dad?" He was surprised by his foster dad's sudden shout but also conflicted whether he should call him dad when his birth father was already next to him.

Dr Owen's firm look suddenly blushed and turned teary eyed, "I couldn't be more proud of you right now!" he cried dramatically as emotional waterworks flowed from his eyes and he clapped his hands together and spun in a jolly mood, "Seeing how much of a man you've become really brings a tear to my eye! WAAAAH! You're really a chip off the old fossil rock aren't you!?"

As everyone else stared awkwardly at him, something he was oblivious to, Patrick then had to tap him on the shoulder to get him to stop, "Umm Senior…please not in front of everyone…." he pleaded feeling embarrassed at having to put up with his antics for years and still he hadn't learnt to act his own age.

Rex's mom smiled, she was exactly like how Spike described him to be….maybe he'd be her type too had they been in the same time line even, "You've done a great job raising hm Dr Owen, for that you have our deepest thanks and gratitude." said Cretacia to Owen which made him stop to give her the proper attention.

"I'm honoured to hear your words of praise Mr and Mrs Ancient." Dr Owen then bowed politely.

Seeing how his friends were in agreement and willing to trust their children's wellbeing in the Ancients' hands, as well as the children themselves fully on board with the idea, Spike then nodded deciding to give them all his blessing and support, "Very well Dr Ancient….Rex…We'll entrust the care of the kids in your hands." he said to each of them seriously which made everyone else smile to see that everyone was on board and in agreement, "What's done is done….all that matters is that they're safe."

"And we promise you won't be disappointed." Dr Ancient replied firmly with a nod to show they could trust him and his family to look after their kids, after all they helped raise Rex in his absence so it's time he returned the favour, he owed it to them as well as that's what friends should do.

"And Cera." said Reese as she looked to the red haired girl, catching her by surprise as the others began to eye her and Reese next curiously.

"Y…Yes?" she swallowed nervously wondering what they might have to say to her.

She then let out an eased breath as Reese then smiled, "Take care of yourself and everyone else, it's been great getting to know you." she said, "We hope you do find out whom you really are while you're there in Rex's time too." she concluded at the end as everyone nodded or smiled too hoping she'd find what she'd been searching for all this while in the future.

Cera looked around seeing all the kind expressions and supportive feelings emanating from everyone, she felt overwhelmed and touched as she put a hand to her chest and nodded, "Th….thank you….all of you…." she sniffled believing to be most blessed.

"I hope I'm not speaking out of term here." Reese then asked politely as the attention was focused on her. "Max, Zoe," she said to them both, "While you're there I hope you don't mind gathering data and information about the 22nd century, I am interested to know how it all came to be and the people who were responsible in driving humanity to develop in that way."

"Hey yeah! Of course! I'd love to know just how fancy and amazing the future is!" Spike smiled with excitement, patting his fist into an open palm entertaining Reese's suggestion as a great opportunity to learn mankind's accomplishments in the future, before looking to his son which surprised him, "Max! Since you never bring back any souvenirs or pictures of places around the world when you go dinosaur hunting, you'd better bring back photos of the future when you come home! If you don't you're grounded!" he demanded.

Hearing his sudden statement made Max sweat drop nervously seeing he may only be half kidding this time, "Err….s…sure dad…." he nodded back and gulped down.

"You too Zoe!" Dr Drake then cried to his daughter, "Also do let me now what animal hospitals are like in Rex's time! Please?" he begged as he sported a pair of glistening puppy dog eyes which Zoe felt may give her nightmares the net couple of days.

"Ahahah…okay dad…." she chuckled back just as nervous as Max was.

"Hahaha, careful, wouldn't want to have too many spoilers now would you dear?" Aki then laughed cheekily at Spike, "You even said so yourself when it came to a new movie release from Stanley Spinoberg." she sang which made his jaw drop then face fault.

"Errr….good point…." he muttered lowering his head in shame before shooting back in protest, "But this is totally different!"

"Don't worry dad," said Max to him as he held him a grin and a thumbs up, "We'll be sure to bring back some cool photos, a couple of souvenirs and tell you all about it when we get home!"

"See you soon!" Zoe then waved at them.

"Was nice seeing you all again!" Rex added as he waved too which spurred the adults on the other end of the call to wave back to them.

"Take care now!"

"We love you sweetie!" said Zoe's parents as they waved to her.

"Make sure you eat well and get enough sleep Max!" Aki cheered which made Max blush and twiddle his fingers shyly as Cera held in a chuckle.

"WAAAAAH! I'm so jealous!"

"Me too! If only we were younger!" Spike and Owen suddenly burst into tears crying in anguish as they hugged one another in despair, while Aki and Patrick patted them on the back comfortingly as the others either ignored or eyed them strangely before the call was ended, which thankfully went smoothly and the news was received well.

"So Rex, since you're in charge what comes next?" Cera then asked him as she, Max and Zoe looked to him.

"Hmm? Good question…." he thought out loud folding his arms before looking back to his folks, "Mom? Dad? What do you think?" he asked for their opinions.

They both smiled to him in response, "I think you're welcome to go anywhere son." said Ancient confidently as he patted his son on the shoulder.

"Just don't go too far and don't talk to strangers or any strange robots." his mom winked at the end while giving him the 'ok' sign.

"Hahaha got it." Rex laughed in amusement, sure they did save the universe but they were still children, and safety rules were still rules that applied to them after all. He then turned serious, "Meanwhile hope you can find out more about the stone tablet, and hopefully put together some new time machine to send Max and Zoe home." he said to them as his parents nodded back.

"We'll do our best son, but it'll take time too." said Ancient.

"So in the meantime go out, have some fun and explore like you kids always do!" Cretacia then cheered in jolly way before skipping and spinning about the room energetically, "Oh how I wish I could join and show you all the delights the future has to offer!" she sang before pouting and lowering herself down in disappointment, "Too bad I have to stay cooped up in this old lab and have to be stuck with the same usual science and research…." she pouted childishly as everyone chuckled nervously at her strange and wacky behaviour.

"Ehehehe…." To them it was like seeing like Dr Owen in a woman's body….

Ancient then patted her on the shoulder, "Now now honey, let them have their fun," he said to her before looking back to his son and his 3 friends, "Besides this is their first time together after being separated for a long while. At least let them have this."

"I suppose…." Cretacia pouted and twiddled her fingers.

"You kids just relax and enjoy yourselves." said Rex's dad trying to get them to ignore his mom's theatrics, "If anything comes up we'll let you know or vice versa."

"Sure thing dad." Rex nodded and so did the others.

"Don't overwork yourselves now." Max called.

"I'll see to it that they don't." Jonathan answered him, trusting Rex to look after himself and his friends now, as he excused himself to prepare a cup of tea for the Ancients.

"And take your time too, we're not going anywhere anytime soon so no need to rush." said Zoe at the end as everyone then began to laugh in amusement at the time puns she was making.

"Hahahaha!"

With that out of the way, Rex brought Max and Zoe in closer with his arms around their shoulders, then ushered Cera to come in too, "Well guys, come on! I'll show you the rest of the house before we see the outside neighbourhood!" he said with an excited grin as his friends smiled with excitement and eagerness for the tour of the real future world.

"Cool!"

"Sure thing!" Zoe and Max cheered while Cera kept a more modest composure.

"Lead the way." she said as they prepared to head outside through the door that Jonathan left.

They were about to step out but then Max stopped to ask Rex a curious question, "Say, where's Dr Z and the Alpha gang?" he asked him out of interest, "We haven't heard a peep from them since we got here."

Zoe then blinked her eyes realising Max did had a point, "Yeah, it's not like them to stay quiet." As strange as the alpha gang were at times it was even stranger to NOT have them around especially since they were in their time now.

"Mhmm, especially the 2 bumbling bozos, Ed and Zander, and of course the old lady…." Cera thought to herself.

"Oh they all went home the second we got back home." Rex answered with a smile, "Rod and Laura couldn't wait to go back home to see their parents, plus Dr Z kinda wanted to spend time with his family too. Same goes for the other 3."

"Good for them…." Cera replied feeling happy for them, especially the siblings since they were separated for what seemed like forever, to be back home in familiar surroundings and amongst loving faces must have been like a breath of fresh air to them.

Max at first frowned he wasn't able to say hi to them, but he then folded his arms behind his head laxly in relief, "Well on the bright side we won't have any of those weirdoes ruining our experience here in the future." he snarked.

"Yeah, also thing we need is that old lady cramping our style." Zoe concluded as they all laughed together at the end as they stepped out through the auto doors, "Say Rex could we see your room first?" Zoe asked last as the doors closed behind them.

Rex's parents smiled as they saw them off, but after that they looked to one another seriously before turning around to see the stone tablet which now rested in the container which held the stone plates in the past, the same device they used to hear the dinosaurs' final wishes before they met their end, as it was being scanned with various high tech equipment and various readings were being displayed on the monitors nearby.

While Cretacia went to the computers to get a closer look at the readings, her husband leaned down at the tablet and narrowed his eyes hard as he observed it closely, "To think the stone plates still survived after that titanic battle for the fate of the universe…." he mused lowering the energy output of the scanners then taking a magnifying glass to try and read the hieroglyphics depicted on it, though they were unlike any language he had ever come across in his past archeological experiences.

"Indeed, it's amazing how little we actually knew before…..to think they had so much to them buried underneath the surface that we barely scratched." said his wife as she typed away at the computer to perform simulations involving the energy usage and seeing if they could create a new time machine or at least a time gate with what limited time and resources they had with them.

"Still what does it all mean?" Ancient then asked himself seriously before leaning back and putting a finger to his chin in thought, "Also…if the stones are alive…would that mean the Pterosaur is too?" he then asked himself.

Despite having managed to acquire the time travel engine of the space pirate ship which they came back with, it was still badly damaged and much of the tools and technology they had was incompatible with its design and functions which made repairs difficult let alone being able to use it. They didn't have the heart to tell Max and Zoe that they would be stuck for a long while, and then there was Cera, whom they still promised to help in finding her lost memories and past, and it no doubt involved the stones if she caused it to evolve into its new form now….a huge challenge lay ahead of them but it was one they were prepared to undertake for their friends and the heroes who helped save the universe.

 **(Later)**

Meanwhile the D Team had a very wild ride exploring the future courtesy of Rex, whom they'd easily call the number 1 tour guide of all space and time. The first stop was non other than his house, which was divided in half between the upper and ground floors, the lower half which stretched underground represented his parents' archive rooms where they kept all their records, as well as their research lab and work shop, where they did building machines and new robots to help them on expeditions in the workshop. They also passed by the security room which had a single chair and multiple camera screens getting images from nearly the entire household perimeter, so highly advanced only one individual was needed to watch over the place at night, and that individual was usually Jonathan. They also went by the house's museum and Max and Zoe couldn't help but get up close to the exhibits depicting not just fully constructed dinosaur skeletons but also rare and unique artefacts too from different eras around the world, amongst them included the many souvenirs they gathered while on their journey across time and space to save their parents which included the Caribbean island jewels, their old musketeer outfits as well as Cera's tree from Ancient China was was growing rather well and was developing buds of fruit which Rex's parents were willing to examine to determine their nutritional value to humans.

After the lower floors were done they made their way to the living quarters, and needless to say, it was amazing how easily the bedroom could shift to the bathroom or a study room with the press of a button. Rex believed it would help save space if they could have an all in one room, something which only a certain few families were able to afford, though to him he still felt Max's house to be the most homy of all. There was also a giant tv place which was almost like that of a movie theatre room, where the visuals could be seen in 5 or even 6-d if needed, along with the house's huge satellite dish which brought in communications from all over the world it also brought in channels from across the planet too, plus it even linked to the house's internet so it could also serve as a massive computer if needed.

The fun didn't stop there, as Rex pointed out his house was merely the first stop on their tour of the future as Max, Zoe, Cera and Miku were increasingly pumped as he took them for a ride inside his own hover car, which appeared like a round rubber raft with 4 seats and a built in turbine fan below for flight capabilities as well as an assortment of controls and gadgets inside to make the trip comfortable including a back massager in the chairs and emergency eject functions too. His friends were amazed and rather jealous he could fly his own ride at such a young age, though since Rod and Laura were able to fly the alpha jets already who were they to judge him as Rex soon pointed out as they laughed it off. Just when they thought their view of the city from below was amazing, they were all completely blown away to see all sorts of high classed buildings across the city islands they passed over while also making sure to avoid the high sky traffic too.

As great as the flying cars, buses and jets were, looking down they could see all kinds of features one could imagine possible-such as holographic displays advertising new products from robots to automated cleaners. Some walkways had teleporter pads where one could step on it and then teleport to another part of the world which had it once they keyed in their exact coordinates, much like how the D Team had theirs back home only far more advanced and precise, not to mention energy efficient since it could be powered with normal electricity. On the top of energy, according to Rex a set of highly efficient satellites equipped with solar panels were used to harness direct sunlight from space before sending it back down for use, and high above the clouds eliminated the difficulties during cloudy or rainy days. There was even a weather control satellite deployed for functions to enable cloud seeding for areas in need of water and rain or to help eliminate weather anomalies from typhoons to blizzards to ensure people safety as they saw on a huge blimp displaying it on the news.

Passing by some of the buildings some of them even had indoor vertical farms being installed to help vegetables grow in the heavy urban jungle to ensure sustainability too, and on the ground as they looked form above, any litter carelessly thrown on the sidewalk was picked up by garbage can shaped robots which scooped up the trash, scanned and segregating recyclables and organic waste before sorting them into bags and then swallowing down the rest before taking it away from proper disposal. Trains were still in use as some tracks and connectors spread out from island to island, but unlike past trains they now ran on magnetism where magnetic fields help kept them suspended above the tracks while also pulling them from one station to the next, a feature also applied on some cars and trucks on the suburban levels, tyres and fuel was now virtually non-existent in this time, gone extinct like the dinosaurs did. Traffic lights which one directed streets now were carried by flying robots which were used to control flying vehicles too.

After all that was done, they stopped by an ice cream stand where the machine scanned their brain waves determining what their ideal flavour was before serving it to them whether on cone or cup, and the taste was truly out of the world. "Now that was the best ice cream I ever had!" Max cheered as he swallowed down the last bit of triple chocolate chip scoop along with the cone as he and the others decided to walk the rest of the trip back to Rex's house, taking the scenic route on the ground.

"Mhmm." Zoe and Cera nodded as they finished theirs next, though Cera allowed Miku to have the last nibble as she took it with glee and chomped on it down till nothing was left. Cera chuckled as her raptor licked her sticky lips before she wiped it away with a piece of tissue she had on her.

"And if you think that's cool you ain't seen nothing yet!" Rex smiled proudly, "This is only the beginning of what the future has to offer!"

"WHOA!" Max and Zoe both gasped with brightened excited eyes.

"As if it wasn't already awesome already!" Max grinned excitedly as he punched up to the sky, "I can't wait!" he cheered at the top of his lungs.

"Not to mention the clothes everyone's wearing! They're so cute too!" Zoe squealed clapping her hands together and blushing red, having passed by designer clothes and bags store and seeing fashion in this time to be unlike anything her own time had ever saw or even knew. If only she could live long enough to see it happen and even more into the future to try out what else fashion would evolve into.

"Yeah, the future really does rock!" As much as Max loved dinosaurs and studying both history artefacts like his dad did, he had to admit the land of tomorrow had its own charm too.

"If you think it's great now, just wait when we manage to get the dinosaurs settled in!" said Rex amping up the hype in his friends, "Heh, it'll be like the best of both worlds together! Now isn't that just cool or what!?"

"Heck yeah!"

"I wouldn't miss it for anything!" Max and Zoe both jumped up and down cheering at the top of their lungs.

The mention of dinosaurs again reminded Cera of the stone tablet, and after that she then frowned as she began to remember once more what she learnt from it, "Yeah….it sure is something…." she said sounding rather down and not as enthusiastic as her friends. On her mind, she had fears about the D Team's dreams coming to a possible dark end….

Her friends though quickly picked up on her change in mood much to their surprise, "Huh?"

Immediately started to pick for answers as they looked to her, "Hey Cera? You okay?" Zoe asked.

"You don't seem all that excited to see all this." Rex noted.

"Yeah, I mean we're in another time period, the far future to be precise!" Max cried, "Where everything we thought possible only in the imagination or movies! Come on, thought you'd get more thrilled about this since you guys are like the only ones to get a sneak peak of what's to come!" he said with a bright smile trying to encourage her to go with the flow and join them.

"Or is the future not at all what you were hoping for?" Rex then asked feeling a bit sad if it wasn't up to her standards or she hoped to see something else that he didn't know his home or even time couldn't provide, which made Max and Zoe sigh sadly with him too.

Cera widened her eyes realising the impression she was giving off, "N…No! Not at all you guys!" she cried waving her arms out frantically, "Everything really is amazing, to think this is what humanity will accomplish later on down the line too….It really is incredible…." she said with a bright smile as she looked around to survey the blend of the suburbs and nature together with the modernised its high above. It helped make her friends smile to see her happy, but soon she frowned once more, "It's just….well…." she said looking way, avoiding eye contact as her friends blinked at her in concern and interest.

"Yes Cera?" Zoe asked, before walking to her and taking her hand and holding it closely, "If there's something on your mind you can tell us." she said encouragingly.

"Yeah we're your friends, you can tell us anything." Max followed as he, Rex and Zoe all looked to her with concern and kindness, hoping she'd be more open because they cared for her and whatever was troubling her they did not want her to bear alone.

Seeing no way out and unable to handle the weight on her chest longer, Cera let out a heavy sigh as Miku spurred her with encouraging chirping, as she looked to them all ready to tell them what was on her mind, believing it was for the best and it was time at last, "Alright…guess I can't hide it anymore." she started and with a heavy heart she began to say her piece, "There's actually been something on my mind recently….it happened the moment I set foot in the Backlander's reactor core and found the stone plate." As she said that her friends fell silent, realising that this may be bigger than they first thought. Cera then let out a deep sigh, "You see….right after Miku and I touched the stone….I….I…" she then swallowed hard as she forced out her big secret painfully, "I actually saw the Pterosaur again." she admitted, while she was able to lift off a large weight of guilt off her chest, another soon dropped on her back as her friends were about to deliver it straight to her.

They widened their eyes in disbelief, "WHAT!?" They exclaimed together.

"You mean THE pterosaur!?"

"You actually saw her again!?" Max and Zoe cried in alarm.

"But…how!? I thought she disappeared after the stone plates were…." Rex then stopped himself as he paused in thought, "Then again the stones survived so it shouldn't be that surprising….but still how did she and they-?"

"Yeah I know how you feel…even I don't know it myself. That's what bothers me…." she said cutting him off before looking away from them avoiding eye contact, "But I guess….she must have returned to the stone plates back then and lay dormant so she could regain her strength once more." she theorised, as Miku looked to her with concern as she got to the worrying bit, "And she also said something about….us saving the universe was just the start….a test that we passed….all so that we'd be prepared too face….a new darkness….the true final battle….." She said at the end feeling most uneasy.

Her friends blinked in surprise at what she told them, "A new darkness?"

"The true final battle?" Zoe and Rex said rather uneasily.

"Whoa that doesn't sound very good." Max commented at the end as a drop of tense sweat fell from his cheek.

"Yeah….not to mention we really cut it close saving the universe from the dark pterosaur now there's more?"

"Guess a hero's work is never done huh?" said Max trying to make a joke, but Rex and Zoe glared at him seriously which made him look away and twiddle his fingers in shame, "Sorry I'll keep quiet now." he apologised admitting he may have spoken out of term.

"Did she say what kind of new battle we'll be facing soon?" Rex then asked feeling concerned.

"Well whoever's causing trouble in the universe will have to answer to us! The D Team!" said Zoe as she punched a fist into her open palm with energy and determination.

"Yeah! Bring em on!" Max grinned as he punched forward, "Tell us who it is and we'll take a dino sized beatdown to them any day of the week in a heartbeat!" he declared bravely.

Unfortunately Cera had no answer she could give them on that note, "She didn't say whom or what sadly…." she sighed shaking her head much to their disappointment.

"Oh…."

"That's a shame…." They muttered back.

"Still as secretive as ever…." Rex noted as he folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the situation.

Cera though had one secret she could say to them, but it wasn't an easy one she could reveal, "But the thing is….right after I met her…..I…." she gritted her teeth hard as she began to force out her biggest secret of all which she had kept to herself all this time, "I actually…managed to remember who I am…and where I came from…."

As soon as she uttered those words, Max and the others exploded with disbelief and amazement, "WHAT!?"

"You actually got your memories back thanks to the Pterosaur!? But how can that be?"

"Did the Pterosaur have something to do with you losing your memories in the start!? Did you like maybe see her once before? What's your connection!?" Max and Zoe asked frantically as they leaned in close to her, as her heart raced uneasily at the pressure she had at answering so many personal questions at once.

"Guys! Calm down! One at a time please!" Rex then cried pleading them to stop, "I'm sure Cera's feeling overwhelmed at the moment, remembering who she is and travelling to the future with you, cut her some slack will you?" he said in a concerned tone as he looked towards her, as they saw she was indeed looking quite insecure and tired herself.

Realising this and knowing where they went wrong the let out a sigh, "You're right…sorry Rex…." Max apologised while Zoe looked away in regret at being so inconsiderate to her, as Miku let out a sad coo seeing her partner frowning sadly. After that Max then smiled lightly as he thought up something else instead, "Actually, you know what, we can save all that for another." he said looking to Cera, "How about we just start off nice and easy. You can tell us who you are and where you came from first."

Zoe then brightened up at the idea, "Yeah Cera." she said with interest, "We'd really like to know more about you that way if it's fine with you?" In fact it wasn't just her, Max and Rex too were interested in learning more about Cera's origins, which time she came from, did they use dinosaurs like they did and how their relationship was with people. Also, what were her friends and family like too, so many questions they had been waiting long to ask and now they had their chance to get their answers and get to know their friend all the better.

Despite the enthusiasm each of them showed, Cera herself didn't seem to share the mutual feeling as she scratched her cheek uneasily and looked away, "I….well….I don't know you guys…." she choked hard.

"Huh? Why not?" Max asked as he and the others blinked in surprise that she didn't want to share with them, "Is there something you don't feel comfortable in sharing with us? Like you did something bad or had a traumatic experience you don't like to talk about?"

Zoe and Rex suddenly glared at him for running his mouth so carelessly, "MAX!"

He stuttered in surprise that he ran his mouth again, "Urk! Sorry I…I didn't mean to-"

Cera held her hand out to him cutting him off, "No Max it's fine….in fact you're not that far off." she admitted with a rather pained smile.

Her words once more brought up confusion amongst the D Team, in fact even more so than before, "Huh?"

"What do you mean?"

She then sucked it up and mustered up whatever courage she had in her, to her this was more daunting than saving the universe before, but she was prepared to face what would come next as she opened her eyes firmly, "I mean…that-" Right at the moment, unfortunately or fortunately, a portal through time suddenly began to open high above them all a sudden! Cera then widened her eyes in alarm and her jaw dropped in shock at what she saw, "Ah!"

Her friends blinked in surprise that she suddenly stopped and was staring at the sky, "Hmm?"

"What's wrong Cera!?" Rex and Zoe asked, before they all felt a shadow come across them and noticed she had to have been staring at that, as they turned around to look, "What are you-"

"HUH!?" They widened their eyes in bewilderment to see a massive space ship appear out from the portal, it was metallic silver and shaped much like a large gun was, and around its side hull and upper area was coated in a menacing layer of purple crystals which also seemed to be embedded with circuitry around them! It also sported a set of blade like wings which were also embedded with an outer layer of crystal as it hovered right over the suburban district of the city and caught the attention of everyone present in the area as they quickly stopped whatever activity they were doing and began looking outside their windows or up at it in fear or awe at the unexpected visitor to their city!

"Wh…What the-!?" Max stuttered as he stumbled back and nearly fell on his butt at the sudden arrival of the ship!

"Is….that a spaceship?" Zoe gulped hard as she began to sweat nervously.

"Not one I've seen around here…." Rex stated, if he did he'd remember it and this was the first time he saw a ship as menacing as this one was.

"Oh no!" Cera suddenly cried out widening her eyes in horror at something she took notice of on the invading spacecraft, as her fiends turned to her quickly in alarm upon hearing her cry.

"What is it Cera!?" Rex asked.

She pointed out at it, "Guys! That ship's symbol! Look!" she cried urging them to focus where she was aiming at.

As they followed her finger to where she was pointing, at the top of the ship where glass observatory was, their hearts skipped a beat upon recognising the symbol it was carrying, "AH!"

"No way…."

"It can't be!" They gasped upon realising the mark of their old enemies whom they thought were long vanquished but seemed to have returned like ghosts from a really bad past!

"The space pirates!?" Zoe cried in disbelief as she stumbled back overwhelmed by this revelation.

"But that's impossible! We destroyed the dark pterosaur and them along with it!" Rex yelled out in anger, "How could they have survived that!?"

"I don't know…." Max gritted his teeth hard, seeing they were much tougher to kill than cockroaches, "But they're back, and we've gotta stop them right here and now!" he said firmly as he clenched both his hands into fists and the others nodded with him in agreement. Even if they did somehow survive, just like before they'll just put a stop to their schemes and this time for the last time!

Cera took notice of a few hatches on its sides opening, "Guys! Something's happening!" she pointed out. Falling out of them were several odd shaped rocks which smashed down on vehicles, lampposts or made huge potholes on the round upon impact, before goo began to fill them and they took form as slimy monsters!

"AH! It's those slime goons again!" Max cried in disgust.

"Gel jarks….." Cera hissed in disgust as bad memories began to return to her and Miku, about them attacking

What they were about to witness was almost like a replay of what she bore witness years ago….as they materialised from the rock capsules they were ejected as and immediately beginning to terrorise innocent civilians who ran from them screaming on sight! Some were even willing to abandon their loved ones and properties in order to save their own skins as more and more of them appeared around the suburban district and they began to disperse and spread like a plague across the district!

"Help!

"Run for your life!"

"Aliens are invading!"

"It's the end of the world!" They screamed out loud as the slime monsters began to chase after them, grab some people and tossed them far away, lift up vehicles or ornaments like potted plants and benches and either throw them into houses or at other people who were knocked down or barely managed to avoid them in time! Before long as they began to kick down vending machines and throw vehicles at houses and properties explosions began to erupt all around as the echoes of screaming people began to fill the air, followed by smoke and cinders!

The D Team could only watch to see the terror and destruction erupting all around them as they widened their eyes in horror.

"Oh no! They're destroying everything!" Max yelled out loud both in anger and shock as he gritted his teeth and tensed up his hands into fists.

"We need our dinosaurs now!" Zoe shouted out to Cera and Max, "And lots of salt too while we're at it!"

"This way!" Rex waved out to them, "The dinosaur holding chamber isn't far from here!" he yelled pointing at a large brown building in the distance with a tyrannosaurus skull opening and the door inside its' mouth, "If we can get there, we can get our dino bracers and our dinos too!"

Max and Zoe smiled brightly at their new hope, "Awesome! Not only will we get to see Chomp, Ace and Paris again, but we'll get to kick butt again like we used to!" Max grinned as pumped up an arm, "Just like old times!"

"Then it's settled!" Zoe smirked while Rex nodded.

"You go on ahead!" Cera then shouted to them, "I'll…stay here and try to help get the civilians out of the crossfire! Buy you some time so that when you do call out Chomp and the others it'll be that much easier to handle the situation." she said to them.

Her friends weren't full on board with her going at the invading monsters by herself, but seeing time was of the essence and people in need of help there was no room to argue as they nodded back at her reluctantly, "O…Okay if you say so….." said Zoe uneasily but decided to trust her on this, seeing she was used to handle situations like this pretty well by herself in the past so this wasn't all that different.

"You be careful Cera!" said Max as he and Zoe began to follow Rex to the dino storage room, "We'll be back with you as soon as we can!" he shouted to her as they headed towards the building and she nodded back at them.

As people began to ran past her in fear, she held her ground firmly and turned behind to see a large group of Gel Jarks incoming with a wall of fire erupting behind them in their wake. Despite the massive number of foes awaiting them, Cera only smirked with confidence as she looked to her trusty partner on her shoulder, "Okay Miku, it's time we deal with these slime freaks just like we did before." As she said that, Miku chirped in agreement and snared at their approaching foes with hatred driven by her instincts and past experiences. As she was retune to card form, Cera then slashed her across her dinoshot, "Dino slash! Micro raptor shine!" Miku appeared in full sized form on Cera's shoulder, flaring out her wings and screeching out at their many foes as they took this as a threat and rushed towards her in full force! Despite that, Cera hardened her expression and readied herself for them, "Come get some you slugs! Ha!" she shouted back at them before rushing ahead at them courageously!

 **(Meanwhile)**

It didn't take long for news of the sudden attack and invasion of the gel jarks to reach the ears of the Ancient household, and before long they witnessed it all happen on the news in their laboratory room, needless to say both of Rex's parents along with Jonathan were getting horrible flashbacks of their horrendous experience being kidnapped and being taken captive under those slime monsters before and seeing them again did NOT being back any pleasant memories as they eyed the destruction and chaos on screen with horror and disgust.

"Impossible!" Ancient cried in anger and shock as he stepped back from the screen seeing the gel jarks once again, "I thought we were finally rid of all those slimy abominations!"

"Ugh apparently they're abut as sticky as gum on a shoe…." Cretacia shuddered as she hugged herself nervously, having had a bad experience the first time they grabbed hold of her and their slimy sensation scarred her deeply, even now she was still having nightmares.

As Jonathan narrowed his eyes, readying himself in the event he may have to fight, Ancient meanwhile put a finger to his chin in serious thought, "Is Specter behind this attack?" he asked himself before gritting his teeth and slamming it on the desk in frustration, "How? There's no way he and his pirates could have survived that explosion! It defies all possible logic!" he yelled out loud in frustration lowering his head, wishing they were rid of that cosmic lunatic since the day they ended it all….What did they do to deserve such a cruel fate.

Cretacia eyed him sadly, understanding how he felt, she too wished to be rid of that tone death psycho space alien the moment they were taken captive by him as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder, if only she could find the right words to say to him. The problems didn't stop there though, suddenly the screen shifted to one where the D Team trio found themselves surrounded on all sides by gel jarks!

The adults widened their eyes in alarm at the severity of the situation.

"Rex! Max! Zoe!"

"Oh no!" Rex's parents cried in alarm to see now their son and his friends were in danger, clearly this wasn't the best experience they should have on their first time to the future!

"My goodness!" Jonathan widened his robotic eyes.

Ancient quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a key card, "Jonathan! Here!" he shouted at his butler as he threw the card to him as he caught it in his hand, "Get the children their dinosaurs and their dino bracers from the vault! They don't stand a chance without them!" he shouted to him.

"And hurry!" Cretacia added at the end as she clapped her hand in anxiety.

Jonathan stood firmly straight and saluted his creators obediently, "Yes master! At once!" he said before dashing away through the doors as fast as his legs could take him, for time was of the essence.

"Be careful….and please hurry…." Cretacia pleaded anxiously as she put a hand to her chest as the doors closed behind Jonathan.

Meanwhile Ancient eyed the monitors closely at the destruction and damages ensuing in other parts of the town area, "First the stone return and send Max, Zoe and Cera to this time…." he then clenched his hands into fists tightly and narrowed his eyes as the chaos began to spread from the suburban districts and were beginning to get close to the pillars holding up the cities, "Then the space pirates return? How much do you want to bet this is a coincidence dear?" he asked her as she looked to where he was.

"No chance at all…something has to be up….and we need to find out what." she then said in agreement. Before they could make a move to investigate, the house's red alarm sirens suddenly rang loudly which caught them both by surprise!

RING! INTRUDER ALERT! RING! INTRUDER ALERT!

"What!?" Cretacia gasped as she and her husbands looked up at the flaring sirens frantically around the ceiling of the room.

"That's the security alarm! The house has been breached!?" Ancient exclaimed in disbelief that it happened right after they sent out their only means of protection!

BOOM!

A massive explosion suddenly burst through the walls in front which blew both of Rex's parents back! "AAH!"

SMACK!

They chased hard against the back wall, slamming hard into it as they slid down and gritted their teeth wincing with immense pain in their sides where the collided with the really hard surfaces!

"Urgh….Ow…." Cretacia groaned painfully as Ancient crept to her and embraced her in his arms.

"Cretacia! Are you alright!?" Ancient gasped as he eyed around her nervously, checking for injuries but thankfully nothing seemed broken or out of place as he felt her.

She opened her eyes weakly and looked up to him with a light smile, "I'm okay dear….don't worry, I've dealt with way worse than this…." she said (meaning in both in field work and with bad mannered men she met before Ancient) which made him smile with ease to hear his wife was unharmed.

"Thank the stars…." he breathed in relief, but the moment between them didn't last long as the sounds of agitated beating from the smoking hole ahead caught their ears and attention!

BEEP BEEP

Entering inside were a group of gel jarks which had charged straight through the security systems and now were prepared to pull off a raid on the Ancients' household!

"AH! They got in!" Cretacia screamed a she backed away till her back was up against the wall, she also shivered with immense fear and PTSD about past events in captivity, as the slimy monsters came in and flooded the room!

Ancient gritted his teeth tensely as he came to a startling realisation, "Those attacks outside must have been a diversion!" he grunted having now realised that the attacks outside were to get authorities and focus on the suburbs when all along their true target was their laboratory!

As he tensed up trying his best to think up a way they could get out of this situation, to his surprise Cretacia suddenly stepped forward and pulled out a beaker of salt from her pocket! Something she was using in a recent experiment in the chemistry lab, having tested the effect of salt on samples 'generously' donated by Seth's assistant, and something she held on for personal reasons involving an old sticky situation which was very much like this one now! "Stand back! I've got a batch of salt with me and I'm not afraid to use it!" she shouted threateningly as she waved it out at the jarks! The robots, recognising it began to beep in a terrified manner as some of them began to back away from her.

She then grinned rather cheekily seeing she had the upper hand now and not giving up the chance, "HA!" she threw out a large wave of the salt from the beaker which splattered on a couple of the jarks causing them to fizzle out and melt away till they were but puddles and rock! Ancient blinked his eyes in surprise at how wild and fierce his wife had just acted, he knew she was upbeat and courageous at times but this really took the cake, guess bad experiences can really drive some people off the edge at times, hinted as she began laughing proudly at her accomplishment and stomped on the rocky remain of one jark in triumph, "Ahahah! You see that!? You slime balls won't take us this time!" she laughed pointing out at the remaining jarks who became unnerved at their comrades having been melted and seeing they could be next!.

"Th…That's right! We've been Specter's prisoners long enough! We're never going back ever!" Ancient shouted with his wife having worked up the courage to fight against his old trauma as he stood firm together with Cretacia!

The jarks backed away shuddering anxiously, as the Ancients both smirked with confidence seeing they finally had their chance at pay back for all the time they had been locked up with the other parents and confined as unwilling servants in Specter's plans. The moment didn't last long, as some of the jarks, having noticed the 2 adults had dropped their guard, quickly fired out blobs of goo from their arms which shot out at them before they could react in time!

"AH!"

SPLAT!

In an instant, the 2 of them were incapacitated as the blobs hits their mark against them and sent them flying back into the wall where they were stuck and completely restrained! No matter how hard they struggled much to there frustration they couldn't break free or get loose from their amorphous binds, "ARGH! Can't…move! I'm stuck!" Ancient growled as he tugged and twisted but the gel held him firmly in place much to his discomfort.

"Urgh! Eww! Gross!" Cretacia jittered before turning green in disgust and cringing having gotten a whiff of the slime's stench up close. Looking ahead she turned pale as the jarks began to walk up towards her and her helpless husband! "St…Stay back! I'm warning you!" she shouted at them but her words didn't seem to faze them in the slightest!

"Don't you dare!" Ancient yelled out in anger, his heart racing non stop fearing that he and his wife would end up being taken captive once more like before! They froze in place and gritted their teethe tensely as the jarks stopped before them, they then closed their eyes unwilling to look or go through it again…..but a moment passed and nothing happened much to their surprise. "Huh?" Instead the jarks looked away from them and headed for their work table instead, "They're not coming for us?" Ancient blinked his eyes in confusion.

"Then what could they possibly want?" Cretacia then wondered curiously as they began rummaging through their belongings at the desk.

As they began tossing away lab equipment, research notes and other things on the floor carelessly, they found what they were looking for in a certain metallic case which Dr Ancient narrowed his eyes at, "That case…." he began to wonder what would they want from it, but it took him a few minutes to realise that the case contained the cards of the very dinosaurs the space pirates used to terrorise their kids and countless others in their quest for the cosmos stones! All this time it had been a raid in order to get back their strongest weapons of all! "Those cards! Stay away from them! NO!" His cries fell on non-existent ears, as the jark with the case nodded to its cohorts seeing they had completed their objective. Seeing no need to take any hostages, as it would only slow them down (As well as repeating past mistakes), they turned around and marched out through the opening they pushed in the wall leaving the Ancients frustrated at the theft they failed to prevent while also hanging stuck to the wall like flies in a spider web! "Grrgh!" Ancient grunted with immense frustration though his agitated thrashing did little to ease his jelly binds.

"Oh great now they've got their nasty dinosaurs back…." Cretacia then muttered in annoyance before becoming most concerned, "But still…they don't need us? Not that I'm complaining but why does that make me feel uneasy?" she asked looking to her husband who narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know…." he replied as he struggled once more to no avail, "Urgh….But whatever the case is, we can't let them get away…" Which was a task easier said than done seeing he and his wife were both tied up literally and it didn't look like they were going anywhere anytime soon. It was then seeing no other way, Ancient sighed as he lowered his head in defeat at their last and most desperate hope left, "Can't believe I'm saying this….but let's hope Dr Z and his team can get here in time…." he sighed most reluctantly, the last thing he ever wanted to do was to rely on him and his incompetent team for help, though under the circumstances they were out of options…though hope would soon arrive for them as on screen away from their eyes, Jonathan was on his way returning to the house, having managed to complete his task in the nick of time.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Max, Zoe and Rex gritted their teeth as they found themselves surrounded on all sides by Gel jarks that were lying in wait to ambush them as they made a run back to the dinosaur storage rooms! The jarks beeped and raised their arms out as they closed in a tighter formation and prepared to seize them before they could become a threat to oppose them.

"Tch! This can't be….Not when we're so close too!" Max clicked his tongue as a bead of hard sweat dripped from his brow seeing they had no way of getting out of this one.

"Come on guys!" Zoe pleaded to the boys in a panic as her heart raced with fear, "We've got to think of a way to get past them!" she cried.

"Well we'd better do it quick because here they come!" Rex then yelled in alarm as the jarks suddenly charged forward at them!

"AAAAH!" They screamed and closed their eyes afraid to look, only for a familiar yell to get their attention!

"Master!"

They opened their eyes again and looked in the direction it came from, "AH!" As they looked ahead a number of jarks were being tossed out of a certain line one by one, and as others began to turn to look they ended up getting thrown away too by Rex's butler android who came in the nick of time to their aid!

"It's Jonathan!" Max smiled with delight as he and the others brightened up with hope.

He then reached into his pocket, "Here! Catch!" he yelled a heads up throwing the 3 dino bracers at them.

The D Team widened their eyes at the sight of their old gadgets incoming, "AH!" raising out their arms they leapt up and grabbed them in time!

"Got it!"

"Wow! Our dino bracers!" Max then opened up his own and inside was a certain card which made him even more excited than before, "And it's Chomp's card!"

"I've got Paris too!" Zoe called out as she held out her own.

"Aha! So good to have you back Ace!" Rex chuckled as he did the same and the feeling was like putting on an old shoe.

"Thanks Jonathan! Right on time as usual!" Max cheered to him as Jonathan smiled and bowed down politely to him.

"Consider it a welcome back present from Dr Ancient himself!" He said before hardening his expression and readying a battle stance as the jarks he tossed away began getting back up and regrouping to close the hole he punched through their ranks! "Now allow me to assist you in cleaning up this disgusting mess." Before he could take action though, a red alert alarm suddenly sounded from Rex's house which caught everyone by surprise! "AH! The distress siren!" Jonathan gasped in alarm widening his eyes.

"That means mom and dad are in trouble!" Rex cried worrying for them that they may get taken away again.

"Oh no!" Zoe yelped covering her mouth.

"Grr…" Max gritted his teeth now seeing that the attacks outside were just a diversion to draw their attention away, when all along their targets was Rex's house or more precise….something inside it!

"AH! How could I have been so careless to leave them unguarded!?" Jonathan then growled cursingly to himself as he clenched a hand into a fist.

Rex turned to him seeing he couldn't rely on anyone else to save them now, "Jonathan go back and help them! We'll take care of things here!" he said with assurance and urgency.

Jonathan looked to see the enclosing gel jarks approaching them, normally he'd protest against it considering his main objective was to protect Rex, but under these circumstances he was well adept enough to care for himself and that his other masters were of top priority now. Looking to Rex and his friends he nodded with confidence in him, "Alright sir, I'll leave you to these monstrosities then!" he said as he ran back towards the house, using the power in his mechanical legs he launched himself over the jarks and sped towards the house as fast as he could, creating large dust clouds being him in the process.

The jarks looked to him but decided against chasing after him seeing he may not be worth the trouble, especially when there were already 3 helpless unarmed children just waiting to get plucked! Little did they know was that they had made a decision they'd deeply regret.

As they found themselves boxed in, fingering the cards in their hands the D Team looked to one another with confident smiles, "You ready team!?" Max cried to them as they nodded back at him with affirmation.

"Always!"

"Just say the word!" Rex and Zoe answered holding a thumbs up to him in response.

Max then grinned seeing that to be the call, "Then here we go!" he cried out loud at the tip of his lungs, surprising the jarks as to how they could be so confident now.

They were soon about to regret wondering why as the D Team took out their cards and just like they did so many times before, they slashed them across the dino bracers! "Dino slash!"

"Go triceratops! Roar!"

"Carnotaurus! Blow them away!"

"Parasaurolophus! Bloom!" As their partner dinosaurs appeared once more from the bright light and roared out against their foes, caught by surprise as they backed away nervously, the D Team couldn't help but look towards their respective former partners, who then eyed them back as both sides greeted one another with great joy, welcoming one another's presence like it had been forever!

"Ahaha! Chomp! It's so good to see you again!" Max laughed as the large triceratops came in and nuzzled at him and Max began patting his nose horn. Had he been small size he'd have nibbled his face but now couldn't do so, but was happy to see his old friend once again.

"Oh Paris how I missed you so much." Zoe wept tearfully as Paris lowered her head down allowing Zoe to stroked her gently, as she then let out a calm sound from her crest in delight and joy at their reunion.

Meanwhile Ace lowered his head down to Rex and licked him with affection on the cheek, "Heh, not the way I'd expect our reunion to go Ace." Rex chuckled petting him on the snout, "But at least we're together again and ready to kick butt like we always do!" He then said with an excited grin as Ace roared out loud.

Around them a number of civilians who were passing by fleeing in terror, suddenly stopped upon hearing the unusual roars. Their expressions of terror and fright ceased and were instead replace dwiht awe and amazement upon seeing 3 full sized dinosaurs alongside the D Team! "AH!"

"Look mommy! Giant dinosaurs!"

"Is that what Dr Ancient was working on!?"

"Amazing!"

"I want one too!" They all began crying out loud and see even began to take pictures and selfies of them, only to be disturbed by the sounds of the beeping Gel Jarks which spurred them to resume their panicked fleeing!

With the civilians all out of the crossfire, and the jarks having lost some of there nerve to continue fighting in sight of intimidating saurian adversaries, the D Team saw this as their chance to press their advantage! "Okay team, just like old times! Let's clean house!" Max yelled punching his arm forward as Zoe and Rex nodded in agreement with him.

"Yeah!" With that the D Team charged out in different directions, splitting up to break the enemy ranks up into much smaller and manageable groups as they began doing what they always did in a time of crisis, fight with everything they've got!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Deep inside the ship's control center, Goma, the emperor of shadows as well as the space pirates' new leader, grinned disgustingly with sadistic delight seeing his foot soldiers causing all kinds of chaos down below. It was deeply satisfying seeing the puny humans run away screaming like the insignificant insects they were, how easily they were provoked and scared by causing simple chaos such as destroying property like throwing vehicles into buildings or even simply by their mere presence! Adults and children alike cried out in terror as they scattered like ants while explosions and fire erupted in different parts of the town as the sounds of sirens howling and screaming mixed together in a glorious destructive harmony only he would enjoy from the darkest depths of his black heart!

As Goma indulged in the moment he smirked with satisfaction being this reminded him of the good old days when the pirates first declared war on humanity in the far future, and how thrilling the tides of war and battle were. Too bad the fun didn't last and it had all come to an end after he acquired a great power source that tipped the balance of power in his favour, a power he discovered on his own when his father along with his crew departed leaving him in charge of what they left behind. Something he didn't enjoy at first but eventually turned out to be well worth it.

Hearing another screen flashing he swiped away the ones he was watching and focused on 3 new screens that popped up, depicted some unexpected but interesting developments. In one screen featured Max who shouted out Chomp to use Lighting strike which vaporised a line of Gel jarks in its path, punching a huge hole in the enemy mass coming at him! Another featured Rex commanding Ace to use sonic blast to blow several enemies away and splatting them along the roads and walls! In the last one showed Zoe as she had Paris use emerald garden on a bunch of jarks, causing plants to grow from the impact spot which then restrained the slimy monsters and sapped the liquid out of them before they were reduced to rocky remains! Despite the 3 new enemies having appeared and turning the tables on his minions, Goma didn't appear worried at all, in fact he began to smirk and tap his fingers together feeling most entertained.

"So this is the D Team that the resistance holds in such high regard…." he mused to himself as they fought with the best efforts to deal with wave after wave of gel soldiers while also risking their lives to help trapped civilians, either using their dinosaurs to lift up cars lying on top of families or driving away foes who were attempting to surround them! He then scoffed unimpressed seeing their efforts and talents were wasted on such meagre matters, "Heh to think my father and his team would be defeated so easily by mere children, which would make them all incompetent amateurs." He rested his head on his right arm as he leaned down and tapped his cheek with his fingers most laxly, "I'll admit…their skills are mildly impressive and they do hold some promise in them….." he then said to himself though in comparison to his own skills they were but year one.

Foot stomps rumbled behind him, but he didn't turn to look knowing who it was already. He smiled sneakily to himself as they grew louder, till a pair of fierce reptilian eyes flashed out from the dark behind his seat followed by a set of serrated shark like teeth and a snarling breath! "Too bad their best could never hold a candle to us my friend." Goma commented as his dinosaur then snarled menacingly in agreement. Had those hatchlings got into a battle with him he'd tear them to pieces in seconds. As he flipped the 3 screens away casually he then grinned with delight seeing the Ancient household was smoking hard hinting the break in had gone successfully as he planned! "Right on time…." he snickered, "Heh, oh how I love it when a plan comes together. It's amusing to see how hard they struggle and yet they fail to realise they've already lost! Hahahaha!" He laughed out loud seeing how his plan to cause chaos to use as a diversion as well as test out the D Team's abilities had gone perfectly, as he envisioned, now not only did he know what his new foes would bring to the table, he now secured the dinosaurs he needed in order to help hasten his plans!

All seemed to have gone smoothly for him, till a certain screen at the corner of his eye caught his attention, as a flash of the unmistakable rainbow light came on. "Hmm? Hang on a minute…." he blinked his eyes in surprise, he thought it may have been an irregular flash, but the shine he noticed was too close a match to be a coincidence. He had to be sure of it as he brought the screen closer to him while swiping away the others. As he eyed what was displayed, his heart skipped a beat and his hand grew slightly faint as he dropped to down to the arm of his seat. On screen it depicted Cera, as she deployed Miku to latch onto a gel jark who then hijacked control of it with Parasitic perch she then drive it to crash into a few more of its cohorts before launching herself off it in time! Meanwhile, Cera then delivered a swift drop kick to the back of another jark as she stood on top of it in triumph before allowing Miku to perch on her shoulder. The sight of them both in that final image…brought bad memories back to Goma of a certain red haired female leader of the accursed resistance, who was able to coordinate the flow of nearly any battle waged and rally together the support of her allies when it seemed like they were eon the verge of defeat before launching a surprising yet also devastating counterattack later on! One shocked him most….was that he believed her to have been dead….

"It….cannot be…." he breathed in shock and disbelief for the first time in a very long while. As his dinosaur eyed the girl on the computer, he snarled viciously and let out a savage roar in hate and fury as its purple spectral pirate marks on its body and head flared up! Goma, who was beginning to be overcome with hate gripped hard on the arms of his chair as he shouted out loud, "How could she still be alive!? I thought I eliminated her for good!" he screeched slamming his fists on his chair arms before crushing the image in his palm! As it shattered into several glass like pieces, he then rubbed his temple seeing this unexpected loose end could throw a wrench in his big scheme, "Tch! All the more reason to hasten my plans." he hissed bitterly as his dinosaur in the darkness looked to him and snorted in agreement.

BEEP! BEEP!

Looking at a flashing red screen Goma noticed a gel jark with a case in its arms flashing purple as it jumped up and down signalling for a pick up and retrieval as it had what it was ordered to fetch. As much as Goma wanted to deal with Cera, he also knew couldn't afford to let ghosts of the past slow him down now. Reluctantly he then pressed a button on his ship's controls as it began to plot a course for the rendezvous point. "Let's go, we have work to do and no time to waste." He then said, which caused the dinosaur to snarl impatiently and then stomped its foot in anger as it shook the room around it! Sensing the bitter bloodlust in him, Goma then grinned sinisterly, knowing that while he'd have to wait a little longer to finish things, it would be well worth it if they struck later, "Patience my friend," he said smoothly, claiming down his partner with the assurance that revenge was best served cold, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of more of those….kids very soon. All of them to be precise hehehe…." he chuckled as his dinosaur made a dark smile himself, flashing rows of carnivorous teeth in its huge jaw.

 **And thus the true beginning to season 3 begins, I actually had to cut it in half since my original was too long for 1 chapter. Also did I surprise you? Did you think Rex's parents were going to get taken away again? They been through enough in season 2, plus Goma already has what he needs and would see hostages as hinderances, both as more trouble than they're worth plus they'd only spur his enemies to fight harder, a mistake from his father that he won't repeat.**

 **Hope you enjoyed it so far too on how the D Team ended up in Rex's time and what they experienced too. Since we never saw much of the future, I can only vaguely describe how it may have looked, using ideas from Meet the Robinsons, Yugioh Arc V synchro dimension, megaman starforce/nt warrior and the Jetsons to describe the landscape.**

 **Also many of the ideas I thought up for Rex's time were ideas I hoped could be used to improve the problems of our world today. And thanks to jurassic world battle at big rock it gave me some ideas about the possible challenges of dinosaurs living with humans too.**

 **As for the ship Goma used, it's the one Specter used in the arcade game.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Yup the team will be in their toughest and most deadly fight to come! What happened now was just the prelude and what happens from here on will determine the tide of this new battle. Goma is on the dinosaur king wikia as you found out about Diapason, but decided to just use Miku for the micro raptor's name. The stone plate's new powers will be revealed in due time, but so far as shown it can enable time travel on its own as shown in the arcade game. Cera's origin will be revealed next chapter though here it's shown a slight hint as to what it is.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Actually I think that's a great simile to use.**

 **Not sure where you thought the group would get sent but initially they did get sent somewhere good and then somewhere bad later.**

 **blackshadow340**

 **-I'm touched you like my story, hope this one was worth the wait. Have plans down the line and something at the end which might be somewhat related to what you hope for but won't spoil it.**


	50. A future set in motion

Chapter 50

A future set in motion

People ran screaming as fast as they could away from the battlefield, which sent gel jarks flying uncontrollably all over the place and began turning the suburban district into a war zone! As the dust cleared, Paris, Ace and Chomp roared out fearlessly as the jarks began to run away retreating knowing this was a battle they couldn't win, despite being mindless they were smart enough to know when to turn tail and give up, as Max and his friends cheered in excitement! "Alright! We've got them on the ropes now!" Max cheered as he punched ahead, with Chomp charging reared and flinging a cue of jarks to go splat at the walls!

Ace roared out as he swiped his tail with biting wind, decapitating several enemies in the process! "Heh, I can't believe I actually forgot how fun this used to be!" Rex laughed feeling his blood was pumping intensely.

Lastly, Paris let out a sonic screech from her crest which caused some jarks to cover their heads and spasm uncontrollably before exploding as the sound destabilised their internal cellular composition and circuitry! "Way to go Paris! Keep it up!" Zoe praised her partner as Paris bellowed out loudly with pride!

With the enemies now routed, the D Team saw this as their chance to press their advantage even further.

"Come on guys! Let's go help Cera!" Max waved to them as his friends nodded back at him in agreement.

"Right!" They nodded before rushing ahead with their dinosaurs in tow!

Not far away Cera managed to deliver a somersault kick on a gel jark sending it crashing into a nearby bus stop, while Miku was able to lure 2 jarks to crash into one another before she returned to Cera's shoulder. The 2 of them smirked at each other's team work, but after hearing a loud explosion, they turned to see fires erupting around some gardens and massive holes left in the ground made after the gel jarks had landed just now! Not just that, like an infestation they had swarmed through most of the suburban households and amongst the chaos she could still here the cries of panicking civilians as they tried to get away from the invading enemies! The sights and sounds of destruction made her grit her teeth angrily, as it began to bring back very unpleasant nightmares she once suffered in her sleep, "It's just like before….I can't let that happen again…." She swore to herself as she clenched her fist at the next wave of enemies rushing at her! She braced herself for battle and Miku screeched loudly, when the gel jarks suddenly stopped in their tracks and backed away nervously much to her surprise! "Huh?" The ground began to rumble violently and when she turned around to see where it was coming from she widened her eyes in surprise!

"Cera!"

"Hang on!"

"We're here!" Max and the others cried to her as they came in full speed with their dinosaurs!

She soon brightened into a hopeful smile,"Ah! Great timing you guys!" As they regrouped together, the jarks backed off slightly before starting to turn tail and run! With the addition of the D Team and their partner dinosaurs, the jarks were slowly being routed, at first terrorising people now they were being routed as Chomp, Ace and Paris fired out blasts of lightning, wind and grass energy making short work of them! It even became rather easy for them and in fact some of them were even having fun taking them out and keeping score whoever had the most!

"Come on Chomp! Let's keep at it!" Max punched forward as Chomp swung his tail out and knocked away a handful of jarks into a wall where they went splat like pancakes!

"No way we're losing to you Max!" Rex yelled as Ace rushed ahead and bowled through a bunch of jarks like a rocket!

"And don't leave me out either!" Zoe cheered as Paris jumped into the air and slammed down on some that were trying to make a desperate run for it!

Soon the screams began to clam down and enemy numbers began to plummet rapidly with the dinosaurs entering the battlefield to turn the tide, "So far so good…." Cera breathed in relief feeling a little more at ease seeing them clean up the last couple of jarks in the area, with Paris smashing down on 2 with her front limbs and Ace grabbing one in his jaws and tossing it away! She however began to narrow her eyes in suspicion, "But still…I would've expected them to be throwing out some dinosaurs by now…..unless…." Realising they hadn't seen the ship in a while, she looked up and saw the enemy ship was leaving! "It's a diversion!" She cried out loud in alarm seeing they were misled, as she made a run towards it!

Her friends widened their eyes at her words in disbelief, "Huh!?"

"Say what!?" Max and Zoe gasped.

Rex looked ahead and pointed out in alarm, "Look! The ship!" He shouted warning them as the enemy space ship which caused all this in the first place had just moved over to a spot further off in the ditch near the intersection linking to one of the elevators going up to the main city pillar! Quickly they ran towards it only to see the ship had sent out a tractor beam from under it!

"AH!"

"They're beaming up something!" Both Max and Zoe saw a jark being taken up while carrying a metallic container with it.

"It looks like the case with the dinosaur cards dad was working on earlier!" Rex gasped recognising it before gritting his teeth, "So their plan all this time was to distract us while they get their dinosaurs back…."

"Tch! And we fell for it hook, line and sinker!" Max clicked his tongue in frustration, "Well they won't get away with it! Come on Chomp! Let's stop em!" Max shouted to his partner as the yellow triceratops roared and scooped him onto his back and they charged ahead full speed!

Rex looked to Ace next, "We're going too Ace!" Ace roared in agreement as he picked up Rex and hoisted him onto his back and they followed after them with Zoe hanging onto Paris' neck following close behind!

As they began to approach within range of launching an attack at it, a large time portal began to materialise above the ship as it slowly began to make its escape!

"Oh no! They're escaping!" Max cried in alarm before patting Chomp on the neck, "Come on Chomp! Hurry! We can still make it!" He pleaded his partner to hurry faster, in response the triceratops roared out in fury as he kicked into full speed!

Hearing them approaching from behind, Cera soon stopped running, knowing she had to draw the line right here and now. Gritting her teeth, she quickly tuned to face them, "Guys stop! That's far enough!" she shouted out loud at them catching them by surprise!

"Huh!?"

"Wh…Wha!?" Her sudden unexpected statement caused them to stutter before coming to a complete stop!

"That's far enough….sorry but I can't let you go any further than this."

Her friends "What do you mean Cera!?" Zoe cried in confusion, "We can't just let those space pirates get away after what they just did!"

"Besides we're a team! We do everything together!" Rex followed after Zoe.

Cera tensed her hands tightly as she proceeded to make what may be her hardest decision of all, "I'm sorry guys…..but I can't let you come with me….not this time…." she said painfully as she looked away from them.

Her friends widened their eyes in alarm, they knew full well what she was attempting to do this time, "You plan on taking the pirates on by yourself!?" They gasped while their dinosaurs roared out in disbelief.

"Have you lost it!?" Max yelled in anger as he tensed up, "I don't know what's gotten into you but haven't you forgotten we beat them together before!"

Rex nodded, "Yeah and we can do it again! Just let us-"

"This time is different….." She said shaking her sadly, cutting off Max knowing the truth all too clear, "I wish I could explain….but even if I have the time I can't….."

"What are you talking about?" Zoe asked her in concern and confusion.

Cera looked away from them, "If you knew who I truly am or where I came from…" Miku let out a sad coo when she said that, knowing what she was attempting to do, she didn't believe it was the smartest decision but it was the best they knew.

Her friends weren't willing to take it like that though, as Max widened his eyes in frustration and shouted out at her, "Then tell us! We want to know what's going on! What are you keeping from us!?" he demanded angrily.

She then gritted her teeth as painful tears began to squeeze out of her eyes, "I'm sorry I just can't say…." she hissed through her teeth before turning around to face the time portal ahead as the space pirate warship was teleported inside it!

"Cera!" Her friends shouted once more to try and reason with her, but she already made her decision with a heavy heart.

She let out a small smile, "It's been a really great knowing you all…but…this is where we must part ways….." she said as she prepared to step forward.

At that point unable to standby and watch any longer, her fiends rushed forward driven by instinct in an effort to stop her from doing something she would no doubt regret, "Don't do it!"

"Please wait! Let us help!"

She soon shed a single heartfelt tear from her eye, "Goodbye…." she whispered before running straight within the portal's range, leaving the D Team helpless to stop her as she soon disappeared in the light of the portal along with Miku!

Her friends' eyes widened and their hearts skipped a beat as their friends' forms began to fade away in the light, "CERA! NOO!"

"STOP!"

"WAIT! DON'T GOOOO!" Were the last words Cera could hear from them as she was drawn into the time portal with the pirate warship and it closed behind, leaving no trace of their existence in this time era anymore…..

As soon as that happened….Max, Zoe and Rex got off their dinosaurs and stumbled uneasily towards the spot where she vanished….unable to contemplate nor accept what had just took place before their eyes. As Rex and Zoe stopped where they were, standing as still as statues while staring speechlessly, Max stumbled and fell onto his knees as he looked up at the sky where the portal vanished.

"No….."

"Cera….."

"Why….." They breathed silently…..as their dinosaurs, either went to comfort them to little avail, or sniff the ground hoping to pick up the scent of their comrades….but to no success as the trail became cold much to their sadness.

In an instant Max gritted his teeth and shouted loudly in anguish to the sky, "AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!" he screamed before punching the ground multiple times, ignoring the throbbing pain or aches in his fist, he didn't care if his hand would break, it was nothing compared to the massive wound his on heart had just suffered from the loss of one of their closest friends for a reason that made absolutely no sense. As Chomp backed away knowing his partner needed his space, while the others looked on in empathy….

As he lowered his head and breathed heavily in confusion over what happened and why it did…..Zoe mustered the courage to walk to where he was, "Max…." she said to him with compassion as she put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll find her Max….I promise…" she swore seriously as he looked up to her, with reddens eyes of sadness and frustration in them, as Rex joined them both and nodded firmly in agreement with her. No way were they going to let things end like this.

"I know….we will…." Max sniffled hard as he stood up and wiped his eyes dry, then sporting a battle hardened expression clear with conviction, "And when we do….we're ending this once and for all….." he vowed not willing to be kept in the dark any longer, this was the last straw and he wasn't going to accept anymore secrets. Just because Cera said so, no way would they ever accept it, whatever she was hiding had to do with her past without a doubt, something she sit have been bearing all by herself. But no more, he vowed they were going to get to the bottom of this and not only find and help Cera with whatever ghosts from the past she was suffering from, they swore to finish things with the space pirates once and for all if it was the last thing they did.

"Mhmm." His friends nodded back at him assuring him that he had their support for this.

Once that was over, Max looked to his old partner and petted him on the nose horn praising him for his efforts, "You did great Chomp….thanks…now take a nice long rest, we'll catch up later." he said gratefully as Chomp let out a satisfied roar before Max turned him to card form.

"You too Paris…Ace…" said Zoe as she and Rex followed, their dinosaurs roaring out loud before they returned to their hands. Once all the dinosaurs were back in their cards, the sounds of a loud rocket roar made them look up in surprise!

RRRR

"Huh?" As they turned to look up they widened their eyes to see a large egg shaped ship descending from the sky, with a horned dinosaur head feature at one end, a spiked tip at the top and 3 other spiked edges on the bottom around the active thrusters!

"What's that!?" Max gasped in alarm at the unexpected UFO from above.

"Another ship!?" Zoe cried in terror worrying the they'd have to go through a round 2 now!

Rex quickly blinked his eyes recognising it instantly, "Wait! I know that ship!" he pointed out at the unmistakable logo it had right above the dinosaur head!

"The Alpha gang mark!" Max called out as Zoe narrowed her eyes.

"Then that means-"

The ship soon landed on the ground and the exhaust from its bottom thruster ceased as the dinosaur head opened up. A tongue stretched out from the mouth resembling some steps, and leaping out from it and onto the field striking rather heroic team poses were 4 not so old faces to the D Team.

"Ahahaha! Never fear! The Dinosaur King is here!" Dr Z proclaimed to the heavens.

"And his loyal followers! The Alpha gang!" The Alpha Trio announced posing as well, as 3 alpha droids also rushed out and struck a pose each resembling an A, a C and a T!

 **A! C! T! Alpha Cyber Troopers!**

They cried as an awkward silence and a small breeze blew past them, with the D Team staring at them rather blankly. On closer inspection they noticed while Dr Z and Ed looked the same, Zander seemed tone changed his sunglasses to a sleeker black version with red highlights, Ursula on the other hand sported a more seductive bright red top along with a pair of maroon gloves, boots and a new cape too.

"D…Dr Z?"

"The Alpha gang?"

"And the old lady?" They each asked one after the other.

Ursula quickly gained a tick mark as she exploded with rage, "GAH!?" she screeched causing Ed, Zander and the alpha droids to bowl over as she shook out her fists in a flurry! "Who sad that!? Whoever did-" Looking ahead she blinked her eyes for a moment to make sure she was seeing right and wasn't getting old, rubbing them and looking again, she stuttered back in disbelief to see she was still as youthful as she always was, "Y…You brats!?" she gasped pointing out at them.

"EH!?" Zander, Ed and Dr Z looked up mirroring her shock too.

"Impossible! How did you get here to this time!?" Dr Z cried out loud as he jumped back up on his feet then looking around to see no terrified people or hear any screaming, "And where's all those slimy freaks we heard were causing trouble!?" Squinting his eyes and looking ahead to see some remains of pink slime puddles and chunks of gel jark rock lying about the premises like around walls or at fences, he then widened his eyes realising what had happened, "Don't tell me you actually defeated them all already!?"

"Late to the party as usual Dr Z…." Rex sighed with a small smile as he shook his head in pity for them

"This is why sometimes we have to do things ourselves." said Max as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Aww you're never any fun…." Ed pouted in disappointment really hoping being a hero would make him look cool.

Zander clenched a fist and clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Tch! Just when I thought we'd be rid of you ankle biters you turn up again like a bad rash!" he grumbled with spite in his voice.

"Yeah! I just knew it had to be you calling me old just now!" Ursula followed up as she pointed at them.

Dr Z suddenly shot a fierce glare at the trio catching them off guard, "Grrr! This is all your fault!" he shouted jumping up and down in a rant as they stuttered back!

"GAH!"

"If you 3 hadn't wasted time on your shenanigans we could have been here to help!" he screamed before gnashing his teeth in fury, having wanted to show off his dinosaur prowess in front of people and earn their recognition as the future dinosaur king before their eyes.

"S…Sorry Dr Z!" The trio apologised as they grovelled before the old man, prostrating themselves like slaves to a master.

"I had a really bad tummy ache and needed to use the bathroom…." Ed muttered with his face to the floor.

"I really wanted to try out some new sunglasses and I couldn't decide!" Zander then cried out, having been caught in a dilemma between a pair of white sunglasses or black one with red highlights before joining them.

"I for one thought it was time for a new change of attire!" Ursula then stated as she began striking various poses to show off her figure, "Us fashionistas have got to stay in style and keep ups with trends!" she proclaimed before eying the D Team, "In fact I think this new outfit brings out he allure in me don't you think?" she then said at the end winking at them.

The D Team had no comment for what they just saw, apart from feeling really uncomfortable and disturbed, maybe even a little sick too.

"Err…."

"You're not bad looking I guess…." Max and Rex muttered sweat dropping as they looked to one another unsure of how to make of it, scratching their heads or cheeks.

"Makes you look kinda skimpy though…." Zoe huffed as she squinted her eyes at the older lady.

Ursula immediately took offence at their snarky comments as her eyes turned feral and demonic, "You take that back!" she snarled twitching her fingers with uncontrollable rage before shouting out posts about why they ought to see her as the world's most beautiful woman!

As the others tried to tune out Ursula's rants as background noise, Dr Z then rubbed his temple in disgust, "Tch! No point in helping it…..You all are a useless bunch…." he muttered in annoyance seeing them as a lost cause…still since his return home he was obsessing over where to start in building his dinosaur kingdom and pondering over how he could get them away from Dr Ancient at the time, shrugging off the distress signal as a nuisance till realising how he could exploit it to his advantage much later….then again who needed to know that? "Too bad Rod and Laura wanted to stay at home, they'd be a thousand times more reliable then you lot any day…." He then scowled at the Trio which made them lower their heads in shame that they were being outshone by children. After that he turned his attention towards the D Team trio, "So tell me then you brats….what's the situation?" he then asked folding his arms crossly not wanting to be left in the loop.

Dr Z's question caught them off guard, as they looked to one another unsure of how they should explain it, where they should begin or whether they should…. "Uhh….It's….really complicated….." said Zoe rather insecurely as she and the others looked back to the Alpha gang who were curiously awaiting their answer.

 **(Later)**

Much time had passed, and after Jonathan was able to not only free Rex's parents from their jelly binds but also douse any runaway gel jarks with salt reducing them to mush, the rest of their remains were slowly being rounded up by cop bots and the clean up crews as well as rescue and relief teams who came to tend to the injured and damages as soon as they could. Before long, Helga arrived along with Rod and Laura having heard the news on TV and unable to stand by any longer decided to come too with permission form their parents, though like Dr Z they arrived a little too late to the party much to their disappointment.

After they regrouped and exchanged greetings, the Ancients spent several hours trying to calm down the authorities and the public considering they bore witness dinosaurs being summoned to fight against invading aliens and they demanded to know the inside story as several news copters and investigators had arrived on the scene. Thankfully they somehow managed to resolve it, as Helga was able to 'persuade' them all to leave as they were getting too nosy for their own good, much to the relief of the Ancients. After that was taken care of, the whole lot of them regrouped back at Rex's house in the living room and that was where they began to explain the event that transpired from start to finish, how the gel jarks invaded with the appearance of a new space pirate ship and more importantly Cera's actions and behaviour upon having regained her memories behind their backs…before ultimately deciding to go after the pirates alone.

Needless to say the news brought feelings of concern as well as suspicion amongst everyone gathered, sitting in the meeting room at either the couches, chairs or on the floor, as they began to wonder whom Cera was or worried about her own wellbeing now that she cut herself off from them and was alone in another time they had no idea of.

"I see….that's quite the predicament we're in…." Dr Ancient mused seriously as he folded his arms in serious thought, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to process a logical explanation for this development of events.

Cretacia sat next to him on the large couch put a finger over her chin with a very worried expression on her face, "But still…for Cera to do something drastic…..she must have really been involved in something so terrible she didn't want anyone else to get caught in it." she thought.

"Or perhaps she knew something about what's really going on this whole time…." Rex then suspected having recalled her behaviour of being quiet and insecure during her final moments before leaving them, as he leaned against the wall.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case," said Max as he sat on a nearby chair, after that as he tightened his grip on his knees, "She always did think about others and dinosaurs more than herself…even if it meant she'd have to suffer alone from it." he said painfully at the end, gritting his teeth wishing she could trust them with whatever her problems were….or was it that she didn't think they could handle the truth. Either way they couldn't deny she may have suffered something terrible once involving the space pirates and wanted them to stay away from both her and them, but it didn't make sense why she'd want that when they managed to overcome them and save the world before.

"Poor Cera…." Zoe sighed feeling almost helpless like they failed her somehow, as she lowered her head down while Laura patted her with sympathy and Rod could only look away, wanting to say something but couldn't.

An uncomfortable silence came upon the group, and seeing this Helga then stood up and bowed down as she excused herself, "I will….make some snacks and fetch everyone some tea…perhaps that should calm your nerves…." she said calmly. Even without an actual heart she could feel the emotions of sadness and worry amongst the humans gathered, and she wanted to do anything she could to help ease their troubles as she stood up to leave.

"I shall assist you." Jonathan replied as he followed her outside, not being able to take anymore of this himself as he could feel his own mechanical heart begin to ache.

As soon as the androids left though, the Alpha gang began to speak out their thoughts most inconsiderately, "Hmph! I knew something was really off about her." Ursula huffed as the others quickly turned to her and the trio.

"Just what else has she keeping from us this whole time?" Zander pondered folding his arms in thought, "Maybe she lost her memories then sided with us because of it, or maybe she turned against them then lost her memories then wanted us to stay out of it since she likes us now." he suggested.

"Well if she knows so much about those pesky pirates perhaps maybe she could have been in cahoots with them from the start!" Dr Z then shouted out loud in anger.

"Hey I heard that in movies before!" Ed cried as he held his hand out.

Max widened his eyes and glared at them with rage, "You think this is funny!?" he shouted kicking himself off the chair and clenching a tight fist at them, "Take that back now!" he growled before making an attempted lunge at them!

"GAH!" The Alpha gang huddled in terror as Max rushed at them while the others widened their eyes in shock!

"AH!"

"Max hold up!" Rex quickly ran in and was able to restrain Max in time, holding him back at his arms while Zoe jumped in between holding her arms out to stop him as he gnashed his teeth like a mad beast intending to get his hands on the Alpha gang for badmouthing his friend as they shivered together like terrified puppies!

"Max stop it!"

"Get a hold of yourself!" They shouted trying to snap him out of it but he didn't listen.

"Cera's our friend! We know her way longer than you!" Taylor shouted at the Alpha gang, "She risked her life for our parents and helped us take down the dark pterosaur! How dare you think of her like that!?" he growled not wanting to let them get away with it. As the other bystanders overheard what he said, they could understand why he was feeling so offended at the thoughtless remarks given, in fact they too were rather put off by the Alpha gang's words but still this was;t the right way to do it, no way would Cera want them to fight amongst themselves, plus in fighting was the last thing they needed at this point in time.

Rex gritted his teeth as he was finding it more difficult to keep his friend back as he tugged and pulled, his grip weakening around Max's arms, "Max! Calm down!" he shouted as he couldn't hold his breath much longer and could feel Max slowly freeing himself, a few more seconds and he'd go full primal on Dr Z and his trio!

"Let it go Max! They're not worth it!" Zoe then shouted as she ran in and hugged him close, which caused him to blink his eyes as her embrace snapped him to of his rage. She then looked into his eyes tearily, "We're better than this….and we all know Cera would never mean any wrong even if she doesn't seem to make sense at times." she said sadly before she and Rex began to hug him closer and calm him down with their presence and patting, "We'll figure this out. I promise we'll get to the bottom of this." she said to him as Max's heart began to slow down and he began to breathe normally again as his angered thoughts and raging instincts began to subside.

"Yea….s…sorry about that…." he breathed calmly as his fiends let him go and smiled seeing he was back to normal. Rex's parents along with Rod and Laura smiled feeling touched that they managed to calm down Max rom going too far, as well as feeling glad they were such great friends too.

While Ursula, Zander and Ed wheezed with relief before slumping back down on the floor in exhaustion, Dr Z however only folded his arms and looked away unwilling to apologise just yet, "Hmph…I'm only stating a possibility and nothing more! There's nothing wrong about that!" he scoffed causing the trio to turn pale and the others to glare at them once more.

"Uh oh…"

"Grampa! Knock it off!" Rod and Laura yelled at him, disappointed at how inconsiderate their grandfather could be, perhaps now they could see why Max and the others hated him so much before.

"Why you…" Rex and Zoe then began to glare at them with Max, now starting to let their anger slowly get the better of them next as they began to step towards them to give them a piece of their mind!

"Enough!" Dr Ancient then shouted loudly in anger, which made the whole lot of them turn to him as he had their full attention. He then let out a deep sigh, "I know everyone's confused about what's going on and that it all happened so suddenly right after we just got back together. And there's no denying that what Cera has been keeping secrets from us this whole time and that both her behaviour and actions require investigating." he said calmly, rubbing his temple as he was having trouble dealign with so many issues at once, "But regardless, the fact remains that the Specter and the space pirates are back…somehow….and we can't ignore that in the slightest." He then said stating their most important priority, "And that they've escaped to another time period, with the cosmos stones gone it's likely they've put a new plan into motion. Maybe for revenge even."

His statement brought up rather uneasy feelings amongst the group, they thought the battle was over after being able to destroy the cosmos stones, and yet the space pirates had returned so chances were they may be out for revenge….or something else entirely….

"Cera did seem to know something about the space pirates just now from what it looked…." said Max as he put a finger to his chin in thought.

"The way she told us she didn't want us to get involved, also she said if we knew whom she truly was or where she came from it'd really hurt us too…." Zoe added as she clutched over her chest painfully.

"Sniff….that does sound beer selfless and moving when you think about it…." Ursula sniffled feeling touched as Ed and Zander patted her compassionately to comfort her, while Dr Z scoffed and looked away from them in disgust.

"Maybe she went through something really terrible or came from a hard time involving the space pirates." Rod suggested, "After all it's clear they didn't come from this time without a doubt."

"But still that doesn't leave us many clues to work with so we can't be sure…." Cretacia then muttered pursing her lips before folding her arms crossly, "If only we had some sort of lead…."

Max's eyes widened upon hearing the word she spoke, as he soon remembered that had an important clue with them, "Wait! I got it!" he cried out which startled the group as they looked to him in alarm.

"Huh!?"

"You do Max?" Rex and Rod asked in surprise.

"Tell us now! Let us in on it!" Dr Z demanded impatiently.

Ancient then pushed him aside having had enough of his antics, "Yes, please do. Any little bit will help." he said calmly as they all looked to him.

He then nodded as he looked to them all, "This may be a long shot….but…Cera did say she got her memories when she touched the stone plate and then she saw the Pterosaur again!" he said which made some of them gasp in surprise.

"Really?"

"She said that?" Cretacia and Ancient both asked widening their eyes.

"Hey that's right!" Zoe then spoke up, "She even said it was when she touched it, the plate became that tablet! Plus it was what teleported us and the Backlander back here to the future too!"

"Wow no way!"

"That's actually kinda cool…." Laura and Rod breathed in awe and amazement at what they heard from her.

"And I thought that everything we went through was freaky enough…" Ursula muttered as she face palmed herself in dismay.

"Same here…." Zander muttered.

"Why can't we live normal lives like everybody else?" Ed cried covering his face.

Dr Z meanwhile, having just woken up from Dr Ancient shoving him to the floor, crept behind the couch and grinned sneakily to himself, "Ehehehe! Now this I really must know for myself!" he snickered rubbing his palms together as he began hatching another of his classic schemes in his head, "If I could harness that power for myself my reign as dinosaur king will be even mightier than it could ever be!"

"But what does it all mean?" Cretacia then asked curiously, "Think maybe they're connected?" she asked her husband as he folded his arms in thought,

"That's highly plausible. The stone plates enabled us to move back and forth in time before so it makes sense they'd be able to do so again…." he muttered, "But to do so on their own and evolve into a more powerful form just by Cera touching it."

"Also…to be activated when Max and Zoe touched it….could it be because they were the ones with the old stone plates once?" Rex then asked his parents.

"It could be that she may have some relation to the Pterosaur that we don't know of." Cretacia then stated as she took the stone tablet that Rex handed her, "This stone tablet will no doubt be the key to solving this whole mystery."

"Then we'll just have to keep digging and find out what it is and who it works." said Max as he pumped up his arm with determination, "The sooner we can travel through time again, the sooner we can go find Cera, get to the bottom of this and put a stop to the space pirates again!"

As he said that with conviction in his voice, everyone felt moved by what he said, as he did once before doing their darkest time once as they nodded or smiled in agreement with him before standing up together.

"And I volunteer!" Dr Z suddenly spoke up, sneaking in and swiping the stone tablet from Cretacia's and before raising it up proudly much to the group's shock and surprise.

"Huh!?"

"Grampa what are you doing!?"

"Leave it to you!? You must be joking!" They shouted or complained back at him.

He then grinned smugly holding his head up high, "Why it's only natural! After all that girl Cera did for us, how much danger she braved and how selfless she fought, she deserves a bright future, so it's only natural that I…I mean we return the favour." he corrected himself at the end, "Therefore I Dr Z volunteer myself to uncovering the secret of the stone tablet and design a brand new time machine to get us to where we need to go!" he announced before pointing up to the sky, "So that we can save her and put a stop to the dastardly deeds of those vile space pirates once and for all! It's the least I can do as a show of gratitude."

Quickly the Alpha trio bought into his facade of nobility as they began fawning over him like they always did, "Oh Dr Z we adore you!" they cheered further inflating to his ego as he began to snicker and grin.

"And it'll be my chance to get some alone time with the stones too, plus if anyone's going to get the secret of the stone plates and rule as dinosaur king of the world it's me!" he grinned to himself in delight.

Unfortunately everyone else weren't convinced in the slightest, in fact his clumsy attempts to make himself appear selfless and righteous only made his real intentions more obvious.

He then sweat dropped seeing they were onto him, son immediately he decided to drive them out, "Why are you all still here!? I can't concentrate with any of your ugly mugs leaning over me! Now shoo! Shoo! Shoo!" he then ranted waving his arms out and jumping up and down like a toddler in a tantrum.

His statement made the rest of them eye him with suspicion, "Huh?"

"Excuse me?" Clearly he had ulterior motives, the only time he did something selfless was during his youthful years and right now that man no longer existed and had deteriorated into a double sided man who always wanted something in return.

Before they could continue, Ursula and the others quickly began to push them all out the door against their will, "You heard the Doctor!"

"Clear out now!"

"That's right!" They said as they forced everyone else out of the living room and into the next hallway, as Dr Z went to key in some buttons to the house's elevator bring him into the house's workshop.

"Ow! H…Hey! Stop it!" Max and his friends cried as they felt squashed together.

"This is our house and our lab!" Cretacia cried.

"You don't have to shove!" Dr Ancient grunted in annoyance.

"H…Hey grampa!" Rod then cried as he forced his head and hand out between Ed and Zander, "At least let the rest of us help!"

"Yeah we care about Cera too!" Laura pleaded as she popped up between Rex and Cretacia.

He wagged a finger at his grandchildren in response, "No kids, this is a very delicate procedure which only the most advanced methods can be used." he said to them, "Methods only I and I alone know, and to do so I can't take any chances with you lot messing up my concentration!" he shouted before hugging himself childishly, "Plus I can't have any of you precious little children get hurt now can we?" he said in a childish tone.

"But grampa!"

"That's enough now, you heard Dr Z." Ursula cut off Laura as the 3 of them managed to force the others out of the room and it not the halls much to their annoyance as they glared back at the trio who grinned seeing them on the ground at their feet.

"Now off you go to play or whatever you kids and grownups do."

"Yeah, he needs peace and quiet so please respect his privacy." Ed and Zander both smirked smugly, unaware that karma would soon come and kick them in the rear.

"That includes you 3 too!" Dr then shouted at them, catching them off guard as they widened their eyes and turned to him.

"HUH!? WHAT!?" They gasped as he lunged out and kicked at them!

"Now out! HIYAH!"

WHAM!

"YOW!"

His foot made contact with their gut, face and backsides as they were flung out of the room and smacked into the wall, as the others managed to get to of the way in time!

"Ow….Why can't he be nice for once?" They moaned as they slid to the ground and Dr Z shut and locked the door behind him.

Having had enough of today's events, Ancient didn't want to add Dr Z's antics to his list of things bothering him as he headed to the door and banged on it in anger, "Hey Dr Z! Open up this door right now!" he demanded as Max and the others shouted too.

"Yeah! Let us help too!" Max yelled.

"We're terribly sorry but Doctor Z isn't here right now. Would you like to leave a message?" Dr Z's voice came out on the intercom by the door, "No? Then good! BEEP!" The intercom ended as silence came next.

"Hey this isn't funny!" Rex yelled.

"You don't know what you're doing!" Zoe followed.

As no reply came back they sighed or grunted seeing there was no helping it now, "Tch! Typical Dr Z…." Max clicked his tongue.

"There's no helping it…once he get started he won't stop…." Ancient sighed as he rubbed his temple in exasperation.

"Yup, that sure sounds like grampa…." said Rod as he shrugged his shoulders before looking to Laura, "He never changes does he?"

She shook her head, "Nope, even dinosaurs are better at changing and evolving than he is…."

"So what now?" Rex then asked them as some shrugged their shoulders unsure of what to do now.

"We could maybe break down the door." Cretacia then spoke up which startled them as she grinned rather sneakily and rubbed her palms together, "I've even got the prefect sledgehammer for the job! Hee hee!" She giggled which made some of the others including her husband shudder, they couldn't tell if she was going or not and franky they didn't want to take chances. Then again time was of the essence and things were getting rather desperate for them, and they were about to comply with her suggestion when a voice suddenly spoke up at the end of the hallway.

"Everyone, we have brought you snacks!" Helga called as they all turned to see her carrying a tray with cubed fruit, cookies and grilled cheese sandwiches, and Jonathan was behind holding a tray with glasses of water, tea or juice with him.

"Hope this will cheer you up!" Helga sang as she flashed them before their eyes.

The smell of the freshly made snacks made the Alpha gang spring back to life from the ground as their mouths began to water at the sight of the delicious treats the androids brought them, "Woo! Snacks!" They cheered as they rushed towards them for a closer look.

Even Rod and Laura were beginning to feel rather tempted at the generous selection Helga brought them, "Wow! Cheese sandwiches! My favourite!" Rod cried before looking to see even more palette tempting goodness, "Hey those cookies look pretty nice too!"

"Hey leave some for me Rod!" Laura cried as she followed him.

Seeing how the majority of them was already hooked up on snacks, the D team and Rex's parents the sighed seeing there was no helping it now, "Well I suppose we could have a little tea break…." Ancient sighed admittedly he was feeling a little hungry too.

"Yeah no point worrying about what we can't do." Zoe shrugged her shoulders seeing no other way around it.

"Come on kids! Life is something to enjoy after all! Plus I really love Helga's home made snacks myself too once in a while! Hee hee!" Cretacia giggled as she skipped over to try some finger food only for Helga to lead them to the family living room where they'd be more comfortable.

"Hehe….Well guys when you can't beat em, join em I guess." Max chuckled as they began to leave, not wanting to be left out.

"Yeah….though that doesn't make me feel that much better…." Rex muttered as he looked behind and heard the sounds of heavy machinery, sparks and maniacal laughter echoing from the other room as he reluctantly left to join everyone else.

 **(Later)**

An hour or so later, everyone was mostly at ease as they helped themselves to the rich snacks Helga and Jonathan provided for them. They also spent their time engaged in lively conversations and catching up with one another too on recent events that transpired on both their sides since their parting the other day. Jonathan and Helga also took the time to bring over the Alpha gang's scanners and dinosaur cards too from the vault, considering with a new battle ahead of them it'd be best if they were all properly equipped for whatever new challenges lay ahead, which they were more than happy to receive again after being parted for so long.

Rex's plan of setting up a new D Lab branch in the future was readily welcomed by Rod and Laura, which thankfully was allowed by their parents whom they've taken the time to get back together with again after so long. Of course keeping Dr Z and Seth's actions out of it too, for they didn't want any bad blood between their family at all. Soon after that, the sound of a noise siren echoed through the room with Dr Z's voice telling them to head downstairs to the workshop for it was time he showed off his greatest masterpiece yet! With that news, they all headed together for the basement workshop while Helga and Jonathan stayed behind to cleanup after them.

Before long they made their way downstairs to where Dr Ancient and Cretacia conducted their technological developments and invention, which was where they found Dr Z himself, smirking proudly to himself over his most recent accomplishment and behind him was a massive object covered by a large brown tarp, "Ladies and gentlemen!" he announced to them all as they gathered around to see what he had to show for his efforts, and he grinned knowing they'd be worshipping him for it, "Presenting the newly developed and super incredible Alpha time gate developed by none other than the great Dinosaur King Dr Z!" he proclaimed as he grabbed the tarp and yanked it off!

The group widened their eyes in surprise to see large reddish purple gate like portal device built into the wall where both its doors can open and close perfectly in order to contain the energy of the time space continuum within it! A series of cables stretched out and connected from the gate into a generator that was linked to the Ancients' capsule scanner, and inside the scanner was the stone tablet which was connected by a few rods the allowed the system to tap into and hardness the energy of the stones much like the Backlander once did. In fact Dr Z constructed it using leftover parts he salvaged from both he space pirates' time engine and the Backhander's too as he grinned and snickered with pride.

The D Team and Alpha gang couldn't help but stare in awe at his work as they gazed at it speechlessly, "Wow…." Max breathed.

"It actually looks pretty cool…." Laura admitted putting a finger to her chin.

"The old goat really outdid himself this time…." Ursula whistled as Ed and Zander nodded with her.

"I must admit it's far better than what I was expecting…." Ancient mused in interest as to how he was able to come up with something so elaborate and ingenious in such a short span of time, perhaps he had underestimated his old friend's talents all these years and should have given him the proper acknowledgement he always wanted.

Cretacia however only eyed it with suspicion before shaking her head in disapproval, "Hmmm…..sorry I don't buy it." she scoffed which made Dr Z turn pale and his jaw to hang.

"Huh!? Wh…What did you say!?" He gasped in disbelief feeling betrayed as the others looked to her questioningly.

"You shouldn't judge based on its appearance." she replied to them with a firm look before looking back at Dr Z, "Given your track record of inventions, I'd say that device is still without a question a screaming metal death trap given a few minutes or so after activating."

"Ack!" Dr Z's heart skipped a beat at her words, "Y…You take that back!" he then shouted with rage as he shook his fist at her, "How dare you accuse my inventions of being defective!?" Quickly he looked back to Ursula, Zander and Ed, hoping they'd be on his side, "Tell it to her straight that she's wrong!" he demanded as he pointed back at her.

Immediately the A Team was met with a conflicted situation, as they looked to one another unsure whether they should be telling their boss what he wanted to hear or speak the truth in love despite knowing the painful consequences that awaited them either way, "Err…."

Everyone else though soon nodded with Cretacia and decided to be brutally honest with the good doctor.

"No offence Grampa but….they kinda have a point there." said Rod shrugging his shoulders, his statement made Dr Z's jaw hang and turn pale like a ghost!

"Huh!?"

"Yup. Way we see it, you're way better at breaking things than fixing them." Max bluntly stated.

"No question about it." Rex shook his head in pity.

Very soon his trio began to side with the D Team seeing their lives mattered more than their loyalty, "You couldn't pay me enough to go in there for even a few seconds." Ursula huffed as she folded her arms on her hips.

"If the explosion doesn't kill us, the machine falling apart and collapsing on us will." Zander added at the end.

Seeing his own kids turning against him made Dr Z's heart crack into several pieces, as he flushed bright red and steamed furiously, "Grrr! You traitors! After I fed and clothed you for so long you can't even show me the respect and support I deserve!?" he screeched jumping up and down, but instead of exploding and letting loose like he always did, he decided to prove to them how wrong hey were about him and his invention, "Allow me to prove you all that my newest device is both efficient, effective and completely safe!" he swore as he began thumping at it, as each hit made a solid sound, "This device is built with the highest quality alpha metal along with some of the planet's rarest and most powerful resources!" he announced proudly, "On top of that I retrofitted it using pieces from the Space pirate engine and the Backlander's! Hereby making its integrity exceptional and able to contain the time space vortex within it!" he grinned before showing them the energy source powering the gate, "In addition to that, the generator I developed which powers it, harnesses the energy of the stone tablet!" he then declared, "Which admittedly took time to decipher and still in progress.…but nevertheless able to channel said energy to activate a portal through time and contain it within safe levels thanks to these superior stabilisers!" He then concluded as he patted it next, "Quite frankly I couldn't be more proud of it considering I put it together myself, including the paint job! Heh!" he smirked folding his arms on his hips.

"That's what we're most worried about…." said Rex, knowing how hard a fall comes right after pride.

"If that thing explodes and takes us all to kingdom come, I'll make sure Dr Z never gets any sleep or a peaceful after life." Zoe muttered crossly as some of the others began to think the same as her, which made Dr Z shudder somewhat when he imagined being haunted by ghosts of his associates every night of his life and even his after life too which probably wouldn't take very long to reach.

"Enough," Max then interrupted them as they looked to him, "Now that the machine's done and now we can use it to go after the space pirates and Cera!"

"Yes, he's absolutely right." Dr Ancient nodded in agreement with the boy, for a young child he sure knew how to lead and inspire those who were much older than him, there was just a certain form of charisma and natural born talent for leadership in him that he was truly gifted with.

"We've got no time to waste so let's get ready to roll!" Max then punched forward with determination.

"Now that's something I can agree on!" Ursula grinned eagerly, "We'll kick those pirates' highneys right into the next dimension just like we did before!" she announced.

"Oh right!" Ed and Zander cheered as they did a fist bump with one another.

Rod and Laura were tempted to join too, seeing it as an exciting adventure and wanting to help their friends save another….but that would mean exposing themselves to danger again and they'd have to leave their parents again….a hard decision which they knew no matter which they made they'd be leaving out the other and they didn't want that.

"Wait!" Rex then spoke up which made his friends look to him in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Max, Zoe." he said to them seriously as they blinked their eyes in surprise at him.

"Yeah Rex?"

His expression then frowned, "You sure you want to go through with this?" he asked them much to their confusion, "I mean…we just managed to save the universe and you guys just managed to get back to your normal lives with your parents in the past." he then explained with a deep sigh, "If we do this…there's no turning back until we see this to the end. So let me ask one more time….Is this really what you want to do?"

Max and Zoe both looks to each other and considered his words carefully, true they'd be risking themselves and worry their parents once again if they were to brave danger once more….but at the same time if it wasn't for Cera helping them they'd never have been able to save them either….so they couldn't just abandon her when they knew full well she needed help more than any of them. It was clear what their choice was as they looked back to him with clear conviction, "We are Rex." said Zoe.

"Cera's in danger, and as her friends we won't sit by and let her suffer all by herself." said Max as he clenched a hand into a fist, "She'd do the same for us and you know it."

"And I know you want to help her as much as us too." Zoe said nodding in agreement with what he said, "Plus…we really missed hanging out with you, Chomp, Paris and Ace too."

"We've been so used to having dinosaurs around no way could we stay away from them." Max chuckled, having experienced nothing but boredom without them and the adventures that came with them, now was the chance for them to explore once more, experience new things and to grow and overcome challenges like before, "Plus we just got together again after so long….no way do I want it to end so soon." he said with a bright smile.

"Max….Zoe…" Rex breathed in amazement at their conviction inspire of the risks they'd be taking for as he closed his eyes and reflected on their words he began to realise how right they were, looking back he recalled how they did so much for him before, giving him a home and helping him discover who he was in the end. Cera was no exception either, how she risked her life across the cosmos to find their parents too…perhaps it was time both they all returned the favour for her. He soon then chuckled to their surprise, "To be honest I thought you might say that….and to be honest…I was hoping for it too." he said before smirking with confidence, "Hope you've got room for one more on the team, cos if you're doing this then count me in too!" he announced as they smiled brightly!

"Rex!"

"Really!?"

He nodded back at them before holding a thumbs up! "I'm with you guys to the end." he grinned as they did a triple fist bump with one another to seal their pact.

"Haha! Just like old times!" Max laughed.

"Yeah! For Cera!" Zoe smiled

"The D Team's back and ready for action once again!" They said together in unison as their actions began to impact and move the others in the room in various ways.

"Hmph!" Dr Z stuck out his tongue in disgust, though he couldn't deny that deep down in the remains of his old heart he felt rather warm and fuzzy inside, though his ego and pride refused to let him admit it.

Others on the other hand weren't going to deny their honesty, as they surely felt inspired by their show of friendship and trust, "Aww…." Rod and Laura went while Rex's parents, Cretacia sniffled and shed an emotional tear while Ancient smiled, proudly looked on seeing how much not just their son but his friends had grown ever since they met one another and the dinosaurs. The accident which separated them for so long in turn helped take the children to new heights with the experiences they faced and the challenges they braved. The only and the right thing they could do was to support them to the very end on their choice….they weren't children anymore, now they were pretty much full fledged adults deep down inside, their only regret was not being able to take part in seeing their son and his friends grow like the other parents have.

Even the Alpha gang felt deeply moved themselves, as Ed and Zander began to sniffle and their eyes watered like fountains, "Such beautiful team spirit and trust…." Zander wept as he took out a hanky and blew his nose.

"Why don't we ever have that Ursula?" Ed sniffled, wiping his tears away to look…..then blinking in surprise to see she wasn't where she stood anymore, "Huh? Ursula?" His statement made Zander snap out of his water works show as they turned to see she was eying at the gate's generator dangerously close!

"GAH!" They widened their eyes in alarm before racing at it to stop her from doing something stupid!

Unbeknownst to them, Max and Zoe looked on as Rex stood before his parents. Taking a breath to ready himself he eyed them seriously as he began to ask for their approval for what may be his most important request ever, "Hey mom…dad…." he started out uneasily and choked a bit, his heart racing uncontrollably under pressure and his throat drying up, but swallowing down hard he began to finish his sentence, only to be stopped in surprise as his father stopped him.

"Say no more son, we know what you're going to ask." he interrupted, making Rex's heart skip a beat as Max and Zoe, along with Rod, Laura and Dr Z looked on. The tension began to subside as Ancient smiled at his son with Cretacia, "If that's really what you want to do then we won't stop you."

"We couldn't be more proud of you…seeing how much you've grown up….really brings a tear to my eye…." sniffled Cretacia as she used a finger to wipe away one tears from her eye, "If only we could've seen you grow up…this wouldn't have been so painful…." she said with a heartache, that they only saw him for a short time and now he'd be going off again into he world.

Rex's eyes began to water a bit too, feeling touched and moved by them supporting him and his friends on undertaking another dangerous mission, "Mom…dad…."

Ancient then placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before looking down at him proudly, "We'll be fine son…don't worry about us…." he said kindly with warm assurance too, "We trust you completely, every decision you make from here on…we'll support you to the best we can….plus this is only something you and your friends can do….so give it your best." he said feeling hurt too but then smiling with faith at Rex before holding a thumbs up at him.

Rex's eyes widened with joy as he rushed in to hug them both closely, "Ah…thanks….mom…dad…." she smiled as the family embraced one another close together as the others looked on happy for them.

"Great on you Rex." Max nodded along with Zoe.

"Mhmm."

"We wish you the best of luck." said Rod and Laura together stating they'd be ready to lend the team their support too whenever they needed it.

"Just be sure to tell your parents first….." Cretacia then added towards Max and Zoe before sweat dropping in dismay, "Even if it seems unlikely that they'll approve of it though…." she said uneasily knowing their chances were pretty slim.

Her statement brought Max and Zoe back to reality as they scratched their head or cheeks in thought, "Oh yeah…..good point…."

"This'll be pretty tricky…." They muttered knowing this would be pretty tricky for them.

As they began to ponder over how they could explain themselves to their parents, along with the Ancients and alpha siblings thinking what they could say in defence to support them, the sounds of rummaging and grunting soon caught their attention as they looked behind curiously, "Hmm?"

"Ooh, this button looks really shiny!" Ursula squealed and her eyes brightened up sparkling at the sight of an enticing bright red button, its' shiny red exterior calling out to her like a siren, with the activation sign lit around it. Before she could stick her finger out at it-

"NO!"

"STOP URSULA!" Ed and Zander quickly jumped on her and held her down in time before she could make a costly mistake!

"Hey! Get off you leeches! I just want to see what this button does!" she grunted in annoyance as she fought hard against their tugging and added weight, dragging herself with her hands and pulling along the floor before raising one of her arms at the console, her hand struggling to rich for the glowing red button that was screaming to be pressed! The bright red shining button filling her with temptation to see what it did, and she couldn't resist the urge to force her finger onto it with all her might! "GRRRGH!" she growled, gnashing her teeth and her eyes turning orange and feral while Zander and Ed struggled immensely, barely able to hold her back as she edged closer and closer to making contact with it!

"GAH! She's too strong!"

"I always knew she wasn't all human! I can't hold on!" They whined.

Dr Z then poitned out at them, "Hey! Watch it! I spent hours building that baby! Get away from that machine!" he shouted Zander and Ed lost the energy to continue, letting loose on their hold on Ursula as they all crashed into he machine instead!

BANG!

Dr Z's heart skipped a beat as they began rolling around against it, struggling to gain control over the other while their bodied kept kicking and bashing against the generator's frame! "AAH! Somebody stop them before they break something! The machine may be stable but the control module is fragile and sensitive!" he squealed looking to everyone else pleading them to do something and fast!

The others began to raise eyebrows at him, if his machine could be easily damaged by mere roughhousing then that would mean his so called safety protocols would be pretty much worthless too.

"I'll do it." Rex sighed taking initiative as he stomped towards them, "Honestly it's like babysitting a bunch of little kids…." he muttered to himself in annaoycne till he saw they came to a stop before Ed managed to grab Ursula in a headlock and Zander was able to hold her legs! "Knock it off you guys!" He shouted at them in exasperation, "We need that machine if we're going to go after Cera and the space pirates!"

The trio blatantly ignored him as Ursula grabbed and pinched Ed's arm causing him to squeal and shed tears of pain! "Hey! I just want to press the red button and see what happens!"

"No Ursula! That's a bad idea!" Ed and Zander shouted in response as everyone else looked on, sweat dropping at the scene and unable to determine how they could possibly be adults in the first place….how could they have ended up so wrong when Rod and Laura's dad turned out decent….must be to do with Dr Z's favouritism and parenting style at the time, seeing they were more henchmen material.

Rex was beginning to lose both his patience and his mind at their idiocy as he shoved himself in between them "Grr! Break it up 3! Can't you just listen for once?!" He shouted in exasperation a she tried his best to force them apart, and despite his smaller size he was able to hold his own against all 3 grown men at once much to everyone's surprise as he managed to keep them apart and grab hold of their hands when they tried to grab at either him or one another!

In the midst of all that, the 4 of them failed to realised they had gotten rather close to the generator, or more specifically the stone tablet, as Ursula's flailing hand accidentally flipped a switch and caused the container to open and reveal the exposed tablet inside! It then began to shine in a golden aura which caught everyone's eye as they looked towards it!

"Huh?"

"AH!"

Suddenly Rex, Ursula, Zander and Ed began to flow in the auras of the stones they held! Being white, red, blue and purple respectively much to their and everyone's bewilderment! "Wh…What's happening!?" Dr Z exclaimed covering his mouth seeing what he thought might actually be real magic which defied all science and everything he knew! To make matters even more crazy, the stone tablet inside the machine sensed the auras of the original elemental within in them, as the golden aura suddenly shone ever more highly! Illuminating the room in its bright radiance and forcing everyone to cover their eyes or shield themselves from getting blinded!

"GAAAAH!"

"It's so bright!"

"I can't see!"

"Somebody turn it off!"

Max squinted his eyes only able to let in a small beam of brightness through his eyelids but even that was enough to irritate his eyeballs behind, "Urgh…That light!" he then grunted as he and Zoe began to recognise it!

"It's just like before!" Zoe then shouted out as Ancient and Cretatcia looked to them in surprise!

The energies emanating from the 4 of them were quickly absorbed into the stone tablet, as tt shone in a bright rainbow colour and as the energy urged through the connector cables it caused the computers around the gate to screech in alarm as energy levels spiked beyond safety parameters and the failsafe backups were failing too as it circuits could no longer contain the power now coursing through the whole system!

Dr Z widened his eyes as he went over all the charts, graphs and readings, "GAH! The machine's overloading!? Impossible!" he gasped in disbelief while he tried typing away at safety protocols to activate them, desperate to prevent a possible nuclear meltdown and explosion but to no avail!

"I told you that your devices couldn't be relied on Dr Z!" Dr Ancient shouted at him in anger.

"You should have let us inspect it beforehand!" Cretacia followed after him.

"It's not my fault!" Dr Z protested back, "I installed several safety protocols to avoid a disaster like this!"

"Like that's doing anything now!" Max yelled as he and everyone else began shooting him fierce glares that could kill!

"Th…There's a simple explanation for this I can assure you! I uhh…just need to find it!"

"It's the stones! They're far more powerful than simulations stated!" he then isolated their power signals as the cause of the unstable power levels, "The readings are off the charts! The stabilisers can't handle this much energy at once!" he exclaimed widening his eyes as they began bulling gout of his circuits as even the keyboards sparked and blew up in front of him! "GAH!"

"Wh…What's going to happen grampa?!" Laura cried.

He stumbled back, "If this keeps up, the device will explode! Taking us and the whole house with it!" he cried grasping onto his eyebrows and tugging at them in a panic till they could rip off!

"WHA!?" Everyone exclaimed before pinning even more of the blame on him!

"You can't be serious!"

"This is your fault!"

"You got us into this! Fix it now!" They demanded him.

Dr Z's eyes spun around in panic seeing it was pretty much on him now! However seeing the situation was clearly out of his hands, he didn't want to take the chance of getting reduced to atoms nor did he want to take responsibility for this accident, it'd ruin his image as dinosaur king of it did happen, "GARGH! Enough playing the blame game!" he screeched before pouting at the generator that was glowing brightly like a rainbow, "Somebody unplug the stones and disconnect the main power lines now!" he ordered shifting the responsibility to someone else.

"Right on it!" The Alpha trio quickly volunteered as they trotted towards the machine bravely…or merely stupidly, as Ursula and Zander grabbed hold of the cables connecting to the stone and Ed grabbed had of them both! "Here we go! Heave ho!" They chanted together as they pulled on them in unison! A bad move though as the cords suddenly surged with electricity which flooded their whole systems!

BZZT!

"WAAAAH!" They cried as they were blown back into a wall, though in the process succeeded in removing the cords from the stone, but it was still surging with energy itself and aches were it could explode too if it remained in the generator!

As everyone stared at it shining ever brightly in a panic, Rex gritted his teeth as he rushed ahead to his parents' alarm!

"Rex wait!"

"Don't do it!"

He ignored them knowing his wellbeing paled in comparison to everyone else's, "I've got the stone!" Rex yelled as he pushed the A Team aside and robbed hold of the tablet, pulling as hard as he could with all his might! "Grrrgh! GAH!" he gritted his teeth seeing how tightly it was wedged into the machine, but with his last bit of strength to popped loose from the generator! With the loss of its power source the generator soon stopped glowing and the energy readings began to stabilise once again, while the gate itself let out a dying groan as the entire system shut down!

As the mechanical echoes died down, everyone looked hard and anxiously at both the gate and at Rex….seeing clam was restored….hopefully…."Is it over?" Max asked Rex as he walked up to him with Zoe for a look.

"I…think so…." he answers uneasily though not fully sure as they eyed the stone in his hands which ceased glowing and its aura vanished.

"Please say yes…." The trio pleaded as they looked up from the floor, having been charred black to a crisp and still smoking!

"Relax you sissies," Dr Z grumbled as he stomped over towards them, "Now that the power's out the machine's now out of commission crisis' been averted, nothing can go wrong now! Ahahaha!" he laughed confidently seeing how lucky they were and that they got away with it too. Just as soon as he said those words, he completely jinxed it….as the stone tablet, now fully charged with all 6 eneries, suddenly flared to life again catching everyone off guard!

"WAAAH!?"

"Oh no not again!" The trio exclaimed as they huddled together in a panic along with Dr Z!

"Everyone! Get away from the stones now!" Dr Ancient then shouted out loud in alarm seeing things had reached a critical stage!

"Take cover!" Cretacia shouted to the children while backing away!

"AAAAAAHH!" While Rod and Laura dove behind some desks with Ancient and Cretacia following behind, they looked up and widened their eyes in horror to see that the D Team and the Alpha gang hadn't moved an inch from where they were! Instead they were staring frozen at the stones as if it held them in place against their will, unable to shout a single word as they were soon enveloped in the expanding glow of the stone's light!

"REX! MAX! ZOE!"

"NOOOO!" The Ancients cried as their figures vanished in the light's glow!

"GRAMPA!" Rod and Laura cried as he and the Alpha gang were swallowed up completely in the glow too!

Before long a massive trust of energy suddenly erupted forcing them to take cover behind the desks!

"WHOAAAA!"

"Brace yourselves!" Ancient shouted as it swept over the desk and them too! As Rod covered over Laura, Ancient did the same for Cretacia as the entire room was bathed in the light of the stones!

"AAAAH!"

Not long after that, it died down and as it did, Dr Ancient was the first to stir from slumber, "H…Huh?" he muttered as he opened his eyes in confusion, "What…happened?" he thought to himself, his head throbbing with pain as he sat up and looked over the desk which eh and the others took shelter behind form the mysterious anomaly. As he did he widened his eyes and gasped speechlessly, "Oh my….look at this mess…." he breathed as he witnessed that the entire room looked almost like a war zone, with equipment and the gate now reduced to molten slag and debris in the aftermath of the stone's feedback of energy.

Seeing what it did to Dr Z's machine, Dr Ancient began to fear what might have happened to the people who may have been caught in the blast. Reluctantly he looked to the side and asked, "Is everyone okay?"

Rod and Laura began to stir as they slowly and painfully opened their eyes, "Y…Yeah…."

"I think so…." they muttered as they got up, looking rather charred themselves but still mostly intact luckily.

"Good you're safe." Dr Ancient breathed in relief before turning to see his wife lying down on the floor. He lowered himself down and nudged her gently with his hands, "Cretacia?" he asked anxiously hoping for a sign of life.

"Ugh…" to his relief, his voice was the only motivation she needed to stir as she looked up at him and opened her eyes weakly while coated with some dust and bits of debris, "Im alright my dear." she nodded back at him much to his ease, "How about-" As she looked ahead to where her son and his friends were, her heart skipped a beat to see they were gone! "AH!" Not a single trace of them or the D Team remained where they stood, the stone gone and the generator had completely melted down to nothing!

Her husband, along with Rod and Laura began to mirror her panicked feelings and expression, as they looked around frantically through the debris, lifting it aside hoping they were buried underneath at least inset doc being vaporised, "Rex!"

"Rex! Where are you!?" They cried frantically as they searched the room with a fine toothed comb, but could find no trace of the children, as not a single piece of evidence remained…as if they were completely erased from existence!

"Max and Zoe!? Are you here!?" Cretacia then shouted out, "Answer us!" she cried as she started to panic.

It wasn't just them, Rod and Laura widened their eyes to see the entire alpha gang were missing too! "Grampa! Ursula!"

"Zander! Ed! You there!?" Their cries too went unanswered. Laura quickly turned pale and clapped her hands over her cheeks in a fright, "Oh no! Were they caught up in the light!?" she then asked desperately as she turned to the Ancients, "Did the stone tablet take them somewhere?" she asked. He didn't answer but instead stared in shock and disbelief, as he began walking towards the charred rubble in front of them, much to her confusion "D….Dr Ancient?"

As he stumbled forward towards the smoking wreckage of Dr Z's time gate, he then fell to his knees "This is terrible…the worst possible thing that could have happened….." he breathed as his wife and the siblings stared at him just as shocked as he was, "What are we going to do now? Also…what will we tell their parents? That they were involved in an accident while trying to go after the space pirates and Cera?" he asked himself wondering how they'd be able to take the responsibility for this….right after they gave their son and his friends their blessing….and even if they wanted to find out where they had gone….he couldn't think of any solution that might give them the answer they wanted.

Laura then walked up to him from behind, "Any way we can find them?" she pleaded softly…but the scientist gave no answer, which made her blood begin to turn cold.

"Come on! There has to be!" Rod gritted his teeth unwilling to accept that their fiends were vaporised, they had to be alive!

With deep regret, Dr Ancient sadly shook his head as he spoke back to both siblings, "Kids…With the machine now damaged beyond repair…and the tracking systems offline…." he said painfully before stating the most inconvenient truth of all, "I'm afraid our options of finding out which time period they went to are….zero…" he choked at the end as Rod and Laura both turned pale and their hearts skipped a beat at the most tragic of news ever.

"No…."

"This…can't be…" They choked painfully as they fell on their knees, staring with eyes widening with despair, the thought of them having lost their loved ones never crossed their minds….but it just happened before their eyes and there was nothing they could do about it…..

Cretacia then began to cry bitterly into Ancient's shoulder, for the loss of their friends and the children…..as Ancient hugged her in closely and patted her comfortingly, as he began to shed some tears of his own almost believing they had lost their son again…this time forever….

Unbeknownst to them, behind the corner, Seth had been eavesdropping on the entire fiasco and in fact been laying low and observing from a distance since the space pirates mysteriously returned and attacked earlier. The turn of events had proven most intriguing for him, and he looked from afar seeing how he might be able to use this situation to his advantage as he smirked to himself.

 **(Meanwhile)**

A bright light suddenly shone in the middle of what appeared to be an old decrepit alleyway, illuminating a small portion of the structure to look ancient and run down like a ruin, yet also somewhat advanced with layers of metal and brick mastered together, and as it died down it revealed the 3 members of the D Team, as they lay down dazed and exhausted after the time travel experience once again, only this time directly at the power source and without the protection of a vessel. "Urgh…." Already signs of unpleasant side effects ranging from nausea, dizziness or headaches became evident as groans and moans came from them as they lay down on the ground.

The first to stir was Zoe, as her eye twitched and she was able to get feeling back, "Oogh…my stomach…." Zoe muttered as she made her way to her knees and sat up on her legs while clutching her stomach, before standing up and stumbling away from the boys who were still down on the ground.

"Man….didn't think I'd go through that twice in 1 day." Max groaned as he pushed himself up with his arms and already he felt his head throbbing painfully as he winced from it and grasped it with his hand, before using both of them to massage his forehead n the hope of lessening his mental fatigue.

"Tell me about it Max…." Zoe answered as she opened her eyes and saw what he was doing. Making her way to her legs she stretched herself a bit, and fought past her own headache as she stumbled towards the edge of the alleyway to get a better look of their surroundings and determine where they were. When she laid eyes upon what she saw on the other side of the opening, she quick forgot about all her pain and fatigue, it flushed completely away as she widened her eyes and stared speechlessly ahead at what she saw.

Nearby Rex was able to turn himself over till he lay down on his back, but as he slowly and painfully opened his eyes he could see the sky, apparently grey and foggy for some reason, and the world spinning before him, "So this is what it feels like….remind to never do it again…." he moaned before closing his eyes hoping to rest them and hopefully he'd be able to see better again. For some reason though, as he began to breathe he could feel the air feeling rather uncomfortable and thick too….As he opened them again and sat up, he felt his vision clear at last and he thought he hoped to see better again. But as he looked up he tensed slightly to see the sky was indeed dark and rather gloomy….and there didn't seem to be any signs of a storm coming as the air felt very still and no signs of thunder or rain either…something didn't feel right and it made him feel uneasy as he looked around to see the alley they were in was enclosed with rather crumbling walls, a small piece falling off from the top and cracking as it hit the hard ground made him back away from the sides a little uneasily seeing it was still unstable and unsafe.

"I hear ya…." Max muttered back in response to Rex, though still unaware of what his friends were seeing or thinking. He stumbled about and rested his hand on the wall before using the other one to clutch his face so he could still himself, even with the Backlander he was dizzy after coming out the other end of the time portal but this really took the cake, "Note to self….never trust Dr Z with anything time related again…." he grumbled as his forehead throbbed some more, next time he saw that old geezer he was going to clobber him for this.

"Hey guys…." said Zoe in a rather soft but serious tone which made him and Rex look up to see her standing still outside of the alley opening, staring into space as it seemed.

"Yeah Zoe?" Max asked her as he blinked his eyes and began to walk towards her with Rex following behind him.

"Any idea….where we ended up?" she asked uneasily.

Max and Rex raised and eyebrow and blinked with confusion and suspicion at her odd choice of words, "Huh? Where we ended up?"

"What do you-" As soon as they stepped out into the light they froze in place and widened their eyes at what she was seeing!

"AH!"

Before them were the remains of a completely ruined civilisation, while the buildings around them appeared futuristic and advanced at some point, now many of them were reduced to rubble. Many of them had huge holes punched into them, every building shown so far being collapsed with broken windows and doors, and the walls of the city were crumbling down too. The skies were as Rex had saw just now, clouded under a blanket of black clouds and smog where no light could come through, thus leaving the earth below as a cold and dark wasteland. Around them were also the remains of ruined landmarks, old flying vehicles or robots that were abandoned to rust in piece, also some places had trees torn down and grasses burned up or charred, along with that barely a breeze blew and all that surround them was fog, darkness and the sense of sadness, despair and pain emanating all around this landscape, hinting this place suffered a massive tragedy once before. All these feelings put together with what they broke witness, overwhelmed the 3 children completely, as if time itself had stopped moving and was frozen in the worst possible moment of all!

"Wh….What is this place?" was all Max could croak painfully out his dried out throat due to his hanging jaw and speechless gasp, which was shared by Zoe who fell to her knees feeling utterly devastated by the sight.

"I….I'm not sure….." Rex breathed, feeling his own lungs and heart choking him from both the thick air and also the heart wrenching sight before his eyes.

"Did….the explosion wipe out the entire city?" Zoe asked anxiously as Max's heart skipped a beat at the thought.

"No….it couldn't have….." Rex shook his head denying that possibility, "If it did then we wouldn't be alive to see it now." He said though it didn't bring his friends much relief.

With that theory eliminated, that could only leave one possibility….and Max was reluctant to say it, "Then is this….what I think it is then?"

Zoe looked up to him along with Rex, "Max you don't think?"

Max quickly brought up his D Watch and dialled on it, "Let me see….." As the watch locked in on their current time he stuttered back as soon as he saw the reading, "This can't be right…." he breathed

"What is it Max?"

"Tell us please!" They asked him, refusing to take no for an answer, which made it all the more hard for him to handle.

He closed his eyes painfully, "You're not going to like it but…." he forced out the last bit at the end most painfully, "It says we're in the year….3000." he said with deep regret in his voice.

Rex and Zoe both widened their eyes, "3-3000!?" They exclaimed in sheer disbelief. As they looked to their own watches and did the same, the result matched that of Max's D Watch which further enforced their worries on what may be in store for humanity down the line.

"Wh…Why would the stone send us to such a horrible place and time?" Zoe asked choking hard under her overwhelmed emotions of shock.

"I….don't know….." Rex breathed heavily, "But….if this is the future…how could things possibly have ended up like this?" he then gasped horrified as Max and Zoe fell heavily on their arms and knees respectively, as they could only stare at the mass desolation that surround them.

"It's terrible…."

"No…."

Despite how bleak it looked, Max gritted his teeth unwilling to give up hope on humanity and life, as he shouted out at the top of his lungs, "Hello! Is anyone out there!" he cried pleading for an answer,

"Answer us!"

"Please!"

Zoe and Rex then cried out hoping of an answer, but all they could hear back were the echoes of their own calls bounding off the desolated walls of the ruins around them

"Nothing…." Max huffed heavily seeing no more point in trying as he gritted his teeth, clenched his fist and closed his eyes turning away, unable to look at it anymore.

"So then…is like…the entire human race wiped out? Gone like the dinosaurs?" Zoe then asked.

"I….I don't know Zoe….I hope not…." Rex answered painfully before hardening his expression, "But if that's the case…then how do we get back to stop it from happening? Also…what about Cera and the space pirates? What if we ended up in the wrong time from them?"

"Tch!" Max clicked his tongue in frustration, refusing to accept this as their fate after all the fought for to save it from destruction last time at the hands of the space pirates and the cosmos stones. The sight of this doomed future only lit the flames of determination even more so within his heart as he stood up and took a stand, "No…we can't give up! Not while everyone's counting on us!" He then shouted and clenched his hand into fist, but no matter how hard or determined he made himself look in the outside, Max could feel guilt and fear slowly beginning to grip his heart the longer he found himself staying in this terrible cold life forsaken place.

Rex could see that, as he eyed him with sympathy wishing there was something he could do for him…..but perhaps there was something he could do"Wait! I have an idea!" he cried as Max and Zoe looked to him in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You do Rex?" They asked him as he nodded back with a confident smile.

"Mhmm." Reaching into underneath his clothes he then took out the stone tablet as Max and Zoe widened their eyes in surprise at it.

"AH!"

"The stone!" They gasped before looking at him in disbelief, "You held onto it the whole time!?"

"Sure did." he nodded back confidently, "And if the stone tablet brought us here, maybe it can send us back too!"

Zoe then brightened up with hope, "Yeah you're right! Maybe after we get back and learn how to properly use it, then we can not only find Cera but maybe stop this from happening too!" she said.

"Awesome!" Max cheered pumping up his arms before letting out a sigh of relief, "At least there's a bright side to this…." It soon vanished however the moment he reached one serious factor they forgot to consider, "Though how do we use it?" he then asked his friends considering he had no idea himself.

Rex paused eying it for a few seconds before sighing in dismay, "I'm…not sure…." As he said that Max and Zoe both frowned in disappointment.

"That's just great…now we're stuck in the far future, in the middle of a ruined city with no way of calling for help…..what now?" Max grunted as he kicked away a nearby stone in frustration as Zoe looked to him sadly, understanding his pain and fear.

As she looked back to the stone which Rex held, she thought as hard as she could go back before realising something they missed, "Now that I think about it….it actually happened the same way as it did last time." said Zoe as she looked to Max, "When you and I touched it…." Then later faced Rex, "Then later Rex and the Alpha gang did…."

As she said that, Rex then pt a finger to his chin in thought, "Is it because we had the original stones once?" Thinking about it, when they first laid hands on the stones, they felt a kind of energy had bonded to them, main it so only they could use the stones and cards…maybe that acted as some sort of trigger to the stone tablet which was made from their remains!

"Say, didn't the alpha gang get sent with us too?" Zoe then asked as Max and Rex quickly picked up on her point.

"Hmm?" Looking around they found no trace of Dr Z or the 3 stooges anywhere much to their surprise.

"Hey you're right…." Max blinked his eyes in surprise.

"They're not here…." Rex muttered.

That left them with only one option, "Hello! You out there old lady!?" Zoe cried as her voice echoed through the ghostly streets of the ruined city….Much to their surprise, they heard no sound coming back, for once they had hoped to hear Ursula's voice shout back at them in denial.

"They must either be out cold or too far to hear us….even if that's unlikely…." Max then thought, hoping it wouldn't be the case, considering how they survived death countless times and how strong and can hear for miles, but in the end they were still human in the end so they couldn't overlook the possibility that a….tragedy may have fallen upon them.

"I might have an idea." Rex then suggested as he held out his dino bracer, "Last time when Cera implanted trackers into our dinoholders, mom made sure to install a similar function into the dino bracers so we can keep track of them and whoever's holding them case they get lost or separated." As he began dialling on it, Max and Zoe looked to him closely as they awaited what would happen next. He narrowed his eyes hard and a bead of sweat dropped from his cheek as minutes passed, "Let's just hope it isn't damaged…." he pleaded as his friends watched on tensely, rooting for him since this was their only hope left. As he typed in the final button the Dino bracer let out a tracking signal, displaying their location on a map onscreen, and further ahead were 3 other signals linking to their alpha scanners! "Bingo! There they are!" Rex smiled as he tensed up his hand in joy.

"Aha!"

"Alright!" Max and Zoe cheered with a chance that their friends survived, at least they hoped so but there was still only one way to be sure.

Rex then smiled at ease, "Heh, even when she's not around she still comes through for us." he thought thinking about Cera before turning serious. As much as he wanted to find her, regrouping with their allies took priority as he zeroed in on their coordinates, "They're pretty far off, wonder how they got all the way over there." he then muttered curiously.

"Doesn't matter," said Max firmly, "What does is that we found them and now we can go get them."

"Then what are we waiting for!" Zoe then tensed up ready to roll whenever they were all ready as Max nodded back to her.

Before they could run ahead towards them, Rex took another look to make sure they'd head in the right direction, but as soon as he did, he widened his eyes in surprise at what he found on his dino bracer! "AH! Wait guys! Hold up a sec!" he called out to them catching their attention.

"Huh?"

"What now Rex?" They asked as they walked up to see what was going on with him now, time was of the essence and they had to find their allies soon otherwise they'd be doomed against whatever dangers lay in wait in this unknown time.

What Rex was about to show them would change everything for them, "Look!" he pointed at it, which was a fourth signal located somewhat close to where they were much to his friends' surprise, "There's a 4th signature! And it's close by!" he cried.

Max blinked his eyes, "A fourth? Impossible…" he leaned closer for a better look, and squinted his eyes, "Unless…." As Rex began typing on it, he decided to get a fix to make sure, "It can't be…." he prayed that it was what he hoped for, and as it fixated on it, he widened his eyes in shock, "It is! It's Cera!"

"AH!?"

"No way! She's here!?" Rex and Zoe both gasped in disbelief that she was in the same time period they were sent to by the stone tablet.

Rex then hardened his expression seriously at the highly implausible coincidence, "If she is, then the space pirates have to be too!" he said as he looked ahead in the direction where it was coming from, "The alpha gang can wait, right now we have to find her first!"

"Yeah you're right." Max nodded back at him in agreement, "Plus she owes some answers too." he then added knowing that she was the reason they ended up here, no matter how hard she'll try to push them away they wouldn't stop until they found her again and the truth too.

Zoe then looked around them, shivering with the cold wind which blew across the desolated ruins as well as in fear, "She's all alone now in this ruined metropolis, no way…." she thought to herself in deep concern for her wellbeing, as Rex and Max looked at her in sympathy before looking to one another and nodding.

"Come on team let's go!" Max yelled as he waved to them before running ahead.

"Mhmm!" Zoe and Rex soon titled after him as they rushed towards the signal's location.

As they raced along the path available to them, Max looked around to see nothing but ruins of a big city on both sides, as well as passing by over a bridge which stood over a drain canal which was dried up with only a small stagnant stream flowing through it. Many of the buildings around had huge holes punched in them and pieces of landmarks eroding away in the wind too, "This place….could this be when the space pirates and Cera came from?" Max wondered as he continued seeing nothing but desolation for miles as far as the eye could see.

The further they ran, the more devastated the landscape appeared to them as they passed by what appeared to be a line of dead tree trunks and foliage, which they pushed on through or climbed over, it was more than enough to make anyone's heart crack this saddened city's state….wherever it was supposed to be, "Could this be why she didn't want us to come with her? So we wouldn't see all this?" Max thought beginning understand why Cera didn't want to talk about herself or where she came from. It was then he shook his head clear and kept his gaze fixated ahead, "No, I can't think about that now, need to stay focused." He told himself, "We'll hear everything from her once we find her….." whatever she was keeping from them, they knew for certain they had to know….as both her friends and for humanity's sake.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off in the distance, having made her way to a ruined open square area where the ruins of a large fountain (With a cracking statue of a brachiosaurus raised up on its legs falling apart with pieces of it littered in the now dried up basin), Cera kept her eyes at the sky searching for where the space pirate ship may have moved off to….having lost it when it took off into the clouds right after she arrived in this time period. However before losing sight of it completely she did notice it's shadow appear momentarily over this spot dropping something she couldn't make out before it vanished again….much to her disappointment.

"…." She then frowned to herself, clenching her hand into a fist tightly as she felt guilt tightening its hold around her heart. She began to wonder if cutting her bonds with her friends like that was the right thing to do after all they been through together…..feelings of conflict began to swell up in her mind when she realised she can never go back to them again after what she did to them. Realising that she quickly shook her head and trued her best not to waver in her decision which she had made, "I'm sorry guys….but I can't let you get involved with me anymore…even if we have been the best of friends I could ever ask for…." she hissed to herself, knowing it was far too late to change now…and that this was inevitable for her, considering what her truth was. Plus, she believed that this was for the best too, as her friend she didn't want them to be dragged down into the same pit she was in and suffer the same pain as she had.

Nevertheless, it didn't make it easier to know that she did betray their trust….but she was still on a mission she had to get back to and people to save as well, she had to make up for lost time for who knew how long she had been absent and what it costed her old allies here, as she steeled herself with a revived resolve for no one else would be able to undertake the task she was on. Hearing a screech up ahead, she looked to see Miku diving down from a ruined building top before descending down onto her shoulder like a trained bird, "Any sign of that ship Miku?" she asked her. In response she shook her head and cooed sadly, as Cera frowned in disappointment, "No? Must have gone into hyperdrive and escaped to someplace else…." she sighed as she stepped ahead and looked around to see nothing but a ruined landscape for miles….and no sign of any life or movement for that matter.

She narrowed her eyes knowing she did something fall here in this location and she was determined to find out what it was first before moving on, knowing any vital clue she could get was crucial to locating the enemy. "Still the trial ends here….or does it?" She thought to herself, as she shifted from looking up to down at the ground instead. As she did, she found traces of impacts and cracks in the ground followed by footprints which lead away in various directions, hinting that gel jarks may have been here probably to pick up whatever was dropped from the ship….at least that was what she suspected, when she noticed some of the impact marks and the footprints leading from them had traces of slime in them too! Kneeling down for a closer look, she picked up a small fallen twig and poked at it, as she slipped up a small sample for examination, which was when she came to a rather uncomfortable conclusion, "It's fresh….too fresh…." she mused seeing the signs all too clear, before looking around to observe her surroundings, "Wait a second….could they maybe have planted something here for me to go after?" As she asked herself that she heard some beeping sounds echoing in the distance followed by approaching slimy footsteps, which made her sweat and widen her eyes in realisation! "Oh no this is definitely a-"

"Look! There she is!" A familiar voice shouted in the distance far behind her. A voice so familiar, one she never expected to hear again since she set foot in this time period, she was caught completely by surprise as she turned around and widened her eyes in alarm!

"Huh!?"

She at first believed to be hallucinating, but a pair of other voices soon followed behind, which proved her very wrong, "It is her!"

"Come on hurry!" 3 figures soon began to appear from the dusty background behind.

Cera couldn't believe her eyes as they stepped out into the open where she could see them, as her 3 friends who somehow broke the boundaries of space and time were now racing towards where she was! "M…Max!?" She exclaimed as he ran into view out of the dust, and he wasn't alone as 2 other familiar kids his age followed in right behind! "Rex and Zoe too!?" She screamed in disbelief as Miku widened her eyes and squawked frantically, "Wh….What are they doing here!?" Like her enemies they were as persistent, she should've known she wouldn't have been able to shake them off so easily. She wanted to run, but her legs refused to budge from where she stood…..a lingering feeling of guilt and regret for what she did earlier hunkered her down as if she wanted to face the consequences of her choice.

"There you are Cera!" Max yelled angrily, his eyes fixated on her as they closed the distance between them.

"What's the meaning of all this!? Why'd you just run off like that just now!?"

"Yeah! Do you have any idea how worried we were when you-"

Hearing the slimy footsteps closely, Cera quickly cut them off, "Stay back you 3! Get out of here now! You're not supposed to be here!" she cried upon remembering why this place was dangerous

Unfortunately after the stunt she pulled earlier, much to her regret, none of the D Team were buying her words nor were they aware of the impending danger they were in and instead took offence to her trying to cut them off rudely, "No way! We're not leaving until you fess up everything!" Rex yelled back in response while Max and Zoe kept their firm glares fixed on her assuming she was trying to get away which they didn't plan on doing. Now that they found her they weren't about to let her out of their sights again!

Cera gritted her teeth in anger before shouting out at them, "No! You don't understand!" she yelled in frustration. Looking at her, seeing the urgency and worry in her eyes and tone, her friends widened their eyes realising there really was something amidst here that they weren't aware of! "There's-"

Before she could continue, the loud robotic sounds she heard earlier suddenly sounded from around the dark alleys and crevices around them!

BEEP! BEEP!

"Huh!?"

"Wh…What the!?" The noise caught them all by surprise as they looked around trying to find out what its was or where it came from.

Recognising the sounds and what they meant, Cera clicked her tongue in frustration though, "Oh no…..they've found us…." she hissed while Miku flared up her feathers in agitation.

The others looked to her in confusion, "They?"

"Who's they?" Zoe and Rex blinked wondering what she meant.

Max narrowed his eyes knowing she knew something that they didn't about the space pirates, but before he could ask a group of Gel jarks suddenly swamped in! They came in from through cracks in the rubble, through the dark alleys and out of the black mist! And even from the large group they saw with their own eyes, the beeping lights from their heads could be seen flashing either through the black fog or from within the darkened alleys and crevices of the ruins!

They were all caught completely by surprise as they were ambushed! "WAH!?"

Eventually the D Team found themselves surrounded by what would look like a sea of pink slime if seen form above and the tide was closing in on them from every corner!

Rex sweated anxiously and gritted his teeth, "Not these guys again!"

"There's so many of them!" Zoe exclaimed as she stepped back closer with Max, Cera and Rex as the gel jarks stepped closer and closer towards them, raising their arms out ready to seize them while still beeping ominously!

"I was right…it was a trap!" Cera gasped in horror realising her instincts were right.

They looked to her in alarm, "A trap!?"

Max then shouted at her, "Cera what's going on!? We demand to know!" he yelled angrily and with immense irritation.

Looking around and seeing foes on nearly every level, be it on the ground or on top of ruined buildings or even slipping out of small openings and cracks like the boneless slugs they were, Cera clicked her tongue and sweated tensely as their enemies amassed in rather large numbers on every end! "Tch! Guys this is not the time to explain and you know it!" she shouted back at them as their foes beeped sinisterly and closed in on them forcing the D Team to stand shoulder to shoulder and back to back as they gritted their teeth or hardened their gaze at their tight situation.

"Grrgh…fine alright, but after this you owe us an explanation!" Max shouted back at her seeing they had no other choice.

"Big time!" Rex and Zoe both glared at her after him.

Cera gritted her teeth hard seeing the complicated situation they were in, but soon he realised they were in it because of her, so it was her responsibility to set it right, "In all honestly I owe you more than I ever could…." she said with a deep sigh before readying herself seriously, "But we'll worry about that later, right now we need to get out of this slimy mess."

"Guess it's a good thing we've got just the clean up crew for that job!" said Max as he held up his dino bracer and everyone else did the same!

"Together guys!" Rex cried as they took out their cards!

"Dino slash!"

Slashing them in sync, all 3 of their dinosaurs appeared and roared out, forming a defensive circle around Cera and their partners as they roared out against the many enemies that were present! Seeing the enemy dinosaurs standing before them, the jarks were caught by surprise as they backed off nervously and beeped at one another unsure of how to respond, what they thought were easy prey turned out to have claws and fangs of their own to defend with!

"Hehe, not so tough now huh?" Max chuckled with confidence as Chomp roared out fiercely and stomped his foot shaking up the place a bit!

"Stay together guys, they've still got us outnumbered!" said Rex narrowing his eyes and realising there were still a LOT of foes around then, way more than just now.

"Relax, we can take em easy Rex!" Max snickered confidently seeing how anxious the jarks were as they hesitated to attack and even backed away as the 3 bellowing dinosaurs!

"Rex is right," said Cera in agreement with him as she warned Max before she and Miku got ready to fight, "We can't afford to get careless here….this is war after all…." She really hoped to leave them out of her battle, no they ended up right in the middle of it with no way of escaping it now…but…deep down inside….she was actually somewhat happy to be alongside her friends again….she couldn't explain why but….that was how she felt….like she hoped to be able to explain it to her friends one day, just not like this…."Also….something doesn't feel right…it seems almost too easy…." she then thought to herself with suspicion, realising the space pirates had to have sent more than these pawns….they had to have some trick or secret weapon in reserve knowing them.

Her answer soon came in the most dreadful form possible….when the D Team's dino bracers suddenly began to blink red upon detection….

"Huh? What the?" Rex raised his arm to see what was happening, as he eyed his dino bracer to see what was going on he stuttered back in surprise! "AH! No way!" he exclaimed as his friends looked to him in surprise.

"What is it now Rex!?" Max asked him, thinking it would be more gel jarks, but what he said next they did not expect.

"I'm picking a dinosaur signal close by!" he cried out to them.

Max and Zoe widened their eyes in disbelief, "What!?"

"A dinosaur here!?" They exclaimed. As they did Cera narrowed her eyes knowing what was coming….and it wasn't good….

"Is it the alpha gang!?" Max then asked hopefully, they could sue the backup right about now.

Rex uneasily shook his head, "No….it's an unidentified one….completely new…." he said, unsure of whether that would be a good thing or not. As he looked closer….more signals began to pop up around the dino bracer's scanners, "And there's….more?" he blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Huh?"

"M…More dinosaurs?" They each asked him in surprise.

"Yeah…" Rex nodded back at Max and Zoe. Looking again he widened his eyes, "A bunch of them actually! And they're coming here!" he then gasped which caught his friends completely by surprise!

"AH!"

Rex then gritted his teeth as he eyed the signals approaching their current location, "This can't be right….can it?" he asked himself in confusion as to how there could be so many dinosaurs in a ruined place like this, it made no sense.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake underneath their feet. The rocks and pebbles shook about in the tremors they felt through the ground, something or more like many large things were coming their way and fast! The sounds of bellows and roars echoed further in the distance and they were coming from various directions all round them, the D Team widened their eyes and sweated uneasily, as their dinosaurs looked around and bellowed in agitation at what was happening, looking around frantically trying to figure out what was going on.

Cera though, froze stiff sensing a change in the air's rhythm as Miku's eyes turned slit and feral sensing danger on instinct, "Oh no…." she breathed, something that was caught on by Max and Zoe.

"Cera?"

"Wh…What's happening?" They asked her uneasily, hoping she'd have an answer as to what was coming or what was going on in that matter.

She swallowed hard, it was clear she had an idea as to what they were dealing with, "I don't know but it looks like we're about to find out…in a really bad way…" and she didn't like it one bit.

As she finsihed, one of the nearby ruined houses was suddenly blown up as a huge cloud of dust erupted from where the structure was!

CRASH!

"AAAH!" Max and the others gasped as they looked to see, and their hearts skipped a beat at what they discovered. Appearing out of the dust were 3 large reptilian silhouettes, as the D Team waited in anticipation for these newcomers to reveal themselves! As the dust settled, emerging from them was an allosaurus atrox, along with an abelisaurus and an agustinia! Upon sighting their enemies they roared out in fury against the D Team and their dinosaurs as the skies turned multicoloured with the battlefield!

ROAR!

Max, Rex and Zoe gasped in disbelief at what they saw, "AH!"

"No way!"

"D…Dinosaurs!?" Upon closer inspection, Rex narrowed his eyes seeing they all carried one very unsettling giveaway which revealed their allegiance! "They all have the pirate's mark on them too!"

As he said that, Max and Zoe gulped and sweated anxiously realising they were really were up to their necks in really hot water! "Then that means…." Max gritted his teeth in frustration.

"This is really bad…" Zoe gulped as Cera narrowed her eyes, as if this didn't surprise her…..

Suddenly the ground began to rumble violently once more,

"WHOA!" Everyone gasped upon being shaken suddenly, and with quaking footsteps echoing behind the rugged wall, they tensed anxiously knowing what was coming next! "Not more!"

CRASH!

The nearby crumbling wall was smashed through and charging out of the dust and leaping onto the field were a pair of ceratopsians! An udanoceratops and an albertaceratops, and right behind them was an indosuchus which snarled ravenously! They too bore the marks of the spectral space pirates on their bodies and foreheads!

Snarls echoed from a hole of a separate building on the other side, and leaping out from the hole was a neovenator and a fukuiraptor! They hissed viciously before jumping out and landing gracefully onto the ground behind the D Team! And appearing out from alleys or from the dark smog around them was a dacentrurus, panoplosaurus and a large charonosaurus that let out a battle cry as the enemy forces circled around the D Team and already they could feel being overwhelmed by the sheer number of foes which surround them on every corner!

ROAR!

"AAAAH!" The D Team cried in horror as the new enemy dinosaurs joined the other ones, along with gel jark group and had them completely trapped!

"There's so many of them!" Zoe exclaimed as and Rex looked around frantically seeing enemies on every side, their dinosaurs too were becoming increasingly weary and agitated, forget chances of success, they'd be lucky if they had any chances of survival now.

"Tch!" Max clicked his tongue feeling overwhelmed, he was beginning to take back what he said about their odds, it was clear they were out of their element here as their foes outnumbered them like 10 to 1 and the numbers just seemed to be growing still!

"They're everywhere….." Rex breathed feeling the pressure slowly crushing him, as their foes were cutting off every escape route possible and already tightening their formation as the enemies snarled or roared intimidating the D Team as they began to close the gap!

"We may be in trouble here guys….." Cera swallowed hard, a complete understatement needless to say.

Rex sweated and gritted his teeth with Zoe, but Max hardened his expression refusing to yield, "Stay together guys! We can do this….I hope…" he gulped as Chomp, Ace and Pairs were backed further into a more tight bunch. It was obvious that retreating and splitting up would be the worst idea, they'd be easily caught and overwhelmed, on top of that it'd be impossible too as all their escape routes were completely cut off too! Even if they were to fight they'd have no chance against such an enormous enemy force! It was clear that their options were severely limited and still decreasing!

Not planning to give their prey any time to think up a plan, the allosaurus attrox roared in fury as it rushed ahead towards them first and a few of the other dinosaurs following after it, while the rest of them along with the gel jarks held back, to wait for an opening or to observe their prey for any weaknesses.

"Here they come!"

"Brace yourselves! Max and Rex yelled out loud while Zoe covered herself in fear.

"AAAH!" she screamed in terror as Cera stepped before her ready to use herself as a shield for her friend if necessary!

Reacting on instinct, Chomp roared fiercely at the incoming allosaurus before rushing head on fearlessly in an effort to protect Max and his friends much to his horror, "Chomp! Wait!" he cried holding out his hand but too late to stop him! Seeing the incoming attack, the allosaurus swiftly sidestepped him as he ran past, before quickly snapping at Chomp's tail and then throwing him into a stone pillar which then collapsed down on him! "No!"

"Paris! Help him!" Zoe then cried to her partner and Rex did the same.

"Quickly Ace!"

They rushed out to stop the allosaurus as it headed towards Chomp with jaws bared wide, only to be caught by surprise as the neovenator and fukuiraptor leapt o to them from out of nowhere before then biting and clawing at theme mercilessly as they roared in pain!

"NOOO!" Zoe and Rex cried in horror to see how quickly they were getting outmatched, as the small carnivores leapt off them both! As they fell to the ground disorientated, the ceratopsians charged in and flip them away further from Chomp! As they crashed to the ground, the abelisaurus ran in and chomped down on Ace's neck as he roared in pain, the fire carnivore's fangs sinking deeper into his neck and nearing his windpipe! The charonosaurus began dishing out some massive forward slams on Paris' underbelly as each blow began to choke the air and life out of her, each bellow of pain getting weaker as she got struck with the force of a battering ram to her chest!

"Paris!"

"Ace get up! Fight back!" Zoe and Rex both pleaded for their partners to hang in there, but the situation was turning most bleak for them.

Seeing the pain and suffering coming from her friends, the fear in their eyes and the anguish the dinosaurs, both allies and enemy were suffering on both ends of the battle…..Cera gritted her teeth seeing it almost like a replay of past events….like last time this all happened….."No…this can't be how it ends….not here…not now….not with….my friends…." she choked painfully, her breath being squeezed out of her lungs as she felt herself becoming overwhelmed as her friends' cries mixed in with the screams of her past nightmares…..

"CHOMP!"

"ACE!"

"PARIS!"

"HELP!"

"NOOOO!"

As the gel jarks slowly began to surround the human members of the D Team, and how their partners were suffering under the merciless enemy dinosaurs, Cera's eyes widened in horror at the suffering they were going through now…and there was one person responsible for all this, as she fell to her knees and her eyes began to tear up in despair, "This is all my fault….I let this happen…." she hissed painfully to herself as she grasped her head with her hands. Miku's squawking and pecking to get her act together couldn't react her sadly, if only she had been able to talk her partner out of this earlier…now it seemed things were too late. "I'm really sorry everyone…." Cera then said as she looked up to her friends.

They looked away from the fighting down to where she was, "Huh?"

"Cera?"

She then lowered her head in shame and guilt, "I really wish I could tell you all the truth, you have no idea how much I wanted to the moment I got back my memories…." she said softly, "But I had no way of ever telling you how….so I kept it to myself and even tried to run away from facing it." She then gritted her teeth and clenched her hand into a fist, "It's my fault for not trusting you….because of me….we may never get the chance again…." she said at the end before punching the ground with all the force in her hand.

Her friends eyed her…..realising she truly did mean what she said….that everything they were experiencing right now had to have been the reason why she wanted them to stay away…so they wouldn't suffer the same tragedy and struggles she was experiencing with the space pirates, whatever the reason was, they knew they couldn't bear to see her crying for help and suffering on her own anymore.

"Cera…."

"You can still get out of here," she then said unable to look at them in the eye, believing she lost the right to do so, "I don't want any of you to be dragged into another struggle because of-"

"Don't say that! It isn't over yet!" Max shouted back at her as she widened her eyes in surprise at his spirit still standing strong as it always had. An expression shared by his friends as they nodded with him and even smiled too, "Cera, we've been through hard times more than you can count." he said to her.

"And no matter what came our way we always prevailed over them in the end." said Rex next in agreement.

"And do you know why?" Zoe then asked, "It's cos we stick together, stand by and sheltered each other in their burdens." she answered.

"When one of us was weak, another was strong, and thus unified we're a formidable force not even the cosmos stones could stop!" said Rex with confidence.

"We understand you may have had some kind of terrible past or experience before," said Max with compassion, "We just wanted you to trust us enough that we can help you through it." He then held a hand for her as she eyed it in surprise that he was still willing to both forgive, accept and help her see this through to the end, "You did so for us, it's natural we'd do it for you too. Even if it meant we'd have to give up our own lives to do it….us and our dinosaurs." he said firmly with assurance in his voice, "We just thought you might have learned that by now, after all you just that for us." he said at the end as they nodded with him in full agreement.

"Guys…." Cera gasped speechlessly. They were right in the end…how could she have been so blind to have repeated her mistake long ago….it wasn't her place to protect her friends, it was for them all to protect one another…..Taking his hand and hardening her resolve, Max helped her stand as she sported an expression filled with confidence and clarity. In her eyes, Miku could see that the past had indeed taught them far more than they had ever learnt in their life up unto this point.

Looking back ahead, Max narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, "It doesn't matter if we're backed into a corner, we're not giving up." As he said that, Chomp was able to kick himself back up and ward off the allosaurus from getting closer as he swung out his horns at it, causing it to jump back in surprise.

"No matter who stands against us!" Zoe yelled as Paris kicked out with her foot, catching the charonosaurus off guard as it fell back!

"When we're knocked down, we always get back up!" Rex punched forward as Ace managed to shake off the abelisaurus, before grabbing its' neck with his jaws and then throwing it into the panoplosaurus as they both tumbled away into a wall which then buried them in rubble after they smashed through it!

"And fight harder than ever before!" Max yelled out loud, "Because were the D Team! And the D Team never gives up in the face of danger!" he announced to the sky proudly as the Gel jarks halted their approach, startled at the show of strength and bravery the boy did when he should be exhibiting fear, of all the humans they had terrorised not one of them showed resolve as such ever before!

Cera gasped in amazement at the courage Max and his friends demonstrated. Despite being surrounded and the odds stacked against them, the fact that they were still together, to be there for one another and help share their pain and burdens together as a team…that was what made them strong…and she now began to realise what a fool she was to even think of throwing that away. She then narrowed her eyes and nodded back at them, "You're right guys….thank you for reminding me of that." she said to them gratefully as she took a stand with them, "I promise it won't happen again….If we make it out of this….I'll make things right." she swore to them as she looked ahead to see their situation….with gel jarks and enemy dinosaurs…..it would take a miracle to save them now, but either way she was fine with whatever the outcome would be.

"There are good ways to go….and to go along with your friends….yeah this is definitely one of them…." she told herself as she closed her eyes, but not with despair but instead….feeling finally at peace with herself. Even if ti was too late fir them…it was better for her to realised her mistake than never. As their enemies amassed them and their dinosaurs regrouped once more around to protect them, despite wheezing with exhaustion and heavily battered with injuries, their resolve remained as hardened as their partners were as they readied themselves for their foes, no matter the outcome of this fight they were prepared for it. Standing with them, they looked to see Cera and Miku readying themselves along with them, as they smiled happy to have her support and she smiled back before they all hardened for battle, "It's been an honour to fight along side you…." she said to them with no regrets.

Before long, their foes having lost sense of caution rushed ahead towards them as the D Team's dinosaurs braced themselves, willing to give their loves for their partners if necessary, while the humans closed their eyes and gritted their teeth, preparing to accept what was coming and then face it with all they had.

"Urgh…" Max opened his eyes with determination and was about to use the order to attack…when suddenly the jarks stopped their assault, pausing strangely as they beeped and looked around, as if they themselves sensed something approaching. The enemy dinosaurs too did the same as they sniffed the air and either growled or grunted in agitation or anticipation much to the D Team's surprise. "Huh?"

"They're stopping?" Zoe muttered.

"What's gotten into them?" Rex then questioned suspiciously, unsure if their nervous behaviour would be a good or bad thing for them.

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise at the unexpected turn of events, "This is odd….they have us on the ropes….why would they hold their attack like that when they've come so close to taking us out for good?" she muttered in curiosity. Suddenly, the sound of wheels echoed further in the distance…..a familiar sensation…one she hadn't experienced as long as she could remember….Miku could feel it too, as she perked up and looked around restlessly along with the other dinosaurs as they tired to pinpoint where it was coming from or what it was.

"Huh? You sense something Chomp?" Max asked curiously at his dinosaur's odd behaviour.

"Paris and Ace too…" Rex noted.

"What's going on?" Zoe wondered putting a finger to her chin feeling unsure and worried about what would happen next.

Cera and Miku suddenly widened their eyes as they began toe recognise this sound, "Wait….this feeling…."

RUMBLE!

A sudden loud tremor shook through the ground, followed by sounds of collapsing and crushing in the distance! Something massive was on its way and its approach was shaking up the battlefield and everyone with it! "WAH! What now!?" Zoe cried as she and the others tried their best to stabilise their own footing! They felt this could be trouble, and sweated anxiously wondering why couldn't anything good happen to them for a change! The jarks beeped in a panic as they stumbled about and toppled around one another, while the dinosaurs roared out in surprise!

RRRRR

"Wait…why do I hear an engine roaring?" Max blinked his eyes in surprise as Rex and Zoe quickly picked up on it too, followed by the sounds of tyres scraping the ground too!

"It couldn't be…." Cera then breathed as she recognised the unmistakable sound of a vehicle nearing their location, "It's them….They came for us!" she smiled brightly as the others looked to her curiously.

"Huh?"

"Who came for us?" Rex and Zoe asked her wondering what she meant.

Looking ahead they saw a wall suddenly smashed down, grabbing everyone's attention in the vicinity! As the dust cleared, the D Team couldn't believe their eyes at what they saw before them, "WHOA!" Emerging from the dust was a large blue vehicle with a whitish front frame along, with a heavily armoured front and a green D symbol with a yellow ring on its front! It also sported a small gun like turret on top of it where the glass window frame was though there were silhouettes of a single driver riding the huge vehicle the D Team was more fixated on the massive machine that appeared out of nowhere!

"What's that!?"

"It's huge!" They gasped in amazement.

Upon sight of it, the jarks began beeping rather nervously, while the enemy dinosaurs turned towards it and roared out in agitation.

Another loud engine roar followed by wheels sounded in the back open path, and appearing out from it was a large white truck like vehicle which also sported a pair of large drills on top of its cargo load, a pair of small cannons ontop of its roof along with the same green D logo on tis front frame!

Once more the D team apart from Cera was caught completely by surprise at the new arrivals, "AH!"

"What's going on here!?" Rex and Zoe exclaimed in disbelief, they had their fair share of surprises over their trips across time and space but this was really taking the cake.

"I don't know but it looks like we're about to find out!" Max then cried as he began to sweat tensely and their dinosaurs backed away to where they were, as the enemies' attention as drawn away from them and towards the 2 massive vehicles!

"And it's going to be good." Cera then smirked to herself knowing exactly what was coming next.

Suddenly the first truck began charging the cannon on its' top which fired out a red beam of light! Quickly it materialised into the form of a huge purple giganotosaurus, which stomped its foot on the ground and let out a thunderous roar which shook the premises, causing weaker pieces of rock in the ruined buildings to crack apart and fall away, while causing the enemy dinosaurs and gel jarks to step back nervously in face of this monster! The second truck, shot out a pair of beams, one white and the other purple, and appearing from them was a sinraptor and a kentrosaurus and they both road out at the massive number of enemies fearlessly!

"Whoa! More dinosaurs!" Rex cried in amazement at what he saw, "Did those trucks just summon them!?"

"But…how!?" Zoe exclaimed seeing it to be impossible.

"I don't now but it looks like they're on our side!" Max then smiled with relief before grinning with excitement, "Hehe, not to mention they look so cool too!"

"Right on time….." Cera breathed in relief along with Miku, seeing that help had arrived for them right when they needed it most….like Max once said things are darkest before the dawn and they held out till dawn arrived for them.

As the new dinosaurs rallied together and reared out a battle challenge against the many enemies that stood before them, he gel jarks began to abandon their pursuit against the children before regrouping with the enemy dinosaurs against their new foes

Seeing the situation growing both tense and complicated, Rex looked to the others, "Quick guys, let's get Chomp and the others back into their cards." he suggested with caution, "I don't think we'd want them to be in the middle of all this."

Max and Zoe looked ahead to see Chomp and the others were already tired and exhausted, plus if these newcomers were on their side they'd only be getting in the way in their condition. "Good thinking…"

"Yeah…" They both said as they retuned their dinosaurs all to card form and Cera did the same for Miku, then summoned her to chibi size as she took refuge in her pocket. After that the D Team ran behind to take shelter behind a large stone block as they looked out form it to observe how things would go.

As the udanoceratops and albertaceratops shrieked and rushed towards the kentrosaurus, it responded growing purple and bellowing loudly as it summoned crystal crusher! 4 large crystal spears materialised around it as it charged ahead fearlessly! The ceratopsians, unable to stop in time ran right into the crystal spikes and were blown back as they crashed to the ground and returned to card form in an instant! It didn't stop there as the kentrosaurus continued onwards, ploughing through the gel jarks, either skewering them or seeing them flying like heaps of mud and rock with ease!

"Wow! Look at them go!" Max gasped seeing how their foes were sent flying away or tumbling like rag dolls!

"That's showing em!" Rex cheered with a grin as he punched forward in excitement.

The sinraptor snarled viciously as it rushed forward and began to spin around a large chunk of gel jarks along with the charonosaurus, panoplosaurus and agustinia! Running around at full speed it summoned a tornado toss using them all to fly into he air as they were sucked in but the vortex and sent spiralling into the sky and high into the dark clouds above! As the sinraptor halted its' run to catch its breath the jarks went splat all aoudad the ruined landscape before the 3 enemy dinosaurs crashed into the ground, a cloud of dust erupting where they fell and 3 lights show out as they returned to card form!

"No way…." Zoe breathed in awe at how powerful the new dinosaurs were and how quickly they were making short work of their enemies.

As the abelisaurus rushed ahead to bite at the giganotosaurus' leg, the larger carnivore swung down its head and smashed it to the ground! After that it grabbed hold of the smaller carnivore in its massive jaws before throwing it like a rag doll against the indosuchus and allosaurus! The 3 carnivores were flung into the remaining enemy dinosaurs and gel jarks as they crashed down in a huge pile! Seizing its chance, it glowed red as it charged up with fire, creating a massive flare sword in the sky before reigning it down on the helpless enemies! Flames erupted where they were as the gel jarks melted away in the immense punishing heat and the enemy dinosaurs roared in agony before turning into card form!

With the enemies wiped out, all 3 heroic dinosaurs roared out in triumph as they stomped the ground and bellowed to the dark skies as the battlefield disappeared around them too, much to the D Team's awe and amazement.

Max couldn't help but drop his jaw speechlessly, while Rex and Zoe stared and and took in that most breathtaking moment, one which they'll never forget ever in their lives as long as they lived.

"I don't believe it…."

"Incredible…." They breathed while Max suddenly regained his composure and grinned with excitement and then exploding with it!

"That…was…awesome!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The only one of them who didn't seem that moved by the performance was Cera, in fact she only smiled feeling happy for them as if she had expected them to do just that, "Heh, looks like their skills are still as sharp as ever huh Miku?" she said to her partner who popped her head out of her pocket and chirped back at her.

Not long after that, the doors to the vehicles opened up, stepping out of the first one was a safari coloured uniformed man, with the same D logo on his assault vest which he wore over his uniform, as well as a black helmet overing over his entire head with a vizor on it so no one could see his face. From the other truck, came 2 more men in the same uniform wear as they saluted the first soldier, "Secure the perimeter! Retrieve whatever cards you can find!" he order before pointing at the battlefield where their dinosaurs were sniffing the air and scouting to make sure they were in the clear.

"Yes sir!" They saluted their superior as they ran ahead to pick up the cards of their defeated dinosaur foes wherever they could find them amongst the rubble or slime remains of the jarks.

"Just who are these guys?" Zoe mused putting a finger to her chin curiosuly as she and the others observed them work from a distance.

"And is that….a D symbol?" Rex wondered, seeing that it looked almost like the D Lab Logo they had with them.

Looking at them, Cera sighed to herself, knowing after what they just witnessed she wouldn't be able to keep anymore secrets and it would soon e time for her to spill everything, not just on herself but also about the future too….as she lowered her head down.

"Wow….." Max breathed in awe seeing the people responsible for saving them, before grinning in excitement before running towards them like a child to the zoo! "That was…amazing! Ahahaha!"

Rex widened his eyes seeing Max wasn't thinking clearly and was overcome by awe and his senses blinded to any danger these new faces may present, "AH! Max wait!" he cried but too late as max had made it over to the troopers who looked up at him approaching them.

"Hey guys! That was like the coolest thing I ever saw anyone do with a dinosaur!" he praised them waving his hands out to them in excitement, "Well not as cool as we do but who cares! You really saved our bacon there and-"

"Hold it! Stay right where you are!" The leading trooper shouted at him as he and the other 2 men aimed a pair of dinoshots at them!

"Put your hands where we can see them!"

"HUH!? Wh.…What the!?" Max widened his eyes and held his hands up, not just at the sight of the familiar device they carried which matched Cera's, but also that they were aiming them right at him as well as Rex and Zoe!

In an instant, the 3 dinosaurs that were out suddenly surround him as well as Rex and Zoe too much to their alarm as they snared and hissed menacingly at them!

"WAH!"

They shuddered and turned pale, feeling the hot breath of the great beasts breathing down their backs or necks knowing they could strike and end them at any time they wanted! They froze stiff and looked around, sweating tensely knowing that a sudden movement could provoke an attack from either the dinosaurs or their owners!

"Don't try anything, not unless you want to end up getting crushed!"

"You have the right to remain silent unless spoken to." The troopers said to them seriously, as the dinosaurs snarled menacingly at them.

The D team kids sweated tensely and gritted their teeth, raising up their arms frozen stiff, seeing they were unable to reach their dino bracers in time, it'd be foolish to try in this situation which they didn't even understand.

The lead trooper then walked up towards them, "You're not with the resistance and yet you possess dinosaurs….who are you?" he demanded as they eyed him questioningly, "State your business or you will be taken into custody. Resist and we will use force!" he then shouted as his giganotosaurus roared out a thunderous bellow!

Max quickly waved out his hands frantically, "W…Wait! You don't understand! We just got here!" he cried out to them.

"In fact we don't even know where here is!" Rex shouted after him.

"Please sir! You have to believe us!" Zoe begged desperately, though unfortunately none of their words seemed to have any effect on the troopers.

"A likely story!"

"I don't know how you gel jarks are able to speak but you won't for long!" The other 2 troopers yelled as the kentrosaurus reared up its spiked tail, the sinraptor snarled flashing its claws while the giganotosaurus bellowed ferociously as to opened its massive jaws wide ready to snap them all up and they could only widen their eyes in horror as the attacks came in!

"WAH!" They screamed covering with their arms even if it would do them no good! They closed their eyes and gritted their teeth in panic….when suddenly-

"Stand down now!" Cera then shouted out loud in an authoritative tone which the dinosaurs seemed to recognise, as they halted their attacks at the last second, inches before reaching the D Team!

"Huh!?" They all turned to look and see who it was, and blinked their eyes in surprise to see her come up before them all, "C…Cera?" She didn't seem like the Cera they knew though….it was like she was someone new altogether….

The soldiers however didn't seem too fond of someone interrupting them before they could deal with the enemy as they looked in the direction the voice came from, "Who dare-" They suddenly held back, widening their eyes behind their visors as the person who shouted out at them came into the light before them.

"AH!"

They stuttered weakly and couldn't believe what they saw, "She looks just like-" the leader trooper choked as he raised a finger weakly at her as she stared down at them with narrowed eyes an the wind lowing her long red hair out, making her figure look strong and imposing in the background before them..

One soldier shook his head in denial, "Impossible! It couldn't be!"

"Could this be another gel jark trick!?" The other said, "It has to be! She-"

"It's no trick you guys…." said Cera with assurance to them, "Tt's really me….and I can prove it too." she said firmly as as he began to reach into her pocket and take out a small feathery dinosaur whom she quickly rested on her shoulder, "Isn't that right Miku?" As she said that, Miku squawked out at them, which made the troopers and even their dinosaurs stutter in disbelief and amazement, as they finally recognised both her and that unmistakeable dinosaur.

"What!?"

"A microraptor!?" They exclaimed taking a step back at the chibi dinosaur, something the D Team could notice that they must have known each other somehow….

"But that can't be….."

"Gel jarks can only imitate the appearance of people not dinosaurs…." The 2 lower ranking officers said unable to comprehend this except for one possible reason.

"And the only person who could've earned the trust of a microraptor is none other than…." Looking to her once more, their arms grew limp as they finally realised who she was, "By the stars….it is her!" The leader then announced.

"Lieutenant!" The 3 of them then said as they quickly they saluted themselves before her and Miku, before bowing down on the ground like soldiers did to a superior officer, "Please forgive us for doubting you!" they apologised in unison, as their dinosaurs too, having sniffed them both and recognised their scent, then yielded and backed off from her friends seeing they were of no threat to them if they were with their Beta.

The D Team widened their eyes at what they heard, "Lieutenant!?" They knew Cera was many things, but for her to be a high ranking officer….during a time in the far future…over others who used dinosaurs like it was common knowledge? They've seen and experienced countless strange experiences and discoveries….but this one took the cake and ate it too…..They only looked on, deciding to hold back and wait this out, seeing that Cera knew what she was doing somehow, she was their best bet of getting out of this mess they gotten themselves into as they left her to do the talking as she began straightening out the troopers.

"Pardon our actions! We all thought we lost you!" the lead soldier bowed on the ground apologetically for his hostile behaviour just now towards both her and her friends apparently before the others followed suit, "And with everything that transpired since then we-"

Cera held out her hand stopping him, "There is no need for apologies…at least not right now." she said calmly before eying them one by one, "Take me and my friends back to base, we'll regroup and recuperate there. Explanations can come later when we're all safe and out of danger."

Immediately the soldiers saluted once more, "Y…Yes of course!"

"As you say!"

"Understood ma'am!" They each said, before the leading trooper turned to the other 2 present, "Inform the commander we're bringing in 3 civilians along with the long lost lieutenant herself!" he ordered holding his arm out as the other 2 saluted back to him.

"Yes sir!" They said as they took out dinoshots coloured green in colour and used them to returned their dinosaurs to card form which returned to their hands before they went back to their respective vehicles.

The D Team saw it all clear as day, "Did you see that?" Zoe pointed out.

Rex nodded, "Yeah…they use dinoshots too….just like Cera…." They all then looked towards Cera and Miku as she calmly observed the soldiers packing up and getting back on board their transports, "So then that means…."

"Climb aboard Lieutenant Cera, you deserve to ride in the best we can offer you." Feel shameful they can't offer anything better

Cera smiled back at them, "We'll take what we can get, and thank you saving me and my friends just now." she said.

"We are honoured to serve in the resistance!" They chanted in unison as they saluted her before climbing in and starting their engines.

As the back of the transport convoy opened, Cera walked towards and looked in, seeing a couple of benches hanging on the wall o the container, making it look something like an army or prison transport inside, it was even enough to fit a full sized dinosaur inside if necessary! It wasn't the best quality of seating but it was all they had available, "Well guys….Care to come on board?" she then offered her friends who stared awkwardly at her.

They were still recovering from the initial shock and from the whole experience after what they saw since arriving here…but standing around would get them no answers let alone anywhere,e so they nodded reluctantly, "Y…Yeah sure Cera…."

"Thanks…?" They said before following her inside the truck.

As soon as they were comfortably seated in the convoy benches inside the truck, the doors shut on their own and they were on their way. Moments passed along the long journey, and there was nothing but awkward silence between them, as they stated at one another seeing who would volunteer to initiate first or break the silence. In the end, with the his friends being unable to work up the rouge to speak, and seeing Cera herself didn't seem that enthusiastic hers,ed Max sported a firm look as he then looked up at Cera seriously, "Hey Cera…." he said as he and the others looked to her firmly though not with anger, "We really need to talk…like now…"

This time there was no way she'd be able to make excuses, with her fiends all eying her and with no way to delay it any longer….but perhaps this was a good thing and for the best of everyone….

In response Cera took in a calming breath to clear out her thoughts and set herself straight, "I know, we have a lot to catch up on…." she admitted seeing the time had finally arrived. She then looked to them, "I guess I couldn't run from it any longer….I should have known I could never run from my past nor would anything ever stop you guys from wanting to find out. If I had known about it sooner and accepted it from the start maybe you wouldn't have fallen into danger just now." she said with regret for her actions but now was her chance to make it right and she wasn't going to blow it, "That's why I won't run anymore. It's time I told you all the truth….all of it…." She said before tightening her hands on her knees, "But I warn you….it'll be far bigger and anything than you've ever seen or handled so far…..I just hope you'll be ready for it."

As she finished, the D team looked to each other, seeing that this may have been as hard for Cera as it was for them, she must have had some bad experiences prior to meeting them, and it was clear she hadn't been herself since she got her memories back and remembered all the awful things she must have went through so it would be hard for her to be able to share said information with them. At the same time, as their friends they believed they had to know for chances were it would concern them too….and as her friends they didn't want her to bear whatever burdens she was going through on her own. Having made their decision they nodded seriously at each other before looking at her calmly.

"We….understand…."

"We're all ears, and whatever your story is we're prepared for everything you have to say."

"And no matter what it is, we promise to still trust you." They each said to her having fully readied themselves for what she had to say for herself, as well as preparing to still accept her for who she is knowing she may have had her reasons, which was what they wanted to understand most of all.

She then nodded in affirmation, seeing no reason to hide anymore as she cleared her mind and began to let all her old memories come back to her, she had no intention of leaving anything out, for only by telling them the entire truth would she be able to clear her conscience once and for all. "Then alright….it's a really long story so I hope you all are ready for it…." she said with a deep sigh, not only would she be revealing her own painful past….but also about many secrets of the far future none of them could begin to comprehend. They could tell this from how she sounded, but seeing their faces of determination, she believed they should be able to handle it as she took in a clam breath and finally begin to tell them…her story, "You see it all began….long before I ever met any of you….."

 **If you're wondering about Cera's time, think of the xyz dimension ruins of yugioh arc v as the place where the D Team and Cera ended up. As to how it got that way, stay tuned for the biggest backstory of my entire story next chapter and brace yourself for the awesome elements to be included down the line too! As for Seth at the end, will leave it to your imagination but will assure you it's nothing bad.**

 **Stay tuned for next chapter where Cera's true identity and backstory gets revealed, sorry if you all waited so long but the moment will come next chapter and much more. Stay tuned as well for many easter eggs and references next chapter too. Also for the record it technically wasn't Dr Z's fault this time, it was Rex and the trio since their contact with the stones left energy in them which triggered the tablet's activation.**

 **As for the vehicles the D Team's rescuers used, let's just say they were based off existing vehicles (The rock crusher and heavy hauler) that you may recognise in a certain game in the fossil fighters franchise.**

 **P.S-The pod the Alpha gang used is the one they enter in Operation Dinosaur rescue intro and Ursula's using her new outfit from the DS and arcade games, plus Zander also changing up his glasses too to the ones from the arcade.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **tsukikami**

 **-Yeah I thought of ways our world can be better and stated how the future addressed some of these problems. Also the weather satellite thing I got it from the movie Geostorm. Also I kinda used arc v, zexal and vrains to make the future setting here, though at the ending scene you can tell which element of arc v I used. I enjoyed the anime but felt it could have been better.**

 **Yup Goma is way stronger and more deadly than his father despite his age and appearance, make no mistake, and has no intention of repeating their mistakes. His judgements are based on experience and anticipation. Stay tuned for the D Team will also be taken to fights they'll need with their dinosaurs more than ever.**

 **Never thought of Miku's name like that, also as proven here Cera did come from a different time and her backstory will be revealed next chapter, sorry for not now.**

 **Cera's appearance is based in the first few chapters of my story.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Yup, told you it'd be a good one. Which did you think was the bad one? The pirate lair?**

 **Maybe, wished they showed the future more, but the far future where Cera came from is more devastating.**

 **You'll be surprised at how far dinosaurs go in Cera's time before all this happened, as her backstory next chapter will say.**


	51. The D Resistance

Chapter 51

The D Resistance

It was the year 2993, and a momentous occasion had dawned upon a family who lived in an unusual dinosaur egg shaped house located in the middle of a quiet suburban district. Inside a rather young married couple, smiled at one another proudly as the wife then carried in a boxed present wrapped up in red wrapping paper, with dinosaur footprint marks all over it and tied together with a green ribbon. It was their daughter's 5th birthday and they just knew the gift they picked out for their beloved child would be absolutely perfect for her, something she had always wanted and begged for a long time, and now after many long months they were finally bale to get their hands on just the right kind of present they knew she'd be happy with.

The father had a smooth fair skinned face with sleek reddish brown hair and brown eyes along a medium sized build hidden underneath a smooth yellow t-shirt while he wore a set of blue jeans tied together with a belt with a dinosaur bone symbol on the middle. How wife on the other hand had a beautiful angelic face with wavy apple red hair and blue eyes, as she wore a smooth orange dress which stretched down to her legs, while she also wore a house apron with a brachiosaurus on it. The both of them waited in the house's dining room (Which was also equipped with indoor automatic cooking stoves, steamers a well as ovens and microwaves attached to them) as they rested the present on the table and called out through the entrance which lead further into the house.

"Cera! Come down!" The man then called out for his daughter to the staircase that was in sight from the kitchen, but no answer came.

The mother then smiled knowing what would get her coming next, "We have a present for you!" Her words, acting almost like a trigger, caused a set of footsteps to pound at the top of the stairs as someone quickly hurried down.

Before long, a young but very excited Cera, dressed in a blue frilly skirt and her hair tied into twin tails, rushed in with an excited grin on her face as she jumped up and down in uncontrollable excitement before her parents, "Really Mommy!? Daddy!?" she cried unable to contain or control herself, plus there wasn't any need to, especially with what her parents both had to say.

"Happy 5th birthday!" They both cheered out loud to her as she widened her eyes in surprise.

"AH! You…remembered?" she asked blinking her eyes unexpectedly.

"Of course," her father smiled back to her lovingly before patting her on the head, "How could I ever forget the day my precious little hatchling made her way into the world." he smiled at her as she smiled back to him, "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

"Speaking of which, I'm sure you'll love the gift your father and I picked out just for you." her mom spoke up as she then brightened up at the sight of the gift on the table just waiting for her to open up.

She then clapped her hands together and her eyes shone with excitement, "Oh! What is it?" she then asked her mom who giggled.

"Open it up and see dear." she said warmly, "It's something you've always wanted for a long time."

"Since you've been such a good girl we think you've finally earned this." her father added at the end as he patted her on the shoulder.

Unable to hold back anymore, she grabbed the present and began to remove the ribbon holding it together before ripping the paper off it. Once it came to a brown cardboard box inside, she opened it up eagerly and widened her eyes to see a small brown egg nestled inside some bedding, to keep it not just warm but safe too from tumbling. As she eyed it closely she looked up to her parents overwhelmed with emotion, "Is this-"

They both nodded, "That's right dear, it's an egg containing your very first dinosaur!" her father then answered proudly as his daughter then leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly with all the love in her heart.

"AHAHAHA! Thank you so much! You're the best!" she laughed ever so gratefully as both her parents smiled back at her.

"Oh you're very welcome Cera." He then replied, eying her with pride and joy, the same way as he saw her the day she was born as he then settled her back down into her chair.

Looking at the egg in the box then back at him, "With this could I even become as strong as you?" Cera then asked him curiosuly as he then laughed out in amusement.

"Ahaha I don't see why not! In fact maybe one day you might even become stronger than me!" He grinned pointing a thumb to himself as Cera's smile widened before she focused on the egg fantasising over what dinosaur may hatch from it, it could be a t-rex or even a triceratops for all she knew, but it didn't matter, in the end she got a dinosaur just like she wanted and one day she intended to take part in the legendary fossil league where names and legends were made….just like her own father a great champion 10 years in a row (Which was how he met her mother) as well as the legends who first made it all possible, the D Team.

"Now now Lunensis," Cera's mom said to him with a giggle, "Let's not get her into that just yet, we wouldn't want her to be caught up in all that duelling at such a young age." she then put a hand over her chin with concern, "Imagine how she'd turn out if exposed to all that violence…it wouldn't be very good for her upbringing." she then muttered in concern.

Cora's father, now called Lunensis, then folded his arms on his hips and chuckled, "Don't worry Maia," he said shaking his head, "We know Cera better than anyone, she'd never do something like that ever." he said with assurance before looking to Cera at the table who was fixated completely on the egg, like a cat with its toy as she continued eying it with admiration and awe, "Especially with the dinosaur we picked just for her." he then said at the end knowing the dinosaur they chose for her would not only be perfect but also to help keep her on a good path too knowing it would respond only to the purest of souls and even guide them too shook they ever feel lost.

"Haha…of course…." Maia then chuckled seeing his point before the sounds of cracking caught both parents attention.

"AH!" Cera gasped as her eyes widened in amazement, the egg in the box had wriggled about and a crack had formed on its outer shell! "Mommy look!" Cera pointed at the egg while looking to her mother.

"Why it's hatching, good for you!" Maia cheered for her clapping playfully as Cera looked back to the egg.

This time a piece chipped off, revealing a small blue eye blinking back at her, as she gasped speechlessly in awe at it as the dinosaur chick inside stared back at her.

"Hope you're ready to meet your new friend Cera, the friend who'll be sharing with your many adventures to come." Lunensis thought proudly as he and his wife looked on.

Cera stared in anticipation, and before long the dinosaur itself broke free from her shell and tumbled out of the box and rolled off to Cera! She eyed her new partner, a newly hatched microraptor, in awe and amazement at her as she shook herself clean and then wagged her tail as the 2 of them stared into one another's eyes as they forged a kind of…..connection between them. As Cera put both her hands out on the table before her, the microraptor, sniffing them, sensed no danger of any reason to fear this human, as she hopped into her hands.

"She's pretty…." Cera breathed as she eyed the little dinosaurs hop about in her hands and flap her wings out cutely. Seeing how pure and beautiful her feathers were, and her eyes which were bright like the sky itself, Cera decided what name to give her, "I think I'll call you….Miku. Do like it?" she then asked hoping she'd like it. In response Miku chipped excitedly, hopping in her palms before jumping onto her shoulder and licking young Cera's cheek with affection as she giggled with glee, "Hahaha! That tickles!" she laughed before taking her off then hugging her close to her face as Miku began to nuzzle in.

Her parents smiled feeling honoured to be blessed with this moment. As Maia went over to the stove to cook some lunch, Lunensis sat down on his chair, right on time too, as a golden eoraptor suddenly ran in through the front doggy door carrying a newspaper in its jaws. Looking down and taking it from the small dinosaur, Lunensis smiled and patted his loyal companion on the head as he unfurled the paper to read. Before doing so, he looked outside the window from where he sat, as a small purple tapejara passed by it and further off past the town where they lived….was the big Saurian City, where the real action happened…..

In the skies leading to the city, it wasn't just birds but now pterosaurs like quetzalcoatlus and tupuxuaras also ruled the air as they soared high above the Urban jungle which was literally a blend of a prehistoric forest with futuristic buildings sticking out of them, some of which even carried landing perches for pterosaurs to roost on, or even treetop areas outside office areas where some herbivores like saltasaurus or edmontosaurus grazed or browsed. Much like how Sanjo City was about to be covered in prehistoric forests in the past due to the time machine having gone berserk, only this time seeing dinosaurs was an everyday matter now. At the sea sides while boats and ships were still in use like for small rides or cruises, plesiosaurs like futabasaurus and muraenosaurus now also surfed through the bay for people to take pictures of them (Some of which were even equipped with submerging holders for people to get underwater rides) along with some nearby splashing opthlamosaurus schools!

Down in the streets there were no cars anymore, now instead people often rode on dinosaurs to get where they wanted in the city as herds of herbivores like torosaurus and pentaceratops went to carry people, or more precisely their partners, wherever they needed to go. While larger sauropods took the place of bigger vehicles like trucks and lorries to help with carrying heavier loads or many passengers, and to replace the need of fuel, feeding stations were also set up in different areas of the city where any dinosaur could go to feed and recharge, and with many trees and shrubs located on almost every level of the city food was never on short supply and there was plenty to go around. The only vehicles that did remains were flying cars and jets, which now were running completely on electricity as some used to fly around the city to get to different areas and at the same time soaring the pterosaurs on the wing.

It wasn't just the herbivores that were enjoying the new life, even the carnivores too had a great time living with humans as large ones like albertosaurus and siamotyrannus kept to the main streets, smaller ones like raptors and allosaurids kept to the side walks where most people still kept to, when avoiding herd crossings. With the development of a new type of synthetic meat (Made from mushrooms and eggs) the need for real meat has been reduced drastically thus halving demand for livestock and farming, ensuring peace and safety between people and all dinosaur factions and of course helping to ensure the environment is managed sustainably for all creatures to benefit from. The city was truly a dinosaur and human paradise, nearly every corner of it had something dinosaur related, as they had adapted completely into human society. A big screen on a large tower depicted a utahraptor kicking a special soccer ball alongside its partner, before switching to an ankylosaurus swinging its tail at an incoming baseball!

Centuries had passed since Rex's time but with hard work and determination, his family's legacy went down as the ones who helped bring dinosaurs back from extinction, with a monumental memorial of him and his family set up in the central plaza square, which depicted him and his family riding on top of a large sauropod dinosaur in the middle of a large fountain roundabout where some dinosaurs like a megaraptor and an anatotitan had gone over to drink. It was thanks to the development of a device that allowed dinosaurs to be revived from fossils, that countless species were also brought back from extinction and overtime with the development of improved methods of controlling them through newly developed dinoshots, they could be contained within cards for easy transport as well as to keep them under better control. In the event that some dinosaurs didn't adapt well to human society, a nature preserve was developed and established for them far in the mountains on the outskirts of the city, in a valley protected by sheer cliffs and filled with lush habitat of forests, rivers and open prairies perfect for sustaining a full prehistoric ecosystem.

The D Lab had developed a great name for itself and thus D site branches were set up around the world to ensure that dinosaurs were all an open sourced privilege for all to experience and enjoy. At the fairly rural countryside of Euro town, a dacentrurus and iguanodon are hauling in some freshly excavated fossils from nearby coal mines and dig sites to be sent for revival as men began unloading them by cart loads. At Gobi Village in Asia, some fishermen awaited their anhanguera and pteranodons to return with fish as they soon spotted them across the horizon and waved to them to return with the catch of the day. In Dustberg America, construction and rock clearing were conducted by large dinosaurs like carcharodontosaurus and titanosaurus to help clear away to open up paths, while others like brachyceratops and pinacosaurus helped to unload materials and put them together.

As great as everything was, none of that compared to the greatness that Dr Z had brought forth to the world. The city's main attraction in the direct center of it, the coliseum roared with the cheers and applause of countless fans as they cheered on a pair of living legends duke it out in the arena, a pair of burly masked fighters, one named Saurhead who sported a green t-rex mask, and the other, Dino Gigante who wore a yellow and red triceratops mask, squared off in the ring before summoning a brown tyrannosaurus and a red and blue styracosaurus respectively before they roared glowing with their moves and charged at one another, clashing a heat strike and energy bolt at one another causing sparks and cinders to fly out as the coliseum burned with excitement! With dinoshots becoming available to the public, some individuals began to use them in dino battling sport, hence dubbed themselves dino duelists as they used gun shaped devices to summon forth dinosaurs, and the sport also took to new heights as arenas were set up in many corners of the globe itself, making it its' pride and joy.

While Dr Ancient did bring back the dinosaurs and helped them integrate into society, it was Dr Z's ideals that enabled people to explore the potential of dinosaurs and bring forth many new possibilities as both cultures mixed together to create something entirely new and even more amazing than either could do alone, even developing genuine bonds and kinship between both sides. In fact in honour of his greatness, many people set up statues around every stadium or coliseum around the world to commemorate his great ideas and how he truly was a dinosaur king! With the ideas of 2 great dinosaur loving minds coming together like a completed fossil, it would be as one called….a true dinotopia.

 **(Present)**

As Cera finished describing her time's golden age to her friends as they rode along in the back of the truck, the D Team could only widen their eyes in amazement and gasping speechlessly, after hearing what her home used to be like before it became this desolate wasteland. It could be comparing it to the golden age of dinosaur history of a time long gone and Cera's home during said period sounded like every dinosaur fanatic's dream come true.

"Whoa…." Max blinked his eyes still barely recovering from the shock he just experienced at having his mind completely blown out of his head from her words, "A harmonious dinosaur human utopia…." he could almost picture said scenario in his head but the way she described it made every fantasy he thought up into a child's daydream.

"Never thought Dr Z's selfish dream blending with my dad's would actually be responsible for your future Cera…." Rex muttered.

"Yeah who would've thought." Zoe then mused, almost developing a newfound respect for the old man who seemed like a total whack job with his crazy fantasies and ideas. It was like something they thought they would only see in a movie…but to be in actual reality it was like heaven on Earth….

"But how?" Rex then suddenly asked as he leaned in closer towards Cera much to her and the others' surprise, "Just how did you make it happen!?" He then demanded wanting to know, so he can tell his dad all about it when they got home and they knew what to do and expect in the future, he was so keen on understanding it all he didn't know he had grabbed onto Cera's shirt and pulled her in uncomfortably close…..

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise at Rex's sudden demand and also getting rather close to her in the face too, though she could understand where he was coming from, since he didn't want her or her future to disappear and also because he wanted to see it happen himself. She then smiled lightly, "I'd like to share how it all happened Rex…." she said as he let her go and sat back in his seat, as he and his friends brightened up and waited in excited anticipation, "But I can't." she said bonking her head and sticking her tongue out playfully at them.

"HUH!?" They gasped face faulting on the floor at being trolled.

"Wh….Why not!?" Max then whined tearing up with Zoe that she was keeping a really hyped up secret from them like that, which they found really mean.

"Yeah! I mean if dad and Dr Z were the ones who made your future possible, shouldn't you tell us so we'd know what to expect and be prepared!?" Rex yelled out at her.

She then shrugged her shoulders in response. "Well let's look at it this way, if you knew everything that was going to happen then it wouldn't be all that fun to meet those challenges head on and face them courageously right?" As she said that her 3 friends blinked their eyes in surprise, "Plus think if it like a move you've been waiting to see and someone spoilt what would happen, it wouldn't be all too fun then would it?" she then said wagging her finger at them, "Chances are if I tell you then there are chances it might not happen later on too."

After hearing her point her friends looked to one another, "Err…." they muttered seeing her point and that she made a whole lot of sense the way she was going.

"I see…..that makes a whole lot of sense." Rex then replied in reluctance as he scratched his head, still he did wonder what if they did do something wrong and cause it to not happen.

"I will say this though." Cera then pointed out as they looked to her, "A prehistoric paradise like that can't be built overnight, it takes time, dedication and patience. And of course plenty of determination and vision." she said, "Plus think of it like a surprise and you never know what you're going to get, wouldn't that be way more fun than already knowing what's coming and that you'll be getting it hmm?" she added at the end with a playful wink.

"Heh yeah…you're right about that." Rex then stated knowing he wouldn't like it if he get spoilt about a surprise brightly party or on a movie he had been waiting ages to go see.

"Mhmm, wouldn't be fun if we knew everything form the start," Zoe then nodded in agreement with him, "It'd take all the fun of living since life each day is like an adventure."

"Plus the way you described your home, in the world you live in everyday is pretty much an adventure." Max then pointed out smiling for Cera.

"I couldn't agree more Max." Cera nodded back at him as she leaned back in her seat and rested her arms in her hands as Miku crawled out and chirped as she too drifted back into the old days when they had no worries but only smiles and joys, "And indeed was….each day seeming like the best and tomorrow proving to be even better for me, Miku and many others too." she said as she drifted back into cool things she used to do like saying hi to her old neighbours and their pet troodons or hitching a ride to school on the back of a shantungosaurus which carried so many young children to a footprint shaped middle school building where the children often got to play with leallynasaura in the playgrounds after class about dinosaur history and as well as the people who helped make their utopia possible.

"Wow, you must really have had the time of your life back then Cera…..I'm really jealous…." Max then muttered as he pouted and folded his head in his arms wishing their time was as fun, or better yet they lived in Cera's time. Looking outside the window to see the ruined buildings all around them as well as a bleak dead prairie as their transport left the city and onto an open plain where they passed by the fossils of a large sauropod dinosaur hinting the scars of war still remained here on this bleak land, "Sure wish we could've seen it….it would've been awesome…." he then sighed as the others mirrored his expression having gotten back to reality.

"Yeah….." Zoe breathed feeling pity for all the people and dinosaurs who had suffered so much because of the war, "Just how did things end up like this?" she asked Cera curiously.

"Did it have something to do with the space pirates?" Rex then asked after her.

Cora's face then hardened into a somewhat bitter scowl, as Miku noticed and let out a sad coo, "That goes without saying…." she breathed as calmly as she could, though a hint of anger and hatred could be felt within her rather cold tone knowing she'd never forgive them for such atrocities. Rex and Zoe felt worried they may have poked at something they shouldn't have, but before they could take it back she quickly shook her head, "I said I'd tell you everything and I'll keep that promise," she then said telling them not to have any regrets, "Plus…it's the only way I feel we can move on….and maybe get a much better understanding of one another too." she said heavily before turning serious knowing it was the only way she could clear her conscience once and for all.

Looking to one another, the D Team then looked back at her firmly but also with sympathy too, "Okay Cera." said Rex.

"If it gets too painful you're welcome to stop at anytime." Zoe then stated as Cera nodded back at them.

Closing her eyes and taking a calming breath, she began to unlock the bad memories she kept to herself for so many years….buried deep in the conscious of her psyche….only now finally letting them all come back to her like a dam which ruptured. Bracing herself she began to continue with where the real story surely began, "It may have been years ago but I remember it like it was just yesterday….the day our paradise was lost was when they came from space….like the asteroid that wiped the dinosaurs out long ago…." she said as she continued through the most treacherous part of her mind's flashbacks.

 **(Flashback)**

It was the year 2997, and all seemed to be going as they always should for the people of Saurus City, that was….until a mysterious spiral shaped ship descended from the skies above catching everyone's attention. As they looked up ahead to see it descend from the sky like a bad omen, the people and the dinosaurs eyed it tensely awaiting what kind of horrors might soon be emerging from it, already getting very bad vibes from it. What came from it was no doubt horrible, but not the way they thought it would be, "Yo ho ho ho! It's a pirate's life for me!" some immensely horrible signing echoed from the ship before a floating throne descended from it! Seated comfortably in it was none other than Specter, and soon following him and flying by his side were his 3 loyal crew members, Sheer, Gavro and Foolscap, as they eyed down upon the confused people of earth and their…pets….as they believed them to be.

"Greetings people of Earth! I am Spector! Leader of the stupendous spectral space pirates!" He then proclaimed out to the masses using a megaphone function he pressed on his throne, as his voice echoed across the city and hijacked every channel there was across the planet so the people could all get a chance to look at his good side and to remember the face of the one who would force them into submission, "We travel the universe in search of rare and valuable treasures to plunder and pick!" He then grinned sinisterly as he pointed down at them, "And guess what!? Your planet has been chosen as our next target! Isn't that just absolutely special and lucky of you!?" he announced cheerfully as some people either grew anxious and tense while others looked to each other on confusion, raised an eyebrow or gestured thinking he was crazy.

"Now surrender your planet's greatest riches or we'll be forced to destroy you completely and then take them by force! Ahahahah!" he then laughed out loud pressing a button on his throne, making a beam shoot down from his ship and causing an army gel jarks to appear down below as they beeped and prepared to attack! Specter and his men grinned believing them to be an easy target, expecting the people of Earth to give up in the face of fear….only to realise that their offer of a peaceful surrender wasn't only turned down but met with hostile retaliation! Immediately in response to the threat, people began slashing their cards summoning even more dinosaurs who charged ahead into battle, easily bulldozing over the enemy slime monsters and crushing them into mush! Others used charging moves like crystal crusher or electric charge to send them flying while others blasted them away with moves like volcano burst and falling water! Before long the whole squadron was reduced to slime and rubble much to the space pirates' bewilderment!

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Specter then screamed in terror seeing along with his men as he then bit into his hankie and hardened his gaze in anger, "Okay you want a fight! You asked for it!" he growled before looking to his men, "Get them!" he ordered as he pointed out at them to take care of the problem their foot soldiers couldn't.

Looking down at the herds of vicious dinosaurs awaiting them down below, the pirates looked to one another and sweetened nervously before looking back to their leader hoping to reason with him, "I don't know boss….Maybe we picked the wrong planet to plunder!" He cried out loud.

"Nonsense!" Spector refuted before Gavro and Sheer could follow, "If they're fighting so hard that means there's something really valuable here on this chunk of blue rock in the milky way!" he roared impatiently before shaking his hands out childishly, "Now get them!"

Before they could even move though, the dinosaurs down below began firing all kinds of elemental moves at them, such as bubble attack, fire cannon, lightning strike, emerald garden, sonic blast and spike arrows!

"WAAAAH!" They all screamed as they struggled to avoid the incoming attacks, some off them even breaching the ship's hull causing it to smoke and catch fire in different areas! Seeing they were taking heavy damage, Specter gritted his teeth with painful reluctance before shaking his fist out at the earthlings who dared defy him, "Y…You'll pay for this!" he cursed staring vengeance as the pirates retreated into their ship, forcing them away to speed into the horizon till they disappeared above the clouds!

Seeing them turn tail make the people of Earth, including Cera who was down in the crowd with them, cheer with excitement in their victory, "YEAH!"

"Woo hoo!"

"And stay off our planet!"

"We did it!"

"Last time we'll ever see those weirdos!"

As the people began to cheer in triumph while the dinosaurs all bellowed or roared in victory, they believed they had nothing to fear especially from a few space clowns who thought they could mess with them and get away with it. Because of that they believed they posed no threat to them and completely disregarded them before going about their daily activities, though a certain few suspected they hadn't seen the last of them. Little did rest of the ignorant masses know though….was that the of this age victory was nearing its end….and soon would come a long age of darkness and destruction….

 **(Months later flashback)**

Unfortunately, this victory was short-lived in a very bad way…..overconfidence had blinded the people's eyes, thinking they'd be able to rely on their dinosaurs for protection forever, they failed to see their victory through to the end. As time went on the space pirates were revealed to have not retreated but instead maintained low profile high above in the Earth's orbit, biding their time for the right moment to strike again. In fact the resistance the Earthlings put up along with their dinosaurs, only inspired Specter to believe there was indeed something of value they would be protecting, and instead spurred his desires to claim it or even the entire planet as his own.

One day when the people of Earth had least expected it, the space pirates unexpectedly returned, this time better armed and even more dangerous than ever! It wasn't just gel jarks, at some point in their hiding they managed to acquire the technology required to revive dinosaurs themselves, a way of fighting fire with fire as they boldly stated. What they did differently was by implementing their own twisted science into the mix, they not only got better control over their own dinosaurs in the battle, but even gained the ability to armour them up!

As the city burned, the cries of panicked people echoed int eh sounds off destruction, as a group of people along with a dicraeosaurus and an iguanodon were shot back by a magma blaster fired off by an armoured torvosaurus lead by Gavro, who grinned sinisterly before holding his arm out and having his dinosaur set even more of the city and trees on flames, with people and smaller dinosaurs running away in a panic! Some who weren't lucky ended up burning to ashes before lying lifeless in the flames.

Robots and dinosaurs that were sent by dino duelists were sent to try and repel the invaders, but like flies they were unable to match the power of the spectral armour as they found themselves overpowered instantly as some tanks deployed to fire at an armoured tuojiangosaurus, only to have their projectiles bounce off its armour harmlessly before they were in turn cleaved in half by its quake saber causing them to explode! The same was said across the entire world as everywhere people suffered attacks from armour dinosaurs and gel jarks, the once pristine and harmonious paradise of man and dinosaur was now being wiped away piece by piece….as if it never even existed. In mere months cities across the world were beginning to be overrun and people driven underground or into hiding in order to survive, while the dinosaurs that remained stranded aboveground then fell prey to the control of the space pirates!

While many had suffered most dearly and lost plenty of people and belongings most dear and precious to them including their homes and livelihood….none may have suffered as much as 9 yr old Cera did. The haunting memory which haunted her in her nightmares for many months still scared her to this day….as it reminded her deeply of what she lost as she woke up to see a new day wishing it was fake only for reality to prove her otherwise….

"AAAAH!" The screams of panic and chaos mixed in with the sounds of explosions and fire raging across the city, as dinosaurs battled it out in the streets, between the space pirates controlling them and the few remaining dino duelists that were lucky to have survived previous battles and were still willing to take a stand despite overwhelming odds. Their many dinosaurs (including a blue triceratops, purple and yellow tyrannosaurus and a brown ampelosaurus) facing off against Sheer, Gavro and Foolscap who had an armoured mapusaurus, pentaceratops and a majungasaurus facing them!

Further away, Cera was trying desperately to hang onto her mother's hand as they ran away from the battle, the remaining dino duelist champions and legends doing their best to hold the line while civilians got to safety. She gasped for air and her heart began to throb uncontrollably inside her chest as she couldn't keep up with her mother, the sheer pressure of avoiding death, the destruction emanating around them and the screams of terror combined with her exhaustion caused her to lose sight of her surroundings, and even trip over a rock and fall down!

"AAH!" she cried as she fell to the ground and scraped her knee!

Maia turned back to her daughter in alarm, "Cera!" she cried.

"Mommy!" she cried holding out her hand as she struggled to push herself up to no avail, then wincing in pain at her scraped knee.

Her mom raced back to her as she embraced her in her arms, "Sweetie! I'm here! Don't worry!" she said nuzzling her daughter close to her chest so she could hear her soothing heartbeat and feel safe in her embrace.

Cera then looked up at her, "Mom….I'm scared…." she wheezed out of fear and exhaustion, before widening her eyes in terror looking behind, to see the dinosaurs fight one another violently, flesh ripping claws leaving deep wounds in one another, followed by the snapping of bones in huge jaws as blood began to platter across the walls and on the ground ahead where they were, as the sounds of people yelling out in anger or anguish echoed in the roaring flames and destruction. "Why….Why are the dinosaurs fighting each other? They're…they're supposed to be friends…." she said tearing up painfully, as Miku popped her head out from Cera's shirt pocket and cooed sadly before hiding back inside scared.

Her mother looked up and focused upon the space pirate marking on the mapusarus' armoured forehead as it stomped on top of a nearby styracosaurus in triumph. She knew full well the cause of all this, gritting her teeth, knowing her daughter couldn't handle the truth, "I don't know dear…." she lied painfully to Cera, before taking her face and looking at her in the eye, "Don't you worry, we'll get through this. But you have to be a brave girl now okay?"

"O…Okay…." Cera nodded reluctantly, she herself didn't now if they'd be fine….but as long as she was with her mother she believed there might be a chance as a small smile came upon her face..

"Thank you…." Maia said with a light and eased look before kissing her daughter on the forehead.

"Honey! There you are!" a familiar voice called out to them from ahead, looking ahead they saw Lunensis, dressed in rather battered clothing and looking battered himself, having suffered a few injuries here and there while helping to escort some civilians and injured dinosaurs to safety, but nothing would stop him as he gritted his teeth and hardened his resolve against the pain as he raced towards his wife and daughter!

Cera brightened up with a smile of hope with her mom, "Daddy!" she cheered feeling hopeful as Maia lifted her up much to her surprise.

"Lunensis! Get our daughter to safety now!" she told him firmly as she quickly passed their child over to him as he arrived.

Without hesitation or asking he then took her into his hands, "Alright! I've got her." he nodded seeing his wife was exhausted herself so he did what he could to help ease her burdens as the family smiled at one another seeing they were together again…..though sadly the moment would be their last….

"Now quick let's get to the safety house before-" A loud booming bellow suddenly interrupted them. As they looked ahead together, they widened their eyes in horror at the sight of a giant sauropod appear form a flash of purple light, towering over all the other dinosaurs like insects! It was large, light blue and heavily armoured and armed to the teeth as it reared up on its legs and let out a thunderous bellow! The remaining dino duelists and their partners could only stare, paralysed with fear at the sight of this monstrous behemoth they were now forced to face, just as they were barely able to handle 3 armoured enemies!

"AH!" Lunensis gasped with his wife as they backed away, and Cera could only stare, her heart skipping many beats as the apatosaurs slammed down on the ground, sending a shockwave through the ground, which shook under neath their feet and caused a number of nearby buildings weekend from the fire to collapse like dominoes! Things turned from bad to worse, as the armour plates on the apatosaurus raised up and generated 6 coloured lights which converged together into a single energy beam which soon fired out in a straight line! The other armoured dinosaurs were recalled getting out of the beam's path, leaving the other dinosaurs right in its path! They roared in pain in contact with the antimatter destroy beam, as they were turned into cards in an instant! Their duelists, weren't so lucky as they couldn't get out of the way of the beam's path and in it slight they were swallowed up in it! Their cries of pain muted as they were reduced to dust in an instant!

Lunensis froze in fear, his feet glued to the ground as the beam came close to reaching him and his family as Cera buried her face in his chest, unable to look anymore as she hugged in her father tight. Only for them to be shoved away off the street!

"AH!" Lunensis and Cera both gasped as the father turned his back to use himself to sheila his daughter from hitting the ground! "Urgh!" he gritted his teeth wincing in pain as Cera widened her eyes and gasped.

"Daddy!"

"C…Cera?" he breathed opening his eyes in confusion as he grunted forcing himself up. As he did, he widened his eyes to see his wife shed a tear at her husband and daughter….entrusting their family's future to them as she nodded at them.

"I love you…." were her last words….before she was vaporised into atoms completely…before their very eyes by the beam….which then punched several holes through the street and city blocks as well as levelling them to slag in an instant!

Lunensis and Cera both widened their eyes in sheer shock and horror, as Maia was taken away from them…..forever. All that remained was a molten path in the street followed by a straight line of dust and desolation caused by the massive bam attack. Walking over to where she once stood….his legs buckling and soon giving way as he fell to his knees staring speechlessly at the ash pile she had been turned into. Letting Cera down, then scooping it in his hands, he clenched his fists tight into them. Lunensis then gritted his teeth and shouted out to the sky in agony "MAIAAAA!" he screamed in despair at being responsible for his wife's fate.

"Mommy….NOOO!" Cera soon cried in despair with Miku, after her father….as the loud roar of the apatosaurus echoed through the devastated city, followed by the loud maniacal laughter of Specter, as the shadowed silhouette of him sitting on his throne appeared behind the apatosaurus, believing he was victorious at last as the rest of his minions joined around him.

As Cera cried herself bitterly into her father's chest, who hugged her closely to his body, he too wept bitter tears of loss, before gritting his teeth in anger and yelling out at the top of his lungs in rage, swearing vengeance and that he wouldn't rest until their enemies who oppressed them paid for this, "RAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!"

 **(Present)**

Silence descended upon the D Team, as Cera looked away from them, having relived that dark memory of hers….hoping it would make her friends happy now that they understood everything like they wanted. As Miku looked ahead from out of her pocket, her face sighed deeply seeing her friends were as downcast as she was….sure they lost their parents once but it was only temporary….this time….Cera actually saw one of her parents lost to her forever and nothing she could do would change that….it was like a huge crack had opened up in their hearts as they suffered a heavy emotional blow after hearing this pitiful story of hers, now it came full circle why she acted as she was….not willing to get close to others so she wouldn't suffer the sting of loss or to get them involved with her too…..so they may not suffer the same fate as her mother did.

"Cera….." Max then breathed breaking the silence, in a heavy tone. He wished he could say something to comfort Cera or say he understood, but he knew full well that wasn't true. But the fact he wasn't able to say anything back to her was tearing him apart inside as he gritted his teeth hard and clenched his hands angry at what she and so many others suffered through.

"We're really sorry…." Zoe sighed immensely now starting to understand why Cera hated dinosaurs fighting and getting hurt so much, after what she went through she couldn't blame her for getting that kind of feeling embedded into her own dna.

Rex meanwhile hardened his expression and griped tightly on his knee, he never knew the space pirates had actually been that despicable before, this time they had crossed the line, "Now we get why….why you…." he hissed bitterly as he and the others began to weep for their friend.

"Everyone…." Cera then looked up at them all….despite reliving her traumatic experience, now that she got it all out she felt more at peace that she could share it out…and not just that, her friends really wanted to try and connect with her even though they couldn't and that touched her heart to see they were true friends and best she could ever have.

Max then clicked his tongue in anger, "Tch! How dare those space pirates do something so horrible…."

Rex and Zoe looked up at him just as furious, "They're the worst….."

"The story doesn't end there though guys…." said Cera getting their attention as she rested back in her seat as their drive continued, "There's still….more after that…." she added catching them all off guard.

"HUH!?" They exclaimed in disbelief.

Max then gulped down hard, "I don't know if I'm ready for this…." he shuddered, his stomach feeling sick as he and the others began to have second thoughts about asking, believing they may have bitten off more they can chew for this story of hers, which was just the appetiser as she moved onto the main course.

 **(Flashback)**

As the days turned dark, the old ties of friendships and bonds people shared with both dinosaurs and one another began to disappear as it became solely a matter of survival, their foes still wouldn't let up and each day their own troops at times began to lose hope and grow more discouraged. All round Cera and her family could only watch helplessly as many friends and allies either became battle hardened or fell in the war, or worse ended up broken minded or broken spirited due to their own losses. No matter how hard they fought their foes were relentless, as the enemy grew stronger their own troops became weaker, as friendships were torn apart and they grew more discouraged. It seemed as thought the reign of both humans and dinosaurs had met its end just like how it did ages ago when the dinosaurs first went extinct….

Having believed that humanity had suffered and lost too much, Lunensis then decided it was them for people to band together and fight back. Overtime, he and Cera worked hard to rally as many survivors as they could here and there, taking refuge in an emergency bunker, first operations involved search and rescue, as well as recovering whatever dinosaurs were lying around. Eventually, after salvaging enough wreckage wherever possible they were able to build a proper base of operations beneath the bunker and within time named themselves the D Resistance, after the legendary D Team who made their dinosaur utopia possible.

Then began a series of sting operations which involved attacking spectral pirate outposts and raiding supplies, dinosaur cards as well as sabotage their operations of global takeover. In time with the resources they amassed they further evolved and developed their own technology and capabilities to aim for bigger goals in mind, which involved leading attacks against bases that the space pirates had in operation. Within a short span of time, Cera, being a quick leaner and gifted with the ability to communicate with dinosaurs, was able to help coordinate their efforts rather well and she rose up high in the ranks till she became second in command. Her success brought not only joy to her father but also a sense of hope for the people as well as they pressed on.

Though that all came to a change one day during the year 2999, when a plan was made and decided that the war had dragged on long enough and the time had come for them to hit their enemies hard at their HQ in Antartica, where their main base of operations was held from what their sources pointed to. Everyone was getting prepped up as they began to mount a full scale assault and then take back their planet once and for all, and none took it more seriously than Cera herself as she was making her log of her thoughts and the day's events before she'd set off to join the others at the main hall.

"Once this place is down maybe the war will finally turn in our favour…." Cera thought to herself as she sat on her bed in her bunker room (Which contained no more than a bed and a study table) eying the mission log on her dinoshot. She and many other troopers had spent long weeks preparing for this, studying the layout of the base, the security measures they might encounter along the way and actions to take depending on the situation-even if it meant they'd need to beat a hasty retreat or make a sacrifice for the long term, which was something they'd hope to avoid if possible, but each of them were willing to give up their own lives to do so for the sake of the Resistance's cause and for planet earth. Cera was about to join the others at the main hall for one final briefing, when she decided to use her dinoshot to hack into their communications for one last check, "But first….just to be sure I'd better check if any of them are home. After all it'd be rude to crash into someone else's home when they're around." She said to herself as she managed to isolate the signal she was looking for and very soon some voices began to echo from out of it!

"Grr! I can't believe those humans got our jamming tower!" Foolscap yelled in annoyance as soon as the signal came in, "And that's the 4th one this month! You know how hard those things were to set up!?"

"You mean that tower that makes jam? That's just very mean!" Gavro growled at the other end.

"Hmph, they're really starting to becoming a pain in the butt lately, and I hate that." Sheer then scoffed, "This planet isn't worth all this trouble! I say we ditch this mud ball and go find some place easier to plunder!" she then shouted out loud.

Cera narrowed her eyes upon hearing all 3 of them "Drat they're all present….best tell the others about this." she thought knowing it'd make things a lot harder for them and it'd be best they know about it. Before she exited her room she then stopped herself from leaving as she decided to listen in to what else they might have to say, perhaps maybe even give them a clue as to what they might be planning.

"Well I say really need to do something about them, nip them in the bud once and for all!" Sheer then suggested, "I say we go after them in full force at their little base! With it gone they'll have nowhere to go and we'll finally be able to take over this puny planet and all its treasures!" The sound of a fist smacking into a palm could be heard as she finished, as Gavro and Foolscap then cheered in agreement.

"Yeah!"

"I'm always up for some action!"

Cera clicked her tongue after hearing what they planned to do, "Tch! I'll have to warn them now!" she hissed and was about to run out when a 4th voice suddenly echoed from the comm.

"Never fear men! I have the solution to exterminate all those landlubbing leeches once and for all!" Cera's heart skipped a beat upon hearing that unmistakable male voice.

"AH! BOSS!"

"Reporting for duty sir!"

"As you should!" The other pirates cried in shock.

"Specter….." she hissed bitterly with spite as she recognised the pirate leader, as the one who forced them to suffer so much in the first place, as well as the one who took her mother away from this world. She clenched her fist tightly upon her dinoshot shaking with rage, but closed her eyes and calmed herself down as she decided to listen in to what they had planned now.

"This little tussle with the humans has gone on long enough and I've had it!" Specter roared impatiently, "But not anymore! This time we're going to finish things with them once and for all!"

"Oooh! Are we finally going to hit them at their little base camp and take them all out boss!?" Sheer asked.

"Ehehehe! You think too small Sheer! As do all of you! In fact your ideas are about as minuscule as your brains are!" he countered, "Thats why those humans have always bested you time and again lately and why they've lasted this long!" he bellowed which made them all groan in shame.

"Ugh…."

"Fortunately being the ever reliable leader I am, I've discovered a way to take control of all of space and time!" he then announced, as Cera raised an eyebrow thinking he was crazy, "That way this annoying war and that pitiful resistance would never have come to be in the first place! Ahahahah!" He laughed out loud boastfully, though his men didn't seem too on board with his childish idea.

"Say wha?"

"All of time and space? Is that possible?" Foolscap and Gavro questioned him.

"Are they…serious?" Cera knew they were mad but to think up an idea like that was completely insane on so many levels, not to mention impossible.

"Did you hit your head again boss?" Sheer then questioned her 'all knowing' leader with suspicion, which earned her some swift backlash for her lack of faith in him.

"NO! I did NOT Sheer!" he roared back at her, "And, to prove it, behold MY research!" The sound of paper unravelling itself could be heard from the other side, and not long after that the sounds of amazement echoed from the 3 other pirates.

"AH! No way!"

"Wow…."

"So then….the cosmos stones aren't a myth after all!?"

"You lack imagination Foolscap, they're very real!" Spector bellowed, "And with powers none of you could comprehend! With the time travel technology we've recently acquired, we'll be able to travel to the time the stones arrived on this miserable mud ball!" he announced, "With them in our possession, why mere wealth and treasure is meaningless! In fact with such absolute power in our grasp, all the universe will bow before our supreme might and nothing and no one will stop us in getting the greatest treasure of all!" He said most menacingly, "Which is everything! Ahahaha!" As he laughed all so sinisterly, Cera gritted her teeth and sweated, believing that what he was attempting may not be so farfetched after all….

With what he said after that, was enough to win the full tryst and cooperation of his followers, "Now that sounds like a plan that could actually work!"

"Heh anything beats being stuck here and having to put up with those resistance chumps all day long."

"So when do we go boss?" They asked him as he replied back to them with a most worrying answer.

"Immediately." He said as the conversation then cut off at that point, leaving Cera with much to think about.

"Cosmos stones? Control time and space? Is that even possible?" she thought to herself seriously, it may sound like lunacy but from how the pirates just behaved it seemed 100% real! And if that were true then they'd lose this battle before it even started! The space pirates weren't crazy, they were downright insane! "This could be really big….and very bad…." her heart began to race panicky and she was deeply conflicted over what to do, as she grasped her head tightly in her hands before hissing in frustration at a tough decision she then made, "Tch! I'm sorry father but I can't take any chances….." she said to herself as she headed out the doors, there was no time to warn them about this impending threat and even if there was chances were high that they wouldn't believe her, so she began to take matters into her own hands.

Sneaking past troops and making her way to the vehicle depot, she seized her chance at one of the jets they had in the hangar, shaped much like a dinosaur egg with thrusters at the back of it, including an experimental time drive which they had just installed into it in the event that they'd need to use it for a last desperate measure. Cera though was unaware of this, and of the fact that it still had a cargo of dinosaur cards loaded in it, but none of that mattered to her as she quickly hoped inside it and started the engines, speeding out of the hangar and through an opening near the D Resistance base as she sped off towards Antartica, narrowing her eyes having plotted her course.

In Antartica, sown below in the middle of the citadel, which was a massive fortress shaped like a castle with a huge courtyard in the middle of it, with spectral pirate marks on its main building and along its towers, cloaked under a camouflage shield to prevent scans and visual detection. Stomping through it, burning with hatred and rage was a none other than Goma, dressed in a sleek purple body suit but lacking the armour and cape he sported in the present. Right now he was gnashing his teeth and clenching his fists infuriated at being disrespected by his father and lackeys, "Tch! Curse that old man…." he hissed viciously as he stomped hard on a nearby rock which cursed it to dust, "I worked so hard to discover that the cosmos stones were buried here on this puny planet crawling with vermin…..Not only that…..it was I who made this all possible! I was the one who acquired all the technology and dinosaur cards he needed to make all this possible!" He shouted having did all that in order win his father's respect and approval, only to have all that stolen from him and to be given no credit for it, "Then not only does he take the credit for it, but he and his knuckle headed goons dare look down on me!?" He shouted angrily having been forced to remain here as per his father's orders.

Unable to contain his anger and pent up rage any longer, he roared as he then smashed his fist into a nearby wall, "GRARGH!" causing a huge in dent mark with large cracks to form in it as he pulled it out! "One of these days….I'll show him….I'll show them all…..never to take me lightly ever again!" he snarled vowing vengeance one day for this humiliation, "Grrr…." The sound of a jet engine coming in soon caught his ears as he looked ahead to see an incoming D Resistance jet coming in hot towards them! "Huh?" He squinted his eyes for a closer look, as the jet soon came closer and passed over his head, "Wait a minute….that's…." he blinked his eyes having realised whom was inside that jet as a malicious grin came upon his face, "Hehehe…this could be my lucky day." he snickered to himself, rubbing his palms at this opportunity, as he opened up his wings and took off after the jet following right behind it at a certain distance to avoid detection, not willing to let this chance slip past him.

Meanwhile, Cera narrowed her eyes as the space pirate ship suddenly appeared out of nowhere for some reason, but it didn't matter to her as she found her enemies locked in her sights! "There they are…." she hardened her gaze as she prepared to take the fight to them and put an end to this war once and for all….or so she believed, when they suddenly opened a massive time portal ahead of them which made her heart skip a beat! "AH! That's a time portal! They really are going after those so called cosmos stones aren't they!?" she gasped before gritting her teeth feeling even more determined than ever to stop them! "Well not if I can help it!" She was about to push ahead on the acceleration lever, when an emergency transmission suddenly sounded to her from HQ!

BEEP!

She pressed the button on instinct, only to realise the big mistake she made when her father's nice yelled at the end of it! "CERA!"

"AH!" She gasped in shock realising how bad she messed up now that her father knew what she was doing!

"I was looking all over for you! Where are you going and what are you thinking!?" he yelled before clearing his throat and speaking back to her, "Never mind! Return to base now!"

Cera however, had already made her decision as she closed her eyes tightly and began to say her piece, "Negative…commander…..I can't do that…." she said with a most heavy heart.

Her own father fell silent at her words as they left her lips, and it took a few moments before he spoke back to her in a shocked voice, "What….did you say?"

"It's too late for me to explain….but let's just say I'm putting a stop to a really bad pirate plan before they put it to action." Cera explained herself.

"Cera! What are you talking about!?" her father then shouted back at her, "If this is some kind of joke it's an awful one! Return to base at once!" he then demanded once more.

"…." She said nothing back to him.

"Cera! Answer me now this instant!" Lunensis then shouted once more, this time sounding most desperate as he pleaded for her to stop her foolhardy decision.

Readings it was far too late to turn back, she then pressed a button on on the console in front of her, "I'm sending you vital information on what I just discovered…..hopefully that will be enough to justify my reasons." she said.

"Cera….." As her father began to look over what she sent him, he then shouted back at her once more this time beginning to beg, "Cera you can't do this! Don't be a hero! This is crazy!"

"Father…."

"Please! I beg of you! You don't know what you're doing! Come back now! I can't lose you too!" he cried, his voice choked with tears now and he was on the verge of falling apart now.

With a heavy heart and shedding a tear of her own, "I'm sorry father….." Cera severed all connections with HQ as she heard the last of her father's voice.

"CE-"

As she did the space pirate ship then shot into the time portal, it was now or never for her, "Here we go!" She then shouted out loud as she pushed ahead on the lever and her jet kicked into overdrive and shot ahead till she was inside the time stream hot on the pirate ship's trail!

Unbeknownst to her, as the time portal was beginning to close, Goma flew up right in front of it, as he took out a plasma pistol gun and aimed it right inside at the dead center of the time portal, "Hehehe….goodbye and good riddance….." he grinned disgustingly before unloading everything he had inside it as it then closed!

BLAST!

Deep inside the time portal, Cera narrowed her eyes as she managed to see the space pirate ship in her sights, "Okay, just a little more and I can get on board that ship!" she told herself as memories of the hardships she and the resistance suffered as well as losing her mother coursed through her mind, as she narrowed her eyes and hardened her resolve and sold towards it as fast as her pod could take her! "Today this ends here once and for-"

BOOM!

"AAAAAAHHH!" She suddenly screamed as her jet suddenly took a blast form behind for some reason she didn't know! As she shook her head and recovered from the impact, she widened her eyes seeing red alert sirens ringing inside and warning signs light up on her computer screens all round in her cockpit! "Wh…What the!?"

WARNING! DAMAGE CRITICAL! EMERGENCY POWER OFF LINE!

The pod said as it shook and spark violent much to her concern, and as she looked ahead she widened her eyes seeing the space pirate ship dispel into the darkness ahead and her own ship was on the verge of exploding! "N…No!" she cried desperately as she typed on the keyboard hoping to do something, "Not now! I'm so close! Come on!" She pleaded, but it was too late, as the ship reached a critical stage and before long caught fire behind it's thrusters where it was hit, before reaching its fuel tanks and then finally exploding…..as Cera found herself caught in the center of the blast!

BOOM!

"AAAAAH!" she screamed as her cries echoed through time and space, her ship fell apart in the explosion and she was left stranded with the pod's load of cards in the middle of the time stream, heavily battered….and on the verge of her end….

 **(Present)**

"The next thing I knew….right before I met my end in that time stream….I came face to face with the Pterosaur who saved my life….who in turn erased my memories in order to give me said second chance….." Cera continued as she reached the conclusion of her story, "Then after that…I woke up in the woods…. met with Jonathan….and eventually…with you…." she ended it off there as they knew now where their story then began later.

As she concluded her tale, her friends fell completely silent as the impact and emotion in her words smacked right into them like a massive tsunami wave crashed down on them and they felt themselves stunned silent and at a loss for words, overwhelmed by the huge revelation they were dealt.

"Cera…." Max was the only one who found he courage to utter out any words of the sort. As they thought about all she and her friends had faced, they knew it must have been hard for her to have her home and paradise fall apart like how she described it.

"Heh it's kinda ironic…." Cera then chuckled heavily, "Back then in the past I was trying so hard to remember who I was before….and now when I look at it….there are many things I actually wished never happened to begin with." In fact now that she looked back, there were times she even wished she'd never been born if she was to suffer seeing everything and everyone she love go up in flames and spend every waking moment of her life fighting a war that may never end.

"Cera…..you have our deepest condolences….." said Rex in most saddened tone, "We really didn't know things were really that messed up for you and….everyone else in this time…."

Max then gritted his teeth feeling regretful about how insensitive they acted towards her earlier, "And we're really sorry for trying to stick our noses into your past….if we knew how bad it was then-"

"It's fine you guys. Really it is." she said shaking her head in denial, "To be honest, being with you guys…." she said smiling rather at ease, "It was like both a breath of fresh air and a glimmer of hope….even if it was temporary it was one Miku and I needed a lot." She said as her partner popped up from her pocket and cooed sadly as Cera herself let out a heavy sigh wishing it could've lasted longer and she enjoyed it more while she had the chance.

It was then the rest of the D Team eyed her sympathetically for a moment, before looking to one another and nodded, having made their decision on what they'll do now, "Well it won't be." said Max with a firm determined smile.

"Huh?" She looked up at them in confusion to what they meant as they smiled back at her.

"We've decided Cera, we're going to stay here and fight with you!" Zoe declared.

"To the end!" Max followed.

"And there's nothing you can do to stop us!" Rex grinned as he punched forward at her, causing her and Miku to gasp in disbelief.

"What!?" she exclaimed in disbelief, that they'd be willing tot how themselves into another fight, no, this time a war, she couldn't bear to live with the guilt and pain if they got themselves hurt because of her, "But guys….this isn't some game or adventure like last time!" she protested, "This is real war and I don't want-"

"What if it's not what you want Cera?" Rex interrupted her.

"Yeah, to refuse help and to face such really big problems all on your own….what kind of friends would we be if we let you go through all that on your own?" Max then asked her seriously.

"Have you thought about how we'd feel if we stood by and did nothing while you and others close to you suffered?" said Zoe with a sad face, "How it'd hurt us if not only we saw you suffer but you refused to let us help you? You think you can handle it all by ourself or things we couldn't? Didn't you think we'd feel the same too?" As she said that, Cera soon began to realise the error of her own actions as her heart began to feel pierced with wounds too, realising she was cutting herself off from new friends she had made that did help to ease the pain in her soul, as if she had been wanting to return to the pain she tried so hard to escape from.

"We understand full well how much you wanted to protect us, but if it means that you'd cut all ties with everyone and remain alone forever….then we'd rather go down together with you." said Max as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's be honest though, if our positions were swapped you'd do the same as we would, admit it." said Rex after him.

Max then narrowed his eyes and hardened his expression, "Besides, the space pirates are our enemies too, they did plenty of unforgivable things before and we're not going to let them get away with it!" he growled angrily as he clenched his hand into a fist, "Especially not for harming one of our best friends ever!" he shouted as Zoe and Rex nodded with him firmly.

"And think about it, when the Pterosaur said she'd give you a fresh start, to make new friends, no, bonds, to help change things in your time, our future, do you really think pushing us away and going back to doing things on your own like before is starting new?" Zoe then asked her.

"Guys…I…." Cera found herself at a loss for words and had nothing to say in defence. In fact every word that passed the mouths of her friends was more true and real than anything she had experienced in her life thus far. They were right, without knowing it she was about repeat a foolish mistake, blinded by her own troubles and strife she failed to see how others would think if she tried to keep it all to herself while rejecting the hands they would offer her.

"No way you could ever keep us away, plus do you think you have any right to stop us? Or better yet should you?" said Rex as he lightened up with a small smile, "After all you did for us when we needed help most, not only did you stick up for us but you were more than willing to risk your own life for us too."

Zoe then smiled next with Max, "The Pterosaur and the stone plates guided you to us, then helped us save the universe and now they guided us here to you." she said, "And just like before we will win, I promise." she said holding up her hand into a fist tightly with affirmation.

Feelings of joy began to well up inside Cera's heart, as she placed it to her chest for the first time….believing she truly had nothing to worry about, all along when she chased after the space pirates to try and stop them, all the time she had the power to do so already, and it was thanks to her friends, whom she was foolish enough to shun and turn away from…..But no more, this time she'll not just protect them they'll be the ones to help protect her too, and together they'll save the future from the space pirates and any other threat that would endanger them now and over, "Guys….I….I don't know what to say…." she breathed feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

Max shook his head and smiled at her, "Say no more, we've made our choice and we're sticking to it to the end." he said as the others smiled seeing him hold a fist out to her, "And that's both a promise and final!" he said with a grin.

"Everyone….I owe you more than I ever could…." Cera breathed emotionally as she looked to each and every one of them before returning Max's fist with a bump too, "When this is over and we do manage to get things back to who they were before…." she then said to them, "I promise I'll show you around and let you bathe in the future you all would help create some day."

"Heh…it's a deal…." Rex chuckled finding that to be perfectly acceptable.

"And you'd better promise it too!" Zoe then added with a wink.

Cera nodded back at them as she held out a pinkie to them, "Pinkie promise."

"Hahaha…." They all then laughed happily together as they swore and took an oath on it.

Rex's smile soon vanished as he folded his arms in thought, "Something doesn't add up though…." he muttered as the others looked to him curiously.

"What's that Rex?" Zoe blinked her eyes.

He then looked to them, "I mean, we defeated the space pirates before right? With them gone shouldn't the future have changed for the better then?" he then asked, stating a good point, one which they had no answer to, "How could they have come back like that just now?"

"That's actually a good question….." Max replied as he folded his arms too and narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"Did we do something wrong or miss something? Or did they really manage to survive after we destroyed the cosmos stones and nothing's changed?" Zoe then asked feeling rather worried.

Cera too was rather suspicious as to why this was the case, but as she looked out the window and saw they were nearing hit destination, she smiled lightly, "We'll figure it out later guys." she said as the rest of the D Team perked up at her words.

"Hmm?"

"Because we're finally here." As she said so they widened their eyes in surprise, engaged so long in conversation they didn't realised they finally arrived at Cera's home and base of operations!

"AH!" They gasped as they scrambled to look out the windows close to them and they gasped speechlessly at what they saw ahead of them.

At a large raised metallic gate with the D Team logo on it, the cameras caught sight of the vehicles present and lens like detectors opened up at the gates themselves, conducting a full on scan of the vehicles to ensure no gel jarks were trying to sneak inside. As it detected no such substance within the vehicles, the lights turned green with approval as the gates opened up and allowed them passage.

As they passed inside, they came across a rather lush green field, and sitting right in the middle of it….was a shining glass like pyramid building with stegosaur like spikes sticking up at the top of it! It shone brightly almost like a gemstone, causing Max and the others to widen their eyes in amazement at what may be the future of the D Team inside it! "AAH!"

"It's incredible….." Breathed Rex stunned speechlessly.

"No way….." Zoe blinked her eyes in disbelief at what she saw.

"Man that place makes the D Lab at home and look like a daycare center….." Max whistled as both vehicles drove towards what appeared to be the entrance for vehicles as the gates opened up and they were allowed entry into a loading bay inside there. It turned all dark as they descended down, before they soon came to a stop as they arrived at the D base's main floor, the heart of the resistance's operations.

The door to the back of the truck opened up as the driver of the truck appeared before them, "Please step outside, all of you, the commander will see you shortly." he said to them as Cera and the others swallowed hard or nodded seriously, as they were soon about to meet the head honcho of the Resistance at long last.

"Thank you for the lift." Cera bowed back gratefully for their efforts as he walked away back to the driver's seat, allowing the children to step off and walk towards the doors as they got off from their seats. As soon as they were out of the truck, they could hear the sounds of loud murmuring just behind the doors ahead of them, Cera narrowed her eyes and looked towards her friends who were feeling anxious and uneasy for what was awaiting them, as they could also hear loud foot stomps and grunts along with the murmurs hinting there may be dinosaurs around too, "Stay behind me guys, and let me do the talking." she said to them seriously as they nodded back at her uneasily.

"Got it."

"Whatever you say."

"Okay…." They said to her readying themselves for who or whatever was waiting for them behind the doors.

As the doors slowly opened up light shone in as the D Team were forced to cover their eyes uncomfortably as they stepped outside with Cera following closer behind her. When the light died down and it felt more comfortable to open their eyes again, their hearts skipped several beats at what they saw.

They found themselves in a massive dome room which was brightly lit, with several bright lights shining all around on every corner of the roof above them. In the middle of the room had a holographic globe of the world with various symbols and markings laid around them which they couldn't quite recognise yet, along with what appeared to look alike a holographic bulletin board below it with what might be news or mission updates to check out. At the far back of the room was a set of doors which could open up with a tube of some sort leading up too higher levels above, hinting it may have been an elevator, with several tunnels lining around the area each noted with a sign which was labeled for a station like fire, water, earth or wind-thus hinting there were areas meant for each dinosaur element and probably how they were handled in some way.

But what was most eye catching were the people around them, young and old, from different races all dressed in the same trooper type of uniform as the ones who rescued them from the city just now, only now majority of them often had their helmets off so their faces could be seen. But what was most startling were the dinosaurs present! Around in various corners, either walking amongst the people or on the upper floors were dinosaurs of various species and sizes ranging from small liliensternus or stegoceras scurrying about the premises with people trying to catch them, or larger ones like saurolophus, gondwanatitan or even saurophanganax patrolling about the premises with their partners beside them., walking in and out from the various stations present. A handful of people even had a few chibi dinosaurs like a majungasaurus, tuojiangosaurus or acrocanthosaurus scurrying after their handlers, waited for them to finish conversing with other people, wrestle with any chips that got close or were even playing fetch with their partner about the premises before licking them with affection! They could all be seen covering with one another or walking around passing by each other on the main floor as well as around the upper floors above as far as their eyes could see, which was no doubt just the tip of the iceberg as far as they knew.

All of this at once was almost too much for the D Team to take in at once, "Wow…."

"This is unreal…."

"Amazing…." They each breathed in awe and amazement as indescribable feeling swelled up from deep within them.

Max and his friends were caught completely off guard by what they were witnessing before their very eyes, feeling their inner child about to explode with excitement and joy. They were expecting plenty of great things from the resistance but nothing they imagine came close to what they bore witness with their own eyes, to see people and dinosaurs together living side by side, something that would've been great to see if they weren't living in a time of war and suffering.

Very soon a handful of them began to take notice of them, or more precisely Cera, "Huh?" They widened their eyes as they caught sight of her along red hair.

"Look! Is that who I think it is!?" One of them then shouted as one by one more of them began to look towards her and the D Team.

Max and the others stepped back uneasily as the crowds became restless, their dinosaurs excited, as those on the upper floors leaned over to eye them from the railings while those on the same floor as them began to point out to Cera and swarm around her like ants to candy! "It is! It's really her!"

"Lieutenant Cera!"

"Welcome home!"

"I must be dreaming! It's really her!" They cried as they swarmed around her and before her and the D Team was a wave of excited troopers and their dinosaurs smiling uncontrollably while looking all around her to try and get her attention or confirm with their own eyes that it was her.

"I knew the reports of your demise were exaggerated!"

"I never stopped believing in you!"

"We always knew you'd come home!"

"This has to be a dream! Please pinch me-OW!" Various reactions came from all around her as Cera couldn't help but laugh happily to see her old comrades once again.

"Hahaha….it's been great to see you all again….really it is….." She said looking to them one by one, before replying with handshakes, waves or petting their dinosaurs.

Her friends looked on in amazement at how calm and cool she was handling the masses one at a time, if it were them they'd be totally overwhelmed and want to escape from the mob on sight, "Whoa…she must really be popular here…." Max whilst blinking his eyes in amazement.

"Well she did say she was second in command and went missing for a long time Max."

"Yeah what'd you expect?" said Rex and Zoe to him as he nodded back at them in understanding.

"Good point."

Cera soon looked to them much to their surprise, "Max, Rex, Zoe….I'd like you all to meet my fellow members of the resistance." she said gesturing the large crowd to them, as they waved or smiled back.

"Err…hi!" Zoe smiled.

"Nice to meet you all!"

"We're really honoured!" Rex and Max tried their best to put on their best smiles but deep down inside were they were already sweating bullets with anxiety with so many faces staring at them.

While some of the troopers nodded back in acknowledgement, others began to feel suspicious of them, "Hey, are those friends of hers?"

"They don't look like survivors to me." A couple of them said as murmurs began to sound out amongst them all, as well as confused chatters by their dinosaurs.

What Cera said next soon set them all off into a frenzy, "D Team, meet the D Resistance." She said properly introducing her friends to her old comrades, realising too late she set of a furious frenzy of excitement and hype amongst them all!

"WHOA! IT's really them!"

"As in THE D Team!?"

"This is like a dream come true!" They exploded as they pushed past Cera and began to swarm around the 3 kids next!

"Wha!?"

"Heh, I guess I forgot to mention that you guys are the great heroes whom the resistance named itself after….oops?" she chuckled and sweat dropped while scratching the back of her head (earning a few hard scowls from them), as many members of the resistance and a few of their dinosaurs began swarming around the D Team asking them for all kinds of questions and requests which unsettled them somewhat.

"Can I have your autograph!?"

"Could you show us some your cool moves!?" A cool teenage pair pleaded.

"Would you mind taking a pic with me and my altirhinus!?" A man asked as he held up his chibi dinosaur to them which barked.

"Oh they look so cool!" A girl fangasmed over Max and Rex as her eyes bulged with hearts.

"She looks pretty cute!" A younger boy pointed out at Zoe complimenting her.

"And lieutenant Cera is friends with them!? How lucky can one get!?" Many excited voices all rang out from the crowds as the D Team felt rather flattered or overwhelmed by this sudden unexpected development.

"Eheheh…." Rex blushed as he saw all kinds of fans wanting to take selfies with him and their dinosaurs.

"I could get used to this!" Max laughed joyously as he accepted their welcome with open arms and was willing to grant them all their requests.

"I probably won't….." Zoe muttered feeling very uncomfortable with all the pushing and shoving going around, even with little dinosaurs running around her feet too gave her a surprise!

As Cera looked on, she had to admit when her father told her stories about the great D Team who bonded with dinosaurs and helped usher in this new age, she herself had dreams of wanting to be like them too. But now, she could hardly believe she wasn't just friends with them but also part of their team and on equal terms with them, having taught them much and they did the same for her. Had she not met them in the first place she'd probably be swarming around them like the rest of her fellow resistance mates were….which seemed a bit unsettling to see a number of adults crowding around to get acceptance or even advice from young kids.

The sound of a beeping elevator on the other side of the room leading from the top floors sounded, and upon hearing it many of the troopers looked up and gasped in alarm.

"AH!"

"It's him!"

"Everyone in position!" Some of them shouted as they quickly backed away form the D Team and lined up along with the dinosaurs present into a set or orderly lines and fashion almost instantly, as the elevator began to reach the ground floor where they were.

"Huh? What's going on?" Max blinked his eyes in surprise seeing the troopers suddenly acting all frazzled and fidgety for some odd reason, plus he wanted them to continue saying great things about him too.

"Yeah who's him? Who's coming?" Zoe then asked curiously looking around, as Rex narrowed his eyes tensing at the situation.

Cera however soon had an idea of who was arriving, as she grew limp and widened her eyes in realisation, "Wait….could it be?" she breathed as the elevator doors opened up. Stepping out of them was a tall man, with a brown medium length goatee and side burns, wearing a black trench coat and jeans, a set of white gloves and black boots and inside the trench coat appeared to be a formal uniform of some kind buttoned with a D Team logo on the side pocket on his chest. Around his neck he also sported a red ascot like scarf and the side of his face had a scar which resembled like an old wound from a claw or tooth….considering they lived in a world with dinosaurs in them the possibility wasn't plausible.

As he stepped forward through the masses, the people all kept a serious and stern look with no signs of emotion, something which the D Team noticed meaning he had to be a leader of some sort, "Who's he?" Max whispered to Zoe curiously.

"I don't know but he looks really important." she answered back to him, feeling tense at the change in atmosphere of the room, and seeing the man himself age off a vibe of sheer authority and commanded great respect from all errand him, both man and dinosaur alike!

"Let's stay quiet and listen for now…." Rex whispered to them as they nodded back at him and looked on.

"Yeah good idea." Max nodded as they noticed Cera walk from where she was net to them, till she lined up straight in the man's line of sight.

At first the man blinked his eyes wondering who would be there to see him after receiving news of 'someone very important' demanding his full attention. But as he noted her waving red hair….he paused in his advance momentarily and blinked his eyes. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes thinking he may be seeing things, but he leaned in closer, "Can it be?" As soon as he saw her blue eyes and recognisable facial features, along with the small microraptor perched on her shoulder, he widened his eyes in completely amazement, "AH!"

Cera too stumbled forward slightly as indescribable feelings welled up within her, though he looked more rugged and older than she last saw him, she knew that face anywhere.

"Cera….is it….really you?" the man choked as he began to shake uncontrollably with emotion.

Cera then sniffled and wiped away a small tear from her eye before nodding, "It is….I'm home…."

"M….Miku?" he then asked looking to the microraptor who chipped happily to see him again, before he focused back towards the girl holding her, "Then that means…." his face soon broke into a joyous smile as he ran towards her, "Oh Cera! It's…it's really you!" he cried out as she did the same. Together they both ran towards one another and embraced each other in a close familial hug with each other.

"Oh dad! I missed you so much…." Cera wept tears of joy as her father hugged her in closer too.

"So did I….." he breathed taking in the full extent of this miraculous moment blessed to him, something he felt he was completely unworthy of, as the troops around them began to smile or tear up emotionally for them too, unable to hold themselves back anymore.

"D….DAD!?" Max and the others widened their eyes in disbelief at what they heard, "But then….that means he's-"

"Commander Lunensis!" One of the troopers said to him acknowledging his presence, "You honour us with your presence!"

"As well as the reunion between you and your daugh-I mean lieutenant sir!" They said respectfully

The D Team widened their eyes and gasped in amazement, having recalled that Cera did mention that she and her father had both founded the resistance and that her father was a well known dinosaur duelist campion back in the glory days of the future, so this was one person who commanded great respect, "Whoa…."

"No way…."

Meanwhile Lunensis looked up from his hug and shed some heartfelt tears form his eyes as he gazed into those of Cera and Miku, "I thought I lost you forever my daughter….I….I just…." he gritted his teeth choking emotionally before hugging her in tightly over her shoulder, with no words to describe what he went through in her absence and how much she meant to him then and now.

"It's alright dad….I'm home now….that's all that matters…." Cera wept tearfully as she patted her father on the back comfortingly and Miku cooed as she nuzzled near Lunensis' face.

He then looked up to her with a very big smile, "Thank the stars….that you came back." he said feeling sot grateful for this mkboemnt he dreamt of in so many nights, and now his wish had finally came true.

"And I'm here to stay." she then said to him as they hugged each other closely, as everyone else looked on feeling deeply moved and touched by the moment that one may only see in a movie.

"It's so beautiful…."

"Congratulations to you both…"

"Someone get me a hankie!"

Tears were shed, followed by existed whistling and applause at this wondrous reunion from across the ages by the amassed group and their partner dinosaurs, while the D Team looked on smiling proudly at Cera finally having been reunited with her family at last, it was almost as touching as them meeting their parents again after they were captured by the space pirated….but this one was even more special and they planned to everything in their power to make sure it stayed that way for them and many others.

Having had their moment in the hug long enough, Cera then let go of her father as she stepped back a bit to get some space, "Dad, I'd like you to meet my friends who helped me come home." she then said motioning over to her 3 irreplaceable friends, "Max Taylor, Rex Ancient and Zoe Drake. AKA, the D Team." She introduced them as they modestly waved back or smiled, sensing great authority coming from Lunensis so they did their best to act as 'formal' and natural as they could, even though they were shuddering nervously inside.

Lunensis meanwhile paused his lips with his fingers as he eyed the child trio closely, "The D Team…..as in the great heroes who lead about the dinosaur revolutionising of our world…." he then said out loud catching their attention. He had expected them to be older but upon closer inspection of their appearances, he soon concluded that they were indeed the real deal, as he then smirked and walked towards them, "It is an honour to meet you in the flesh…." he then said with a light smile as he did a respectful bow to them.

Max gulped down and swallowed hard with Rex and Zoe, as they were beginning to sweat profusely feeling somewhat pressured, "The honour's….all ours…sir?" he croaked nervously.

"Please, just call me Lunensis." he replied calmly, "By bringing my daughter home I truly am in debated to you all….thank you."

"You're very welcome Lunensis." Rex answered before sporting a look of confidence, "And you can be sure that you'll have our support from this point on!"

"Yeah and together we'll take down the space pirates and set things right for all of you guys too!" Max announced as he punched up with confidence much to the awe and amazement of the resistance gathered.

"Wow!"

"You…truly mean that?" Some of them asked him filled with hope.

In response the D Team nodded back with confidence or thumbs up, "We do!"

"You bet!" They said as they were rewarded with praises and applause form all around them, as well as from some of the chibi dinosaurs present which jumped up and down in excitement or wagged their tails energetically.

Lunensis, having observed what had just transpired then looked towards his daughter and stepped up to her, as a shade covered his eyes, "Cera….much has happened since the day you departed." he said tensely as she looked back at him in sympathy, realising that what she did in the past also hurt her father and allies too like how she did with the D Team, "Day after day, as the forces of darkness grow stronger ours grow weaker and more weary." he said breathing heavily as he clenched his hand into a tight fist as he began to recall the events that transpired in her absence and how he was forced to carry the entire resistance and there burdens on his shoulders alone.

"I'm sorry father….I really wish I could've been back sooner."

"Don't be," he shook his head before all that matters is that you are hoe and now we can face the future together in the present like we once did in the past!" he said proudly having driven away all his worries of the past as he then embraced his long lost daughter in his arms, "And for you to have brought back the great D Team of legend, to have them fight alongside us in this war against the space pirates will truly be an honour." he said looking to Max, Rex and Zoe as walked up to them, "With you by our side we will surely prevail over our enemies!" he announced as they looked on.

"Err…." Unsure of how to make of it, while it was great they were being treated with such respect now it appeared the had a massive image as the symbols of hope they had to withhold for all the people present.

Before they could say something back to him, Lunensis then made a proud and confident proclamation to the members of the resistance currently gathered in the hall, "Everyone! These great heroes of legend not only stand before us, they were also the ones who brought my daughter home! Therefore treat them with the highest of respect! That is an order!" he declared as the hall roared with applause, cheers and roars of both people and dinosaurs together!

"YEAH!"

"WOO HOO!"

Seeing how much everyone's hopes were pretty much pinned on them and how they had a lot of expectations to meet, Max and the others couldn't help but blush red feeling both honoured but at the same time rather pressured too, "Ehehehe…this is a little much…" Zoe croaked as she scratched the back of her head and her heart began to beat rapidly inside her chest, feeling it was on the verge of exploding.

"Yeah too much if you ask me…." Rex nodded, feeling worried if they could live up to their expectations and even more so if they messed up, this was a war after all and bigger than anything they had faced before, maybe even more than the Dark Pterosaur….

"But still…Cera's dad….he's really a nice guy…." said Max as he looked towards Lunensis who was still proclaiming to the masses how fate had gifted them with a miracle along with the return of his fighter, seeing rightful hopes and smiles coming upon the faces pf the people and dinosaurs gathered there.

"Yeah….he's pretty cool…." Rex nodded before turning to Cera who was smiling at her father's ability to rally together the masses.

"Cera's really lucky to have someone like him as a father…." Zoe commented noting he was indeed a great charismatic figure, uniting them for a single cause and helping to bring out the best in them too.

Max then looked to the them both as he decided they become the hope and miracle they had all been waiting for, "Well in any case, we're here now and we've given these people new hope." he said with a speech of his own like how he rallied them all together during the dark pterosaur's reign of destruction, "So let's stick to it like we promised Cera!" He said clenching his hand into a firm fist as Rex and Zoe nodded back at him in agreement.

"Yeah!"

"We'll kick those space pirates right into the sun!"

"And we'll stand by you all through the way no matter what it takes!" They shouted to the masses causing even more applause and praise to echo the halls as the entire facility was instilled with newfound courage and determination.

"HOORAY!"

"YEAH!"

The vehicle elevator doors soon opened up and driving in was a red head hauler truck, as everyone turned to see what was going on. Stepping out of it were 3 troopers who saluted their superior on sight, "Commander Lunensis sir!" one of them said out loud.

"Report." He replied back to him firmly with authority.

"Forgive me for the interruption," he said with a respectful bow, "But we've rescued some very strange and unusual looking civilians who were wandering about in the city, though not gel jarks they seemed rather suspicious we thought you might want to take a look at them."

Lunensis narrowed his eyes at the news but soon gave the all clear as he nodded back at the soldier, "Very well…bring them in." he said as the soldier responded with a nod.

"Gladly." His group then ran around to the back of the hauler and opened it up, before moving in and trying to pull them out, "Come on out you go you four." He said as they began hauling out a green haired woman, a pair of men one fat and the other skinny, and the last one a frail and nearly bald old man!

"Hey! Watch it!" Dr Z growled impatiently as he tried to wrestle out of the trooper's grip on his shoulders, holding him back from going berserk.

"Hands off the merchandise!" Ursula growled furiously as the trooper who grabbed her hand shuddered in fear of her.

"I'm too young to go to jail!"

"Whatever you think we did we didn't! We're innocent we tell you!" Ed and Zander both yelled as the one trooper who had them both restrained rilled his eyes behind his helmet, seeing they were only embarrassing themselves.

Cera and the D Team widened their eyes recognising them, "AH!"

"It's Dr Z and the alpha gang!" They gasped in surprise, in disbelief that they were still alive and that they couldn't believe they actually forgot about hem back in the city just now!

The others in resistance, including Lunensis himself were taken heavily aback by the starting news they revealed to everyone else, "Huh!?"

"Wait….that name sounds familiar." The commander then thought to himself as he put a combed over his beard with his fingers in thought.

Dr Z meanwhile thrashed about and gnashed his teeth like a cornered animal as he struggled in vain to get free and give the trooper a beatdown at being mishandled, "Unhand and untie me! Don't you realise you're manhandling Dr Z! The future dinosaur king! How dare-" He looked ahead and widened his eyes to see Cera, Max, Rex and Zoe already there and standing amongst more of the people who had taken him and the Alpha gang hostage while they were lying unconscious earlier.

He and his gang widened their eyes in shock and gasped, "AH! You kids!?" They all yelled out in anger and surprise.

"What are you doing here!?"

"More importantly where are we!?" Dr Z and Ursula then demanded.

"Never mind that! Get us out of here now!"

"Pretty please…." Zander and Ed cried as comedic tears fell from their eyes.

Their frantic reactions made the D Team sweat drop anxiously at the scene they were making in front of so many others around them, "Oh boy…." Max then gulped nervously wondering how they might be able to explain this complicated situation to everyone else…if only they remembered and went after them earlier though.

Thankfully though, a number of the troopers present did seem to recognise his name as a set of surprised or amazed murmurs and comments came up form amongst the crowd as they looked to one another, "Wait…THE Dr Z!?"

"The man who founded the Dinosaur king coliseum and championship alongside the great Dr Ancient all those years ago!?"

"That's him!?" They gasped in awe though some of them appeared a little let down or dissappointed though seeing him to not be how they expected him to look.

"He's a little older and scrawnier than I imagined him to be…."

"Oh? You know who I am?" He mused before grinning arrogantly and sticking his head up high, "Hehehe, well it seems my reputation proceeds me." His snarky comments about himself made the D Team sweat drop and groan, seeing it was only adding fuel to the fire of arrogance and self worship, not to mention he'd be a bad influence and example for so many of these people who were driven to the edge and fighting a war every day of their lives.

"Umm you kids mind filling us on what's going on today please?" Ursula then asked them nicely as they looked to her and the trio, still waiting patiently for them to do something to help them while also growing restless as to what was going on around them.

Seeing no other way around it, Max and the others groaned seeing no other way around it as he waved out to them, "Okay hold your horses old lady, we'll fill you all in a jiffy."

"Hey I'm not an old lady!" She then screamed and turned feral, trying to get her hands on the kids if only she wasn't held back by the trooper, who was on the verge of losing his grip on her and allowing her to unleashed her triggered rage upon the entire base and endanger everyone in it!

After that, the D Team spent several minutes explaining to them what they encountered right after they arrived here in the year 3000. As well as what they encountered, and what they discovered about Cera. With heavy reluctance they also revealed to them how this utopian future came to be, how Dr Ancient and Dr Z were both responsible in helping to create it, as well as including the space pirates being the ones who turned it into a near lifeless wasteland and how it then lead up to the events they experienced in their time too. After it was done, the Alpha gang needless to stay was stunned almost speechlessly as they stared with widened eyes and at shorties of breath at being overwhelmed with such a revelation.

"Wow I just feel my mind just got blown as big as the big bang…." Ed muttered as he blinked his eyes in disbelief at what he heard.

"Who would've thought that kid was actually part of something really big…." Zander mused.

"I'm even more surprised Dr Z's crazy dream not only came true but was responsible for making this future a reality." Ursula huffed as she folded her arms as she pondered over how it could be possible all the amazing things they were seeing around them came form their crackpot of a boss.

What surprised them next was when they looked to the side and shuddered when they saw Dr Z gritting his teeth and shaking tensely with rage!

"EH!?"

"My dinosaur kingdom destroyed before I got the chance to see it with my own eyes!? Unacceptable!" he suddenly exploded, "I swear in the name of all dinosaur prehistory, that I Dr Z will not rest until those puny pirates get clobbered with 225 million years of mesozoic rage!" he declared proudly as he pointed up to the sky in declaration!

His deep words heavily impacted many members of the resistance who were still present as they became completely awestruck with him, "WOOOOW!"

"I like the way he thinks!" They said expecting many great things and high hopes in him.

Dr Z then grinned as he overheard them, seeing his reputation had proceeded him and now he secured himself a group of loyal followers, "My subjects! Your king compels you! Under my leadership you have nothing to fear or worry about! Together we'll send those pirates back into space and make them wish they never came in the first place!" he vowed before pointing ahead, "Now follow me to victory!"

They all cheered and applauded in a frenzy, feeling motivated and their spirrts fired up beyond belief, "YEAH!"

"All hail the dinosaur king!" They cheered as they all rushed in and began tossing Dr Z up and down in praise of him.

"Ahahahah!" he laughed in amusement to himself seeing he could get used to living like a real king now, much to the dismay of the D Team and Alpha gang as they sweat dropped or frowned seeing all this praise and brainwashing of the masses would easily feed his oversized ego.

"Well at least he's on board…..even for all the wrong reasons…." Cera muttered as they all nodded in full agreement with her.

"Yeah…."

"Dr Z! Dr Z! Dr Z!" They cheered as they began to carry him to a private area where they could serve him faithfully, tend to his every need and in turn receive his great wisdom.

"Ahahahaha! That's it! Say my name! From now on I'm not just your king I'll be your saviour!" He laughed as they carried him away out of the room to be given the royal treatment, leaving only a handful of members left in the main hall (Who weren't all that moved or inspired by him or felt they had more important matters to attend to at the moment).

"And there he goes…." said Ed as the doors closed and he sighed with some jealousy, wondering why he or the others never got such attention.

"I don't know if we should let him go by himself." Zander then muttered, as he pondered over whether they should let him have his moment or stop him from corrupting the masses with his poisonous influence.

"Not a good idea…." Ursula then commented shaking her head in disagreement.

"Hey she looks pretty…." A random male trooper then stared at her in awe, his face blessing red like an apple as he laid eyes on her elegant figure and radiant face.

She then widened her eyes and began to pose for him, "AH! Why how generous of you, finally someone who acknowledges me who who I truly am!" she boasted as the trooper then fainted in infatuation.

"Those guys look kinda creepy to me." Another girl trooper then pointed out at Zander and Ed as they lowered their heads and frowned in disappointment.

"Ugh…."

Looking on and seeing all the new allies they've gained, Max then grinned with enthusiasm as he put his arms around Rex and Zoe and bright them in, "Hehe, I think things have just turned a little more fun and interesting for us all now eh?" he smiled looking to them both, which earned a set of mixed responses from them.

"Yeah….in a way…." Zoe sweated as she scratched her cheek in thought.

"Wonder how our parents would think of all this when we let him know what's been going on…." Rex then thought with concern, realising they hadn't contacted them since they arrived in this time period.

"Oh yeah….Good point…." Max then muttered seeing Rex's point of view, and knowing for sure they'd receive all kinds of worried or paranoid responses the moment they'd hear about what events had transpired, where they've ended up and discovered, as well as the oath they made because of it….but Max didn't care about all that as he hardened his expression knowing exactly what he'd respond with, "In any case, whatever they say to us we've made our choice and we'll stand by it no matter what." He said firmly, despite being only 12 years old these past few months of growing up with dinosaurs had helped him and his friends grow up and mature more than most adults had, and he was certain that their decision now was the right one.

"Yeah for the dinosaurs, for the future and for Cera." Zoe nodded with Rex, standing by him too, they weren't kids anymore and it was high time they made their own way in the world now.

This was something that Cera and Miku too had noticed, seeing how much they had grown since the day she met them…as well as for herself too thanks to their combined experiences overtime. To see them decide for themselves and to be brave enough to face them with confidence and assurance in knowing what's right, it made her most proud to have stood by along side them. She soon however frowned slightly, she knew that them getting involved was inevitable and she was at peace with that, but even if they did prevail the big question was….what would happen after that?

"Cera," her father then called to her and her microraptor, snapping them out of their thoughts as they looked to him curiously.

"Yes dad?" She asked as Miku blinked back at him.

"I know you just got back and would love to say hi to some of your old friends here at the base, as well as show your new ones around." he said to her with a light smile, "But…there's something I'd like to show you, something that I've developed in the time you were away and I'd like you to see it with you very own eyes."

"Oh…Okay then dad." Cera then nodded back at him,

"You guys go on ahead and explore, see what there is to see." she said to the D Team and Alpha gang before looking to her father who smiled at her, "Meantime my dad and I have some catching up to do if that's okay?" she then asked them.

Max and his friends then nodded back at her feeling happy for her, "Sure thing Cera, you go on ahead and take all the time you need." he said.

"Yeah you deserve it."

"Go enjoy yourself now." Rex and Zoe said at the end.

"Thanks a lot, you're all the best." said Cera back to them feeling grateful to have known before she waved a them, "Well, see you later!" she said as she joined her father as they walked through a pair of sliding doors which lead up to the elevator he came from just now.

"Bye!" They all said waving to her as she left before they looked amongst themselves.

"Say guys, while we're here we might as well enjoy it, check out the base and make ourselves at home." suggested Max considering they wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

"I say we split up and explore each section of this place one by one. Then we'll get back and share what we've found." Rex then added thinking it'd be a much faster way to check out the whole place, feeling pumped up to meet so many new people and learn about how well they've gotten along with dinosaurs from their perspective.

"Sounds fun!" Zoe cheered as she, Max and Rex ran ahead of the Alpha gang, "Last one back here is a rotten old lady!" she sang cheekily as Ursula steamed red and stomped her foot on the ground in anger!

"Again!? I'll get you for that you brats!" she growled shaking her fist out as she charged after them!

"Ursula! Wait up!"

"We want to see too!" Ed and Zander cried as they struggled to keep up with her and the 6 of them quickly dispersed across the 6 pathways that lead to the other stations of the D Resistance.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Cera soon walked beside her father who walked down a corridor "So what's this thing you wanted to show me?" she then asked her father curiously, but he said nothing but held a firm and stock look on his face and before long at the end of their walk down the halls they came across a reddish purple locked door equipped with a keycard slot and passcode dial.

"You'll soon find out." he finally said in a somewhat unsettling tone which got her somewhat unnerved, she knew her father very well….but the way he acted and said it just now….was like he was someone else entirely, something Miku picked up on as she poked her head up from Cera's shoulder. As he took out a keycard and slid it into the slot, the first lock knocked, followed by dialling on the keypad causing the second security measure to open up. As the doors opened the 2 of them found themselves an observatory room, with the windows shut in front of them and beeping coloured buttons on the console ahead as the room was lit with reddish lights….giving it a most eerie and unpleasant atmosphere as Cera's heart began to beat hard and slow, she sweated anxiously as she and Miku looked around, clearly not recognising this room at all.

"The day you left…." Lunensis then spoke to her suddenly as she nearly stuttered at his voice. Looking at him she saw his fist clench hard as she stepped back nervously from him, "I swore to myself I'd never let anyone else suffer like I did….first your mother…then you…." he said as his grip loosened and he lowered his head down feeling regretful for not being able to do anything for them, "We suffered many losses without you to help lead us….and with now our foes have become even stronger, reborn now as the shadow empire as they now call themselves." he then said in a heavy tone.

Cera blinked her eyes in surprise at what he said, "Shadow….empire?" she muttered wondering when that happened.

He ignored her but continued, "I spent many long months researching for a way to finally defeat our new and more powerful foes….it was a series of trial and error….with much failure and dead ends along the way…." what he said and the way he said so, made Cera even more anxious and worried, seeing she found herself enclosed in a dark room alone with this man whom she initially thought was her other but in her absence ended up being twisted into someone else entirely, "And now I've found it." Her heart skipped a beat and she stuttered back as he raised his arms out proudly, "Behold Cera, the future of the D Resistance!" pressing the window shield button, they soon lifted up allowing them to see what was past them.

Cera could see the observatory deck looked out into a large room with many holding pens of sorts which was enclosed in a tight space like a warehouse or military bunker only lit on by rather dim lights above. While she couldn't make out what was inside from where she stood, she did know there were dinosaurs inside there, but hearing their cries and growls….of anger and agitation….she became rather hesitant to look. Nevertheless she swallowed down had as she stepped forward to see…..only to soon regret it as she widened her eyes at her father's secret project! "AH!"

Lined along the corridors of the facility below them, were several holding pens with barred walls lining them much like the cages the Alpha gang used. Inside were dinosaurs as she suspected but not dinosaurs she expected to see…..inside each of them were dinosaurs (like ceratosaurus, rajasaurus, chasmosaurus, wuerhosaurus) in an odd array of colours and patterns, mostly ranging from bright red, pink or purple, as they bellowed either in pain or in agitation as they clawed, snapped or bashed against the walls of their holding cells wanting to break free!

Their behaviour and colour clearly wasn't natural, it was clear they had been altered in some way! Flashing back she recalled the D team having acquired said card once as an acrocanthosaurus at their table….she didn't want to believe it could be true….her own father to not only allow such inhumane acts against dinosaurs but to be the one to do it himself!? A slot in the bottom floor opened up revealing an irritator which snarled viciously in agitation as it snapped at the bars of its pen, before the cage began to emit purplish energy waves all around it! It screeched in pain, grasping its head in its arms before the cage fell apart and opened up causing it to turn pink with streaks of dark red as it hissed violently! Some troopers and robots armed with tasers and stun rods, walked up form behind and began sparking its feet catching it by surprise as it jumped back! It reared out its claws and swung at them, but the continued doing a series of mock charges, sparking their rods and forcing the water dinosaur back until it was inside an open cage pen and the doors snapped closed! It lunged forward and slammed against the bars before slashing at them and chomping at the bars intending to get out!

Cera's jaw hung speechlessly along with Miku who widened her eyes in horror at the atrocious acts being down to those dinosaurs…like of they were mere tools of war….this….this wasn't the resistance she grew up with. She also shuddered to think of what other corrupted actions had taken place in her absence. As she stepped back barely managing to recover from the shock she just suffered, she stumbled and hit a block behind her only to turn around and gasp to see it was her father who stopped her! "AH!?"

"Beautiful aren't they?" he breathed as his eyes widened almost psychotically as he walked towards the viewing glass and put his hands on them, seeing the alpha dinosaurs roaring ferociously, surging with pent up power and rage and ready to unleash them upon anyone who would dare set them off, and Lunensis knew exactly whom to turn their rage against! "And soon we'll have an army of them, with their power along with the D Team's combined, we'll grind those insidious invaders into powder once and for all!" he proclaimed raising his arms out before smiling at his daughter with pride, "Isn't that wonderful my daughter? Your mother and so many others will be avenged and no one would be able to stand against us ever again….we'll wipe any and all threats we may face now and forever!" he said walking toward her with outstretched arms, while she and Miku stepped backwards taring to distance themselves away from the psychotic madman her father had become….the temptation to run was great…but she knew any sudden movements would end up being worse for her.

"Father….what have you done?" To her the world had been turned completely upside down…..the person before her was no longer a man….but a monster…..clearly many of these dinosaurs were forced into this against their will or were maybe even revived and altered in a way so they could handle this, like there were designed to be the perfect weapon of power and control.

Lunensis suddenly hardened his expression into one of hatred and rage, "With these evolved and improved dinosaurs, this spectral space pirates will regret ever setting foot on Earth soil and for what they did to us!" he shouted, his voice…no…his soul consumed by revenge against the pirates, as his eyes reddened with madness as he clenched his hands tightly, vowing to destroy anyone who would dare threaten Earth or even stand against him from doing this, be it friend or foe….

Cera's legs began to buckle as she could see it not just in the voices of agony echoing from the dinosaurs outside, but also seeing her father had fallen away from grace, "No…. This…isn't right…." The image of her kind and selfless father, the smile he had as he embraced her in her younger days….melted away completely and was replaced by the maniacal face of the man she was staring upon, "Father….What's happened to you?" she breathed shuddering with fear as she gazed into his eyes and saw nothing but a pit of darkness inside, one which he had fallen deep into and possibly was lost inside forever….

 **(Meanwhile)**

Ursula decided to split off from the group, wanting to get away from the D Team so that she wouldn't have to put up with their childish insults and annoying mugs any longer, as well as get some much needed alone time away from her bumbling underlings worrying that their idiocy may rub off on her. Though she initially believed that getting away from everyone else would make her feel more comfortable…..the tunnel leading towards the station of fire didn't seem to make it so as she strangely began to feel the room temperature begin to rise, they were underground and yet it felt like an oven for some unknown reason. "Ugh….why is this place so hot…." she huffed taking out a handkerchief and wiping away the sweat from her face as well as along her arms. She was starting to pant with thirst, feeling her throat and lips beginning to dry out much to her annoyance as she decided to get to the bottom of this seeing an opening at the end of the tunnel, hoping to shut it down so she could feel cool again, "I like hot springs and steam rooms but this head is just unbearable….just what are they-AH!" As soon as she passed through the opening she was caught with a most unreliable sight!

Before her down below in a pit like valley, was a large volcanic plain with a number of volcanoes spewing out hot gasses into the air and the land was bathed in rivers and streams of lava spreading down the volcanoes and along cracks in the ground almost like blood from the earth itself! In fact there were even cases of lave being spewed out from geysers here and there too! This was no playground, it was pretty much a death zone but for it to be set up in the D Resistance base of all places made absolutely no sense as to how or why. As Ursula reared back barely recovering form the initial shock she just suffered from seeing fire and magma erupted all around the volcanic landscape, she heard the sounds of roars and battle cries down below which snapped her out of her daze. "Wh…What the-" Looking down she widened her eyes in amazement at what she saw.

A number of troopers were bravely racing against one another, hopping across rocks perched across deep streams of lava in order to grab hold of training dummies perched on the other side and then having hoist them back to the starting line, aiming to come out on top as the fastest rescuer! In another area further off from the streams where the ground was more firm and solid, a group of large carnivores, including an alioramus and a metriacanthosaurus were firing fire cannons at some targets with bullseyes on them as they destroyed their targets in an instant and roared out in victory! In another area, things were more calm and mellow behind a large rock barrier to divert lava away were some troopers taking a well earned break to shelter from the sweltering heat around them, while also spending time to play with their own dinosaurs as a trooper tossed a piece of meat to a chibi mapusaurus before being petted itself and showered with praise.

Seeing how the troops and dinos down below were taking their situation like it was something they did everyday as part of their routine really set Ursula back, "I knew we'd see crazy things in this time but this is too much….." she gulped uneasily wondering if they were in their right minds to be training and even having fun in the middle of a sweltering lava field! She then sweated both out of anxiety and from the heat as she decided to take her leave before things got too hot for her….literally. "Maybe it's best I-" A crack sound suddenly echoed under her feet, which made her turn uncomfortably pale, "Uh oh…that doesn't sound good…" she muttered feeling herself descend down slightly. Sweating bullets and looking down, she widened her eyes seeing the edge of the cliff she was standing on was beginning to give way! Eventually it cracked apart unable to support her and she was about plummet into the river of lava just down below!

"WAAH!" She screamed as she scrambled back for the edge and managed to grab hold of it with her right arm! Looking down she shuddered as the chunks of rock shed from the cliff splashed down into the lave below and some of the drops nearly touched her legs much to her horror! Further ahead, troopers and their dinosaurs widened their eyes in horror to see a woman hanging by a threat at the cliff and very soon she;d be char broiled to a crisp if no one did something! Problem was she was way too far to reach and it'd be too ate by the time they reached her!

"Urgh…not good not good…." Ursula gritted her teeth and thought to herself in a panic! She mustered whatever strength she could in her one arm to try and hoist herself back up…but to no avail as she found herself too heavy to pull up with one arm, though she denied herself for being fat because that wasn't the case. As her hand slipped down and her grip was weakening, "Oh no….this can't be happening! I'm too young and beautiful to be burnt alive!" she squealed flailing her legs about in a panic, not realising her thrashing and restless movements were only worsening her situation! "HELP! SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She scream done last time….a desperate measure which seemed to be fruitless as she suddenly lost her hold on the rock and began to fall down to a burning doom! "AAA-WAH!?" She gasped in surprise noticing she hadn't fallen down into the fiery pit below, but instead was saved by an arm with brown gloves which had a tight grip on her own.

"Crikey! That was a close one!" a male southern australian voice said to her from above. Ursula looked up and widened her eyes to see a man with sleek brown hair and blue eyes, wearing an australian fedora hat, as well as wearing a generally yellow buttoned shirt (with the D resistance symbol on his shirt pocket), brown trousers and boots. Around his neck was a necklace embedded with what looked like theropod teeth, giving him a rather mature and adventurous kind of vibe as he hoisted her back up to the cliff.

She couldn't help but stare speechlessly at him feeling awestruck at how heroic he not only looked but also acted, as he flashed her a cool grin, "Better watch your step, fire squad isn't somewhere to tread lightly, one wring step and you'll end up with more than a 3rd degree burn." he said to her as they both stepped further away from the edge where it'd be much safer for them both.

Deep down Ursula could feel her own heart beating violently against her chest and she "Th…Thank you…for that…." she crooked shyly, looking away and scratching the back of her neck restlessly, unable to explain what kinds of feelings were swelling up inside her mind and heart.

"No worries, can't let a nice looking sheila like you get singed to a crisp can we?" he said smiling back, before tipping his hat off to her.

"Oh my…." she covered her mouth and blushed red, as she began to feel herself heat up and it was not from the surrounding volcanoes.

He then walked past her to the edge of the cliff and shouted out to the men down below, "All's good now!" he signalled to them saying the situation resolved itself now, "And excellent work troops! A little more practice and you'll be ready to bring down flaming justice on those slimy space pirates anytime you want!" he cried to them as the echoes of joy echoed from the soldiers down below.

"Thank you captain!"

"We won't let you down!"

"For the resistance!" They shouted back to him feeling inspired by his charisma and motivation as their dinosaurs also began to roar too.

Ursula blinked her eyes in surprise at what she heard from him, "Wait a minute…captain?" she asked pointed at him weakly.

"That's right!" he replied back proudly as he gestured a thumb to himself, "The name's Blaze! Captain of the resistance's fire squad! Plum tickled to meet ya!" he grinned. Some foot steps soon echoed through the ground and looking behind him Ursula jumped back at the sight of a large daspletosaurus and gorgosaurus that were coming right behind him!

"EEP!" she squealed falling to the ground then edging away to hide behind a rock.

Blaze blinked his eyes in surprise as to what was wrong, till he felt hot breathing down his back which made him turn around, and smile strangely as he began petting both carnivores on their snouts before turning back to her, "Aw no worries, these here are my 2 trusty partners, Daigo and Gorgon. Say hi won't ya guys?" As he said so both dinosaurs each let out a loud roar which made Ursula turn pale and flail her hand out in a panic!

"WAAAH!"

Captain Blaze widened his eyes seeing he may be rubbing off abad first impression at this rate as he shook his hand out to his 2 dinosaurs, "Whoa whoa! Easy there!" he shouted at them before turning strict, "Now you blokes listen here, she's our guest now be nice alright? Or I'm putting you both on a diet! Got it!?" In response both his dinosaurs snorted and grunted in annoyance but backed off submitting to their alpha. Looking on, Ursula gasped in amazement at seeing how easily he handled 2 huge man eating carnivores to bravely….almost like Dr Owen did with Terry once….but Blaze seemed far more impressive than he did without a doubt. She looked up at him as he held out a hand to her, "It would be sheer injustice if I let a delicate damsel like yourself get hurt by brutish blokes like those just now." he said to her nicely.

"Th…thank you…." Ursula nodded as she took his hand and let him help her up to his feet. Though she still stumbled slightly, feeling overwhelmed by the experience…and also by a strange flurry of emotions racing through her mind as of this moment. Shaking her head clear and not wanting to dwell on said feelings any longer, before she could say something that would make her look ridiculous, she then turned to look down at the lava plains below, "Say….you've got quite the fiery set up here…." she poitned out at the sight as Blaze nodded proudly.

"Yup we sure do, and its just how our dinosaurs like it!" he said grinning proudly before walking ahead and folding his arms looking over his station with admiration, "Took a lot of time and work too, but anything to make sure we all stay in tip top shape in this fight against the evils of this world!" he announced to the skies above. As Ursula raised an eyebrow at him weirdly, he then snickered in amusement back to her, "When I was a kid I grew up loving superheroes and became a huge fan of justice, that's why I became a member of the Fossil Fighting Force, we dedicate ourselves to fighting crime and make sure to punish all wrongdoers with the flames of justice itself!" he explained himself thinking that it was important to always give smiles and hope to people in the darkest of times, especially in a war like this.

He also grew up loving big and strong carnivores like t-rex, seeing their wild side to be very fun and appealing to the masses, sure their ferocious nature may brand them like villains in most tv series he saw, but when raised properly in the correct hands they can be used as weapons of justice. Like a real fire, without proper control it could either snuff out or burn wildly, but under the right conditions they could help keep one warm and safe, as well as even helping to refine and temper one to the best they can be under the hardest of conditions.

"A little something I taught Cera too," Blaze continued, "That while there'll always be injustice in the world, so it's important to never give up and always keep your spirit burning strong and smiling bright as the sun itself!" he then said as he flashed yet a mother grin which made Ursula smile with deep admiration and respect for said man.

"Now that's really impressive…." she whistled impressed before shuddering nervously, "Gulp…and kinda unnerving…" she muttered knowing she herself was in a way a criminal once…but he didn't need to know that.

Blaze then turned around and looked down below to see his squadron, who were once part of his Fossil Fighting Force, a law enforcement team used to deal with dinosaur related crimes examples being criminal organizations like the BB Bandits, who used dinosaurs for criminal purposes like robbing and intimidation, as well as others who may abuse them, "Back then fighting injustice used to be pretty simple, fighting poachers, fossil poachers, people who abuse dinosaurs you name it…." he sighed in disappointment shaking he head, disgusted that there were such people who could commit such atrocities and still feel good about it, "Nowadays we're all pretty much living on the edge everyday, so my job is to make sure both the troops don't get their fire snuffed out, otherwise the world will be really cold and dark place." he then muttered before feeling himself fired up with energy and determination, "And the fire in me will keep burning till not a single trace of crime and evil remains! YAAH!" he screamed with determination to the skies as his dinosaurs who stood nearby roared out loud too, feeling fired up themselves!

ROAR!

Ursula's eyes soon began to sparkle and she clapped her hands together and blushed red, as she felt her own emotions shift into overdrive, "Oh wow….he's not just brave…but a total hunk of a charmer too! Oh I feel like I'm in love!" she squealed as she been to fawn over what may be her dream man!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Wow….the air feels just so fresh here….." Zoe breathed as took in the scent of fresh grass all around her. After deciding to pay the grass sector a visit she found herself in the middle of a meadow with patches of long tall grass followed with areas of shorter ferns and shrubs, and further in the distance were rather large mountains and forests of greenery. Looking up above she saw lighting similar to what was used in a greenhouse, and despite being deep underground the base was able to replicate the conditions needed for plants to grow strong and healthy. "It's so dark outside yet it's as bright as day here….the future is so amazing…." she then breathed in awe and amazement as she strolled through the prairie and took in the sights and smells of nature emanating all around her, "And the grass….the trees….it's incredible how they made all this…." she then noted as she touched and felt a blade of grass across her hands, feeling it to be absolutely genuine, almost developing a kind of kinship with nature itself.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a strange chorus of calls echoing further across the field, as she closed her eyes and listened more carefully she could feel her heart growing at ease as the song seemed to lift her spirits high and make her feel most peaceful and warm, as if her worries and fears she had or didn't notice at all were being forced out of her like a body detoxification process. "That sound….it's so beautiful….I've just gotta see!" she then said with excitement as she ran ahead through the tall grass to see what it was. As she ran through the grass and came near the source of the music, she pulled apart some grass with her hands so she could get a good look at what was ahead, and she widened her eyes at what she saw in the middle of the field, "AH!"

She saw a lambeosaurus, tsintaosaurus and corythosaurus all crying a chorus of music, a prehistoric equivalent to that of a classical orchestra, while standing around a wounded gastonia, seeing it was panting hard and lying down on it aside with several scratches around its underside. At that moment, a trio of pteranodons (blue, yellow and red) flew put from the tall grass fields and began circling around the gastonia, showering it with green energy as they flapped their wings around it, as it opened its eyes and bellowed out loud feeling reenergised before the pteranodon trio dispersed. Zoe widened her eyes in amazement at what she saw, clearly this place had to do with healing and recovery as far as she knew, and they did so in the most unique and interesting of methods.

On closer inspection she could also see a trooper standing by his gastonia, patting it gently on the head to ensure it was alright. Nearby the lambeosaurus was a young girl dressed in beige and white clothing, along with a beige scout cap, pale lime green ribbon on her collar and tied around her hair. And next to the the other 2 hadrosaurs was an older chinese woman wearing a green cap sleeve mandarin collar cheongsam embedded with yellow floral patterns around it along with a pair of wooden clog slippers. In her hair were 2 flower like hair clips which tied up her long black hair to look almost like buns, while the rest of it stretched down past her neck giving her a rather graceful appearance as she also held out an elegant white and pink fan shaped much like a flower with a floral pattern on it.

"There, now you will have more energy." said the woman to the gastonia as she stroked it on the head and it hummed in satisfaction, before being returned to its card by the trooper.

The trooper then bowed in respect to the woman, "Thank you captain Hua. I'll be more careful next time." he then said gratefully to her.

"Of course, come back anytime." the smiled kindly before turning to her younger assistant, "Minmi, please escort him back outside."

"Yes of course Dr Hua." the younger girl said as she and her lambeosaurus began to lead the trooper out through the grassy terrain and back to the entrance leading to the main sector.

As they left the premises, the doctor smiled proud with another satisfied patient as her 2 dinosaurs lowered their heads to her and she began petting them gently to show her appreciation for their hard work, unaware that Zoe, still awestruck by what she saw, stepped out from his hiding spot and was standing right behind her.

"That was beautiful…." she breathed making Hua blink her eyes in surprise as she turned around with her dinos to look at Zoe, whose eyes were shining brightly like stars.

"Ah welcome young Zoe, we have been expecting you." she said with a bow as her 2 dinosaurs backed away slightly to give their mistress some space

Zoe blinked her eyes in surprise, "You…know my name?" she asked back.

The older woman chuckled back at her happily, "Of course, I just got word from Commander Lunensis that you and your friends are present." she smiled warmly, "I, Captain Hua, along with my partners Chisotao and Collin, humbly welcome you to the grass station." she said as her tsintaosaurus and corythosaurus came in and bellowed a set of trumpeting calls as they introduced themselves.

"Hahah, thank you very much," Zoe laughed as a big grin came across her face as she looked around to see the flowers beginning to bloom on some nearby bushes as a result of the healing session conducted earlier, "It's a huge honour to see such beauty despite everything that's going on outside." she said complimenting the grass captain to see such natural beauty and tranquility despite being in a time of war.

Hua covered her mouth over a giggle before holding out her hand, "If you'd like I'd be more than happy to show you around." she offered as Zoe clapped her hands together eagerly.

"Really!? That'd be great! Yes!" she cheered.

"Ahaha, then right this way." Hua responded as she escorted Zoe through a grass path laid out before them as the captain's 2 dinosaurs followed behind them. As they reached another clearing at the meadow, Zoe widened her eyes speechlessly to see several healing therapy sessions being conducted there, where some cryolophosaurus, archaeopteryx and leallynasaura were circling around some weakened muraenosaurus as they showered the plesiosaurs with bright light from their bodies to heal them of their wounds as they then let out satisfied cries before hoisting themselves back into some nearby ponds.

Some hadrosaurs like ouranosaurus and prosaurolophus, used by female nurses wearing similar outfits to Minmi earlier, were using angel's breath as well as nature's blessing in order to treat a patagosaurus that was sick with breathing ailments but after being showered with the life giving energy of grass, the large sauropod managed to get back on its feet and let out a satisfied bellow before it was returned to a card and reclaimed by a nurse. "It's almost like a hospital or clinic in a way…." Zoe couldn't help but comment feeling most impressed, considering she lived at an animal hospital this could be a great learning experience for her.

"That's because it is," Hua confirmed for her, "It's what my station specialises in. Medical care as well as in healing." She said proudly, though her smile soon vanished and was replaced with a small sad frown, "In a war this great, many of us can easily not only are prone to getting injured or sick while out in the field, but also become weary and most tense." she said which made Zoe sigh sympathetically, "Which is why we also try to ensure everyone is properly rested and receives the right kind of care before they get sent out into the battlefield once more." Hua continued as they continued walking through to the edge of station's prairies, passing by some dino duelists (Dressed in traditional japanese silk kimonos or yukatas) who were engaged in some healing therapy sessions which involved ikebana flower arrangement, making herbal tea or soil tilling at a japanese zen garden setting area past the prairie.

"I get what you mean…." Zoe noted understandably as she and Hua walked over a wooden bridge and over a small koi pond where the stream ran through the rock garden. In the modern world it was easy to get exhausted and tense at work, but in a war as devastating as Cera described it'd be easy to get exhausted and hurt, not just physically but emotionally too…..

"Of course not everything can be treated with conventional medicine," Hua then continued stating how certain types of wounds couldn't be treated as easily as others, "Which is why we work with dinosaurs to help go beyond the 'modern' ways." She said having beliefs that old fashioned natural methods may be twice as effective compared to modern medicines which focus on treating symptoms rather than root causes, "After all, dinosaurs didn't have doctors back then in their time and were able to recover from some of the worst injuries and illnesses possible. Thus we learn from them and come to a greater understanding an respect for not just them but the world they lived in too." She then stated her stance with them.

For it was thanks to the dinosaurs and the need to bring revive some of the plant species herbivores needed for their survival, it also helped inspire her to investigate other types of plants with impressive healing properties that may have been extinct or nearly wiped out. In fact, it was also thanks to the discovery of a certain life giving fruit, she as a botanist also managed to discover its properties to develop natural cures that could treat nearly any ailment! In fact her team's former department in environmental relief saw value in nature and how plants can heal the land itself as they too healed the sick and injured.

"Wow…..who knew there were so many ways to heal…." Zoe then breathed in awe, knowing that if she was to take over the clinic one day she should learn as much as she can while she had the chance. The thought of healing soon made her recall a certain memory of hers as she put finger to her chin in thought, "Say, I just remembered." She then said catching Hua's attention, "Cera once helped treat my dinosaur Paris when she breathed in some dust using massage or something."

"Ah yes, I remember teaching her that, it was one of my most basic of healing practices aside from acupuncture and aromatherapy." The captain then answered brightly.

Zoe blinked her eyes in surprise, "Wait, you taught her how to do that?" she asked Hua who calmly nodded back with a smile.

"That's right, as well as how all life is precious whether big or small, ever living creature has a role to play in the natural environment." she explained, "Therefore it's important we learn to create peace and harmony with the world we live in, which is why my squad also works in environmental related efforts as well." As she finished she gestured to a small patch of soil, covered with organic fertiliser made from a strong mixture of leftover food remains and dinosaur faeces. While it may have looked and smelt unpleasant at first, as Zoe pinched her nose in disgust, an anatotitan emerged from the grass nearby and fired off emerald garden onto it, causing a large layer of ferns and plants to grow there much to Zoe's amazement!

A group of minmi nearby went over to graze at said spot, leaving behind a set of nests filled with eggs inside, as a few maiasaura went over to tend to said eggs while their others were busy having lunch. Thus revealing the grass station's efforts in supplying food for the resistance as well as acting as a nursery for dinosaur eggs too! Much to Zoe's amazement, "Wow…." she breathed seeing that there was so much she would need to learn about animals if she really were to run the family business one day.

Unbeknownst to them, a large stone pillar was stacked up at the edge of the station surround by a circle of coloured stones with the 6 elemental patterns on it. Sensing the former holder of the grass stone plate nearby, the grass stone switch lit up green…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

Zander decided to pay the water station a visit considering he held Spiny's card and stone a while back and still did, so he wanted to see how the resistance handled water dinosaurs if he could learn how to better use his dinosaur and therefore prove to be of more use to the team rather than hold them back and getting the short end of the stick like so many times before. Having seen Spiny lose many of his battles and now that they were in a high stakes war he felt he ought to take things more seriously from here on.

As he stepped inside, he widened his eyes in amazement to find he was standing at a rather lush green patch of grass and firms, but surrounding it on all aides was a large river enclosing it on all sides, being generated by a series of water falls which stood up tall and high making it like a large basin with fresh water coming in from around every corner of the station! "Wow! Talk about having an outdoor pool in your own backyard! This is really something!" he cheered with glee, dancing about side to side seeing it as the perfect place for a romantic picnic or maybe even a swim! He was tempted to change into his swim wear and take a dive, when he saw bubbles beginning to blow from the river ahead of him, "Huh?" he blinked in surprise as he took a closer look and used his hand to cover over his eyes.

Rising out of the water on opposite ends of the river were 2 large sauropods, a cetiosaurus and an dicraeosaurus. Both being water dinosaurs, Zander knew he had to e in the right place, "Now what's going on here?" He muttered curiously, straightening his glasses as he folded his arms and tapped with his fingers with interest as they began to flash blue signalling the activation of a move card. The dicraeosaurus bellowed loudly as it summed forth magic shower causing rain to fall from dark clouds that gathered above them, then the cetiosaurus howled as a separate opening in the grassy ground opened up and school of opthalmosaurus began circling inside it with their fins protruding from the water surface.

A camarasaurus that emerged from the water nearby, began to glow blue before firing a stream of water from its mouth into the pond, causing a set of piercing aqua javelins to shoot out of it, carrying an opthalmosaurus in each one before they fired off into he main pond! "Excellent work you 3." A female voice suddenly shouted out from atop the hill where the waterfalls were, catching Zander by surprise!

"Huh!?" He widened his eyes to see a suchomimus perched on the very top, and clinging onto to its neck was a young elegant woman, with bright ocean blue eyes and wavy long blog hair like the waves itself. She also wore a dark blue and black wet suit which covered her entire body and she sported an expression of confidence and no fear, "Now for the grand finale!" she announced holding her arms stretched wide as Zander gazed upon her almost like some kind of tailless mermaid, beautiful and enchanting like the siren she resembled. She then looked to her dinosaur which she rode, with an expression of confidence and trust petting it on the neck as it responded with a hiss, rushing ahead and then nose diving head first into the river below!

"WHA! What is she thinking!? She's crazy!" Zander screamed grasping his hair and nearly pulling out! He ran around in circles in a panic not knowing what to do, before covering his eyes unable to look….till deciding to peep through a small gap in his fingers just to see what would happen.

As he looked on, the suchomimus dived head first into the water with a huge splash in the middle of where the opthalmosaurus school was swimming in and the waves covered over all the sea reptiles. Right after that an enormous geyser shot out from the water and into the dark clouds of rain above! Zander widened his eyes to see the opthalmosaurus all circling around int he geyser as it spiralled to the sky, with the suchomimus and its rider in the dead center of it! He was amazed and kept an unblinking gaze at them both, no fear nor hesitation, only trust and courage in one another as they shot into the dark clouds above, which made them explode into a bright shining rainbow! After that the opthalmosaurus all splashed back into the water in a synchronised manner and the suchomimus along with its rider landed gracefully on the grass ground in the center of the field! With that out of the way, the woman did a her flip to shake out whatever water was still caught in it as she smiled folding her arms on her hips considering it a job well done.

Overcome with emotion and excitement, Zander couldn't hold himself back anymore as he exploded into great applause, "Wow….that was incredible! Woo hoo!" he whistled only to stutter when he realised he gave himself away to the woman and the 4 massive dinosaurs already present there!

The woman then turned to look at him in surprise, "Oh? I didn't think I was expecting guests today." she said as the dinosaurs then eyed him with suspicion, letting out a few menacing grunts or snarls at him, considering there were many who often fawned over their mistress and tried going after her hand, therefore requiring their assistance to keep them away.

Zander then turned pale with anxiety as he waved his hands out, "Oh p…pardon me ma'am I was just umm…."

Seeing his intentions to be anything but pervy or malicious, the woman then smiled seeing he meant no harm as she waved a hand out to the dinosaurs, "It's fine, no need to be worried." she said to him with assurance a he let out a deep sigh of relied, "I just hope you enjoyed our little show just now, hope it made a big splash."

"Why yes I did indeed! It was really spectacular!" he cheered as he clapped his hands together in applause and admiration, it was way better than any movie or acting show he saw in his life.

"Hahaha, why thank you, glad to see my skills haven't been growing stagnant as of late." she then laughed feeling glad he loved it so much before looking to all 4 dinosaurs behind her, "Looks like we all still got it don't we?" she asked as they all roared out in agreement, before the cetiosaurus and dicreaosaurus decided to leave the premises, so only the suchomimus and camarasaurus remained by the woman's side.

"W…Who are you?" Zander then asked her.

"Oh yes pardon me for not introducing myself," the woman apologised before bowing politely to Zander, "I'm Captain Marina, the Resistance's leader of the water division." she said to him, which made Zander stutter back in surprise.

"Whoa! You're like one of the leaders here!?" he exclaimed, his jaw hanging in disbelief.

"Indeed I am, pleasure to make your acquaintance." she nodded back to him as well as shooting him a cute wink.

"I…It's all mine…." he blushed red in admiration, feeling his heart begin to fluster…..till he remembered his heart belong to Reese and Reese alone as he shook his head clear of any unpleasant thoughts before clearing his throat, "So umm….why's a captain like you doing a water show like that just now?" he then asked her curiously.

Marina responded by stretching her arms up slightly, "I was simply making sure I keep my skills as elegant and swift," she replied as she leaned down to stretch her legs next, "As well as ensure I can keep myself on the same wavelengths as my partners Smith and Camille here." she said responding to her suchomimus and camarasaurus as they both lowered their heads down to her and she smiled petting them nicely, "After all, I wouldn't want us to lose our crystal clear shine in the event we manage to get back to the modelling department." she said to them both and they nodded in agreement with her.

Zander's heart skipped a beat at those words as he stumbled back and fell down to the ground, "Wait! So you're a like some kind of super model!?" he exclaimed flabbergasted pointing at her with a shaky hand.

"As well as Saurian Superstar for 5 years in a row, be it in movies, fashion shows, on stage performances, musicals you name it." she said proudly, since else had been a symbol to the people for many to look up to and inspire in others, before shaking her head with a sigh, "Well before the space pirates invaded and took everything away…." she added at the end.

"WOOOOWWW!"

Shake head and drive away temptation "I still don't see what all that had to do with dinosaurs though." he then said after that.

"On the surface one might think that." Marina replied, "But just like water and with beauty, if you look past it, you'd be able to see it's much deeper than that." she explained as she turned around to stroke Camille on her face and then pet Smith's snout, "You see, a great performance and act requires more than just a pretty face, it also requires talent as well as heart. And there's only so much one can achieve all on their own." she explained, "It was thanks to dinosaurs I was able to achieve great heights in my career, but along the way I also learnt to develop a newfound connection and trust with them."

Zander blinked his eyes feeling moved by her words, she was just pretty she seemed very wise herself too, "You see every show needs performers working in perfect sync in each other, but to do so also requires a great understanding and trust in one another. The same applies in battles too." She continued, "That's why in the face of danger or any unforeseen mishaps, I try my best to go with the flow. Like people, dinosaurs can sense emotions too, so if you're scared they too would feel scared, and vice versa. The stronger your bond with your own dinosaur partner, the stronger you both work together as a team." she concluded at the end as she held her hands out and her dinosaurs came in to be petted closely once more, showing the bond and affection they both had in her.

"Wow now that's pretty deep….." Zander whistled, wondering if he could do that with Spiny too someday, perhaps he and the rest of the Alpha gang had been taking them for granted unlike the D Team, which was why they seemed to get their butts handed to them on a daily basis.

All this talk about beneath the surface brought back some memories to Marina as she was reminded of having taught the same lesson to a certain young girl she met during her first days in the resistance, "Cera herself knows that very well, in fact I believe she's the only one who could connect with dinosaurs at such a young age. Even with what I taught her, her ability to connect with them already surpasses mine….I do hope there will be others who can share her gift some day when this is all over with." She thought hoping when the war did come to an end, that people can connect with dinosaurs and wash away their worries of the past as well as their current stained image of seeing them as mere tools of war, as of late she had noticed certain individuals losing the connection they had with some of their dinosaur partners because of what they suffered and only seeking those with strength and power in order to win.

As Zander walked off to look at himself in the water to try and reflect upon himself like Marina suggested, her suchomimus then let out a small snort which made her turn to him, "You saw it too Smith…Camille?" she then asked her camarasaurus next who then nodded. She then looked towards Zander and smiled seeing what was inside his heart, "He may appear rough around the edges but deep down inside he has the potential to become a bright gem….a real geode."

As she said that, a baryonyx suddenly popped its head out for he water and caused a large wave to wash over Zander as he held his hands out and screamed! "WAAAH!" he cried as the wave swept him over and as it retreated back into the river he spat out a fish that ended up in his mouth somehow….as Marina then did her best but failed to suppress a giggle seeing him to be rather entertaining too.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Whoa….Look at this…." Rex breathed in awe and amazement as he found himself in the middle of a white sandy space, with clouds rolling all around him and swirling in the winds currents blowing and circulating all around him, making it easy for one to get lost if not careful. A setting fitting for the station of wind, and he was looking forward to learning more about how they handled them as well as meeting the captain in charge of this place. But so far, as he wasn't able to find anyone or anything for miles as far as his eyes could see, and he felt rather disappointed having been expecting someone to greet him by now.

"There's nobody here…." he muttered uneasily as he looked around to find nothing and no one, "Am I in the right place?" Suddenly, Rex could feel a strange change in the winds' rhythm blowing around him, it was as if he wasn't alone and in fact being watched. The sounds of feet patting the ground sounded behind him as he quickly turned, "Huh?" He gasped as he looked to see what looked like a small shadow slip in behind a cloud that rolled past him. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, "Was it my imagination?" he then asked himself, but felt a bad feeling in his gut.

Before he could think about leaving, suddenly a group of 5 black cloaked ninjas appeared out nowhere all around him! They were coloured in black robes and bore headbands representing the D symbol on them and in their hands they wilded an array of weapons ranging from kana, shurikens and katanas! What was even more surprising was that dinosaurs suddenly began to circle around them, being a struthiomimus, gallimimus, dromiceiomimus and 2 piatnitzkysaurus! Rex was caught completely by surprise at the welcome greeting he was given, "Wh…What the!?" Before he could reach for his dino bracer and card, a vicious snarl hissed behind him as he quickly turned around, widening his eyes at a monolophosaurus that leapt out of a cloud at him!

"AH!" he gasped in alarm but before he could run for it, the dinosaur slammed down hard on his back and pinned him to the ground! "URGH!" He grunted in pain at the force of the slam on the ground as well as the pressure the beast was exerting on him! He tried to push up but the dinosaur weighed down on him and preventing him from getting to his feet as he was completely pinned down! He gritted his teeth hard and grunted in pain as the theropod's legs began to dig into his back, "Urgh! Get off me you-"

SNARL!

"WAAAH!" Rex widened his eyes as a dilophosaurus suddenly in front of him and bore its fangs snarling ravenously before rushing out at him! "AAAH!" Rex widened his eyes and closed them tight unable to look anymore….till a loud voice out of nowhere suddenly shouted and called them both off!

"Hunter! Chase! Stand down!" The dilophosaurus was within inches of sinking its teeth and fangs into Rex's flesh but halted its' assault then upon orders!

"H…Huh?" As he opened his eyes, Rex's heart skipped a beat to see the carnivore bearing its fangs at him and he could see right down past its lines of razor sharp teeth! When the dinosaurs backed off from him and the ninjas put away their weapons, Rex reeled back, wheezing and gasping for air, his hand right over his chest as he was trying to still his racing heart from a heart attack. "Whoa…." was all he could utter out seeing he was surrounded by so many at once and he could have lost his life then in an instant, and he could do nothing about it.

"Hmph! How disappointing…." the same voice spoke out from nowhere once more.

"Huh?" Rex blinked his eyes an surprise wondering who had said it. He soon got his answer as a gust of wind swirled before him and the other ninjas and their dinosaurs bowed before it sensing their master was approaching. To his surprise a other taller ninja soon appeared before him, this one was clad in spiked armour, his outfit embroidered with markings of wind breeze and his lower face half covered by a red face cloth, with deep black hair tied up in a pony tail. On his back he sported a pair of huge katana and along his belt he had not just a dinoshot but also an arsenal of weapons ranging from mini bombs, kana, chains, shurikens showing he was armed to the teeth! He also sported a pair of wooden sandals and his deep black eyes stared down at Rex in disappointment at the boy.

"Had my intentions been malicious you'd be dead by now." snapping his fingers, the other ninjas and their dinosaurs quickly departed leaving both him, his own dinos and Rex present. He then stepped over Rex as the boy sweated anxiously seeing this menacing man stare right past his eyes and into his cowering soul, "That's why you should never give your foes any opening of the sort, any 'peaceful' foe can use all sorts of reasons to get close to you and by the time you realise it it'd be too late!" he shouted in disapproval, "And you especially do NOT let your guard down when you believe you've achieved victory, that's the biggest mistake one can make. What you see with your own eyes isn't everything, what isn't visible to the naked eye is most crucial of all." He then said in a calmer manner before stepping away and giving Rex space to sit up, "It's important to read your opponent carefully from mannerism down to body language, that way you'd be able to claim the flow of the battle as your own."

Rex then swallowed down what felt like a rock in his throat before nodding, "I'll keep that in mind…..I'll be more careful next time." As extreme and unnecessary this ninja acted towards him, Rex could see he did have a point, had this been a real battle he could've wound up dead on the spot by then. The same could also apply in the real world too, that meant he'd have to be on guard and not take the outside world so lightly himself….though that didn't mean he was going to be suspecting of everyone though.

The ninja then narrowed his eyes at him hard, "So you're Rex…as in Rex Ancient….son of Dr Ancient…the one who made dinosaurs and humans a reality." he then said.

Rex blinked his eyes in surprise that he knew who he was, but wasn't about to give him any reason to put him down by acting surprised, "Looks like you did your homework." Rex huffed as he pushed himself back up on his feet.

The ninja however continued to stare a him rather closely, like a hawk with its prey. Rex tensed up as he kept his eyes fixated on both him and his vicious dinosaurs that were hissing like snakes as they circled around him, "You know….had you or your father been around in my time you'd probably fetch a hefty price on your head…." the ninja smirked under his face cloth as he brushed his finger across it.

"Hefty price on my head?" Rex muttered in confusion before widening his eyes in realisation, "You mean you're a bounty hunter!?"

"Mercenary, assassin, gun for hire, you name it." The ninja responded to him with a nod, which choked Rex at how bold he was to be open about it. Looking into the man's eyes, Rex could see he had the eyes of a killer, the type of man who took pleasure in slitting throats or sending his dinosaurs to massacre them. "Or more like ex hunter…." The ninja then shook his head scoffing with disappointment, "Nowadays I, Kaze, serve the resistance as its' captain of wind."

Rex widened his eyes and stuttered backwards, "You!? You're the captain of wind!?" he gasped in alarm while pointing at him shakily. After that he gritted his teeth in anger and shout out at him in anger, "What was Cera's dad thinking when he picked someone like you of all people!?" he yelled.

Kaze then shook his head and scowled under his cloth in disapproval, "Hmph, in times of war you can't afford to be choosy, he knew that all too well, the winds of change brought that upon him as did it for most of us." he replied casually and unbothered, "In fact the same applies for the real world, not everyone is born equal, some even have to play dirty or better yet get their hands dirty if they want to live to see a new day." He recalled one day stumbling across his monolophosaurus and dilophosaurus, as young dinosaurs, abandoned under the rain in the forest by an abusive duelist who found they had no worth for being weak and undependable. Thus he took them both under his wing, and thus trained them to be merciless carnivores who'd attack and show no mercy without hesitation.

Rex narrowed his eyes sensing the killing instinct was strong in the dinosaurs as hey both circled him and Kaze as they conversed, he kept his senses all on guard in the event they may try to pounce on him again while they were talking. "If it makes you feel any better though, work's been really hard to come by nowadays you know with the war going on and all." Kaze then sighed unexpectedly, "What my team and I do, involves special tactics, strategy and recon operations." he explained, "Plus the boss told me to stay in line if I want to keep my place in the resistance secure. Otherwise I'll never get my chance at payback for what they did."

"What they did?" Rex blinked his eyes in surprise at his change in tone, easing up slightly but still keeping his senses on high alert, "What do you mean?" he then asked still wanting to know, sensing that Kaze was being truthful.

Kaze said nothing in response to Rex at first, before letting out a deep sigh as he clenched a hand over the handle of his katana, "Let's just say they….made things personal….and I won't rest until every one of their slimy heads are mounted on my wall." He hissed bitterly gripping it, as he suddenly swung it out and sliced a passing cloud to pieces! An act which made Rex stutter in surprise at how fast, precise and deadly his technique was as the ninja sheathed the sword back in.

After that, Kaze narrowed his eyes and seemed to grip over his chest where his heart was, underneath it carried a locket which carried a rather charred picture with his elderly parents on them. How he had slaughtered and stole for many clients in order to earn enough to support those he held closest to him, as they spent their days in a hospital bed lying in bedridden conditions. They were the only reasons he could keep going in the world, giving him a reason to keep fighting and never give up even if he had to stain his own hands to do so. However when the pirates invaded and destroyed the city, they ended up destroying the hospital where they were kept thus taking away the only ones in the world who gave his life meaning and purpose.

He blamed himself each day he lived for failing them, and believed his efforts and sacrifices he made in order to keep them alive had been for nothing and he found no meaning in his life anymore, believing himself to have been swept up in a hurricane of despair with no escape from. He was on the verge of committing seppuku so that he wouldn't need to live in agony from the world's scorn and with his failure….had he not met Cera one faithful day, thus granting him an escape through the eye of the storm. Cera during her early days of the resistance helped give him a place in the resistance having found him one day, and thus having saved him from said despair began to devote his life to a new cause-seeing how bright and filled with hope as she was….gave him new reason to fight again and see that the world wasn't worth giving up on yet.

Not wanting her to suffer like he did, he also trained her in technique and strategy, to plan ahead and think in advance so that she'd be able to avoid any kind of tragedy or failure like he did. Recalling times when he taught her how to fight such as looking for openings, exploiting any opportunity without hesitation as well as to be creative and strategic both in life and in combat, and overall to be observant to the winds of change, something which had blown him around so hard and mercilessly, till he learnt to adapt with the flow.

Now it seemed the time and come for him to pass said advice to Rex now, seeing he would be the one who'd usher in their future and wanted him to be best prepared, "Just know this kid, in this war you can't afford to be sympathetic for any enemy dinosaurs you come across." he said to Rex offering him one last word of advice, as he folded his arms and looked away from him, "Moment you see them, the only way to stop them is to defeat them without mercy." He then opened his eyes and eyed Rex closely as the boy listened to him, "And to do that, you'll need to think smart, be on your feet at all times and always use strategy. Fighting with instinct and heart is good and all, but that's child's play in the real world. And now things are as serious as they get, remember that." He explained once more before he and his 2 dinosaurs suddenly vanished in a cloud of wind which blew around them.

His last words left Rex with much to think about, when he grows older he'll have to start thinking more like an adult and realise not everything will go as planned or end the best way possible. "I….get it…." he then hissed painfully, seeing the truth leaving a few wounds in his heart knowing it would be a long way to go but it was a path he and many others would all have to walk someday. Something he also ought to consider the day he would have to usher in the new age of dinosaurs and man together knowing that he'll have to face the challenges that come with them both idealistically and realistically.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Isn't this where the earth station's supposed to be? Hope I didn't get lost." Ed muttered to himself as he began to sweat nervously to himself, turning the map he had with him around in several directions hoping he was reading it right, reading directions was something he was never good with. Fortunately as he continued walking down the hallway he was on he soon heard a crunch sound underneath his feet much to his surprise. As he looked up from the map, he dropped it in surprise to see a huge canyon like landscape before him, with huge boulders located in places here and there and of course massive mountains as tall as big houses lining the room till they nearly reached the upper roof of the station! "Well that's something you don't see everyday…." Ed then gulped nervously, feeling puny and weak in comparison to the mountains that surrounded him everywhere!

"Ten hut!" A voice suddenly shouted nearby where he was making him jump in surprise!

"GAH!" Looking in the direction it was coming from, he saw a bunch of troopers, mean and women alike, dressed with nothing but white sleeveless tops, green helmets and safari themed trousers along with black face paint, as they underwent the area's fierce training courses! Around him Ed widened his eyes in amazement seeing the troopers tirelessly work the course from pushing huge boulders across tracks to build strength and endurance (boulders made by earth dinosaurs like pinacosaurus and stegosaurus who generated them with rock roller), climbing up the mountain cliffs surrounding the area either with a rope or for more challenging cases with their bare hands!

That was adjust the beginning as Ed looked further on, staying on the sidelines keeping out of sight of the soldiers, he bit his nails in anxiety seeing some of them were running training courses where they had to leap over big chasm in the earth created by earthquake or even play tug o war across them! It wasn't just them, there were earth dinosaurs engaging in hardcore training too such as an edmontonia and sauropelta tackling one another head on while a lexovisaurus and a tarchia were engaged in a tail battle as each tried to knock the other down!

"Wh….What is this!? Some kind of army training camp!?" All around Ed began to sweat panicky seeing everyone present was engaged in backbreaking exercise and training, and he turned pale as it reminded him of being out of place as the fat lazy kid in gym class, his old coach put him through a nightmare of exercise routines before with many reps of situps and jumping jacks, and he just knew it'd be way worse for him if he got caught! Unfortunately for him, before he could condor tiptoeing out back the way he came, a big dark skinned hand suddenly grabbed onto his shoulder!

"What'd you think soldier!?" A loud bellowing voice roared from behind him!

"WAH!" Ed jumped back but suddenly stumbled back and fell down on his butt, shuddering in terror and turing pale at the sight of a huge burly african american man with a thick black beard and a set of shades. He also wore a sergeant's hat and sported a forest green military outfit and boots with black linings and cuffs with a close collared red shirt underneath it. He also wore a brown belt around his waist which was barely able to fit his massive bulk which was starting to stretch under his own outfit. On his suit he sported medals of honour hence stating he was a combat veteran and on his buckle he also sported the symbol of the D Resistance on it.

He gave off a most intimidating aura which keep Ed down on the ground and rendering him unable to stand, "Wh….Who are you and where did you come from!?" he shuddered like a terrified puppy, as his teeth chattered and was on the verge of wetting his own pants! The sergeant however didn't take his response too lightly, as he quickly grabbed hold of Ed's neck and lifted him up with ease! "Yikes!"

"You dare talk back to Captain Craig!?" The man shouted in his face which made Ed's cringe, not just from his loud voice up close but also from his pretty awful breath. He soon dropped Ed to the ground and pointed ahead to a large rock sitting nearby, "For that you've earned the honour of pushing that boulder form here into that chasm!" he shouted as he pointed ahed to the chasm created by a stegosaurus' earthquake!

Ed widened his eyes in disbelief at what he just heard, "EH!?" He didn't know what was worse, the act of pushing the rock that far or that he was suddenly shouted orders by someone he didn't know!

"And after that you give me a 100 pushups non-stop!" Craig suddenly bellowed out which added an even more heavy weight on top of Ed's anxious shoulders!

"Say wha!?" he exclaimed turning almost pale, he could barely do one on his own, way he saw it Captain Craig made his old him teacher look like a librarian! "B…But I don't even-"

"Move it now!" Craig suddenly yelled impatiently cutting him off before leaning down to pick up a hand sized rock from the floor, "Or you'll end up like this rock!" He tossed it a few feet away as he and Ed looked to see a Talarurus appear from behind some boulders, "Taka! Do it now!" Craig ordered his partner as the talarurus bellowed back obediently before turning around, raising its clubbed till like a hammer, smashed the rock down into dust which then blew away in the wind!

As Craig and his talarurus looked to Ed, he then turned pale and saluted them, "GAH! Yes sir!" he squeaked before running to the boulder in order to avoid getting crushed! "URGH!" He pushed against the large rock with all his might, but to him it felt like he was trying to push a tree down without cutting it first! He turned red as he huffed in and began to sweat fountains of sweat under the heat of the Earth station, but after 4 minutes of pushing he could only barely get it over a centimetre past its initial position before falling to the ground. He lay on his back and placed a hand on his chest as he began to gasp for air and still his out of control heart.

"You sir are a disgrace!" Craig shouted in disgust, "I've seen pebbles way sturdier and rugged than you are! You think your dino's gonna bail you out every time you get caught between a rock and a hard place!?" He shouted, which made Ed feel rather ashamed of himself on the inside considering he and the Alpha gang often spent most of their time hiding behind their dinosaurs and making them do all the fighting, "Now push that rock or my dinos will drop YOU down that chasm!" Craig then growled as Ed's heart raced panicky!

"GAAAAAHHH! MOMMY!" he cried tears of agony as he resumed pushing against the boulder best he could but to little success as he only managed to make it budge only a couple more centimetres!

Scoffing in disgust before looking away to see the rest of the new recruits climbing up walls, hopping tires or crawling under barbed wide, Craig then shook his head in disappointment and dissatisfaction, "Sigh….some of these trainees show promise…but none as great as Cera was….she was my best ever…." He muttered to himself recalling her as the only person he every trained who was able to stand on top of the everyone else in his old ranks, out doing them with skill and determination. Not only that, she was also the only person who was able to sweep him off his feet one time when demonstrating what she learnt in her whole course.

That day had made him realise he ought to be training himself too, if he could get his butt handed to him by a little girl there was no way he'd last 2 seconds out in the battlefield. So to get back in shape he started a new training regime for himself as he eyed his own brown dinoshot to see it was time for it. In an instant he took off all the layers he wore, revealing an extremely well toned and heavily built muscular physique! His arms sported bulking biceps as big as footballs, abs as big as golf balls and his whole build followed with a few scars in various places revealed he was pretty much a war veteran himself too! Ed widened his eyes and paled seeing how insanely huge the captain was, as he then whistled out to his talarurus who trotted over to him.

He then got into a battle ready stance, "Come on Taka! Let me have it!" he ordered as an ankylosaurus also trotted in having heard his boss' whistle, "You too Bash! Get over here now!" Both ankylosaurs lined up their tails at him before swinging it at full force! The 2 clubs smashed against his huge pecs, Roland gritted his teeth as he dug in his heels and withstood the blow before roaring out at the top of his lungs, "YEAH! NOW WE'RE TALKING!" he roared as both dinosaurs repeatedly swung their club tails at him and his huge body absorbed the blows each time till he couldn't feel a thing anymore!

Ed's jaw hung in immense shock and disbelief at what he saw. Ankylosaurs had tails strong enough to snap bones like twigs, and this man was taking them like they were mere massages! "Is…Is he even human!?" Ed croaked as his pain and exhaustion was changed away to be replaced by sheer bewilderment.

"Take a good look soldier," Craig then grunted which made him jump realising the mad drill sergeant hadn't forgotten about him, "Because once you're done with that rock you're doing this next!"

"WAAAAH!?" Ed screamed in terror before fainting out cold!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Whoa….check this place out….." Max breathed in disbelief as he found himself in what appeared to be a very advanced laboratory, massive like an enormous factory on the inside with machines sparking with energy surging through them and their wires, along with various stations where scientists in lab coats were working at. One side had a number of unusual flying saucer shaped robots, coloured purple, with long wiry arms and pincer like hands as they were hauling in fossils in carts which were then loaded into onto a conveyor belt where a long line of grey robots began using all kinds of drills and hammers to clean away at the fossils in a long chain like process. The process was managed by a handful of scientists who then sent the fossils over to a large chamber like machine, which enclosed them inside. Beams from the top of the chamber began firing upon the completed fossils thus bringing life back into them as they materialised as full sized dinosaurs ranging in a variety of species such as neovenator, diceratops and even a black carnotaurus before another set of beams transformed them into cards which were then collected by the bots to be handed to the scientists who then carted them away out of the room.

"WHOA! Talk about back from the dead!" Max gasped even more shocked than before, seeing how they were doing this so easily when back in Rex's time they were struggling to find a way to bring more dinosaurs back without a time machine, "And I thought Rex's time was advanced…this place is amazing…." he muttered as he continued walking on through the labs while making sure he didn't get in the way of the people and robots working. Passing through another room he saw large pods filled with liquid and inside each one seemed to be holding a move card suspended inside. Eying from a distance the scientists were analysing simulations on the monitors, detaining whether the cards would function effectively as they displayed the dinosaurs doing the moves and analysing reaction time and effectiveness of their performance. It pained him not being able to ask and to know more but he felt it best to keep his curiosity to himself for the time being seeing they were busy no doubt and had to do their part in preparing the resistance for battle.

In another section was a factory where robotic arms in a mass assembly line were welding and pricing together the parts for the D Resistance's vehicles, which were called Mesozoic Mobiles, which came in a variety of designs for different terrains, from sleek models designed like sports cars for fast travel or large rugged versions for withstanding the toughest of terrain, what was more amazing was that many of them were so easy to use even a kid could drive them! It got Max rather hyped thinking he cold score a sweet ride of his own before he got his own driver's license. Other stations involved more down to earth research such as testing rock and soil samples while also trying to conduct various chemical reactions between solutions mixing together, one of which produced a colourful miniature indoor rainbow. There were also some who were discussing theories with one another, and while Max couldn't quite understand much of what they were saying he was at least able to hear that the concept of battlefields or time warps occurred whenever dinosaurs fought had involved the stone plates in a way and all dinosaurs that were able to turn to card form used the power of the stones in some way, and 2 opposing dinosaurs summoned from cards would produce such a conclusion….as for the reasons they were currently unknown.

Suddenly out of nowhere the sound of loud thunder struck from out of nowhere which made Max jump up in surprise!

BOOM!

"Where did that come from!?" he gasped in alarm before running in the direction it came from. As he did he found an open door in the middle of a glassed up enclosure leading outside to a dark room where it like a rocky desert like landscape with large rocky pillars sticking out of the ground and very violent storm clouds gathering in the sky above! He shuddered in awe at the sheer power of the thunder clouds which gathered and swirled high above. As he looked ahead he widened his eyes to see a scientist standing there in the direct center of the field. She had spiky black hair (probably due to being around so much electricity), sported large swirly glasses as well as a long white lab coat that stretched down to her legs which were covered by white jeans and black shoes, and inside she sported a bluish shirt under her coat.

Taking out a yellow dinoshot she had on her, she slashed 3 cards, summoning forth a monoclonius, eucentrosaurus and centrosaurus which gathered around a large generator like device which also carried a large light bulb on it. Slashing a move card, the 3 ceratopsians roared as lightning from above struck down on them and they glowed yellow surging with power before they fired off 3 streams of lightning strikes at the generator! The machine absorbed it all like a lightning rod before surging with energy and then causing the bulb equipped with it to light up and illuminate the testing chamber in a great radiance!

"WAAAH!" Max then cried in amazement at the bright light shining from the device and th sheer power the 3 dinosaurs were giving off, but what was more amazing was that their owner was standing in the center of it all and laughing her head off almost like a maniac!

"Ahahaha! It works! It works!" She laughed almost in the same way a mad scientist would, only it was out of pride at her own success as she walked up to and patted the machine, "A machine that can run not just on natural lightning but dinosaur electricity too, imagine the revolutionary breakthroughs it can bring for us." the woman grinned rather crazily as she rubbed her palms together proud at her experiment being a complete success, "And all it took was a little spark to light up by brain's bulb to give birth to this beaming beauty." She said snapping her fingers with pride before retiring the 3 dinosaurs to their cards. Noting someone was behind her, she turned to see Max standing at the door, staring in disbelief and rearing back in a huge shock and barely managing to recover from what he just experienced, "Oh sorry, didn't see you there, hope that didn't startle you." she apologised to him thinking he may have gotten a bad impression of her from just now, "You're not afraid of a little lightning are you?"

"N…No of course not!" Max shook his head trying to cover up fro himself, "I mean I've used lightning moves all the time with my triceratops Chomp is this…is nothing! Haha….ha…." he then laughed nervously.

"Oh really now?" she mused before leaning close at him with interest, "If you show no such fear of lightning, then that must mean you have the knowledge along with the ability to be able harness its' strength and control it most skilfully! Yes?" she asked as she pushed up her huge glasses as she did a close examination of Max himself as she looked up and down him.

Max gulped feeling uncomfortable at her closely studying him before nodding uneasily, "Err….yeah of course….that's exactly who I am!" he lied not wanting to make himself look bad in front of her, seeing she had to be the head honcho of this division.

"Then allow me, Captain Raina of the Lightning division and the resistance's head in science and research, show you the fruits of humanity's ingenuity after being able to acquire the ability to harness energy through the power of dinosaurs!" she then announced proudly as she lead him out of the testing room and Max followed closely behind her, as another lightning strike from there made him jump in surprise!

CRASH!

"YIKES!"

After that Raina began to give Max a full tour of the research station, as well as giving Max some interesting fact and secrets they uncovered over the past years, such as how dinosaur cards were made after using energy from the stone plates to do so. However, said knowledge was also passed down though the ages when Seth managed to find a way to use that energy to create copy stone plates, now they took that further and now developed a method of using the energy purely on its own therefore eliminating the need for a stone to summon a dinosaur. This process was implemented into the dinoshots and they were now mass producing them in an assembly line, an effort to equip their troopers with the means of defending themselves.

The next stop from that was for weapons and equipment, where a group of scientists were working hard to develop emergency weapons for duelists to use in the field in case they wind up without a dinosaur or separated from one another, which included sleep or even poison bombs! They also used said equipment to manufacture canned dino food for duelists to give their dinosaurs out in the field, which was made from mushrooms and eggs harvested from the grass division, a way of carrying emergency provisions around. There were also areas where they were in the midst of developing equipment, mainly to help increase dinosaur capabilities like speed, defensive or offensive power, since they were unable to create armour of their own to combat the space pirates this was the best they could come up with. Lastly, the generator room at the bottom floor, was a massive machine shaped like a nuclear reactor would with a funnel like turbine in it. There they utilised ceratopsians like arrhinoceratops or brachyceratops to keep it and the whole base fully charged with power by using Lightning strike, which was so efficient it needed only to be charged once a day.

Another unique feature the station had was a matchmaking device which scanned the brainwaves of troopers before pairing them with the best dinosaur possible that would fit their battlestyles or personalities, of course there still were instances of errors or some individuals managing to break through the simulations and be partners with previously incompatible dinosaurs too. The lightning station was also where the control station was held, where communications and radio frequencies were maintained, by a large set of monitors and a group of operators logged into the system as they wore VR headsets and comm links at their seats. As Max and Raina moved on she couldn't help but proudly blurt out that she even gifted Cera with some of her technical knowhow, which explained why she was rather adept at fixing things up and working with machines, much to Max's amazement. "Wow….who knew science could actually be so amazing!" he then breathed in awe as Raina folded her arms and held her head up proudly.

"Yup, it's a thing of beauty, and all it took was simply a spark of ingenuity from a few brilliant minds to make all this possible." she said, "And I'm talking about Dr Ancient and Dr Z, without those 2 we'd never have been able to make monumental leaps such as this which make the landing on the moon look like a literal tiny step." she explained.

Max couldn't help but nod in agreement with her, "Yeah, who knew that what they'd come up with together would turn out to be so awesome…." he mused before recalling there was something else he had been hoping to ask them, "Hey, I was wondering, do you guys have anything time travel related here?"

"Time travel?" Raina blinked her eyes in surprise to hear him ask that.

"Yeah I heard the space pirates came from your time and had their time travel engine built here." Max explained, "Plus some friends and I need to get back to our own times too when this is over with."

She then put folded her arms and thought about it for a moment, before nodding back, "Ah I see fair enough…" she said.

"What do you mean by that?" Max asked her as he blinked his eyes.

She then began to explain, "You see in the past we've had….incidents with radical groups wanting to misuse time travel for rather….extreme means that I wouldn't share about…." In her mind she recalled individuals who'd use time travel technology for maniacal purposes, from a evil environmental terrorist group called Syndicate X who intended to wipe out humanity in the past believing it'd save the planet, to a mad scientist named Dr Blackraven who wanted to use a brainwashing machine to control all dinosaurs in the past thus bending them loyal to him in the present time. Plus there were also occasions when they sent scientists to try and study the ancient world but it proved way too risky due to possible damage to the time line or with heavy risks to the researchers themselves.

"Because of that most time machines we have pretty much banned for human use, since then we've only used them to send dinosaurs back to their own times." Raina then said at the end.

Max widened his eyes as soon as she uttered that out loud, "Say what!? Send dinosaurs back to their time when they went extinct!?" he yelled almost angry but deeply shocked that they would think of doing something like that.

"Hey hey don't get the wrong idea!" Raina then waved her hands out, realising she may have been a little insensitive there, "We only do if the dinosaurs want it themselves, we never forced them to go back."

Max then blinked his eyes in confusion, "They….want to go back?" he asked.

Raina nodded back at him, "Well look at it this way, some of them may not enjoy living in this modern time as much as their original periods, you know with all the people, cities and noise, and that they'd be better off living in the past." she explained shrugging her shoulders, "Plus some might even have something they need to finish first in their past lives so we're willing to give them that second chance by sending them back home and hopefully dig them up somewhere else to revive again."

"I guess I kinda get it…." Max then scratched his cheek, understanding her but not fully approving of it, "Just how do you know they'd want that?" he then asked.

"Oh, it's thanks to a prototype communicator I've been working on." she then explained, "It's in an experimental stage but with some improvements it'll enable us to understand dinosaur tongue and in time we might even be able to have conversations with them like we do with people. Doesn't that sound great?"

"Talk with dinosaurs!?" Max exclaimed as his eyes brightened up with excitement, "Why that's really awesome! Imagine talking with Chomp like I do with Rex and Zoe! That'd be totally neat!" he jittered and stretched his hands out, "And it's kinda scary too….." he then shuddered at the end seeing that science was becoming so advanced that possibilities were now endless…though at the same time as much as there were great outcomes there could be a number of bad ones too.

The sounds of barking soon came to them from one end of the corridor they were walking on. Looking ahead, were a pair of chibi ceratopsians, an anchiceratops and a black triceratops as they came up to Raina and stated to stand up at her legs much like puppies would when they greeted their owners, "Ah Jolt, Sparks there you are." The lighting captain smiled as they greeted her, and she knelt down to pat them on their heads, "Have you been good girls? Oh yes you are." she said to them as she also rubbed their cheeks with her hands and they licked her back in affection.

"Hey you've got an anchiceratops and a triceratops, cool." Max complimented her before suddenly sighing as they reminded him of how he did with Chomp once….something he may never again experience sadly, "To be able to play with your dinosaurs in their small forms…..you guys are all really lucky you know that?" he then said sounding somewhat jealous which she soon picked up on.

"Oh, and why's that?" she blinked her eyes curiously.

"Well you see…." Max then swallowed hard as he began to tell her about the D Team's accomplishments in saving the universe, but in order to do so they had to sacrifice their original stone plates and in the process their ability to summon their dinosaurs to small size so they could play with them again. To go through it all again made Max sigh deeply in sadness wishing there was something else that could be done.

"I see that is a terrible tragedy…." Raina thought understandably, before closing her eyes wondering how she might be able to help….before suddenly smiling again to Max's interest, "Well we can't have that now can we? Come here for a bit." she said as she waved him to follow her.

"Okay…?" He didn't know what she was up to but he had noting to lose or suspect so he followed her to an unusual computer room where there seemed to be a slot for cards.

"May I see your card for a moment?" She then asked him suddenly.

"Umm…sure I guess?" Max then responded with a little hesitation but ultimately decided to trust her on this as he lent his card to her and she placed it into the slot. The computer scanned the card and the image of Chomp's card appeared on screen along with various data readings coming up from it. Raina then typed away at the keyboard rather intently as Max looked on, a few moments passed and a light shone on the card through the slot, and it was then he asked, "Say uhh what are you doing?"

She then giggled back to him, "Just a little welcome present courtesy of myself." she answered as the process was complete and the card ejected itself from the console as she then reclaimed it and handed it back to Max's hand, "And to top it off, use this too." She said handing him her yellow dinoshot.

"A dinoshot?" Max asked her in confusion that she'd just hand it to him like that, as he looked to it and then to the card in his hand a few times before she smiled at him insistingly.

"Go on." She then said to him with her full assurance.

Max then widened his eyes as he soon began to piece things together. "Wait….can it be?" Using it, he then slashed his card, causing it to glow and then slip out of his hand and materialise on the floor…..as Chomp appeared on his old chibi form, shaking his head and then looking up at Max blinking his eyes, surprised to be small again. Max fell to his knees feeling overwhelmed with nostalgia and emotion, as he laid his eyes upon a sight he thought he'd never see again, to see his partner in his small form once more! "Ch…Chomp!" Max cried out tears of emotional joy as the chibi triceratops wagged his tail and barked excitedly as he ran ahead and jumped into Max's arms, knocking him down before smothering him with many affectionate licks, "Ahahaha! It's so good to have you back buddy!" Max laughed joyfully as he tightened his hug around him, "I missed you so much…..I'm never letting you turn big forever again!" he smiled hugging him close to his face, which was an indicator for the yellow trike to do what he did best….bite!

CRUNCH

"OW!" Max yelped in pain feeling the triceratops' hard beak snap at his nose, as painful memories came back to him with the pain acting like some sort of trigger switch for him, but he didn't care because they were good ones, now they could go back to being close friends again like they always did, as Raina and her own dinosaurs looked upon them with a bright smile happy for them.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at the main area, the fanatical troopers who carried Dr Z away earlier suddenly raced down the hallways crying out for him as they passed by a nearby recalling bin. Believing they were finally gone, Dr Z popped his head out of the bin and shook his beard free of the drink cans and paper pieces stuck in it, "Phew….finally….I thought I'd never get away from all those rabid fanatics…." he wheezed pressing his hand to his beating elderly heart, he was too old for this. As he pulled himself out of the bin he appeared rather battered and bruised from all the roughhousing we went through from the fans wanting his attention, dinosaur secrets and eternal 'wisdom'. "Sheesh….I never thought I'd see the day where fans, let alone people, would give Terry, Tank and Spiny a run for their money when it comes to giving me a hard time….." he then winced to himself rubbing some of his sore spots as he stomped off to look for the Alpha gang trio to give him a relaxing massage.

As he trotted along his eyes soon caught sight of a very unusual looking door, coloured dark reddish purple with a big sign that read on it, "Hmm? Secret projects? Authorised personnel only?" he muttered in curious thought. He then saw the door lock was sticking out from the lock area, clearly hinting that whoever was in there last had failed to secure it properly. Dr Z then began to ponder over whether he shook enter or not, before soon snickering to himself in a few seconds, "Hehehe! Sounds like my kind of place! As Dinosaur king I can go wherever and have whatever I want here! And now I whatever secrets they're keeping behind this door!" he declared openly as he shoved through the door and went inside!

As soon as he stepped inside, his heart skipped a beat and he stepped back in alarm! All around him on both sides of a massive warehouse like holding facility, were pens and cages, containing dinosaurs! Not just any kind, he recognised their colour scheme to be none other than alpha dinosaurs! "AH!" Looking around the premises and seeing the beasts either resting on straw bedding or passing restlessly about their cramped conditions and even trying to snap at him, he then took a closer look at some of the purple energy cages they used, and upon closer study of the energy they emitted after checking the data logs on a nearby computer screen, he discovered this was all derived from his old super alpha controller that exploded several years back!

He stepped back in speechless disbelief, widening his eyes and looking all around to hear a number of the dinosaurs panting or wheezing in exhaustion, as if they had been suffering in agony under the same kind of science he put an acrocanthosaurus through once. "It's….it's….." He then suddenly burst into brightened eyes and immeasurable amounts of joy, "It's so beautiful! To think MY super alpha controller was what gave brith to all these super powerful super alpha dinosaurs!" he squealed in delight as he clasped his hands together and spun around in a ditzy. Looking around to see the dinosaurs, like einiosaurus, sauropelta and an arrhinoceratops, all brimming with power and growling and hissing ferociously , he then rubbed his palms together and snickered sinisterly, "Ehehehehe! Just wait till those brats hear about this! How my invention will save the future! Then they'll have to treat me with the respect I so richly deserve! Hahahahaha!" he laughed out loud to himself as he ran outside to tell the others about what he discovered so they'd have to respect him more, or better yet bow down and worship him like a god!

 **And thus Cera's origin is revealed, now you can see why she was so intent on keeping others away from her, being afraid to share it or getting close to others then having them dragged down into the same fate as others around her in war. Though in the past they overcame the challenges of incorporating dinosaurs into society but it's up to Rex to make sure it happens now. You don't know how much I wanted to share this since I started this story, hope it was worth the wait to see how it all comes together at long last, with Goma being the one to spark it all by discovering the cosmos stones for the space pirates and developing the dinosaur related technology himself with their materials, only to be shunned by them in the end.**

 **Also note the hint at the Lightning area, very soon the others will get back to chibi dinosaurs soon. Also in DS-I also used the girl Minmi whom you talk to for reviving dinosaurs, and for the beginning chapter the places like Euro Town and Gobi Village are all places used in DS too. As for various coliseums and arenas you can picture those used in fossil fighters franchise and in fossil league to be amongst them. The D resistance gates are like the gates at fossil fighter frontier gates to challenge routes and the D Resistance base is the D Lab in the DS game. Using the OP as well as the end scene from carnival of chaos there's also a dinosaur valley nature preserve set up for wild dinosaurs to roam free outside the city.**

 **The time which Cera came from, I had it based between the futuristic city shown in dinosaur king japanese intro 2 when it features the space pirates as well as in episode 47 when the prehistoric world was merged with the present, cool eh? Also got ideas with the movie dinotopia. As hinted by some of the easter eggs shown, I had it also based from games such as fossil league dino tournament championship and of course fossil fighters series, care to guess where they may be? Also for famous dinosaur users during Cera's golden age and fighting in the war flashback, just imagine some of the characters from said mentioned games, especially protagonists and NPCs, being part of the action in one colossal crossover back then! Too bad when Brontikens fired spectral destroy they were all wiped out then…..**

 **Also as shown here, Cera picked up her skills overtime from each of the D Resistance's captains:-**

 **Blaze-Her sense of justice**

 **Marina-Connecting with dinosaurs**

 **Raina-Her technical skills and work with machines**

 **Kaze-To be tactful and to use strategy, as well as advanced fighting techniques**

Craig **-To be strong in body, mind and spirit and unwavering in face of danger, also to act on her feet with or without a dinosaur**

 **Hua-To help heal and also to have kindness for the weak and sick too.**

 **As for their name derivation-Blaze obviously have to do with fire. Marina as in marine, Raina as japanese word on thunder being Rai. Kaze as japanese for wind,** **Craig** **as in rock crags and then Hua the chinese word for flower. Cool right? Which one would be your favourite squad or captain to you? As for each of their stations I had them based off the elemental battlefields in the DS games, (Fire area also referenced by RE 5's final boss stage) also each of their dinosaurs are able to go chibi too based on the wikia, plus there's something special about them later on too.**

 **For Blaze I had him based off the yugioh GX character Jim Cook in voice mannerism but outfit kinda similar to Joseph Jouster, Roland based off Gong in Arc V, as for Marina, you can check out Misty from yugioh 5ds somewhat so you can get how they would appear and act.**

 **Lunensis, Cera's father, is derived from eoraptor lunensis, specialising in all kinds of dinosaurs like Cera whom he taught as well to use different dinosaurs as well as their basic strengths, weaknesses and characteristics being a fossil hunter himself too, but specialising in secret attribute like Cera is only way more experienced and battle hardened. As for her deceased mom, Maia, her name based off the maiasaura.**

 **Now Lunensis' dark secret as a result of the war comes to light. Is it too late for him to pull back from the pit he fell into? Find out next time and stay tuned! As for his eoraptor which made a cameo-on the wikia a golden one appeared in the polacanthus card before being altered to turn purple, guess you know what his signature dinosaur will be then.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **Anonymous**

 **-None of them did at the time, a new machine Goma built controls them but will be revealed later.**

 **Tsukikami02**

 **-Glad you enjoyed last chapter, hope this one amped up the hype even more as well as to Cera's backstory too.**

 **Guest**

 **-The first one who was riding alone in the first truck used giganotosaurus while the other 2 used the kentrosaurus and sinraptor. As for their moves they were flare sword, crystal crusher and tornado toss.**

 **Dres Luczynski**

 **-It was inevitable they face it eventually, how else would the story progress? You're partially right on what you believed and as you can see here her father is the true leader of the resistance, and sadly fell astray in her absence but can you blame him? As stated here how both the pirates and people got their dinosaurs and ended up in the war.**

 **Yeah she did repeat an old mistake of hers but having just gotten all her old memories and the trauma she experienced then at once she felt overwhelmed and didn't want to suffer the pain of loss again and didn't want to drag her new friends into it, now she's come to accept it was their choice too and she's at peace with it.**

 **Guest**

 **-Sorry no I don't think I'll have Cera use another dinosaur as a partner, at least not in this story. Don't know if I mentioned this yet.**


	52. Clash of Wills

Chapter 52

Clash of Wills

A while had passed since the D Team and Alpha gang split up to explore the different sections of the D Base and now they had decided to regroup and inform one another over what they found out and experienced. After Zoe and Rex met up in the central court area, they noticed Ursula, hugging herself tightly with hearts all over her eyes, as Zander looked on crossly at her embarrassing herself once more in public.

"Hey what's up with her all a sudden?" Zoe pointed out at her rather uncomfortably as she and Rex headed up to the Alpha pair and eyed her strangely.

"Oh don't mind me, I just met the many of my dreams….." she sang out loud as she did a jolly spin, being completely unaware of her surroundings or how she presented herself as passing duelists and their dinos stepped away from her or shot strange gazes at her, "He was so on fire I totally melted…..Aaaaahhhh…" she then blushed a deep red before fantasising about her being princess carried by Blaze while he rode on top his gorgosaurus, just like in the old fairy stories she used to read as a little girl.

"O…kay…." both kids muttered, not sure what she was thinking and frankly they didn't want to know anything at all.

Seeing her all smitten again like she was several times before with famous or good looking men, Zander couldn't help but facepalm in exasperation, "Oh boy….she's been bitten by the love bug again…..I know where this is going….." he groaned, clearly she was taking the phrase of a woman's heart being fickle to new levels. Admittedly he too was feeling conflicted on the inside over his feelings for Reese as well as his excitement over Captain Marina, as he then began to whistle casually without drawing attention to himself.

Ignoring both of them, Rex then looked towards his friend, "Well Zoe, anything interesting you found out at the grass station?" he asked her.

"Mhmm! Lots actually!" She nodded eager to share what she learnt, "You should have seen what they had at the grass station! They actually had an entire forest in there!" she said clapping her hands together with excitement, "I never imagined nature was also such a great healer for our planet, the trees, grass and flowers, they're all just as important as the animals and people that vets and doctors take care off." she said, "I think now I may have a better appreciation and understanding for all kinds of life now….no matter how big or small."

"Glad it was a great learning experience for you Zoe." Rex replied feeling happy for her.

"How about you Rex? Anything turn up on your end?" Zoe then asked him next curiously.

Hoo her surprise, he then frowned and looked away from her with some reluctance in his eyes, "Let's just say that….it was an important lesson for me too." he said rather hardly.

"Huh? What kind of lesson?" Zoe blinked her eyes curiously.

"A big reality check," he answered her, "That not everything in life will be a smooth straight road with light breezes. There will come times when all kinds of challenges and troubles will stir….and that we'll have to be ready for whatever comes our way." He narrowed his eyes knowing that when he and his dad were to try and integrate dinosaurs into society there will be risks and dangers that come with it, and that he can't always expect things will work out, there will be times they'll have to be prepared for the worst. A hard truth but one he knew was better to realise sooner rather than later.

"I see….." Zoe decided not to poke any further seeing how uncomfortable he looked.

"Ugh…." a pained moan sounded behind them. As they turned to look they were rather surprised to see Ed crawling towards them, with a few scrapes ad bruises over his face, not to mention a few bandages around his skin as well as a couple of tears in his clothes too!

"Whoa what happened to you Ed?" Zander muttered with concern to his buddy, "You look like some a sabertooth cat dragged in…."

"I just….barely made it out….poof….of boot camp…..ugh….alive…." Ed then wheezed before fainting unconsciously as the others, apart from Ursula who was still fantasising about her dream man, looked at him pityingly.

"I'm not gonna ask…." Zander then shook his head.

"Poor guy….he really ought to see a doctor." Zoe commented looking at him with cancer, he looked rather pathetic in all honesty at the state he was reduced to.

Rex soon liked his eyes and looked around realising there were only 5 of them present, "Say aren't we missing someone?" he asked as Zoe and Zander looked around to realise they were indeed missing someone.

"Yeah now that you mention it, where's-"

"Hey guys!" A voice cried out to them from behind, cutting Zoe off.

"Huh?" The call also snapped Ursula out of her daydreams, as she shook her head clear having dreamt Blaze had cried out to her with max's voice. She looked in the same direction as everyone was, only to pout as she saw the brunette rushing towards them excitedly while waving his hands out.

"Hahaha!" he laughed as he had a big secret and surprise to share with them, as he kept him hidden behind his legs as he followed behind.

Rex smiled to see he had made it back with news to share about the Lightning area, "Hey look it's Max and-" A small yellow triceratops soon appeared behind Max as he ran, as he appeared Rex widened his eyes in sheer shock as he cried out loudly in disbelief! "CHOMP!?"

Everyone soon widened their eyes in disbelief at one of their dinosaurs….in chibi form together with Max! Something they thought was impossible after what they had to do last time!

"EH!?"

"Huh!?"

"No way!"

As Max made it to them he then grinned and snickered happily, known g they'd love the good news he was about to share with them, "Hehe, check out who's back guys! And better than ever!" he cheered before showing off chibi Chomp to them as he jumped up and down barking and wagging his tail like an excited dog!

While the Alpha gang started speechlessly at the little dinosaur, Rex and Zoe smiled brightly as they came up to him, "Ahaha! Chomp!"

"It's so great to see you again like this old buddy!" They said as they leaned down to pet or hug him close before he licked or nibbled on them playfully as they laughed out loud in light of this joyous reunion.

"Hehehe, it really seems like it was just forever…." Max then commented to himself feeling it seemed like an eternity since he saw this and now was treasuring every second of this moment.

The Alpha gang however took this unexpected development somewhat differently, "Hey! How did that triceratops get all small again!?" Ed pointed out at Chomp in disbelief.

"Yeah! No fair!" Ursula cried pouting, "I want my sweet little Terry to be all cutesy wootsy again!" she whined as she hugged herself imagining she was still carrying little Terry in small form, even if he was still violent and disobedient he did at least have a charm his adult form severely lacked.

"And let's not forget Spiny and Tank!" Zander pointed out.

"They've got a point Max." said Zoe as she and Rex then looked to him curiously, "How'd you get him to be small again? I thought the fake stones Seth made sealed our dinos into their full sized forever?" she asked putting a finger to her chin.

"I thought so too." Max nodded in agreement before smiling at Chomp, "But, when I paid the lightning station a visit, which was really awesome no questions there, the captain there did a little something to Chomp's card after I told her what happened, and before you know it, here he is right now!" he cheered as he knelt down to scratch Chomp's chin which made the little trike giggle in amusement before rolling on his back and letting Max scratch his tummy next, "Hehe, I bet feels way happier to be like this again after so long as a card or a full sized dinosaur." Max then laughed as he pressed on his 'tickle attack' rendering Chomp completely helpless!

"Hahah I can see that, in fact I'd say he looks way more hyperactive than how he used to be." Rex laughed feeling happy for both Max and his partner who were reunited in a new way.

"Better keep him under control Max, otherwise he'd go totally berserk and and run away again." Zoe giggled in amusement.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." he see her point-in here he could ruin something or worse get on another dinosaur's wrong side and wound up getting crushed or worse eaten

After that Zoe then looked towards Rex with an eager smile, "Well then what are waiting for Rex?" she asked him getting his attention, "We should go pay the Lightning captain a visit and have her fix Paris, Ace and the others too so they can all come out and play."

The Alpha trio quickly caught on to her suggestion, "You know for once I'm actually in agreement with you kids." Ursula stated as she folded her arms.

"Yeah, it'll be just like old times!" Zander smiled eager to see small Spiny again.

"You can count me in…." Ed moaned as he lay on the floor and held up his hand with exhaustion.

Zoe then began to tear up as she clapped her hands together, "Oh how I can't wait to play and sing with Paris again!" she cheered eager to make up for their lost time apart and already getting ideas with what to do with her, "Maybe even start my own dinosaur quartet too! Hee hee!" she giggled knowing she'd sing beautifully with so many other dinosaurs too.

Rex smiled at their ideas, in fact he was looking forward to spending some time with Ace too….till he realised something more important as he frowned, "Maybe later guys," he then suggested which surprised his friends somewhat, "I think we've gone on long enough without letting our parents know how we've been doing." he explained after that.

Zoe and Max soon nodded back at him seriously, "Good point Rex, they must be really worried about us for so long." Zoe thought worriedly as she pursed her lips in thought, and Max folded his arms thinking the same.

"Plus who knows how worried my dad would be if he had to explain this to your folks too." Rex then gulped. As they looked to their D Watches they tired to type on them hoping to establish a call to the present, but all that turned up was a bunch of bad static much to their disappointment, "Our D-watches shorted out pretty badly after we got sent here…." Rex grunted as he lowered his hand from his face and shook his head seeing that option was out the window.

"Now what?" Zoe asked with concern, just shuddering over the panic her father would be in if he didn't know what happened to her in the next hour or less!

It seemed like the D Team were in a rather tight spot, but as Max put a finger to his chin in deep thought he soon came up with a rather bright idea as he smiled with confidence to his friends, "I'm sure the Lightning station should be able to patch this up easy, they did say they were the scientific division of the resistance after all." he said to them, "Who knows, maybe we could even go back too! After all Captain Raina there did say she'd be happy to let us use their time machine to get back home!"

As he said that everyone gasped in amazement at the good idea he had, "AH!"

"She did!?" Rex and Zoe gasped in surprise as Max smirked and nodded to them, making them smile with hope.

"Neat!" the A Team smiled seeing they had a way to go home now too.

Rex then pumped his arms up seriously, "Then it's settled, let's go pay Captain Raina a visit and then we-"

"Ahahahahah!" The sounds of maniacal but also cocky laughing sounded behind the group, interrupting Rex's line before he could finish.

"Huh?" As they all turned to look they saw Dr Z strolling towards them with his head held high and a confident smirk, which was somewhat unsettling to the bunch as they eyed him approaching them.

"Hey it's Dr Z." said Max.

"Wonder where he's been." Ed muttered as he managed to muster enough strength to get up to his legs.

As he reached them, Dr Z soon began to snicker most snobbishly, "Ehehehe! I have just had the best time of my life! In fact I've never felt more alive then I've been in years!" he said, each word of his filled with ego right down to the last letter much to the D Team's chagrin while the Alpha gang brightened up with excitement.

"Oh boy…."

"He must have enjoyed his fan club way too much…." Rex and Zoe sighed as they shook their heads in disapproval.

"Let's just hope he didn't fill their heads with any silly ideas…." Max whispered to them as they nodded back to him in agreement.

The A Team though welcomed his return with smiles and greta enthusiasm, "Hope you had plenty of fun Dr Z."

"Learnt anything fun about the future you'll help create?"

"Please enlighten us with your limitless wisdom as you did with your followers!" They pleaded.

"Oh I learnt plenty my simple minded subjects." he then smirk smugly, playing with his beard as the D team frowned or shook their head knowing where this was going, "In fact once you hear about something that was only made possible because of yours truly, you'll all be bowing down before me as your new king and saviour! Especially since it'll be my invention that'll help saved the world from this slimy space pirates once and for all!" He announced pout loud proudly pointed to himself with a thumb.

As he did so, everyone else stared at him unconvinced, even his own men didn't believe an ounce of what he said.

"Oh really?" Max then snarked while raising an eyebrow at him, "Let's hope it doesn't explode and take everyone else out in the process." He snickered as Rex, Zoe and even the Alpha gang did their best but failed to suppress their laughter, as the Alpha gang glared at them.

"Ha ha! Very funny! NOT!" Dr Z growled taking offence at their words before folding his arms on his hips holding his head up high, "In fact I'll be the one laughing once you see how my super alpha dinosaurs are the ones that'll bring the D Resistance victory!" He boasted out loud with pride!

As soon as those words passed Dr Z's lips, a deathly silence came upon the entire group as they stared speechlessly at him with widened eyes, even his own followers were taken aback upon hearing what he said out loud with pride.

"Say what?"

"Come again Dr Z?"

"What's that? You're shocked to hear that the resistance's commander and not to mention your friend have welcomed by alpha dinosaurs with open arms?" Dr Z then smirked at them taking their stunned surprise as a good thing, "Well don't be, it was the only natural outcome-"

He was cut off and caught off guard when Max suddenly grabbed hold of him and shove him towards a wall! "ACK!" Dr Z croaked as he felt his back slam against it! As he opened his eyes his heart skipped a beat as he saw Max and his friends glare at him fiercely into his soul!

"Lies!" He shouted at him as he turned pale and began to sweat bullets!

"GAH!" Even the Alpha gang were taken aback to see the children become unexpectedly aggressive all a sudden!

"If that's some kind of sick joke then it's not funny!"

"Cera would never even consider such a horrible idea!"

"No way her father would either!" They each shouted at him with immense anger aimed directly at him!

"So you take that back right now you you're going to be eating your own teeth!" Max threatened as he held a fist at his face, which Dr Z tensed and shuddered at the sight of!

His teeth chattered and he could feel each of three click against one another, showing how terrified he was, but was also worried how many he'd keep the moment Max did decide to let him have it, and the way he sodded and looked he just might! "A…Alpha gang! Help me out here!" He then pleaded to his team desperately!

Before they could so something, the D Team glared at them, which stunned them in their tracks!

"EEP!" They squeaked finding themselves unable to move a muscle.

They turned to their boss who was still held at the wall and at the D Team's mercy, "A….Are you sure Dr Z?" Ursula swallowed hard.

Zander smiled anxiously and scratched the back of his head, "I mean we'd love to but-"

"We're really scared…." Ed muttered as he began nibbling on his own fingers uncontrollably!

Dr Z then widened his eyes seeing he was getting no help from them and they were leaving him out to hang as he then screamed his head out frantically! "Why you traitors!"

"You're the traitor here Dr Z!" Max growled furiously as he shuddered and looked back to him and the D team who weren't finished with him yet much to his horror.

"Huh!?"

"Accusing our friend or her family would do something so unforgivable!" Rex yelled after Max did.

Dr Z gritted his teeth tensely under fear, but miraculously, he managed to muster up whatever remaining courage he had back in him to back up his own point, "Grrr! I'm only stating the truth and nothing more! And if you can't accept the facts then that's just too bad!" He retorted before pointing out back at the hallway he ran in from, "Go see for yourself at the end of that hallway then you'll know I'm right!" He shouted as the D team looked to see where he aimed at, which was where Cera and her father had went down after they parted ways earlier.

After looking at it for a while, Max and the gang returned their glares back at him, "Grr! I don't it believe for a second!" He growled in anger, he was barely able to hold himself back from giving Dr Z a knuckle sandwich, while Zoe and Rex couldn't wait to give him a pile driver or headlock him into submission! However, unlike the last few times when Dr Z tried to make lame excuses or weasel himself out, he held himself firmly and said no more….so there was a chance he may actually be serious or may have seen something he thought was real but wasn't. Reluctantly, they looked to one another, with no words and just their facial expressions, they concluded they should at least check out and see what was going on with Cera now since they last saw her just in case.

After that, Max loosened his grip on Dr Z's collar before letting him fall to the floor on his butt, "Urk!" he grunted as he rubbed his neck where he felt grabbed just now, before standing up and straightening out his lab coat.

"If we find out you were making up stuff to get on our nerves you're really going to get it from us!" Max then threatened him with a few last words before looking towards his friends, "Come on guys, let's go find Cera!" he said as they nodded in agreement seriously and began to run ahead in the direction Dr Z pointed out for them just now.

Right as they tried to though, "Oh no you don't!" Dr Z interrupted impatiently as he ran in front of them and held his arm out, "Not before you bow down and apologise to me for-"

"Move!" The D team shouted, having no time for him as they shoved past him, causing Dr Z to spin uncontrollably into the wall!

"WAAAH!"

BANG!

"Dr Z!" The trio gasped as he slumped to the ground, with a few teeth missing from his jaw and with t-rexes spinning around his head as they agtehrend around him to tend to his injuries.

As Ursula helped him sit up she turned around to the D Team leaving them, as she gritted her teeth and shook a fist at them, "Grr! You won't get away with this you brats! Mark my words!" she cursed.

Meanwhile Zander was shaking the old man hoping to get him to respond or react to his voice, "Dr Z! Can you hear us!?" he cried as he moaned back at them.

"Urgh…."

Ed then held up 3 fingers in front of his face, "How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked with concern.

Dr Z, his head still spinning and his vision blurry, scratched his forehead in thought before answering, "Err…8?" he asked before fainting on the ground again, "Ugh…."

In response Ed, Ursula and Zander looked to one another with raised eyebrows and conflicted expressions, before shrugging their shoulders, "Close enough….He's fine." They said, concluding he was going to be alright, had he guessed the answer right it'd be serious.

 **(Later)**

Meanwhile after following Dr Z's directions and recalling from memory, Max, Rex and Zoe had just exited from the elevator which Cera and Lunensis entered earlier after they parted ways, and before long Max looked ahead and saw something intriguing, "Look guys! Up ahead!" he pointed out as they came across a reddish purple coloured door at the end of the hallway.

"This must be the place Dr Z mentioned!" Rex grunted seeing it. Upon closer inspection while it looked like a door with heavy security, based on movies they watched before, high security usually meant deep dark secrets so this had to be something they had to investigate, plus the door seemed to be unlocked as well so sooner or alter someone else would've checked this place out, so it might as well be them!

As they stood by it, they looked to one another and nodded, seeing it was time they got to the bottom of this or at least hear it from Cera's side of the story and prove Dr Z how wrong he was.

Max then held his hand at the door and was prepared to push through with Zoe, "Come on let's-"

Rex widened his eyes hearing something, before quickly putting a hand on his shoulder, "Wait guys," he interrupted them as they looked to him in surprise.

"What's up?" Zoe blinked her eyes curiously.

Rex held a finger to his lips before edging closer to the door, hearing the faint sounds of muttering behind it, "I think I hear someone inside." He said to them as they leaned closer and opened the door slowly till a little gap could be made at the side and they could hear a conversation between 2 people inside.

"Dad! You can't be serious! This isn't the way and you know it!" A familiar voice shouted in protest.

"Times have long changed Cera, you weren't here to see what had happened but now maybe you realise how the severity of the war and why I had to resort to this." an adult male voice calmly responded before getting louder, "And why I believe it's our best chance of survival!"

"But just look at what you're doing here!" the female retorted.

The D team quickly recognised whom they belonged to, "It's Cera…..and Lunensis?" Rex muttered in surprise.

"Are they fighting?" Zoe asked feeling rather worried, knowing that parent and child conflicts can never be a good thing.

"If so….then what for?" Max then asked.

"Let's wait and hear what they have to say." Rex relied calmly as his friends both nodded back at him with reluctant agreement.

"Yeah…." They said, as much as they wanted to rush in and see for themselves, they felt barging in now would only further complicate matters between father and daughter, whatever they were going through, so it'd be best to gather all the facts they could first as they held back and listened in.

"All these dinosaurs are suffering so much! Just as much as what the space pirates put them through!" Cera then shouted, those very words caught the D Team's attention outside, "This…This isn't you at all! The father I know would never resort to doing something so immoral!"

Her friends outside widened their eyes, the way she sounded was like she was in despair, and the fact of dinosaurs suffering….could Dr Z have been right?

"It's time for you to grow up Cera!" Lunensis then shouted angrily back at her, "Those days are long over! Why can't you see reality!? We're in a war now! And to win wars, it's inevitable that sacrifices and hard choices are needed to be made! If it means we all survive to see a new day then I will gladly do this without hesitation!" The D Team sweated nervously and their hearts began to race knowing this was getting serious, "And I will do anything in order to achieve victory and make those pirates pay for taking away your mother and our livelihoods!"

"Even if it means we have to sacrifice all our beliefs and ideals which we worked so hard to build our own livelihoods upon?" Cera then replied, though sounding calm it was evident that sadness and disappointment was present, "If that's the case then I'd find it much more preferable if we lost than stoop to such lows!" she cried out loud in response to her father's words, "What good would it be to sell our souls to win and then everyone else casts aside our principles like garbage in the long run!? If we do fall at least I'll be happy knowing I'd fall along side my father than spend the rest of my life living with a heartless monster! I know for certain mom or anyone else would never have wanted this either!"

"Be quiet! Mind your tongue Cera!" Lunenss shouted back at her, silencing her much to the D team's alarm.

"AH!" They couldn't believe the man whom they believed was noble and just actually harboured such a dark side to him all along and they never saw it…he had them and probably many others in the resistance fooled the whole time, "I see that your time away from home has blinded you from your duties as lieutenant in this war! Maybe it's time I reeducated you myself!"

"Dad! No!" Cera cried out and Mike squawked in alarm!

The D team couldn't hold themselves back any longer, knowing that Cera was no doubt in trouble now and no way were they going to sit by and let this play out anymore! "Alright that's it, were going in!" said Rex.

"Yeah, this is going too far."

"Let's put a stop to this now!" said Zoe in Max in agreement as they quickly barged in through the door and into the dark red room!

"Stop right there!" Max then yelled out loud much to the surprise of both Lunensis and Cera!

"Huh!?" Cera widened her eyes in alarm to see her friends had found her….fortunately or fortunately depending on the situation, while her father simply raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm?" Admittedly he didn't expect anyone to actually drop by let alone find his secret projects room.

As Cera eyed her friends, who barged in unexpectedly at the worst possible time and carried very unsettling looks of suspicion aimed at her, "M….Max?" she then gulped down hard as she looked to each of them, "Zoe and Rex too?" and began to sweat nervously with Miku decided to hide in her pocket, wanting no part of this herself. "Wh….What are you doing here?" She then asked nervously knowing this looked really bad and in her position she'd have to explain and fast.

"We were about to ask the same thing!" Max shouted angrily as Chomp barked out loud.

"We heard everything from outside, what's going on here!?" Rex then demanded as they saw the glass viewing screens ahead and they decided to walk over and see what they were hiding from them.

Cera widened her eyes, "Guys! No wait!" She tried to stop them but came too late as they soon widened their eyes and stepped back….having bore witnessed something awful and nightmarish down below.

"AH!" They gasped in alarm to see what they believed would only exist in their nightmares.

Down below were dinosaurs all cooped up in pens like some kind of holding facility or zoo….all of them coloured in a range of colours from black, pink and purple, like the acrocanthosaurus that the Alpha gang altered before in the past, only now it was an entire army of them! Along the cages were dinosaurs like sauropelta or wuerhosaurus, that were resting or appearing half dead trying to recover from the energy implants they received while others like a ceratosaurus bashed against their pens or bit at the bars in agitation, having been driven feral as a result of the experiment! It was their worst nightmare come real….dinosaurs being used as lab rats and weapons of war and it was happening before their eyes now.

They stepped back, widening their eyes in sheer shock and overwhelmed in disbelief, "No way…."

"This is….." They couldn't believe which was worse, that Dr Z's mad experiments with dinosaurs actually stretched this far into the future, and was being conducted upon orders….or that he was actually right all along….

Cera, with a heavy heart, seeng no other words left or any way this could be justified or explained, lowered her head down, "Everyone….I'm sorry you had to see this…" she apologised in heavy breaths as the others looked to her with sad expressions like they were lied to. She then began to plead, "But you have to believe me! I swear I-"

"It's fine Cera, we believe you." said Max shaking his head as he cut her off.

She blinked her eyes in surprise that they just accepted it like that till Rex calmly responded, "We heard everything just now, we know you wouldn't." he said smiling lightly encouragingly to show that they held nothing against her.

"Guys…." she breathed in momentarily relief….which soon passed as her friends directed their glares at her father.

"We do know who's really responsible for this though." said Rex firmly.

"It's you isn't it Lunensis?" Zoe then questioned him. Cera wanted to step in between them, knowing things could get very complicated now in this sensitive situation, but instead found herself stepping back and unable to move anywhere but forward.

Despite being exposed, Lunensis however didn't try to cover himself up or make excuses, instead he boldly confessed everything without any hesitation, "Yes I admit it, this secret project is of my own doing and my own will." he said smoothly. How he seemingly took it so casually put the D Team off, but what he did next further shocked them beyond belief, "I wanted to show you all the fruits of my research! The dinosaurs that shall bring us all victory and defeat the evil shadow empire once and for all!" He then admitted proudly with a smile on his face!

His actions bewildered the D Team and caused them to glare at him in fury, seeing how he was proudly committing such atrocious acts to so many dinosaurs and it seemed he had no intention of stopping anytime soon! They along with Cera could tell he really was messed up and the once bright image they had of him now was tainted and stained with putrid madness.

He then gained a somewhat slick smile on his face seeing an opportunity he could exploit from this situation, "Maybe my daughter couldn't see reason, but perhaps you can." he said as he offered them a hand, "With your legendary prowess in bringing out the best in dinosaurs and man, along with my supreme tactical intellect, combat experience and scientific genius. We'll be able to destroy our enemies and wipe them from existence in the blink of an eye!" He announced before looking to his daughter momentarily then back to her friends, "Tell her, that you agree with what I'm saying! That you see the method to my so called 'madness'. Together the potential and revolutionary change we can bring forth for dinosaurs and man will be limitless after the war even! Tell my daughter Cera to wake up and open her eyes to see the truth!" He then proclaimed out loud.

Upon realising how self righteous Lunensis saw himself to be despite causing so many dinosaurs to endure such immoral experimentation, the D Team soon glared and shouted back in fury, "You're the one who really needs to wake up and open his eyes!"

"What you're doing is really messed up and wrong and so many levels!"

"We'd never help you with something so unforgivable!" They retorted with open defiance at the older man, something which made Cera's eyes widen in disbelief.

Lunensis' smile vanished and instead he blinked his eyes in surprise, "I'm….sorry but why would you say that?" He was put off somewhat by their sudden outburst but remained calm, believing they could be reasoned with once they realised what he was aiming to achieve.

What they said next though was beginning to prove otherwise, "How could you do something so horrible and cruel!?" Zoe then cried.

"Dinosaurs are our friends and not tools of war!" Max yelled at him.

"Friends?" Lunensis raised an eyebrow at that very word, his image of the D Team soon beginning to change.

Max then gritted his teeth and looked down, "When Cera spoke so highly of you and we saw you with our own eyes…..we really thought you were a great guy…." he breathed as his hands shook with feeling of betrayal, "We admired how you were a great champion in the past and your sense of leadership and justice amongst the resistance….." He then glared up at him with some bitter tears in his eyes, "If only they could see you right now…..what you're doing to all these dinosaurs…." He hissed through his teeth knowing neither he nor his friends couldn't ever forgive such disgusting crimes.

"Everyone…." Cera breathed feeling devastated at what they saw and how disappointed they must be to see the resistance hide such an ugly corrupted side to it deep down.

"Now now let's not be so hasty here," Lunensis responded politely, "I can assure you what I'm merely equipping our forces with the power they need to match that of the space pirates and their forces." He said as he walked over to the viewing platform to see the alpha dinosaurs snarling and hissing at passing by troopers, like an acrocanthosaurus which roared at one while on the other side an arrhinoceratops lunged and got its horns stuck at the bars causing the cage to rattle! The energy was no doubt driving their minds wild and feral, a body response due to taking in so much power at once.

As a precaution, the cages were also adapted in order to contain them as well, for earth dinosaurs cages were reinforced with titanium to withstand their sharpened spines or thickened clubs, to contain the heat from fire dinosaurs cages were now insulated further. Water dinosaurs now gave off certain cooling effect to their surroundings thus the cages were equipped with warming functions to counteract this. Wind alpha dinosaurs were much faster and also caused changes in the air around them, thus making it rather hard to breathe when in close range thus requiring troopers to keep their distance. While other cages were equipped with inhibitors to prevent the excess electrical discharge from spreading out from containment and affecting equipment, and alpha grass dinosaurs now had a toxic coating around their skin thus needing pens designed to quarantine and contain them completely.

"Our foes possess powers and weapons far beyond your comprehension, but once our new squadron of all powerful dinosaurs is ready, we'll be able to gain the edge we've always needed in order to end this wretched war once and for all!" He shouted out loud as Cera and her friends looked on feeling more rattled by his words and the really bad vibes he was giving off. He soon gained an unsettling smirk as some of the troopers down below pressed some buttons on a console which caused the pens holding the dinosaurs to fire rainbow energy beams at them, causing them all to return to cards that floated gently down to the floor of their cages before they were being reclaimed, "As you'll all soon see, when the next batch is prepared!" He then declared which startled the D Team!

"AH!"

"Next batch!?" They gasped in alarm that he was planning to allow more dinosaurs to be turned into super saurian soldiers! Lunensis already turning dinosaurs alpha was one thing, but to set up for another batch convinced them he really crossed the line and was very far down!

The sinister surprises weren't over yet though unfortunately, "I will admit some dinosaurs that went through the process were unable to handle such power and thus were rendered….unsuitable for battle." he sighed shaking his head in disappointment but with a hint of regret underneath it.

"What!?" Cera choked as she lost the strength in her legs and fell to her knees unsteadily.

Max gritted his teeth and clenched his hand tightly, "You knew….And you're still going through with this regardless!?" he thought to himself in an outrage as Rex and Zoe too began to narrow their eyes in disapproval at his actions.

"Father how could you?" Cera's eyes were beginning to tear and she was on the verge of breaking down into devastation to see the monster her father had become.

"This merely my way of weeding out the weaklings, separating the chaff from the wheat." He then continued, "It's nothing new to nature, after all the weak always end up going extinct, while the strong adapt, evolve and survive." Each word that passed his mouth was beginning to set the D Team over the edge, "Which is exactly what we the resistance will do! Unless we change and move on from the past we will face extinction in the end!" He then declared seriously with a loud shout! Max and the others were on the verge of outbursting again, when Lunensis then gritted his teeth and lowered his head down slightly, "I realised that unless I…no…the rest of humanity and dinosaur kind does this, we'll lose….not just our own lives but also those we care about most….." He then hissed as he clenched up a fist with rage.

As he said so, some of the gang's anger against him began to subside slowly, as they began to hear that he had a reason for what he was doing now….and believe it or not, anyone who suffered like the resistance did would probably have broken down the same as he did unless their spirit was tough enough….

"Dad…." Cera sighed pityingly for him, understanding how he felt.

He then looked up at Cera before eying down at the D Team again, "When I lost my wife, I swore to myself that I'd do anything to protect my daughter Cera even if it costed me my own life." he said hoping they'd understand, "But when I lost Cera that day….I swore to myself that I would never let it happen again….not to me or to anyone else….if I had to sacrifice even more to ensure we all have a future to wake up to then I'll gladly pay any price to get it." he said with firmness in his eyes.

Upon hearing what he said, the D Team along with Cera couldn't help but feel a little more sympathetic towards him, understanding that a war as severe as this could break anyone's spirit and change them for the worse. Cera especially, as she felt like no matter where she went or tried to d she ended up hurting those close to her in the end….was she herself…a living curse? She then wondered.

"We know what you lost sir…." said Max heavily as he looked away knowing it hurt.

"We heard everything from Cera…the captains….we saw it ourselves on our way here…." Rex grunted after him clenching his fists while Zoe said nothing and put a hand over her aching chest.

"And yet you still judge me? Worse yet try to stand against me?" Lunensis then glared at them, "All I want is justice! To make those who wronged us and many others pay! Why can't you see that!?" he hissed bitterly.

Max then gritted his teeth still seeing his actions were far from righteous and no amount of suffering could justify him for doing the same too, "Wrong! Your motivations are driven by selfishness and hatred!" he retorted in defiance, "What you're doing is blind revenge and nothing more!"

"Justice is revenge!" Lunensis countered, the tension in the air peaking amongst everyone present, "And I want the shadow empire to experience the same pain we did! And I won't rest until I make that happen, even if I have to break every bone in my body or exhaust every nerve to do so!" He hissed, as Cera's heart began to race and she was rendered speechless and terrified. Lunensis then shook with range and clenched his hands into fists as hard as rocks, "Children like you could never understand our struggles and strife…what we endured in every waking moment…." he breathed before glaring at them, taking Rex and Zoe aback while Max, miraculously was able to hold his ground and remain firm, "All our past principles of friendship and bonds….it's not enough! In fact meaningless in the face of such reality!"

Cera couldn't believe how much hatred had grown in her father's heart since she left, and she couldn't find it in her to go against him, for she felt guilty and responsible for doing this to him…..As much as she wanted to say that she had no choice at the time, she was petrified by the aura of hatred Lunensis was giving off she couldn't find anything to say the wouldn't result in her getting any backlash or having the blame pitted on her. With reluctance she remained out of it….while Max and the D Team then calmly responded.

"I'll admit we'd be lying if we said we could understand what you guys all went through." said Rex heavily, "But we don't."

"No you don't." Lunensis then scoffed.

"But we do know that you can't go through with this!" Max then yelled out loud angrily.

"We've seen where this leads, if you continue pushing dinosaurs in such a way you'll be no different than what the space pirates are doing to their own dinosaurs!" Zoe cried out after him.

"No matter what you guys suffered nothing can justify the atrocities you're committing against so many of the innocent dinosaurs!" Max shouted having seen the eyes of some of the dinosaurs there, having been pushed into the experiment and forced to change against their will…it was horrible and made him sick to the stomach.

"Those who fight monsters will have to make sure they don't turn out like them in the end," Rex sighed shaking his head, "Otherwise it'd be no more than a hollow victory….and the cycle of hate you'd be making would never end." He then said knowing that even in war the costs to pay will be high and it would take a clear mind and sound judgement in order to make sure that the aftermath didn't expand in the long run, something that Lunensis hadn't done…..nor had the ability to do so on his own at least….

Cera covered her mouth in amazement, seeing all her friends not only standing up against her father, but also standing up for her too, "Everyone….." she breathed feeling deeply moved before speeding a small tear of joy from her eye, "Thank you….it means a lot to hear you say that." She said gratefully as they looked to her and smiled.

"Don't mention it Cera." said Max as Zoe and Rex nodded too.

"Mhmm."

The only one who didn't seem impacted by the D Team's show of strength and friendship….was Cera's father Lunensis, as a shade covered his eyes and he looked down, "So you're all against me too….." he then thought to himself having realised the conclusion after hearing all their responses to his work, and then rejecting it without hesitation or understanding. Inside something snapped…..and a rather small smile soon came across his face, "Heh….I see now….I understand clearly." he chuckled which surprise the group as they blinked in response.

"Huh?"

"You do?" Cera and Zoe asked him surprised. Max and Rex too didn't expect that kind of answer from him so easily, so they had some suspicion that something was up.

"Indeed….." he said back to them. Everyone soon began to smile at one another, happy they had came to a mutual understanding and now things could calm down and go the right way at last…..but this peace was nothing more but temporary false security, as Lunensis soon began to lose control of himself.

"You're just like everyone else….no worse…mere children…naive and blind to reality of this cold and cruel world." he then said which startled them. As they turned to look they widened their eyes to see Cera's father come enraged as he broke into an outburst of his own! "And that you're the ones who corrupted my daughter with your ridiculous nonsense!" he yelled accusingly at them which startled them immensely!

"WHAT!?"

"AH!?"

"EXCUSE ME!?"

"F…FATHER!?" They gasped as he began to breathe deeply and his eyes widening with anger.

"The story the legendary dino duelists….the one which we all laid our hopes on were lies…nothing more than kids' fairy tales!" He shouted at them, "You don't know a thing about what I'm trying accomplish, it's for humanity's future and very survival!" He himself felt betrayed that his ambitions were now being thwarted and his big plan to unite the Resistance with power was now up in smoke. Nevertheless he wasn't about to stop after coming so far, "Now I see I can rely on no one but myself….But that's fine! I don't need anyone else! I'll stop this war on my own and will silence anyone who stands in my way!" He declared before shooting a glare at Cera which made her stutter back, "Cera, from this moment on you aren't to associate yourself with these children anymore!" He roared at her as the D Team gasped in alarm!

"AH!"

"NO! Father you can't!" She cried in response as she shook her head in refusal.

"I can and I will! I'm your father and I know what's best for you!" He yelled back at her, "And as leader of the resistance and of humanity's last survivors I know what's best for us all! Now come here!" He demanded as he pointed in front of where he stood.

"I…I…" Every muscle in her body was compelling her to listen to her father, otherwise she'd suffer the consequences she didn't want to think of. She fought hard against herself, her spirit warring against her mind, but slowly felt her will slipping way from her….she gritted her teeth tensely under the pain of her inner struggle, before looking to her friends who starred at her hopefully…..the thought of leaving them forever was more frightening than suffering under her father's wrath. As she narrowed her eyes, she fought with every ounce of spirit left in her till she was able to make her own choice, "I refuse! If this is what the resistance is then I'd rather be out of it!" she yelled, which made the D Team either smile or gasp in surprise or joy that she made the right call, "And as far as I'm aware the man before me isn't my father at all! If I had to choose between my friends and you, then I'd rather stick with my friends!" she added at the end.

"How dare you say that!?" he growled in disbelief that his daughter of all people would dare utter such words. He began to lose all restraint in himself as he held out his hand and began to reach out for her! "I'll teach you to go against me just like everyone else who tried to!" He hissed as Cera backed away and closed her eyes in terror!

"AH!"

In that instant, her friends rushed to her aid and stood in between her and her mad father as they he'd out their hands against him!

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

"You're not laying a finger on her if we have something to say about it!" Rex and Max yelled standing in the very front while Zoe used herself to shelter a terrified Cera in her embrace!

She opened her eyes and widened them at what she saw, "Guys!?" she gasped in surprise to see them blocking her father from getting closer.

Lunensis gritted his teeth furiously at the children who dared to defy him, "You stay out of this! This doesn't concern you!" he growled warning them to back off.

"You're dead wrong about that!" Max retorted in response as he and the others held themselves firmly shooting furious gazes at Lunensis while holding their arms out ready at their dino bracers if things would go too far and would their hands would be forced.

Cera's father grew even more angry at how impudent the children were at openly defying his, clearly they had no sense of respect or understanding of the situation at hand….Because of that he soon calmed down and let out a small breath as he returned to his previous diplomatic demeanour, "Hmph! You and your friends might as well leave peacefully while I still allow it." he then scoffed as he prepared to walk past them, seeing he was far above such rabble, "You'll only hold us back or worse yet get yourselves destroyed out there, if you know what's good for you, take my advice and go home." He said as he looked back to them with a menacing look, "Unless you want to be removed by force."

Seeing that look in her father's eye….Cera then recalled passing through the halls earlier with her father, how some of the resistance were unsettled or unnerved by his presence, hinting they must have known about the and tried to go against him and his methods….but overtime they must have given into fear and lost the will to stand up for what was truly right….no one could ever hope to go against her father….and seemed hopeless that he'd change…until now.

"We're not going anywhere." said Max firmly which made Lunensis stop in his tracks.

"Not while there's a war like this going on which is making our friend and the people she cares about suffer." Rex continued shaking his head as Lunensis turned to face them.

"And we especially can't let you go through with this." said Zoe at the end.

He then raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Oh? You can't let me?" A grin soon appeared on his face, and clenching his face he began to burst into uncontrollable laughter, "Hehehe….hahahahahah!" The D Team eyed him unsettled but remained firm, refusing to give in as he then glared back at them, "Just how do you plan on doing that?" Lunensis then questioned them, "What could mere children like you, who've spent their loves safe in homes while living comfortable and entitled lifestyles, and never tasted true battle and oppression first hand, hope to accomplish in a war where the stakes have never been so high!?" he shouted, "One mistake can cost you your very life! It's no place for children thinking they can play the hero! Such childish fantasies like hope don't exist here and never will!"

His words were beginning to pier deep into the hearts as well as even the souls of the children, as they began to shudder at them, their will and resolve starting to weaken, "W…We…." Rex tried to say something but he could only grit his teeth and tense as drops of sweat fell rom his face, as Cera and Zoe hid behind him. What wasn't frightening was his anger and hatred in his breath, but his very words which were embedded in their minds filled with bitter truth. He was right, while the D Team had indeed fought the pirates before they never did so on a scale as high as a world war. The people of the future who suffered had experienced things even their deepest nightmares couldn't comprehend, and this was their fight which they themselves had no right to judge or interfere with….

But none of that mattered, at least to Max as he began to muster up every ounce of courage within him and stand his ground. "We don't care!" he then shouted in defiance much to the amazement of his friends and Lunensis' slight surprise, "Even if we haven't felt what you and many others have, we can't forgive the space pirates for what they did not just to you but also to us!" he shouted before speaking in a more calm manner, "They once kidnapped our parents and put us and many others through so much suffering. And not just that, they also used dinosaurs as nothing more than weapons." he said tensely before glaring back at Lunensis, "What you're doing is no exception either! It's something we can't and won't allow to continue!" He then shouted at him courageously much to his friends' amazement, "We're staying here like it or not, and we'll see it through and we'll win it the right way!" he swore.

Inspired and moved by his unwavering spirit, Zoe and Rex soon felt further motivated as they too stood with their friends' side, "Yeah! And that's final!" Rex announced as he held out a fist against Lunensis while Zoe nodded firmly.

"Max….." Cera breathed, seeing how determined he was and how he was able to rally Zoe and Rex with him, made her feel hopeful that they could truly make a difference in this war, that there may be hope for them all yet.

Others admire his bravery, hope it's done with rational thought and not on instinct, one wrong move or decision can spell doom for them

Upon hearing the boy's words, Lunensis then began to close his eyes calmly, feeling somewhat impacted by Max's drive and resolve before opening them back at him, "It appears we may be at an impasse with a difference of opinion….As to be expected…." he mused as he then folded his arms, "So then, how should we settle things then hmm?"

While the others were unsure of how they could resolve this matter without too much conflict, Max however knew that wasn't possible, in fact as he saw it there was only one path open that would give them even the slightest chance of putting a stop to Lunensis' actions, and he and Chomp were prepared to take it, "If you won't listen to words, then I'll make you listen to reason! Or better yet me and Chomp will!" He declared as he pointed out at the man, "I challenge you to a dino duel!" He declared as Chomp then barked out loud with him!

His friends widened their eyes in alarm at what he said out loud, "AH!?"

"Say what!?"

"Max!?"

"You can't be serious!" None of them could believed he dare issue a challenge openly like that, clearly he must have been desperate or he just wasn't thinking straight.

Lunensis however smirked rather smugly in face of Max's challenge, "Oh? You actually think you can defeat me?" he mused, "I knew you were a child Taylor, but I surely didn't expect you to try something so foolish." he said shaking his head pityingly at him.

"Why don't we find out then?" Max responded unfazed, "You say you're champion right? Shouldn't a champion be willing to accept any challenge thrown at him?" He then raised an eyebrow at him, "Unless of course you can't back up how good you say you are." As he said that, Lunensis' amused expression disappeared and hardened into a scowl, seeing Max to be insulting his honour and showing him great disrespect being the leader of the resistance and Dino Duelist champion before.

"Max, I hope you know what you're doing….but please don't push it…." Cera then thought hopefully, having recovered from her initial shock and seeing the situation more logically.

Zoe and Rex however hadn't, and now were trying to talk Max out of it, "Max are you crazy!? This is no time for us to fight!" Rex yelled at him.

"Of all your crazy ideas this may be your worst yet!" Zoe cried out in alarm

"Besides I'm sure we can-"

"No Rex," the brunette replied to Rex with a firm look, "It's clear we won't get anywhere with words alone, sometimes action is needed and I can't see any better time than now." he said calmly before looking ahead at Lunensis, "It's obvious he's not thinking clearly, but hopefully a fight the right way ought to knock some sense into him, or at least stop this from going any further than it already has!" He shouted out loud, which made Zoe and Cera both realise the method to his madness.

"But Max…." Before Rex could go any further, Zoe and Cera quickly held him back and shook their heads at him. It was clear that this was Max's own decision to make too, and they'd have to respect it too. Plus…he was right, it was clear that Lunensis had closed off his heart to reason and the only way to open it now was through action and nothing less.

With deep reluctance, Rex held himself back and let out a deep sigh, "Alright….Tch!" he clicked his tongue in frustration, even if this was the only path open to them that didn't mean he had to like it either.

See his eyes brimming with unyielding resolve and determination, Lunensis felt the pride of a champion inside him compelling him to accept, he had no right to refuse a challenge like that for it'd only sully his own honour. With a heavy sigh, "Very well….I suppose I could entertain your silly little offer if it means I'll be able to rid you and your presence from corrupting the resistance with your nonsensical ideas for good." He then said as the D Team remained firm, knowing now the deal has been made. "Plus, this might be an opportunity I'd be foolish to pass up." He then said confidently at the end which puzzled them.

"What do you mean?" Cera then asked him feeling uneasy.

"There have been times others actually disagreed with what I planned to do." He then calmly stated, "All out of so called ethics or morals with the dinosaurs, much of what they believed in was very much the same as what you all said just now….." As he walked past them, the children kept a firm gaze at him as he continued, "Naturally they were no match for me, but of course no matter how many times I knocked them down there were always others who were foolish enough to take their place….or strangely still they were willing to try again….I believe it's because of the bad influence you've left on them as they were growing up in their childhoods….." he muttered in annoyance. His words sparked some rather angered emotions inside the D Team, after hearing how badly he was speaking of them and badmouthing all the great things they inspired in the people of the future, as well as crushing what they all believed in, which may have been the only hope keeping most of them going or better yet alive….. Just because he believed that their influence had failed him it didn't mean that he had to make others feel the same as he did. Unfortunately he wasn't done yet, "But perhaps this can be my chance to put an end to this infighting and silence the rebellious once and for all." He said as he faced them, "If I can defeat the legendary D Team before everyone, and show them how much my skill surpassed theirs', they will finally believe that I was right all along!" He proclaimed!

"Father!" Cera gasped in alarm at what he planned to do.

"Grr…." Her friends were angered seeing he intended to make an example of them to the masses, in order to use fear or admiration in order to control them all and ensure they followed him obediently.

"And while we're at it, I'll give you a demonstration of how high the stakes are in this war by upping the ante." Lunensis then smirked as Max and the others began to sweat or harden themselves knowing something big was coming up, "Should you somehow manage to prevail over me, I'll cease all operations and experiments with the dinosaurs, and even reverse their alterations too."

They blinked their eyes in surprise, "Huh?"

"You can do that?" Zoe and Rex asked.

Cera too was deeply puzzled by this as much as they were, "Could it be?" she then wondered to herself.

"Of course I can, truly you children underestimate me and my capabilities." Lunensis then confirmed for them. It helped make them feel a little more at ease seeing the dinosaurs may not have needed to suffer for much longer if they won….but soon came the catch…."However, when I emerge victorious, not only will you be sent back to your own times, I'll see to it that your memories of your time here as well as with my daughter will be wiped clean like a virus!" He declared which further shocked the group of friends even more than before!

"Say what!?"

"You can't be serious!" Zoe and Rex gasped while Cera covered her mouth in horror, whole Max gritted his teeth in frustration.

"And your dinosaurs will be put to work in our resistance in our battle against the space pirates! Their services would be far better off in battle for the world's salvation rather than wasting away in your incapable hands!" He then shouted out at the end.

Once more he began to bewilder the D Team with his ever more atrocious conditions, "AH!?"

"How dare he…."

"GRRR!"

No words could describe the intense tension in the air between both sides of this brewing battle….

Cera unable to take it anymore then cried out, "Father stop! That's too far!" she pleaded but to no avail.

"Stay out of this Cera! This doesn't concern you!" Lunensis shot her down which forced her to back away.

"Urgh…." She groaned wishing there was something she could do….she hated being so helpless and unable to do a thing for her friends, inside she felt herself being torn apart…..

After that Lunensis looked back towards Max to see if his courage was still holding up, "So what will it be Max? If you're truly that confident in yourself or if you really want to stop this then you wouldn't hesitate to take action and prove yourselves right and me wrong." he taunted him as Max clenched his hand and a shade covered his eyes.

Rex then shoved forward unable to accept those outrageous conditions, "Forget it! We-"

He was suddenly pushed aside, "ACCEPT!" Max then shouted out loudly with determination, much to the alarm of his friends.

"HUH!?"

"Not only will I win and stop this, but I'll remind you and everyone else in the resistance about the hope they've forgotten about!" He vowed as he pointed at the older man, "Dinosaurs aren't weapons, they're living creatures like us, and they're our friends and equals in every way possible! Chomp and I will drive that into your messed up head and make you see the truth!" He yelled narrowing his eyes hard as Chomp barked out at Lunensis reflecting Max in every way, "Plus no one gets away with badmouthing one of our best friends ever!" He added, with the intention to protect Cera's honour, no way could he let anyone not even her own father get away with hurting her like he did just now.

"Max…." Zoe and Rex each breathed while Cera covered over her mouth speechlessly, with no words to describe what had just happened.

"Wow…." Was all she could utter out, seeing it was true courage that spurred him to act as he did and not blind rage or emotion.

Lunensis then narrowed his eyes hard as he observed Max's stature and composure, "No fear or hesitation…..heh….not bad for a kid…." he noted with a light smirk, in light of Max's display of bravado and unwavering spirit, before turning serious at him again, "We'll soon see if it's truly genuine or not." Calmly he walked past him and the other children as they watched him leave the room, but not without a few parting words confirming his acceptance of Max's challenge, "I'll have our stage set, the perfect battlefield for everyone to bear witness the battle that shall decide the resistance's fate." He said before turning an eye to Max, "Till then….feel free to do as you please, for it matters not what you do, the outcome is already decided." he smirked as he exited the room leaving a most spiteful and bitter impression on the D Team.

"Grr…."

Before the door closed behind him, reached into his pocket and eyed a certain golden bordered card on it with the picture of a pink dinosaur on the front of it, "The time has come for you to prove your worth to me…." he breathed before smirking to himself seeing how it would soon come together, with his victory and demonstration of his strength he'd be able to finally untie the resistance together, not only will no one dare question or challenge him again but he'd finally be able to mould Cera into the perfect soldier as well for this war and finally end it once and for all…..

With him gone, the tension in the room seemed to go down….though not completely as Rex suddenly turned to Max in anger and frustration in his voice and expression, "You idiot! What were you thinking!? How could you agree to something like that!?" he yelled in exasperation towards the spiky haired boy.

Max however shrugged his shoulders casually, "The match hasn't even begun and you're already thinking that I'd lose? Gee thanks for the vote of confidence." he scoffed snarkily before looking down with a smile at Chomp, "Me and Chomp will be fine I promise, lies we always do!" He cheered as he leaned down to pet him on the head, "Right buddy?" he chuckled with a confident grin as Chomp barked and wagged his tail back in enjoyment.

Rex however didn't take it so well as he lunged in and grabbed his friend by the collar much to the others' surprise, "Max this isn't a game!" He shouted angrily, "You just started something really big and really bad! If you do lose there won't be any other chances after this!"

"Plus it's more than just the battle, we'd be losing much more! Like all the great times we had with Chomp, Ace, paris and most of all Cera!" Zoe cried after he did feeling extremely anxious and not wanting to forget everything they been through together.

"And you wager it all like some bargaining chip!?" Rex then yelled back at him in anger!

Max however, suddenly shot back at him catching him and Zoe off guard, "You think I don't know that guys!? Just who do you take me for!?" he yelled suddenly which made them stutter back!

"Ah!"

Max then grabbed hold of Rex's hands and yanked them off his shirt. After that he took a breath and calmed himself down and looked away from them, "You're right maybe I didn't know what I was thinking and maybe we don't know all there is to know about this time….the people that lived in it or what they went through…." he sighed deeply before clenching his hand into a fist, "But I do know that friendship with each other and with the dinosaurs means nothing if we don't risk it for what we believe is right…..And I know that you'd all have done the same in my position too." He then said as he looked to all 3 of them.

"Max….." Cera breathed as Zoe and Rex were both at a loss for words, no matter how they saw it, Max was right in every way there was. They had no other choices or options left, and even though both choices they had would resort in them leaving at least one of them had the chance of there being change in the Resistance for the better and hopefully for the dinosaurs' wellbeing too.

Feeling exhausted after everything they went through today, from the arrival in the future to issuing the challenge with Lunensis….Max felt most overwhelmed as he let out a heavy sigh as he then rubbed his head which was beginning to throb under the huge pressure, "I…need some time alone…..Chomp and I have to get ready for our biggest fight ever….." was all he said as he made his way out through the door and Chomp followed in from behind, leaving just 3 members of the D Team in the room.

"Good luck Max…."

"I just hope you didn't start a fight you can't win." said Rex and Zoe, praying for his success and wishing him all the best as his body disappeared behind the door.

Not long after that though, Cera, narrowing her eyes firmly knowing she couldn't stand by as a spectator anymore, knew she had to take some action herself as she began to walk out after him.

"Cera?" Rex blinked his eyes with Zoe in surprise.

"Where are you-"

"You guys head for the battle stadium with the Alpha gang….you all need to be there to see this." she answered her friends as she looked ahead at the door, "In the meantime I'm just going….to wish Max all the best." she said as she existed from the room leaving Rex and Zoe alone to ponder over what had just happened.

"Cera…." Zoe sighed pityingly at her, feeling bad for what she had just went through, not only did she see her father get corrupted by the war in her absence but now he was going to fight one of her best friends ever in a battle where no matter the winner there'd be something heavy lost by the defeated.

Rex eyed her empathetically understanding what she was thinking, but soon shook his head seeing that standing around in this ghastly room would get them nowhere and there was nothing they could do now. "Let's go Zoe…." He then said to her, as he headed out and opened the door for her and she nodded back knowing that it was up to Max now.

"Okay…." she replied as they headed outside to look for the Alpha gang and then rendezvous at the battlefield.

 **(Later)**

A while later, Max spent nearly every moment of his time alone in one of the bunker rooms, having requested that he not be bothered while he prepared for what may be the fight of his life as well as everyone's future, both for the resistance, the dinosaurs and especially for his friends. After seeing first hand the path Lunensis was planning to take for the Resistance, he wasn't going to stand for it and he'd do anything and everything within his power to stop that from happening, and if that meant he'd have to risk all their memories of their times with Cera too then he was more than willing to risk it all. After all in a war, especially one this big, one can't afford to play it safe always, sometimes there were things worth risking everything and fighting for, and this was one of them.

As he sat on the bed narrowing his eyes at whatever move cards he had on him, he sweated hard and narrowed his eyes as did his best to plan a good attack strategy against whatever his foe may bring to the table. But the pressure of facing off against a reigning dino duelist champion in front of so many people and with so much on the line….as he started to think about it more carefully he then sweated and gritted his teeth in frustration, unable to concentrate and get a good strategy in mind. His racing heart and all kinds of worries of not only getting humiliated in front of so many people but also failing to help Cera and the dinosaur who'd suffer under Lunensis or the space pirates and they'd be unable to do anything about it!

He gritted his teeth realising he may have made a huge mistake and made a promise he might not be able to keep, "ARGH! What was I thinking!? How could I be so stupid!?" He then shouted loudly in frustration as he punched against the wall near the bed he was sitting on! As he shouted Chomp, who was napping nearby to get some rest before his big fight, suddenly jumped and woke up in alarm upon hearing his friend's cry in anguish. Looking to him and sensing him in greta distress, Chomp narrowed his eyes, charged forward and head butted Max in the back catching him off guard as he fell down on the bed! "WAH!" he cried as he face planted on the pillow.

"Yow!" Max winced As he sat back up again he glared at Chomp angrily for sucker punching him like that, this wasn't playtime especially since he was in the middle of something important now, "Hey! What was that-" His anger soon subsided as Chomp put on a firm and determined expression on his face, letting out a fierce and spirited bark to his partner stating he trusted in him and was going to fight the best he can for him to the end. Max blinked his eyes seeing Chomp's faith in him, before realising he was going about this wrong. He then nodded back and smiled glad to him a she reached out and petted him on the head, "Heh….Thanks Chomp, I think I needed that…." the said gratefully as Chomp licked his hand back with affection. Max soon realised he had been overthinking things, they had been in big situations before and this was no different. All they could do was to fight best they can together with no worries or fears, else they won't be best. That way if they do somehow lose, at least they won't have any regret or excuse for not trying hard enough.

Chomp smiled seeing they were on the same wavelength as he then noticed a card Max dropped under the bed before leaping down and grabbing it in his mouth and then handing it back to the brunette, who widened his eyes seeing he had missed it in all his worrying, "Hey I think this could work too!" he gasped as he took it and then lined it up with his other cards and put them together, "Alright I think we've got everything ready." he then said feeling confident in himself that he was all set and ready for the biggest battle of their life, "I'm counting on you Chomp, and don't worry I've got your back buddy." he said with a smile as he petted Chomp on the head, and the yellow triceratops barked and wagged his tail energetically in response. "Hehe yeah, we can do this!" Max then grinned as he jumped off the bed and pumped up his fist with confidence, "We'll show Lunensis he's going about this all wrong with our bond! We'll win and help remind them all about how people should live and work with their dinosaurs like before, I know we will."

Outside his door, Cera, having overheard his talk with Chomp, smiled feeling a little more at ease being he had his thoughts straightened out, "Max….." While that was good and all she then gritted her teeth and shook her head knowing she couldn't let him fight like this, as she mustered up her courage and then opened the door to find him and Chomp together.

"Hmm?" He looked up to see her come in, "Oh hey Cera, came to wish me luck against your dad?" he asked smiling at her.

She too smiled lightly at him but it was only momentary as she looked away feeling rather guilty about all this, "I'm sorry you had to see my father like that Max…." she sighed deeply, "He was never like this honest….I…I never knew that he would actually resort to doing something so….atrocious…." she said gritting her teeth painfully as if she could feel her own heart beginning to shatter.

Max however shook his head in response, "It's fine Cera, it isn't your fault, and I don't blame your dad for what he's going through now." he replied understandingly before narrowing his eyes, "It's the space pirates who are at fault here, they're not just destroying cities, they're destroying people and livelihoods." he said angrily as Chomp growled in agreement, "He's just lost his way that's what, and I'm going to put a stop to what he's doing and make him see reason again. No way can I accept the choice he's made."

"Are you really sure you want to go through with this?" She then asked him as he blinked his eyes in surprise, "I agree with you that my father's going about this all wrong…but…it would pain me to see you both fight." she said in a painful tone, "Plus….he's really strong and he's never lost before….You and Chomp have no idea what you're getting yourselves into…..I don't want you to get hurt because of my own problems." she said as Max then turned serious. She then looked to him in a saddened tone, "This is my war to fight, you and the others don't need to face yourselves to get involved with this since your times won't be affected."

Max closed his eyes calmly acknowledging her side of things, "I understand where you're coming from Cera, and I really appreciate you looking out for us." he said understanding and appreciating her words of advice, "And that's why I can't back down from this, not while my friend and her friends are still suffering in this war." He then said with his mind having been made up as she looked back to him, "If this what the future will turn out to be for dinosaurs and people then I'd rather it not exist." He said shaking his head in disapproval at how things had fallen apart, "After all we've been through together no way can I let things end like this, no way will me, Rex, Zoe or any of us ever even think of abandoning you or anyone for that matter….." he said not wanting her to suffer anymore. "Besides, if I don't do this we'll all get sent back home anyway with no memory of this, which is even worse." He then declared seriously to her, not wanting any of their times together to be forgotten or erased like save data on a video game that could be done at anyone's leisure, "At least this way, we do have a chance." He then said at the end knowing it was a hard decision but the only one with a sliver of hope that things will turn out right and that everyone in this future could go back to who they would and should be.

"I see…." Cera then thought about it and then smiled…feeling happy actually for his answer and it was done so with full clarity and without doubts. To hear the determination and spirit in his voice meant he really was prepared and ready to face this challenge head on and he was going to give it his all for everyone, "In that case, I wish you good luck, you'll need it and every edge you can get if you're going to beat my dad." she then said to him as he gulped slightly and nodded.

"I know Cera….." deep down he couldn't deny he still felt a little nervous, since her father was no doubt serious, meaning he had to give it his all…though he questioned himself whether it'd be enough, this was a battle with real stakes and no do overs like before….something he wasn't new to but still unsure of whether he can be fully prepared as he didn't know what to expect.

Cera too and no either what her father would bring to this fight, for all she knew he used all types of dinosaurs and had an array of strategies to implement with each one, making him a flexible, unpredictable and very dangerous opponent. Yet being unable to give her friend any advice frustrated her to no end….but she then narrowed her eyes knowing there was something she could do for him to get him ready, "Miku has something for you and Chomp too." she said before nodding at her partner who popped her head from her shirt pocket, "Go on." Miku nodded back before hopping onto the bed where Chomp was. As Chomp walked over to her curiously, she placed her hands upon his face and glowed brightly, as she began to transfer a portion of her energy for good luck into him as he glowed too momentarily.

After that, both she and Cera smiled back at Max and Chomp who smiled and nodded to them with their confidence restored, "Thanks Cera, it's all we can ask for." he said gratefully.

She then reached to her pocket side, "Here I want you to have this, I managed to get this for you." she said to him as he blinked his eyes curiously.

"Huh?" She soon pulled out a bright red dinsohot, which she handed to him as he smiled brightly at it, "Hey a dinoshot! Neat!" he cheered as Chomp barked out happily and excited to see it.

"That way you won't need to have Chomp sealed into his adult form again when you summon him." she explained as he then laughed out loud in excitement.

"Ahahah! Thanks, this'll really help us out!" He laughed joyously before hugging her close with appreciation, much to her and Miku's surprise, "We can always count on you for anything Cera, you're not just a valued member of the team, you're also an irreplaceable friend." he said feeling emotional inside.

Cera blinked her eyes surprised at this unexpected development, but it was a good surprise as she hugged him back, "I'm touched to hear you say that….." she said with a smile before they separated and she looked to him seriously again, "I must warn you though, that dinoshot isn't modified, you won't be able to use your dino-tector with it." She said with concern, feeling that may have been his best edge against her father, unless he wanted to seal Chomp in again.

Max shook his head denying her that it was any trouble to him, "It's fine, I planned on fighting your dad fair and square anyways." he replied feeling confident in his own skills and bond will be enough to see them through.

RING! RING!

The sounds of a siren rang through the halls, as Cera and Miku looked up anxiously to the sound which was signalling the hour of the match between max and her father had arrived and their moment of truth too. Hearing it, Chomp narrowed his eyes and growled fierlcey while Max mirrored his determined looking stood up from his bed, "Looks like it's time…." he said noting the ring as he turned to the door and began to step out. Before leaving he looked down to his partner who looked back to him, "Alright Chomp, this is for Cera and the future of dinosaurs and people, we will win this no matter what." He said as the triceratops barked and followed him outside as they headed towards the battlefield steeling their resolve for their most important battle ever.

As they left, Cera put a hand to her chest and prayed deeply from the bottom of her heart, "Good luck Max…..I do hope you can win….and please…..save my father too….." she hoped as she picked up Miku and they headed outside to follow Max, to see what destiny had in mind for them….hopefully a good one but whatever the outcome she'd accept it wholeheartedly without any second thoughts.

 **(Later)**

The time of the battle soon arrived….the battle that would determine the fate of the Resistance as well as that of the D Team's future. A large arena located in one of the lower floors of the resistance base, was enclosed on the top half by a solid clear dome like shield with heavy shielding in order to give spectators a close and clear but also very safe view of the matches that would take place down below in the arena, circled like a round circle much like Dr Z's dream coliseum only that it was more metallic and futuristic in design, complete with incredible lighting shining from the ceiling and illuminating every corner of the room. Said arena was used for sparring matches or to help provide some form of entertainment for the resistance to remind them of times before when everyone was happy….but now Lunensis had plans of his own to use the battle to demonstrate the results of his research to the masses as well as usher in a new beginning for the Resistance, hopefully to unite them all with a single cause with no inner conflicts.

Already masses of spectators had gathered all around the lines of seats which were spaced much like those at a sports game arena and already it was packed to the brim for the match of the century, Lunensis the leader of the Resistance vs Max the legendary leader of the D Team! It was one no one wanted to miss out on as everyone waited restlessly in whatever seat they could grab, no dinosaurs were present though in order to make viewing much safer and easier for the people gathered there, and all were safely returned to their cards and tucked away before anyone was allowed entry. Feelings amongst the crowds were mixed, some in despair and not wanting to see such a fight unfold fearing the worst possible outcome, others were filled with hope believing Max might be able to pull it off if it meant their commander could be saved. Though a large number of the spectators gathered were more interested in seeing action and were oblivious to what was really going on.

The Captains too were gathered around the seating booths knowing this was something they had to see with their own eyes, and in the very front seats were Max's friends along with the Alpha gang who were waiting in anticipation. Very soon, a pair of gates down below in the arena began to open and soon the crowds began to quiet down.

"Ssh! It's starting!"

"Be quiet!"

Some of them said which helped silence others present.

Zoe widened her eyes as 2 figures began to step out, "Here they come! I see them!" she cried as the tension thickened in the atmosphere, as Max and Lunensis both took positions on opposing ends of the field and were readying themselves for battle, as everyone looked on in anticipation for what they each would bring the the table.

Max's friends sat in 1 row together, wishing their friend the absolute best of luck, "Come on Max…." Rex gritted his teeth tensely as he leaned a little bit forward for a closer look.

"You can do this…." Zoe nodded with narrowed eyes as she tightened her palms on her knees.

Cera meanwhile put a hand over her chest to soothe her aching heart, "I believe if anyone can save my father it's you…." she prayed knowing it would be painful to watch her friend and father fight with so much on the line against each other…as hard as it was this was the only way.

Nearby the Alpha gang however weren't as supportive as Max's friends were and had their minds on other things relating to the upcoming battle.

"So who do you think's coming out on top?" Zander asked the others curiously,

"For once I'm actually hoping the brat comes out victorious." Ursula muttered as she folded her arms before scratching her cheek in thought, "But we don't know what the head honcho of this place is gonna bring to the table, we'll just have to see." she then noted unsurely of what to expect.

"Oh man I'm getting really nervous just thinking about it…." Ed quivered as he began to sweat and bite his nails.

"I couldn't care less who wins," Dr Z scoffed before rubbing his hands eagerly, "Hehe, just as long as they bring us a fight worth our money's worth!" he snickered.

Down below in the arena, Max tensed up at Lunensis who let out a soft sigh in sight of him showing his face, "Hmph….So you actually showed up to fight, either you're very brave or even more reckless and foolish than I fist anticipated." he scoffed before narrowing his eyes at the boy, "I thought even a child like you would have the sense to recognise a fight he can't possibly win."

Max gritted his teeth as the man's words rattled him slightly, "Guess that means I don't have a lot of sense then." he responded, "If it's to protect the dinosaurs and my friends, then I'll gladly throw away to the winds! I won't let the dinosaurs, our friends, be used as tools of war!" He shouted, a revelation which surprised some of the ignorant masses present as they began to murmur or ponder over what he was talking about.

Lunensis however only shook his head in disappointment, "That kind of primitive thinking and mindset will be your own undoing boy." he sighed before turning serious, "I'll be the one to save this world, and if I have to wipe away the past to do so then so be it." He then poitned out at him, "I'll crush both you and your ridiculous ideals with true power!" He shouted which caused the entire arena to turn silent and increasingly tense, "Way I see it we're both polar opposites, you have something to protect while I have nothing left to lose." He then said calmly, "Wonder which of us is more deserving of victory and of the right to determine the Resistance's path."

As he said that, Cera felt her heart crack slightly and she gritted her teeth in pain from it, when he said he had nothing left to lose….could it mean he had thrown it all away before? Was it really too late to save him?

"Let's find out about that shall we!? HA!" Max responded as he took out his new red dinoshot and Chomp's card, "Dino slash!" He yelled as he slashed the card across the top of the device as the hatch opened up, "Go triceratops! Roar!" A yellow light shone out and materialising before Max in front of the audience on his side of the field was Chomp in battle mode as he let out a loud roar which wowed the crowd!

The hall echoed with cheers and applause at the sight of Max's partner dinosaur, including those of his friends.

"Go Chomp!"

"You can do it!" Rex and Zoe cheered for him.

"So this is the great Chomp who was Max's partner…." Captain Raina mused as she took out a small tablet like device which she used to do a scan of his biometrics. When she saw his high stat readings and energy levels she then grinned with eagerness, "Heheh what a fine specimen he is!" she chuckled seeing he was an excellent example of a triceratops in its prime.

"Now that's one bloke I wouldn't want to mess with." Blaze whistled impressed folding his arms proudly seeing Max had no doubt raised that triceratops well.

Lunensis scowled somewhat seeing Max had already won over most of the audience when he hadn't yet proved his mettle to him, though on closer inspection, narrowing his eyes at Chomp's horns he could see they were well conditioned and curved in a way hinting he had his fair share of battles over his time together with Max. The old him would have admired them and be honoured to duel against such a worthy foe…..if only he still existed, "Once you fall maybe then you'll truly start to understand the gravity of the situation. At least before you're given a clean slate that is." He then said unfazed as the crowds quieted down and everyone looked on to see what he'd bring to the table. Lunensis then took out a white dinoshot much like Cera's and held in his hand a certain golden bordered dinosaur card, "And this dinosaur will be the one to bring you to your knees!" he declared as Max gritted his teeth and everyone awaited in anticipation, "Come forth eoraptor!" He yelled as he slashed the card causing a rainbow light to shine! Appearing before him on the ground was a rather small pink and purple theropod with bright red eyes as it let out an angry snarl as it appeared and the battlefield materialised!

"AH!"

"An eoraptor!" Max gasped in amazement, he heard stories from his dad and Dr Owen about how it was one of the very first dinosaurs ever, making it the mother of all dinosaurs! While small and unimpressive in appearance it was monumental that the great giant reptiles all descended from this one small lizard, so it was an honour to meet one up close.

"No way….I never thought I'd ever see one…." Rex breathed while Zoe remained speechless.

"Wow….and here I thought he was going to be bringing in something impressive…what a letdown." Dr Z scoffed in disappointment, expecting a big exciting match and an impressive dinosaur from the commander, so this fight shouldn't be too long.

Cera however, felt her heart skip a beat as she laid eyes upon the dinosaur her father used, recognising him instantly, "No way…." she breathed softly, but loud enough for her friends to hear as they turned to her in surprise.

"Huh? Cera?"

"Is something wrong?" Rex and Zoe both asked her curiously.

Cera put a finger to her chin and narrowed her eyes in thought, "That raptor….I know him…." she said as her friends looked to her curiously, "Last time I saw him by my father's side he was golden in colour." she breathed as she flashbacked to seeing the same small but bright gold dinosaur acting as her father's loyal companion for comfort at the house after a long day of battling or at work, he even played and had fun with her and Miku did on occasion whenever both her parents were away and he made a very likeable playmate. Those were good times, but now Cera could only look upon him with just as much unease as her father, "But now….something's completely different about him." As she looked at the now purple dinosaur on the ground she could sense almost no trace of the dinosaur he once was, almost like her father was now….

"Different?" Zoe blinked her eyes unsure of what Cera meant.

"Say what?" Rex asked her next raising an eyebrow, "What do you-" He and Zoe soon widened their eyes as they began to catch on to what may have happened to it, as they looked back down at the battle in shock, "Oh no…Don't tell me-"

Lunensis soon began to explain himself proudly to the masses gathered, "This dinosaur is my strongest and most loyal of all! Thus making him worthy of my greatest experiment in which I've unlocked his full potential!" he proclaimed as mixed cries of shock or even excitement erupted among the audience, "With this we shall lead forth a new revolution in dinosaur evolution, free the planet form the accursed shadow empire and begin a new glorious age for us all!" He cried as cheers and gasps were mixed together to form a rather chaotic chorus.

"WOW! Now that sounds really interesting!" Dr Z suddenly grinned as he overheard what Lunensis said, which caused some of the others to glare at him in anger.

Nearby as Hua overheard some troopers pondering over whether they should give their dinosaurs some upgrades too, she then sighed sadly and shook her head at the thought of it, "How awful…."

"How the mighty has fallen…." Kaze scoffed in disapproval, while in real life you'd have to use every opportunity you can take whether underhanded or not, even he had his limits and morals, as well as lines he'd never cross, and something like this may have been one of them.

Zoe and Rex then looked towards Cera rather worriedly, "Hey Cera, what can we expect from that eoraptor?"

"I know it looks small but it's gotta have some kind of secret right?" They asked her hoping for any kind of info to give Max an edge over it.

As Cera narrowed her eyes at the snarling raptor down below, she sighed and shook her head, "To be honest, even I don't know…." she admitted heavily, "I've never seen father use that dinosaur before, expect as a loyal companion….I haven't been back for a long time and for him to have changed eoraptor to be able fight….is completely new to me." she said as they all looked back down to Max at the battlefield seeing this was all on him now. "Be careful Max…." She then said to him in her heart as Miku popped her head out of Cera's shirt pocket to watch.

"This will be a true battle that shall test and temper their spirits far more than any training regime I could ever come up with…." Craig noted seriously as he folded his arms in serious thought further from them.

"I hope their bond will see them through this…." Marina thought out loud as she sat nearby him, now dressed in a slim ocean blue jumpsuit with a D logo necklace.

Max clicked his tongue in disgust seeing his opponent happened to be an experimental dinosaur too, as well as Lunensis using this battle as a sort of advertisement, "Tch! Any new age without kindness and compassion for the dinosaurs isn't one worth living in!" he shouted as he pointed back at his foes, "Chomp and I will show you that unlike your twisted science, our bond together has heart and we'll show you that's way more important than power ever will be!" he announced causing Chomp to stomp on the ground and roar out, which further helped him gain more support from some of the masses as they cheered for him!

"That's a moving speech…why don't you come and prove your words with action then!?" Lunensis then retorted, unmoved by Max's words.

He however was more than willing to back up his words, "With pleasure! Chomp! Go get that eoraptor!" Max then yelled out as he punched forward! In response Chomp roared and rushed ahead, lowing his horns and making a frontal charge to the smaller dinosaur!

As he came close however, the eoraptor zipped right out of Chomp's path as the triceratops saw him disappear in a pink blur, forcing him to skid to the side and brake his charge so he realign himself with his foe again! Max widened his eyes and was taken aback, "Whoa it's fast!" Chomp tried another charge but once more the raptor anticipated his speed and direction, before making a swift dash away to safety once more forcing Chomp to dig in and stop himself from crashing into the wall!

"How predictable…" Lunensis then scoffed seeing his attacks to be way too obvious, before going on the offensive! "Now advance!" Before Chomp could turn around to face his foe, the eoraptor had already leapt into the air and latched itself on his back right behind his frill, and immediately began slashing with its claws into his skin before biting hard with its needle sharp teeth! The vicious attacks were beginning to cut deep through the triceratops' hide as he roared out in pain as blood slowly began to seep from his wounds!

"Oh no! Chomp!" Max gasped in horror at what he saw as others began to exclaim or were stunned speechlessly!

As the Alpha gang widened their eyes and their jaws hung in disbelief at the tiny raptor's damage on Chomp, Dr Z then whistled most impressed, "Okay, I take back everything I said about that little pipsqueak…." Inside he was starting to actually want that dinosaur as part of his future kingdom.

"Oh no!" Zoe gasped in alarm as she covered her mouth in shock at what she was seeing.

"Tch! It make be small but it sure has a lot of bite in him." Rex clicked his tongue seeing the dinosaur's appearance was a very effective deception to mask his capabilities.

"He's aiming for Chomp's blind spots while attacking his most vulnerable areas…." Cera noted as she narrowed her eyes at the fighting dinosaurs before looking to her father, "Dad studied all kinds of dinosaur before, so he surely knows their physical weaknesses and how to take them down the best possible way." she said to herself.

Back down below Max had caught onto what Cera mentioned earlier about her dad being a veteran duelist as he clicked his tongue in frustration, "Tch! So he's combining dinosaur knowledge with combat experience….pretty good…but not so much when you're on the receiving end." he grunted, but despite their difference in skill he didn't plan on letting himself getting done in by that alone, "Don't give up Chomp! Shake him off!" Max cried out to his partner. Chomp hearing his partner's cry, roared out loud as he lunged back at the wall turning his back against it!

The eoraptor was surprised at this manoeuvre, and was forced to launch itself off the trike and leap away as the ceratopsian's back slammed at the wall! The raptor was prepared to repeat the same strategy, but Chomp was able to anticipate from where he'd attack next as he turned around, shifting his body and facing his horns at the eoraptor, forcing him to withdraw back a little. "Hehe, you won't get us that way again! We're ready for you this time!" Max grinned confidently.

"Hmph! Don't get too conceited." Lunensis then scoffed which made Max blink his eyes in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You haven't even began to see what I'm truly capable of!" He then yelled out furiously, which made Max's heart skip a beat as he could see he was dead serious!

"Uh oh…." he gulped as everyone else was beginning to get the message.

"I'm through playing, now I'll be sure to give you a taste of what real power is!" He said as he held out his arm, "Eoraptor! Wind mode now!" Upon his command, the eoraptor's eyes turned slit as he let out a screech and began to glow in all 6 colours of the elements! As the light began to build up around him, much to everyone's surprise and amazement, it then let out another loud screech before enveloping itself in white light which illuminated the field!

"ARGH! I can't see!" Max covered his eyes and gritted his teeth at the glare while Chomp growled in discomfort.

A mutual feeling shared by everyone else in the seats as they were forced to shield their eyes too! "AAAH!"

"Ugh!"

"Wh…What's happening!?" Rex cried out loud as he used his arm to shield his eyes.

"I don't know but we're about to find out!" Zoe followed as she was forced to put on her goggles, but to little avail as the light was still punishing for her eyes!

Cera was only able to open her eyes with a tiny bit, but even it was rather unpleasant for her eyes to handle. As it soon began to die down and fade away, she began to open it more and more gradually, she widened her eyes in shock with everyone else….at the dinosaur which now stood in eoraptor's place! "No….way…."

On the arena grounds, Max took a step back in disbelief as a white and purple megaraptor now stood before Lunensis and it let out a menacing shriek while flailing out its massive hand claws and vicious fangs! "AH!"

"It changed into a megaraptor!?"

"Impossible!"

"Unreal!" Various comments and gasps sounded around the audience, while Max's allies could onyx stare speechlessly at what they saw with their very own eyes.

Chomp too was started by the unexpected development but shook his head and roared out loud, "H…How did-" Max pointed weakly towards his enemies, still haven't yet recovered from his shock.

"Surprised?" Lunensis smirked, "Well don't be, eoraptor is the first all the dinosaurs. The mighty giants like tyrannosaurus and your triceratops, all have their roots stemming from his origin!" He then announced, "With the power science, I was able to tap into his ancient dna and allow him to utilise the powers of all his descendants at will! You're not just facing one enemy, but all of them at once!" He proclaimed as Max took a step back and exclaimed!

"AH!"

"The powers of all 6 elements in 1 dinosaur!?"

"And combined with his knowledge in handling all types of dinosaurs and fighting them at the same time….how could anyone hope to stand against that!?" Many in the crowds gasped, losing hope of Ma winning while others wondered if they could get powers like that for their dinosaurs too!

"No way…." Rex breathed in awe while Zoe starred stunned with speechlessness.

"This may be Max's biggest battle yet…." Cera swallowed hard as Miku tensed, "One secret dinosaur involves fusion with a number of moves together thus eliminating the need for move cards….but for eoraptor, to inhabit all the powers of 6 elements at once….the stress it must put on him…." she then looked towards her father sadly, "Father….what happened to you?"

"Hoorah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Dr Z then cheered as he shook his hands out like a hyperactive child, "Show him why you're the grandaddy of all dinosaurs!" he whistled shaking his fists out in excitement, which earned him a couple of suspicious looks from the Trio.

"Umm Dr Z?" Ursula pointed at his shoulder causing him to turn to her grumpily.

"You do realise that if that guy does win."

"We'll be sent home and have all our memories wiped clean?" Ed and Zander pointed out which made him turn pale and his heart skip a beat, having realised that the team he was rooting was all along the enemy!

"ACK!" He croaked as has jaw hung in shock before he sweat dropped in shame, "Oh….well that's a bummer…." he muttered before turning his cheers to the right team, "In that case you go get him Max!" He cried before losing the motivation to go on seeing he was already losing very badly, "Even though his odds of success are pretty much….zilch…." he then groaned as the trio sighed and shook their heads at him in shame.

Max however, despite the odds he faced refused to surrender as he clicked his tongue, "Tch! It doesn't matter if we're facing 10, 20 or even a hundred dinosaurs! Chomp and I will face any challenge against us head on!" He yelled out loudly in defiance of the odds, which helped impress and move some of the crowd seeing despite being the underdog of the battle he still ha an indomitable spirit that wouldn't break at all no matter what….something they realised they should've had themselves….

Lunensis however scoffed unimpressed at Max's display, "Still maintaining that confident farce of yours I see…" he sighed before going serious, "In that case I will gladly introduce you to each of my dinosaur's unlimited powers, starting with one of my personal favourites!" he announced as he held out his hand to issue a command, "Super cyclone!" The megaraptor snarled as it generated a huge tornado from the sky, much larger than Ace's was, before rushing ahead towards Chomp while cloaked in it!

"Then I'll use electric charge!" Max countered as he slashed the move, causing a thunderbolt to charge Chomp before he roared and rushed heads on towards his incoming foe!

"Weak!" Lunensis countered as the megaraptor easily overpowered Chomp as the wind warded off the electricity and smashed through him, causing the triceratops to crash away!

"AH! NO!" Max gasped in horror as Chomp landed hard on his ground! As the megaraptor dug in its claws halting its charge, it turned around and snarled before rushing back at Chomp who was still down, unwilling to give him a chance to recover and fight back! Max sweated and gritted his teeth seeing they were running low on time, "Urgh! Get up Chomp! Go after him now!" Chomp fortunately was able to get back up on his feet and charged back at the incoming raptor. Unfortunately as he came in close, he realised too late it was mock charge as the raptor jumped slightly to the side, and as Chomp passed him, he kicked out with his massive legs at his ribs which bashed him back a few feet! He managed to hold his footing and absorb the blow before mounting another charge, this time though the raptor changed tactics and instead delivered an unexpected somersault kick right under his chin which sent him flying back to the ground! "Urgh!" Max gritted his teeth, feeling the pain Chomp suffered and also frustrated seeing his attacks were getting countered everytime he tried!

"Now do you realise that your bonds aren't enough to save the world? You also need monstrous unrivalled power!" Lunensis then yelled taunting Max further to his frustration, "And I will be your first teacher to make you realise that! Water mode!" He commanded as he held out his arm! The megaraptor snarled as it began to glow in all 6 colours once more and the bright light erupted once more, forcing Max and everyone else to cover their eyes again!

"Ugh! Not again!" he grunted in annoyance.

"Someone turn off that dinosaur!" Ursula cried as she covered her eyes, not wanting glasses for it wouldn't do well for her image.

As the light faded, what stood in the raptor's place was now a spiny sauropod in the same colour scheme as the previous dinosaur!

"Now it's an amargasaurus!" Zander gasped in surprise as the crowd followed with him while others tensed up.

"So it's water next huh?" Max clicked his tongue before pumping up his arm with determination, "No prob, while it's like this we'll take it out before it goes any further!" He quickly grabbed another lightning move card, "Lightning strike!" Chomp surged with electricity before charging a huge energy sphere between his horns!

Lunensis however glared at Max, insulted by him thinking it'd be that easy, "How naive! Counter with hydro cutter!" The amargasaurus generated a huge curved blade of water and and fired it at Chomp, faster than he could fire off his lightning strike, causing the attacks to cancel one another and then generated a cloud of mist which obstructed the triceratops' view as he lost sight of his foe and looked around anxiously trying to pinpoint his foe's position though he needn't wait long. "River of infinity!" A veil of water surrounded the amargasarus as it bellowed and charged ahead, ramming Chomp at the sight while wrapped in water and bashing him several feet back and out of the mist which soon cleared!

"Oh no!" Max gasped before gritting his teeth back at Lunensis and he now revealed amargasaurus, "Tch! He knew the timing of the attack and used a fast move to intercept it….then attacked when he had an opening…." he hissed seeing he no doubt knew how to fight and what he was doing.

The worse part was that he hadn't even begun to see the horrors Lunensis and eoraptor both had in store for him, as he was soon about to find out the hard way, "Grass mode! Now!" Lunensis commanded as his dinosaur glowed once again!

"ARGH! Can someone tell him to please stop doing that?!" Dr Z screamed feeling his eyes were about to burn, none of his secret dinosaurs ever gave off a glow that bright before.

As it died down, what stood next against Chomp and Max was a purple and white lambeosaurus which bellowed out loud as it stomped on the ground with its forelimbs then stomped with one of its back feet!

"Oh dear now it's grass…." Zoe gulped knowing firsthand how effective that element was.

"He's changing too fast! There's no way Max can keep up!" Rex cried out as he gritted his teeth tensely seeing this wasn't looking good at all!

Kaze then frowned and hook his head, "At this rate he may not last long…" he sighed seeing little hope for Max being able to pull it off now.

Down below Lunensis was prepared to bring in his best attacks from here on as he pressed his assault on the tiring Chomp, "Leaf blades!" The lambeosaurus turned green before swirling with a cloud of leaves then firing them in a flurry at Chomp!

Max narrowed his eyes, "I don't think so! Thunder bazooka!" He countered as Chomp roared and jumped ahead, spinning in a lighting torpedo which deflected the leaves causing them to bounce off him harmlessly before landing a direct hit to the lambeosaurus' chest and knocking him back!

The crowd widened their eyes and gasped in amazement to see Max finally managed to score in some damage, catching several of them off guard!

"Alright! He got in a hit!" Zoe cheered excitedly while Cera clapped her hands and laughed out happily.

"It's not over yet! Look!" Rex pointed out as the lambeosaurus soon got back up on its feet and bellowed back at Chomp.

Lunensis then shot a hard scowl towards Max, "Better but not good enough!" he yelled still unimpressed, "With such novice levelled skill you wouldn't last more then 5 minutes out there in the battlefield!"

"Grrgh….what's it going to take to get through that thick skull of his!?" Max grunted in frustration seeing his efforts of conveying his heart through the battle weren't having any effect at all on the stubborn minded man.

"What I've shown so far is but a taste of how deadly and despicable our foes will be in battle!" Lunensis then declared before gritting his hand into a fist and pumped it up, "Morals, bonds and ethics of old don't mean squat! In war, anything goes! We must move on and evolve to survive! Staying stagnant in the past only welcomes extinction!" He shouted before pointing at Max, "Unless you accept that, you'll have no hope of winning against me let alone the war!"

As he said so, the crowds became even more uneasy, some beginning to reconsider what they first thought about turning their dinosaurs Alpha. The one most hurt form it all was Cera, as tears began to form in her eyes as a result of her damaged heart, "Dad….what has happened to you…." she sniffled hard as Zoe went to pat her on the shoulder comfortingly.

Max clenched his fist around his dinoshot in anger before yelling back, "Never! I'll give up and I cast nothing aside!" He shouted back in retort, "Chomp and I will stay true to who we are no matter what happens!" As he said so Chomp roared out in anger stomping his foot as his spirit fired up with determination for what was right, his spirit completely in sync with Max, "And that's a promise we intend to keep!" he vowed.

Lunensis then calmly closed his eyes, "So be it then….there's nothing more to discuss then…." Quickly he then opened them and yelled out in fury, "Prepare for your defeat! Lightning mode!" The lambeosaurus bellowed as it glowed rainbow once more and the glare recommenced to everyone's discomfort!

"Urgh…what now?" Max grunted as he began to lower his arm, only to see a styracosaurus now appeared as it lowered its horn at Chomp and began scraping the ground as it prepared to mount a charge at him! "A styracosaurus….guess that means lightning's up….." Max muttered as Chomp answered the styracosaurus' challenge with a show of strength as both horned dinosaurs charged one another! "We'll take him out with Thunder driver!" Max yelled as he slashed the card, as Chomp roared glowing yellow! Both ceratopsians clashes heads and horns with one another, but the larger triceratops, now powered by his move began to overpower and then flip up the smaller dinosaur into the air before he leapt up higher than him and prepared to do a spiralling nose dive onto him!

"Counter blitz!" Lunensis quickly ordered as the sytracosaurus then glowed yellow and a swirling thunder cloud nearby caused a lightning bold to strike down and pierce Chomp before he could connect his attack!

"AH!" Max cried as Chomp roared in pain and crashed down to the ground, spasming with the electrical current running through him while the styracosaurus shifted his sense of gravity and landed on his front feet harmlessly instead! "Chomp hang in there!"

"No Max!" Zoe and Rex cried together.

"Every time that dinosaur changes form, father changes his battle strategy altogether," Cera hissed and sweated anxiously for Max's chances dwindling dangerously low, "There's no way Max can adapt quickly enough!"

"Ahahah! All this chaos and clashing, it's just so beautiful!" Dr Z laughed to himself on the inside, made evident by his big wide grin before looking to the side to see the D Team kids not far from where he was, "Yet I can't express it otherwise they'll clobber me for it…." he then hissed painfully like it was torturing him and then he pulled on his own beard in frustration, "And worse still I can't enjoy it because of the kid loses then we all lose! Oh world why do you have to be so cruel!?" He then screamed to himself inside in despair that no matter whom he supported they were going to lose in the end.

"Chomp get up! You've got to!" Max pleaded desperately to his partner, who opened his eyes weakly and groaned in pain. He tried his best to stand up again, struggling with pain coursing through every fibre of his body before falling back down weakly and gasping for air. "No…." Max then breathed, losing the will to continue fighting and make Chomp suffer, as well seeing it to be almost hopeless….

Gritting his teeth he looked up to see Lunensis shooting a scowl directly at him and Chomp, "When I was your age I once dreamt of facing you in battle. To pit my own skills against you in a heated battle for the ages." Lunensis scoffed before shaking his head in disappointment, "But so far you've completely disappointed me, falling short of my every one of my expectations." He said as Max stepped back and gritted his teeth in frustration at the fact he was losing the commander's respect as well as the faith of everyone else in the room.

"Urgh….."

"Perhaps now you've seen why I've chose to evolve beyond such primitive childish thinking." said Lunensis seeing it wouldn't be long now before he claimed victory and hopefully Max would wisen up to the truth, "Such is the law of nature, living things must move on and evolve with their surroundings do or perish, which is exactly what I've accomplished and soon the whole resistance will!" He then declared, the tension in the atmosphere of the arena began to thicken as the crowds looked on, sweating profusely, gritting teeth or murmuring amongst one another over whom they should side with in a serious way….

Despite having the odds stacked against him and hanging on by the skin of his teeth, "No! What you're doing isn't evolving at all! You're only stooping to the same level as the space pirates are!" Max countered still managing to hang on, "If this is what evolution is then my friends and I would rather go extinct in a heartbeat!" He yelled back at Lunensis refusing to accept his ways as the right choice, "We defeated the space pirates before without any twisted upgrades and we can do so again!"

"Oh? Well if you've defeated them then why hasn't the future changed?" Lunensis then questioned which caused Max to freeze up upon realisation that their efforts in their past…hadn't changed Cera's future at all, "In fact it's gotten far worse! Whatever you did only caused us even more suffering than we did before!" He then yelled out in anger before pointing a finger accusingly at Max! "You're not heroes in the slightest! You've only caused our future even more pain than before!"

"AH!" Max widened his eyes and stumbled back, as if reality had smashed into his face like a hammer, "B…But….we…." He tried his best to say something back, but could see Lunensis' rage and animosity aimed towards him like an overwhelming mountain which towered over him, as he shook and shuddered in fear, speechless and unable to say anything back. He began to lose energy in his legs as they slowly buckled, along with his will to keep fighting….

Back above on the seats, many of the crowds were alarmed to have heard what their commander declared just now, and while some were struck with a low blow and wanted to believe in the D Team still…..others however were beginning to have their faith in the legendary heroes shaken, as soon they even began to develop doubts….

"Is this true!?"

"Did they really do this to us?"

"Was everything we believed in a lie?" They began to converse with one another, much to the alarm of Max's friends as some of them began to glare at them!

"H…He's wrong!"

"We didn't do this! Honest!" Zoe and Rex pleaded desperately, trying to get everyone else's anger turned away from them!

Cera wanted to step in and help her friends, she believed in them with all her heart as she saw them first hand how they saved all of time and space….and yet despite that she couldn't find the strength to go against the growing disgruntled masses. She then looked down teary eyed in devastation at her father's cruelty, it was….unimaginable…."Father how could you be so cruel?"

"Err…." As some of the people gathered began to glare down at the Alpha gang, they gulped down hard and sweated uncontrollably as they began to huddle up with one another in a panic!

"Hold me!" Ed quickly blurted out as Zander and Ursula clinged onto him tightly!

"We will Ed!" They cried as they unknowingly ended up engulfing Dr Z too!

"Ack! A little room please!?" he choked as they huddled around him dangerously close, feeling himself crushed in a vice of bodies!

His friends looked ahead to see Max on his knees and looking down away from the battlefield, trapped in his conflicted thoughts as he was struggling to keep himself together, defending himself against the sharp words Lunensis shot at him earlier which embedded in his own soul. No matter how many he seemed to chase away, they seemed to come back again and keep him down, as his friends could see as they tried desperately to get through to him! "Max! Snap out of it!"

"You've gotta fight back or it's too late!" But their pleaded cries fell on deaf ears….as Max found himself trapped within his own mind waging a war in himself against his thoughts of doubt and insecurity which were caused by what he was told.

Lunensis took notice of this and closed his eyes, seeing Max like this proved he wasn't ready for the challenges of war if his spirit could break so easily. While he had to admit there was no honour in defeating a foe who lost the will to continue, this was still a war and anything goes, when an opportunity presented itself it's only natural to seize it otherwise it'd be missed or worse someone else would. Plus he was a man of his word and he planned to follow through with the deal he made with Taylor. Hardening himself and his own resolve he opened his eyes hard as he prepared for the final blow! "Now to put you out of your misery and get you lying legends out of my sight! Earth mode!" The styracosaurus glowed and roared before changing to the form of a purple and white stegosaurus, which rattled its tail spikes and hissed at the now weakened Chomp, who was now vulnerable with Max now lost in his thoughts!

"Oh man this isn't good…." Zander screeched as he sweated profusely and grasped his head in his hands tightly with his friends.

"This is the worst possible matchup for Max!" Cera cried out in alarm knowing a head on earth move like that would cause massive damage and more than likely take Chomp out of the battle in one hit!

"Eoraptor! End this now with Rock roller!" Lunensis commanded, showing no mercy as his dino slammed its front limbs on the ground, causing pieces of rock to fly into the air before combining into a single giant boulder, which it then spun around and smacked with its' tail as it began to roll towards Chomp who widened his eyes and roared in fear to his partner, who was still trapped in a pit of doubts!

Everyone gasped in alarm as the boulder closed in at them!

"AH!" Rex widened his eyes!

"NO!" Zoe and Cera cried.

"You idiot! Get out of the way now!" Dr Z hissed as he pulled on his hair till it was on the verge of being ripped off!

"I can't watch!" Ed whimpered a he covered his face with his hands and looked away.

One by one, the captains of the resistance looked away, unable to bear with this a second longer, "That's it then….it's over now…." Kaze was the only one of them to speak as he shook his head, disappointed that fate had given them false hope of their leader coming back to whom he once was….and the light of hope for them to be able to not only win the war and return to the once good days seemed to be extinguished….

Meanwhile, Max was still trapped in a tug of war in his conflicted emotions, on 1 side he knew that his friends were still counting on him to fight on so he couldn't quit now….but on the other hand, Lunensis' words were still gnawing away at his soul and he was beginning to feel unworthy of the faith that everyone had put in him once, seeing that if they couldn't make the future better before….what could they possibly do now to make a difference? He was so self focused and dwelling in his own self conflict, that he wasn't able to focus on the battlefield or see Chomp panicking as the rock closed in at him!

On the other side Lunensis eyed his foe with discontent as he shook his head with dissatisfaction in his eyes as well as his heart, "A shame…I was really expecting much more from this child and that's best he can muster?" he sighed, "How very disappointing indeed…." At that moment he blocked his eyes in surprise at what he said to himself, "Wait….why am I disappointed? Why should I care? I should be happy for this, now he and his ridiculous friends won't be around to corrupt the resistance any further and I can continue on with no regrets." he tickled himself before closing his eyes calmly, "I've already made my choice and there's no turning back now…." He told himself as he awaited for the sound of the rock connecting with Chomp and soon after that would come the sound of him being reverted to a card….though who couldn't help but feel a slight feeling of regret inside him for some reason….

Max oblivious to the battle at hand, soon began to grit his teeth in hatred as an immense weight could be felt on his back and chest, "What have I done? I thought we were doing the right thing….." He wondered to himself, "Is Lunensis really right all along? Is everything we've done or believed in…not enough?" He hissed, "Because of me….not only did we Cera and her family suffer…but now because of me….we've lost….and now we….we…." He clenched his fist hard and was on the verge of losing his will to fight completely…..when suddenly

"MAX!" The sound of his friends cried out together for him, which caused him to widen his eyes and wake up at last!

"AH!" Shaking his head clear and looking on, he was taken aback to see what he had missed since he fell into a slump and now he was about to let a huge rock crush Chomp like an insect! He gritted his teeth tensely and stepped back, about to fall into regret over not seeing this earlier….when Chomp roared out to him catching his attention, "Chomp?" he blinked his eyes in surprise as he saw his partner look to him, his eyes still filled with strength and resolve….and he was hoping for him to do the same as he was now. "You still…want to keep going?" Max asked him in surprise, despite all the damage his body took, his dinosaur's spirit hadn't wavered in the slightest….and that was what mattered most, and if Chomp still could go on, Max had no reason to refuse or give up either! "Heh, alright buddy if you say so! We'll give our all one more time!" He smirked in agreement with him as he gave a nod to Chomp.

Empowered by Max's rejuvenated spirit, Chomp reignited the determination within himself as he stomped hard on the ground and forced himself up to his legs much to the surprise of the audience and joy of the D Team and Alpha gang!

"He's up!"

"Alright! It's not over yet!" Zoe and Rex both cheered happy for him!

"But it will be soon if he doesn't do something about that rock!" Zander exclaimed as he pointed out frantically at the incoming boulder from Rock roller!

It was within seconds of reaching Chomp and Max, as Dr Z and Ed both looked away, "I can't look!" They cried!

Max however, with his mind no longer clouded with doubts, responded to Chomp's cry for help with a move card, "Hang in there buddy! Plasma anchor!" Chomp roared as he fired an electrical chain which pierced into the boulder! Mustering all his strength he turned it around and began to swing it in a huge circle before propelling it back at the stegosaurus!

"AH!"

"He did it!" Rex and Zoe smiled as Cera clapped her hands together in joy to see Max's spirit was still as strong as ever, as others began to cheer in excitement or relief.

Lunensis soon opened his eyes in surprise at the counterattack, clicking his tongue in annoyance at Max's continued resistance against him, "Tch! Quake saber!" he yelled as the stegosaurus generated a crystal sword which sliced the rock in half as it fell past him and crashed at the wall harmlessly before crumbling away!

"Don't count us out yet Lunensis! We're not done yet!" Max yelled out at the older man and his dinosaur as Chomp then roared out and stomped his foot into the ground with his spirit refreshed.

His spirited counterattack and comeback began to reignite hope in the crowds once more, "Alright!"

"They're still in this!"

"Hoorah! Way to go!"

They whistled and cheered for him as his friends including the alpha gang began applauding for him too, some of them deeply relieved he hadn't lost yet, the Alpha gang mainly as they fainted from the shock.

"Yippee! We're still in!" Zoe clapped with joy.

"Maybe…" Rex noted as he narrowed his eyes, "But they've still got a lot to take up for, it's clear the difference in their power levels and skill." he said seriously as Zoe then frowned at him being right in a bad way, "They'll need a miracle if they're going to win."

Cera however, smiled in response to Rex's comment, "And miracles are just what Max and Chomp are capable of pulling off." she then said as Zoe and Rex soon smiled and nodded with her, they didn't plan on counting Max out yet anytime soon.

"Tch! So you hang on by a thread…." Lunensis meanwhile huffed in annoyance, their fruitful struggle was actually beginning to get on his nerves…and even cause him and eoraptor to exert themselves for the first time in a long while, "Why won't you accept defeat and put an end to this hopeless struggle, you'd be saving yourself and your dinosaur a lot of pain, as well as a lot of trouble for me." He then offered him calmly seeing no more need to make this harder than it needed to be.

Max then narrowed his eyes in response, "As long as Chomp and I are still standing and able to fight then we'll keep going till the end of time if we have to!" he said firmly before looking to his triceratops with a faithful smile, "Isn't that right buddy?" He chuckled as Chomp responded with a roar of affirmation!

Lunensis then clenched his fist in anger and frustration, "Tch! Stubborn boy, you're just like a cockroach that refuses to stay down!" he hissed, "I'll be sure to grind you under my heel!" He swore as he pointed out at him, causing the stegosaurus to roar and charge at him!

"Heh, at least cockroaches are resilient, they survived way before and even after the dinosaurs did." Max chuckled before smirking with confidence as the stegosaurus then swung out its tail at Chomp who readied himself, "And unlike them, we will win!" He then yelled, as Chomp was able to swing out his head horns, countering the spikes of the tail before grabbing his foe and throwing him away to everyone's surprise! "Besides, this fight is just way too exciting to give up on!" Max then cheered in excitement, as the stegosaurus slammed at the nearby wall, Chomp rushed in and began to bash at his foe's unprotected side multiple times and with each one making the stegosaurus roar in pain! After that he quickly ducked down as his foe swung out his tail, only for him to get under, scooping up his foe with his horns like a shovel before tossing him across the arena!

"AH!" Lunensis gasped, he didn't expect Max and Chomp to still be this strong, let alone have enough strength to fight back after the punishment they were dealt just now! As his dino got back up to its legs and shook its head in disorientation, he looked back to both his opponents and gritted his teeth in frustration, unwilling to let them get away with it.

"Chomp and I haven't had this much fun in a long time! Now I'm starting to see why you guys lived these battle so much!" Max then grinned eagerly as Chomp followed up with a proud roar too, his words blowing Lunensis' mind completely.

"Say what!?"

Everyone else too was taken aback as much as he was, unable to comprehend how anyone could possibly enjoy themselves in a situation like this, "He's…having fun?" Cera asked herself in surprise, despite the battle being a high stakes one and Max being on the losing side….it almost reminded her of someone….

"Has the kid lost his mind!?" Dr Z then exclaimed in disbelief!

"Maybe the pressure's gotten to him at last." Ed then suggested as he began to bite his finger nails again, "Cos I know it has for me."

"Or maybe something else…." Cera muttered to herself overhearing him. Narrowing her eyes at Max, panting with a smile on his face along with Chomp, she put a finger to her chin in deep thought, "The way he's acting…it's almost like…." She then looked over to her father, who was still staring in shock at Max, doing something that was unthinkable and completely illogical.

"This kid….how can he be smiling and enjoying himself knowing everything that's on the line…that he's backed into a corner with no way of escape…he's about to lose it all….it's just like…." As Lunensis looked at Max, he widened his eyes somewhat as he saw what looked like a younger version of himself, with the very same expression and posture Max had, facing him along with the D Team member. In fact everything Max was doing now, his behaviour and judgment, was exactly the same as how his past self once was! Quickly he shook his head, chasing out any thoughts and temptations about returning to that, having vowed to move on past that himself as he then gritted his teeth furiously at Max! "I'll wipe that ridiculous smile off your face! Once you get a dose of reality maybe then you'll wake up and see the truth!" He yelled angrily at Max, seeing what he once did as foolish thinking and how Max was now repeating it.

He however had a completely different idea, "It's you who needs to wake up Lunensis!" Max retorted before calming himself down with a breath, "As much as I hate to admit it, you and I do have one thing in common." he said which puzzled the older man as he blinked his eyes in surprise.

"What?"

"We both fight for a cause and for good reasons. To stop the space pirates and make them pay for what they did." said Max before looking up at him with a hard glare, "But unlike you, I fight with faith that we will come out on top and I believe in my friends too." He said looking at Chomp then to his friends up in the seating booths above, then back down to his opponent, "While you instead gave into despair and threw it all away." He then clenched a hand over his chest where his heart was, "We both faced despair once in times of darkness, but I didn't let myself get consumed by it, instead I found light at the end!" he then shouted, "You said you wanted to protect the world and those you cared for?" He quickly pointed at him, "Don't make me laugh! You couldn't even protect the bond with your own dinosaur! Because of that you'll never win that way!" He then yelled out loud which caused everyone in the masses to gasp in disbelief.

Lunensis widened his eyes in shock at Max's words, which hit a nerve inside him as he exploded back in immense rage! "What did you say!?" He couldn't believe that a mere child had the nerve to talk back to him with such disrespect, yet Max however remained firm and kept a firm stance at his foe…..as Lunensis soon began to finally blink his eyes and finally see what the boy meant, "AH….."

"Another thing that separates us is that I'll sacrifice nothing to protect those I care about most!" Max continued before looking towards his partner, "The same goes for Chomp!" Who then roared out in agreement with him, earning him even more praise and applause from the crowds around them, his spirit had touched their hearts as it slowly began to free them from the despair they were suffering under for so long as well as renewed their long dormant hope they had buried deep in their hearts for so long.

"Way to go you guys!"

"We knew you could do it!" Zoe and Rex praised Max proud of him and for his spirited performance thus far in the face of such danger.

"Woo hoo!" even Dr Z found himself caught up in the excitement and began to cheer on for Taylor too! "Way to show him up! Now win this and prove the strength of the Alpha gang!" He cried shaking out his fists energetically!

"Go D Team!" The trio then followed after him as they punched forward in unison.

Around every corner of the seating booths, the crowds widened their eyes and stared baffled in amazement and speechlessly, "I don't believe it!" Marina gasped, the bond between Max and Chomp was clearer and more pure than any water surface she ever came across.

"He's pushing the commander into a corner!" Craig exclaimed, the will and strength they possessed was immense and unmatched!

"I never thought I'd ever see the day that Lunensis would meet his match…." Raina then commented as she then decided to do a check on her handheld computer device. Bringing up the numbers she blinked her eyes in surprise at the results, "That's odd…." she mused which caught Cera's attention, who was sitting nearby with the D Team.

"Hmm?"

"Chomp's power levels are rising….beyond their normal levels…." she noted as she narrowed her eyes to see the energy levels of the triceratops are reaching beyond optimum, and she couldn't find any logical or possible explanation for it.

Cera blinked her eyes unsure of what to make of it, "Is that…good?" she asked the Lightning captain who then put a finger to her chin in thought of the readings rising.

"To be honest….I'm not sure…." she admitted as she looked up from her computer screen, noticing something happening down below, "But it looks like we'll find out soon." She said as everyone else widened their eyes to see Chomp begin to gain a glowing yellow aura around his body, along with Max too!

As it glowed even more intense much to the amazement of the masses, eoraptor backed away nervously as Lunensis could only raise his arm and cover over his eyes in an attempt to sheila them from the glare! "Wh….What's happening!?" He gasped, as he started to feel nervous and unsure of what was happening, everything in the battle had gone how he predicted and anticipated…till now….

Max then looked to his most trusted partner, who let out a low growl as their eyes met, "Chomp…." he narrowed his eyes as Chomp let out a confident bellow, which convinced Max to nod back at him with a smile of firm assurance, "I know, let's do it." After that they could feel a strong connection between both their hearts, as they could even begin to hear and understand one another's thoughts and feelings, feelings of achieving peace for the future and unity between people and dinosaurs like how Cera had always hoped for. And the 2 of them were prepared to help her achieve that once more as they both turned towards Lunensis and eoraptor! "We won't quit, we won't be defeated…..Not now! Not ever!" He yelled with his heart filled with conviction as he too began to glow with Chomp much to everyone's amazement! "We're putting each other's fates in each others' hands, that's how far our bond goes! Soon everyone else will too!" He declared proudly before pointing out at Lunensis more determined than ever! "And we'll both show you Lunensis, first hand the real power of when dinosaurs and people together!AAAAAAHHH!" Max screamed together with Chomp who roared furiously as they both were bathed in bright yellow light which began to shine and illuminate the battlefield and soon the entire room! "Elemental fusion!"

"AAAH!" Lunensis gasped as he covered his eyes and his eoraptor shrieked in pain, as everyone else gasped in disbelief and shock over what was happening before them!

"Wh…What's going on now!?"

"Someone turn of the light! My eyes!"

"ARGH!"

"What's this!?" Various cries of discomfort and amazement echoed from the stands!

As the light died down, and Lunensis was able to see more clearly, he widened his eyes and he stared speechlessly, as Chomp emerged in a new form! Now coloured bright yellow with patterns of black stripes coating around his entire body giving him a sharp and powerful new look, but also brimming with immense power that had no doubt been locked deep inside him, only now being able to be unleashed with the unbreakable bond he shared with Max!

Lunensis' own dinosaur, for the first time felt fear beginning to brew deep down as it stepped back in light of this new foe, far unlike the triceratops they fought earlier prior to this moment and unlike any other opponent they ever face before! "Im…possible…." Was all his owner could breathe out, not once had he ever witnessed something like this before, it was far more than a mere colour change like with alpha dinosaurs, no, this was something completely natural and had nothing to do with being altered or twisted by science! This was done solely from the bond the triceratops had shared with his most trusted partner of all! Something which he…and the people of the future had long forgotten….

"AH!"

"Amazing!"

"What the!?" There were no words that could completely explain the feelings of awe, disbelief and amazement running through the minds and hearts of the people gathered to bear witness this monumental development, not once had something like this ever been discovered between man and dinosaurs.

Max narrowed his eyes hard, knowing he and Chomp had tapped into a brand new power which neither of them could achieve ever alone, and they planned on demonstrating it first hand to the people of the future, to help remind them of what they should truly be fighting for, "Take a good look Lunensis, the real difference between us and how this battle will be decided!" He declared to Lunensis who reared back in shock, as Chomp roared out and rushed head on to battle once again!

"Grrgh! Strike back with more power eoraptor!" the commander growled as he commanded his dinosaur to fight back! The stegosaurus glowed and shifted into megaraptor mode again! As Chomp charged full speed ahead, the raptor took to the air and spun before delivering an eagle like talon strike down at him with its front sickle claw! To his surprise, Chomp reacted instantly and leapt out of the claw's way, causing him to get stuck in the ground! As he tried to dislodge itself, pulling and tugging at his foot, he looked up and widened his eyes as Chomp rushed in rammed him head on! "No!" Lunensis gasped as the raptor crashed into the wall and slipped to the ground heavily battered from an attack nether of them saw coming! "Grrgh! Keep fighting!" Lunensis ordered in frustration, as the megaraptor picked himself back up and snarled fiercely while Chomp roared back!

Lunensis' dinosaur then glowed brightly as he changed form, however this time both Chomp and Max remained undeterred by the light this time as they stood firm and didn't blink. As Eoraptor shifted to styracosaurus form, he roared before trying to charge Chomp head on! A big mistake as he found himself slamming into what seemed like a stone wall before being tossed aside across the ground like a rag doll! Quickly he shifted to grass mode, then rushed ahead leaping into the air preparing to slam down on Chomp! To his shock Chomp instead managed to hold him as he landed down on his head before before being flung away again into the wall! As Chomp reacted and moved, Max almost seemed to see what he could and even mimic his movements from time to time as if they were in perfect sync with each other!

Chomp then charged in rammed the side of the lambeosaurus causing it to bellow in pain! As he backed away and began to mint another charge, his foe changed form this time to earth mode, as he swung out his tail to ward Chomp off from getting any closer! As eoraptor then swung his spiked tail with full force, Chomp miraculously was able to duck down under it before grabbing it as it came back! Before slamming his opponent onto the ground and then deliver a series of hard pounds with his foot on his unprotected stomach! Desperate, the eoraptor changed again this time to amargasaurus form and was able to use his foot to kick at Chomp's face and catching him off guard! Max gritted his teeth as he could feel the pain somewhat but he shrugged it off, knowing he and Chomp could still do this! As the amargasaurus got back up again, he began to pant heavily with exhaustion, but still wouldn't yield driven on by his instincts to please his master. He swung out out his tail, but to his horror, it had no effect when it connected with Chomp's side as he shrugged it off before charging and tossing him away once more, overwhelming the secret dinosaur and driving both him and Lunensis into a corner much to the bewilderment of everyone present!

"Incredible!"

"I don't believe it…."

"Such power! And it came from within the dinosaur itself!"

"Yeah and not by some weird mad science experiment!" They began to murmur and exclaim, they never expected the bond between a person and a dinosaur to be able to take things this far before! It was something they all wanted to achieve for themselves too, not just as a mere weapon in the war against the space pirates but something to carry on into the generations to come after that!

"Hey! I want to do that too!" Ursula pouted enviously at Max while Zander and Ed both whined childishly.

"No fair! Why does he always get the fun stuff first!?"

"Whatever the brat just discovered I must have it for myself!" Dr Z gritted his teeth as he leaned his face directly on the glass viewing dome till his face was squashed in and his maniacal grin could be seen across it!

Cera soon nodded after overhearing what they said, "Yeah…if we had such power too….we'd be able to put a stop to this war once and for all….and maybe even reconnect everyone with their dinosaurs too…." she thought seeing hope for the future if everyone managed to reconnect with their dinosaurs and believe in them as true equals like they once did in the past.

Something which others including Zoe and Rex agreed with as they nodded with her, "Mhmm…."

As he found himself being driven into a corner, Lunensis began to stutter and fall onto his knees, "This can't be happening….Am I…bout to lose? Everything I worked towards…" he shook and widened his eyes in disbelief, seeing his months of research and efforts being reduced to nothing by an inexperienced child who achieved something no one ever could! "No! I refuse to accept this! I will be the one to lead us all to victory! I won't let it end like this!" He then shouted in defiance as he began to give it his final go, "Eoraptor! Fire mode!" His dinosaur roared and glowed once more, before taking the form of a saurophaganax which snarled viciously towards Chomp and Max as he prepared to unleash one of his best moves ever! "End this now! Magma blaster!" Upon his master's command, the saurophaganax gathered fire in his jaws, stomped on the ground before preparing to fire a massive magma stream!

"I don't think so!" Max countered as he decided to take things seriously with one of his best moves yet! "Gatling spark!" Chomp surged with power as he rushed ahead, ploughing through the magma stream undeterred to everyone' shock and bewilderment!

"NO! Impossible!" Lunensis exclaimed as he was taken aback!

"He shredded through it like it was nothing!" Blaze exclaimed up above as he and the other captains widened their eyes at a skill of power that not only surpassed their own but even the commander's!

After that Chomp got right up close and personal with the saurophaganax, slamming its head up with his horns as he got in close under his foe's stomach, and began firing a barrage of lightning bullets through saurophaganax repeatedly without mercy, before finally thrusting upwards and sending him flying into the air and crashing to the ground!

"AH!" Lunensis widened his eyes, the shoe finally on the other foot as he found himself overwhelmed completely! There was nothing he could do!

"Amazing!"

"I knew he and the others were the real deal!" Others in the crowd began to gasp in awe and admiration for Max before cheering for him and the D Team once more, their faith finally restored in the great heroes who made their future possible, putting them all much more at ease.

At the battle, as Lunensis began to pant hard and heavily with desperation, Max could only eye him with pity as he closed his eyes, "I'll admit that hope isn't enough at times Lunensis." he said catching the man's attention.

"Huh?"

Max then shot him a firm glare after that, "But a world without hope isn't one worth living in, nor should it exist." he then said as he pointed forward, "And through hope the right kind of power can be made as you can see right now! With it we'll overcome anything that comes our way, including you!" He declared as Lunensis gasped in alarm at his words!

"AH!"

Not wanting to drag this battle out any longer, Max then took out his final move card, "Now Chomp! It's time for us to wrap this up! Final thunder!" Chomp roared as he put his all into 1 last attack, rushing ahead just as the saurophaganax managed to get up, he caught him off balance by slamming him back down with his tail before scooping him up with his head and throwing him into the air! Charging up a bolt of lighting between his horns he fired it at full force through his helpless enemy, piercing him directly through before firing off a barrage of lightning arrows which pelted through the saurophagnax as it coughed out in pain and then finally crashed down to the ground! As that happened, Chomp soon began to feel the after effects of his awakening and going super, as he began to pant heavily and slowly limp….while Max too began to sweat immensely too feeling the pressure get to him and experiencing the battle as Chomp did up close….

As for their opponents, Lunensis could only stare in utter disbelief, as his saurophaganax…remained motionless as it lay on the ground for several moments….tension in the air peaking as everyone awaited to see if the fight would continue of if it had ended. Before long….the saurophaganax glowed a bright rainbow glow, before reverting to its true form, back to that of eoraptor which lay down on the ground still….and nearly incapacitated….but utterly beaten.

Everyone widened their eyes at what they bore witnessed for the first time ever in their history of dino duelling,

"He….He did it…." Rex breathed in complete disbelief, before a big grin spread across his face, "Ahaha! Max did it! He won!" He laughed out loud as everyone began to shout all sorts of cheers and praises for a most splendid action packed battle filled with heart and spirit, something none of them had witnessed or felt in years…and it was like a breath of fresh air to them all as they gladly re-welcomed it with open arms!

"Yeah!"

"Woo hoo! Way to go!"

"That was awesome!"

The alpha gang and the D Team cheered with all their heart and soul for Max in unison, as he had in a way, laid down some sort of brand new and better law for them all. As the audience roared with applause and praises of all kinds, some of the captains like Blaze, Marina and Craig cheered with all they had, while others like Hua, Raina and Kaze only smiled with approval or let out sighs of relief…now that this long nightmare was over….or was it?

"Wait! Look!" Cera cried out loud in alarm as they all blinked and looked closer ahead.

"Huh?"

"What?"

They soon all widened their eyes and gasped, including Max himself, as the eoraptor, who was lying down almost lifeless earlier, soon began to stir and kick himself up as everyone gasped in alarm! He soon began to limp towards Max and Chomp, panting heavily with each step despite his massive injuries, even with his body on the verge of being broken, his spirit to continue fighting hadn't wavered in the slightest….every cell in his body was resisting the urge to faint and revert back to a card.

"No way….he's in really bad shape….and still wants to fight?" Max widened his eyes almost tearfully, he couldn't possibly bring himself to finish off a foe who was wounded to such a state…..it was admirable for one to have such a will to continue living and to fight on…but in this case….neither Max nor anyone else present was sure what to think.

Lunensis, refusing to accept defeat despite being overwhelmed so badly, gritted his teeth as he shouted out at his own dinosaur, "Eoraptor! Get up! Stand! They can't win!" he roared demanding him to keep fighting even in his heavily weekend state!

His harsh and heartless behaviour began to stir up rather disappointed and disgusted feelings amongst everyone present, even those who supported him initially, were beginning to see the truth behind his actions and now were losing faith in him as a leader they could trust, if he couldn't treat his own dinosaur with respect….what's to say he wouldn't do the same for him?

"Lunensis…."

"Is that really the commander?"

"Not the one I knew…."

They all murmured amongst themselves or out loud in disgust.

"How could he do that after all his dino did for him?"

"The nerve!"

"Grr!"

Even the alpha gang were put off to see such despicable behaviour….seeing it from a different perspective like now, they were starting to see that what they did before to the dinosaurs….wasn't all that different.

Max gritted his teeth in anger and lashed out at Lunensis' unacceptable behaviour, "Hey! Knock it off! The match has been decided!" he shouted, furious at not only the man's disdain to his won dinosaur but also for forcing him to fight when he was already so badly beaten he could barely move.

"Not it has not! Not while I have anything to say about it!" Lunensis retorted in a hostile way, his motivations not driven by determination or spirit, but by hatred and anger, "I won't accept anything less than victory! Now do as I say! Or else-

"Father stop!" a voice yelled at him from the other side of the room which caught him and Max by surprise!

"Huh!?" Turning to look they saw Cera, panting hard and sweating somewhat, having seen what had just happened she left her seat and rushed down as fast as she could, and thankfully she made it in time, "Cera!?"

"What is she doing here?" Max blinked his eyes in wonder, as Chomp then backed off deciding to let her handle this hopefully.

Catching her breath and wiping the sweat from her brow she then glared in disappointment towards Lunensis, "Are you so blinded by revenge that you can't you see what you've done with your own eyes!?" she shouted at him angrily and at the same time in pity at the state her once proud father had been reduced to.

"Stay out of this Cera! You know I can't do that!" He yelled back at her angrily, "If I lose then all we've worked towards, all the sacrifices we made all the suffering we went through…it would have all been for not-AH!" As he turned to look back at the battlefield, at his own dinosaur, he froze and his arms grew limp….as he saw his eorapter, still panting heavily from exhaustion and his wounds, shed a tear of sadness and pain….as Lunensis soon began to receive old memories flash through his mind, "Eoraptor…."

Remembering Max's words about him throwing everything away in pursuit of victory, he began to recall the times when he was a young boy around Max's age, when he first hatched his eoraptor from an egg and then laughing happily as he was licked. As his partner grew older, they had all sorts of fun activities playing fetch, exploring the forest and even sleeping in the same bed, almost everything they did was together. They also trained hard as well and even when they did lose battles against far bigger and stronger foes, they always laughed it off, all that mattered to them was that they had fun and friendship in the end….and he realised now, seeing what he drove his partner to become….Lunensis now began to realise to his horror, the moment he forced his dinosaur to undergo the same experiment as the other dinosaurs did...he now realised he crossed the line and had become the very thing he not only fought against all this time but also despised the most….

Looking up to see the looks of horror, pity or disappointment everyone was shooting at him, how he had betrayed their trust after they had pinned their hopes on him long ago….the monster he had become and now exposed before them all. He fell to his knees and grasped his head in despair, "No….What have I done?" he breathed shaking his head, as dark thoughts began to infest his mind and he felt himself sink into a pit of darkness….

As Max and Cera could only look on, feeling sorrow for him….they looked up in surprise to see the eoraptor had forced himself up and snarled out fiercely at Chomp!

SNARL!

Despite his wounds and driven past exhaustion and onto the brink of near death, he was still programmed to obey Lunensis' every order, and even if it costed him his life he was going to carry it out to the end even if it costed him his life! As he hissed and flared our his claws can teeth, demanding that the battle be fisnihsed, Chomp let out a soft growl of reluctance, finding it hard to go through with finishing off such a weakened foe….but the challenge was made and thus had to be seen through as Max soon lowered his head, "Alright…if that's really what you want….then you leave us no choice." He then said with a feeling of regret in his heart before hardening himself and his resolve to finish it, "Chomp…do it." He said to his awakened triceratops, who roared out and prepared to charge head towards eoraptor, who didn't budge from his position and instead braced himself for the final strike!

Roar!

Everyone cried in horror, some looked away, and Cera held out her hand about to cry for Max to cease his attack, when-

"WAIT! STOP!" Lunensis suddenly screamed out!

"Huh!?" Max gasped as Chomp then halted his assault upon the defenceless eoraptor, as he and his foe, along with everyone else looked to Lunensis who had run out onto the middle of the battlefield and stood in front of his wounded dinosaur holding his arm out!

"AAH?!" His unexpected actions caused everyone to gasp in surprise.

Cera blinked her eyes unsure of what he was going to do now, "F…Father?" Looking into his eyes, she could see sadness in them, and she gasped…perhaps sensing…empathy in him?

As he looked down upon his dinosaur, who soon slumped to the ground and collapsed, but still breathing heavily, Lunensis then lowered his head conceding defeat at last, "Victory is yours….I….surrender…."

His declaration caused everyone to gasp in disbelief at what they heard.

"Lunensis…." Max too was taken aback but son shook his head and sighed with a hint of relief, "Thank you…." he said to the commander, relived he called off the match in time, had he gone through with the attack Max knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself. After that, Chomp's legs began to buckle as a light shone and he reverted to his original form, before collapsing on the ground and reverting to a card which then returned to Max's hand.

Silence soon descended upon the arena, and the atmosphere of tension had not yet lifted, as everyone murmured and looked to one another, conflicted over whether they should celebrate or whether this could even be considered a victory.

"Max won…and yet….why can't I cheer happy for him?" Zoe then asked, as she felt the victory to be very empty and bittersweet in the end.

"I don't know….but whatever the reason…it's affected everyone here…." said Rex as he looked around to see they were eying the situation below tensely, with conflict inside. This wasn't the battle they had hoped to see, one where neither side had anything to lose and when they could just fight for the fun of it….it was great earlier while it lasted and when Chomp went into a new awakened form like never seen before, but now….it was short lived in the end.

Even the Alpha gang too, despite being allowed to stay, couldn't find it in them to cheer for Max's triumph, for it came with far more a cost than it was worth.

"Everything I did….All I wanted was to save us from doom….to help us see another day….where did I go wrong? Was it all for nothing?" Lunensis then spoke out as he fell to his knees and gazed upon his eoraptor, who was beaten utterly to such a point he was in near critical condition, as Cera could only look on, unable to say a thing to comfort her father knowing no words could reach his closed off heart and shattered spirit now.

"Hey, don't feel so bad." then said Max kindly to him as he looked up to see the boy now standing before him, with a light smile on his face, "It was just one match, it's nothing to be ashamed of, if you want when you're up to it you can try again?" He offered him with a hand.

Looking to it in shock at Max's offer, seeing it to either be naivety or pity, he gritted his teeth and smacked it away much to the boy's surprise! "It's not that simple!" He yelled before he fell to his knees and on the ground, hissing bitterly as painful tears fell from his eyes, each filled with pain, sadness and self hatred, "My best…I put all my heart and soul into….I sacrificed everything I knew and believed in and it still wasn't enough…." he hissed before lowering his head down further in shame, "I couldn't protect anything like you said….and what's worst I gave up so much more….and still lost…." Despite being victorious Max couldn't feel proud of himself, he only wanted to change Lunensis' views, not reduce him to such a pitiful state, "If I can't win here….It's hopeless now…there is no future…." he then breathed heavily as he slowly began to lose the will to continue fighting on….and slowly he began to feel himself slip away and lose himself in his own guilt…his desire to keep fighting or even to live was beginning to ebb away and he felt himself sin further and further into the abyss of despair….It looked like nothing could be done for him, till Cera placed a kind comforting hand upon his shoulder, "C…Cera?" Lunensis blinked his eyes in surprise as she looked to him with a warm smile, with Miku on her shoulder.

"No it isn't dad." she said shaking her head.

"Mhmm, we can still make things right, if you let us help you." said Max as he walked up to the both of them.

Cera's father gasped as he looked to and from them each in confusion, "You both….would still show me mercy? After all I did?" he asked, "I…do not understand….how could you even think of showing a horrible person like me kindness…after going betraying everything we all believed in and even what I threatened to do to you and your friends had you lost!?" he cried unable to understand it.

"None of that matters now." Max responded to him firmly before kneeling down to look Lunensis in the eye, "What you did in the past will stay in the past, all that matters is now and the future." he said, having forgiven him for what he had done and tried to do.

Cera then placed a hand on her father's back, "Dad….I'm really sorry I wasn't there for you before." she apologised with regret and remorse as she patted him with empathy, "I know all you wanted was of the suffering of people and dinosaurs to end, but you lost your way and you lost hope that we could go back to who things were, because you were alone." she said to him before smiling lightly, "But now we have a chance to make up for lost time, start over and set things right." Lunensis blinked his eyes in surprise as Cera then held out a hand to him next, "Together as we should, with everyone's help." She said offering him a chance to come back to the way he was before

"Cera…." he breathed with no other words to express for the compassions he was showing him, something he had long forgotten….

"She's right you know." Max continued agreeing with what she said, "You ought to listen to what she has to say, in fact a lot of what me and my friends learnt came from her, and believe it or not, much of what she learnt came from you. So basically it was you who helped teach us to be better versions of ourselves from the start." He then grinned in a rather jolly way as he patted the man on the shoulder, "Maybe you ought to put some of your own advice into practice now that you have a fresh start and all."

"Max…." As Lunensis looked at Max closer, he could almost see like he was conversing with his past self….in the end he began to realise he betrayed more than the people and the dinosaurs, most of all…he betrayed himself. "Tch! How could I have not seen it sooner?" He then hissed to himself through his teeth, as he then punched on the floor with a hard fist. He was to be the hope for the people and the dinosaurs that they'd be able to return to their golden age once more, and he threw it all away because of his own selfish grief. Though….after he saw how Max had achieved a new possibility and hope for them in the battle just now, he began to see….that maybe the hope of going back to how things were once, may be possible for everyone else….bit as for himself…."Do you…honestly believe that?" he asked as he looked to Cera seriously but also with doubts in his heart too, "That I can change after all I did to the dinosaurs and threatened to you?"

She nodded in response much to his surprise, "We do dad." she smiled, "In fact I also saw it in you too as you fought and spoke to me and my friends earlier. True you may have been blinded by grief and despair, but at the same time you were following down the only path you could see." she explained now seeing things from his side and being more understanding as to why he took that path, "You mentioned the alpha process has a reverse function, if you truly were convicted on it you wouldn't have developed it in the first place. Meaning you were hoping to still have a change of heart should the time come." She stated, "Plus, during the battle, the way Max acted in battle, it was almost like how I saw you once before." Lunensis said nothing in response but looked away, unable to face his daughter, while Max breathed in surprise that she was able to figure that out, "You were fighting because you didn't want him and the others to suffer like you did didn't you? You wanted to keep them away from it all by any means necessary, to protect them even if it meant to break them in the process…." She continued in a remorseful tone, while she didn't approve of him doing so in the end he did have his reasons being driven to desperation and all, "Deep down a part of you really wanted things to be back way they used to be, but you thought it impossible and thus gave up on it all…." She then said at the end before smiling at him with empathy.

"Cera…." Her father knew she was able to read situations and people well, but her ability to even read the hearts and spirits of both people and dinosaurs….it always continued to amaze him everytime he saw it.

Max soon began to smirk and scratch the back of his head, "Hey, you know when I think about it, that's kinda what you did sometimes huh Cera? Heh…." he chuckled now being able to see the family resemblance between her and her dad, and he tried to make a joke about it, till he suddenly remembered the situation they were in as he shook his hand out, "Err I mean no offence of course! But-"

"None taken Max." Cera shook her head back at him before smiling lightly, "Now I see I was wrong on that." she then admitted before looking to her father, "If others were to offer help, it's one thing to refuse to protect them but also selfish to reject them. Plus by doing so you'd only cause all the pressure and pain to be focused entirely on you and thus you become overwhelmed by the strife and challenges the world may present before you." She explained, "Only with the power of bonds, friendship and mutual trust….with people and dinosaurs, can one truly be able to overcome them."

As Lunensis began to think more carefully, he began to see now that since the day he lost Cera, he hadn't opened to anyone else at all besides her. In fact he never got close to anyone before her, afraid of losing them too like he already had with his wife Maia once…..thus it made him vulnerable and fragile, as he now began to see.

"If I can realise that, maybe you can too." Cera then said to her father, now believing he had a chance to start over again, as she held out a hand to him.

"It's not too late Lunensis, in fact it never is unless you say so." Max smiled in agreement with Cera as he did the same too and held out his own hand too, "So what do you say? Think you can come back to the way things were and we win this war the right way?" He asked hopefully.

Looking up to them, Cera's dad could see the purity in both children's eyes as they were truly hoping for him to come back, and they along with everyone else were to forgive him too…..As he looked up and around, he could see the hopeful and anticipation of everyone present. Realising now the error of his ways, and his heart finally being touched after being locked away and hardened in the cold for so long….Lunensis soon nodded firmly with a light smile, as he took both their hands and they both helped him stand up.

As that happened, the old Lunensis soon perished….and now had evolved…or perhaps reverted back to the noble commander who founded the D Resistance, as everyone clapped, cheered and applauded in honour of this legendary moment which could transcend all time.

"That was an awesome battle!"

"Hope we can see another one again!"

They all cheered grateful to the D Team both for the exciting battle for the ages, as well as for helping to return their leader back to the man he once was and should always have been. Others even began to tear up emotionally at this beautiful moment, or bawl their eyes out overwhelmed with emotion, to see their long prayers had been answered at long last, it took a long time but it was worth it for it had been answered in the best possible way. The Captains too, began to look towards the D team kinds and even the alpha gang seeing much in them, much they still have to learn and even more that they themselves can learn from them too.

In the midst of the applause they were receiving, Lunensis then stood before them as they looked to him in surprise, "Cera…Max….thank you….you've both given me long lost hope that things can be better again…." he breathed as he lowered his head with regret, "I thought I had lost everything once….but in the end…maybe there is still something left to fight for after all." he then let out a light sigh, while it had been hard and painful for him to finally see he had committed wrongs he at least was grateful to at least realise it now. Looking to Cera, she was a prime example of how there was still something left to fight for after all, and how he was now here to care for her too. And not only that, the great D team and Alpha gang who helped raise her into an even wiser person that he had ever been….nothing could make him more proud of this moment. After that last he looked to Max and knelt before him with respect, "Max, I concede defeat, you truly are the better duelist than I am now….congratulations."

"Hahah…Oh it was a close match so I don't know….." Max blushed red sheepishly as he then scratched his head with a big grin on his face.

Lunensis however calmly shook his head back to him in response, "The reason I lost was because I lacked the faith and trust I had in my partner….something you and your dinosaur possess." he admitted painfully before smiling lightly knowing what he had to do if he wanted things to be like how they once were, "And until the day I reclaim my old spirit….I am not worthy of the title of champion." Max could only widen his eyes in amazement as the commander hsmeld soon bowered before him in respect and humidly, "Thus I pass it onto you." He then said submitting defeat as the crowds soon erupted into even

"Hail to the new champ!"

"Hooray!"

"Glad I actually lived to see the day the boss got dethroned!"

"Yeah! By a legendary hero no less!"

As Max looked around and stuttered, feeling overwhelmed by all the praise he was receiving, Cera smiled and giggled at him happily, "You'd make a fine champion Max, take pride in that and take good care of it too." she said to him as she gave him his full support.

"Oh err….I don't know what to say hehe…." he blushed sheepishly but nevertheless began to wave his hands out and give a bow to the audience as he returned their applause with respect and appreciation. Already they were beginning to see him as a far more worthy champ than Lunensis had ever been before.

"We always knew you'd win!"

"Hail to the new champion!"

The Alpha gang too were sweating and wheezing for what they just saw, and still hadn't even recovered yet as they began to faint from being overwhelmed with excitement.

"Way to go Max!"

"Congratulations!" Zoe and Rex both then cheered energetically for their friend for pulling off such an amazing victory, "Man that was a nail biter of a fight…..I almost thought he'd lose."

Zoe then smiled, "But Max was right, as long as we continue to believe, he and Chomp will always pull through in the end….." she then said.

"Now I think it's our turn to do the same….for everyone here Zoe." said Rex seriously to her, seeing that this victory, uniting the resistance and restoring Lunensis was only just the beginning.

"I agree Rex." Zoe then nodded back at him, knwogn the war was still something they all had to face together, at least now they had a chance of winning it. Plus…it would soon be time that they would need to evolve to, their partners along with themselves….

As everyone continued showering praise and cheers upon Max's victory, Dr Z soon folded his arms and scoffed enviously as he realised they were all focusing their attention on someone instead of him, "Hmph! I could've beaten that guy easy! Then everyone else would be worshipping me!" he whined before shaking his fists out in jealousy, wanting his name to be chanted instead and refusing to let the D Team steal the glory and fame he deserved.

His team however didn't seem so enthusiastic though, "I don't know Dr Z…." Ursula then muttered unsurely, being the first to awaken from fainting, as she pursed her lips with her fingers, "Could you do what that kid just did?" She then pointed ahead at Max.

Dr Z then shuddered realising the point his team made, that Max had indeed discovered something he didn't as he was forced to face the fact, "N…No!" he croaked before leaning ahead at Max through the glass dome locking his eyes on him, "But I'll find out how and when I do they'll all soon be bowing to me as Dinosaur King! Ahahahah!" He then laughed out loud much to the dismay of his team seeing he'd never change or perhaps he'd go worse from here on and maybe take it out on them in the future…..

"Ugh…."

Amidst all this, Captain Raina was still looking over the data and readings she acquired from the battle just now, and she soon noticed a certain spike in Chomp's power readings at the moment he went into his super form earlier, "Interesting….a burst elemental energy from within the dinosaur was detected….but what could have caused this?" she mused as she rubbed her chin with her finger, "Perhaps their bond? Something invisible yet we all can't deny it exists. Thus making it faith…." Even as a scientist she knew there were limits to what could be seen and with the material world as she then shut of her device to look at later, before looking ahead at Max with a proud smile, "Heh, perhaps science can't explain everything after all, but it wouldn't hurt to try." She said to herself before going everyone else in applause and praise for the D Team.

After that, Lunensis then looked back down to his partner dinosaur, who had just opened his eyes and looked up to see….a warm smile of kindness upon his owner's face, one which he had not seen in years…and it made him…feel at peace and happy like the old days…."Eoraptor….I'm truly sorry…" Lunensis bowed down apologetically to his dinosaur before stroking a gentle kind hand down the little dinosaur's scaly body, "Could you ever forgive me for what I put you through….partner?" he pleaded, hoping that his apology would be accepted, while also bracing himself for the consequences if he didn't. To his relief, the eoraptor, despite the suffering he put him through before, kicked himself back up and began to lick Lunensis' face with affection, as the older man then laughed happily with joy and warmth filling his soul, "Ahah….thank you…" he cried gratefully as he hugged his partner dinosaur close to him, amazed that even after what he put him through all along he was still loyal to no end, a trait he vowed to never take for granted ever again.

Tears were soon shed by the people as they saw this happen, followed by cheers directed towards the newly reborn Commander Lunensis, knowing that the Resistance could trull fight for what was right now.

"Way to go!"

"Welcome back commander!"

As that happened, Cera looked towards Max and smiled at him with gratitude, "Thank you Max, you've really helped my father return to the man he once was. I really owe you and your friends everything."

"Hehe, it's fine Cera, as we said we're friends and you won't need to handle this on your own anymore." he chuckled as he waved his hand out at her like it was no big deal.

Cera then let out a calm breath, feeling at peace that everything worked out in the end like she hoped for, "You're right…if you never came with me then this may not have been possible….." With friends she had managed to accomplish what she believed was impossible, and now the dream of not only ending the war but also beginning a brighter new age didn't seem as farfetched and fantastical as she first believed.

Max nodded back at her, "And as we promised we'll stand by your side to end of this war. Whatever the space pirates throw at us well be ready for them together." he vowed as he held a fist to her, and she nodded and responded back with a fist bump of her own, which further added more fuel to the fiery cheers echoing all around them.

"Cera," Lunensis then spoke to her as she and Max looked to face her father, who now smiled with compassion and eyes brimming with true kindness at last, "Thank you…Because of you and your friends….I feel like I've finally woken up from a terrible nightmare and realised the error of my ways." He said boing down to them gratefully as he carried his eoraptor in his arms which was resting peacefully after the battle it just had, not just to recuperate but also at ease knowing his partner was back to his true self. Both Max and Cera smiled back at Lunensis as he then bowed with respect to them, "No amount of words could ever explain how I truly am sorry for everything, and from this moment forth I promise to right the wrongs I've committed in the darkness behind your backs…." He said with a new clarity in his eyes as he narrowed them hard, "And I know just where to start." He then said at the end.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further away at the ends of the earth, in a cold but dark sinister fortress hidden underneath layers of cloaking, Goma stood before the other 4 space pirates who awaited his return, after he stated to them he'll be making sure they're properly equipped for the tasks he had in mind for them. He smiled darkly as he presented before them a large metal case and laid his hand upon it, "I do hope you've enjoyed what I've brought you all…." he smirked proudly as he opened it up and sitting inside it were the cards of Gigas, Armatus, Maximus and Brontikens.

"AH!" The space pirates widened their eyes in surprise and amazement at what he brought them, before quickly seizing their respective cards without an ounce of gratitude, much to Goma's annoyance.

"Ehehehe! Finally!"

"About time we got our dinos back!"

"Now I can't wait to give those snivelling brats some well deserved payback!" Foolscap, Gavro and Sheer snickered as they grinned or fingered their old dinosaurs, eager to use them in a fight very soon.

Meanwhile Goma scowled hard at them as he tossed the briefcase away, seeing how easily they took him for granted after all the trouble he went through to get them their cards back, just like how they shrugged him off last time when he discovered the existence of the cosmos stones for them. Clearly they didn't take to heart what he was capable of after his earlier demonstration of the power he now held, probably because they now held dinosaurs of their own and didn't feel as vulnerable as they were before. Nevertheless he then smirked to himself knowing it didn't matter, he was done trying to earn approval or respect from them, now it was time that they proved their own worth or suffer the consequences.

Looking to the side, he then scowled and face palmed in disgust as he saw his father Spectre begin kissing his card all over, "Ahahahah! Brontikens! You've returned to me!" He laughed joyously before summoning his apatosaurus in chibi form and then cradling him in his arms like a baby and then kissing his forehead, "Mua! Did those nasty humans treat you poorly my sweet little Brontikens? Hmm?" He pouted petting the little sauropod's head before growling with rage, "Well they won't get away with it! They and every last filthy human on this miserable world will pay dearly for this!" he roared so loudly his voice could be heard echoing from outside the fortress!

Goma then smirked seeing his father could still be of use to him, "They indeed will father." he said catching his attention as well as the other pirates', "And many more will as well, only when I see fit."

They all soon blinked their eyes or raised eyebrows at him in suspicion, "Say what?"

"What do you mean when YOU see fit?" Foolscap and Sheer then questioned him with suspicion, and also taken offence as well.

"What you see fit?" Gavro scratched his head in confusion as usual, "You mean I'm getting fat and my clothes don't fit anymore?" he then asked before looking down to his belly to check for any flab.

"The time for revenge will come I promise you that." Goma ignored him as he turned his back towards them all, "But right now we must focus on the bigger picture at hand." He then said sinisterly as a grin came upon his face with his ind hatching a new diabolical scheme.

Once more Gavro blinked his eyes unsure of what he meant, "Bigger picture? I see no picture around….." he then muttered as he looked around the room with his hand covering over his eyes to see no portraits in sight for miles.

Goma then sighed and pinched his temple, starting to lose his patience but showed an immense deal of self restraint as he calmly replied, "I have a big plan in motion, one that will bring the entire resistance to its' knees. And I-"

"Hey wait a sec! Whoever made you in charge!?" Foolscap then yelled interrupting him much to his annoyance.

"Yeah, no way we grownups are taking orders from a pint sized punk like you!" Sheer hissed as she shook a fist at him,

Goma could see their acts of rebellion were beginning to get on his nerves, clearly he'd have to put them in their place and make sure they knew exactly where they belonged.

"For once you have a point," Specter then said in agreement with his men before he tried to talk down to his son and exercise his own authority as an adult, "Goma! As your father I-"

Goma suddenly shot them all a piercing glare, his eyes glowing deep purple which caused them to shudder and freeze in terror! "Don't forget, you 4 owe me your more than your pitiful lives could ever provide, thus you are all under my command now." he said menacingly as they froze stiff and sweated profusely, unable to speak back to him knowing any word that passed out from them would be their last, "You'd be stranded in the middle of space on that asteroid for all eternity if it weren't for me, in fact I could throw you all back into that black hole if I wanted to, chances are you won't be so lucky at the other end this time around." He then walked towards them and grinned, shooting them an expression which made their hearts skip a beat, that proved he meant what he was saying and he'd do it without hesitation, "Unless of course, you'd want to try your luck against me hmm?"

Seeing their only choices to be service or sacrifice, the pirate trio grunted most reluctantly not wanting to take their chances, "Tch!"

"Grr…."

"Fine…." Each of them grumbled seeing there was no use getting into a fight now, the risk wasn't worth it, they'd have to wait for their chance to come….if there was one….

"Hmph….you're no fun my son…." Specter pouted sadly as he began to wonder where he went wrong in raising him.

At that moment Goma's expression lightened and he smiled playfully at the older pirate, "Oh? I'm rather hurt to hear that father, especially when I went through the trouble of getting all your dinosaurs back, which you all so carelessly lost." he said causally turning his back to them as they scowled or grumbled behind his back, "And especially when I've prepared each of you a special task that I can trust no one else with but you." He said with a sinister grin after that as he had an offer for them that they'd be fools to refuse.

His words were quickly caught on by the other pirates, "Oh?" Foolscap raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Go on, we're listening." Sheer smirked with interest.

Goma then knew he had their full attention as he reached into his cloak and took out a black and purple remote he had under it, "As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, my empire has set up bases of operations spread across this planet, and I've decided to put each of you in charge of one." He said facing them. Turning back to face them, he pressed a button on it which caused a holographic globe of planet Earth to appear on top of it, and 4 locations marked at Europe, Africa, Asia and America lit up at it. The space pirates began to look closer at the locations seeing them to be labelled at Euro Plains, Kalimba Park, Darkwood forest and Dust Hills respectively. "And to make sure things proceed smoothly, I've decided to let you take these with you too." Goma snapped his fingers as they looked to him. Before long they began hearing the sounds of slimy footsteps they looked up to see a gel jark walk in carrying another case, this time coloured dark purple. As it opened it up before them, they widened their eyes with awe, interest or surprise at the 6 cards they saw inside it.

"Wow, check these out! Real sweet!" Foolscap grinned as he grabbed 2 of them and snickered eager to try them out.

"They look really gnarly…." Gavro commented with interest, putting a finger to his chin as he took 2 more.

Sheer then narrowed her eyes as she took the last 2 form the case, "So where'd you pick these up? From the underworld?" she snarked as she waved one of her cards playfully at Goma who scowled somewhat taking offence to her taking him lightly.

"I really have to find out where he shops for his weapons…." Specter then thought to himself as Brontikens let out a sleepy yawn and dozed off.

"I managed to put these together using some data my gel jarks were able to snatch from the Ancient Lab while they were retrieving your dinosaurs," Goma answered Sheer, "They'll be able to help you command the forces that I'm so generously allowing you to borrow." he then said before a second jark entered his room with a black case next. He turned to it and opened the case himself as 4 devices shaped like handheld computer screens with a series of buttons on their sides as well as energy readings on them.

"And with this dinovoc I just developed, you'll be able to control them effectively as well." He said tossing one to each pirate as they grabbed it either with ease or clumsily before it fell down to the floor.

"Whoa! Okay….?" Foolscap mused as he eyed it closely not sure what to make of it.

"How very interesting…." Sheer smiled as she narrowed her eyes at it, seeing it looked simple enough to operate.

Others though didn't seem to understand its concept yet, "How do I work this thingie?" Gavro squinted his eyes as he looked it all around and even began to sniff it.

"Wow! A new toy! Oh how I just love new toys! Hohohoho!" Specter laughed in a jolly way before hugging it with Brontikens and then showering them both with playful kisses, which the apatosaurus didn't mind too much.

"I'm glad you're all having fun….." Goma grunted doing his best to ignore his father's nonsensical behaviour before folding his arms seriously, "Because playtime is over, now's the time we make our move to divide and conquer." He said as they all faced him, "Listen to me carefully, here's what I want each of you to do." He then said as a malicious grin came upon his face as he began to explain his plans, as well as the high hopes he had for them should they succeed and the consequences should they fail…..

 **Thus debuts the awakened/super dinosaurs! Had to give a reason for why Max couldn't use his dino tector, therefore it made this new possibility.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the battle with Lunensis displaying his dinosaur handling expertise and use of all 6 elements, and Max restoring Lunensis to his true self too. Sure Lunensis may have seemed hard and overboard at first (Altering the dinosaurs to be stronger and more aggressive) but hey war can break people in a lot of ways so can you truly blame him? Also there have been a few occasions where his empathy towards enemy dinosaurs may have lead to some close calls in the battlefield, not wanting them to suffer but they still attack viciously regardless till defeated, thus leading him to desire more extreme measures. (Think of it like in Yugioh Vrains with Go Onizuka from season 2), also eoraptor struggling towards Max after defeat is kinda derived from dino stalker after you beat the troodon boss.**

 **The only one whoever prevented him from going overboard was Cera who was by his side but when she left he lost reason for holding back. Don't worry after this he's back to normal with Max having set him straight, took me a while to put together the right dialogue for this.**

 **Also let's not leave the space pirates out as they've just started to make their move too! The war of the dinosaurs shall soon dawn, which side shall prevail? Stay tuned as the war now begins!**

 **Lunensis' eoraptor was an unaltered dinosaur on the past, after what this chapter showed guess it won't be hard to figure out how to became purple now. But in the end was powerless against the bond of friendship and trust both Max and Chomp shared as they tapped into an all new power! Don't worry though, they'll be using their dinotectors again soon too.**

 **In response to reviews**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Yup that sums up Cera's story and yeah in a way you could say Lunensis did alter Miku to make her a secret dinosaur that way she could protect Cera better, also through that research on Dr Z's he later on found alpha dinosaurs too. Well Lunensis did lose his way as stated here but thanks to Max he's seen the real light and now back to before, though some of the alpha dinosaurs are willing to stay as they are or others volunteering to do it, those of the same species of the ones reversed. Taka is actually the talarurus, I saw that on the wikia just now. And yes glad you like how it leads up to this now.**

 **I see well that's too bad then if you can't reply to PM, but you have a story on your profile don't you so shouldn't you be able to go to a homepage and do PM still even if on an iPad?**

 **Guest**

 **-Not sure yet but Raina's device is in experimental stage.**

 **Guest**

 **-I do intend to have them use new moves later on.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Well not sure if what Dr Z did here was stupid to you but it did help the D Team find out about what Lunensis was keeping in the dark. Also it's clear he and Cera are the secret dinosaur users in the resistance.**

 **Well Blaze isn't exactly returning Ursula's feelings yet, plus he and her are from different times kinda like Zander and Reese or Dr Owen with Ursula at first.**

 **Strangely apatosaurus can also be water element according to the wikia, maybe those can be regular ones and Brontikens was an exception being secret element.**

 **Rose Gold**

 **-Nice theory but no, as shown here he was the real deal just that he lost his way. Plus gel jarks can't speak like humans can.**

 **Guest**

 **-I think this chapter proves that super will be used, for dinotectors they will come too but later.**

 **blackshadow340**

 **-Glad you liked it. A little hard to understand your review at first so thanks for the PM. Each of the gang will learn a lot to come from them down the road, Rex he won't get into physical training but will be more on guard later on. Cora's dad did lose his way regarding the alpha dinosaurs but won't spoil anything yet regarding them, will have to wait till next chapter.**


	53. A Blackout Wipeout

Chapter 53

A Blackout Wipeout

Much had transpired since Max's victory over Lunensis, his triumph had deeply impacted the Resistance and would soon change the course of their actions from that moment forward. As promised, Lunensis agreed to undo the Alpha process and did just that, one by one each of the dinosaurs he forced through said process had reverted back to normal, and while most of them suffered some after side effects such as fatigue or confusion for instance as a result of the reversion after being changed for so long, it wasn't something a good rest couldn't cure and thus were on the road to recovery. It would have been the end of all the alpha dinosaurs, as Lunensis was about to consider destroying the machine itself….when several troopers, along with their dinosaurs, decided to volunteer doing it out of their own free will!

Either because they felt it was still necessary and were willing to take it upon themselves or that the dinosaurs or troopers themselves wanted to get stronger too with new power, it was done so out of their own free will. While the D Team wasn't fully on board with it, it was still their decision to make in the end….thankfully the new dinosaurs that went Alpha were able to handle the side effects far better thanks to the bond they had with their partners which had been restored thanks to Max's actions, and before long every dinosaur that was reverted to normal was replaced by another of the same species so it was as if little changed from before. Something which made Dr Z really happy to hear now his alpha dinosaurs had a future in the future! The best part was that several of the dinosaurs also retained their original personalities prior to the process and while a few of them may have ended up going a little while at first in the end it was indeed the start of both science and friendship coming together like a perfect fossil.

After that matter had been settled, Captain Raina got to work in restoring each of the other main dinosaurs to their chibi forms, and while Rex and Zoe welcomed back Paris and Ace with open arms…..Terry, Tank and Spiny on the other hand….returned to what they loved best and that was torture Dr Z by biting his beard and paying the trio little to no attention much to their discomfort. After that was taken care of, came the most important matter of all…..informing all their parents of everything that happened. The time machine room, consisted of a very large platform in a certain chamber of the room with a number of large support pillars surrounding a huge teleportation circle pad in the middle. Using it, the Resistance helped in bringing all their parents in from their respective time periods, along with a few extra tagalongs like Rod and Laura, Helga, Jonathan, Patrick and even Dr Owen too! It was a rather sudden and startling development, when they arrived they were so shocked they were at a loss for words thinking they were all kidnapped again like with the space pirates a while back….though that theory was debunked once the kids ran up to greet them in a most hearty reunion.

It was then Cera's turn to step in and finally explain her side of the story as well as apologise to each and every one of them for the trouble she caused them and as to why she had to keep her identity a secret at the time. Upon hearing her story the adults felt great empathy for her, knowing it must have been really hard for a child like her to have been growing up in a time of war and strife. At first they were considering taking their children home too where it'd be safe, but then after a long discussion with the D Team….they all realised that they could never just leave Cera to herself after all they went through together. Seeing how determined their children were and how much they had grown since arriving their parents saw no reason to stop them, and also felt like they ought to help Cera too after what she did for them as well. Plus it was also a great opportunity for them all to finally learn about the future and about what man and dinosaurs had accomplished together too, as well as many troopers from the future excited to ask about the past and how they raised the D Team to become the legendary heroes they believed in, such to the parents' proud embarrassment to answer them.

Which is where the story's events now pick up from, inside a cyberspace battlefield, something amazing was about to happen, "Elemental fusion!" A blue haired soldier yelled towards her muttaburrasaurus who then gained a green aura before transforming into a light green dinosaur with stripes of dark green around it, as it bellowed loudly and stomped its foot on the ground as it and its partner achieved a connection, "Aw yeah! Great job muttaburrasaurus!" She then cheered praising her dino which let out a happy bellow, "Ahaha! Love the new look! You look absolutely gorgeous!" she smiled brightly at it as it looked back to her and licked her face with affection.

On the other side, her opponent, a spiky brown haired male, stomped his foot on the ground in frustration, "Hey why can't we do that too!? No fair!" He whined with jealousy as his dinosaur, a stegosaurus, wasn't able to achieve the same result. Max's triumph and discover of awakened dinosaurs sparked a newfound revolution in the resistance as well as help them rediscover themselves and some of their past bonds which they may have lost during the war, but now remerged stronger than ever, to the point where some of them could go super too!

In the training room, various troopers often gathered her to train in simulated environments and battled out with one another in virtual holographic battlefield rooms since the arena was currently occupied and training opportunities outside the base were severely limited with the war and all. Plus this interspace allowed dinosaurs to go all out without needing to worry about damaging their environment now. Right now various developments had taken place such as dinosaurs like sinraptor, tarchia, eucentrosaurus, tarbosaurus and baryonyx going super too! Others also included practicing tag team matches, as some performed fusion moves with one another hoping to hold trust and teamwork with one another and between dinosaurs, with explosive results being conducted with pairs super and alpha dinosaurs or even both together at once!

As Captain Kaze supervised them from outside the training rooms, Dr Z, Ancient and Cretacia were seeing everything taking place on the monitors in a room high above in a viewing box seeing the battle domes down below in the room and the cyberspace battles taking place inside them.

"How most fascinating…." Ancient commented in awe, it wasn't just the ties between man and dinosaurs that were taken to new heights but the possibilities and the technology that evolved with them too! "Who would've thought our future could actually evolve into something so astounding."

"And so totally amazing! EEEK!" Cretacia then squealed with childish joy and energy, in fact what she really was looking forward to most though wasn't dinosaur related, but to get her hands on her own mesozoic mobile, preferably a rock crusher, so she could bulldoze right over all their enemies and anything in her way, that ought to help her blow off some steam and excitement!

"Ehehehe! And it's all thanks to me!" Dr Z laughed rather smugly as he held his head high up, "Maybe now you both ought to be bowing down on your knees and showing your future king some respect! Ahahahah!" He hollered as both of Rex's parents shot him expressions of disappointment.

"Sigh….you never change will you Dr Z?"

"Even dinosaurs evolve better than he can and they've had millions of years to do it." They sighed at him in disapproval, other people who were looking at the battle with them, lost their excitement with Dr Z spoiling the mood as they soon left, feeling their faith in him had been misplaced all this time.

Grinning deeply at the sight of the battles onscreen, Dr Z then squeezed his face at the viewing glass closely, "Just imagine, if we could make an army of not just my beautiful alpha dinosaurs but these super dinosaurs too! Ohohoho! We'd be unstoppable for sure! Forget a dinosaur kingdom, we could create a dinosaur empire!" he snickered to himself out loud knowing he could become some kind of mighty conqueror with an army like this at his beck and call!

"That's where the line needs to be drawn." Ancient then pointed out, "If we see dinosaurs are nothing more than mere objects and weapons to use then this future wouldn't come to be."

"You did see what happened to Lunensis did you not Dr Z?" Cretacia then added as she folded her arms and scowled at him, "You want to end up like him and be hated by every living person on the planet and beyond? Hmm?"

In response, Dr Z huffed as he then looked away from the 2 of them, "Hmph! You're never any fun….always getting in my way…." he scoffed as he turned his back to them.

Not bothering with him a second more, the Ancients looked back to the battles taking place seeing a shantungosaurus go super before overcoming an alpha nemegtosaurus using emerald garden, "Still though, the fact remains this phenomenon does need some looking into…." Rex's dad then narrowed his eyes with deep interest.

"I agree dear….." Cretacia nodded with him as questions began to arise between them, like what causes this myserteous phenomenon and why did it only work with some dinosaurs and not all of them.

At that moment, Captain Raina soon walked in with her handheld computing device as she oversaw the battles taking place in the different rooms onscreen, "Captain Raina, do you perhaps have a theory or explanation for this?" Dr Ancient then asked as he and his wife looked towards her.

"Anything you can think up will surely help us in unravelling this mystery." Cretacia then added.

Narrowing her eyes at the data she then pursed her fingers over her lips in thought, "Hmm…based on the battle data I've gathered during Max's fight with Lunensis, I believe that this involved the elemental power within the dinosaur itself….my guess is that only a certain number of dinosaurs may have a stronger connection to the stone plates that gave rise to them in the first place." she explained having come to see that only a certain number of dinosaurs had this kind of bond to the stones, "Even if the plates themselves were destroyed the energy within them clearly didn't, perhaps it manifested itself somehow in the same energy we used to bring dinosaurs back to life in the first place."

Looking back, there was a time when Ancient's research was carefully studied and thus using the same energies he harvested long ago from the stone to convert live dinosaurs into cards, they were able to take it further to revive dinosaurs now, perhaps it may have bonded more strongly with certain species than others….though there was no visible connection or possible way to explain it. After that she brought up another screen depicting Max's battle with Lunensis, along with a graph showing energy fluctuations and as well as brainwaves between both Max and Chomp, before they synchronised at some point thus leading to the Awakening, "And with what happened with Max, he was able to help Chomp draw out that very power from within him. Perhaps it could be due to the friendship and connection they share with one another…." she then suggested as she showed the Ancients and Dr Z.

"That does sound like a most plausible theory…." Ancient then folded his arms in thought seeing no other way this could have gone. Though as he recalled back Miku did soemhow build a strong bond with the D Team's dinosaurs and even the Alpha gang's overtime, not just between one another but also amongst their partners too and their comrades' partners, strengthening the connections between all the dinosaurs and their human partners too, helloing them all to unite their causes as one and thus bringing out a long dormant power in the process.

"Whatever the case is, it's definitely something that'll give us the edge we need in this war against the space pirates." Dr Z then stated before a mad grin appeared on his face, "Hee hee hee! And just imagine the possibilities we can explore if we can somehow combine this ancient power with futuristic science too…." He grinned as he began rubbing his plans together with all sorts of ideas bursting into his head. Imagine if he could combine this awakening process with alpha or maybe include armour on them both, the potential for new evolution was limitless! Of course such a theory would take time and experiments, experiments which were unlikely to be approved considering no one in this entire building would ever let their dinosaurs be experimented like guinea pigs as he then sighed in disappointment and lowered his head down soon after, seeing this may be one dream of his that may take too long to achieve.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"EEEEK! This is a nightmare!" Ursula squealed as she ran down the hallway past some confused troopers and passerbies, with Chibi Terry right behind her. Looking behind she widened her eyes to see her relentless pursuer still hadn't given up chasing after her, even when she had hop across lava rivers and around spewing volcanoes in the fire station they did little to deter him as he cried out for her!

"Ursula my love! I knew that not even time and space could keep us apart!" Dr Owen cried with tears of joy and heart as he puckered his lips and held his arms out for her, which spurred her to accelerate even more! In fact since he laid eyes on her in her new outfit he felt the beast within him awaken and now full on instinct had taken over him and his rational sense.

Right behind him, Patrick wheezed as he sweated profusely under the immense heat and exhaustion from following them, as well as the lack of air with all the sulphurous fumes from the volcanoes, "Señor! Please wait up!" he pleaded for his boss to slow down as he tried desperately to keep up with him!

"You maniac! Didn't I already tell you no?! When will you get it through your thick skull!?" Ursula then screamed back at him!

"Never! I'll never give you up! I'll chase you to the ends of the world if it's the last thing I-" He was cut off as a fist suddenly smashed into his face!

WHAM!

"AAARGH!" He cried as he was blown back and he fell into Patrick's arms!

"AH! Dr Owen!" he gasped as he grabbed him in time, though felt himself pushed back slightly, "Are you okay!?" he asked with concern before looking up to see what hit him, only to widen his eyes and turn pale at who he saw, "GAH!?"

Dr Owen though was still recovering from his sudden impact and was oblivious to what had just happened, "Urgh….my face…." he grunted, feeling his nose was slightly bloody and as he began to open his eyes he saw his glasses were also cracked as a result of the huge blow he took! Seeing clearer he realised a man was the one who hit him straight on as he saw a set of brown jeans right in front o hfs eyes. He then gritted his teeth and looked p to get a view of the man's face so he could look him in the eye, "Hey whoever you are you'd better apologise or-EEK!" Dr Owen soon turned as pale as Patrick was as he saw Blaze stand before him, stating rather tall and proud like a big hero would, as Ursula widened her eyes and covered her mouth in amazement.

"Oh my…."

"Tsk, tsk. That's no way to treat a lady," he said to Owen, shaking his finger with a smirk on his face, "Now be good boy and apologise or I'll have to teach you some proper manners myself." he then grinned at the 2 men, as chibi Daigo came out from behind his leg and hissed at him, followed by Gorgon who stomped in towards them in full sized form, though now as a menacing alpha gorgosaurus with reddish marking around his eyes and grey skin who then snarled fiercely, striking fear into the hearts of both men!

"Grrr…."

Dr Owen felt not only his heart race from fear but also shatter to see that he couldn't compete with the likes of him in a million years, "I…I err…gulp….got it…." he swallowed his pride hard as he turned pale at the sight of the huge carnivore breathing down his neck, before fainting from fear and from heartbreak in Patrick's arms!

"C…Come on Señor…..Perhaps it's time we….excuse ourselves before we become someone's dinner." he suggested to his boss as he hastily dragged him away from the premises as Gorgon then let out a snort.

"Honestly, I can't believe the nerve of some people…..picking on others when they're just minding their own business…." Blaze then sighed shaking his head in disappointment, while Ursula's eyes shone brightly and she clapped her hands together feeling herself overcome with love!

"Oh my hero!" she cried in joy, as Terry simply yawned in boredom and walked off someplace else.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the vehicle garage below, where mesozoic mobiles were being tested in a racing rink in one section or were being retrofitted/repaired, Ed decided to try out one for himself, a small SUV model called a Light 4WD. However, he barely managed to fit half his body in through the front door at the driver's seat and to his horror found himself heavily lodged in and unable to move! "Urgh…I think I'm stuck….." He grunted in annoyance as his legs stuck out hanging where everyone else was staring at him, some even deciding to take a few snapshots at his behind much to his dismay! "H…Hey stop that! Can someone help get out please!?" he cried out in embarrassment, blushing red while also sweating nervously feeling rather claustrophobic himself!

Fortunately or unfortunately for him, his wish was about to be granted in a most effective but terrifying way, as trooper backed away nervously as Captain Craig stepped forth from the back, "I take care of this in less than a second." he said grinning rather unsettlingly as he popped his knuckles and grabbed hold of Ed's legs!

Ed turned pale as he heard the burly man's voice and felt his legs grabbed by beefy arms, "Yikes! Stop! Don't come any closer! WAAAAH!" He screamed as immense force was exerted at his legs and he felt himself pulled with immense force while still locked in a huge vice of the car door! "YOOOOW!" His screams of pain and agony however were greatly ignored by Tank, who was enjoying a nice nap in her chibi form along with Spiny not far from where he was.

In another area of the garage, Zander was eying Reese who was staring closely with another scientist at a computer which Rod was working at, which was sparking rather violently as he worked his tools into its inside compartment. As he eyed Reese dreamily he then heard the sounds of an engine running, looking away to a screen it depicted Marina rising a dark blue and white speed demon mobile in the training course, and the way she took the sharp turns was both fluid and smooth. He sweated nervously as he looked to and from both ladies before pulling out his hair in agony, "ARGH! Why does the world have to be so cruel!? No fair!" He cried painful, his heart felt it would be torn in half as he cried into the floor and banged his fists on the floor.

Reese meanwhile was more interested in the scientific developments that had taken place, Rex's future was impressive but Cera's was pretty much legendary to her, though what surprised her most of all was how Rod was patching up technology that was years ahead of his own, "How very fascinating…." she said looking at Rod as he looked away from the console, halting his work as the computer soon began to start up again. Now he was dressed in a seedless white singlet and wore a large metal pan over his head for protection in these circumstances.

"Hey! You actually fixed it!" The scientist gasped in surprise as Rod then rubbed his nose with a confident smirk.

"Heh, putting stuff like this together's really easy once you get the hang of it you know." He said as he folded his arms on his hips and held his head up high, "In fact anyone can do it if they just put in a little more elbow grease, after all nothing beats hard work and determination!"

"Hahaha! I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time." The scientist laughed as he shook hands with the young boy. The sight made Reese smile happy, as she then decided to head to the lab area to modify some dinoshots to give to the others so they'd be compatible with the element boosters like Cera's.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the mess hall, lines of people had gathered at the cafeteria due to the introduction of several new delicious but of course healthy dishes cooked up by none other than Mrs Taylor and Drake, as large of people gathered hoping for a bite of what they had to offer. On the other side behind a large door was where the dinosaurs were fed in large spread out enclosures much like that of a zoo animal's where food was poured into long feeders which they began to eat their respective meals. In one of them, was a pachyrhinosaurus, as it was munching away at some freshly prepared fruit and vegetables and it was going so peacefully for it till it ended getting lassoed by the neck and a hitchhiker decided to take it for a ride!

"Yeehaw! Just like back during the world lasso championship!" Dr Taylor laughed out loud energetically as he had his lasso tied around the neck of a pachyrhinosaurus which was bellowing out in agitation as it tried to buck him off like a mad bull! Spike however grinned with confidence as he kept his balance firmly and shifting himself to match the dinosaur's movements, "Once I master this dinosaur, I'll be able to have my own at last just like everyone else!" He then laughed to himself as he imagined rising said dinosaur into a battlefield surrounded by Gel Jarks and every else was cheering for him as a hero, "Hahaha-WAAAAH!" He unfortunately lost his concentration at that moment as the ceratopsian launched him into the air till he smashed right into a wall! "Urgh…or maybe not….." he groaned in pain sliding to the ground as the blue dinosaur snorted in annoyance before stomping off back to its feeder to eat.

Hearing what had happened and knowing what it was, Aki then covered her mouth but failing to suppress her amusement, "Ahahaha, I knew Spike would love it the moment we set foot here." she giggled knowing it was just like him to behave like that. After that she looked ahead after having passed off some freshly grilled hamburger patties to some troopers others had came take their place followed by some returning customers! "And to think there'd be so many hungry mouths to feed….." she smiled seeing so many people appreciating her cooking, she didn't expect how much she'd enjoy this trip to the future herself plus how eager she was to please each and every one of them.

"Well, this crowd isn't going to feed itself Aki," Mrs Drake then stated as she tied on an apron and folded her arms on her hips, "Might as well get started."

"Then allow us to assist you!" Helga and Jonathan called out to them, as they returned from serving the dinosaurs in the other room, and were ready to contribute their services to feeding the growing number of hungry troopers hoping for a meal.

"We'd be honoured to have all the help we can get." Zoe's mom nodded as they all looked ahead at the huge challenge presented before them, as some of them even held out their empty or greased plates and cried out for food.

"Seconds please!"

"Make it thirds!"

"Ahaha alright, it'll be ready soon." Mrs Drake then laughed as she got to the pot to scoop out some freshly made beef stew. After that she then raised an eyebrow in curious thought, "Still….I wonder how my husband's doing though…." she wondered having not seen him for a while since arriving.

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the grass station, a pair of terrified chibi dinosaurs, an altirhinus and a tuojiangosaurus, ran out of the tall grass crying as Dr Drake rushed out of the grass, holding onto his new Mega Needle like a hunting rifle as he pursued both little dinosaurs through the prairie, "Come back here you two! I only want to give you all a new experimental vaccine I just made to give eternal immunity to any kind of ailment!" he cried out to them as he flashed his high needle filled with dark purple bubbly liquid inside, though his actions only guaranteed that they keep running for their lives, as they scurried off into the next path of tall grass unwilling to be used as lab rats!

"It won't hurt! I pro-" Unable to see what was in front of him, Dr Drake ended up bashing right into a large green tree trunk!

BANG!

"ARGH!" He yelped as he fell back on his backside and his nose was swelling red, as well as a small bump appearing on his forehead too. He gritted his teeth cringing with paint as he rubbed his sore face, "Urgh now what was-" A loud hiss sounded right above him, which made him open his eyes widely, as he saw a pair of large theropod feet right before him. Slowly looking up, he turned pale to see a massive carcharodontosaurus looking down at him with a menacing glare as it flashed its long serrated teeth at him!

"Grr…."

Zoe's dad pulled on his collar and swallowed down hard as he could feel himself sweating on every part of his body, "Gulp….err he he he…hello there sir….the doctor will see you now?" he chuckled nervously as he held out his huge needle at the dinosaur hoping he'd scare it off.

However, unlike most other dinosaurs before, this carcharodontosaurus wasn't at all deterred by the sight of the needle, instead it took it as a threat and instead let out a loud roar as it tried to stomp down on the poor man! "WAAAAAH! Okay we'll reschedule then!" He squeaked as he scurried away as the foot crashed down where he lay at first before becoming the hunted himself as he ran off into the bushes with the massive carnivore on his heels! "HELP MEEEE!"

"ROAR!"

Further away at the japanese garden, Zoe, now wearing a blue flowery kimono, let out a heavy sigh and face palmed herself upon recognising his terrified cries, "Oh dad…." she frowned as some of the others in ikebana class then stared at her with raised eyebrows questioningly.

Earlier she introduced her dad to the medical bay considering his expertise in animal healthcare, though this turned into a grave error in her judgement for instead of wanting to learn more about animal care he was overcome with excitement and went off to test his newly made formula on whatever dinosaur he could find in the station….something she wished she saw coming as the experience pretty much made her the center of everyone's attention in a rather unpleasant way….

Now she was trying to take her mind off it by taking part in ikebana flower arrangement and pruning, while surrounded bye all kinds of incense in aromatherapy….it was working at first but the sounds of her dad's cries for help made her healing session a much less pleasant one as others began to stare at her again from their seats.

Paris, after having a drink from the koi pond, had just went back to where she was as she hopped up to nibble at Zoe's newly trimmed iris, only for her to have her snack pulled away from her, "No no Paris, this isn't food, okay?" Zoe wagged her finger scolding newly chibified partner who then let out a disappointed him in response.

Further off at the nursery, another girl was enjoying the visit more so, "Ahahahah! This is so much fun!" Laura giggled to herslef happily as a group of baby maiasaura went over to lick her face and she found herself helpless at their bright eyes and curious demeanour as they began to smother her with love, while Captain Hua along with the mother maiasaura looked on from a distance with light smiles, "I can't wait to tell mommy and daddy when I get home!"

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the middle of the battle stadium room, where Max earlier had his mind boggling battle with Lunensis, a pair of troopers had their dinosaurs pitted against one another, in chibi form surprisingly.

"Alright Gondo! Go get him!" One female solder cried to her mapusaurus which snarled at an opposing gastonia and its male partner.

"You go Kotetsu! Don't you lose now!" He then yelled as both dinosaurs prepared to rush at each other in battle, only for Max to suddenly interrupt as he an Chomp ran in between them both!

"No no no! You got it all wrong! This isn't battling practice!" he shouted out loud, calling off the fight as he held out his arms at both of them much to their surprise while Chomp barked out at both the chibi mapusaurus and gastonia.

"Huh?"

"It isn't?" They asked him curiously.

"No! Of course not!" Max cried in exasperation as he rubbed his temple in annoyance, "Man, you guys have been working hard and training for who knows how many years….it must have been really rough…." he sighed pitying them, living in times of war everyday of their life they must have forgotten what it really meant to truly bond with their dinosaurs….something he intended to reeducate them, "Now's the time to put that all aside and have fun!" He then smiled brightly and clapped his hands together.

The male troopers then blinked his eyes in surprise, "Fun? You mean like…actual playing?" he questioned.

"Well yeah…what else could I be talking about?" Max asked him as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Isn't that stuff all for kids though?" The female then asked raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Oh yeah? Says who?" Max then smirked, "You're never too old to have fun! Hey even my dad still has fun like I do and he's older than me and some of you guys." He then explained, "Besides, we all live only once, and me and Chomp?" He then grinned as he looked down to Chomp who looked up to him with a wagging tail, "Heh, we live a perfectly balanced life to the fullest and that means having fun and play for dessert alongside a healthy sized amount of hard work too." He said as he lowered himself down to pat him on the head, as Chomp then licked back affectionately. After that he looked towards both troopers and pumped up his arm with confidence, "Now follow our example and soon you guys will be able to go all super powerful like we just did today!" He then declared as Chomp barked out loud with energy.

Both the man and woman widened their eyes in surprise, "Whoa! Really!?"

"So then if we play with our dinos we can get strong like you and maybe even beat Commander Lunensis!?"

"For real!?" They each gasped in amazement while their dinosaurs too were just as taken aback as they were.

Max then held a thumbs up to them, "Yup! Without a doubt!" He grinned as the 2 adults then jumped up with energy and excitement.

"Awesome!"

"Who knew fun could be so powerful!" They said before looking to each other.

"It'd be just like old times!"

"Then let's get our fun on!" As they ran off in separate directions they went to go play games with their partner dinosaurs like they always did back in their younger days.

Seeing they were finally connecting with their partners now as friends like he and his teammates did Max then laughed out joyously seeing they finally understood what he meant, "Ahahah! Now you guys got it! Great job!" He praised them both.

"You know Max…." Rex sighed as he walked in with Ace towards Max, "While I agree there's always a time and place for work and for play, I don't think now's really the best time and place, you know, since we're in a war and all?" He asked the brunette feeling rather concerned, considering they were in a battlefield it'd be unwise to start acting like this in the middle of a fight….plus he didn't want Max to set a bad example for them either.

Max however wasn't at all worried about that, as he patted Rex on the back, "Aw come on Rex, you're way too uptight! Lighten up and Get with the program!" He smiled encouragingly before pointing ahead, "Look! Everyone's already doing it!"

Looking ahead they could see the woman tap her mapusaurus on the back before turning around to run in the opposite direction, "Tag you're it!" she cheered before running off and the large chibi dinosaur trotted after her.

"Okay, I'll hide, then you go seek!" The man told his gastonia as he covered his eyes and began counting to 10, while his partner lumbered off to find somewhere to take cover behind.

As Rex eyed the rather…unusual bonding between the troopers and their dinosaurs, Rex then put a finger to his chin in somewhat nervous talk, "I don't know…." On one hand the way the adults were doing it seemed rather ridiculous, he may be a young boy but even he didn't play such childish games with Ace, plus it'd be super embarrassing too….then again it did look pretty fun and tempting….

Max then said something else which sealed the deal, "And besides, let's be honest here, you want to have fun and play with Ace as much as we all do don't you?" He said giving him a cheeky wink as Rex groaned in defeat.

"Urgh…." He moaned as Ace looked up to him in confusion. As Rex looked ahead, he saw Max run towards both troopers with Chomp hoping to join them too, which then made him chuckle in amusement as he then shrugged his shoulders, "Well if you can't beat them, join them I guess…." He said before looking down to his small carnotaurus and then pet him on the head, "Say Ace, feel like playing a game of tag like old times?" In response Ace wagged his tail and jumped up and down in energetic excitement, confirming his answer which Rex couldn't be more happy to see as he then sped away from where he was then wagged his tail out at him, "Ahahaha! Looks like I'm it then! Here I-"

Right before they could begin though, a red alarm siren suddenly sounded throughout the halls pop the base, catching everyone's attention as they stopped what they were doing and looked up in surprise.

RING! RING!

"Huh!?"

"What the!?"

 **ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL, PLEASE REPORT TO MAIN HALL FOR NEW ORDERS!**

As it passed, Rex then lowered his head and let out a heavy sigh knowing they couldn't ignore something so important, "Well…guess playtime's over now…." he sighed scratching his head as Ace lowered his head too and grunted in annoyance at them losing at what may have been their best chance at playtime this entire trip.

"Aww….."

"No fair! I was just about to win too!" The Trooper moaned in disappointment, they were just getting into the spirit of their youth, till reality once again had to remind them of their duty as soldiers, as they slumped off to the main hall as instructed.

As they walked off and left the arena, Max then scratched the back of his head too, "What a letdown…talk about lousy timing, we were just getting into the groove too." he muttered in disappointment with Chomp who slumped down to the ground, wishing he could play more with the other dinosaurs.

"Can't be helped I guess…." Rex shrugged his shoulders as he walked up to Max, "Oh well, duty calls Max, let's get a move on." He then said as he ushered him to follow them to the upper floors.

"Yeah yeah…." Man grumbled as he stomped off after him, "What a buzzkill…." He huffed at the alarm, eying it at the ceiling just before they left the area.

 **(Later)**

Within moments, the base's main meeting hall was filled with troopers and a handful of dinosaurs which flooded nearly every section of the room, as they all gathered before a large stage where announcements were to be made to masses in events of serious meetings or important updates. Already everyone was murmuring amongst one another in anticipation or even excitement as to what was about to happen or what Commander Lunensis had to announce to them all, even the D Team and the Alpha gang were getting angsty and turning rather tense as they looked around them and the atmosphere was becoming heavy too.

"Wow look at all the people gathered here…." Max breathed in awe as he and everyone else looked around to see people and dinosaurs filing up the hall as the echoes of murmurs and animalistic grunts mixed into a sea of sound making it hard for anyone to hear each other, even themselves.

"Must be something really big coming up…." Dr Ancient then commented as he narrowed his eyes feeling the pressure in the atmosphere, something everyone else was picking up on….except for one of them.

"What's this all about? I was in the middle of brainstorming some big ideas till that infuriating alarm went off!" Dr Z whined impatiently as he felt himself pushed and even squashed between a bunch of people, "This better be good otherwise I'm going to riot for having my time wasted!" He then shouted out loud, flailing his hands and driving a couple of people away from him and causing the others to look to him!

His trio widened their eyes in alarm at his outburst as they hurried to him waving out their hands, "Ssh! Be quiet Dr Z!" Ursula cried to him, not wanting their situation to be made more complicated, as Zander and Ed tried to pat him gently to clam him down.

"Yeah grampa, if everyone was summoned here it means this must be really important!" said Laura to him with urgency as a couple others began to stare at him..

"So keep your mouth shut and don't say a word!" Rex then sneered as he quickly covered his hand over Dr Z's mouth!

The old man however simply grabbed Rex's hand and shoved it away as he then smacked the dust off his beard, "Hmph! Well I don't need to hear any of this! I'm out of here!" he grumbled as he stomped off out of the room without a backwards glance to find somewhere he could think in peace, in fact even the bathroom could be considered a playground to him compared to this meaningless gathering. As he did so, some of the troopers either ignored him or began muttering to one another about how rude and inconsiderate the was.

"Suit yourself Dr Z….You don't know what you're missing." Cretacia then shrugged her shoulders with a disappointed expression which was shared by her husband and the D Team before they resumed their focus ahead.

Max and his friends soon narrowed their eyes as the crowds soon settled down, hinting that a big announcement was soon to come. In seconds, the entire room fell silent, even the dinosaurs too fell as quiet as mice as the mass began to sense and hear the footsteps from someone of high authority approaching the stage. Looking to the side from where they echoed from, everyone gasped or tensed as a certain father soon stepped onto the stage, and following right next to him was a red haired girl that Max and the others were all too familiar with as they gasped in surprise.

"Hey look!" Max pointed out at them from where they stood.

"It's Cera and Lunensis!" Zoe gasped in surprise that they were going to be giving some sort of big speech to everyone present.

Rex narrowed his eyes, "This must be serious." he whispered to them as Max nodded back at him.

"Yeah…but let's just wait and see." he said back to them as they along with their parents and the Alpha gang stood firm and fixed their eyes at both father and daughter, not turning away for a second or even blinking, as Lunensis stepped aside and allowed his daughter to speak first.

As she stood before everyone, she presented herself with such dignity and firmness, she seemed almost like a completely different person to her friends as her aura gave off a sense of authority which commanded high respect like her father did, perhaps even more so. Even the adults could feel this too, especially the alpha gang who usually weren't too fond of her and the D Team found themselves unable to look away or act rudely, instead stood tensely and froze stiff unable to act or even say anything snarky knowing the reprimanding they'd receive from everyone else whose attention she already held.

She cleared her throat momentarily as everyone waited in anticipation for what she had to share with them, which she soon did, "Greetings honoured members of the resistance, I thank you very much for your presence." She introduced herself lightly, "Today is a momentous day that shall live forever in our hearts, that not even the fabric of time could erase even in an eternity." She said with a light smile before identifying and eying her friends in the background. As she focused her attention on them everyone else began too have their eyes focused on Max, Rex and Zoe much to their surprise and slight unease at this sudden shift of attention, "And it is also with great and equal honour that if it weren't for the efforts of the D Team, the best friends I could ever have, my father may not have returned to the man he truly is right now." She said before looking to her dad who smiled back and nodded at her. Hearing how she gave them the full credit for this made them all, especially Max, feel most honoured and appreciated to have done something great for their friend and all these people. Something which their parents and friends were no less proud and impressed by their deeds, "May this new development usher in a brand new path and future that we can all strive towards with pride and hope! Like how the dinosaurs didn't have to be extinct forever and could be given a second chance, so could our bright gold age from before the war be brought back as well and our ties with the dinosaurs and one another be strengthened forever more!" She then proclaimed at the end as everyone else cheered and applauded for her impactful speech and for the D Team too, as the sounds of cheers, claps and happy dino noises filled the air!

"Yeah!"

"Way to go Cera!" Max, the D Team along with Rod and Laura praised her shaking out their fists in excitement.

The adults, gave off a more modest but far more emotional response to her impacting words, "Oh look at her….all grown up….." Aki breathed as she clapped her hands together and a small tear shed from her eye with Mrs Drake.

Others though were unable to contain their feelings which were welling up like a huge geyser, "Sniff….she may not have been our own daughter but to see her come so far really….brings a tear to my eye….sniffle…." Dr Drake wept, his heart deeply moved as his eyes began to water out like a fountain, if this continued he may even need to see a doctor of his own! The sentiment shared by Dr Owen, Dr Taylor and even Cretacia as they cried their eyes out too with joy.

Cera smiled feeling honoured that her words had left their mark on her allies and friends, knowing it will help carry them on through the war and into he future beyond that. With her having said her piece she stepped aside and allowed her father to take the stage next as everyone began to quiet down as they knew it was going to be the important part now regarding the Resistance's next course of action.

"With the introductions now aside, it's time that we all now returned to the battlefield and take the fight to our enemies once and for all." Lunensis started as the masses began to grow serious and narrow their eyes, hardening themselves knowing that the time to fight was returning to them. He hardened his expression as he looked to the D Team's parents and new allies who came from the past with them, "To those of you who aren't aware, our foes the spectral space pirates have recently grown in their forces within the past few years and thus have established themselves now as the shadow empire." he explained as everyone turned tense at being reminded of the reason for their plight and what their cause was, "They have several large operations at work in various parts of the world, where our resistance camps and bases have been struggling immensely in our efforts to keep them from further advancing their positions." He explained as a hologram of the globe appeared above him, and 4 locations on Africa, Asia, America and Europe were marked on them.

"In the past we severely lacked the means to further reinforce our ranks and defend our outposts, let alone be able to launch an assault at the enemy bases of operation." Lunensis then continued in a hard tone as he looked up at the hologram of Earth before shutting it off, before smiling with confidence as he turned back to the crowd, "However, with the inclusion of the D Team and the Alpha gang by our side, now we not only possess the means to do so but the hope of being bale to overcome our enemies and restore our world to how it should have been years ago is no longer a mere fantasy but can become our future!" He then announced once more causing everyone to cheer and applaud again.

Cheer

"Yeah!"

"You tell em commander!"

"We'll make those flying creeps regret ever setting foot on our planet!"

Some of them began to look towards the D Team and Alpha gang as well as the began to give them their thanks and praise too, "Welcome aboard friends!" Some even went in to hug them close or shake their hands at their 're-introduction now by the true Captain Lunensis.

"It's a big honour!"

The responses from the D team ranged from either calm smiles of confidence or by blushing red faces of embarrassment, "Ehehehe…."

Some of their parents and adults were being praised for having raised such fine young children, while their mothers may have took it humbly or like it was no big deal-

"Oh it was nothing…." Aki blushed red as some complimented her on how Max got his charm.

"I couldn't be any more prouder…." Mrs Drake giggled as she held her hands together proud of Zoe.

"Oh come on now! You're giving me waaaay too much credit!" Cretacia laughed out loud in a jolly way.

Their fathers also began to boast proudly that they taught them everything they knew in order to gain more credit and popularity.

"Hahaha! Everything my boy Max learnt came from me!" Spike grinned holding himself up high and pointing to himself with his thumb

"I gave Zoe all her shots so she's as strong and healthy as she is now!"

"I took care of Rex since he was a baby when I found him at the museum!"

Rod and Laura also decided to milk the moment by claiming they were better than the D Team now and then too, or take advantage of the fact that they were all friends too. To keep them from getting too close though and intruding on space, Reese, Jonathan and Helga worked hard to keep some of them from dogviling the kids or the dinosaurs from getting too close for comfort! Even the Alpha gang trio found themselves getting pumped up for action too, feeling motivated by the praise and excitement, "Man I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually feel fired up and ready to take em on!" said Ed as he pumped up his arms and grinned eagerly.

"Yeah bring em on! Say the word and we'll all do it!" Zander cheered as he and Ed grabbed Ursula's arms and held them up much to her surprise!

"H…Hey! Don't I get a say in this!?" she cried out in protest, fro once she was hoping they'd stay gloomy and unmotivated so she could kick start them herself who she wanted, but there was no going back now.

Hearing the energy flowing the room and the positive feelings generated from everyone gathered, Lunensis and Cera both smiled to see the positive impact and influence their genuine words had inspired in them, motivating them well for the battle to come too, "I see some of you are eager to take action already." The commander then spoke up with a smile as everyone quieted down and looked back to him as he folded his arms behind his back seriously, "Such spirit is good but it'd be wise for you all to be properly equipped with the right tools and knowledge first once you see the forces our foes have established." He then focused his attention to those present who weren't from their time which included the D Team, the Alpha gang and those involved with them, "However….before we do so….we'd like to at least give you a fair choice first." He then said as Cera frowned slightly knowing what he was going to say, and the others blinked their eyes in confusion.

"Fair choice?"

"Wait, you mean?" Dr Ancient and Reese asked him.

Lunensis then nodded calmly in response, "Yes….the choice as to whether you truly wish to aid us in our battle on the frontlines…..in the field of war." Soon they all began to realise what he was going to say as they turned serious, "We won't force any of you to take part in such missions for the moment we all set foot outside this base, it will be a matter of life and death."

The room fell serious and silent as everyone's eyes were averted on the ones Lunensis had addressed, this time allowing them the freedom of choice, for this battle would not only determine the outcome of the war but hold anything happen to them it would also affect course of history, something they all knew too well, "Nevertheless, I know we are asking much of you all, but we really hope you'd be able to stay and fight with us, we'll need all the help we can get for a war of this scale." he then said calmly also ow accepting they needed the help but at the same time didn't want them to be in mortal danger either for there was no guarantee that their safety would be completely assured should they accept, "If you wish to leave, you'd best make your decision now. Whatever you choose we will gladly respect your decision." He said at the end as everyone awaited their final decision with anticipation.

Some of the troopers were nervous and sped they'd say no, others felt the risks were too great and wanted them to stay safe and a certain few were readying themselves to be at peace at whatever answer they'd receive. Cera too braced herself, deep down she had a feeling she knew what Max and the others would answer, but she didn't want to get her hopes too high for the others knowing they were more likely to leave or worse convince the others to follow them….either way she was prepared to accept whatever choice they'd make in the end.

Her worries though were soon about to be proven unnecessary as Max soon stated out loud, "What's there to choose?" he said as he stood forward with firmness in his expression, "No matter how many times you guys say it, we've already made our decision to stay and fight with you guys. he said tensing up his fist as several gasped at how firm and clear he was at it, "And even after what happened earlier today, that still hasn't changed." He said as he looked to Lunensis and Cera who were just as surprised as everyone else was.

Zoe and Rex nodded at each other before standing with Max at his side, "Your future is also our future too, and we'll fight to protect it!"

"Never in a million years will we let those space pirates get away with stealing it from you! You can count on us to help you take it back for good!" They said with clear determination as everyone else cheered joyfully in turn!

As that happened, Cera smiled brightly and placed a hand on her heart, "Max….everyone…thank you…" she almost wept, feeling moved by how much they were going to sacrifice for her, truly friendship could bring out the best in anyone had it been given the right time and conditions to grow.

Their parents too were also deeply moved by their children's words as they too cried out in excitement at what they heard from them, "You tell em Max!"

"I'm so proud of you Zoe!"

"You go Rex!" Spike, Dr Drake and Cretacia went.

The others present too were considering their choices, but a certain trio soon came to a conclusion before they could as they initiated first, "Well if you brats are staying here then count us in too." Ursula then spoke up as the others looked to her and the trio in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Really?" Zoe and Max asked them.

"You don't actually think we're going to let you hog all the glory now do you?" Ursula smirked smugly at them.

"Yeah! Let us have a chance at the spotlight for a change!" Zander then cried feeling envious of them and their glory in moments before and how they were the ones to always carry the team on in the past.

"Yay! Now we get to be actual heroes instead of the bad guys for once!" Ed then cheered waving his hands out like an energetic kid.

"Plus you kids are pretty much doomed out there without us," Ursula then snarked before waving her hand playful at them, "In fact why don't you just run along home and play house."

"Yeah! Leave this to the grownup professionals!" Zander and Ed both then grinned mischievously at them all.

In response Max and the D Team snickered back at him, "Heh, you guys've got that backwards…."

"Don't expect us to bail you guys when you get in a jam."

"Especially you old lady." They each said which made Ursula gain a tic mark on her forehead!

"Hey! Take that back right this instant or I'll make a fossil out of you!" She snarled as she raised out her arms and tried to skin them alive for their insults, only for Ed and Zander to hold her back from getting out of control and making a scene in front of everyone!

"GAH! Ursula control yourself!"

"Yeah not in front of everyone else!" They cried to her as everyone else began staring at them in confusion like they were seeing some kind of skit in a comedy routine.

Ignoring them, the adults looked to one another and nodded firmly, as Spike then stood forward to represent them all, "If that's your decision Max then you can bet I'll be doing the same!" He declared to them which came as a huge surprise to each of the children!

"AH!" They gasped in shock that he was choosing to remain with them in the war!

"Dad!?"

"Huh!?"

"You're kidding!"

Spike shook his head proving them wrong, "Don't think for a sec that you're leaving your old man out of the picture this time!" He grinned before tensing up as if he was in pain as he gritted his teeth with envy, "You kids have been taking up way too much of the action, living life and having all kinds of adventures, I can't stand it anymore!" He cried what seemed like tears of anguish.

Max though knew this was no game as he tried to talk him out of it and hoped he'd see reason,"But dad this isn't-"

"Same goes for us, no way you're getting rid of us that easily." Aki then spoke out as she and the other parents stood with Dr Taylor, further startling the D Team once again.

"M…Mom!?" Max widened his eyes till they nearly bulged from his eye sockets.

"You guys too!?" Zoe and Rex gasped in disbelief.

"I know we may not be all that good with battling dinosaurs like you have but….we can't just sit back home and do nothing." she then said with a somewhat sad look, "I'm certain there's something we can all contribute to aid your cause. One way or another." She then said with a firm expression that she won't back down from.

"Mom…." Max breathed, unable to find anything to say back to her, in fact neither he or his friends could come ups with anything to say back to her.

"Plus there's so much we can help you all with, if not in the field then at least here and for everyone else too." said Zoe's mom knowing she could donate her services to the medical bay or something too, plus she didn't want to be separated from her daughter anymore since the last time.

"There's just so much we can learn and benefit from each other too," said Cretacia with Ancient by her side having the intention to study the future more along with one even larger important factor, "Plus we've been apart way long too, no way are we going to be kept away from you like before." she said at the end which made it hard for the D team to fight back.

"I'd like to stay and help supervise you all from her if you don't mind…." Reese then stated knowing she can keep better track of their activities from their control center here.

Jonathan then bowed down before them all, "And you can be assured I will be here to protect them all while you and your friends fight the good fight Master Rex." he said politely.

"Us too!" Rod and Laura both shouted which caught the trio off guard this time.

"Rod and Laura!?" They exclaimed as they grinned brightly at everyone present.

"We'll stick to you like gum on a shoe!" Laura smiled brightly.

"Sure we'll miss mom and dad again for a while but at least it's way better than staying at home doing nothing all the time!" Rod smirked folding his arms behind his head, "Plus I'm sure they'll understand if it means we get to help keep grampa and his friends out of trouble." He added at the end with a wink.

"And I'll be here to protect you as well." said Helga which surprised them!

"HUH!?"

She then wagged her fingers at them, "Don't think for a second that you'll be skipping out on homework so easily." she said with authority to them as they lowered their heads and sighed.

"Yes Helga…." they muttered as the Trio snickered in amusement, before being shut down by a glare from her!

"Great….just when we already have more than enough to deal with…." Ursula then face palmed seeing they were going to add to even more of their overburdening loads, as if the D Team kids and punishment from Dr Z weren't enough already.

"Uh huh…" Ed and Zander both nodded with her after.

Max then looked over them all with widened eyes filled with amazement at their convention and courage too, despite knowing the consequences if anything went wrong, none of it mattered one bit, "Mom….dad….everyone…." he breathed feeling almost speechless.

"Max, whatever you kids decide on you're in charge and we'll follow through to the ends of the Earth!" said Spike as he pumped an arm at him.

"That's right!" They all then said in response to the D Team and Alpha gang, having accepted full responsibility of their choice and were willing to see it to the end, something which stunned not just them but also the entire resistance who bore witness this with their very eyes.

Seeing how from they were in their decision, Max looked to his friends as they along with the Alpha gang nodded, "Thank you, we really appreciate all the help we can get." was all he said in response before pumping up his arm with determination, "With all of us together there's no way we'll lose! That's a promise!" He declared as everyone then cheered in celebration. After that he and everyone else looked towards Lunensis and Cera, "There you have it Lunensis, we're staying put and we're not leaving till this is all over!" He said to them both.

"Yeah, plus Cera's helped us time and time again, considering this our way of saying thank you for everything she's done!" Rex followed.

"As a friend who helped us and also gave us hopes and dreams." Zoe ended at the end as she clapped her hands and smiled brightly, "And we want her to continue doing so for generations to come even when this is all over with too."

"Everyone…." Cera breathed feeling her heart touched before clapping her hands together and nodding back in acknowledgement of their spirit, "I promise I'll do just that too."

Lunensis then smiled in response, feeling satisfied with their answer and more assured of their victory more than ever before, "In that case there is nothing more we need to discuss." He then stood firmly before them all on stage, "I commander Lunensis humbly welcome each and every one of you to the D Resistance! It shall be an honour to stand by and fight by your side." He said with upmost respect as he took a bow to them and the crowds cheered and clapped for them all once again.

"Heh, the honour is all ours." Max grinned cheekily scratching his head as their friends and family began receiving different responses each in honour of being newest recruits.

"This really is the most exciting time of our lives…."

"I'll be sure to never forget this."

"I'm keeping this moment in a corner of my heart for all eternity."

"Heh, can't wait to get started."

"With the formalities now aside, it's time we finally prepare for the battle of our lives." Lunensis then spoke up with authority again as everyone returned back to the point of the matter. He then looked to the entire crowd as he prepared to assign them their duties, "Everyone, I'd like you all to report to stations below, you'll receive your mission instructions from there and all I can say to you all is….good luck and may fortune smile upon you all." He said holding out his arm.

"Yes sir commander sir!" Max saluted to go with the mood as everyone was dismissed, with lead troopers beginning too divide up the groups accordingly, one of them leading the D Team and the Alpha gang to battle stations while sending their parents, Rod and Laura, along with Reese and the androids to different sections which they believed would be perfectly suited for them.

"Oh our first mission assignment that's from someone NOT from Dr Z!" Ursula then cheered with glee feeling honoured at it.

"And it looks like he'll actually take care of us too!" Zander then added at the end as Ed held his arms up and cried out in excitement.

"YIPPEE!"

As everyone slowly began to leave through the doors and gates around the ends of the hall, Cera smiled softly….before sighing a bit herself, "I'll never forget this even if you may have to…." she thought…considering a possibility where chances were in order to preserve their future perfectly intact….they may have to reset their memories too….something she hoped wouldn't come to pass but was prepared to accept it regardless if deemed inevitable, as she looked to her father who then proceeded to leave too and she followed him closely behind.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Each of the Resistance's new recruits were assigned stations to work at. Dr Taylor with his knowledge on dinosaurs and their behaviour decided to aid in studying their physiology and even decided to work in pairing them up with some of the other trainees, tempted to get one himself but first he had to earn one much to his discomfort….Zoe's parents were assigned to the medical bay under Hua's faction, and while Dr Drake had problems getting the dinosaurs to take their medicine, either they ran away or downright attacked him in turn, Mrs Drake was able to win over their trust much more easily with kindness and warmth as she began nursing the newborns that hatched from eggs as well as the chibi ones.

Dr Ancient, Jonathan and Cretacia were busy studying the stone tablet in the research room while Rod and Laura were assigned to control along with Reese to monitor the mission teams as they and their captains were dispersed to the different D sites around the world, it greatly disappointed Rod and Laura to not be able to take part in battling but having been told their skills were far too valuable ti risk in the field they were told to remain on standby as reserve corps in the event of an emergency, for they couldn't afford to leave the base unguarded. Finally Aki and Helga were working in the mess hall to prepare healthy and nutritious meals for both troopers as well as the dinosaurs that were being held in the outside holding pens.

As for the Alpha gang and the D Team, they were in the portal room where a large ground bridge portal built into the walls in the shape of a vault was, along with a targeting panel to determine the portal's teleportation coordinates. Now the 6 of them stood before one of the head troopers who worked directly under Lunensis, who was assigning them their mission, "As of now I'll be briefing about the shadow empire's operations which will be our main focus," he started explaining, "Operations which we were unable to tackle in the past but now a possibility with you aiding us."

Rex narrowed his eyes, "What's the plan then?" he asked as the others listened closely.

"Allow me to explain." The head explained as the others remained quiet. A map of the world was brought up before them all, much like the one Lunensis displayed earlier in the main hall, "In Europe, Asia, America and Africa, there are various dig site operations where the space pirates are strip mining the land of all its dinosaur fossils, which are then transported to their headquarters, which we have been unable to determine as of yet unfortunately." He said in a pained tone.

"How awful…." Zoe graped one hand over the other while Max and Rex narrowed their eyes hard.

"Grr….." The thought of strip mining the resting remains of countless dinosaurs only to revive them as slaves or tools of war was unforgivable to them. They clearly didn't deserve to be forced into such slavery after resting in peace for years.

"However we believe that once we cut off the supply of dinosaurs at each of these locations the shadow empire will have no choice but to eventually reveal themselves and come out of hiding." The head then explained.

"That makes sense." Zander muttered in agreement.

Rex then folded his arms in thought, "It'd be preferable to hit them hard at their base so we can wrap this up but I guess that isn't an option….at least for now." he muttered seeing they'd have to patient.

"The plan is a simple but effective one, we divide and conquer, hit each of these bases simultaneously in teams." The head trooper then continued as he held out a pointing stick and aimed them at each location on the map, "And fear not, though each of you will be split up accordingly with equally balanced strengths, there will be captains stationed at each of our D Site resistance camps awaiting for you once you arrive." He then said as he focused on the first pair selected, "Zander, Ed, you both will head to Europe's dig site to handle the operations there." He said as he pointed at Europe's beacon.

The both of them then grinned, "Hehe, just leave it to us!" Zander rubbed his hands together.

"We'll make the team proud!" said Ed confidently popping his knuckles before he and Zander both did a fist bump with one another.

A touching moment but one which didn't quite inspire any confidence in the others who eyed them with concern or uncertainty.

"More like mess it up…." Max thought as he folded his arms and Rex nodded with him.

"It'll be a miracle if they actually pull this one off." Ursula sighed as she shook her head in dismay, thinking there may have been something wrong with the computer's pairings.

"Or if they come back at all in 1 piece." Zoe also muttered.

Hearing everyone's lack of faith in them made both males frown and sigh in discouragement, "Urk…."

Moving on, the head trooper looked to the next group, "Max, Rex, we'll be assigning you both to investigate Darkwood forest at the Asian D site of Gobi Village." He said as the map shifted to Asia next.

The 2 boys then grinned at one another, "Heh, now that makes us team awesome!"

"You bet Max, no way we'll lose with the 2 of us together!" They said as they did a high five with each other.

Zoe smiled happily for her friends that they were paired up making them no doubt the best duo so far….though that left her out as she soon blinked her eyes in realisation, "Wait…then that means…." Looking to her side unsteadily, she saw Ursula did the same. As the met one another's eyes they widened them and stumbled back in disbelief!

"EH!? I'm stuck with you!?" They cried out in disbelief as they pointed at one another!

"Yes…..you both will be sent to America's Dust Town to investigate matters there." The Head trooper concluded uneasily as the last location on America lit up with their face icons right on top of it.

The rest of the males in the group stood back in worry, "Oh boy…." Max croaked uneasily.

"This isn't going to go well…." Ed gulped hard as they all began to sweat and shudder as both women glared at each other with rage, the slightest spark could cause them to tear one another to pieces as their auras of a tiger and a dragon roared and snarled at each other ready to go at it!

Ursula the glared at the head trooper who stuttered at what he was shot with, "Forget it! I'd rather get eaten alive by a dinosaur than let this little ankle biter cling onto me like a leech!" she hissed pointing at Zoe.

"Ha! You've got that backwards! You'll only slow me down old lady!" Zoe spat back at her which further enraged Ursula as the 2 of them became fired up with hatred and spite towards each other!

"Oh that tears it! Why I oughta-"

The men all huddled together fearing the end of the world upon them, till the head trooper shouted out at them, "Enough!" He yelled which caused the 2 females to stutter in surprise, as they looked to him they also widened their eyes to see a trio of pink velociraptors by his side, hissing and flashing their teeth and claws at them, showing they were going to take extreme action had they not ceased this pointless infighting immediately! "Time is of the essence and we can't afford any infighting amongst ourselves." The trooper then calmly replied as he recollected himself, "Like it or not we believe that this task is only something you both can do. So we strongly ask that you put aside your differences….no matter how hard they may seem just this one time, then you're free to go your separate ways when this is over with." He then said as calmly as he could, otherwise with but the snap of his fingers he'd have to resort to rather….unpleasant disciplinary procedures.

"Hmph…fine…." They both scoffed before huffing and turning their backs to each other, seeing a fight with each other wasn't worth getting clawed to bits, plus they had way bigger problems to deal with first.

"Don't expect me to watch your back or hold your hand missy." Ursula spat at Zoe, "Just stay out of my way or I'll beat you down into the ground myself with the space pirates."

"Back at you…." Zoe grunted back without batting an eyelid to her.

Seeing them, Max then swallowed down hard as he could feel the tension and animosity between them as thick as frozen butter, "Urk….I'm actually way more worried about them than you guys." he croaked to Ed and Zander as they shuddered and turned pale.

"We'll take it as a compliment." Zander croaked.

"Can't blame you, those 2 are like a pair of rabid cats ready to break out into a fight." Ed nodded in agreement.

"Wait, you said there was going to be a dig site in Africa too, if we're away then who's going to handle that."

"The dig site in Kalimba Desert is heavily guarded and fortified to the last structural pillar."

"Because of this, Commander Lunensis along with Lieutenant Cera have both volunteered to undertake this task together, so none of you have anything to worry about."

"That's good to hear…."

"If it's Cera together with Lunensis then we can focus on our mission at hand."

"Yeah I agree."

"Now that that's all settled, allow us to provide you with your very own modified dinoshots." The head trooper then snapped his fingers as a small pink velociraptor came in, pushing in a trolley with 6 dinoshots on them, coloured red, blue, yellow, green, pink and turquoise. "These have been designed to be compatible with your element boosters in the event any of you would be in need of armour." He explained to them.

"That'll come in handy for sure." Max whistled as he and the others began grabbing a dinoshot each to take with them into battle, now feeling better equipped than they were before.

"And that's not all." The trooper added as they all looked to him curiously.

"Huh?"

They didn't notice that he was actually smirking under his helmet as they got to the good part, "Don't think we're going to let you all go unprepared, we promised to take care of your every need and we intend to keep it."

With a snap of his fingers, 6 garage doors behind them which they didn't notice, began to open up revealing 6 specially customized mesozoic mobiles for them! A small red SUV model with a light hammer and drill on it called a Light 4WD, a larger blue one almost like a monster truck with large tyres named the digger's rig, a sleek medium sized yellow dune buggy with spread out tyres called the turf shredder, an elegant speedy white sports car type with pink stripes along its hood and frame dubbed the speed demon, a rock crushed which was large rugged model which was heavily armoured and coloured turquoise and finally a large heavily built green truck type called the heavy hauler! All 6 of the available mesozoic mobile types were lined up in each garage and were waiting to be picked by their drivers!

They gang couldn't believe what they saw and widened their eyes with awe and amazement.

"WHOA!"

"No way!"

"GAH!?" They gasped before looking back to the trooper in charge of them.

The head then nodded at them confirming their deepest hopes, "Take your pick, whichever suits you." He said which made them all quickly break out into excited smiles before they rushed towards the vehicle they believed clicked best with them!

"Haha!"

"Sweet!"

"Awesome!" They cried as they raced towards the vehicle which spoke to them.

"I call first dibs on that one!" Max laughed as he hoped into the Light 4WD, though small it was the easiest to use and drive based on the controls he could see inside, almost like one of the driving games at the arcade only it was real! Each mobile had a screen online for communication purposes plus a slot for slashing cards in place of the dinoshot in the event they couldn't go outside, plus it was a safety measure to prevent dinosaurs from being summoned inside the vehicle itself. Chomp couldn't control himself as he wagged his tail and barked excitedly as he hopped all around the seats in the front and to the back as Max laughed out loud at him, "Hahaha! You like don't you? Just don't go biting on the chair okay?" he chuckled as he petted him on the head to calm him down. Way he saw it he and Zoe got to drive way before their legal age, their parents probably wouldn't approve but they weren't here to see it as he grinned cheekily.

As Rex sat down comfortably into the digger's rig he could feel himself sink into the recliner which was easy to adjust to his liking, "Not bad…." he smiled before seeing Ace looking around frantically like he was trapped in a cage or something, he wasn't very well with tight spaces as Rex quickly strapped him in with the seat belt before he could go berserk, "Hey settle down Ace, don't go making a mess while we're out okay?" he said scolding him as Ace whimpered sadly. Driving this would be far easier than how he did with his hovercraft back home.

"Heh I actually much safer in this than in anything Dr Z made for us."

"Yeah me too." Zander and Ed both settled in comfortably into the rock crusher and heavy hauler respectively, find them to be very tough and most secure inside, as well as safe not easy to break or even explode like the transports Dr Z gave them, the fact that this was made from someone who wasn't him made it a thousand times safer already! Spiny and Tank didn't care that much as they lazily slept into the front passenger seats next to them.

"Ahahah!" Zoe laughed as she made a run to the speed demon with Paris, only to be shoved aside by Ursula who got ahead of her!

"Move it missy!" she yelled pulling her back till she fell on her butt!

"OW! Hey!" She grunted and gritted her teeth looking ahead as the old lady and Terry hopped into the sleek and expensive looking sports car she and Paris aimed for!

"This baby has Ursula written all over it! Hahaha!" she laughed smugly in Zoe's face who narrowed her eyes at her.

"Hey no fair! I wanted that one!" Zoe yelled in anger shaking her fists in protest while Paris went to her side to comfort her with a nuzzle.

"Oh too bad, guess you'll have to settle for second place then," Ursula fake pouted before sticking out her tongue taunting her, "Otherwise forget riding with the big girls! NYEH!"

"Grr! I'll run circles around you old lady any day…." Zoe growled back to her as she hopped into the turf shredder then with Paris.

Her insult caused Ursula to press hard on the acceleration pad making the engine roar, "I heard that! Mark my words I'll get you back for it!" she growled as she shook her fist out at Zoe who was in the opposite garage, while everyone else sighed in dismay seeing what looked like a road rage scene.

Ignoring them, the Head Officer activated the portal's coordinates as it then opened up revealing a glowing vortex inside which would send them too their intended destinations, "Alright team, you know your mission and we're all counting on you for this." He said as they all focused ahead and revved hard on their acceleration pads ready to go, "Good luck out there and we await your safe return." He then saluted them as they prepared for the fight of their lives which awaited them all on the other side!

"Here we go Zander!" Ed grinned as he drove ahead first.

"Right behind you Ed!" His friend followed as the 2 largest mobiles disappeared into the portal first!

The officer then keyed in the next set of coordinates for Max and Rex, as it was set for Asia Max grinned to his partner in the opposite vehicle, "Last one there's a rotten dino egg Rex!" he said challenging him to a race to get to the portal first.

"Heh you're on!" Rex laughed as they drove as fast as they could, though despite packing the smaller vehicle Rex was able to get ahead of Max and enter through the portal first before he did!

Last but not least came Ursula and Zoe's turn, "Hahah! Eat my dust you little shrimp!" The older woman laughed cockily as she sped ahead of Zoe much to her annoyance!

"Hey get back here!" She yelled impatiently as she charged right behind her through the portal and they both disappeared into it.

Seeing their children and their allies disappear and now about to take their first step into battle, their parents who looked at them through the monitors in each of their stations could only smile proudly or look on wishing them the very best, "Take care kids….may fortunate smile upon you all…." Spike thought as he took off his hat saluting them in respect for their bravery and knowing they'll return more grownup than before. They would have been against their kids driving at such a young age….but they more than proved their mettle when they saved them from the space pirates and defeated the dark pterosaur, so this was nothing compared to all that, as they felt at ease knowing they'd be just fine. As they looked away from the screens they didn't see Cera and Lunensis enter the portal room next as they too were about to depart soon.

 **(Meanwhile)**

A portal soon opened up right behind the D Site which was a rather large metallic building with the green D symbol on it, and appearing out from it were Ed and Zander as they found themselves in a rather run down town, with rather rundown brick houses with holes or shattered windows in their walls or roofs, and a number of pitched up tents with soup being served by troopers to locals who were dressed in rather rundown clothes, either muddied or torn. Others were also offering first aid to children who were cold or sick as their weakened parents waited worried for their wellbeing.

Once a town founded by dinosaur experts and famous fossil hunters, the whole of Euro Town was also surround by large fortified walls with survey towers, a trooper or 2 at each of them keeping an eye out for danger with binoculars on all sides, strangely searchlights were also equipped with the towers but seemed to be offline for some reason, odd considering it was nearly nightfall and it was becoming cold and very dangerous. There were also a number of dinosaurs like dacentrurus and baryonyx on patrol on the premises too, sniffing the air or keeping a sharp look out with senses on high alert, and several other mobiles docked in the area hinting they were sent by HQ no doubt to fortify the defences here.

"Whoa….Europe sure looks way more gloomy than I last remembered." Looking around them Zander and Ed could only look on in pity for the people who were lying under such decrepit conditions, for being one of the richest places on Earth to see it be turned into a refugee camp like this was quite disheartening.

"You sure we're in the same place Zander?" Ed then asked him curiously.

Before he could answer, "Nope, you both arrived just in time." a female voice spoke to them both as her face appeared on screen.

"Huh?" As they looked ahead they could see a navy blue speed demon approach them.

"Hey it's that water captain lady." Ed pointed out in surprise.

Zander then glared at him through the monitor, "Ed! Show some respect! She's got a name too you know!" he shouted to him which made him stutter in surprise, "Plus she also happens to be a famous model too!"

Ed widened his eyes, "Whoa! Like a real model!?" he exclaimed before looking to Marina with bright glittery eyes, "I love models! I even collect all the latest magazines and keep up to date on superstar trends 4 years in a row!" he cried in awe as he leaned closer to her and clapped his hands together, "Can I have an autograph please!?" he then begged.

His fancying over her so suddenly made her sweat drop and smile, "Ehehehe…how flattering and kind of you…." she giggled feeling honoured.

She was about to honour his request when out of nowhere, "You're going to have to take a rain check on that, for we've got a situation here." A deep voice caught them by surprise as a large brown digger's rig approached the 3 mobiles gathered.

"Huh?"

"Hmm?"

The driver's face soon appeared on screen like that of a 4th Skype caller, which made Ed and Zander both gasp at sight of Craig's monstrous face appearing all a sudden! "EEP!"

"Gah!" they yelped scared of him on sight!

Eying them through his screen, Craig raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses, "HQ sent you both to aid us? I feel so much more assured already now that we have a couch potato and a skinny toothpick on board…." he said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes wondering what his superiors were thinking sending them the 2 most unreliable of the bunch who could mess them up in a hundred more ways than their enemies the space pirates could.

Once more the both of them had their self esteem shot down even lower than before as they lowered their heads in shame, "Urk…." they croaked as their stomachs began to churn uneasily.

Marina the narrowed her eyes back to her cohort, "Now now Craig, show them a little respect." she said to him in disapproval, making both men look to her in surprise that she was standing up for them, "I can see great potential deep down below their outer appearance, give them a chance and they'll prove their mettle in no time." she said firmly believing in them as they felt their hearts touched, in fact no one had ever done that for them especially not Ursula nor Dr Z.

"Aww….."

Looking to her determined expression then back to the 2 men, Craig then let out a sigh of reluctance, "Fine I'll take your word for it Marina…." he said while sounding rather unconvinced, nevertheless in war one couldn't afford to be choosy so he decided to best make do with what they had available.

"So then, would you care to brief our friends on what just happened?" She then asked him calmly.

"Very well," He then replied as Ed and Zander both focused on him, "Not long ago the town's power went completely out," He started as they looked around them to see almost every house in the vicinity was shut down with no lighting evident for miles, followed by majority of the townsfolk forced outside to stay warm by the heaters set up or by the fires made by Craig's troopers who were trained in wideners survival, "It happened all so suddenly and on such short notice, HQ sent us here to keep everyone under control before backup arrives." He then said before narrowing his eyes at Ed and Zander, "Never thought it'd be you 2 wimps though….." he thought to himself as he glared at them with disapproval.

"No wonder everywhere looks so dark and gloomy,"

"And everyone's so restless." Zander and Ed commented, feeling uneasy themselves too and more appreciative of being inside a functioning vehicle with air conditioning.

"Okay so they have no lights….that's not all that bad right?" Ed then asked hoping to look on the right side, which earned him a sharp glare from Craig which made him clam up in an instant!

"Unlike you 2 couch potatoes, many of the people here in this camp have been living on edge ever since the space pirates invaded." he said in a sharp tone, "We've already lost so much and now Euro town has been reduced to no more than this." He hissed in pain seeing everyone else outside suffering and his men working hard just to help them get by before glaring back at the 2 Alpha men in disgust, "So imagine if you were thrown out of your air conditioned home and into the wilds with no way of comforting yourself let alone find your way back, how would you feel?"

"GAH!?" They both gasped in shock at the words he shot back at them.

"A life without electricity….." As they began to ponder over it seeing it was nearing nightfall with the sun setting overhead upon the horizon of the hills, it was bound to get really cold without appreciate shelter the people wouldn't be able to keep warm properly, shelter themselves from the wind and rain or even cook for themselves! It was almost like going back to the stone age and it seemed like the worst possible nightmare for any person living in the future, especially to them both!

"Like no tv or computers!?"

"Or electrical appliances that help cook your food or even keeps you warm!?" They each cried in horror!

"I'm afraid things are going to be far worse than that." Craig shook his head at how small they thought, which made their hearts skip a beat.

"They are?" They asked him uneasily, not wanting to know the answer but deciding to anyway.

Craig then lied ahead to the D Site which had a new generator installed into its roof, "Right now we're running on our emergency generator which we brought over in time from HQ." he explained as they all looked to it, "But once it gives out, all electricity may be loss to Euro Town and we can end up stranded here in the open with no way of contacting for help let alone return back to base." He said as both Ed and Zander cried out in a panic!

"WAH!"

"That means we're sitting ducks for any man eating dino just past those gates!" Zander wailed in terror as he looked to the huge front gate with the D symbol on it knowing that beyond the comforts and safety of the base they'd pretty much be dead meat for any hungry enemy dino lurking out and about!

"You guys are in the field now, what'd you expect? Your robot housemaid to tend to your every waking need?" Craig then taunted them. As they both gulped and nodded, it only served to fuel the fire much to Marina's disappointment in his harshness, "Well it's time you boys wake up and shape up to be REAL MEN! This is war, lower your guard out there for even a second and you'll be paste!" he bellowed at them which made them shudder in terror! "So unless you man up none of us are coming back home alive! You get me?" He questioned them, despite being a vehicle apart the video call on the minor made it look like they were talking directly face to face, making Ed and Zander unable to turn away even for a second!

Reluctantly hey responded and saluted him in a quivering manner, "Yup!"

"Got it captain…." They gulped.

"Good. That's what I like to hear…." He then replied to them, which at first brought their hopes up to see he was acknowledging and respecting them at last, "If you didn't sound like cowards." He then concluded which crushed their hopes once again.

Marina then narrowed her eyes at him, "You didn't have to be so harsh with them Craig, they're only trying their best and right now they're all we've got." she thought to him…then again he did make a good point, this was one of those times they couldn't afford to sugar coat and take it lightly.

Craig then resumed his explanation of the situation to them both, "Here's the deal, you both are coming with me to investigate the case of this, which was last traced to the Dig site beyond those hills." He aid as he drove his digger rig around and they looked ahead through the front gates which had just opened up, and in the distance of the setting sun were several large mountainous hills behind a forest.

Ed widened his eyes, "Hey! That's where they sent us to check out!" he cried.

"How much you want to bet this is a coincidence?" Zander then asked.

Craig shook his head, "Not a chance. It's without a doubt it's the work of the space pirates, which is why we're going to smash their operations into a million pieces!" he then bellowed out loud as he smacked his fist into his open palm, making the 2 of them jump at the loud sound it made!

"In the meantime I'll stay here and help tend to the needs of the people here." Marina then stated as she looked toward the refugees who were quitting up for food to be served by one of her troopers who was a nice young lady serving soup to the line, "It's clear they're vulnerable without any of electricity or aid, so I'll make sure they stay safe too." She then said.

Zander then eyed her with concern, "You sure you can look after this whole town by yourself Marina?" he asked, "One of us could stay here and help you out."

"And I volunteer!" Ed suddenly held his hand out, hoping to weasel his way out and stay with the cute female super model knowing she'd be a whole ton more fun than the grouchy slave driving drill sergeant, who unfortunately wasn't about to let him have his way!

"No you don't!" He bellowed glaring into the screen at Ed who then shuddered and turned pale!

"EEP! Okay!"

Marina then covered her mouth chuckled in amusement, "Oho! How kind of you to care." she replied, "Though it isn't necessary, I can promise you I'm far more than just a pretty face, I'm certain I can handle myself while you boys are out having…fun." she said to them with a wink aimed at Zander who blushed red.

"Ehehe, I believe that…." he laughed.

Ed pouted jealously seeing she aimed it his way, "Why do you get all the girls Zander…." he pouted wondering why he had the luck.

"Alright, fawning time is over, now we move." Craig then stated in disgust at where this was going as he shouted out to the rest of his squadron present as they got to their vehicles which were mainly Light 4WDs, along with recalling their dinosaurs such as polacanthus and gigantspinosaurus, "On your wheels soldiers! We're moving out now!" He shouted to them, getting their attention before glaring once more at Ed and Zander who stuttered upon seeing him turning at them again, "And don't expect me to babysit you! You hold me back for even a second I might just see you as a shield!" Each time he shouted at them he made it impossible for them to avert their eyes away from his authority, and without hesitation or complaint they nodded back at him.

"Y….Yes sir!"

"We won't let you down!"

As Craig then drove out first and the other troopers followed after him out the gates and along the path which lead to the dig site in the mountain coal mines, Ed couldn't help but gulp down and sweat anxiously, "I sure hope we come back okay Zander." he squeaked nearly wetting himself as he drove out next.

"Me too…." Zander thought out loud in agreement, but then mustering whatever little courage he had in him before following out after Ed last as the doors then shut behind them all.

"Good luck you all…." Marina thought hard to herself as she closed her eyes calmly, knowing now it was time she did her part next as she drove around to the back to inspect the power supplies at the generator they had with them. As she did so, she saw power was running at 50%, very soon they'd have to cut back on some of their energy usage otherwise it'd run out, and until the problem at the dig site was settled they'd have to hold on and hope for the best in the allies they sent there to investigate.

RING RING

"Hmm?" Her ears perked as an alarm rang through her mobile's communicator and to the others present as they all heard it and awaited what news was coming their way, "Control this is Marina, what's the situation?" She asked calmly through it.

"We've detected a massive number of enemy signatures approaching Euro Town from the South side!" Rod's alarmed voice sounded at the other end which made her narrow her eyes hard at the news.

"You guys better get your act together because they're coming in real fast!" Laura cried at the other end.

Marina gasped as she heard what was said and the crowds inside the town began to murmur with one another uneasily over what could be happening now. Keying into her monitor and locking onto he enemy signatures approaching form the town's south side, she saw several gel jark signatures incoming along with a number of dinosaurs too! Bringing in the live feed, she narrowed her eyes seeing several spectral dinosaurs rushing in towards them from the hills which ranged from some large herbivores like eucoplocephalus and carnivores like mapusaurus coming in at them with a fleet of gel jarks with them! At the head of the army….was a massive black coloured spinosaurus with a bluish sail which let out a fearsome hiss as it stood atop the hill which overlooked Euro Town as the enemies amassed around it ready to besiege it!

"Appreciate the heads up, I see them now….." she replied as the call was then cut off. Upon hearing the sounds of foot steps approaching them on the other sides followed by the loud roar of the spinosaurus, the crowds began to huddle together or children cried out in a panic, as the troopers tried to mobilise to their vehicles and get their act together, along with the other dinosaurs present which were becoming increasingly agitated at the approaching enemies beyond the walls!

Despite their dire situation, Marina still maintained a demeanour as calm as the ocean itself, not allowing the waves of danger to shake her but instead calmly going with the flow instead of fight against them, "Well well it appears we have an audience approaching." she said calmly as she took out a pair of cards and eyed them intently, "Smith, Camille, let's not keep them waiting shall we? Let's give them exactly what they came here for and make sure they have a good time." She whispered into them before slashing them on her navy blue dinoshot! "Dino slash!" First to appear was Camille the camarasaurus as she stomped her foot on the ground and let out a loud bellow! "Alpha slash!" Next came Smith, now coloured in shades of yellow, black and purple as a result of going through and alpha process which filled him with powers he never felt possible!

Around her several of the troopers on standby in her squadron went and summon out their dinosaurs too as they opened the back gates and faced off against the massive wave of enemies incoming their way! "First squad! Protect the civilians and get them to cover!" Marina shouted to the back half of the group as they rallied into a protective line around the people drawing the boundary where they won't let their foes cross. "Second squad! With me!" She then shouted as she drove out the gate with Camille and Smith following behind her as they rushed out into battle!

"Yes ma'am!" Her troopers shouted in unison as they followed suit and mobilised together into a defensive wall around the gate of the town, as the black spinosaurus, undeterred, roared out ferociously which spurred the enemy dinosaurs and gel jarks to charge in head on towards them! Marina narrowed her eyes seeing there was no avoiding this fight, "We'll hold the line here! Do not allow any of those monsters past us!" She shouted as they all chanted in unison!

"YEAH!"

"Now charge!" She ordered as they all rushed ahead into battle against their foes for the battle that could determine Europe's fate!

 **(Later)**

Unaware of the trouble that was befalling Euro Town, Craig's squad drove along the hills pass desolate landscapes and greyed grassy areas, as the skies had turned dark in the night and stars had begun to fill the sky as night descended upon the land. They had been moving along at a steady pace and strangely hadn't seen any sign of enemy dinosaurs lurking about since they set foot pass the gates, but the group remained vigilant as Craig kept his gaze in front others watched their flanks to make sure they didn't get taken by surprise. Ed and Zander being in the largest and heaviest vehicles struggled to keep pace with the others as they lagged behind in the rear, sweating anxiously hoping not to get left behind or to get attacked from the back where they wouldn't be able to defend easily. Currently their radar had mysteriously tuned offline and so was all communication with the D Base so they had no choice but to see their mission through and shut down the source of this interference if they were to have any hope of returning.

After a while of driving, they soon came upon the edge of the dense forest surrounding the mountainside, and seeing they couldn't go any further in their vehicles they had no choice but to go on foot. Reluctantly, Captain Craig switched off his mobile and hopped out it before yelling out to the crew behind, "Alright boys, here's where we get off." He said as the other vehicles shut off and the troopers began to exit from them, much to Ed and Zander's surprise.

"Huh? Get off!?" They both exclaimed.

"But we've still got a long way to go! You can't expect us to actually walk the rest of the way there on foot!" Zander protested.

"Plus it feels way safer in here too!" Ed shivered both out of anxiety and from the cold. After that he looked up at the massive mountain right ahead of them and shuddered at the sight of it, "Not to mention that mountain up there looks really steep…."

"We're nearing the enemy's base," Craig calmly responded to them, "If we show up in these we'll give our position away too easily. It's basic knowledge in the art of war." He explained.

"I guess…." Zander then mused as he put a finger to his chin in thought.

"But that doesn't make it any better or fair." Ed then muttered after that.

Hearing that made Craig scoff at them both in disgust, "Life isn't always fair boys, in fact it's like a game, some start out with bad hands and others good. Others will even cheat to do to win at it too, that's why you've got to toughen yourself for whatever comes your way, if you can't then don't even play." He said to them both in a hard and harsh tone, which made them both feel like bullets were punched right into their soft hearts and embedded themselves in them. Seeing their stunned silence Craig then continued to state his point, "I've seen soldiers of mine fall in battle over the years with my very own eyes….soldiers which I trained the best I could and to see them perish in the end makes me believe I failed them…." he continued. as bad memories and flashbacks ran through his mind.

About how some of his best men had either fell in battle as a result of their wounds or ended up being crushed under foot or even chomped up by enemy dinosaurs in the process, causing him deep emotional pain and shattering his heart time and again having built bonds with them overtime only to see them all gone in an instant, which in turn spurred him to harden his resolve, his own body and his heart so he wouldn't suffer the same fate as they all did. Since the he vowed he'd never suffer the same sting as before, and having 2 dead weights who'd only hamper their progress and hold back the entire team didn't make it any easier, even if they did have good intentions, "If you can't accept it then just go home and we'll deal with this ourselves. Its clear neither of you are suited for this, so leave this to the real soldiers." With those final words the group then left the 2 of them behind as they headed into the woods ahead of them without a backwards glance….

As Ed and Zander were both left behind with much to think about, realising that they were taking this too lightly and were only in it for self satisfaction at the start, they began to see the reality and how wrong they had been seeing it the whole time….

"Well Ed? What do you think?" Zander then asked his friend about how he felt about Craig's words to them.

"Well on one hand I feel really terrified and shaken in my boots…." he muttered feeling scared and also very put off by what he was told, which soon began to cause other emotions to well up in him, "On the other….I feel really mad about him talking down to us like that and I just want to show him how wrong he is!" he then growled, whether it was his own sense of pride being hurt or his desire to do right, either way he wasn't about to stand back and mope around all night.

Zander soon clenched his hand into a tight fist in anger, "You know Ed, I feel exactly the same, no way am I going to let some meat headed beefcake trash talk us like that and get away with it!" he growled unwilling to take Craig's insults like that lying down.

"Yeah! We'll show em all just how MAN we are!" Ed pumped a fist in determination as the 2 of them ran off into the forest hot on the trail of the group, having shaken off all their insecurities as they aimed to prove to them and everyone else how wrong they were about them.

Up ahead, the squad traversed through the dense terrain, sticking together in a rather tight line as they kept a firm vigilance on all ends, "Stay alert men, we're approaching the heart of enemy territory, who knows what they may have lying in wait for us." Craig wanted them, seeing that it was getting very dark and they were out in the open with no backup available. There was no telling what kinds of traps were hidden, where they may be or when they might be sprung. The only thing that could help them now were their night vision goggles and their wits…nothing more.

Eventually as they came out from the woods they found themselves at the foot of the maintain where the town's coal mine and dig site was located high above as they all looked up to try and pinpoint where the entrance was.

Sensing something was amidst, Craig's second in command, another helmeted trooper, looked around uneasily to see nothing for miles before asking his superior in front, "Sir, we've been walking for a while now and no sign of any dinosaurs or even gel jarks." he whispered quietly, having expected resistance to come to them by now but since they set foot here they hadn't heard a peep form any enemies for almost an hour, "Are you sure we're in the right place?" He then asked.

Craig narrowed his eyes, "I'm certain of it, I just know we're getting close to where the signal came last." he replied to him listening to his instincts, as he tensed up hard sensing that everything his lieutenant just described to him was exactly what he felt, but he didn't want to show any signs of fear and weakness to them otherwise he'd cause them all to buckle and lose their nerve. The sound of some loud rustling behind them soon sounded in the bushes, followed by footsteps and the sound of twigs snapping underfoot which was causing him to break his concentration, "Ssh, keep it down…." He hushed them in a serious tone.

Unfortunately the answer he received from them was one which unnerved him deeply, "That wasn't us sir…." his lieutenant croaked which made his heart skip a beat.

"What?" As he looked around them, he could hear the sounds of slime slushing about, and suddenly out of nowhere, some of the rocks that were nearby the foot of the mountain light up pink and began to gain slime around them as they took the form of Gel jarks! They all widened their eyes in alarm as their foes caught them all by surprise! "It's an ambush! Fall back now!" Craig shouted to them, but before they could mobilise and retreat to a better position, a number of jarks burst out form the forest and soon surrounded the group on all sides in a big circle which they saw no opening to escape through! "GAH! We're surrounded!" He then growled as his men began to panic and shudder!

"We're trapped! NO!"

"We're all goners!"

"Help!"

"NO!" They all screamed all terrified and anxious seeing there was no way for them to reach their dinoshots and summon their allies in tie before their enemies would get their attacks in and wipe them all out in a single fell swoop!

Seeing no other way, Craig then clicked his tongue realising there was only one option left to them now, "Tch! We'll just have to push through!" he hissed reluctantly knowing they'd have to try and get out on their own somehow and get to a better position to counterattack….if only they had an opening for just a second at least….

"Alpha slash!" A loud voice suddenly shouted deep within the forest as a purple light erupted from the depths of the trees inside!

"Huh!?" Craig widened his eyes in surprise as he and his men looked in the direction the light came from, as a loud screech echoed from deep within which caught the attention of all enemies present!

"Go Tank! Spike arrows!" Ed's voice yelled as a flurry of purple crystal like arrows fired up into the sky and then rained down upon the gel jarks causing them to scatter in a panic! Some were struck down and reduced to slimy debris, others skewered in all sorts of places before collapsing and only barely got away with a few arrows puncturing them in their backs or caused them to fall after hitting their legs!

As the group looked on in surprise they saw a large purple saichania crash out of the forest and roar out at them, followed by Ed and Zander who laughed out loud proudly, feeling good at what they just did, "Ha! That'll teach you slime balls to mess with us!"

"And don't come back!" They yelled taunting the fleeing slime monsters which retreated into the hills or the woods around them.

"You guys?!" Craig and his men couldn't believe their eyes, they hadn't expect the 2 of them to have such heroism in them despite their awkward outward appearances, maybe he had them wrong the whole time and his earlier judgement of them had been rather premature.

"Since we saved your keister this time I guess that makes us way more MAN than you are!" Ed then shouted at Craig as he pointed out at the burly captain.

"Maybe now you'll show the alpha gang some proper respect too!" Zander followed after him.

Despite feeling insulted at being saved by a couple of wimpy couch potatoes, Craig had to admit what they did was rather admirable as he folded his arms and gained a small smile on his face, "Hmm…not bad…." he complimented them which made them both grin and high five one another feeling honoured. It didn't last for long through, as Craig quickly noticed some bright purple lights flashing inside the woods followed by the sounds of menacing hisses and growls with them! "But you'll have to do better, cos here comes the heavy artillery now!" He yelled out as they blinked their eyes and turned around in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Say what?" As Ed and Zander looked, they stuttered and stumbled back as a horde of gel jarks emerged from the forest, raising out their arms and blinking ominously and with them were several dinosaurs like einiosaurus or ouranosaurus which knocked down a handful of the trees in their path while others like lilliensternus or szechuanosaurus leapt out and hissed out in fury! "WAHH!" They both then screamed in terror as they hugged one another, as Tank then raised up her tail and slammed it on the ground, indicating she was ready to fight!

Shaking in terror, Zander managed to reach for the dinoshot he still had on him as he shuddered while reaching for the card in his pocket, "I'll bring in Spiny too!" he quivering hoping it'd help even the odds a little more even if it was still like 2 to a hundred foes!

"No! These guys are just a distraction!" One of the head troopers yelled at them.

"Huh!?"

He then looked up to the top of the maintain and noticed a cave at its peak, "What we need to do is put a stop to the source of it right up there!" he pointed up to where they could all see it. As he said that, the troopers began to summon forth their earth dinosaurs to the field ranging from sauropelta to gigantspinosaurus as they quickly ran ahead and engaged the enemies present, "Quick captain! We'll hold them back!" he shouted out as he and his alpha wuerhosaurus ran up against a trio of gel jarks who rushed them, only for the wuerhosaurus to swipe its spiked tail at them which sent them flying into an enemy tuojiangosaurus, catching it by surprise before a trooper's nodosaurus was able to knock it back!

Craig gritted his teeth in frustration, but soon began to see his point, and with heavy reluctance decided to entrust him with the battle here as there was no other way than to stop it at the source, "Grr….Alright lieutenant! I'll leave this to you!" he growled in frustration hoping he wouldn't have to repeat his mistake as last time, before looking to Ed and Zander, "Come on you 2 let's hustle!" He ushered them to the maintain side as he then ran straight towards it without hesitation without losing back!

Seeing no time to argue the 2 of them quickly obeyed, "R…Right behind you!" They said as they recalled Tank to a card so she wouldn't slow them down!

Minutes later the 3 men began climbing the face of the mountain side as fast as they could, with Craig leading them at the front while followed by Zander and Ed who were lagging somewhat behind him. Being a trained military leader Craig found it child's play having climbed several walls like this back at the base, but for Ed and Zander….it was a very different story….

"Urk! I can't go on!" Zander whined in agony as he could feel blisters form on his palms with each time he managed to grab the ledge above him and yank himself upwards.

"Why didn't I just have Tank climb us up!?" Ed then cried as he could feel as he looked down he felt himself go dizzy at the thought of possibly falling and going splat at the bottom!

Zander widened his eyes at his words and gritted his teeth at the now crying Ed, "Good question Ed!" he hissed at him, as he could feel his own palms get hard and calloused much to his frustration. He gritted his teeth and felt himself hanging on by a thread, a single slip up would then cause him to fall down to his doom, so he cursed inwardly over why didn't Ed think of it any sooner.

"Be quiet and put your back into it ninnies!" Craig yelled back at them as he pressed on, his bulky hands grabbed onto the ledges and held on tight as he was able to fare much better than they did. "They're all counting on us to see this through!" He then yelled back down to them as he then made his way up to a rock ledge that was just enough for him to climb up and stand upon. As he looked down he saw both men were trying desperately to reach him, and were getting close to where he was…only now they were on their last limbs.

"AAH!" The screams down below caught their attention, as they looked down they widened their eyes in shock!

"AH!" Ed and Zander gasped to see a bunch of gel jarks swarm out and dog pile a nearby stegosaurus causing it to be weighed down and collapse under the excess weight, followed by some of the enemy dinosaurs mysteriously armouring up and then overpowering the troopers who then had their partners defeated and forced to run off into the woods with enemy jarks hot on their tails!

"Oh man they're getting themselves clobbered down there!" Ed cried out in worry for them seeing they were going to get massacred in moments, "We've gotta help!"

"Forget them! We've gotta save ourselves first!" Zander protested as he pointed back down at the foot of the cliff where a number of gel jarks were beginning to climb up the mountain after them along with a few utahraptors too!

"AAAAH! We're trapped!" Ed then screamed

"And I think I'm slipping!" He then widened his eyes in alarm as his hand lost its grip on the edge he grabbed before he began to fall back! "WAH!" He cried out as he was about to turn over and plunge to his doom….when a skinny arm reached out and grabbed him at the last second!

"I got you Ed!" Zander yelled as he grabbed his hand in time!

"Zander!" Ed smiled with relief to see he was saved, but it quickly passed as Zander began to turn bright red from lack of oxygen as he began to sweat immensely from exhaustion!

"GARGH! You're too heavy! I'm gonna fall too!" Zander then screamed as his palms began to sweat, as Ed's hand began to slowly slip out and his other hand which held onto the ledge was beginning to put such a strain on the rock it would soon crack and break away at any moment! Soon they'd both be doomed!

"Please don't let go!" Ed then cried out begging him to hang on, as they did so, Craig looked down and couldn't help but feel his rock hardened heart feel moved for the first time in years….how real soldiers finished their mission no matter the cost….but true men would never leave their comrades behind….even in this dire situation they weren't going to abandon one another out of fear or comfort, they truly were going ton stand up for can another to the end….perhaps they did have more resolve in them after all that he gave them credit for or maybe even more than he ever did….

Zander then gritted his teeth as feelings of conflict began to war within him in this dire situation, "Grrgh! My heart says no but every fibre in my arm is telling me to say yes!" he then screamed out loud.

"Well listen to your heart! PLEASE!" Ed then pleaded bawling his eyes out as his legs wobbled while hanging!

"Can't believe I'm doing this…." Craig rolled his eyes seeing no other choice now but to entrust everything to both these jokers. Lowering half his body down he gabbed hold of Zander's arm much to both their surprise!

"Huh!?"

"H…Hey what are you-" Before they could finish, they suddenly found themselves being hurled high into the air!

"WAAAH!" They screamed, finding the air pressing against their faces as they were propelled right over to the cave's entrance and landing at the hard rocky surface with a huge crash!

CRASH!

"OUCH!"

"Oogh…." They groaned in pain as they landed on their faces. Sitting up against their brushed the dirt off from them, much to their discomfort, before quickly looking over the edge wanting to give Craig a piece of their mind for throwing them like they were garbage! But before they could do so they widened their eyes to see the dinosaurs and jarks were halfway towards where Craig was standing much to their alarm!

"Gah! Captain Craig!" Ed exclaimed in horror whirl Zander began to bite his fingernails under pressure!

Craig looked up to them with a serious and battle hardened expression, "I'll hold them all off! You guys have to finish this mission on your own!" he shouted to them much to their disbelief.

"Say what!?"

He then gritted his teeth, "Can't believe I'm saying this, but it's all on you now! Don't let us down soldiers!" he hissed in frustration as he turned towards the wave of icing enemies swarming at him!

"But….We can't just leave you to face these guys alone!" Zander cried, but soon began to change his mind as they saw more enemies incoming from the battlefield ahead and were beginning to swarm at the foot of the mountain and were beginning to take their way cup to where they were too! "On second thought whatever you say Captain!" He then gulped.

"Yeah you've got this no biggie!" Ed smiled for Craig giving him an ok sign, though was harbouring huge doubts deep inside him and had no intention of sticking around to find out, "Let's hightail it out of here Zander!" He then shouted to his taller friend who nodded at him without hesitation.

"I agree Ed! Let's beat it!"

"WAAAAH!" They screamed out loud as they made a beeline for the open mine shaft and disappeared inside!

With the 2 of them gone and seeing nothing else that would hold him and his crew back from going all out, Craig soon grinned as he took out his brown dinoshot and a card from it, "Dino slash!" Appearing on the wall of one she of a titian and hanging onto it rather well was his talarurus who bellowed as he made his appearance! "Go Taka! Take them out with dark earth!" He announced as he slashed the earth move! In response Taka glowed purple as he summoned forth some large black boulders from the mountain peak and then ruled them down at the incoming jarks and dinosaurs, causing a large rockslide which knocked them all down back to the ground and even buried a number of them alive! As the dust settled some light erupted underneath the rubble hitting the defeat of several dinosaurs, while others that had survived began to dig themselves out. Gel jarks on the other hand found the,seven suited like pancakes and weren't as lucky though.

"That should teach them." Craig then grinned with deep satisfaction and Taka bellowed out in victory, but it was cut short as a loud roar suddenly echoed from deep inside the mountain, which caused the enemy dinosaurs to cease attacking as they heard it and the ground beneath them to shake anonymously, "Hmm?" Craig and Taka could feel the rumbling coming from inside the mountain too and whatever it was it couldn't be anything good. Suddenly bursting out below at one of the mountain walls, erupted a cloud of heavy dust which obscured the image of a large ankylosaur below. As it cleared it revealed itself as a rather large and bulky black saichania with purple spiked lining its body as well as 3 spectral pirate marks on its head and sides! As it roared out the other dinosaurs and gel jarks seemed to respond obediently to it as their attacks became more coordinated and focused away from it, as it looked up at Craig who was still hanging on the ledge above!

As Craig looked upon it he narrowed his eyes, "So you must be the head honcho dino here huh?" The saichania shrieked as it began to climb its way up the mountain towards him! Despite that he remained unfazed as he took out another dinosaur card from his pocket! "Alpha slash!" A purple light erupted on another side of the mountain cliff, summoned forth a brightly coloured purple and yellow ankylosaurus to the field which roared and shook out his club like a rattlesnake would! As both him and Taka bellowed back at the saichania, "You want a piece of us!?" Craig shouted back in defiance at the black saichania which then roared back at him from below, answering his battle challenge! "Then come get it! RARGH!" Craig beat his chest like a gorilla before launching himself off the cliff side and then landing on the black dinosaur's head, catching it by surprise as he began grappling its head and neck! As it jumped up and down trying to shake him off, but he grit his teeth and held on refusing to be thrown off! Bash and Taka quickly rushed in at its side and began to tackle it in a pincer attack on both sides!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"You think we lost them Zander?" Ed quivered nervously, till shaking in his legs and sweating bullets as the 2 of them headed down an old mind shaft, which was dimly lit with small candle lights on the barren rock walls, along with the old rotting planks of supports as they followed remains of an old mine track and tossed by an old mine cart which was no doubt used to transport coal and fossils in the old days.

Zander meanwhile kept a positive smile on his face as they strolled down the old path through the mine tunnel leading to the dig site, "Don't worry Ed there's no way those monsters could come after us in here, we're perfectly safe." he said filled with confidence and assurance.

Ed then gulped hard still not feeling convinced, "But now it's on us like Craig said…." he then croaked remembering his last words before his stomach began to churn uncontrollably inside, "Oh I don't feel so good…." he moaned feeling his stomach throbbing with pain, "If we mess up then we're all doomed….and everyone's sacrifice to get us this far would have bene for nothing!" He then cried out in a panic as his cry echoed through the dark tunnel making a few bats fly out over them and then causing him and Zander to both jump!

"EEP!"

Having heard his friend's words and then being started by the bats, Zander began to feel anxiety come over his heart next as he too began ti shudder at the fear of failure and defeat…..as he bit his nails wondering what they could do in this situation, he son remembered something Marina told him back at HQ and after reflecting on how she behaved and acted, he took a deep breath before smiling nervously at Ed hoping to encourage him, "N…No worries Ed, let's just think positive instead! We'll just have to…go with the flow and keep believing!" he grinned uneasily while pumping up a fist.

His pep talk only made Ed blink his eyes and raise an eyebrow in confusion, "You're sounding kinda weird you know that?" he muttered as Zander then lowered his head feeling discouraged that he failed to raise their spirits, in honest truth he still didn't fully get what the water captain told him. They didn't have much time to ponder it over though, as a light soon came at the end of the tunnel they were walking on, and as they stepped out of the darkness they widened their eye

"Whoa…" Zander breathed in surprise as he and Ed looked around finding themselves in a large crater made in the mountain, much like that of an open cast mine.

"What is this place?" Ed then asked next as the 2 of them wen further in to investigate, as they did they could see doors with the space pirate markings marked around the walls of the cavern, with cybernetic impacts and circuits running through them along with antenna perched on top of them too. Around them there were also a number of cargo crates with the same pirate markings spread out around the base along with mining equipment ranging from shovels to drills spread out along the floors, hinting that fossils, rocks and minerals may have been excavated here recently.

Seeing everything around them was clear evidence they had arrived at the enemy's base, as the 2 of them tensed up and also began to shudder nervously wondering where the enemy was lurking and how easy it was for an ambush to be set up.

"Well well what do we have here?" A familiar voice suddenly sounded out which made them both jump up in surprise!

"AH!" They looked around frantically to see where it was coming from, till they heard the sounds of flapping wings coming in from above.

Looking up they widened their eyes to see a large red space pirate descend from above, who typing on a strange white computer like device. "Is this thing on right? I thought I had it set so that all the guards and dinosaurs would make sure no one gets in…." as Gavro pressed a button on he could see through the eyes of the dinosaurs under their control with their marks, he could see they were all engaged in battle with the Resistance down below mountain so that meant he couldn't rely on any of them to return back here to fortify the base. "Hmph! Guess I've gotta do this myself," he scoffed in disappointment before suddenly grinning with sinister intent, "Which exactly how I like it!"

"It's Gavro!" Ed pointed out at him in shock as he stumbled back and fell on his butt!

Zander too was taken aback at the sight of their old foe who somehow returned from the dead, "No way! So he did survive along with the other space pirates after the dark pterosaur was destroyed!?" he stuttered, meaning that the others too must still be alive and at large too after him, not good….

Being reminded of their devastating defeat made Gavro scowl at them in anger, "Yeah, no thanks to you clowns….." he grunted feeling it insulting for them to be thwarted by mere humans when they had the ultimate power in their hands….but thanks to a slim chance they were awarded a second chance to redeem themselves, "But now I get the chance to dish out some well deserved payback hehehe!" he snickered eagerly as he began popping the knuckles on his fist and fluttered over the 2 Alpha gang members who gritted their teeth and seated tensely seeing things were about to get serious.

"Tch! This isn't going to be easy…in fact nothing is…." Ed hissed in frustration, it wasn't about them going through hardship or being punished by Dr Z comedically, this was a matter of survival and anything could decide between victory and defeat, and the outcome of this battle could affect the course of the war for everyone else across the world!

It was time they did their part as they both readied themselves for battle….till Zander caught sight of the huge computer right behind Gavro, standing as tall as a large truck did! "Hey Ed! What's that over there!?"

Ed looked in the direction he pointed, "Looks like some kinda super computer!" he gasped seeing it was also connected to a huge generator like device along with a large fan cooling system too to keep its temperature well regulated.

"That's cos it is!" Gavro then smirked proudly as he folded his arms and eyed it with pride, "In fact I'm here to make sure that nothing here happens to it while it downloads its new program! Once that's done it'll then take over every single electrical device on the planet too!" he boasted loudly as Ed and Zander both widened their eyes and stepped back in shock at what they heard.

"You're kidding!"

"So then that computer's what cut off all the power in Euro Town just now!" They each cried.

"That's right!" The burly space pirate then smirked back at them, "And you ain't shutting it off, cos I'm about to beat you guys down into the ground and bury you both alive!" He said punching a fist into his palm as he smiled menacingly at them both, but deep down it was hiding his feelings of terror and insecurity as he began to recall Goma's instructions to him before he was given this task, "Cos if I don't the boss will be really mad at me…." he shuddered to himself.

 **(Flashback)**

"Listen to me carefully Gavro, your job is a very easy one." Goma said with a rather sinister smile to Gavro back at their headquarters hours earlier, as the burly space pirate scratched the back of his head curiously.

"Easy how?" he asked feeling unsure, also wondering if there was a catch somewhere in this.

In response, Goma brought up a screen depicting the massive ultra super computer located within Euro Town's coal mines, "All you merely need to do is protect the super computer hidden deep inside Europe's coal mine." he explained calmly as Gavro looked up at the screen with the computer featured in it. Goma looked up at it with a confident smirk, "Once its' program is completed, it'll generate and then spread a virus strong enough to control every machine across the planet! Then with all their technology rendered useless and under my control, the resistance will have no choice but to surrender! Ahahaha!" He then laughed out menacingly as Gavro widened his eyes in amazement.

"Wow, take over any machine across the world? Now that sounds really powerful!" he smiled as he clapped his hands in admiration at it.

"Indeed, for I designed it myself." Goma then snickered as he held his head up proudly.

Gavro then put a finger to his chin in thought, "So uhh…how do I work it?" he asked, an unintelligent question which made Goma's smile vanish and replace it with a scowl.

"You don't, the computer will work by itself." he said firmly, which made Gavro sigh slightly in disappointment having wanted to try it out himself, but knowing himself he'd more than likely break something instead. "Your job is to keep it safe from anyone who'd try to destroy it." Goma then explained as he turned his back to the older pirate before shooting him a piercing glare, "Do anything and everything you must to make sure of it. Understand?" He said menacingly as Gavro began to sweat anxiously and turn pale.

"Y….Yup…." he nodded and gulped down really hard, swallowing what felt like a diamond down his throat before opening up his wings and taking his leave.

 **(Present)**

As that memory passed, Gavro reminded himself swerve times over and over why he mustn't fail and the consequences that would follow should that happen. After that he gritted his teeth and shook his head clear as he focused on his task at hand, "Anyways! I've got an assignment to do and I'm gonna do it right here and now!" He growled at both Alpha gang men, tensing a fist at them before taking out a card which featured a familiar t-rex on it!

The both of them recognised which one it was as they tensed up and sweated, "Here he comes Ed!" Zander wanted Ed who stepped back nervously.

"Urk…"

"That's right!" their enemy grinned, "And not just me, say hello to a not so old friend! Gigas!" He yelled as he placed the card onto his chest plate and activated it! Appearing on the field was Garo's signature dinosaur, a white tyrannosaurus with orange clothes over his body as he stomped on the ground and roared ferociously at his 2 old foes which made them sweet and grit their teeth tensely.

"Oh boy….not him again…." Ed squeaked feeling intimidated by the rex's presence!

Zander soon took a closer look, and noticed something off about the tyrannosaurus, "Wait, something's different about him." he noted as they soon saw that despite being the same dinosaur he was now lacking his signature armour which made him so formidable, something which made even Gavro shocked to see too.

"Huh? Where's your armour Gigas!?" He exclaimed in surprise as the t-rex looked to him and hissed in response. Gavro soon shrugged his shoulders seeing there was something more important to tend to first and that was protecting the super computer, "Aw forget it, I can crush you jokers just fine without it! Get them!" He ordered pointing ahead as Gigas roared and rushed towards the both of them!

"WAAAAH! Run away!" They screamed flailing their hands out before splitting off in separate directions from each other! Stopping and assessing the situation, Gigas soon turned his attention to Ed seeing him to be the easier one to pick off before stomping off after him!

As Zander looked behind to see what was going on, he stumbled and stuttered as he saw Ed was the one being attacked! "ACK!"

"EEK! Zander! Help!" he screamed in terror pleading for help as the t-rex closed in on him!

"I'm coming Ed!" Zander cried back to him as he took out his new turquoise dinoshot and slashed his card, "Alpha slash! Gush out spinosaurus!" Spiny appeared in a blue light and roared out in fury as he saw Gigas was charging at Ed who was lying there helpless before the massive tyrannosaurus!

"WAAAH!" He screamed widening his eyes and holding his arm out, looking away unable to look anymore as he felt his life about to end right at that moment!

"Spiny! Save Ed now!" Zander then commanded, in response the spinosaurus roared, charging forward and ramming Gigas' side catching the tyrannosaurus off guard as he then stumbled back through some crates kicking them over and spilling out some of the fossils they contained. Before Gigas could recover Spiny grabbed hold of his neck in his jaws, and used his arms as further leverage trying to pin him down. Unfortunately despite his smaller size, Gigas was able to throw him off with sheer brute strength! Thrown off balance, Gigas retaliated by grabbing the spinosaurus' neck then dragging him across the ground mercilessly! "AH! Spiny!" Zander cried frantically pulling on his hair!

Ed had just managed to get back to his feet as he looked ahead with an angered expression, "Help's on the way Zander!" he shouted out loud taking out his card and green dinoshot, "Alpha slash! Shake em up! Saichania!" Tank appeared on the field and roared out upon catching Gigas in sight before rushing him from behind! She managed to used her spines to scrape his legs causing him to roar in pain as they cut into his ankle! Upon being released, Spiny seized his chance and kicked out at the white t-rex causing him to stumble back in disorientation. Shaking his head he looked ahead to see Spiny get back up on his feet as he and Tank roared out at him now in a 2 vs 1 battle!

Gavro clicked his tongue and hissed in annoyance, "Tch! Fine I'll take you both on at the same time, not that it matters." he grunted taking out a fire move and then adding it to his chest plate, "Burst of flames!" he yelled as Gigas flashed red and fired out a stream of fire like a flamethrower towards them both!

"I'll counter with shockwave!" Zander retorted slashing the move card! Spiny flashed blue as water collected around him, acting as an effective shield against the flames which were smothered out by the water before Spiny then launched them at Gigas, ensnaring the tyrannosaurus in a trap of water rendering him incapable of moving anywhere else to escape as he began to suffocate!

"Now I'll follow it up with rock roller!" Ed smirked as he slashed the earth move. Tank roared as she slammed into the ground with he front forelimbs, bringing up clumps of earth which merged into a massive moulder! Spinning around it she smacked at it with her tail which smashed right into Gigas as he was trapped in the water vortex and then crashed at the wall causing him to tumble down to the ground in disorientation! "Wow now that's teamwork!" Ed then cheered pumping up his arms.

"I know! Hee hee!" Zander snickered rubbing his nose with his finger as Gigas struggled to stand up again. This time, his eyes turned slit and feral as he roared out at them in immense fury which made them all wary, "Uh oh, looks like he's back for more…" Zander gulped as Ed shuddered too.

Gavro was getting infuriated seeing them gang up on and make a fool of him and Gigas, but now was the last straw for him! "Grr…Alright Gigas! No more playing nice! This time it's for real!" he growled as his dinosaur roared just as angered as he was, "And you can't get more real than spectral armour!" Gavro yelled as he then absorbed Gigas' grey dinosaur card into his chest plate next! The t-rex's marks glowed purple as they enshrouded around him before exploding into his signature super powered spectral armour with crystal like appendages stretching at the top! Being equipped with his old armour made Gigas feel more comfortable and powerful as he roared out at Tank and Spiny who stepped back nervously in sight of their now powered up foe!

"This looks bad Ed…." gulped Ed as he soon saw the form of the dinosaur which caused them both so much trouble back in Ancient France a while back! Guess it was wishful thinking to believe it'd be that easy for them.

"No worries we'll just armour up too!" Zander snapped his fingers with a confident grin as he took out his blue dino tector.

"Oh yeah good idea!" Ed smiled as he did the same taking out the purple one he had with him!

"Element booster! Dino tector on!" They yelled as they inserted the components into their dinoshots….only to their surprise to find that nothing happened!

They blinked their eyes and then gasped in alarm to see only static light up on their screens! "Huh!?"

"Wh…What the!?" They cried in shock as Tank and Spiny looked to them both worriedly, as their foe was now armed to the teeth and they were still vulnerable! "I don't get it! Where's the armour!?"

"Is the dinoshot or the dino tector broken!?" It couldn't have been as it worked fine to summon them, and the Resistance made it clear to them that they were made to function perfectly like Cera did with her own. It made completely no sense….as Gavro soon pointe out to them why.

Seeing they weren't able to armour up like he did made the burly space pirate grin deviously, "Hehehe, looks like the computer works way better than I thought, the boss really thought things through for us!" he snickered rubbing his palms together.

Ed and Zander soon realised what was up after hearing his loud boast and they widened their eyes in both shock and anger!

"Th…That's cheating!" Ed cried out in protest.

"Yeah! No fair! Turn off the cheat codes!" Zander ranted as he shook out his fist.

Gavro however shrugged his shoulders and paid them no mind, "Too bad for you, that's just how I like my battles! Ahahah!" He laughed out loud before pointing out at them "Go crush them Gigas! Now!" Upon his command Gigas roared and rushed ahead, lowering his head he rammed Spiny's chest like a freight train, seeing him flying into the rock wall as he crashed hard into it and collapse dot the ground! The spinosaurus groaned in pain as he staggered, turing to push himself back up with his arms, only from a loosened rock to fall out from above and crack on his head, causing him to faint as he fell back down unconsciously!

"Spiny no!" Zander wailed as he clutched in his face with his hands!

"GAAAH!" Ed screamed in a fright, grasping his hair as Gigas quickly set his sights on Tank, flipping her off her feet and onto her unprotected stomach before stomping on her without mercy! Each foot stomp was filled with hatred and rage, and each one harder than the last caused her to screech in agony and pain! "Without our dino tectors we don't stand a chance!" Ed then cried out loud feeling weak and helpless!

"This can't be happening!" Zander then grasped his head seeing they were about to lose not just this battle but because of them the entire resistance may fall!

"But it is!" Gavro then grinned with malice, "So make it easy on yourselves and just give up already! You guys couldn't beat me before and you ain't ever gonna! Ahahah!" He laughed arrogantly before disregarding them completely, focusing on his imminent victory and the reward that would soon follow, as the 2 Alpha gang members shot him angered glares!

"Grrr!"

Ed then looked at Tank, tensing up seeing her spasms from each stomp was weakening…meaning she wasn't going to last much longer. He gritted his teeth and shook tensely, "There must be something we can do….but I…just feel so helpless…." He thought to himself as he fell to his knees ad on his arms, feeling on the verge of giving up…..He was about to, when suddenly he widened his eyes remembering what Craig had mentioned to them earlier, "AH!" He widened his eyes and recalled what he was told earlier on their way to this dig site, and looking back at what Craig told him back at the base, how without Tank pretty much he and everyone else in the Alpha gang were helpless worms. How they took them for granted and often pushed them too beyond what they could bear, and the worse part was that they didn't care themselves for how hard they fought for them in turn…..Looking back and realising how important Tank and the other dinosaurs had been for them the whole time, Ed soon shook his head and hardened his expression with newfound determination, "Tch! No more hiding behind Tank, it's time we man up Zander!" He growled as he clenched his hand tightly and gritted his teeth in anger!

Zander however wasn't clear with what he meant and instead raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What do you mean Ed? Did you just hit your head or something?" he asked.

"No! For once I think I know what I'm doing here!" Ed retorted as he waved his arm out ushering his friend to follow his lead, "Come on follow me! I got an idea and it's Spiny and Tank's only hope!" He shouted as ran across the side of the battle out of sight.

"O…Okay…." Zander nodded back at him seeing they had nothing to lose.

"Ehehehe this is even easier than I thought, even though I don't like being bossed around by a kid at least he knows what he's doing." he chuckled to himself as he rubbed his palms together in deep pleasure, before frowning after, "But he did also say make sure there are no more loose ends…whatever that means but I guess I'd better take care of the humans so they don't get in the way again." He then thought as he turned to where they were earlier, with the intention of getting rid of them so they couldn't give their dinos the power to fight back, but as he looked he blinked his eyes in surprise to see they weren't there anymore! "Huh? Where'd they go?"

CLINK! CLINK!

The sounds of clanging caught his attention, as he turned around he widened his eyes to see Ed and Zander were throwing rocks and remains of scrap metal at the ultra super computer's screen! "What the!?" He widened his eyes before glaring at them, making a dash to stop their interference!

"Ed! This isn't working! That screen looks like it might even be made of tempered glass!" Zander cried in frustration seeing no matter how many rocks and stones they tossed at the screen it didn't get so much as a scratch let alone crack!

"Keep trying Zander! It's our only chance!" Ed shouted back at him as he threw another rock at the screen but still it bounced off the computer harmlessly much to his annoyance!

"Hey you!" Gavro suddenly shouted as they widened their eyes to see him prepare to throw a punch at them! "Get away from that computer!"

"GAH!" They cried in alarm as they quickly jumped out of his way in time before he could connect his fist with their faces!

"I'm gonna-" As they got out of his way, Gavro widened his eyes in shock seeing that with them gone his new target that he was about to smash into was the very computer he was ordered to protect! "NO!" He couldn't stop himself in time and in mere moments his huge fist punched a hole right through its' screen causing it to fizzle out right before it could complete its virus!

SMASH!

As the glass shattered before him, the computer soon began to fizzle and spark violently, with huge amounts of steam building up from its generators and coolers, "NO! NO! NOOOO!" He cried out loud grasping his hair as all his hard work was going to waste as it soon even caught fire! His attack had caused a series of devastating chain reactions to the machine and soon there wouldn't be any coming back from it! "Look what you made me do!" He growled as he began to fume red, redder than he was already and his teeth gnashed together like he was going feral! "For that you're gonna-" As he turned around to take his immense pent up rage out on the 2 of them-

"Take that!" Ed interrupted him as he threw a stone at him, which smacked straight in the middle of Gavro's forehead!

BONK!

"ACK!" miraculously hitting its mark in the only soft on the space pirate's incredibly dense skull, which made him stumble about in a daze before falling down to the ground kicking him out! "Oogh…" he groaned as he face planted on the hard ground.

"That's for Tank!" Ed pointed at him before a pained roar made him turn around.

"ROAR!"

"GAH!" He widened his eyes having realised he forgot all about the battle and now Tank's energy meter was now flashing dangerously red! Her eyes also began to droop as she slowly began to lose both energy and consciousness with each relentless stomp by Gigas! Throwing all sense of caution and driven by compassion for his partner, Ed grabbed another stone he could find, running straight towards the 2 colossal dinosaurs, "Hey ugly! Leave Tank alone!" He shouted at the top of his lungs making Gigas look to him, a mistake as it gave Ed just the shot he needed! Mustering all the strength he had in his flabby arms he threw the stone with all his might as it flew out and smacked right in the center of the tyrannosaurus' eye! Gigas roared out in pain as he stubbled back, his tiny arms trying to reach his face and scratch the stone in his eye but to no avail as then resorted to smacking it at the rock wall to get it out!

With Gigas occupied and Gavro knocked out, Zander seized the chance to run to Spiny's side, "Come on Spiny get up! You can do it! I believe in you!" he pleaded with the large water dinosaur, patting at his face and shouting into his ear, with worry and concern for him. His heartfelt words caused the spinosaurus' eye to twitch as they slowly and weakly opened up to see Zander stroking his face, "That's it! You can do it! I know you can!" He shouted words of kindness and praise into his ear, and feeling motivated by his encouraging words, Spiny forced himself up back to his feet and shook his head clear before roaring out loudly and getting back into the fight! Cora's past motivations for him to never quit, he remembered those words and now Zander was saying the same as she did, which helped further motivate him in recovering faster despite the huge hits he took earlier in battle.

Meanwhile Ed, having saw Tank was still lying down hurt and on her back, he rushed over to her side, "I'm coming Tank! Just hang in there!" he shouted at her, causing her eyes to slowly stir as she saw him come to her aid and around her side. Mustering the strength in his arms and back, he began to push at her, "Heave! Ho!" He shouted out taking in a huge breath, using his emotions and feelings for his partner, he put everything he had into a single big shove before managing to flip the saichania back onto her feet again! As she shook herself clear she looked in surprise to Ed, who was resting his arms on his knees, sweating profusely with exhaustion but he soon looked up and smiled at her, "You okay Tank?" He asked her with concern. Feeling touched by him, she walked over to where he was and began to lick his face for the first time in her life, feeling moved he was the one who not only saved her but helped flu her back over, perhaps Cera's kindness had rubbed off a little in her after the time they spent together, "Heh, you're a pretty tough girl you know that, and you're kinda pretty too you know." Ed then complimented her patting her head as she then puzzled back.

The sound of a furious roar made them all turn around, to see Gigas had managed to get the rock out of his eye. As he turned around to face his enemies, he glared at them in bloodlust and fury, this time, for their insolence he was going to end them brutally and mercilessly if it was the last thing he did! He roared out towards them, his roar shaking the very foundations of the crater itself, and despite its powerful shockwaves, Spiny and Tank both held firm, and so did Zander and Ed. In fact to Gigas' surprise they hadn't showed an ounce of fear or hesitation, instead they held firmly with determination and resolve, as their hearts and minds began to sync with each other and they could feel a power growing deep down inside them as a result of this bond of their's being driven to such an extent, as they began to glow in the auras of the stones they held once!

"Hey Zander!" Ed then shouted out to his friend at the other side as he looked up to him, "You getting that tingly feeling I'm getting?" he asked.

"Actually yeah…." Zander nodded back at him, sensing this must have been the same sensation Max felt when he battled Lunensis! Which meant….

They both then grinned together, "You know what this means Zander?" Ed snickered as they both looked back towards Gigas who was appearing unsettled, no doubt sensing the same power they were about to call forth!.

"Hehehe! Looks like it's our turn now!" Zander answered in response as they along with their respective dinosaur partners glowed in the same colours as their elements!

"Elemental fusion!" They both cried out as Spiny and Tank were both enveloped in bright glowing light, which caused Gigas to back away from them! As it died down and Gigas looked back he was startled to see Tank had turned a deep shade of purple, violet and white, while Spiny had become several shades of light blue, aqua and white! Both dinosaurs were brimming with incredible new power as they roared out at their armoured enemy who then stepped back, feeling intimidated for the first time in his life!

"Wow!"

"Looking sharp there you two!" Ed and Zander both cried out in amazement, this was almost as impressive as them armouring up for the first time too!

Soon after that, Gavro gritted his teeth and rubbed his head where the rock had been flung. Feeling a sharp sting as he brushed over it, the pain soon tucked him off as he flew up and widened his eyes wth rage seeing his enemies now were getting stronger just when he was so close to winning! He gnashed his teeth and tensed his hands into tight fists, having lost patience with these interlopers, "GRRR! That does it! I've had it!" he growled having lost all sense of restraint as his chest plate gnashed purple and the space pirate mark lit up on it, "This time I'll make sure you 2 clowns regret coming here to mess with our plans!" He shouted out in response as Gigas roared out at both his rivals, "Time for Spectral lancer!" Gigas gained a dark purple aura which caused 4 massive crystal lancers to generate from his armour before he launched a full on assault aiming to take both his enemies out in 1 strike!

"Oh boy here he comes Zander!" Ed gritted his teeth and shouted to his best friend.

Zander nodded seriously, "Yeah I know….." After that they both grinned at one another knowing exactly what to do, "You ready Ed!?"

"Oh yeah!" He nodded back as they felt their minds connected together as they each took out a move card and slashed them! "Gaia mountain!"

"Neptune stream!" The moves caused Spiny and Tank to both glow blue and purple in an almost synchronised manner! They rushed head on towards Gigas who was confident he'd be abel to overpower them both with ease! They caught him by surprise as they both swung out their tails and struck his legs, knocking him off balance as he stumbled forward, with his weight unbalanced thanks to his lances! After that the both of them rushed in under him and flipped him high into the air much to Gavro's alarm!

"WHA!? NO WAY!" He stared in disbelief as Tank generated a crystal mountain behind her, which she smashed her tail through sending a large piece of crystal to smack into Gigas and which as followed by a water blast Spiny fired from his mouth which struck him dead center! After that Tank then summoned a large crystal pillar to intercept his fall, then another as he fell off the first before finally a third which impaled him! After that a hue geyser of water erupted underneath he crystal as he was sent spiralling through it helplessly, as Spiny rushed in through the geyser and spun like a torpedo through it before striking him in his unprotected underbelly! The tyrannosaurus overwhelmed by both moves at the same time coughed out at the final strike before crashing down on both Gavro and the Supercomputer!

"NOOO!" Gavro screamed as he held his face out only for his own dinosaur to fall down on him and then smash into the computer too which then exploded into flames and smile, followed by a glowing purple light signalling Gigas' defeat!

With the computer destroyed an their foes defeated, Spiny and Tank both roared out in triumph as Zander and Ed both jumped up and down for joy, shaking out their arms and then clapping one another in a double high five!

"Ahaha! Yay we did it! We actually did something for a change!"

"And it feels so good! Oh I'm so happy I could just cry!" They laughed before breaking out into emotional tears and then hugging each other almost like brothers in celebration of their momentous victory!

Hearing the sounds of rumbling metal from the wreckage they all looked ahead to see Gavro pull himself out from the flaming remains of the computer, now looking singed and battered himself! Rubbing his head and looking back to the computer now destroyed beyond repair, he turned pale and shuddered, "Uh oh…the boss is going to be real mad with me when he finds out about this!" he cried in terror before shooting an angered glare at his foes who humiliated him, "Grrr! You guys are going to regret this! I'll get you next time!" He swore revenge as he pointed out at them and then taking off into he starry night sky!

"That's right! Beat it you loser!" Zander shouted out at him shaking his fist.

"No one messes with the Alpha gang! Nobody!" Ed followed after him as Spiny and Tank both roared out once more together before reverting back to their normal forms, exhausted but still victorious as they hunkered down slightly to regain their strength.

"Ahahahah!" They both laughed before high fiving one another again.

"All I can say is hooray for teamwork!" Ed smiled.

"Now that was what I call perfect coordination." Zander cheered.

Ed soon had to nod as he felt really full of himself, filled with brimming confidence and strength inside, "Yeah…..Plus now I think I can handle myself without needing Tank all the time too!" he proudly boasted as he beat his chest like gorilla!

"Same here, I feel like I could take on the whole world all on my own!" Zander grinned pointing to himself with a thumb before they both fist bumped next, "Whatever the world's going to throw at us, I say bring it on!" he proclaimed believing with their strength they could take on any challenge presented to them and they wouldn't need their dinosaurs' help anymore!

Crack!

The sound of a rock chipping off from the wall near them caught their attention as they looked to it in surprise, "Huh?" As a result of the battle, it caused the walls o the mine to grow increasingly unstable and within moments it began to give way, causing a massive rockslide of boulders and debris to pour out and tumble to where they were all standing! Tank and Spiny stood up unnerved by the natural disaster unfolding before the,, while their partners strangely stood still without moving.

"Hey Zander?" Ed blankly asked unified by the rocks that were about to bury them alive.

"Yeah?" Zander then responded.

"Does now seem like a good time for us to hop on our dinos and get out of here?" Ed asked again calmly.

"Yes it would appear so…." Zander nodded before the 2 men looked at one another and then breaking out into a panic!

"WAAAAHHH! Run away!" They screamed in terror, hopping onto Spiny and Tank's necks and then having them run as fast as they could through the mine tunnel at the other end before the rocks could collapse on and bury them all alive!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Euro Town, Marina's troopers which consisted mainly of women and a handful of men, used their dinosaurs to fire off projectiles of bubble attack, falling water, hydro cutter as well as futaba super cannons at the enemy gel jarks and dinosaurs! Their efforts were boosted thanks to added muscle from both their new alpha and super dinosaurs ranging from irritator to titanosaurus, which were more than capable of pushing back the enemy forces forcing them to beat a hasty retreat!

"Hmph….it seems there's just no pleasing some…." Marina sighed in disappointment, pouting slightly that she worked so hard to put on a good show for them but they wouldn't appreciate it. "Oh well, you're all welcome to our next performance anytime." She waved to them before a loud roar caught her attention, which made her turn serious as she looked in the direction it came from, "And of course there's always the biggest critic of all…." she muttered as the townsfolk looked through the gaps in the walls or from over them, they could see that only one enemy dinosaur remained, the Black armoured Spinosaurus which roared out ferociously at Marina and her partners Smith and Camille, having told her squadron to hold the line at the wall to protect the citizens while she dealt with the enemy leader!

Her camarasaurus bellowed loudly as she then fired a stream of aqua javelins at the black carnivore, but it soon shrouded itself in water as it unleashed river of infinity to easily push through the water spears and then smash into Camille and knocking her down! "Oh no!" Marina gasped in shock as the spinosaurus then snapped down on her neck and she cried in pain, forcing many of the townsfolk to gasp in horror or look away covering their eyes! The troopers were tempted to rush in but what held them back wasn't merely their orders but also from fear, if their enemy was capable of overpowering their captain so easily then what chance did they have themselves!?

Marina then gritted her teeth unwilling to let her partner suffer any longer as she called in for backup, "Smith! Help Camille now!" Her super alpha suchomimus hissed viscously as he rushed the spinosaurus from behind, snapping onto its leg forcing him to release Camille! The larger spinosaurid then tugged at its leg but saw it could break free so easily as Smith began to slash at its leg further enraging it! In response it swung out its tail and sent Smith flying into Camille as they both crashed back, heavily beaten but not yet broken as they stood back up and panted exhaustedly as everyone else looked on anxiously as to what would happen next! Others began to run down from the wall and hide in their homes terrified they wouldn't stand a chance against such a monster, though despite the odds….Marina still held firm on the battlefield much to their surprise as they looked on, some thought she may be frozen with fear and paralysed in her tracks….while others believed she may actually have a plan of her own to counter attack….

"Urgh….this is one hard to please crowd indeed…." she grunted as she could feel some of the pressure of the battle get to her….but in a few moments she collected herself and calmed down with a breath, the stirred up ripples in her mind began to settle till she could see the situation more clearly. Opening her eyes calmly, going with the flow and feeling it through her veins she looked towards Smith and Camille as they both stood up tall, feeling their mutual trust in Marina and hers in them, giving them strength to go on and even further! "But the show must go on and it's a good thing we always save the best for last!" She then declared as everyone gasped seeing a blue aura form around her camarasaurus! "Elemental fusion!" As the aura died down, Camille bellowed loudly with power as she emerged in her awakened form, as deep and blue as the sea and the sky was much to everyone's awe!

"Wow!"

"Beautiful!"

Some gasped or breathed while others cheered and applauded for Marina as she spread her arms out wide, picturing herself as if she was performing in one of her old shows in the entertainment business as well as part of her old stunts in movies too! "Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare yourselves the most dazzling show your eyes will ever lay eyes upon!" She proclaimed as the crowds cheered and roared with excitement as they awaited to see what she had in store for them like the old days.

The Spinosaurus, feeling rattled and annoyed by her display, roared out in fury at her, but despite that Marina remained calm and smooth just like her dinosaurs were too, "Well well, it seems our honoured guest wishes to partake in our special splashy show." she smirked with confidence as she looked to both her dinos in the eye, with a nod and mere eye contact they knew exactly what to do, "Then by all means we shall humble welcome him center stage!" She cried out accepting the spinosaurus' challenge as it glowed blue intending to end this with one strike! It summoned forth a flood of red water above them all as it prepared to swamp them all with bermuda triangle! However as the red water began to crash down and he crowds gasped, Marina instead smirked seeing this as a creative opportunity to improvise!

"Smith! Aqua vortex go!" Upon her command, the super alpha suchomimus shrieked as he glowed blue, causing a vortex to surrounded him and then a larger whirlpool of water to surrounded them all! The vortex soon absorbed the water from bermuda triangle into it, changing the vortex into a swirl of bright purple water which made the crowds widen in amazement! The black spinosaurus was taken aback by this and stepped back, feeling fear for the first time, but Marina wasn't about to let him exit center stage just yet! "And now Camille, it's time for the Grand finale! Aqua whip!" She cried, and on cue, her blue sauropod fired off a water snare through the purple aqua vortex which snared the spinosaurus before it could turn to run!

Mustering all the strength she had she lifted up the huge theropod high into the air, as it roared and struggled frantically and everyone widened their eyes at the astounding feat she just achieved! After that, she slammed the black dinosaur into the heart of the aqua vortex causing it to spin uncontrollably before he was flung into the air and then crashing down into the ground with a huge thud! As it crashed sail first into the ground it let out a pained shriek before losing consciousness and returning to a card, as everyone cheered and applauded for Marina for not only saving them but also for her stunning splash of a show!

"Woo hoo!"

"She won!"

"We're safe!"

"Bravo! Encore!" They cheered and clapped, even her squad of troopers, which was made of her fan club, then began waving flags with Marina's face on them as they egad joining in the praise and admiration for her for being such an excellent role model, and always being an inspiration to them.

Marina then took a bow with her dinosaurs before blowing out kisses to them, "Thank you, thank you! Mua!" she smiled filled with joy and honour inside her heart, "You have all been a wonderful audience! We do hope you all enjoyed the show today." As she finished thanking the masses of Euro Town the lights in the houses and along the fences and wall bean to switch on much to the group's surprise. "Say that's odd….I was so caught up in performing I didn't notice all the lights went back on." she mused putting a finger to her chin in thought before taking out her dinoshot and dialling on it, "Better check in with Craig and see…." As she did, she also began to smile at ease, deep down she had a thought she knew just who was responsible for this miracle of power returning to the town and she also knew they'd succeed as she had thought.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Down below things were looking rather hard for the resistance as the armoured dinosaurs began to drive several of the troopers and the partners into a corner, leaving those with either alpha dinosaurs (like kentrosaurus and wuerhosaurus) along with those who managed to awaken their own dinosaurs' inner strength (like tarchia or nodosaurus) heavily outnumbered.

It was going rather hard for Captain Craig, as the now armoured black saichania swung out a heavy tail club which overpowered the tails of both his talarurus and his alpha ankylosaurus as they were sent flying back and they crashed into the nearby mountain wall! "Taka! Bash!" Craig cried in alarm as he ran to their side being them breathe and groan heavily in pain. As his dinosaurs both began to open their eyes, which were heavy due to exhaustion, he shouted out in their faces with gritted teeth, "Get up! You've handled way worse training regimes than this!" he yelled as he patted their heads hard with the right balance of authority and concern. As the sounds of dinosaurs roaring in the background and troopers yelling out in pain or for help echoed, Craig then looked to them both once more pleading for them to stand and fight once more, "I know you can do it! Everyone's counting on us so don't give up yet!"

Pushed on by their boss' spurring words along with their duty as soldiers and to aid their comrades in arms, the 2 ankylosaurids then staggered up shakily to their legs before slamming their tail clubs down on the ground hard and roaring in response to the black saichania which shrieked in frustration back at them, this time going for full frontal assault as it rushed them head on! Craig gritted his teeth, knowing that this was going to be a tough battle still, even a gigarock hammer to the head didn't do a thing to that monstrous ankylosaur and now it was armoured too! Nevertheless with their forces now on their last legs the only ope they had was to beat the leader dinosaur and hope the others back off. It was their only hope left and to do so they'd have to bring out the big guns!

Having lost his patience and driven to the edge with his troops crying for help and them having almost no options left, "Tch! This has gone on long enough!" He hissed, seeing it was time to change tactics, one with more brains and a lot more heart! "Taka! Let's take this supersized freakshow down a notch!" He shouted to his talarurus who bellowed back in agreement with him as they both began to surge with purple earth energy! "Elemental fusion!" Taka then let out a loud screech as he erupted purple having been turned into an awakened dinosaur himself much to the black saichania's surprise! "Aw yeah! Now we're talking!" Craig grinned eagerly to his partner who wagged his tail in excitement feeling all kinds of power bursting forth and he was prepared to unleash them upon their now doomed foe!

The saichania stepped back a bit in surprise, before its control marks and armour urged it to fight on, as it roared viciously and summoned out crystal crusher from the ground and began charging towards them both with everything it had! Craig however was ready for whatever it would throw their way as he slashed a move card, "Sand trap!" Bash the alpha ankylosaurus roared as he summons forth a quicksand pit right in the saichania's path, causing it to stumble into the sinking sand unable to stop its charge, as it struggled and shrieked in a panic, only sinking it further into the pit as it was soon swallowed up! Seconds later a huge spiked pillar struck out from under its soft vulnerable belly as it was flung into the air and now upside down!

This was the chance they had been waiting for as Craig called to Taka for the final blow, "Now for gigarock hammer!" Upon his command the super talarurus slammed his club into the ground and yanked out a massive violet crystal from the ground! Jumping high into the air he slammed the heavy crystal club right in the saichania's weak spot as it coughed out in pain and crashed down to the ground and then losing consciousness, its armour shattered and it retuned to the form of a dinosaur card much to the alarm of the enemy dinosaurs and gel jarks, plus the joy and amazement of the troopers. "Ahahaha! In your face!" Craig laughed out boastfully as he ran out to the card and grabbed it. Smirking pleased as he held it in his hand he then sneered towards the enemy forces signalling they were going to be next unless they beat it, as his 2 partner dinosaurs roared out in unison at them! Getting the message, the remaining enemies quickly retreated into the forest or over the hills, as the rest of the troopers who still stood, rallied together and pursued them, intending to press their advantage and ensure that they were cleared out of Europe for good!

"Look at em scramble, they're way more wimpy than those 2 clowns from earlier." Craig grinned snarkily as the rest of their enemies soon disappeared from sight, as the sounds of battling and clashing soon echoed beyond the hills and were soon questing down hinting it was soon going to be over, the battle here was won. He soon turned serious as he remembered something else that had to be taken care of, "Speaking of them, I'd better check on them to make sure-Huh?" As he looked to the top off the mountain where he last saw Ed and Zander head up, the battlefield soon vanished and the skies returned to normal! In fact for the first time ever, the dark clouds which blanketed over the sky began to clear and the sun began to beam through the holes that were gradually forming over the sky's horizon, illuminating the plains and woods with bright light once again for the first time in years!

As Craig and his dinos could only look on in speechless awe and amazement, the moment was soon interrupted as he heard a ringing sound from his dinoshot.

BEEP

Blinking his eyes in surprise he answered it, "Craig! Can you hear me!?" a frantic female voice sounded from the end which made him widen his eyes.

"Marina! I hear you loud and clear!" He answered her in surprise, if she was calling it meant something big had happened though whether it was good or bad remained to be seen.

He soon got the answer he hoped to hear, "Thank goodness, all power seems to be restored to Euro Town, and we've taken care of things on our end." he answered him as he let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good to hear, same's going peachy on my end too," he said as he looked over the hills to see some troopers return with their dinos, some of them were carrying a couple new trophy cards they won from the spoils of their defeated foes, along with some rocky remains of gel jarks they smashed, "Now we're just cleaning up what's left, won't take long though." His smile soon banished as he brought a finger to his bearded chin in thought, "Still….if communications seem to be working again…." Looking back up to see smoke coming up from the top of the mountain, along with Ed and Zander emerging from the caves running frantically out on top of Spiny and Tank, he then grinned in amusement, "Heh, well I'll be, they actually did it…..colour me surprised…"

"I told you not to count them out, I knew they had potential for greatness deep down and I never doubted it for a second." said Marina back to him.

"Heh you always did have an eye for one's inner beauty and truth." He then smirked admitting he was wrong there, "Maybe those 2 are made of more sturdier material than I gave them credit for after all." He said at the end as he awaited for them to return and regroup with them, so they could go back home and not only help bring life back to Euro Town but also give HQ the good news that the mission was clear and the dig site was now secure and the enemy operations here had been finally shut down. The first battle was won and now the first domino for the Shadow Empire had been toppled.

 **The stage has been set and the first battle of the war goes to the resistance as Zander and Ed manage to pull off the near impossible in Euro Town! Also the idea of the super computer hacking devices came from the DS game in stage 1.**

 **I know it seems a little out of place for alpha dinosaurs to be still used after last chapter but didn't want them out of the story plus they do have their uses as seen here. As for some of the dinosaurs willing to go alpha, think of it like Captain America the first avenger where Steve Rogers was willing to go through the experiment and wanted to take it. Fun fact, the cyberspace battlefield shown in the base's training room is from the arcade game when fighting Dinoman.**

 **Also a nice chance for black dinosaurs to be used too as seen-that means you can expect 4 other black dinosaurs to make an appearance soon. (Did I surprise you for their inclusion? They're not as powerful as the one Seth made but Goma made them by reviving fossils using energy like the one Seth used, he got his notes and data when his jarks invaded Rex's house earlier and now has them as leader dinosaurs to coordinate the others he has stationed around his bases, with the dinovocs controlling them and in turn the army, which he entrusted to each of the space pirates which he now appoints as his generals, including his own father)**

 **The other missions are all happening at the same time as this now so the others won't use their armour yet till their tasks are complete too. Plus it gives a chance for the other main dinosaurs to go super too! Sorry if the battle with them didn't show too much but didn't want to drag out the chapter any longer than it already was. If you want you can suggest me some ideas for the next ones and I'll see if I can incorporate them. If you think they lost too easily even with armour, let's just say the super alpha and awakened forms gave the dinosaurs a more equal footing in power to match their foes.**

 **As for the explanation of super dinosaurs, based on what tsukikami02 with Miku and Cera being a kind of bridge connecting dinosaurs with people it's a great idea to think about and explore on too.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-I had Lunensis based off eoraptor but that's another nice trivia fact. Also strong connection with him and Cera too.**

 **Let's just say he won Maia's heart a long time ago when he won his first ever championship, and she doesn't really fight, she prefers to stay out of that and not let dinosaurs get hurt, thus she doesn't get involved in battles. Something Cera takes after from her.**

 **Sadly I don't have the app so will have to review like this then.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-You're right the alpha dinosaurs didn't go away as seen here.**

 **Also technically some don't give their dinosaurs nicknames, for example Seth and of course Goma.**

 **Guest**

 **-I plan to on that part.**

 **-Be patient I do plan on giving new moves but they will come in due time.**

 **-No Miku will stay as she is, sorry I can't think up anymore moves she could use.**


	54. Friends to the end

Chapter 54

Friends to the end

In the middle of a sparsely populated village, where houses appeared like metallic huts in the shape of igloos with wooden poles at their doors, along with open air eateries and in an asian style setting in the middle of a rather flat plain, a portal soon opened ip and appearing from it was Max and Rex in their mesozoic mobiles, with Chomp and Ace who had their faces pressed against the windows closest to them in excitement as they barked energetically to see what was outside.

"Here we are Rex." said Max as he began to look around to see it was rather barren and almost empty like a ghost town, as greyish clouds covered across the skies giving off a most gloomy feel to the surrounding area.

"So this is Gobi Village….the Resistance's Asia base." Rex narrowed his eyes feeling a bit unsettled, they were expecting to be greeted by the townsfolk for coming to save them from their plight, but not even a trooper or so much as a pet dog came to meet them upon their arrival, so it was clear something wasn't right. Chomp and Ace picked up on that feeling too, as they became rather unnerved and restless as they tried to pinpoint where it was coming from.

After driving in a little further to the center, Max caught sight of a large pitched up tent (with a cross on it giving away its purpose as a medical bay) with a few small dinosaurs like zuniceratops or piatnyzkysaurus just waiting outside appearing restless for some reason. He widened his eyes as he saw a gallimimus push in what looked like a sick child dressed in traditional clothing and a bamboo hat on a stretcher inside! Curious he drove ahead to right in front to see as Rex followed, the both of them widened their eyes in horror to see not just villagers, but even a handful of troopers lying down amongst the many beds in the medical bay, all of them looked almost lifeless as they lay so peacefully on the beds and stretchers inside with only a small handful of doctors, wearing gas masks for some reason, looking after them!

"AH! What's happened here!?" He gasped while Rex widened his eyes in sheer shock to see what looked like an epidemic of some sort and it seemed to have infected nearly the entire village! No wonder the dinosaurs appeared rather anxious or restless, for innocents as well as their partners to be sick and bed ridden like that no doubt was worrying them deeply.

"I don't know but we'd better get down and see." Rex then said back to Max who nodded.

"Yeah, let's-"

Before they could open their doors, "No! Stay inside! Don't get out! Keep your windows shut too!" a voice and familiar face shouted from their communicator screen inside their mesozoic mobiles!

"Huh!?" Looking up ahead they saw a yellow heavy hauler truck come in towards them from behind one of the large tents. As they looked at it in front of them and then at the computer screen they saw who it was.

"C…Captain Raina?"

"What's going on here?" They both asked her in surprise before they looked to the medical bay with all its' sick inside, "Why's everyone all lying down in bed like that?"

"Is everyone sick or just tired?" Max then asked before deciding to crack a joke hoping to lighten the mood a little, "Did they like stay up way too late and overwork themselves?"

Raina shook her head with regret, "It's worse than that," she said heavily wishing it was that simple or that was the case. Swallowing rather hard she soon began to get to the really hard part, "Apparently…the entire village has contracted a kind of sleeping sickness and they won't wake up!" she then cried as Max and Rex widened their eyes and gasped.

"A sleeping sickness!?" They exclaimed in disbelief, it may have sounded silly at first but to see it with their own eyes as they did made it way more serious than it first sounded.

"Yes, apparently it's something in the air." she explained to them rather seriously, "I observed it myself, the moment I arrived here to aid Gobi Village in retaking Darkwood Forest's dig site from the shadow empire." She said recalling how she arrived to help supervise and mobilise resources and personnel together before they would then launch an attack against the enemy outpost at their Asian dig site, "But then….one by one….the villagers soon began to fall into a sleep with no plausible explanation." She then said feeling disheartened as she recalled how some of the villagers began to have much slower and sluggish reactions and movements, followed by drowsiness and constant yawning before finally they began to collapse into a comatose like sleep! It wasn't just them but also many of her own staff too and it wasn't before long before even she began to feel the effects of the sickness herself!

Fortunately for emergency situations like this she had some gas masks on standby which she used to quickly save herself and the few that remained, and thankfully the mesozoic mobile air conditioning systems had been equipped with special air filters to be used when travelling through hostile or toxic environments, and they proved to be a very useful feature in this dire scenario. "After taking blood samples from the victims who were unfortunate enough to fall prey to this illness, along with taking samples of the air itself, I concluded that there are toxins in the air." She then said as she sent Max and Rex some data and simulations on what would happen should the toxins come into contact with human blood, "Once inhaled and absorbed into the human bloodstream, they stimulate the brain's gland that induce sleep, in fact, cause it to produce so much…'sleepiness' hormone, that it renders anyone into a near comatose like sleep." She explained turing to use small words so the kids could catch on, but the way she did so made them realise the situation to be far more grim than they believed since they could understand every single word she said as they felt rather unnerved themselves too, feeling grateful that they were safe inside and hadn't opened the doors otherwise they'd be sleeping too.

Raina then sighed heavily as she looked to the side as one of her staff brought in defibrillators and began to shock some of the sleeping patients with mild currents but to no avail as they only served to make the bodies bounce and no more, "And we've tried many ways to wake them, from splashing them with water, loud noise or even pain stimulation…." she then shook her head feeling pity for them and disappointed in herself for being unable to awaken them, "But sadly none of them worked or yielded any promising results."

After hearing her words both Max and Rex had mixed reactions come over them as they reflected on her words.

"Freaky…." Max shuddered, feeling greatly unnerved at the situation seeing it almost comparable to death.

"Yeah…." Rex sighed feeling more sympathy for the people who were trapped in sleep unable to awaken and how much it worried their friends and loved ones. Hearing some growls ahead he saw a trio of dinosaurs (Gallimimus, dromicieomimus and struthiomimus) run off past them and a zuniceratops walk by, "Though the dinosaurs seem alright to me." He then noted curiously.

"How very observant," Raina then smiled before eying the dinosaurs too with them, "For some reason only people are affected and the dinosaurs still remain vigorous and active as they usually are."

"Thats good to know." Max then sighed with relief, seeing now that Chomp and Ace won't have to worry about going to sleep themselves, and at the same time the village wouldn't be so defenceless either.

Raina's momentary smile however soon passed, "But without their partners they are growing increasingly restless. Plus with fewer personnel on standby the village is now heavily vulnerable to any kind of surprise attack." she then said with concern on her mind.

"That really doesn't sound good at all…." Rex commented understanding her fears.

"Yeah no kidding…." Max agreed, "I mean I like sleeping in a lot too especially on the weekends, but to be using sleep as a weapon against us, it's just diabolical! Now who knows how much on life you'll be missing out on!" He then cried cracking a light joke too, he also heard of the story of sleeping beauty but this was just madness, he'd also feel sorry if they had to be kissed by their dinosaurs to be awakened.

"It's more serious than that Max," Rex sighed as he face palmed at his inappropriate joke, "If you sleep and never wake up isn't it pretty much the same as dying? Think about how much those people may be suffering unable to wake up and how worried their friends, family and dinosaurs will be too….lying helpless and bedridden like that…." he then scowled at him in disappointment.

"Y….Yeah I know…." Max croaked, "But at least they're still alive at least and people do fall into comas and eventually wake up from them too! That's a bright side to it all right?" He then asked hoping to lighten the mood and not leave it as dark and bitter as it was now.

"That's only if we can find the source of what's causing all this," Rex then pointed out as he tried to focus on the reality of the situation and not delude himself with false hope, "Unless we deal with it we'd only be wasting time and energy."

"Which is why, I took the liberty of determining where that is." Raina then proudly stated which made the boys blink at her in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You have Raina?" They asked her in surprise.

"Indeed." she nodded as she brought up another data screen depicting a map of the surroundings with wind directions and where they originated from, as well as the pollutant particles being blown along them, "From what I've determined the toxins in the air which caused this illness to occur, was carried in by winds blowing in from the Darkwood Forest dig site just beyond the horizon." She explained as the map traced away to a nearby dense forested area several miles away from their current location, "If we can find it, maybe we can develop some kind of antidote or remedy for this illness, and if not, shut it down and then contain it, keep it from spreading." she stated.

"Sounds like a plan." Rex then nodded with Max with determination.

"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's go already!" Max then cried feeling angsty and restless, "These people are counting on us to wake them up and we're not going to let them down!" He shouted out loud.

"Don't let emotion cloud your sense of caution." A stern voice suddenly shot out at them out from a black screen on the communicator which surprised them!

"Huh!?" Even Raina was surprised as a cloud of wind and swirling leaves appeared in the middle of them!

"Whoa!"

"What the!?" They widened their eyes and backed away, as a black turf shredder mobile appeared before them in the wind vortex all a sudden! As they stared with widened eyes in disbelief at what they witnessed the screen soon lit up with Kaze's face on it. The sight of him again made Rex grit his teeth as he was put back in a bad mood upon recalling his first experience at the wind station the other day.

"It's been a while kid, didn't think you had the bearings to come out here to the real battlefield." he said towards Rex almost tauntingly and with disapproval, who kept a hard gaze at him while Ace hissed aggressively, sensing some very nasty vibes from him.

"….."

Max sweated feeling intimidated by Kaze's appearance and demeanour, as so did Chomp, as they uneasily looked towards his friend on the other video screen, "Rex…is this guy-"

Rex nodded at him through the monitor screen, "Yeah, he's Kaze, the captain of wind that I told you about." he answered.

"Hmph! Say what you want about me, I'm merely a realist and have no intention of deluding myself with childish beliefs like either of you." Kaze scoffed in disapproval which earned him a couple of hard scowls from both kids at his rudeness and insults, though he paid them no mind as he felt himself to be in the right as he looked around to show them what they were dealing with, "As you can see this situation is as serious as it gets, playtime is over, you're in war territory now and the first mistake can be your last." He said motioning off to the many sick in the medical bay and the unnerved and agitated dinosaurs about the premises before shooting them a vicious glare which made their hearts skip a beat, "Don't expect 'friendship' and honour to carry you through, there are many who'll play underhanded just to win, so unless you keep a sharp eye out you'll both be doomed before you can even move."

"…." Rex said nothing back, what he spoke of was nothing more than pure refined truth, though he couldn't stand nor accept the way he was giving it. But as much as he wanted to defend himself and Max he couldn't find the words to do so, as he'd only give Kaze more reasons to belittle him for being an immature child who knew nothing of what they experienced on the frontlines….

"Wow isn't he a bottle of sunshine….." Max whispered to him though in disapproval, making it obvious to the wind captain on only rolled his eyes.

"Now now Kaze, it wouldn't be productive to undermine the boys," Raina then spoke out in a calm manner, "After all they came all this way to help us both investigate the cause of this epidemic and so it wouldn't be right to put them down for having good intentions." She said in a way which made the boys feel more at ease that they were more appreciated, though Kaze didn't seem to agree with her.

"Hmph!" He then scoffed, and the boys could clearly see the polar opposite behaviours between the 2 captains, one being a futuristic and bubbly positive girl with moving forward while the other was more stuck in the past and in traditional methods of working…..ironically it was somewhat similar to how Max was courageous but also reckless, while Rex was more level headed but sometimes not as confident.

The 2 of them could though agree that Kaze had to back up his words as they demanded it straight from him, "You said you could help us out?"

"Let's have it then." They then spoke out at him.

"Very well, as you wish." he scoffed in response, "He should be arriving about now…." He replied which made the boys raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"He?" As soon as Max asked, a ninja suddenly appeared in the middle of them before Kaze in a flash which made the boys and their dinosaurs jump in surprise!

"Whoa! Where'd he come from!?" Rex gasped as his heart skipped a beat as Ace fell silent in shock and bewilderment.

"Don't know," Max blinked still recovering from the shock, "But it's pretty cool we have ninjas on our side instead of against us like back in Ancient Japan." he then said with a grin while Chomp only barked out in awe.

As the ninja presented himself before his captain, "You've finished preparing them?" Kaze asked him as his subordinate took a bow.

"Yes we have master," he answered as he held out what appeared to be a wooden tree charm in the shape of a dinosaur's footprint while tied around with a lace, "We harvested enough wood from the nearby Wanderwood forest to prepare these special charms." He explained calmly, "The trees there help clean the air, therefore these will prove to be far more effective in providing protection than gas masks when entering the far more concentrated area in dark wood forest."

"Excellent work." Kaze smirked under his face cloth knowing they'd be perfectly equipped for their mission now and had nothing to fear.

"We've already provided the rest of our foot soldiers with said protection," the ninja responded as he walked over to the side window where Kaze was as he quickly handed it over to his master who swiped it and wore it in less than a second, "Now we shall await your arrival in Darkwood forest while you and your team get fully prepared. It is a most treacherous route indeed so be most careful." he then said blowing with respect once more.

"Understood, we shall be there momentarily." Kaze nodded in acknowledgement as the ninja trooper vanished from sight yet again.

As that happened, the others all stared in surprise and amazement at what they saw, "Wow, that was actually pretty cool." Rex breathed, he may have saw ninjas before in Ancient Japan but to see it up close again was always a sight to behold.

"Yeah…." Max nodded with him in agreement.

"Oh how I always wondered how they managed to pull off that kind of skill." Raina mumbled to herself as she pouted in disappointment. No matter how many recordings she analysed she couldn't see it clearly even when she slowed the recordings to their maximum, wanting to prove the science and logic behind it all and refusing to believe ninjutsu as magic and sorcery.

Right after that Kaze swiftly vanished from his mobile and then appeared in between Max and Rex's vehicles much to their surprise before handing them each a charm, "Keep that around your neck at all times," he said tossing it to them inside as they held in their breath and opened the windows to take the charms in, "Unless you want to be put into a sleep deeper than the one sleeping beauty fell into." he said at the end rather grimly as he handed Captain Raina one next then appeared right back inside his own transport.

The way he said so made them both sweat tensely with one anxiety too, "Will keep that in mind."

"You don't have to tell me twice." They nodded, not wanting to be put to sleep out in enemy territory where they'd be sitting ducks for any hungry predators too.

As soon as they put on their charms, Kaze then spoke out impatiently, "Alright, now that we're all ready to go. The time for us to strike has come." he grunted to wanting to waste a second longer, as his blade was itching to cut into something and his hand had urges to grab hold of said blades to do it.

"But wait," Rex then said much to his annoyance, "We can't just leave all these people asleep and all alone like that, and their dinosaurs running around all restless and agitated too." He said feeling cornered for the village's wellbeing, with them all vulnerable like that and unable to control their dinosaurs they'd be easy targets or worse their own dinosaurs may go out of control and wreck the place with no one to watch over them.

Once more though Raina then smirked already having anticipated this scenario, "Don't worry about that you guys I've got that part covered." she giggled with a bright smile which surprised the boys once more.

"Huh?"

"You do?" They asked as Kaze raised an eyebrow feeling he should at least see what she had to offer in terms of defences.

She then nodded at them all proudly, "I took the liberty of installing several new defences all around the perimeter of the village." Snapping her fingers, their screens switched to view the outside perimeter of the village which was situated high above a tall hill for defence, at the far base were sensors to detect movement and the slightest detection of large enemy movement would set off alarms to warn any securities on vigilant or alert. There are also fossil cannon turrets, programmed to lock only on spectral pirate signatures, landed with ammo consisting of hard amber to fire out hard rocks at any approaching enemies within a long range and they also had a wide range of movement and mobility too.

Further in were also electrical fences with barbed wire which would be more than enough to deter foes foolish enough to make contact with them, followed with Alpha tie bombs laying in wait under the ground on the path leading up to the village. On top of that, various machines like poison machines or gravity generators were hidden amongst boulders or in nearby shaded outcrops to be used to hinder the enemies or disorient them, as well as neutralise their attacks too. Should they manage to get through these defences, the last line of protection lay in the remaining troopers on standby as they were already heading outside from their camps and getting their dinoshots out. Needless to say it was a rather well fortified defence in the end.

"I can proudly say that the people in this village have nothing to worry about." Raina then boasted with pride and confidence at the hard work she put into organising this near impenetrable formation and how she took so many possibilities into consideration too.

"Whoa now that's fortified…" Max whistled in admiration while Chomp shuddered nervously and backed away into his seat feeling terrified if he were to have to brave all that, even as an adult or for food he'd never get within a mile of that village now.

"I doubt any of of our dinos could get within 3 feet of the village now…" Rex commented impressed himself with Ace, it made it seem almost like a fortress with all this security but in this situation one couldn't afford to be too careful.

"In fact I feel so confident in our newly installed defences, I believe it should be safe for me to join you on your little expedition!" Raina then proudly stated which further surprised the 3 males present.

"Really!?"

"You're coming too!?"

"Great….just what we needed…." Kaze rolled eyes sighing in annoyance, finding her sunny childish personality to be unbearable, he'd much rather wade into the battlefield unarmed than put up with her a second longer.

The D team however had a different concern in mind, "You sure you'll be fine?" Rex asked Raina feeling rather unsure as he eyed her closely, "I mean no offence you are a captain but still you….don't seem like the fighting type." he said trying to sound as polite as he could.

"Yeah what Rex said." Max added, feeling unsure, though Raina was a captain he considered her to be more of the eggheaded bookworm type than someone who'd be on the frontlines in the battlefield.

She however understood full well the risks of battling and felt touched by their concern, but nevertheless she was determined to prove to them just how well adept at combat she actually was deep down, "I may be a scientist but I'm more than equipped to conduct work in the field when I need to." she said to them with assurance, "Plus, I believe that with me on board your chances of success are now significantly higher than just the 3 of you." She added at the end which helped Max and Rex both feel a little more reassured than they were a few minutes ago.

"Heh, you know I actually feel a littler safer now that we have another captain tagging along." Max then chuckled feeling more at ease.

"Yeah, plus…." Rex then turned an eye towards Kaze who kept his hard scowl at him, "It oughta keep things a little less tense too." he thought deep down.

Kaze saw she had made her decision, and not because he wanted to respect her wishes he didn't see any logic in wasting time protesting against it, "Suit yourself, don't hold me responsible if anything happens." he then shrugged before getting serious again, "Now if you 3 are done chatting, it's time we get a move on. Time is wasting and of the essence." He said as he turned around his vehicle and sped out of the gates of the village and down the hills towards the forest further ahead in the distance, leaving behind the others in his dust.

"Man is he a grouch, what's his problem?" Max grumbled in annoyance seeing he was treating them like deadweight and they were all supposed to be in on the same team.

Rex too scowled hard seeing that even in their time of need Kaze didn't seem to be cooperative with them, in fact despite all this he was more fixated on revenge….not that he could blame him though.

"Kaze has lived experienced plenty of struggles and hardship in life," Raina then explained to Max hoping to help him understand the wind captain's side of things a little better, "Plus the shadow empire put him through a lot as well." she said sounding rather solemn as she shook her head and looked away from the communication screen, "Things I'd….rather not say…." she choked at the end.

"Oh…." Was all Max could say as he was starting to feel sorry for him now, feeling regret for not understanding, if he went through what the ninja did he might actually turn out the same too….

"….." Rex remained silent unable to say anything, he knew that despite what Kaze went through it didn't mean he had to push others away or belittle them. Even if he had a bad experience his methods of ensuring others didn't suffer like he did were far from being right.

"I understand if he can get off on the wrong foot, even if he has his reasons, but I sincerely hope you don't hold it against him." Raina then asked Max hoping he'd still give him a chance. In fact deep down she knew that Ma and Rex would not only give rise to their future as it is now, but maybe make a better one for them now in the present and therefore forge a mightier future for them all in the end. TO help shine the light through haze's heart which was shrouded in dark must and hopefully be the light to help him find his way again. Like how science paved the way for humanity she believed that there was still hope for them all especially Kaze and others who suffered, to find the oath towards a better tomorrow with the D Team now aiding them.

Looking to one another, feeling moved by Raina's words, Max and Rex sighed heavily deciding to trust her and give Kaze the benefit of the doubt for now. After that with a firm expression, "Let's just go." Rex then said firmly, deciding not to dwell on what harsh words he was told my the cold wind captain as they drove out through the gates and headed for the forest where the source of the illness was originating from. As they did, the rest of Raina's troops began typing into their computers as they began to arm the defences around the perimeter of the village as well as summon forth whatever dinosaurs they had on them and turning them to their awakened forms (Which included torosaurus or brachyceratops) along with those that have gone through the alpha process like chasmosaurus or einiosaurus, as they began to patrol the outside of the village remaining on high alert.

 **(Later)**

After travelling across the hills pass lakes and old farmland now deserted, the group soon arrived at a very dense and thick grove of trees, their trunks coloured almost as dark as charcoal, and surrounding it was a veil of light mist floating right above it. As they stopped right at the entrance which was a single pathway with a game trail just leading inside, "Here we are gang, Darkwood forest." she said knowing they've reached their destination and where the enemy was lurking within.

"Whoa, now that place looks really spooky." Max gulped down hard as he pulled at the collar of his shirt to let in some air, as he felt rather pressured and constrained to see the source of the poison was hidden deep inside that dark forest where anything could come out and surprise them when they least expect it.

"The name dark wood sure is all too appropriate." Rex added feeling the same as he did, also for the fact that the trees themselves were rather dark in colour too.

Raina then loaded the data schematics on her screen which pinpointed the wind blowing from the forest with the concentration levels far higher further inside, "According to these readings, the source of the contamination lies at the heart of this forest." she said.

Kaze meanwhile narrowed his eyes, seeing that the entire perimeter of the forest had trees that were densely packed together, "Hmm….it's way too dense for us to continue with the mesozoic mobiles." he noted seeing there weren't any game trails or openings large enough for them to go in through, meaning only one option was open to them. Disgruntled he opened up his door much to the surprise of the others as he hopped outside and looked to them, "We'll have to continue on foot, no way around it, now come on." He said to them which shocked Max and Rex thinking he was crazy if they were to set foot in somewhere so potentially dangerous.

"Ugh…how primitive and inefficient." Raina sighed in annoyance as she got out of her truck with heavy reluctance, "Although there is no denying that some circumstances require hands on approaches and are unavoidable and I suppose this counts for one of them." She said at the end.

Soon Max and Rex were beginning to see the truth behind their words, if they tried to go around or go in like they were now they'd probably get stuck or waste more time too. "Yeah, no other way around it…." Rex grunted as he opened the door of his rig and get out, with Ace hopping behind him, "I don't like this either but we've got no other choice."

"Man I really hate it when we get into situations like this…." Max sighed as he slammed his head at the back of his seat in annoyance and then banging it at the steering wheel in frustration, before finally hopping out of his car after coming to the painful conclusion that no matter how hard he protested there was no helping it. Chomp too felt rather anxious at having to head inside that dark forest but began to muster up his courage and growl in agitation in order to support Max.

"That's how life is sometimes," said Kaze in response as he shrugged his shoulders, "Be sure to keep that in mind, because you'll face many more like this and no matter how hard you try to fight it there's only one way forward." He said to them sternly before turning his back to them, "Unless you toughen yourself before then, then your journey would be at its end." With that he leapt into the tree tops and then disappearing into the darkness taking a head start from the others and leaving them behind again much to their discomfort.

"….." Max and Rex said nothing, as much as they still were bitter and raw towards him they could see that he was right and that in war there was no doubt they'd encounter moments such as this without a doubt, they knew this would happen the mount they signed up for this mission and it was time they saw it through. Also, the mission took priority over their own personal squabbles now, as many people, both Gobi Village and the resistance was counting on them as they spoke. With no more time to waste they headed in along the game trail as they made their way into the dark depths of the forest ready for whatever was awaiting them.

As they trekked through the paths riddled with bushes, tree roots and unevener terrain, Raina kept her gaze fixed on her detection device shaped almost like a cross between a compass and a hand held computer, following the direction the wind blew while carrying the toxic gas. It was fortunate they had the tree charms on their necks otherwise they'd be taking a literal dirt nap and be easy pickings for any enemy just waiting for them to fall asleep. While it proceeded smoothly at first the device soon lead them off the path and into some dense undergrowth, as they uncomfortably pushed and shoved against the many dense foliage around them, which proved to be more challenging that they anticipated.

"Man this jungle is really dense…." Rex grunted in annoyance as he kicked out at some roots which caught his leg while Ace had to tear them apart with his teeth so he could proceed better.

"And I can barely see a thing…." Max muttered grumpily squinting his eyes trying to get a good view of his surroundings, as he found there being such dim lighting through the trees as well as mist travelling through the forest itself.

"Watch your step," Raina then warned him with caution in her voice, "There's no telling what may be lurking around in these bushes, keep close together so you don't get lost."

Max and Rex nodded in agreement with her seeing this was a bad time to get careless….something Chomp didn't quite heed as he sniffed at a nearby use and began to nibble at it. Noticing him before he walked too far, Max ran back and grabbed hold of him, "Hey Chomp! This isn't lunch time! We're on a mission here!" he grunted in annoyance as he pulled him away from his snack much to the trike's annoyance.

Ace wasn't any better though, as he sniffed out something most intriguing in the bushes and deciding to stick his head in them to find some brightly coloured red and white spotted mushrooms. He was tempted to eat one of them, its bright coloration enticing him, till Rex grabbed him from behind and held him up, "No Ace, no running off. There's no telling what's hiding out here, be careful." he scolded the carnotaurus who let out a sad sigh in response.

"Aha, an opportunity to study new ways of dinosaurs interacting with humans! This I can't pass up!" Raina suddenly said seeing an opportunity to study and learn something new as she quickly took out her notebooks and began to record what was happening with the boys and their partner dinosaurs.

Kaze annoyed with them-he up above and they slow him down below

Right above them, watching them careful while hidden amongst the tree tops, Kaze rilled his eyes in annoyance knowing he could've been at the source of the contamination long ago….but deep down he knew that he'd be disgracing his own honour if he abandoned them like that so he held back to keep a close watch on them to make sure nothing bad would happen….a decision he was feeling conflicted on choosing for they were beginning to test his patience by slowing him down. He was about to consider ditching them and go on his own….when a certain breeze blew past him, carrying both a certain unnerving sound and a sinister scent in it, which made him grow tense and harden his gaze, something was stirring and approaching.

"Wait!" He then shouted out on instinct, his voice caching the others by surprise.

"Huh?" They looked up to see Kaze who was perched on a tree branch as he then leapt down and landed on the ground rather smoothly without even making a sound.

"What's up Kaze?" Kaze then asked him, he was about to ask him where he had gone or if he found anything, when the ninja suddenly held out a hand to him.

"Stay where you are!" he said hard which made Rex's heart skip a beat as he stopped and dropped Ace to the ground, "Be quiet…..don't move…." he said shooting him a hard glare as he looked around to survey the area, his hand reaching for his katana. "This change in the wind's rhythm…..the air itself." He then said before the others could ask him what was going on.

"Wind's rhythm?" Max asked raising an eyebrow questioningly, "The air? What are you-"

"Ssh!" He then hushed silencing them with a glare as they yelped in shock!

"Ah!" Now things were beginning to tense for them…the atmosphere grew heavy and unsettling, as they stopped to listen more closely, they began to sense that they weren't alone…something was watching them….but from where they could not tell, and that worried them. Seeing Kaze all agitated and how their dinosaurs were also on high alert made the D Team and Raina rather anxious too, they were tempted to try and run but were held firmly to the ground out of fear that acting suddenly would spur some kind of attack which may be lying in wait for them. The tension and pressure in the air was peaking as the group couldn't find a chance to move and it felt like they were being cornered and trapped even though they couldn't see or sense anything else other than what they could perceive with their own eyes.

Sensing something nearby, Kaze then grabbed hold of his katana and said to the group, "Run."

Max blinked his eyes, "What?" Before they could question him-

"Run now!" Kaze then yelled interrupting him as he leapt out at them much to their alarm!

"WAH!" Everyone gasped thinking he had gone nuts, but what he said next soon made sense.

"Get down!" He shouted out as out of the bushes a large megaraptor jumped out at them ready to bring its claw at them, only for its attack to be intercepted by Kaze's blade! "GRRR!" he growled angrily as the blade causes sparks to fly as it clashes at the sword before both of them leapt back at some distance from one another!

"WAAAH!" Everyone else cried in shock as Kaze and the raptor squared of, the ninja flashing out his sword in a fighting stance while the dinosaur roared out, tapping its huge toe claw on the ground as it reared down assuming a pouncing position.

"A megaraptor!?" Max then cried out as Chomp growled in agitation, it was coloured black with white feathers and striped along its body and neck.

"It's really big….and black too…." Rex then noted as a drop of tense sweat fell from his cheek, knowing it had to be a bad sign, further enforced by the markings it had on its sides and forehead! "The spectral pirate mark! They know we're here!" He then cried out.

As Kaze and the raptor quickly rushed out at one another, the wind captain held onto his blade ready to swing at it with all his might, but to his surprise the megaraptor made a quick turn to swing out its tail which caught him off guard as it slammed right into his chest! "ARGH!" he yelled as he was sent flying hard into a tree which eh smashed against before falling down to the ground!

"Kaze!" Rex gasped in alarm while Max widened his eyes shuddering at the sound of the slam just now! To take a tail to the chest and then a crash at your back, to have pain sandwiched on your body on both sides wasn't a pretty feeling to experience or even imagine! Before they could react though, the raptor quickly set its sights on them! Or more precisely Chomp and Ace who ran out to try and help Kaze only to realise too late they put themselves in danger as the raptor caught whiff of their scent and shrieked menacingly as it made a beeline towards them!

"AAAH! CHOMP! ACE!" They boys exclaimed as their partners stopped and yelped in fright at the large carnivore which leapt out at them ready to go for the kill!

"Return quick!"

"Get out of there!" They shouted out frantically as they pressed a button on their dinoshots, causing their partners to return to cards and to their hands right before the raptor could pounce on them both, as it landed where they were, its' claws digging hard into the earth where they earlier lay!

"Phew….That was close…." Max wheezed in exhaustion as he held the card close to his chest.

"Yeah too close if you ask me…." Rex nodded in agreement, had they been a second too late Chomp and Ace would have ended up as dinner.

Their moment of peace didn't last long though, "Max! Rex! Watch out!" Raina quickly warned them as the megaraptor set its sights on them next as its next meal!

"Huh!?" They looked up and widened their eyes as the huge carnivore let out a nightmarish shriek which echoed through the dark forest before rushing at them for a full on assault, flashing out its claws and shop teeth ready to tear them to shreds as they widened their eyes at it leaping out at them like a giant bird of prey! "WAAAAH!" They cried holding out their arms or closing their eyes while clenching their teeth, as Raina turned and covered her face unable to look anymore!

"Dino slash!" A white light shone out brightly from behind, and within seconds of the battlefield appearing, a monolophosaurus jumped out at the megaraptor and latched onto its back, biting into its neck as it screeched in pain and was thrown off balance!

"AH!" The boys gasped as the monolophosaurus got on top and tried to reach down and bite its neck, but the larger black dinosaur was able to use its superior strength and arms to hold it off from getting any closer as they tried to bite and snap at one another! Looking to the side they saw Kaze had just gotten back up and he shot them a hard glare and pointed out with his katana.!

"Don't just stand there! Run now!" He yelled, when at that moment his dinosaur got kicked off into a tree as the megaraptor kicked itself back up and roared at him and his monolophosaurus for their insolent attack! As it tried to make a go at the wounded wind dinosaur, Kaze intercepted the attack as he swung out his sword which the megaraptor snapped onto as they tugged and pulled at it!

"Hurry kids! Follow me!" Raina quickly shouted to the boys as she grabbed hold of their shoulders and they looked to her in alarm.

"But what about Kaze!?" Max asked frantically.

"There's no time! Quickly while we have the chance!" She interrupted him.

Before Max could argue further, insisting they stay to help their friend, Rex stopped him, "Max she's right!" he shouted at him much to his surprise that they'd jut abandon their comrade like that but what he said next justified his reasoning, "It won't be long before more of these guys show up! So we have to get a move on now!"

Max gritted his teeth in anger seeing there was no other choice, "Urgh….fine!" he shouted out as he turned to follow Rex and Raina out of harm's way, hoping they wouldn't regret this.

As they headed off, Kaze looked away from the battle he was locked in with the megaraptor and saw how the children were leaving without hesitation and focusing what was truly important without getting sidetracked or having their emotions cloud their judgement, such a clarity was essential in a war like this and he smiled lightly seeing they were starting to mature a little. At that second the megaraptor began to push harder at him! Kaze gritted his teeth as he felt hissed overpowered as the raptor pushed him down and he gritted his teeth densely as he tried to push bak on his blade to hold off the megaraptor but to no avail! It was on the verge of slitting his throat with its claws, when Chase his monolophosaurus recovered from his slam at the tree as he shrieked, rushed in and knocked the megaraptor off his master in time!

Chase hissed at the black dinosaur as it snarled right back at them, before he turned to his master and held his stand as he lowered his head down and helped scoop up Kaze back to his feet. He womb led a bit momentarily before scratching under his partner's cheek who then cooed in enjoyment, "Urgh…thanks…." he said gratefully before they both looked to see the megaraptor roar out at them! Understanding what it meant, Kaze sheathed back his blade and took out his white dinoshot in its place, "Seems I'll have to fight on your terms, tooth to claw then." He narrowed his eyes hard taking out a card, "Alpha slash!" Next materialising in white light was Hunter, now a pink alpha dilophosaurus, which snarled out viciously towards the megaraptor alongside Chase!

In response the raptor rushed out at both smaller wind dinosaurs as they made a dash at it! "Attack pattern Omega! Now!" Kaze yelled in response to his 2 dinosaurs as they charged head on towards their foe! The 3 dinosaurs disappeared in a blur, sparks flying out as they dashed past each other, delivering claw swipes and bites at one another, leaving behind wounds and making their marks each time! Soon they reappeared in the middle of a now cleared area, made by the felling of trees as a result of their many clashes with one another, and despite their best efforts both Chase and Hunter were starting to pant feeling the bite and claw wounds along their bodes from head to tail, while the megaraptor shrugged off their feeble attempts as mere scratches!

Kaze narrowed his eyes seeing they had to take this up a notch as he slashed a wind move card, "Ninja attack!" Hunter flashed white before making a run at the megaraptor, splitting into 6 clones of himself which leapt and circled around the larger dinosaur before striking out in a flurry of hits from different angles! With his smaller size and greater agility the dilophosaurus was able to make good use of the forested terrain darting out from trees and making turns faster than the megaraptor could! As it fell to a knee having felt some hard damage, Kaze saw his chance and took it with another card! "Now finish it off with Jet shuriken!" he cried as Chase his monolophosaurus gathered wind around him and leapt back before hurling a flurry of bladed wind shurikens right at their weakened foe!

The megaraptor however quickly recovered, its eyes flashing with rage as it leapt out of the way in a blur as the sharpens missed their mark and cut through some nearby trees instead, felling them like toothpicks! It landed right behind where they were, however it then fell to its knee in exhaustion as the previous attacks had drained it of stamina despite still being strong itself! As Kaze began to smirk seeing it would be easy prey for him now, it suddenly began to bark out a set of strange ties to the sky which echoed through the forest ominously. Seconds later after that, the sounds of eerie beeping came from all around as gel jarks began to form out of the cracks in the ground or from within tree roots and burrows all around them! It wasn't just them, a handful of enemy dinosaurs including a siamotyrnanus, metriacanthosaurus, abelisaurus and gojirasaurus also appeared with them roaring in fury as they came in to backup their leader, as Kaze narrowed his eyes seeing he knew it couldn't have been so easy.

"Called for backup did you?" the ninja captain mused before the many enemy troops which began to surround him on every corner! He suddenly smirked having anticipated this and he had came prepared, "Good thing I was just thinking of doing the same." He brought 2 fingers to his lips and blew on them, the sound of his whistle echoed through the forest and within moments, out of various hiding places such as within tree tops, behind tree trunks, behind rocks or even materialising from clouds of dust his troops began to appear and mobilise together with him on the battlefield! In seconds they began to summon forth their loyal partners by their sides, among them were eusteptospondylus, indosuchus and allosaurus attrox which all roared and snarled at the enemy dinosaurs and gel jarks before them as the ninjas also armed their blades ready to join the battle too!

As both sides squared one another off, the megaraptor roared viciously as it and its side lunged towards the Wind squadron! "Bring it on! I'll care you and your kind down to pieces for what you did!" Kaze shouted with hatred in his voice as he and his group rushed at them head on too! Within moments the sounds of blades clashing, biting, snarls and brutal carnage began to echo through the dark depths of the forest…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Max! Rex! Wait hold up!" Raina suddenly shouted out for them as they ran along the forest path right after Kaze and his group managed to buy just barely enough time for them to get away.

They then widened their eyes and turned to her in alarm, "What is it Raina!? Did you hurt yourself!?"

"Or is there something up ahead we need to worry about!?" They asked anxiously at first, only to suddenly stare in surprise as she stumbled after them, and balanced herself at a tree trunk while sweating profusely and gasping for air….in exhaustion….

"No…it's just…." she suddenly widened her eyes and covered her mouth feeling herself about to upchuck, "Urk….huff….huff…." holding it in the best she could and doing her best mental discipline to keep herself from giving in to her gastric urges she swallowed her lunch back down much to her discomfort, "I need to…catch my breath a little….urk…" she wheezed in exhaustion as she slumped down to the base of the tree and clenched her hand over her heart which was racing uncontrollably and her head was beginning to spin in a dizzy way, "Maybe I should have taken Craig's advice get out of the lab more often….huff….would have done me more good to exercise my body as much as my brain…." she muttered in confusion before fainting on the ground.

Max and Rex both squinted their eyes at her in disappointment, that with everything that was on the line they suddenly stop for something as ridiculous as this. Losing patience Max gritted his teeth and ran over to where she was and grabbed hold of her limping hand, "Come on Raina! Pull yourself together! Everyone's counting on us!" he shouted at her impatiently as he tired to yank her off her backside but soon lost his grip and fell backwards! "WAAH!" he cried as he fell on his back and hit hard against the forest floor much to his discomfort.

"Oh great…" Rex grunted in annoyance as he face palmed and shook his head in dismay, "Somehow I'm starting to think maybe she should've stayed behind if things were turning out like this…." he muttered to himself inside while covering his face. His moment though was interrupted as he and Max quacky felt some rumbling through the earth itself, which shook them up somewhat!

"Whoa!"

"What now!?" They gasped in surprise as the shaking caught them off guard, at first they were going to assume it was an earthquake, but the sound of a loud roar followed by trees crashing in a straight line proved them wrong!

ROAR!

"AH!" Widening their eyes they turned to see a black pentaceratops emerge from the forest, with its dark coloration and lightning steps lignin tis face, horns, frill and body as it flashed them and snarled at the 2 kids much to their alarm!

"A pentaceratops!" Max gasped as he stepped back feeling intimidated by its violent behaviour and menacing appearance.

Looking closer, Rex could see it was like the megaraptor they encountered a few moments earlier, "It's black too…." he noted next as he narrowed his eyes realising a connection, "These black dinosaurs….they're almost like…." He soon flashbacked to his mind as he recalled Seth's black t-rex which he unleashed on Sanjo City a while back, the sight of this mad black dinosaur was bringing up most unpleasant memories he tried to forget and to see it with his own eyes was putting him in a rather foul mood.

He didn't have time to dwell on it, as he quickly shook his head back to reality upon recalling Kaze's words echoing in him to never let his guard down or get sidetracked when out in the field, a second is all it would take to decide the difference between life and death! As he did he and Max gasped as the pentaceratops scraped the ground and snorted before mouthing a full on charge at them!

"Here he comes Rex!" Max shouted out loud to him in alarm as Rex gritted his teeth and sweated in a panic!

"Run!" He shouted as they split up away from one another hoping to confuse it!

"AAAH!"

The pentaceratops began to bulldoze over several trees in its path like they were dominoes, as the boys split up Max hurried off putting as much distance as he could between himself and the rampage spectral dinosaur! Unfortunately Rex wasn't vigilant enough of his surrodunings and he ended up tripping over a large tree root he did;t see coming! "WAH!" He cried as he fell on the ground and gritted his teeth as his knee and foot stung with pain upon the fall!

Hearing his cry, Max turned around and gasped, "Rex!" he cried out to him, running as fast as he could back to him, as the black dinosaur was on the verge of crushing him underfoot!

"WAAAAAH!" He screamed closing his eyes and holding his arms out in fear!

"Dino slash! Alpha slash!" A voice suddenly shouted followed by a pair of yellow lights!

"AH!" Rex and Max gasped to see a pair of new dinosaurs appeared on the scene, an anhiceratops and an alpha triceratops, which both rushed head on against the pentaceratops as they scooped it up form underneath at its sides then threw it out against some trees which it smashed right through then collapsed on it!

"Raina!" Rex cried in relief to see the captain of lightning had recovered in the nick of time, motivated upon hearing the cries for her allies in need, as she hurried over to where he was and then helping him stand up. As Max regrouped with them, they both smiled in relief to both her and her dinosaurs, "Thanks, you really saved my life there." He said gratefully to her.

She shook her head in response, "It was the only logical thing to do after all. Plus I couldn't let that behemoth crush you like that, it'd be just plain disrespect to our future." she said to him, knowing that if anything were to happen to him their future may be altered in a most bad way, but also out of concern for him as well as Max and Rex both smiled back at her feeling grateful nonetheless. The moment didn't last long though, as the pentaceratops quickly recovered and kicked itself back up and roar out at them, as Jolt and Spark both rallied together in front of them, forming a defensive wall of horns to protect the humans! "Pick on someone your own size and species you brute!" Raina shouted at the black dinosaur as her dinosaurs roared angrily at it as they both faced off against one another. After that they lunged at one another, the pentaceratops clashed horns, one in between each of Raina's dinosaurs' horns as they found themselves locked in a hard struggle trying to overpower the other!

"We'll help you too!" Max called out as he regrouped with Rex and they both prepared to take out their dinoshots.

However to their surprise she held out her hand, "No! You kids have a more important task at hand!" she yelled stopping them.

"Say what!?"

Not giving them a chance to explain she reached into her lab coat's pocket and threw out her handheld detection device, "Take this with you!" she shouted a heads up as Rex jumped and caught it in time before it hit the ground!

"AH! Got it!" He cried grabbing it in time before looking ahead towards Captain Raina.

"It'll lead you to the straight of this toxic soup! It's all on you to shut it down now!" She urged them to continue on without her as she focused her attention back towards the battle.

"But what about you!?" Max cried out in response, "We can't just leave you here by your lonesome!"

"Max let's do what she says!" Rex grabbed his shoulder suddenly much to his surprise, "She's trusting us on this and so is everyone else, so now we need to trust her too." He glared at Max making him unable to protest back at him, "They're risking everything to buy us time, let's not let it go to waste." He then said with a most heavy heart, accepting the reality for he situation and seeing the opening they were given it was now or never to take it.

Max clicked his tongue as he began to see this was one of those moments Kaze warned them about….and to his reluctance he "Tch! Fine…." he spat before looking back to Raina, "You'd better win this and come back okay!" he shouted at her, hoping he would;t regret this choice as he and ex both ran off in the direction the device pointed them in as they ran out of harm's way.

"Oh I have no intention of losing you kids…..that I have no intention of doing in the slightest…." She said with a smirk to herslef as her dinosaurs squared off against their black foe. As they circled one another, Raina took out a power analyser from her other lab pocket and after doing a scan on her black foe she couldn't help but smile most eerily as it roared out at her and its energy levels began to spike hard! "You're definitely a most unique and fine specimen, of course without a doubt altered and produced unnatural but you would still no doubt provide me with excellent quality battle data." she said grinning with excitement at the possibilities she could achieve with this, though the pentaceratops wasn't all too enthusiastic with her ideas as it roared out at her in defiance! Raina though was used to handling uncooperative specimens such as this one before, and she had her ways of making them far more…cooperative and manageable as she grinned towards both her dinosaurs, "Come on girls! Let's give our guest here a welcome to the world of science!" she shouted out to them as her dinosaurs bellowed out loudly in response while the pentaceratops growled back at them in anger!

As Raina began to ponder over a possible strategy to catch it by surprise or to take it down without exerting too much energy, she noticed something shining nearby the large tree root Rex tripped over just now. "Hmm? What's this?" Curiously she snuck over to pick it up, and after observing it closely, she covered over her mouth in shock to realise it was Rex's element booster! "Oh dear…." she muttered in concern realising he must have dropped it when he tripped earlier and now he was at a notable disadvantage! She was about to consider calling him back on her communicator when she looked up and widened her eyes to see the black pentaceratops swing out its tail and knock away Spark before focusing on Jolt who was all alone! "AH! Watch out!" she cried out for her second assistant dinosaur and quickly forgetting about contacting Rex, seeing this took priority to her.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"We've come in pretty deep Rex….." said Max as he sweated tensely, not from exhaustion but from the immense pressure and tension he could feel in the air as they approached the heart of the forest. Ahead through the underbrush as they forced themselves through tree branches, bushes and vines he could make out some light shining in through the fog and mists, meaning an opening was just up ahead.

"Yeah, and we're getting close too." Rex then told him as Max blinked his eyes at him.

"We are?" he asked as Rex nodded to him in response.

"Mhmm, the gas tracing device is showing that the source of the sleeping gas is just beyond that clearing." He said seeing the detector's homing signal on the red beacon pinpointed right ahead at the clearing where the source of the fog was originating from.

Max then narrowed his eyes hard and need his hand into a fist with a tight grip, "Good, then we shut it down and everyone wakes up." He then said hard, "Raina and Kaze entrusted this to us and we're not gonna let them down." He said as he closed his eyes and recalled how they gave themselves up so that they cold not only escape but also see this through, not because there was no other choice but because they believed in them that they'd be able to do it, "It's not just them, everyone else is counting on us. Both the village and the resistance, if we fail then we let them all down, and I'm not going to let that happen." He said at the end with fierce determination.

Rex then narrowed his eyes as he also recalled how Kaze told him to start acting like a real man and see reality, this wasn't like any of their past adventures in fact this wasn't an adventure at all, now this was war, a whole new ball game with a new set of rules. No matter how hard he'd want it he couldn't cage it, all they could do was follow them and play to their best and toughen themselves for whatever situation comes their way so that they all could live in the end, "You're right Max." Rex nodded to him before smirking with confidence, "Then let's see this through."

Max soon smiled back at him as the 2 of them hurried on towards the light ahead. Eventually as they peeped out from some thick dense bushes they both widened their eyes to see a pair of giant dark purple ventilation fan like devices spinning hard and blowing out a kind of black and purple gas mix from a nozzle at the central cone which sprouted from the middle of the spinning fan blades, situated in the middle of an open clearing. "That must be where that fog is coming from….." Rex noted seriously, recognising the marks it bore to be those of the space pirates!

"And look over there!" Max pointed out making Rex look, the both of them saw a familiar blue haired skinny space pirate step out from behind one of the power generators that was hooked up to the fan machine, one they knew all too well, "Foolscap…." he hissed through his teeth angrily as Rex too hardened his gaze.

"Tch! Should have known we hadn't seen the last of him and the other pirates." the blond boy hissed through his teeth as it all soon began to make sense, "So he's the one behind the sleeping sickness…" Rex then thought out loud before hardening his gaze with anger and determination, "Well I say it's time we give everyone a wake up call and knock his lights out."

"Yeah I agree." Max nodded in agreement with him as they got their dinoshots and cards ready in their hands.

"He looks pretty busy…." said Rex as he quickly noticed Foolscap was eying the machine closely, putting a finger to his chin as he surveyed and inspected it all over, they could see he was most preoccupied and there was no better opportunity to attack than now, "Let's get behind him and take him by surprise, he'll never see us coming." He then suggested to Max who nodded back to him as they snuck back into the bushes and decided to go around him while his attention was fixated on the machine.

After a few more checks on the machine's systems, Foolscap then flew back a bit and folded his arms proudly as he then grinned with deep satisfaction, "Hehehe he sure picked the right man for the job! Those humans will never wake up again!" he proclaimed as he began to rub his palms together eagerly, "Then once I tear that village apart piece by piece he may even make ME his right hand! Ahahaha!" He then laughed out loud before snapping his fingers, "This job will be a singe for sure!"

BEEP! BEEP!

A warning sound from the machine caught his attention, "Huh? What's that?" he mumbled as he trotted around to the back where the machine's chemical loads were. Leaning down, he put his fingers on his beard, stroking it gently as he saw a pair of fuel tanks connecting to the machine, each holding a liquid chemical inside, one black and the other purple, and they were running out as their levels reached below the suitable requirements. "Hmm….the chemical levels are running kinda low….." He mused as he looked ahead to see the gas layer squired out was beginning to look dilute and weak as a result of low supply, "If that happens the gas will soon wear off and those annoying humans will wake up and begin to cause trouble for us again….then I can kiss my reward goodbye….drat…" He grunted in annoyance as he then folded his arms and closed his eyes in serious thought, "Now what did he say again when this happens?" he then asked himself as he drifted back to moments before his arrival.

 **(Flashback)**

Hours easier, Foolscap stood before Goma as a screen appeared before him, revealing a pair of large ventilation fan shaped devices situated deep in Darkwood forest's glade. As Foolscap narrowed his eyes closely at it he pondered over what Goma told him earlier curiously, "So then this thingamajig puts people to sleep?" He asked with suspicion before shrugging his shoulders, "Big deal! I hear all sorts of things put people to sleep, long boring speeches, counting sheep, hearing a nursery rhyme." he snarked which made the younger Goma frown at him somewhat for taking him lightly, "Well not from your dad definitely but you get my point!" Foolscap snarked at the end.

"It's you who fails to see the point Foolscap." Goma replied calmly with a smirk which made the older pirate liked up at him with a scowl, "My special fog machine creates a nearly invisible gas layer from a most….potent mixture of rare and deadly chemicals. It'll put anyone who inhales even a whiff of it into a deep sleep that they'll never be able to awake from." He then explained as a rather malevolent grin came upon his face, "And with the resistance's forces all in sleeping death, unable to escape from dreamland, they'll make easy prey for our own troops for they'll be completely helpless and unable to fight back!" He proclaimed with sinister pride in his voice knowing this plan was his silent but deadly sneak attack and one with almost no holes in it.

After hearing what he had to say Foolscap folded his arms and smiled pleased to hear it, "Ah now I catch your drift…." he said feeling intrigued.

"And you need not worry about being affected by the gas yourself," Goma then replied to him, "This formula is designed to only affect humans therefore ensuring our dinosaurs remain wide awake and battle ready as they should be," He then said as the image switched to an oversight view of the Resistance's Asia base, "Otherwise they won't be able to breach Gobi Village's heavily fortified defences before then laying siege to the Resistance's base."

"It'll be like taking candy from a baby!" Foolscap grinned rubbing his palms together and grinning with disgusting delight, "Ahahaha! I like it! You can be assure I won't let you down!" He then said saluting to the younger male who merely folded his arms behind his back as he turned away from him.

"That remains to be said Foolscap." said Goma calmly in response, "Succeed in this task and I'll make sure to reward you generously, fail….heh, I'll leave that to your imagination." he chuckled at the end, in a way which made Foolscap sweat nervously and swallow hard down knowing his imagination could run very wild and whatever he could think up Goma may actually do to him a thousand times worse, as he paled at the thought of a hundred and one ways he'd be punished.

"Urk…."

"One more thing." Goma then snapped his fingers, and coming in from the side were a pair of Gel Jarks, each of them carrying a crate with the spectral pirate markings on them.

As they settled them on the ground, Foolscap looked over to them and opened them up curiously, "What's this?" He then asked Goma.

"The ingredients you need to make more of the sleeping gas," He answered, "Your job is not only to set up and make sure it runs smoothly, but also to refill it when supply begins to run out." He then stated it in a way that even a child could understand and succeed in doing.

Hearing all he needed to, Foolscap then grinned to himself with confidence, "Hehe, this'll be easy as pie! How hard could it be!?" he snickered as he opened up his wings and flew off towards the ship depot as the gel jarks then followed after him with the supplies, unaware that one of them accidentally dropped the necessary instructions as it trotted after him, which then blew away in the wind as Goma began to summon Sheer in next to his meeting room.

 **(Present)**

"Tch! Easy as pie…..why did I have to go and jinx it!?" Foolscap then cursed himself as he ruffled up his hair in annoyance and stomped his foot in a rant! It was all going perfectly well and then all a sudden it turned south for him, how he wished things had gone the way he wanted then he could get on with living the good life with the rewards Goma had promised him. Shortly after that he took in a breath and let out a deep sigh as he collected his thoughts, "Calm down, you can do this…." he told himself smoothly as he looked to the supply of chemicals he was given earlier. Opening both up he took out 1 bottle from each box, 1 black and the other purple, one of which he filled till half full of purple liquid in a nearby beaker which was resting on a lab table. After that he reached for the other bottle and began to add equal amounts of black solution to it.

"Okay I'll just mix this Slumbera Ex with a dash of Snoozium G…." he said as he carefully added the black chemical into the other beaker. After that he took a stirring rod which was at the table as he carefully stirred the solution till it began to bubble slightly, "Ehe, now we're getting somewhere…." he smirked as the reaction became increasingly violent which caused his grin to widen, "Alright! Now we're cooking!" he laughed with pride at what he did, till the chemical suddenly exploded in his face!

BOOM!

As the dust cleared Foolscap found his whole face covered in dark dust and the remainder of the mixture steaming hard and smoking hot inside his beaker, "Uh….…." he stared speechlessly at what just happened before settling it back down on the table. "Ahahahahah! I knew that was going to happen from the start! Yes I did! No mistakes here! Hahahah!" He then laughed out loud, trying to hide his humiliation as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe the muck of his face.

Max and Rex saw their chance as they ran out of the bushes right behind him, "You're not fooling anyone Foolscap!"

"Yeah, you messed it up big time and you know it!" They shouted at him pointing out his mistake much to his surprise and annoyance!

Foolscap was somewhat startled by the unexpected voices but soon gritted his teeth and tossed down his hankie in frustration, taking their words as insults, "Grrgh! Be quiet! Don't you know it's common knowledge to make mistakes and then learn form them!?" He growled in a fury as he turned to face them, only to stutter in surprise at who they were! "GAH! It's you!" He gasped being taken aback to see 2 of his old enemies, he soon recollected himself and rubbed his palms together, "I mean, well well well….what do we have here? The same nosy brats who kept sticking their noses into our plans to rule the universe with the cosmos stones, not to mention dogging us at every turn like space leeches." He snickered with a rather malicious grin, "It's been a really long time ehehehe!"

The D team then shot back angered glares at him, "Not long enough Foolscap!" Max shouted at him.

"Speaking of mistakes, your first was kidnapping our parents, the second was trying to take the cosmos stones and doom the entire universe." Rex hardened his glare before gritting his teeth, "And your biggest one of all was attacking Earth in the first place!" he then yelled out bitterly, as he began to remember Cera's tragic story and how she and many others had suffered and lost so much all because of the space pirates' greed, "Way I see it you space pirates haven't learnt anything and never will!"

Foolscap however only snorted back at them unfazed, "Hehehe oh me and my pals have learnt plenty since that time you ruined everything we worked towards." he grinned with malice before gnashing his teeth and grasping his hand into a tight fist, "About how you brats are the worst thorns in our side in the entire universe! Why'd you have to go and ruin everything we worked so hard towards!? Why couldn't you measly meddling maggots keep your meddling out where it isn't wanted!? GRRRR!" He growled in immense anger before stomping on the floor a couple of times in frustration, before an idea came into his head making him widen his eyes in realisation, "Say, I've just got a great idea!" He then snapped his fingers before shooting at the 2 kids a sinister sneer which unnerved them.

"Oh boy….That…doesn't sound good Rex…." Max gulped nervously, realising his idea was no doubt involving them!

Rex shook his head in agreement with him, "No it does not Max…." he muttered.

They stepped back nervously as Foolscap began to grin malevolently at them, "You kids will make excellent guinea pigs for this new concoction I just cooked up here!" he cackled as he held up same batch of volatile and heavily unstable chemical formula he just whipped up, "Try this on for size! Ha!" He shouted as he mustered the strength in his right arm then threw it out at them!

"WAH!" Rex widened his eyes seeing it head towards them! Max however, acting on his own quickly looked to his friend and shoved him!

"Rex! Get out of the way!" he shouted as he pushed him aside!

"WHOA!" His friend gasped as he tumbled to the ground and cringed with pain, "Urgh!" As he looked up again he widened his eyes to see the chemical beaker smash where Max was and he was enveloped in dark mist to his horror! "AH! MAX!" he cried holding out his arm as Max screamed as the gas began to overwhelm him!

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed out in pain as he could feel it flood his entire bloodstream and as it cleared he stuttered about unsteadily as his eyes began to go heavy, "Urgh…..my eyes…..getting woozy….can't stay…awake….." he muttered as his vision blurred and he fell down to the ground knocked out cold and sound asleep!

Rex widened his eyes in horror at what happened, "Max! No!" he cried as he ran to his friend's side and held him up in his arms, "Max! Get up! Say something!" he pleaded desperately for a sign that he was fine….unfortunately it was too late, he was too far gone in dreamland and it didn't look like he would be leaving anytime soon.

"*mumble* *mumble* Zzzzz….You won't beat me…..Zzzz…" Max muttered as he began to snore in Rex's arms, who could only stare, feeling totally responsible for his friend to now be in a sleeping death…..

Foolscap meanwhile scolded in disappointment to see he didn't manage to take them both out as he folded his arms on his hips, "Hmph! You just had to give yourself up for your precious pal and make me use up all I had left….." he scoffed before shrugging his shoulders and smiling casually, "Oh well, 1 out of 2 isn't bad, plus that's what you get for messing with us! A 1 way ticket all the way to dreamland! Ahahahaha!" He then laughed out loud.

Rex looked up, narrowed his eyes and clicking his tongue in anger, "Tch! Our charm doesn't work against that kind of smoke!?" he hissed bitterly as he looked to his best friend now resting peacefully in his arms as he hugged him close, "Oh Max….you really took one for the team and you saved me….I promise I won't let your sacrifice go to waste." He swore under his breath as he then settled him on the ground and glared at the flying space pirate with rage, "Let's go Foolscap! I'll make you pay for what you've done if it's the last thing I ever do!" he shouted out loud with determination further fuelled by the fires of justice.

"Oh I'm so scared!" the skinny space pirate feigned fear before sticking out his tongue at Rex's challenge which further annoyed him, "Ha! Tough talk for a brat who's all by himself now! It took 3 of you brats to simply slow me down, what makes you think you stand a chance against me?" he scoffed folding his arms at him.

Rex gritted his teeth, no way was he about to let this felon get away with what he just did, "Grrr…..I don't care! You messed with my best friend and you're going to pay for it big time!" he yelled furiously as he took out his blue dinoshot as well as Ace's card! "Dino slash! Carnotaurus! Blow him away!" He shouted out loud as Ace appeared on the field and roared out angrily as he stood before Rex who was standing over Max, "It's go time Ace!" Rex cried out to his partner who let out a loud roar of confidence as he whipped up his tail ready for battle and to avenge his allies for their sacrifice!

Foolscap soon smirked in amusement, deciding to accept Rex's challenge if it meant he'd be able to entertain himself and pass a little time, and on top of that earn a few extra brownie points from Goma for his loyalty and for defeating one of the D Team, "Heh, let's see how well you can back it up!" he laughed taking out a card from his pocket and then waved it in font of Rex, "I've got an old pal here who despises you as much as I do, and I'm more than willing to grant his wish of letting him do his worst!" Rex gritted his teeth as Foolscap placed the card at his headband, "Come on out and say hello Armatus!" Appearing in purple light was a greyish stegosaurus with white stripes and yellow plates on its back as it roared out in anger upon seeing Rex again, flashing out its spiked tail in a rage!

"Great…Not him again…." Rex grunted as he began to remember the power that dinosaur held and the trouble it put him and his fiends through before a while back. It was clear this wasn't going to be an easy fight….till Rex noticed something peculiar about him this time, "Huh? Wait a sec…." he blinked his eyes in surprise as Foolscap soon caught on.

"Say wha!? Where's your armour!? You can't go into battle looking like that!" he cried out in shock, unable to comprehend how this was possible was he grasped his hair in bewilderment.

Rex however soon caught on, "I remember now…." he thought to himself, recalling a time when he handed the cards over to his dad, hoping he might be able to do something about them now that the space pirates were beaten that time. Now he knew what his dad meant, "Heh good job dad and Seth…." he said with a light smile. While they may not have been completely freed from the space pirates' influence it was a start at least and it should give them a fighting edge at least in this battle.

Sweating nervously Foolscap then waved his hand out, "Hey kid give me a sec while I get my game face on." he asked nicely before trying to put Armatus' card at his headband to activate spectral armour!

Rex was tempted to let him do as asked, thinking it'd be underhanded to just attack like that…..but soon he began to remember what Kaze told him earlier, how his enemies would resort to playing dirty or that in war you'll have to strike while the iron is hot or you may never get another opportunity. It's those who act first that determine the difference between victory and defeat, narrowing his eyes and remembering how despicable the space pirates were, Rex then gritted his teeth in anger seeing no reason to fight with honour if his enemies had none to begin with, "Fat chance! You think I'm just going to sit back and LET you get ready!? Forget it!" he shouted out which caught Foolscap completely by surprise!

"Huh!?" The space pirated widened his eyes, he couldn't believe the kid would have the nerve to pull off something so sneaky, that's something only he'd do!

"It's your fault for not realising it sooner now you'll pay the price!" Rex then shouted out loudly as he pointed forward, fuelled by his drive to help the Resistance and to make their enemies pay for that they put him and his friends through, "Go Ace!" He yelled out loud as the carnotaurus roared and rushed in, seizing the opportunity presented before them as he grabbed Armatus by the neck and chomped down hard! The stegosaurus roared in pain as he swung out his tail in retaliation! Anticipating it, Ace leapt back in time and out of the spikes' reached before swinging put his own tail which slammed into Armatus' head and knocked him somewhat off balance!

Foolscap grasped his hair in a panic! "WAH! Hey no fair! I wasn't ready yet!" he ranted shaking his fist at Rex in protest.

"What's the matter!? Afraid to fight without your precious armour?" Rex taunted him back bitterly, "Didn't think you were really that weak Foolscap!"

The space pirate then widened his eyes as a tic mark appeared on his forehead, "Weak!? How dare you!?" he growled tensing up with rage at Rex's insult.

Rex ignored him and instead cheered his partner on to keep the attacks going! "Keep it up Ace! Don't let up!" he cried out for him as Ace roared and rushed in again towards Armatus while his partner took out a move card, "Ninja attack!" Ace soon glowed as he sped up at the stegosaurus, splitting into 6 clones which then surrounded Armatus before striking him mercilessly from all angles, rendering him incapable of fighting back or defending himself!

"Tch! Fine you want to play that way!? Let's play!" Foolscap growled in annoyance as he retaliated with an earth move, "Earth barrier!" Armature flashed purple as he bellowed, slamming hard into the ground causing pieces of earth to fly up before recollecting around him in a purple shield! As Ace struck out repeatedly form all sides with ninja attack, he soon returned back to Rex, shaken up from baking his head multiple times against such an impenetrable hard shell.

Rex then gritted his teeth seeing his usual moves weren't going to cut it, so he had to try something else, "Urgh! Then we'll just take things up a notch!" He shouted out unwilling to surrender as he slashed another move card, "Mayfly! Go!" Ace roared as he stomped his foot on the ground and flashed white again, this time making a swift dash at the shielded stegosaurus, spinning around it in a blur before smashing at the earth shield with the full force of wind from all sides! For a while it held together, but soon it began to crack unable to withstand the relentless assault from the carnotaurus, till eventually he was able to smash through it and cause it to break apart into several pieces as Ace retreated to the side while the stegosaurus bellowed out at him! "Alright! We broke through!" Rex cheered pumping up his arm now that the enemy's shield had been broken through.

"Yes you did…." Foolscap grunted in annoyance before a sneaky smirk came upon his face much to Rex's surprise, "Hope it was worth it though!"

Rex was confused but as he looked closer he widened his eyes in realisation, "AH! Ace!" he gasped to see his partner was gasping in exhaustion for air, he had been running much and had exerted much of his energy trying to break through Armatus' outer curst earlier his stamina had begun to drain and take its toll on him.

"While you stand there catching your breath, how about a little mole attack to shake things up!" Foolscap smirked as he played the move card. Armature roared angrily as he glowed purple once again, leaping into the air he spun like a shredding gear before digging into the ground and escaping from Ace's sight underneath!

"Oh no!" Rex widened his eyes now that Armatus was out of sight, and that was at his most dangerous! Before he could warn his partner to get ready, purple light began to shine right under where Ace stood which alarmed the carnotaurus as he stumbled about at the earth shaking underneath his feet! "Ace watch out!" His warning came too late as Armatus suddenly struck out from underneath him! The sharp plates grazed underneath his underbelly before knocking him away across the ground! "NO!" Rex cried seeing his partner get hurt before turning to Foolscap as he began to cackle evilly.

"Ahahaha! You had your chance to beat me and you blew it big time!" he mocked pointing out at Rex who gritted his teeth and clenched his fist with spite.

"Grrr!"

"Too bad for you but now it's time to kick things into overdrive! Spectral armour!" As Foolscap activated the armour card to his headband, Armatus' spectral marks flashed as dark purple energy enveloped around him before forming into his signature spectral armour!

The sight of seeing the stegosaurus at full strength made Rex widen his eyes in horror, "Oh no! Not good!" he gasped.

"For you perhaps but plenty good for me!" Foolscap snickered as he held another move card in his fingers and played it across his headband! "Let's see how you like Quake saber!" Armature then glowed purple as a long crystal sword sprouted from his spiked tail, which he waved like a rattlesnake would before swinging it out at full force towards Rex and Ace!

"Ace! Dodge it quick!" Rex shouted to him in time as the carnotaurus awoke in time and managed to roll out of the way in time as the saber smashed down onto the ground causing a huge crack to form in the earth where Ace lay earlier!

Foolscap gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in frustration, "Grr! Darn it!" he spat in annoyance as Armatus ended up getting his tail stuck in the ground and now was trying to yank it out!

Rex meanwhile let out a heavy sigh of relief as he placed a hand over his racing heart, "Phew…that was too close…." he wheezed calming down as Ace managed to muster enough energy to stand up again before roaring out at his foes.

"Hmph! You guys got lucky there, but luck only gets you so far and there's only so much you have." Foolscap scoffed as he folded his arms crossly, right when Armatus was able to free his tail from the ground and the crystal sword then vanished, "Now hit him again Armatus! Spike arrows!" the lanky space pirate called out as he added in another earth move to his headband! Energy surged within Armatus' plates up to his tail spikes as he then fired out a barrage of arrows towards Ace as they rained down at him from above!

"Run Ace!" Rex yelled out to the carnotaurus who roared out in a panic at the incoming arrows! He ran away as fast as he could, trying to put as much distance between himself and Armatus' arrows! The stegosaurus however was relentless as he kept his arrows pinpointed at Ace as he ran! Each one barely managing to strike his tail or hit his feet! There were a few times Ace nearly got shot as he stumbled as a result much to Rex's worry, and as he tried to do zig zags to avoid the arrows they provided only momentary relief as he began to pant with exhaustion while Armatus showed no signs of letting up anytime soon!

"This is really bad…." Rex gritted his teeth tensely seeing Ace wouldn't last much longer, "I'm gonna need my-" As he tried to reach into his pocket to use his secret weapon, he widened his eyes to realise it was empty! "AH! My dino-tector!? Where'd it go!?" He cried out frantically feeling all around his pants and pickets to realise it was gone! "Oh no! I must have dropped it when we were running away just now!" He then cried out in a panic! At that moment Ace let out a panic roar as Armatus changed his attack direction, firing a row of arrows right in Ace's path cutting him off from escape before firing some into the air which landed right behind him as well as around his sides till he had nowhere else to move as he aimed his tail right directly at the trapped carnotaurus much to Rex's horror! "NO!"

Foolscap soon broke out into uncontrollable laughter seeing his victory was no assured, "Ahahah! Your luck's just run out! Face it kid! You're outmatched! Now you're going to be sorry you ever stuck your nose in my business!" he taunted him threateningly before pointing out at the now cornered Ace! "And the first who's gonna pay the price is your precious little dinosaur! Ahahah!" he laughed out loud as Ace stepped back ranxisouly as Armatus' spikes began to glow again and were aimed right at where he was! Foolscap soon grinned and rubbed his palms together knowing the best part was soon about to come! "Say goodbye cos this is the last time I'll ever have to see your ugly mugs forever!" he hollered in anticipation as Armatus was about to fire! First he gets his revenge on the kids who humiliated him and his pals, and then the rewards from his new boss! This really was turning out to be the best day for him and the worst for Rex!

"Grr!" Rex on the other hand gritted his teeth tensely, feeling furious at Foolscap for what he was doing to innocent people as well as angry with himself for not being able to keep his promise to the others to see their cause through, "This can't be…not after everything we fought through…." he closed his eyes tensely feeling he had failed them before hearing a weak groan behind. Looking behind he saw Max begin to utter out a few weak words that made him widen hisses in realisation.

"Go Rex….uuh….you can do it….win…zzzz…" he mumbled in a dreamy manner.

Whether he was dreaming or that his words reached him, Rex took to heart what he said, as Max's faith in him hadn't changed either even when asleep. Rex then closed his eyes as he took in what he said, "Max…..I promised your sacrifice won't be in vain and I plan to keep that promise!" He said with reassurance before opening them up with determination, "No way am I going to let us be stopped here!" He then shouted out at the top of his lungs to Ace to do the same, "Ace! Don't give up! I believe in you!" he yelled as Ace roared out fiercely, his fighting spirit revitalised along with his own energy too….as something began to stir and awaken deep within them.

Foolscap though, scoffed in disagreement believing there was nothing they could do to change things now, "Heh, save your breath kid! It's over!" he taunted him before holding out his arm, "Armatus! Put him out off his misery with spike arrows!" He commanded as the stegosaurus bellowed out as he wagged his tail and prepared to fire out his barrage of arrows straight at his adversary and end both the battle and maybe even his life for good!

It was at that very last moment that Ace began to glow in a bright white aura and Rex shout out as he glowed the same too! "Elemental fusion!" Driven by their desire to protect as well as tapping into the bond they both had, Ace and Rex unleashed the great power they had deep inside them as a bright white light shone out which disoriented Armatus and made Foolscap grit his teeth in pain at the glaring brightness!

"GAH! My eyes!" he cried covering them with his hands. As it died down and he lowered his hands he gasped in shock and disbelief, his jaw hanging speechlessly as Ace emerged from the light now coloured in bright white with shades of black on his underside!

Roaring out powerfully, Rex smiled brightly as he punched out in excitement at his partner's newly achieved power! "Aha! Way to go Ace! Now that's what I call an upgrade!" he cheered for him as his dinosaur partner roared out proudly boasting his newly acquired strength before they both glared at Foolscap and Armatus who were becoming greatly unnerved at this unexpected and no less dangerous development for them both!

As Foolscap recovered form his shock he pointed out weakly at them in disbelief, "WAAH! What the!? Since when could you snot nosed kids do that!?" he croaked as Armatus even took a step back nervously, sensing something completely different about the carnotaurus he was fighting just now. Rex smirked enjoying the look on his face, which then made the space pirate grit his teeth in annoyance, deciding to shrug it off as a trick, "Grr….so you changed colours like a chameleon, big deal! You're still going down!" he yelled before pointing out at them, "Spike arrows!" He commanded Armatus who hesitated momentarily before firing out the spike arrows at them once more!

This time however, they were ready, "Dodge Ace!" Rex commanded, and in a flash his awakened carnotaurus disappeared from where he was and the spike arrows only ended piercing the ground where he stood!

"Huh!? No way!" Foolscap widened his eyes in shock to see he missed! Looking to the side where Ace reappeared he sneered hatefully before pointing at him, "Hit him again Armatus!" The stegosaurus fired once more but once again Ace vanished in a cloud of dust as the arrows pierced into a nearby tree instead! "Again! Again! Don't let him get away!" Foolscap then ranted as he stomped his foot on the ground impatiently while Armatus continued to fire non-stop but again and again he tried and failed miserably to land even a single hit on the speedy carnotaurus who kept dodging each attack attempt like it was with ease!

Ace had gotten so fast he made a rocket look slow and that deeply amazed his human partner, "Awesome! I knew awakening would be awesome but I didn't think you'd be so much faster!" Rex cheered joyfully for his dinosaur who roared out back to him while continuing to dance circles around Armatus and Foolscap much to their frustration and annoyance! "Way to go!"

"Grr! Stand still so I can hit you!" Foolscap growled in frustration seeing that each and every one of his attacks were missing and the carnotaurus seemed to be exerting little to no effort at all! much to his disbelief!

"Yeah, real motivating…." Rex scoffed shaking his head wondering why he'd be stupid enough to do that, as Ace roared out mocking Armatus as he fired and missed once again, as his spike arrows began to run out of energy and his tail began to slump down to the ground and he began to pant with exhaustion due to overexertion!

"Grrr! That case if I can't hit your dinosaur." Foolscap gritted his teeth in frustration before locking his eyes on Rex and Max himself, as he smirked deviously knowing what to do, "Then I'll just hit you instead!" he called out loud pointing at Rex and the helpless Max as his stegosaurus set his sights on them much to Ace's alarm!

"AH!" Rex widened his eyes in shock at what he heard the space pirate say, he knew they were sneaky but to try something so downright underhanded was utterly despicable!

"Take this quake saber!" Foolscap grinned as he activated the earth move which caused Armatus to glow purple and sprout forth the crystal sword again as he prepared to charge at Rex!

"Ace! Help!" He shouted out to his partner who rushed in to intercept the attack as he put himself right in quake saber's path! Quickly reacting, Rex took out a move card and slashed it in time! "Dino illusion!" He yelled as Rex flashed momentarily in white before the saber slashed right through him! He roared in pain before collapsing tor the ground to Rex's shock as well as Foolscap's disgusting delight!

"Aha! Got ya! Told you ya couldn't beat me!" He laughed out cockily, knowing he could have taken advantage of their bond seeing that to be their greatest weakness, of only he had done it sooner then he could have saved himself a whole lot of trouble. His victory celebration was soon cut abruptly short as Ace suddenly exploded and in his place was an old stump much to his and Armatus' bewilderment!

Poof!

"Huh!? What the!?" Foolscap stuttered but was caught by surprise as Ace then rushed in from the side and knocked Armatus away several feet, sending the stegosaurus crashing to the ground at the force of the impact as he roared in pain from the ram and throw! "GAH!"

"That was really dirty move Foolscap," Rex glared at him in a way which made the pirate's heart skip a beat, "Because of that I now see no more reason to hold back anymore!" He shouted out loudly in anger!

"S…Say what now!?" Foolscap was terrified, because this time Rex sounded like he could actually back up his words and Foolscap himself was beginning to believe him!

"Hurricane beat!" Rex slashed the move card as Ace fired out a pair of tornadoes which ensnared the stegosaurus! Helpless and spinning about in the vortexes, Ace leapt up and kicked rapidly at his head before flipping up his tail and sending him crashing across the plains much to Foolscap's horror!

"WAH!?" He darted over to where his stegosaurus was on his back, struggling to get back up, then shouted out at him, "Armatus! Don't let that little gnat beat you! Fight back already!" He demanded, as Armatus mustered the energy in his tail to use as leverage as he flipped back up and rushed towards Ace! Stampeding towards him, Ace responded by making a rapid dash at the stegosaurus, sending him flying into the air with ease before pelting him mercilessly with non-stop attacks as fast as lighting from different angles, before being swinging out his tail and sending Armatus crashing into the ground once more! "AAAH!" Foolscap began to sweat and his heart raced with terror as he looked back widening his eyes to see the immense fighting aura surrounding both Ace and Rex at that very moment! He never imagined any earthling or dinosaur could ever have amassed such power without alterations or armour!

"No way….how could he be this strong so easily? It's like he's completely different from last time!" Foolscap gritted his teeth tensely as a bead of sweat dripped from his forehead down to his chin, the power Rex was exhibiting right now was completely unlike anything he had ever demonstrated before! Plus it was without armour and still he was matching or more precisely overpowering Armatus no matter what he did! A horrifying through soon crossed his mind, "And if he's this good….does that mean that his pals are all….." he gulped down hard as he began to realise that not just his but maybe even the space pirates' days were numbered! He gritted his teeth tensely with spite as he saw he was going to have to use his last desperate move….one he wished he didn't have to resort to but under the circumstances he had no choice, if he wanted to make it out of this alive in one piece!

"Let's finish this now Ace!" Rex yelled as he held out his move card that would seal the deal, "Air raid-"

"Wait! Hold up! Time out!" Foolscap suddenly cried out waving his hands which stopped him much to his surprise.

"Huh?" Rex looked ahead and blinked his eyes to see the space pirate even take out a white flag and wave it out at both him and Ace begging him to cease fire!

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, especially when Foolscap suddenly fell on his knees and began to prostrate himself before them! "Please! No more! Time out! You've won! I give! I give!" he whimpered frantically as both Rex and Ace could only stare at him, unsure of what to make of it.

"Is he….serious?" Rex wondered, for all he knew this could be a trick so he shouldn't let his guard down….but still, as he looked to Armatus he could see the stegosaurus' knees weakening before he collapsed to the ground and let out a pained bellow.

"Listen! Let's not be so hasty! Sure we may have gotten off on the wrong foot but we don't need to go further than we already have right!?" Foolscap then smiled in a terrified way as he quickly pointed out to his near defeated dinosaur, "I mean look, Armatus is so worn out he can't move a muscle! You don't want him to suffer anymore than he already has do you? You're one of those dinosaur lover types aren't you!?" his eyes turned all watery like puppy dogs as he then clapped his hands together being for mercy.

Rex narrowed his eyes, as much as he detested the pirate with all his heart, he did however have a small sense of pity for Armatus, who was just following orders against his will and he didn't want to put the poor dinosaur through more than what it already had. Nevertheless he couldn't just let them go, he still intended to bring them in to justice, but not before deciding to wring out a little information out of Foolscap seen the opportunity presented, "Start talking Foolscap! Or Ace and I will blow you all the way to the moon!" he threatened the lanky space pirate as Ace snarled out viciously which made Foolscap shudder and nod.

"Okay okay, take it easy now…." he then calmly replied as he waved his hands out and held them up and began to girl cheekily, "I'll tell you everything you want! In fact I'll even tell you what our plans are! But of course they're really really complicated and long so it might take a lot of time to explain but hey I'm not the one who comes up with them so-"

Rex raised eyebrow in annoyance at Foolscap's constant rambling which was beginning to get on his nerves, "Quit stalling! I want answers on what you're really after, and I want them-" He soon widened his eyes as he realised what he was playing at, just like how Specter did a while back when he pretended he was going to accept their deal about trading the cosmos stones, when a sinister grin came upon Foolscap's face and Armatus suddenly got back up again and roared out having fully recovered much to Rex and Ace's alarm! "AH!"

"Haha! Too late! Now you're going to regret ever crossing me!" the blue haired space pirated grinned as his headband flashed purple with the spectral pirate symbol on it! "Spectral stinger!" Crystal spikes began to form all around Armatus' body which he then fired in a flurry of missiles which began to home in towards where Rex, Ace and Max were! "Say good night forever!" foolscap laughed out loud believing he had won and there was no way they were getting out of this one! Or so he thought….

Rex having had enough of Foolscap and his ridiculous games, as well as recalling all the horrible deeds he and his fellow pirates had done, he wasn't going to show them anymore mercy! "That won't cut it this time!" he yelled back in retort, "Ace and I have tapped into a power so great your armour will never be able to lay a finger on us anymore!" He declared as Ace roared and he pointed out at him, "And we'll show you the difference between how we were before and how we are now!" he vowed as he slashed his new wind move card, "Air raid storm!" The move made Ace glow bright white as he roared out, infused with immense power before charging head on at Armatus courageously!

"Ahahah! Charging us head on!? You've completely lost it didn't you!?" Foolscap laughed in amusement as the missiles locked in on Ace as he rushed at them!

"That's what you think." Rex spoke to himself as Ace leapt over one then slid underneath the next, did a spin spiralling through the slim opening between some of them and then swinging out his tail in a flurry which knocked away the remaining crystal missiles like they were toothpicks! To him the missiles looked like they were coming in slow motion as he easily evaded or deflected them as they came as some of them exploded in the background one by one till he got within range of Armatus!

Foolscap widened his eyes in bewilderment unable to comprehend what he just witnessed, "No way! You dodged them all!? Impossible!" he exclaimed as he began to sweat non stop and even Armatus was beginning to feel genuine fear as the carnotaurus closed in at striking range of him after easily besting his strongest move!

"Your dirty tricks won't save you this time! Now you're finished!" Rex yelled as Ace swung out his tail knocking Armatus off balance momentarily, before swiftly flipping up the armour stegosaurus high into the air much to Foolscap's disbelief!

"AH!" He could only watch as Armatus was helpless and at the mercy of Ace, who blew out a tornado and struck out with his tail through it, sending a set of wind blades to slice through him! After that in a gust of wind he vanished, appearing right above Armatus as he slammed down his tail on the stegosaurus sending him falling back down! Ace then disappeared in a flash once more, repeating the tail strike at a lower level and sending him flying high into he sky again before boosting at him like a rocket! Grabbing onto Armatus' unprotected stomach, he spiralled down like a torpedo right down above Foolscap and the fog machine down below! "GAAAAH!" Foolscap could only shake out his arms in terror as he sped out of their way as Ace slammed Armatus right into the machine causing it to erupt out in flames in a massive explosion!

BOOM!

"NOOOO!" Foolscap cried out widening his eyes and grasping his hair frantically seeing his hard work gone to waste, as Ace leapt out unscathed from the wreckage and landed right in front of Rex who jumped up in joy at their outstanding victory!

"Nice work Ace! You did it! Aha!" He laughed joyously as Ace roared out to the sky mightily in triumph!

"Grrr….." Foolscap meanwhile was able to fish out Armatus' card from the wreckage, and as he flew up and hovered over the charred and burning wreckage of the machine and seeing his opportunity for promotion gone up in smoke, he then shook his fists out in a rant! "No fair! I was supposed to win!" he yelled out his frustrations before pointing out at Rex accusingly, "I won't accept this! You cheated! You cheated!" he spat out.

"Me cheat? That's a laugh." Rex countered as he shot a hard glare at the defeated space pirate, "Way I see it you cheated more times than I can count on both my hands." he continued, "And like they say cheaters never prosper, so this was the only possible outcome, you brought it upon yourself when you put so many people along with my friend to sleep." He said at the end.

"Grrr….." Foolscap felt immense pent up anger building deep inside him as he clenched his hand into a really tight fist and gnashed his teeth till they were on the verge of cracking under the pressure he was exerting on them! "Just you wait kid! You haven't seen the last of me! I'll be back and badder than ever before! You'll see!" he shouted out at the top of his lungs as he fumed red before pointing out at Rex and Ace! "When the boss hears about this you'll be very sorry!" he cursed him at the end.

Rex however only shot back at him with full confidence, "Yeah? Well tell Specter we'll be coming for him next!" he retorted showing no signs of fear or hesitation, knowing that they beat him once and they could no doubt do it again if they had to!

"Specter?" Foolscap blinked his eyes before suddenly snickering to himself most eerily which put Rex off uneasily….especially with what he said next, "Heheheh…you really have no idea with who you're messing with…."

Rex then blinked his eyes in surprise at what he heard, "Wh….What?" he asked before glaring at Foolscap angrily, "What do you mean new boss? What are you guys planning now!?" he then demanded.

"Since you beat me, I'm not gonna tell you anything! Too bad!" The space pirate stuck his tongue out at Rex mockingly before deciding there was one bit of info he could part with, if it meant it'd help stir up insecurity and fear in his enemy the next time it came around, "But I will say this, hehehe….Me and my old pals now answer to a new boss. A boss so downright terrifying he makes Specter look like a toddler doing a tantrum…which he is of course but you get the point!"

Hearing his words to be truth, Rex sweated tensely and began to grow nervous at the idea of a new enemy far more dangerous than Specter was, "That doesn't sound good…." he said heavily.

Foolscap grinned seeing the insecurity and anxiety in Rex's eyes and he decided to deepen it even more, "You'll regret stopping me here, if you had this much tribe beating me then you don't stand a chance against Goma!" he threatened Rex, "Oh how I can't to see the look on your face once he mops the floor with you and your puny friends! Then you'll know the true strength of the shadow empire! Ahahaha!" He laughed out loud maniacally before stopping himself at the last minute, "Whoops, I said too much…." he said covering his mouth stopping himself from spoiling anymore, before waving at Rex playfully, "Later loser! Hahahah!" he laughed out loud at him as he spread his wings and jetted away through the dark clouds above, out of sight and clearly out of reach!

"Wait! Get back here!" Rex yelled as he ran out after him to no avail as he disappeared high above in the sky and the dark clouds covering Asia soon began to dissipate and become replaced by the bright glowing evening sky that was hidden from view. "He's gone…." Rex then sighed seeing there was nothing he could do about it now, seeing there was no sign of Foolscap anywhere above. As Ace walked over to where he was and returned to normal, he noticed Rex put a finger to his chin in careful thought, "A new boss….way stronger and more terrifying than Specter….." he mused before looking very concerned, "What have we gotten ourselves into this time?" There was without a doubt the space pirates had not just a new leader, but also new plans and a new aim…and that may make them twice as dangerous as they were before….knowing they'd have to be at their very best or even more than that from here on out.

"Urgh….Aaaah…." The sounds of groaning were heard behind them, which snapped Rex out of his thoughts as he turned back in surprise to see Max had sat up and was starting to rub his eyes as he regained consciousness!

"AH! Max!" Rex gasped as he ran over to his best friend and knelt down to his level while Ace stood above them keeping a lookout for any foes that may still be hiding in the forest, "Max! Are you alright!?" Rex then gasped his attention focused solely on Taylor who turned his head in the direction he heard his voice.

The spiky haired brunette slowly began to open his eyes, and after blinking his eyes groggily and his vision began to return he saw Rex's face of concern and worry, "Y-Yeah…I'm fine Rex…." Max moaned to assure him he was fine…till his head suddenly throbbed with aches to which he cringed and grasped with his palm, "Urgh….My head….I feel like I just woke up from a really bad nightmare…" he groaned as Rex backed away form him, giving him his space as he recuperated from the toxins and the bad sleep he just went through.

Rex soon smiled at ease, "Well at least this one is over now." He said as he looked over to the charred smoking remains of Foolscap's fog machine, "The gas is dissipating, guess destroying that horrible machine really did it…." He then said.

"Which means everyone else should be waking up in Gobi Village too…." Max added before grinning cheekily at Rex, "Hehehe, great job Rex, you and Ace really saved the day this time!" he laughed happily as he did a playful fist bump at Rex's shoulder.

Rex shook his head in response, "No Max, we did it." He corrected Max, "If you hadn't jumped in front of me we both would've been knocked out."

Max then smirked and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Heh, well my body acted all on its' own just now. Then again you'd have done the same for me and Chomp." he said back to him.

"Haha well I don't doubt that one bit." Rex nodded back at him agreement as he returned Ace to card form and took his card back. After that though, as he began to remember what Foolscap's last words were, he then sighed and frowned as he began to remember that this battle was just the start as he looked up to the sky where he last saw the space pirate depart from, knowing they'd see him and the rest of his fellow cronies soon.

Max, unaware of what happened while he was knocked out, blinked in surprise to see his friend not acting cheerful in celebration of their hard earned victory for some odd reason, "Huh? what's up Rex? Aren't you happy we won?" he asked curiously tapping on his shoulder.

"Yeah I am….we did win this round," Rex answered him calmly before letting out a rather heavy sigh, "It's the next one I'm worried about most."

Max raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Next one?" he asked him in confusion.

Rex hardened his face before letting out a deep sigh knowing Max wasn't going to like this either but he had no choice, "Before Foolscap left, he said he and his old gang are now working under a new boss named Goma," he said uneasily, "He said he's powerful he makes Specter look like a tame kitten in comparison."

"That…doesn't sound very good…." Max then gulped down hard at the thought.

"Not a chance…." Rex added, knowing they had plenty of trouble with Specter in the past and he was crazy strong, if this Goma was way stronger then they'd have their work cut out for them without a doubt, "I don't know what they're up to now….But we've got to stop them." He then said as he looked up to the sky again, eying it with a hard gaze as he clenched a fist hard.

Max soon put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, "And we will Rex, we will." he said to him, feeling confident that they'd be able to win against this new enemy no matter what he may throw their way, "Together no matter who stands against us we'll always win in the end."

Seeing Max's high spirited smile inspired good feelings in Rex as well as he then nodded back to him, "Well said." he replied in agreement, feeling more confident and assured that they could no doubt prevail in this war and set things straight once more for humanity and dinosaurs alike. As he looked ahead to see the wreckage of Foolscap's machine he then smirked seeing now they were 1 step closer to achieving that goal and it was mission accomplished for them, as he then reached for his dinoshtr and typed on it, "Now let's report back in." He then said as he prepared to pitch in a call to HQ to update their status to them, no doubt it'd please them all to hear of their accomplishments.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Further off in the distance, the ninja troops were having the enemy dinosaurs routed and the gel jarks on the run, as they threw out their shurikens and smoke bombs, aiming them right at the gel jarks' vulnerable rock faces while parrying their own attack attempts thus driving them off into the forest! Their dinosaurs, having been trained in highest level of combat expertise and teamwork were able to get the better of their foes too, as an alpha sinraptor along with its super counterpart jumped onto a shunosaurus and after spilling their weight upon its back were able to drive it into several trees as it collapsed down and crashed before they bit into its neck and turned it into a card!

The same was also said for many others who used skill to target their foes' weak spot thus inflicting maximum damage in only the most precise points thus minimising the time needed to bring down their foes as well as their risk of being attacked back too, as shown by a pair of ceratosaurus that were both awakened and alpha, as they snapped at a siamotyrannus' legs in a series of mock charges till eventually managing to force it back over a huge tree root then slam its head on a nearby boulder, knocking it out and then returning it to card form!

With the enemy forces driven off, now all that was left were their leaders…which proved to be much more of a challenge than even Kaze could handle, as his monolophosaurus Chase and Alpha dilophosaurus Hunter, were kicked away by the black armoured megaraptor! As it tried to deliver and eagle strike like kick to them both while they were still down, Kaze leapt in between them in time and swung out his katana, the lade clashing with the claws of the megaraptor causing spark sot fly as they repelled one another! As the raptor flipped away and landed on its feet like a large cat, Kaze then fell to his knees gasping for air in exhaustion, "Urgh! This one is really persistent…." he hissed in annoyance as his own dinosaurs kicked back up and ran to his side snarling viciously towards the black megaraptor which remained unfazed at their that display!

"And this one's endurance is far greater than I first anticipated…." Raina then grunted in serious thought as she stepped back near to where Kaze was, as the black armoured pentaceratops shook out its horns threateningly at Jolt her anchiceratops along with her alpha triceratops Spark. Now both captains found themselves trapped in a pincer like attack from both armoured black dinosaurs and they were beginning to close the gap on them like a guillotine! Seeing their options were limited, assessing what was left to them, Raina then gained a small smirk knowing jus the strategy to implement at this point in time, "Kaze, perhaps it's time we try another approach?" she then suggested to him as they stood back to back with one another, "Like say….A little dash of teamwork followed by a touch of friendship between us and our lab partners hmm?"

The ninja captain then narrowed his eyes in thought before looking ahead to see themselves cornered by both the black megaraptor and pentaceratops which were closing in on them, further boxing them in and restricting their movements! "A change of tactics does sound like the best course of action at this point." He then said before rolling his eyes, "Fine let's go for it, not like we have any other choice or anything to lose."

His answer made Raina grin and jitter with glee, "A most excellent answer indeed! Just as I expected you to say!" she grinned eagerly as they felt energy rising within themselves and their dinosaurs which soon glowed in the colour of their attributes!

"Elemental fusion!" As they yelled out a blinding light erupted from both anchiceratops and monolophosaurus! The bright light caused the megaraptor and pentaceratops to halt their advance as they closed their eyes in surprise at the light! As it died down they looked again in surprise to see both dinosaurs had awakened to their super forms as they roared out back at their enemies with a newfound power they unlocked from their strong bond with their partners!

Raina was unable to contain her excitement deep down inside her as she exploded into uncontrollable joyous laughter, "Ahahaha! Such a momentous development!" she laughed out loud most joyously before quickly taking out her notepad to record down this very moment of her performing awakening for the very first time along with her own personal thoughts too for Jolt's new yellow and black form, "I must record this for future references!"

Meanwhile as Kaze eyed Chase who was now glowing bright white and grey he couldn't help but smirk in admiration of his dinosaur's newfound power, despite his grim outlook on life his dinosaurs still stood by him to the end deep down bearing a kind of bond of trust between them as well, "Not bad…." he then nodded, while he still saw friendship to be childish it did at least work effectively too so that more than made up for him going against his usual nature. "Let's get this over with!" He then shouted out his angered battle challenge towards the pentaceratops, which roared out in anger and agitation at its foes before glowing yellow, a bolt of lighting striking down energising it as it made and electric charge towards them!

Despite that both maze and Raina held fast and relied themselves, "Let's see how it stands up to this formula for victory!" She proclaimed proudly as she and Kaze made eye contact, nodding at one another before slashing a move card together in sync!

"Thunderstorm bazooka!" They yelled together as both Hunter and Jolt both flashed in bright white and yellow in colour before they swapped battle partners with each other! The alpha dinolophosaurus gained a veil of wind in cyclone as he rushed ahead creating a wind tunnel, as Sparks ran and leapt through, carrying wind in her thunder bazooka as she absorbed it around her and like a spiralling bullet she punched right through the Pentaceratops' electric charge attack, overpowering it with ease and then sending it flying through several trees before crashing to the ground and returning to a card defeated! "Aha! A perfect reaction indeed!" She then laughed victoriously punching up to the sky as the alpha dilophosaurus and super anchiceratops roared out with her in celebration!

Kaze smiled momentarily, but upon hearing a hiss nearby, he narrowed his eyes seeing the black megaraptor snarl at them in fury at the defeat of its' comrade before rushing in for the kill towards them! "Don't celebrate yet, here comes the next one!" He yelled as Raina turned to see it glow white and begin to use mayfly!

"Kaze, why don't you take the lead this time?" She then suggested to him as he nodded without hesitation.

"Very well then, as you wish." he replied before looking ahead, "Just make sure you keep up."

"Haha, there's nothing faster than the speed of lightning!" She laughed accepting the challenge as Spark and Chase leapt in front next seeing it was their turn next for a combo attack!

"Lightning razor wind!" As they both slashed their move cards in sync once more, Kaze's monolophosaurus generated a tornado with its breath as it prepared biting wind. After that, Raina's triceratops fired lightning strike into it, causing the air particles inside it to be fully charged! As the megaraptor rushed out towards them in a blur, having unleashed mayfly it tried to leap above them but the now supercharged blades of wind travelled as fast as lightning bolts would! They struck through it before but could have a chance to leap above them, stunning it in its tracks after the first struck it! It shrieked in pain as electricity coursed through its veins and it began to spasm violently, before the remaining 2 struck through it next! Feeling overwhelmed by both wind and electricity it let out a heavy gasp before collapsing to the ground and returning to a card!

"The ingenuity of science combined with masterful tactics and strategy, I'd say I couldn't have asked for a way more compatible and explosive pairing!" Raina then cried out as she jumped up and down energetically while her alpha triceratops and Kaze's super monolophosaurus roared out in triumph too.

"Whatever you say Raina." he muttered in annoyance, despite the results this battle had for them, Kaze preferred to be a solo fighter and after this he was going to get some much needed alone time away from all the noise.

As the battlefield in the sky changed to normal, Raina then checked her spare gas detection device, as she switched it on it she saw the level of toxins was rapidly dropping to safe levels, "And it appears the gas levels in the air is dropping, which can only mean one possible hypothesis and conclusion." she then noted before switching to a screen on her dinoshot, which showed her squadron helping some of the villagers out from their bed who were yawning drowsily or jump up from their bed in shock like they just had a bad dream. Seeing everyone was waking up at last Raina then grinned, "Hehehe, I just knew those children would pull it off! The odds of them failing was 0% just as I predicted!" she cheered feeling most positive and fully charged as she jumped up and down cheerfully with her 2 ceratopsians join gin her too as they jumped up and down with her in excitement, much to the dismay of Kaze and his men, as they stared at her from the trees or around the premises with their dinosaurs, seeing how she was her happy go lucky attitude made her completely oblivious to her surroundings, it was like she was a little kid in a grown woman's body…much like the D Team were….

Nevertheless they did do a good job in the end, as Kaze then closed his eyes calmly and smiled, "Yes….so they did…." for the first time feeling gentle breeze blow through his heart rather than a howling storm of hatred. Looking ahead to see a cloud of smoke erupt in the distance it was clear they pulled it off in the end and he could feel a wind of change blow over them all and possibly a new turn in the war for them all, "Well done…." He nodded with thanks that they were able to do this for them.

As she cheered non stop in joy, Raina quickly stopped as she recalled something important she had, "Whoops I almost forgot!" she then said as she reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out Rex's element booster which she picks dup earlier, "I'd better make sure to return this to Rex next time I see him." she told herself a she began to make contact with Max and Rex so they could regroup and then go home.

 **And now round 2 goes to the resistance once more, can they keep their winning streak going? Especially when one of the toughest missions lies ahead for the final pair consisting of 2 ferocious females ready to go at it, with each other more so and at the same time where one of the more complex situations has developed in America. Stay tuned to see who they may prevail against the challenges set against them there.**

 **Had this chapter based off the second stage in the DS game, with Max taking the fall for Rex as a show of friendship, since he already had Chomp go Super, and now Rex and Ace being the ones to take home the victory, as well as notice Foolscap's bluff a second before it was too late.**

 **In response to reviews:**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Yup everyone's getting along and settling down again, something made possible thanks to the D Team.**

 **Yeah the black dinosaurs are back but a scaled down version for Goma didn't want to use too many resources and it'd make them harder to control if he did the same Seth did.**

 **Interesting theories indeed especially for Zoe and Ursula, something to consider later maybe, also the theme of nature reminds me of the En cards from Arc V.**

 **Also nice suggestion, I already have an idea for myself but will see how it goes**

 **Guest**

 **-Glad you liked it and that could be a name for it.**

 **-Would rather not spoil anything to come later.**

 **-Glad you enjoyed it, I think they deserved that glory after getting the short end of the stick so many times.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-No the black dinosaurs won't be as big a role like Seth did but they were used to control the army better, the dinovoc controls the black dinosaurs and they control the rest of the army.**

 **Glad it helped inspire you too.**

 **Hope to give everyone a role somewhere in this story too, also Rex did indeed learn from Kaze too**


	55. Battle of the beauties

Chapter 55

Battle of the beauties

In the middle of a very western town like seeing, almost like that of a cowboy movie scene in the Wild West, where most buildings were shaped like western saloons, bars or inns set atop a high rocky plateau elevated on top a large ragged cliff over a rocky canyon like desert. Named Dustberg, one of the last remaining points of civilisation and refuge for the people in America in their war against the shadow empire. Thankfully help had arrived for them at that very moment as a portal opened up near the town's D Site and appearing out of it was Ursula and Zoe as they arrived at their intended destination while inside their chosen mesozoic mobiles.

"Wow so this is Dustberg, the American D site branch….." Zoe whistled impressed as it gave her a western movie vibe in more ways than one, as Paris stuck her head out and chirped with interest.

Ursula didn't seem as interested as she was though as she leaned out and stared out of it unimpressed, "This dump almost reminds me of Texas." she commented as she looked around to see the town to be nearly barren and abandoned, as a breeze blew dust over the path where they were along with a piece of tumbleweed. Upon closer inspection there were a handful of people about the premises, mostly young girls or older women, most of which were dressed in long dresses or skirts that fit well with the town's theme. "Shame, if I knew where I'd be going to I'd have dressed better to look the part." she then mused, admitted their fashion sense wasn't half bad. Terry though couldn't care less as he just curled up in his seat and yawned as he settled in for a good nap.

"In case you're not blind old lady, there's something way more important than your mid lie fashion crisis." Zoe grunted as she caught sight of something ahead at a large building named the Sheriff's office.

"I told you not to call me that you brat!" Ursula shouted back at her angrily, "And you say old people forget a lot!? Which I'm most certainly not but you get the point!" She snorted like a mad bull after that knowing this may have been the hundredth time she had been called old, the only thing stopping her from going all feral on Zoe right now was the safety belt strapping her to her seat in the speed demon, "And besides! What could be way worse than not keeping up with style and setting trends!?"

"How about that?" Zoe then pointed ahead as Ursula then followed curiously.

"Huh?"

Looking ahead the 2 of them could see a large group of panicked women and children gathering around the front of the sheriff's office, murmurs of panic or concern echoed from the crowds as they began to holler the poor Sherriff whom was a rather plump and bearded man with a cowboys hat and outfit, with his deputy whom was skinnier than he was with an orange ascot.

"Calm down everyone! I assure you we'll get to the bottom of this!" he pleaded with them to remain at ease but to no avail as various complaints and murmurs echoed out from the group.

"We want answers now!"

"Tch! I'm starting to think my boyfriend actually ditched me….how dare he run off right after we started dating!?"

"I'm really worried about my husband, he promised he'd be home soon and that only will death do us apart."

"I do hope he comes back soon." They all began to say which further added to the sheriff's load of troubles since the shadow empire attacked them years ago, and now with the sudden disappearance of the town's men, they were all beginning to grow restless and feel unsafe with less manpower available to work defence or patrol.

Any women or little kids who weren't part of the mob either sat down at the stairs of other houses in the vicinity or on the sidelines either crying painfully or acting downtrodden and almost devoid of life. One of which had a little boy and girl with her, who were crying into her as she hugged them close.

"Any news about dad yet mommy?" The boy asked his mom who shook her head reluctantly.

"No I'm afraid not, not a word…." she sighed heavily before putting on a brave look for her children so they wouldn't lose hope on them, "Don't worry, they'll fine him soon. I promise." She said as reassuringly as she cold for them, though while it helped the boy feel a bit more calm and easy, his sister though wasn't as convinced as he was.

"Okay…but…I'm scared….." she nodded before hugging her mom closely. As she did, a young pawpawsaurus came in to nuzzle up at them, hoping to comfort them but to little avail.

There were only but a small handful of troopers patrolling the vicinity with a few pterosaurs like quetzalcoatlus or tapejara patrolling the skies above, but looking closer at them and all around, Zoe and Ursula could make out that apart from the sheriff there were almost no men in sight for miles, be it young or old, it was as if they had somehow vanished into thin air without warning.

"I thought America was supposed to be the land of New dreams and full of energy and life," Ursula suddenly commented almost thoughtlessly, "All I'm seeing are sad and moping sourpusses everywhere I look."

Zoe scowled at her for being so inconsiderate before focusing again at what was ahead of them, "Those poor women and children….something must have happened to them…." she said worriedly as Paris let out a sad hum.

"You're correct Zoe, and it's quite a tragedy." A voice suddenly replied to her unexpectedly on her comm link.

"Hmm?" The sound of a small engine and some tyre tracks scrapping the rugged ground caught their attention, and looking ahead was a small green Light 4WD car model approaching them. Appearing on screen was none other than the captain of grass herself, "Ah! It's Captain Hua!" Zoe smiled with joy to see her again.

"The harmony plant lady?" Ursula muttered before yawning out uncomfortably, "Great….I feel so much safer now with a farmer to help us out…." Her rude remark made Zoe shoot her another hard glare, she was making it really hard for her to NOT call her old old lady or do anything worse.

"It's….good to see you both here." Hua then smiled, doing her best to hide her surprise at their rather unique dynamic, "We could really use all the help we can get. I'm afraid I have some rather awful news to share with you both." She then said at the end feeling rather worried and concerned.

"What happened here?" Zoe asked curiously before looking towards the agitated crowds and people sitting about the premises, "All those women and children seem really scared and upset over there."

"Also…where did all the men go?" Ursula then pointed out before striking a pose while on screen, "I would have expected a mob of them to come to me now to worship my magnificent beauty!"

Zoe tried her best to pay her no mind, the only reason she wasn't insulting her again was because her role model Hua was present and she didn't want to make a scene in front of her but even so she was already reaching her limits.

"Not long ago many workers from Dustberg's base have begun to disappear one by one with no possible explanation as to why." The resistance's grass captain calmly replied though worry was present all over her face.

Zoe widened her eyes in shock, "What?"

"Disappeared?" Ursula questioned suspiciously.

Hua nodded reluctantly, "Yes, like they vanished without a trace without leaving behind a single clue either, it's left many of the families and others here most insecure and worried." she said at the end as she looked towards the restless crowd who were demanding answers from the sheriff and his deputy, who were among the only few remaining men present in the town.

"That sounds terrible…." It wasn't just some kind of strange mystery they had to unravel, it was also one filled with heartbreak and sadness at having to be separated from loved ones. In a way she could relate to the townsfolk since she lost her mom and dad one time and it was far from an experience she enjoyed.

"They had to have gone somewhere," Ursula then stated, "I mean men don't just disappear into thin air." she did however wish she could do that to some men who rubbed her the wrong way, examples being Dr Z and Dr Owen without a doubt.

"Can't you send someone or some dinosaurs to look for them?" Zoe then asked Hua.

"We did send a handful of troopers actually not long ago." The captain answered before letting out a rather heavy sigh as she looked over the horizon to where the town gate was, "But strangely enough they vanished too along with the men who were lost." Her answer began to stir up some rather uneasy feelings in Zoe and Ursula, now that they began to realise they were going in with limited support, "Because of that we're very short handed and any of the families here have gown rather restless on top of that, if an attack were to take place right now I don't think we'd last very long." She said worriedly at the end.

"Now that's really bad news." Zoe gulped anxious at the thought of an attack taking place when the town was already heartbroken or uneasy as they were now, they'd wound up with more than broken hearts and spirits if that were to happen in their current unprepared state.

"Hmph! How pitiful…." Ursula suddenly scoffed much to Hua's surprise and Zoe's bewilderment!

"Ex…cuse me?"

"What'd you say!?"

She then folded her arms behind her head laxly as she settled in comfortably into her chair, "To think these poor miserable families would have their hearts broken just cause they lost a man." she scoffed, "Ha! Well look at me! I don't need any man to make me feel safe! I'm plenty strong all on my own! Ahahahaha!" She laughed snobbishly without giving so much a care for those around her.

While Hua looked at Ursula in surprise at how she could have been so ill mannered and elf entered, Zoe having lost all restraint let loose all she had kept bottled down inside her, "Grrr! You've gone too far old lady!" She shouted at her having took offence at her thoughtless remark, "I bet you're saying that cos you're jealous that they all have men they love and cherish! Something you don't have and never will!" She added at the end, unaware she hit the nail right in its mark as Ursula snapped and exploded literally and the 2 of them broke out into a heated battle of dagger tipped words aimed at one other!

"How dare you!? You're still just a shrimpy little runt! You couldn't understand what it means to be really beautiful like me!"

"In your dreams! You're all beauty and no heart! Better yet no brains!"

"Oh that tears it! You're extinct missy!"

"Just try it old lady!"

Hua's heart skipped a beat at the immense animosity that blossomed between the 2 females, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before, earlier having assumed them to be friends if they were sent together but now she had been proven wrong. Knowing things would turn out way worse if she let it continue as it was now, she bravely mustered her courage and cut in between them, "Zoe! Ursula! Please calm down!" she cried as she drove her mobile in between them both just as they were about to ram into one another, "Such hostility will get us nowhere nearer to saving the town's men!" she cried out pleading desperately to stop them, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"I knew coming here with you was a huge mistake!" Zoe spat as Paris barked in anger towards Ursula.

"Well well looks like we're in agreement!" Ursula hissed back at her with terry growling grumpily towards their rivals, "How about we settle things here to see which of us stays and the others goes back!?"

"Music to my ears!" They both pressed a button recalling Paris and Terry, and were just about to summon them to full size and have a full out battle with Hua caught right in the middle of them both!

"NO! Don't!" She widened her eyes as they were about to slash, only to be halted as a loud horn sounded out at them!

HONK!

"Huh!?" They were startled by the sudden loud noise they jumped and dropped their cards in surprise!

Looking ahead they were shocked to see a huge red rock crusher approach them from the outside gates and the driver appeared on screen right in the nick of time, "Easy there ladies! You're all feisty, ready for action and I like it!" Blaze greeted them with a flashy grin, "But please save that for the enemy, wouldn't be any good to anyone if you girls went and tore each other apart right before we head out." He then said smiling warmly and bright as the sun itself.

Ursula quickly blushed red as he fiery temper soon smothered out and was replaced with warm sunniness inside her, "Oh now there's a man I could really go for!" she cried out in glee as she clapped her hands together and jittered, "Yes! Yes! You're absolutely right Blaze! She's not worth my precious time and energy! In fact worth nothing at all!" She said taking advantage of the situation to shoot an insult towards Zoe much to her annoyance.

"Hey!" She cried taking huge offence at it, she wanted to give the old lady a piece of her mind but a stern look from Hua stopped her much to her annoyance, as she huffed and folded her arms pouting.

"Plus there are so many worried families waiting for their loved ones to come home!" She then added rather dramatically while putting on some crocodile tears to go with it, before acting all innocent, "No time to waste with silly arguing and fighting haha!" she laughed out loud, earning her a couple of stares from Hua and Zoe.

"….."

"Well that was easy," Blaze then commented, surprised she was all on board for the mission before chuckling in amusement, "Thought I might have had to wrangle ya like a crocodile with a toothache." he added, at first seeing how aggressive she was earlier if it came to it he may have had to take action up close and personal.

"Oh I wouldn't mind if you did that eheheh…." she then blushed red as some rather unpleasant fantasies began running through her head which made her drool like a lovesick puppy in heat, much to everyone else's discomfort.

"O…kay then…." was all Blaze replied with after that.

"She's….an interesting one to say the least…." Hua whispered to Zoe who squinted her eyes back at the grass leader.

"I think you mean weird…." she responded before shaking her head clear and getting down to the matter at hand, "So Blaze, care to fill us in on what you know so far?"

Blaze then looked to her rather seriously, "Well, according to what eye witnesses said, they said most of the workers disappeared last night when going out to patrol Dustberg's outskirts to make sure our perimeter is kept clear of any incoming enemies." he explained as it came to the hard part, "But strange thing is, they never came back after venturing out." Everyone said nothing but continued to listen to Blaze's story which seemed almost like out of a ghost story or mystery themed movie, "And believe it or not, when we sent out some troops to investigate, the same thing happened! Crazy isn't it?" he said at the end before tensing up and clenching one of his hands into a tight fist, "I don't know what's happened but I intend to the to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I do. No way am I going to let my men down."

After hearing his story, Zoe put a finger to her chin in thought and soon came cup with a possible suggestion, "Any places where they may have gone?" she asked, "If they haven't shown up maybe someone could have taken them somewhere close by and hold them captive."

Blaze then folded his arms and pondered for a moment, "Hmm….come to think of it, we do have a couple of dig sites in the mines further ahead in dust hills." He then said as he brought up said location on the map for everyone to see, "If anyone were to have taken prisoner there'd be a good place to start."

"I bet you the space pirates are behind this!" Zoe then shouted out angrily.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were." Hua then suggested as she looked up to see a small handful of troopers in light 4WD mobiles gather around them, ready to head out into the field for a rescue mission, "Well, in any case it's just us 4 and the remaining few troopers we've got left." Their rather small numbers didn't bring up much confidence in some of them including Ursula or Zoe, but Blaze however became fired up and felt more ready than he had ever been in years.

"We may be a little short handed, but the fire burns every stronger inside us all!" he proclaimed, his words lighting up everyones spirits on fire, "I just know we'll find them all and bring them all back where they belong!" he vowed as they all began to cheer in agreement with him.

"Yeah you bet!" Zoe cheered.

"We won't rest until we do." Hua nodded.

Ursula though felt her heart soar into heaven upon being moved deeply by his most impactful words, "Oh Blaze, rest assured you have nothing to worry about!" she cried before shooting him a cheeky grin and wink, "I'll have you know men are my specialty! In fact I'm practically irresistible! Just one look and I'll have all those missing men come out of whatever hole they're hiding in and back to where they all belong!" she proclaimed proudly.

"More like repellant…." Zoe muttered to herself

Caught up in the excitement and bursting with energy, Ursula felt her inner child cry out for adventure and action as she kicked her gear into full power, "Yeehaw! Away I go! Woo hoo!" She cheered as she sped away out through the gate leaving behind a cloud of dust in an effort to look good as she rode over the dusty hills and left everyone else behind!

"H…Hey wait!" Zoe cried out to her on the comms but they were cut off as she headed out of vocal ranger much to her frustration, "Ugh! She's just impossible sometimes…." she grunted as she pinched her temple.

Blaze however took it rather differently as he began to laugh out in excitement, "Hahaha! She's got spirit, now that's just what we need in the resistance! No fear and no hesitation!" he said feeling fired up himself before looking to his crew, "Well team, to adventures beyond we go!" he proclaimed as they all cheered and drove out after Ursula!

"Yeah!"

As the rest of the team exited through the gates, Zoe face palmed herself knowing for a fact Ursula had corrupted them to follow in her horrendous example, "Oh dear…." she almost felt doomed….till Hua drove up to her.

"If you don't mind, I'll come with you Zoe if you'd like." she offered, "Just to keep a close eye on you all to make sure nothing bad happens, plus I'm interested to see your skills in battle too, it could be a great leaning experience for me myself." She said.

Zoe smiled warmly in response before nodding in respect while also happily accepting her offer, "Thanks, you're welcome to come too Hua." she said as the 2 of them drove together after the convoy in a mode modest pace, "Plus I think I feel much safer with you around." She said at the end, also feeling more comfortable with someone she could totally relate to.

 **(Later)**

What started out as a slow and steady pace over the hills soon turned into a high speed chase after Ursula, who apparently got far too comfortable with her new set of wheels along with both its power and ease of handling, gave her some rather unsettling ideas about turning the journey into an action packed high stakes race as she shot over the road through the desert area right after they came out from the rocky wasteland, "Woo hoo! I'm burning rubber and I'm about to go into overdrive! Ahahahaha!" She laughed at the top of her lungs feeling alive and having adrenaline rushing through every cell of her body as she began to leave the others far behind in her dust uncaringly much to their annoyance.

"Hey! Slow down old lady! We can't keep up!" Zoe shouted out in annoyance, being the only one able to keep pace with her enough so that she could act as middle person in communication and keep Ursula in track before she got herslef hurt, though she was still lagging rather behind.

"Say that again! You want me to run you off the road!?" Ursula snarled through the monitors in a rage.

"Jut try it!" Zoe retorted as their engines roared over the hills so loud the others far behind them could hear.

Behind them, Blaze and Hua lead the team as they tried to keep pace with the 2 girls, and they couldn't help but see what was going on as some sort of comedy skit, "Wow, now those are what I call a couple of fiery hearted females!" he grinned in amusement, "Seeing them all fired up for action is really getting me pumped up for some action too!" he cheered excitedly as he revved up his engines and proud on across the rugged canyon road as they travelled further into the mountains.

"Hmm…they are rather rough around the edges," Hua thought to herself before smiling rather lightly seeing a seed of hope in them that they can cooperate, "But nothing a little pruning can't improve." Which was rather wishful thinking as Ursula, wanting to prove herself better then issued a bold challenge to Zoe.

"First one to that mountain cliff is the better woman!"

"You're on!" Zoe retorted as the 2 of them sped away into the higher areas leaving the others down below feeling rather disgruntled at having to burn more fuel and rubber just to follow after them over the most treacherous of terrain.

Hua at that point then sighed and shook her head in dismay, "Or perhaps a lot….." she was starting to doubt their future a little as they all reluctantly followed after them, though the only one who didn't seem to mind was Captain Blaze, as he seemed to admire their spirit and the adventurous route they were being taken on.

"Hahaha, well we can't leave little sparks like them unattended for too long, otherwise they may go and start a massive wildfire!" He laughed before revving up his engines and ploughing through the rugged stone stacks and boulders, clearing a path for the others to follow much to their relief.

After a while navigating through the harsh rugged terrain, through canyons and jagged underpasses, and even across huge chasms-several of which required detours to get around for some of the group much to their annoyance, but in the end they managed to make it to the top of the rocky outcrops in the hills which stood over Dustberg down below.

Ursula's speed demon soon made a stop at the top of the cliffs, dust building up around her as she screeched her wheels to a stop, "Ahahaha! Looks like I win slowpoke!" she laughed in Zoe's face through the monitor before looking ahead to see her just making it to where she was.

"Grrr!" Needless to say she was far from pleased at having lost not just to Ursula whom she despised almost as much as the space pirates but also because she cheated.

"Oh but don't feel bad," Ursula stuck out her tongue at her, "You know this was the only natural outcome! It's no contest after all, for I'm superior in every way!" She boasted while striking all kinds of elegant poses to show off herself in order to further rub it in Zoe's face.

"The only thing you're superior to me in is stupidity!" Zoe however spat back before pointing at Ursula on screen, "Besides you cheated and you know it!"

She then clicked her tongue in frustration, "Tch! Little brats like you really have no idea when to admit when you've lost." she hissed having lost patience and her temper, "Guess I'll have to teach that to you the hard way!" she growled as she revved her engines ready to ram Zoe right off the cliff!

"Please! You couldn't even teach a pebble to roll!" The younger girl however past back as she began to rev up her engine too preparing to smash the old lady into the walls!

Before they could press on their accelerators though, "Hey! Hey! Slow down you two!" Blaze suddenly shouted out at them through the monitors which made them stop at the last second once more.

"Huh?"

As they looked back ahead they saw Blaze's rock crusher make it up the hills followed by Hua's and those of the other troopers. "Are you literally trying to leave us behind? Give us a chance to keep up will you?" He cried in exhaustion as it took a lot out of him and the others to climb up the hills to where they were now, he was starting to think he may have had an actual limit to how much adventure he could take much to his surprise.

"Oh Captain Hua! Blaze!" Zoe widened her eyes in shock in realisation of being carless and leaving them behind, before pointing out at Ursula, "I'm so very sorry! I was too busy trying to keep that old lady from driving herself off a cliff I didn't stop to think about you!" she cried quickly pinning the blame on Ursula much to her chagrin!

"Why you little!"

Some of the troopers seeing this were becoming really annoyed and wouldn't hesitate to sick their own dinosaurs on Zoe and Ursula if it would keep them from dragging them all over the canyon on a wild goose chase. Last thing they needed on a serious rescue mission was playing catch up to a pair of hot rodders who wanted to turn it into a racing game.

"Crikey! Take it easy there!" Blaze suddenly cried out calming the situation down, "I like how you're both all fired up and ready for action but I think now's the time for you both to take a chill pill." At this rate both Zoe and Ursula would end up like a couple of smoking volcanoes about to blow their tops.

"Especially since we've arrived at our intended destination." Hua then smiled brightly to the girls' surprise.

"Huh?"

"Really? We have?" They blinked their eyes curiously before looking ahead to see up ahead was the entrance to Dustberg's mines, the very dig site the town used for ore, minerals and fossils as well as their intended destination, "Wow….how did we not notice that?"

"Well here we are mates," Blaze then spoke out proudly as he brought up the image of the mine's entrance tunnel to everyone else, "Dustberg's dig site and mining facility, where we think our workers may have been abducted." He said to them.

Ursula then decided to seize the opportunity to make herself look good, "Ha! And I'm sure we all know who to thank for leading us here." she boasted snobbishly as she held her head high up with pride.

"Definitely not you that's for sure…." Zoe shrugged her shoulders which further added dents to Ursula's ego as she gnashed her teeth and twitched her fingers in a fury!

"Grr! Are you trying to give me a reason to strangle the air out of you!?" she snarled nearly losing her patience and all self control.

While they were busy arguing, Hua and Blaze surveyed their surroundings to make sure they weren't alone….and before long after careful observation they narrowed their eyes hard having realised they were being watched, "If you 2 would please put aside your petty differences for a moment." She then spoke out to them calmly interrupting them, before making it clear to them the magnitude of their current situation, "Perhaps then you'll see that we have company."

"Huh?" As the 2 of them looked outside, they widened their eyes to see gel jarks begin to slip out from cracks in the mountain and in the ground and some even began to march right out of the mining shaft much to Ursula's disgust! They were the last of their problems though, as a couple of dinosaurs like utahraptors and neovenator began to leap down from the mountain tops to where they were, and larger ones like pentaceratops or suchomimus were making a climb up the path to where they were while timed up with more jarks!

It didn't take long for the group to realise they may have hit the center of enemy territory, as Zoe swallowed down hard and tensed up uneasily as their foes began to gather around them, from atop the hill and climbing up it towards them.

"That's a lot of guards." Ursula shuddered as her heart began to race with their enemies coming in at them!

Despite that, "Hehe, that's quite the warm welcome they're giving us."

Without warning a handful of the gel jarks aimed their arms out and fired a set of slimy projectiles right at the resistance team!

"WAAAAH!"

"Get back!" Hua warned them both in alarm.

"Scatter!" Blaze shouted out to the other stoppers as the vehicles revved up and drove out of the slime bombs' path as they landed and splattered on the ground where they stood! Some of them even resorted to running their foes off the mountain too! A few of the cars ran over some jarks like road kill while others spun and smacked a couple of dinosaurs off the cliff as they crashed down below and reverted to card form!

"Phew, that was close, a couple of seconds sooner and I'd have to go to the laundromat for getting slimed!" Ursula wheezed as she put a hand to her heart to still it from racing anymore.

"Your fashion sense is the last thing we ought to be worried about you know!?" Zoe shouted out loud in exasperation, then again she did value fashion and beauty too so she was rather relieved they got away in time.

Despite that, the enemy dinosaurs soon began to regroup along with the gel jarks as they once again swarmed around them, and now with them scattered they were such easier to pick off than before! "Tch! They're everywhere…." Hua clicked her tongue as she carefully and calmly observed their movements, apparently to restrict their movements and to keep them as far away from the mine entrance as possible. That's when it all began to click together, "It's obvious they don't want us inside, guess that means they're protecting something of value in those mines." Hua then noted calmly to the rest of the group as they began to catch on.

"Then it's gotta be the missing miners that's for sure!" Zoe then spoke out.

Blaze soon narrowed his eyes, "It doesn't take a genius to figure out this welcoming committee is nothing more than a distraction."

"Hehehe, well I welcome a good distraction! I say bring em on!" Ursula snickered seeing another chance she could make herself look real good in front of everyone, "I'll melt them all into ice cream puddles faster than you can say meltdown!" she proclaimed as she pumped up her arm ready for action.

Zoe raised an eyebrow at her, seeing she was rather fickle minded, who she changed from being terrified to acting with such bravado all because Blaze was there….she rolled her eyes seeing it was all too obvious, if only she could show as much motivation and effort in everything else that mattered.

"Sorry, no can do right there." His words shot down Ursula as she lowered her head in a deep sigh and frown at another lost chance, "If we all stay and fight these clowns we'd be wasting precious time and fuel, which we need for an even bigger fire down there in those mines."

Zoe and Ursula then looked up to him curiously, "Huh?"

"Bigger fire?" They soon began to realise that if there were guards here, it was likely that their enemies were expecting them inside right now as they speak, so whatever was awaiting down below was no doubt more dangerous and tougher than what they were already facing above ground.

"Then what do you suggest Blaze?" Hua then asked him hoping he had a plan.

He in turn shot them a cool grin, "Tell you what girls. It's time for this heated heart hero to blaze a trail of glory for all of you to follow!" she spoke out with confidence, "My squad and I will keep these blokes busy while you all sneak in and save the others."

Zoe widened her eyes in surprise at what he said to them, "All by yourself!? Are you nuts!?" she exclaimed. Captain or not, she was beginning to think he may be biting off more than he could chew this time around, though Ursula seemed to vouch for him as she shouted back supporting his decision.

"Hey! Don't tell me you're actually doubting a captain here!? How dare you!" she growled which made Zoe stutter a little in turn.

"Urk….but…." As brave as he was, there was still a fine line between courage and stupidity, and it seemed like he was really crossing it really close too.

He soon shot them a grin of confidence showing no hesitation or any hint of fear in his eyes, in fact out was pure courage which filled them with no ounce of foolishness in them, "Relax ladies, there's no need to worry about old me." she said holding a thumbs up to himself, "I've wrangled with packs of wild raptors all by myself without my mesozoic mobile or even a dinosaur! I can handle these blokes all by my lonesome, no to worry." he assured them as Ursula became more dreamy and smitten with him.

"Oh I don't doubt that at all…." she said as she began to drool with lust, "Ahahah…what a fiery hunk!"

Zoe rolled her eyes feeling sick at Ursula's behaviour before turning serious at the situation at hand, "But still…."

"If you still doubt me, then how's this!?" Blaze interrupted her as he quickly slashed a card on a slot on his vehicle's console, "Dino slash!" Appearing before him was Daigo in his full sized daspletosaurus form, "Alpha slash!" Gorgon soon appeared next, now as an alpha gorgosaurus, as they both roared out menacingly which made the gel jarks and enemy dinosaurs wary. Their troubles soon got a whole lot worse as members of his crew began to let loose themselves too, summoning all kinds of fiery dinosaurs like alioramus, torvosaurus and tarbosaurus which turned super, along with a handful of menacing alpha dinosaurs which included giganotosaurus and acrocanthosaurus!

As all the vicious carnivores roared out and rallied together, "Whoa….." Was all Zoe could utter out as she, Hua and Ursula found themselves overwhelmed by awe and some degree of fear at the sight of the giant carnivores which roared and charged out at the enemies, scattering them about the rocky premises, as Blaze looked to them with a smirk and raised eyebrow.

"Still think I can't handle myself?"

"I….guess not…." Zoe gulped feeling grateful he was on their side and not an enemy.

"It's in heated moments like this Blaze is at his best," said Hua to her through the monitor, "I'd say we take his advice and leave things here to him and his team." she then suggested.

"I promise you all that we have nothing to worry about." Blaze assured them once more with an ok sign, which was enough to convince the 3 girls to trust this to him, not like he was giving them any other choice.

"Okay then, just watch yourself and don't burn yourself out okay?" Zoe then spoke to him with a cheeky smile and intended pun as she got out form her car and made a run for the mine shaft on foot, as it was too small for them to go in as they were.

"I'll be back with you shortly my dream man!" Ursula sang as she blew a kiss at him through the monitor before hopping out of her sports car and following after Zoe, not wanting to let her show her up and ruin her chance to impress the fire captain.

"Take care Blaze, watch yourself, I wouldn't want to have to treat anymore self inflicted 3rd degree burns again would I?" Hua then winked playfully at him.

Blaze then laughed in amusement at her joke, then again it was actually true once…."Hahahaha! I'll be careful Hua, no worries about it." he replied to her with assurance and confidence, "Just look after those 2 little dames for me. Then we'll have a deal."

"Mhmm." she nodded in response before cut off her comm and exited her car before following after Ursula and Zoe into the mine shaft.

As soon as they disappeared and were out of sight an harm's way, Blaze then issued the order to his team to hold nothing back. "Alright gang! Let's get fired up and set these guys on fire!" he yelled.

"YEAH!" They all roared as they gave it all they had as a chaotic battle soon ensued on the mountainous pass! Explosions erupted and dinosaurs along with gel jarks were flung right into the air as a result of explosions from moves like fire cannon or critical bomb, as enemy dinosaurs were thrown off the mountain side and crashed down below!

BOOM! SMASH! CRASH!

Those who weren't blown off were incinerated by moves like trust of flames and in another side a saurophaganax used magma blaster to melt down a line of fleeing gel jarks into molten slag!

"Alright! I'm on fire baby!" Blaze punched ip to the sky energetically as his partners Daigo and Gorgon were able to throw an irritator and a majungasaurus into one another song blazing spin and critical bomb respectively, carding them in an instant! After that though, a loud roar suddenly echoed from one of the higher cliffs near the mountain's peak, which made them look up to the top. The ground began to shake and leaping out from one the cliffs and landing on the ground in a massive thud was a large black tyrannosaurus coated in fiery streaks as it permeated with evil energy as it let out a thunderous roar which shook the foundation of the mountain itself!

Troopers and their dinosaurs who witnessed this new enemy on the scene felt their blood run cold, feeling overwhelmed and insignificant in comparison to it! Yet despite that, Blaze instead smirked and felt his own spirit lit on fire! "Crikey! Now this is one fiery bloke!" He spoke out loud with excitement, a feeling he hadn't felt in years where he could go all out against an opponent who seemed to be answering his call of the wild! "Well boys, it's time to tame this wild beast!" He grinned eagerly welcoming the challenge as his dinosaur partners roared out back at the black t-rex, showing no fear or hesitation! In response, the t-rex answered their challenge by flaming red and then gathering fire in its jaws before launching itself high into the air and then spiralling straight at them in a fire bomb! As much as Blaze loved taking challenges fearlessly head on that didn't mean he threw caution out the window completely, "Whoa! Back away! Back away!" he yelled to his partner urging them to get out of the tyrannosaurus' path! They split up as the t-rex snapped on a boulder they were covering over just now as the entire rock cracked red and exploded in its attack as massive shards of stone began to fly out everywhere! "URGH!" Blaze grunted as he could feel the impact of the explosion even inside his mobile.

It was fortunate that he was inside it otherwise he won;d've taken serious damage from the flying rocks, though some of them were wedged right in his vehicle's plating as well as even cracking his windows too at the front, "Crikey! Can't let that happen to us can we?" he said slightly shaken up as his 2 dinosaurs stood up, feeling relatively shaken but unharmed by the attack. As the dust cleared, the black t-rex stepped out form the balk dust where a crater had been made form its initial attack, and it roared out menacingly towards his smaller foes. Despite seeing the immense power of this fiery dinosaur up close, Blaze could feel his spirit had been set on fire, finally a battle worthy of his very best and he intended to hold nothing back! "Let's see how it handles some real firepower!" He then said as his partners nodded at him ready to follow through with whatever plan he had in mind and they'd do so without fear or hesitation, demonstrating absolute trust and loyalty in him.

"Time to bring in the heat boys!" He yelled energetically as he slashed a fire move card through his console, "Fire cannon!" Both dinosaurs charged a huge fireball in their jaws which they then launched at the t-rex as it made contact and exploded in its face! As the smoke cleared it merely shook its face in annoyance before roaring back at them furiously, which made Gorgon and Daigo both rather wary. "Whoa….This guy's pretty tough." Blaze whistled impressed before shaking fear out form his mind and punching forward courageously! "But we ain't scared! Go get him boys!" Motivated by his fearless charisma and faith in them, both his dinosaurs mustered up their energy and roared back before charging at their foe! Gorgon rushed in first being fast, as he snapped at the t-rex's legs grabbing hold of it, but his teeth couldn't break through its thick scales, and before he could react it slammed down its head on him causing him to let go! After that it grabbed him in his jaws, and with little effort lifted him high above its head before throwing him at Daigo!

"Oh no! Daigo! Gorgon!" Blaze gasped as his 2 partners crashed to the ground in front of him! The ground began to shake and looking up he widened his eyes to see the Black T-rex was charing straight at them! Roaring at the top of its lungs as it prepared to crush them underfoot! "Fall back and regroup now!" He quickly shouted as both his dinosaurs woke up in time and got out of the way right as the giant carnivore stomped down, cracking the earth beneath its foot! As they both regrouped at Blaze's side, the tyrannosaurus snorted out at them in annoyance for avoiding him, as Blaze himself sweated and tensed up, "This isn't going to be easy that's for sure…." he said heavily, before looking to his sides as Daigo and Gorgon both roared out fiercely, unwilling to surrender, for no matter how powerful their foe was, as long as they still lived and breathed they'd never stop fighting to their last breath!

Embracing their spirits and their flames kindling together into a massive inferno, Blaze grinned eagerly as he felt the determination and resolve burn brightly like a thousand suns inside him! "Heh, that case let's give this big bloke a really spicy taste of our real power!" he shouted loudly at the top of his soul as Daigo roared flaring red in an aura of fire! "Elemental fusion!" The daspletosaurus erupted into flames as he then emerged in a new shade of black along with fiery orange streaks along his body! Feeling immense power of fire and his spirit rising with Blaze's, Daigo roared out courageously as he rushed out at the black t-rex again with Gorgon following in close behind as they prepared to take the battle with the black dinosaur to round 2!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"I sure hope Blaze will be alright without us to help." Zoe then said out in worry as she, Ursula and Hua headed inside through the lit mine tunnels. While he may have been an experienced captain she still worried about him being able to handle so many enemies at once even with a small troop of soldiers with him.

Hua however put an encouraging hand on her shoulder, "I'm certain he will, he's not just courageous and strong, he's smart and also never gives up. I can assure you that we have nothing to worry about Zoe." she said warmly to her, which made Zoe smile as she felt a little more reassured in his wellbeing.

"It's insulting to even think that he'd actually need help of any kind," Ursula suddenly spoke up, "Especially if it's coming from a pair of petal pulling posies like you both." she smirked at them both which earned her a pair of disappointed or angered looks from them both.

"Hmph!"

She then blushed red and began to grin to herself as she drifted into her wild daydreams again, "But if it came to it I wouldn't mind coming to his rescue!" she thought to herself as she pictured herself sending proudly with Terry standing triumphant over some squashed gel jarks with Blaze kneeling down before her like a noble knight, "Oh imagine the damsel no longer in distress becoming the heroine instead! Sweeping her knight off his feet and capturing his heart! That certainly would make quite the plot twist and perfect way to seal this love story of fiery passion! Hahahaha!" she laughed to herself envisioning her happy ending.

"Well that's reassuring…." Zoe muttered knowing her happy ending would be anyone's worst nightmare if that were to happen…plus knowing her she'd probably hold them all back or slow them all down instead. As they continued further along the path, the sounds of drilling and mechanics echoed further ahead of the tunnel much to their surprise, "Hey do you hear something ahead?" Zoe then asked curiously as a light at the end of the tunnel began to flicker before them.

Hua narrowed her eyes realising the mines were just up ahead and that they may be nearing some secret operation of sorts, "We must be getting close, stay together and stay alert." She said to them as Ursula and Zoe tensed and nodded before following her lead. As they entered in none of them could believe what they laid their eyes upon!

"AH!"

All around them inside a large mining cavern, were men in working construction uniforms with helmets along with those soldier uniforms working about the premises with tools like pick axes, drills and shovels. Some of the troopers seemed to carry radars which they aimed at walls before pointing out at before others came in with digging equipment and then started drilling away at it!

"The missing miners and troopers!" Zoe breathed out in surprise, keeping her voice down so she wouldn't give their position away.

"There's a whole lot of them too." Hua put a finger to her chin in serious thought, "They seem to be mining for minerals and fossils here…." she noticed as she saw a pair of them push a cart filled with rocks and dinosaur bones to an elevator shaft which then closed as it descend to lower floors.

"But why?" Ursula questioned curiously, "I mean, if it's for the base then why haven't they reported back in for so long?" she explained herself before noticing something odd about them, "Also….something doesn't feel right about them." Apart from the noise they made from working and picking away at the rocks, none of them said so much as a single word. Even when one of them stubbed his foot at a rock and a few others tripped over and fell they didn't say so much as an ow but instead got back up like they felt no pain and resumed their work most eerily.

"We may need a closer look." Hua then suggested as Ursula and Zoe nodded with her. The 3 of them quickly snack behind some large metallic crates nearby, keeping to the shadows as they stayed on the other permit of the room using whatever cover they could get to in time, with a few mishaps like slipping on the floor or making a sound by kicking a rock or stepping on a pebble, but thankfully all went smoothly as they neared one of the large assembly lines where rocks were loaded onto a conveyor belt and the workers were sorting the mineral rocks from fossil fragments. As they eyed them more closely, they saw the men seemed to be groaning rather inaudibly, their eyes appeared clouded white all over and the way they moved or worked was almost lifeless and robotic, as if they were under a spell or that they had become soulless shells as they worked drills and pile drivers along the rocky walls of the mines.

"Now this is just creepy." Zoe sweated anxiously, knowing this was far from normal, something without a doubt happened to them while they were here. They weren't just abducted but also brainwashed somehow into enslavement.

"Yeah, I'll take the alpha droids clunking around and messing up than seeing these men acting like workaholic zombies…." Ursula then replied, while they seemed almost exactly like the alpha droids they were still human in the end, and they appeared to have had the life and souls sucked out of them so she couldn't help but feel some degree of pity for them in their current state.

Looking around they could see the men and troopers were working non stop amongst the machines and equipment spread throughout the room, "What's gotten into those poor people?" Zoe then asked feeling unnerved and worried for them, as they were also letting out pained groans and kept stumbling about in exhaustion due to the many non-stop hours of work which included digging tunnels and mining for fossils. At this rate they'd all collapse from being heavily overworked, along with lack of food and water for who knows how long, and that could prove life threatening to them and heartbreaking for the many families back at Dustberg.

All of a sudden, the entrance they came from suddenly closed up much to their alarm as they found themselves locked in and trapped in the mines!

"AH!"

"Well well well, it appears we have a couple of uninvited guests who stumbled into our little operation." A familiar female voice spoke out to them from the shadows ahead, in a most devious tone. They widened their eyes and looked ahead to see the silhouette of a throne seated on a rather raised pedestal at the back end of the room, as it lit up they saw none other than a certain female space pirate, seated on a rather lustrous golden seat with red velvet cushions, along with a handful of man servants who were at her side as she sat down comfortably and rested her head in one of her arms rather laxly as she eyed her 3 uninvited guests from above, as if she had been expecting them to come from the start!

"It's Sheer!" Zoe cried out but then blinked her eyes awkwardly upon closer inspection of what the men were doing for her. "And…those men….what are they doing?" She questioned uneasily as she saw they were strangely giving her all kinds of enjoyment from filing her nails, polishing her weapons, feeding her grapes from a platter or even rubbing her feet and shoulders! Knowing Sheer there'd be no man who'd ever get within 3 feet of her let alone pledge their lives in service to a flying fiend like her, without a doubt they had to have been under a spell!

Ursula however, had her mind set on something else that was off topic and the least of the others' worries, "Ugh! How dare they give her such royal treatment! It should be me up there and not that pirate!" she whined with envy as she stomped her foot on the ground while Zoe and Hua merely squinted their eyes at her.

"Heheh, do you like my new servants?" Sheer snickered in amusement seeing she hit a nerve in Ursula, not that it was difficult to do, "Sure I may despise you humans as much as much as space dust in my room," She soon scratched one man's chin making him giggle like an idiot, "But they do make excellent work horses, especially when it comes to mining resources and new fossils for us to utilise, that's at least one thing you earthlings are good for." She said shrugging her shoulders causally as some of the men even began to bow down to her much to the girls' disgust.

"So you're the one who's behind the abduction of Dustberg's workers and the Resistance's troopers!" Zoe then shouted at her in anger.

"How despicable…" Hua scowled hard, for the crime wasn't merely bewitching their own personnel and using them for her own means but also to cause so much pain and heartbreak back home where their families were awaiting them to come home.

"Oh come on now, I did no such thing, you're treating me like I'm some nasty old witch." Sheer pouted playfully before leaning back into her chair and then petting the heads of 2 nearby men like they were dogs, "The human males here simply acknowledged my unmatched prowess and stunning radiance. It was only natural that they be subjected to my every will." She said before smiling sinisterly at them, "Isn't that right servants?"

"Yes! We live to serve you Lady Sheer." They all chanted in unison, their voices echoing with a rather dead and empty tone giving away their mind controlled state.

"As you can see they were more than willing to serve me, how could they resist?" the space pirate continued before shooting the Resistance a couple of taunts, "After it's clear that I'm the superior female compared to you lot, a boring botanist, a puny runt and an old lady, while I'm still in my prime."

"Tch!" Zoe clicked her tongue at Sheer's insult and Hua said nothing, but Ursula on the other hand….

"GRRR! What did you say!?" she roared in another outburst before shaking a fist up at Sheer, "As if anyone could be more beautiful and gorgeous than I am! If anyone deserves to be treated like a queen bee and be served by a massive hive of man drones, it should be ME! ME! ME!"

Zoe raised an eyebrow at her in response, "She's only speaking the truth though, no need to get upset." she muttered which quickly earned her some swift backlash from Ursula!

"I heard that! Whose side are you on anyways!?" she screamed into her ear as Zoe cringed and covered them painfully, feeling her eardrums were on the verge of bursting!

Ignoring them, Hua then hardened her expression seriously towards the female space pirate, "I know for a fact that Dustberg's men would never serve the likes of you, let alone fall for someone as black hearted as you are." She pointed at her in anger, "Without a doubt you must have poisoned their minds with something, just admit it."

Sheer then clapped unenthusiastically in response, "Well well aren't you the clever one….too bad you get no prize even if you were spot on." she said before yawning in boredom.

It didn't toke long for Ursula and Zoe to catch on to how Sheer had managed to steal away the hearts of every man in Dustberg as they sneered in anger, "A love potion…why didn't I ever think of that!?" Ursula then cried out loud as she pulled on her hair at all her wasted months on being unable to get a boyfriend and when she could have hexed them herself.

"And you question which side I'm on old lady?" Zoe then muttered questioning Ursula's reliability.

Having had enough, Sheer then stood up from her throne, "Well I'd love to stay and play but….actually I don't, I've got more important work demanding my attention and none of it to waste on the likes of you!" she spat at them before turning her back to them, "So how about you play wth my boys instead? Kay?" she snickered as she waved her hand playfully to them, "See ya! Would never want to be ya!"

"Hey! Get back here! We're done with you yet!" Hua shouted out loud taking huge offence at her shrugging them off like that.

"Yeah! What's the matter!? Too afraid to fight us fair and square?" Ursula shouted out loudly.

In response Sheer merely waved her hand out at them playfully, "Oh please dealing with 3rd rate rats like you is far below me." she replied before snapping her fingers, "Such menial chores are something servants ought to be doing." Upon her cue, the men gathered around her and with the machines ceased their operations as they turned their attention towards the Resistance much to their alarm! "Boys, don't forget to play rough." She sang at the end before blowing them a kiss and then taking her leave through the secret door behind her throne!

"Hey! Stop right there!" Zoe shouted out but her words fell on deaf ears as the lady pirate disappeared through the door. It didn't matter much though, as the team had far more pressing matters at hand firs,t and that was dealing with the horde of bewitched men who were heading towards them like ravenous zombies!

"Destroy intruders!"

"Protect our empress!" They hollered menacingly as they began to swarm and amass together in overwhelming numbers!

Zoe gulped down hard and turned pale as they approached, "Uh oh…." she squeaked nervously while Hua kept a firm but calm composure as she reached for her own dinoshot.

"That's a lot of men…." Ursula sweated, as much as she wanted men to swarm around her she never wanted it to be anything like this! Things became a whole lot worse as a handful of them summoned forth dinosaurs to the field which included some ankylosaurus, torosaurus and allosaurus with them! The dinosaurs too seemed to have lost their senses for some reason as there eyes appeared to be clouded white like the men were and it was as if they too were zombified! Ursula's heart skipped a beat as the dinosaurs began snarling ravenously at them as they found themselves surrounded on all sides and would soon get swamped in! "EEK! This is worse than any zombie apocalypse I've ever seen on big screen!" she then squealed as she hugged herself tightly, not wanting to get violated by them in any way, "Come on let's hightail outta here while we still have the chance!" she then pointed out at the sealed exit frantically thinking they could break down the door if they hurried, and then save themselves first!

"No way!" Zoe snapped back at her unwilling to retreat when they came so far in and after what Captain Blaze did to get them this far, "We can't let Sheer get away with all this!" She shouted at the end knowing it'd leave a bad taste in her mouth if they let her escape so easily.

"I agree." Hua nodded in agreement with her as she and Ursula looked to her as if she had an idea, and she did, one that they weren't going to like too well, "I'll stay here and keep them busy, hopefully cure them too." She then said as she tensed up their incoming enemies!

Zoe widened her eyes, "But Hua we can't just-"

"There's no time!" She cut her off seriously, "Go now while I give you the chance!" In response she took out her dinoshot and slashed a card on it, "Alpha slash!" Appearing from it was a purplish alpha tsintaosurus which roared out, letting a loud boom from its crest which drove the men and dinosaurs on one side mad as a result of the harsh shrilling noise! "Dino slash!" After that came her corythosaurus which did the same which then further scattered the enemies on their other side! Hua wasn't finished yet as she slashed a move card to further press her advantage, "Dino force!" As she did so, her 2 dinosaurs swatted away some foes with their tails then flicked some dinosaurs up into the air where a fleet of tupuxuara struck through them! After that as they crashed a trio of minmi charged in and bowled over them before a cavern pool erupted causing some muraenosaurus to fire out water cannonballs into the massed which scattered them with ease!

Seeing what she managed to pull off, Zoe and Ursula both began to believe that Hua may not have been a bed of comfortable roses after all, she no doubt had some really nasty thorns if you got on her bad side, "I like wild parties but this is something I'd never want to get myself involved in…." Ursula whistled.

"Okay, good luck Hua, take care of yourself!" Zoe then shouted out in support to her as she then leapt up the pedestal where Sheer's throne was before heading at the secret door behind it!

"That flying she devil is going to regret upstaging me!" Ursula then swore bitterly as she followed Zoe down the secret door in front of them.

With them gone and out of the way, Hua so no more need to hold anything more back, as she unloaded every single move card she had at her disposal, "Special recovery! Laeallyn cure! Egg attack! Metal wing!" Her moves then summoned forth an army of dinosaurs whom her partners commanded and coordinated as they caused all kinds of chaos amongst the brainwashed enemies! The laeallynasaura rushed in and pounced on several men knocking them down before biting at them, a pair of cryolophosaurus both blue an purple rushed out spreading light aura across any men and dinosaurs passed them which put them all into a sleep as they collapsed in exhausting with Sheer's influence purged from them! The others like minmi, oviraptors and pteranodons responded by attacking head on, bowling through the men, picking them up and throwing them away, or spitting eggs in their foes' faces and causing disarray amongst them!

So far seemed good…till Hua sniffed a strange scent in the air, "Hmm?" it was most unnatural and unlike any she had come across in dinosaurs, and it was nearing them. Without warning a wall broke down further ahead and stepping out of the dust was a large black coloured saurolophus with dark green shading as it gave off the very scent that she picked up on earlier! Without a doubt, whatever Sheer used to control the men earlier must have been made from this very dinosaur, whose presence was corrupting the other dinosaurs present as it roared out and reawakened a handful of them as they gathered around it rolling to its side, while the rest of Hua's dinosaurs stood on her's.

She soon narrowed her eyes seeing this very dinosaur to be the source of Sheer's power over the men and the main cause of everyone's suffering here in Dustberg, "So you are the one responsible for poisoning their dinosaurs…." she said furiously as one of her dinosaurs stood by her side, "You're like a weed which is poisoning fertile soil…." She clenched her hand into a fist, unwilling to let it corrupt anymore innocent lives as long as she lived! "Prepare to be uprooted!" She swore as she and her corythosaurus began to glow in green aura, "Elemental fusion!" As the energy of life and grass dissipated, the black saurolophus then gasped in surprise to see Colin, Hua's corythosaurus had emerged in a brilliant shade of vivid green along with a yellow crest and back, as he bellowed out a loud cry filled with energy, slamming his feet down on the ground, his spirit energised and feeling more than ready to take on their dastardly foe!

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the back room behind the throne, Sheer was hovering above as she oversaw the gel jarks load up the harvested minerals and dinosaur fossils excavated by the men into various carrying crates and trolleys and she smirked with satisfaction seeing the huge progress she had made on her end, knowing it ought to get on Goma's good side with what she accomplished, "Alright you slugs! Load those fossils up and ready them for shipment!" She then ordered pointing ahead, "The sooner you get that done the sooner we can finally leave this disgusting mammal infested dump behind!" The gel jarks beeped back at her obediently and began to assemble in 1 large group, before Sheer began to shudder in disgust, "And I won't have to spend another moment having those ugly disgusting human males oggling their eyes or breathing over me! YEESH!" she then winced.

She hated every second of having to act all seductive to the men and seeing how they fawned and swarmed over her like flies with their smelly and sweaty body odour made her sick to her stomach, when this was over with she'd no doubt have to take a shower for weeks just to erase said images from her mind, otherwise they'd haunt her nightmares for who knows how long. "Still they did make excellent sources of manual labour and muscle power." She then thought to herself after taking a calming breath to herself, before grinning with malice and rubbing her palms together, "Hehe, maybe once they've taken care of those annoying pesky humans once and for all I'll have them all jump off a cliff or something. Now that's something I can look forward to at least." She then snickered.

Unfortunately for her, a pair of really angered human females weren't about to let her get away with what she did, "That's what you think Sheer!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!"

Sheer widened her eyes at the voices as she turned back in alarm, "What!?" She gasped in shock to see Zoe and Ursula were now at the entrance to the secret room, having somehow maddest past all her guards and were now prepared to take the fight straight to her!

"You've toyed with the hearts of innocent men and hurt so many families in Dustberg!" Zoe yelled angrily as she pointed out at her, "It's time you pay for it!"

Sheet then clicked her tongue in frustration seeing that she now had 2 pesky nuisances to deal with, they were really starting to become annoying thorns in her side, even more so than they were before, "Tch! I guess humans really can't be relied upon…..Looks like I'll have to do things myself." She grunted in annoyance before clenching her fist and gritting her teeth cursing Goma inside her mind, "Why did I listen to Goma in the first place…I knew from the second he mentioned this it'd fail." She thought to herself as began to recall his clear instructions, at least she wouldn't be blamed for this loss knowing it was a horrible plan to begin with.

 **(Flashback)**

Inside the shadow empire's meeting room, Goma soon smirked with devious delight as Sheer stood before him, "I'm glad you've come Sheer. I've got a special task perfect for you, something I believe you and you alone can do." he said with was like music to her pointed ears.

"Heh, just say the word and I'll get it done faster than Gavro and Foolscap ever could." She smiled herself before adding a little bit at the end, "Heck, maybe even your dad too." She stated folding her arms with confidence.

"Oh I don't doubt that one bit." He replied to her as he turned his back to her and walked over to a nearby cache case seated on a table near the monitors, "Among my father's crew you seem to be the only one who has a shred of common sense, something none of those block headed brutes ever had from the start." He said as he took hold of it, "And I believe that this is something only you can accomplish."

"Hehe, so what will it be?" Sheer then rubbed her hands together grinning with anticipation, "Do I get to lead some troops into battle against Dustberg's base?" She then asked rather hopefully, "Rest assured I'll lead your troops to victory and crush those puny insects and their pathetic pets in 5 minutes or less!" She thought knowing with her skill and talents she'd be able to rise up in Goma's ranks with ease and maybe even hit a position higher than Specter did!

Goma however, while he was aware of how capable Sheer was, he had something else rather different in mind for the lady pirate, "Not quite, you this situation requires a more…..delicate, feminine approach."

She blinked her eyes in confusion at what he meant, "What do you mean by that?"

As soon as she asked, he grinned sneakily as he walked back towards her, "Let's just say the approach you'll be taking will be….different and without a doubt twice as effective than what you're used to." Before she could ask, he opened up the cache case revealing a purplish perfume bottle inside the cushioned interior of the case. As Sheer picked it up and eyes it closely, reading the contents and instructions on the label that came with it, She widened her eyes and shuddered before looking at her new boss who simply smiled innocently and folded his arms behind his back, "Hehehehe…..have fun making friends now." he then snickered, failing to suppress his laughter and amusement knowing full well that this new task for Sheer would be without a fact entertaining for him and humiliating for her.

 **(Present)**

"Tch! He was making a fool of me from the very start!" Sheer hissed bitterly as she snapped back to reality, no way was she about to let the little demon get away with mocking her behind her back, "Well once I'm finished here I'm going to give it to him straight!" She then vowed, though first he would need to take care of a couple of nuisances first before she could do that.

"It's over Sheer! Give yourself up now!" Zoe then yelled out in anger as Ursula followed up next.

"Yeah, and this time you've got no more mindless menservants to bail you out this time!" she growled still holding a grudge towards the lady space pirate for having something she didn't, "I'll show you what real beauty looks like!" she added at the end pointing to herself as she held her head up high, much to Zoe's chagrin.

"Hmph….."

Sheer however only scoffed in amusement at their petty threats, "Ha! You think I need anyone to deal with a couple of insects like you? Please!" she then grinned rather deviously, "Haven't you both learned last time we met, neither of you could lay a finger against me? You needed the cosmos stone to cheat your way to victory and as far as I can see that's no longer around to save you this time."

"Tch!" Admittedly both girls recalled how much of a hard time Sheer and Maximus gave them the first time they battled, how he easily took out Terry and drove Paris into a corner, only to be saved when she was able to get the green cosmos stone in time. Right now they no longer had that edge…..but even so they soon hardened themselves determinedly, "We don't care! That's never stopped us from trying anyways!" Zoe quickly retorted as she pointed out at Sheer, "We destroyed the cosmos stones and defeated you space creeps before, and we'll gladly do it again if we have to!"

"Yeah! What she said!" Ursula added at the end before pouting at the end since Zoe stole her thunder by taking out some of the words from her mouth. So instead she added her own twist to it so she wouldn't be left out, "You're going down you witch! Especially for claiming you're better looking than I am! Never in a million years will that be true!"

Her rather selfish statement only earned her a questionable look from Zoe who raised an eyebrow at her, "Seriously?"

As a result of their bravado, Sheer soon shrugged her shoulder uncaringly, "As you wish then, it's your funeral." she then smirked, though she was rather obliged to answer their battle challenge it didn't matter either way since she managed to get what she needed from the mines, as she looked to the gel jarks that were on standby with their cargo loaded with fossils and minerals, "Pack up those bones and get back to HQ now." She ordered as the gel jarks beeped obediently, one of them then opened up a portal leading back to their lair and they all began to march in a straight line through it!

Zoe widened her eyes, "Oh no! They're getting away with all those fossils!" she gasped.

"Oh yeah!? Well not if I have anything to say about it!" Ursula growled as she ran ahead in an attempt to stop them. Sheer however descended in front of her path making her stop in her tracks, "AH!"

"If I were you I'd be more worried about yourselves first!" she shouted out at them menacingly as she took out a card from her pocket and grinned as she activated it at her necklace, "Come forth Maximus!" Ursula ran back as a light shone before her and appearing before it was Sheer's ace dinosaur, a black triceratops with brown splotches and stripes! It roared out fiercely at Zoe and Ursula who readied themselves with their dinoshots and cards. "Hmm? No armour?" Sheer then observed curiously. She had suspected something was off when she saw Maximus' card earlier lacked armour in his picture, but shrugged it off as nothing at first since its' border was still purple. Nevertheless she wasn't going to let a small error like this slow her down, "No matter, I can still take you on just fine, after all you both remember what happened the last didn't you? Hmm?" she then smirked mockingly at the 2 humans as she folded her arms with confidence.

"Tch! This isn't last time!" Zoe then shouted out in retort.

"And last I checked we still beat you even when you had all the cosmos stones together! Ha!" Ursula then pointed out at Sheer, this time ticking off the female space pirate as she was reminded of said humiliating and utter defeat!

"Grr….." She clenched her fist tightly and hissed, swearing vengeance for that very failure and she intended to start with them both!

"Now we'll settle things here once and for all!" Zoe then shouted out as she slashed her card on her yellow dinoshot, "Dino slash! Parasaurolophus! Bloom!" Paris was summoned to full size and bellowed out loud, "Go Paris! Take them down!" Zoe cheered as she charged ahead.

"Crush her Maximus!" Sheer commanded as her trike responded obediently and charged head first into battle.

"Heh, this I've gotta see." Ursula smirked as she hung back and landed against a nearby wall to spectate how the fight would go.

As Paris and Maximus collided in a head charge, the triceratops with his harder sturdier head managed to overpower her as she tried to dig in her heels to stabilise herself firmly, but could feel herself pushed back with every second! Fortunately at the last moment she managed to shove her head up and using the opening from Maximus' head being lifted up in the process she swung out her tail and smacked him back a couple of feet!

"Try this on for size! Buzzing spear!" Sheer activated a lightning move card which made Maximus' horns spark with energy as he generated a powerful spear which he aimed forward and rushed out like a joust, which struck Paris hard as she was knocked back onto the ground sparking with electricity surging through her uncontrollably!

"AH! Paris!" Zoe cried out in horror as Maximus quickly rammed her into the wall! She tried desperately to hold off his horns from reaching her chest! Having been heavily weakened from her earlier attack she wheezed and choked with exhaustion, her pained cries and bellows signalling she was on her last legs and wouldn't last any longer soon!

"Heh seems this will be easier than I thought!" Sheer snickered to herself with deep pleasure as Zoe cried out for her partner almost tearing up!

"NO! Hang in there!"

Seeing how much she was struggling after talking such a big game made Ursula snicker in amusement, "Heh, she couldn't even last 5 minutes…." Still not wanting to sit on the sidelines any longer she then stood up and decided to step in, "Aww what's the matter twerp? Need some help?" she asked her in a rather mocking tone.

Zoe looked to her in surprise, "Huh?"

"Oh well guess it's up to me to step up and save the day then." Ursula then sighed pitying her before shooting smirk towards Zoe, "Told you a runt like you wouldn't last long out here in the real world, better to leave it to the big girls from the very start." She said as she pushed Zoe aside much to her annoyance as she stepped forward.

"Grr…..Well since you talk such a big game then come here and do something then!" Zoe then shouted at her in annoyance at her obnoxious arrogance.

"Don't tell me what to do missy!" Ursula retorted as she took out her dinoshot next which was pink, "Just be grateful I was planning on pitching in from the start!" Without hesitation she slashed her card next, "Alpha slash! Flame up tyrannosaurus!" Her tyrannosaurus appeared in full sized form and roared out powerfully as Maximus, Paris and Sheer looked up in surprise to see him appear, "Tear him apart Terry!" Ursula cheered as Terry roared and rushed full speed ahead towards him!

"AH!" Sheer stuttered in surprise before shouting out to her dinosaur, "Maximus forget the girl! Focus on the old lady!" she ordered the triceratops, who then scooped up Paris in his horns and threw her to the other side as she crashed into the wall, before he then rushed head first towards the incoming t-rex!

Ursula who just heard Sheer's insult then gnashed her teeth viciously, "Grr! That crosses the line! I'll reduce you to primordial slime!" she growled as Terry grabbed hold of Maximus' horn as both dinosaurs were locked in combat trying to overpower the other! As Maximus tried to push back Terry mustered the strength in his bite and back as he threw Maximus away! The triceratops though was able to shift his center of gravity and landed on his feet in turn before roaring back at Terry in anger!

"Tsk!" Sheer hissed in annoyance seeing that this fight may be slightly more difficult than she first anticipated.

"Ahahah! Maybe now you'll see why I'm the better woman!" Ursula then laughed out cockily before grinning at Zoe, "That goes for you too brat."

"Grr…." Zoe wanted to prove her wrong, but noticing Paris was weak and exhausted, she knew her partner's wellbeing took priority over he roan personal pride as she ran over to her fast as she could, "Paris! Are you okay!?" As she made it to her she began stroking her parasaurolophus' head gently as she opened her eyes tired and let out a small honk at her. Zoe then smiled seeing she was still alright as she then hugged her close, "You'll be fine don't worry about it."

Sheer meanwhile was still preoccupied with Ursula, and paid the wounded grass hadrosaur any mind seeing she had a fire breathing carnivore to deal with now, "Let's see how well you handle thunder bazooka!" she smirked as she activated the move card. Maximus glowed yellow and roared before launching himself like a torpedo at Terry while carrying large amounts of electricity in him!

Unfazed, Ursula countered with a move card of her own, "No problem! Fight back with explosion Terry!" The t-rex repeated the exact same movements as Maximus did, charging forward and wrapping his flames before shooting himself forward at the electric torpedo like a flaming meteor! Both dinosaurs collided in a massive explosion of sparks and cinders before both landed on the ground slightly dazed having done an equal amount of damage on one another.

"Fine then, then try energy bolt on for size!" Sheer tried next as Maximus charged ahead with an electrical aura surrounding him!

"No prob! Heat strike will take care of that in a jiffy!" Ursula grinned as Terry coated himself in fire as he rushed towards Maximus, both colliding in a tie once more as the impact blew them both back from each other and they ended right back where they started!

As the battle grew increasingly intense, Zoe narrowed her eyes, "Wow…she's actually pretty good…." she breathed with some degree of respect for her former enemy for the first time seeing how well she was doing, she may have been better at handling dinosaurs than she and the D tema gave her credit for, or that she improved since last time.

"Ahahah! We've had more than our fair share of run ins with the D Team's triceratops so I can see through all your predictable moves before you can make them!" Ursula then laughed out loud mocking Sheer and Maximus, feeling confident in herself and in her past experiences, which served to also irritate Zoe somewhat since she was also insulting Max and Chomp too.

Sheer then clicked her tongue in annoyance, taking offence at Ursula's comment, "Tch! Don't get cocky, and you'd be wise not to compare Maximus with that inferior triceratops." she soon gained a sinister smirk as she knew how to settle things, "For now you're about to see something that only we can do!" She held out Maximus' card and then activated it on her choker! "Spectral armour!" Maximus glowed in a purple aura as he soon gained armour all around his body which powered him up to full strength and to the horror of both Zoe and Ursula!

"AH!"

"Gulp….Maybe I spoke too soon here…." Ursula gulped nervously before she smirked reaching into her pocket, "No matter, nothing a little armour of mine can't handle!" she proclaimed as she held out the red element booster up high! A moment of glory short lived as Sheer quickly took out her whip, and swinging it out in full force she smacked the device out of Ursula's hands faster than she could react!

SMACK!

"YOW!" Ursula cried as she grasped her hand tightly with her other and cringed, feeling she nearly lost it as she felt the whip graze her palm!

"GAH!" Zoe too gasped in surprise at what just happened!

"Tsk tsk tsk, can't have you evening the odds again now can we?" Sheer mocked them both as she wagged her finger playfully at them, making them turn to her in anger.

"Why you dirty cheater! That's just low!" Ursula shouted out in protest as she shook out her fist.

"Not that much different from you though…." Zoe thought to herself as she squinted her eyes at her.

Ignoring her, Sheer decided to get serious and put an end to said feeble resistance, "Enough fooling around! It's time to finish this and finish you! Spectral punisher!" As her necklace glowed so did the marks on Maximus as a dark aura appeared over his head, causing his horns to grow and sprout crystals from them! He rushed ahead and flipped Terry into the air! As he spun helplessly in the air, he fired a purple beam which pierced through his chest as he then crashed down to the ground ahead of Ursula much to her horror!

"WAAAH! Terry!" she screamed in horror as she ran over to his face and teared up upon reaching him, "Oh my sweet little Terry! Don't you dare lose on me!" she cried painfully as she hugged him close to her, as he opened up his eye weakly, groaning in pain and exhaustion as he slowly began to glow red much to Ursula's despair.

"Don't even bother, it's over." Sheer grinned seeing she had finally won, as Ursula turned to her and glared.

"Grrrr…." she clenched her hand into a tight fist, swearing vengeance on her if it was the last thing she'd do….a tall order considering now they were completely defenceless and exposed…..or so they thought.

"Not quite yet…." Zoe thought angrily as she looked to her partner once more who then opened her eyes at her, "Paris can you still stand? Terry and…Ursula need us….we need to help them." she said to Paris softly as she stoked her partner's face. Paris then snorted out with a grunt of annoyance as Zoe then hugged closer to her, "I know you don't like them and neither do I….." she responded understanding her before turing serious, "But they're still our friends and we never leave anyone behind." she replied, "Plus, everyone is counting on us to save the men and stop Sheer, so please….Are you with me?" she then asked once more for Paris' support. In response, she nodded as a green aura began to enshroud them both! Zoe smiled with confidence as she could feel a connection form between her and Paris and they were about to take their bond to a whole new level! "Then let's do this!" she cheered out loud.

Unaware of what was happening, Ursula hissed furiously at Sheer who hovered above her and the now defeated Terry, as if she was mocking them and their best efforts, "Hehehe, you put up a good fight but not good enough." She snickered darkly as Terry soon glowed red and would revert back to card form, "Now to end your pitiful struggle! Maximus! Atta-" Before she could call her attack, a sudden bright green light shone out from the sidelines which caught her off guard! "AH! What in the!?" She covered her eyes as she and Ursula looked on in surprise to see a green aura emanating from around Paris who had gotten right back on her feet when they weren't looking!

"Elemental fusion!" Zoe yelled out at the top of her lungs as Paris emerged from the light now coloured dark emerald green with shades of black stripes, having achieved awakening and tapped into her dormant grass powers bestowed upon her by the stone plates long ago! Seeing her newly acquired powers, Zoe pumped her arms up and cheered, "Alright! Looks like we've tapped into a whole new level of power!" she cheered in excitement as Paris bellowed out powerfully which shook the entire room as shockwaves echoed throughout the mines!

Ursula widened her eyes and pointed out weakly at them both, "How…How did she…." she couldn't decide which was worse, the fact that Zoe was able to achieve awakening or the fact she did so before she could, which was beginning to make her feel almost inferior to the little girl much to her immense annoyance.

Shaking her head clear and blinking her eyes in mild surprise, Sheer then put a finger to her chin in thought, "Oh? What's this? A trick of some sort?" she mused, feeling unconvinced it was anything to be concerned about.

"It's no trick Sheer, only your downfall!" Zoe countered as she looked to Paris who then responded with a bellow of acknowledgement as she then slashed a grass move card, "Angel breath!" She cried before pointing out at Terry, "Restore Terry!" Paris glowed bright green before firing a stream of green and white petals and leaves which circled around Terry's energy, which helped it to maintain its form and keep it form reverting back to card form. After that it restored his energy gradually before he reappeared lying down on the ground breathing heavily much to Ursula's joy and bewilderment!

"AH! Terry!" she cried out as she hugged him close to her again, "Are you okay?" she asked with concern as she petted his snout, and he responded with a short snort as he opened his eyes to see her, and she smiled with relief to see he was going to make it.

"You owe us one for this Ursula." Zoe then said out to her as she stood forward taking the front stage of the battle, much to Ursula's annoyance for stealing the spotlight from her.

"Tch!" she clicked her tongue and hissed, as if salt was rubbed on an old wound of hers, having her pride shattered in battle and then having to owe it to one of the brats for saving her butt was already more painful humiliation than the times Dr Z put her and her pals through torture, as rage began to build up inside her….and Terry….

Seeing how Paris and Zoe reduced her hard work to nothing further infuriated Sheer as she clenched her fist which shook with rage! "Grr! You'll pay for that! Ruining my moment of glory!" she growled before focusing all her attention and hatred on them next! "Fine then! I'll take you out first, then the old lady! At least she'll be way easier to handle!" Unbeknownst to her, Ursula gained a massive tic make on her forehead, as something snapped inside her mind, the fires of rage began to build up within her….something had been triggered, something very dangerous and would soon be unleashed to burn all to the ground….

Unaware of this, Sheer then triggered Maximus' strongest move again, "Spectral punisher!" As his horns grew and crystallised he charged at Paris intending to flip her into the air again!

She and Zoe however were more than ready for her this time, "Thorn whip!" Slashing the move, Paris roared as she summoned forth a massive green vine coated in large sharp thorns! It twirled about violently before swinging out and smacking the charging triceratops like he was a mere fly!

"AH!" Sheer gasped in disbelief as her dino crashed into the wall and his crystal horns shattered as he fell down again! He shook his head in disorientation a he slowly made it to his feet again and then roaring out in defiance of his foes. "Grrr! You'll need more than that to beat me! I'll show you the difference between us in more ways than you can imagine!" Sheer growled unwilling to yield anytime soon, as Zoe narrowed her eyes and hardened herself for whatever was about to come their way next.

"How dare you…." A tense voice suddenly spoke out which caught Sheer's attention as she along with Zoe looked in the direction it came from.

"Huh?"

As they both looked they saw Ursula stood there doing nothing, with an ominous shade covering her eyes "Calling me an old lady is one thing….having men all fawn around you like sheep I can handle that…..and it's another to having to be saved and owe the little girl brat….." she soon gritted her teeth and shook uncontrollably with intense growing rage, "Then you hurt Terry….that's really crossing the line…." a fiery aura soon came upon her as she shot a glare at Sheer which made her and even Maximus jump in shock! "Worst of all, you say that she's better than I am!? That I'm the weaker one! I refuse to accept this humiliation! I swear Sheer, I'm going to make you sorry you ever crossed me and made a fool of me more times than I can handle today!" She swore before roaring out at the top of her lungs! "RARGH!" As she did her aura soon passed into Terry, as his eyes glowed red and he stomped on the ground and roared out too!

"Wh…What's happening!?" Sheer exclaimed sensing great power emanating from them both, as they both began to glow bright red too!

Zoe then gulped down hard as she and Paris backed away nervously at what was just about to unfold, "Uh oh….Don't tell me….."

"GRARGH! ELEMENTAL FUSION!" Ursula roared at the top of her lungs as Terry followed suit! Their combined screams shook the very foundation of the room and even the entire mountain with it! Pieces of the ceiling began to collapse from up top and smash down below, as fire erupted where Terry was! As it dissipated he emerged in a new powerful form, flaming streaks coating his body which appeared to have been charred black by burns, only the heat and fire only seemed to make him stronger as he and Ursula, who glared ferocious daggers unfazed by the fire, focused their attention on a now astonished Sheer and Maximus who were starting to realise that they may have picked a fight with the wrong dinosaur!

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the other room Hua and her dinosaur forces put up a terrific fight, their bonds with their mistress and with one another was able to overwhelm their brainwashed foes despite the severe initial numbers disadvantage. Now the brainwashed men and troopers all lay on the ground groaning in pain as a result of the severe thrashing they were given as a result of Hua's dinosaurs. The tupuxuara, minmi, muraenosaurus and other dinosaurs she summoned forth all returned to the form of move cards which then went back to her hand. She smiled at them proud of their work and efforts as she tucked the cards away gently in her back pocket, before looking up with a hard look as her partners Colin and Chisotao bellowed at their remaining foe who reared up on its legs and roared out before stomping its back foot on the ground in an effort to intimidate them, though to no avail.

Ironically, part of their victory over the enemy forces came not from their efforts, but as a result of the Armoured Black Saurolophus who controlled them. Her 2 partners had used teamwork to drive it into a corner several times over, but whenever they got close to beating it, it resorted to trunk its own allies to save itself, with the power of flower garden or parasite tree it absorbed the life energy of several of its dinosaur minions in order to sustain itself, thus returning them to their cards. A short term measure and one which was about to backfire on it severely as it stood alone against an angered Hua and her partners. Way she saw it plants and nature were to give and heal other life, not take it away or poison them either, as much as she loved dinosaurs seeing this was crossing the line for her.

"How despicable…." she narrowed her eyes at the black dinosaur which gave all others of its kind a really bad name after the atrocious acts it committed to the other dinosaurs, "You are but a black rose whose presence taints a beautiful field of flowers, prepare to be clipped!" She then yelled in anger with her dinosaurs sharing the same feelings as she did. The saurolophus however didn't scare, and instead reared up and stomped hard on the ground before rushing towards them! A big mistake as Hua quickly slashed her move card which would finally put an end to all this suffering! "Two platoon crush!" Her alpha tsintaosaurus let out a loud roar which caused the earth to shake the ground as massive tremors began to echo through it!

The saurolophus stumbled midway and stopped as it looked around trying to pinpoint where the source of the quakes were coming from. It soon froze in terror as a pair of monstrous shadows loomed over it, as it looked up a huge seismosaurus and supersaurus appeared roaring down at it fiercely! It tried to turn around and flee, but the 2 giant sauropods wouldn't allow it the chance as they both slammed hard on the ground, generating a massive shockwave through the earth which sent it flying into the air! Together they slammed their necks in unison, trapping the corrupted dinosaur in a devastating pincer attack which choked the life out of it as it then fell to the ground, returning to a card and thus ending the long battle at last."That takes care of that." Hua let out a sigh of relief as she recalled both sauropods to their card and then her 2 dinosaurs let out a chorus of victory, which gave her a sense of peace as she smiled warmly.

With that soon out of the way, she then opened her eyes seriously towards the unconscious male victims who all lay unconscious around the premises, "Now for everyone else who was poisoned by this beast." She then looked to her awakened corythosaurus, gesturing at him with a nod he stood forth as she slashed the move card that would help restore them all to normal, "Eternal herb." She said calmly, as the corythosaurus bellowed loudly a gentle chorus which summoned out a red, blue and yellow pteranodon which then began to fly around the entire room spreading precious life energy across the battered bodies of the defeated males. She hardened her expression as she awaited for signs of life in anticipation, for a little while nothing happened and it worried her as she feared they may be in critical condition and would be in need of serious medical attention….but was luckily proven wrong when they began to stir one by one.

"Ugh…."

"Hmm…ah…erhm…."

The sounds of their groans made her smile and sigh with relief to see they were going to be just fine, "Are you alright?" Hua quickly asked them with concern as she helped one of them sit up and he began to rub his throbbing head.

"Y…Yeah I think so…." He muttered gritting his teeth in pain as his headaches began to make his brain sting with pain. As he opened his eyes and his vision returned, he blinked in surprise as he looked around curiously, "Wh…Wha? How did we get here?" As he asked, one by one the men in the room soon began to stir and regain their senses along with their consciousness.

"Wait a sec," Another soon said as he opened his eyes and scratched his head in thought, "Didn't some weird flying lady mess with us while we were on patrol last night?"

Another soon clenched his hands into fists and growled in anger, "Yeah! That's right! She must have put some sort of spell on us!" he growled fiercely as Hua backed away from the men who slowly began to run with rage.

"She toyed with us!"

"She made toys out of us!" They began to shout in agitation before one of them punched his fist into his palm.

"Well boys, it's time for a little payback!" he grinned eager for revenge before punching up to the sky, "No weird lady curses us and gets away with it!"

"Let's get her!"

"Yeah!" They all soon began to shout as the group rallied together into a furious mob before charging at the throne seated above on the platform, tossing it away like garbage before forcing their way through the secret door behind it, intending to take revenge on Sheer for making fools out of them!

Seeing how energetic and active the men suddenly became right after they just recovered and regained their senses, Hua couldn't help but blink her eyes and stare in a most surprised manner, "Oh my they seem to have regained both their spirits and their senses." she commented in surprise before smiling brightly with kindness, "Good for them." She soon looked back and frowned at the sight of many of the dinosaur cards lying about the premises, as a result of their unfortunate need to battle in order to subdue them. "Still there are some who need tending to here, more than even I can handle…." she thought to herself putting a finger to her chin in thought, before she held up her dinoshot and pitched in a call to HQ to send in for her medical team so they could work to treating the injured.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back in the other room, things were heating up literally, as Terry achieved his awakened form and radiated not just in a new shade of red, orange and black, but even Ursula herself too flared up with an intense aura of hatred and rage which synchronised exactly on the same level as the tyrannosaurus did!

"Whoa….that's something I do not want to mess with." Zoe sweated anxiously seeing the immense power and combined rage emanating form both Terry and Ursula at that very moment. It was so immense they could feel both the power and heat radiating from the 2 of them, which was beginning to cause some of the metallic plating in the floors and walls to melt into slag, and yet Ursula herself didn't seem put off by it in the slightest! Zoe was aware she and the Alpha gang were able to pull off all kinds of rather unusual and impressive feats as humans themselves but this was beyond anything she ever imagined! "Maybe we should stay out of this Paris." She then suggested to her partner who let out an uneasy snort as they stepped backwards, distancing themselves as much as they could from the battle so they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

Sheer meanwhile could only shudder while petrified in terror, as Maximus, feeling intimidated for the first time in his life, began to back off uneasily from the battle, sensing something completely different about the t-rex he fought earlier and his instincts were screaming for him to retreat.

Ursula and Terry however, weren't about to let them off so easily after everything they did, "I'm going to take my time with you and give you a sunburn you'll never forget!" Ursula grinned menacingly as she rubbed her pals together and Terry, opened up his jaws and let out a menacing snarl as flames of hot breath shot out from his mouth!

Sheer then held out her hands and waved out frantically, "Now now take it easy…..we're all girls here, maybe we can work out something more….peaceful? Hehe…." she chuckled nervously.

Her feeble attempt to weasel her way out of this fight only served to tick Ursula off, "You're no girl! You're a she-beast!" she shouted out in anger posting towards the lady pirate who jumped at her sudden outburst, "And this beast is going to get burned!" Terry roared out in fury as he rushed ahead towards Sheer and Maximus! Startled by the tyrannosaurus' sudden attack, Maximus failed to respond in time as Terry grabbed hold of his horn and slammed his hard to the ground! The attack didn't stop there as Terry mustered all his strength to throw the trike over his head and slam him down hard on the ground! After that he delivered a swift bite down behind the frill and snapped hard at Maximus' neck causing the spectral dinosaur to roar out in pain as he could almost feel his neck bones snap under Terry's bone crushing jaws and sharp teeth which were digging hard into his flesh past his armour!

As Sheer shook her head recovering from being caught off guard, she gritted her teeth in anger and shouted back at her dinosaur to fight back, "M…Maximus! Don't let that old lady beat you!" her heart skipped a beat realising the error of her words, "Uh oh…." she quickly covered her mouth, though it was far too late to take back, as the words had already reached Ursula's ears and she flared up intensely with rage!

"RARGH! Now you're really asking for a mesozoic sized meltdown!" She screamed out at the top of her lungs, stomping her foot on the ground so loud a thud could be heard echoing throughout the room! That same anger channeled right into Terry who then stomped down mercifully on Maximus' stomach, causing him to cough out in pain and choke for air upon impact!

"You shouldn't have said that…." Zoe gulped seeing Sheer had tied her own noose, in fact even she was starting to shudder in terror herself, especially when Terry grabbed hold of Maximus in his jaws and threw him out at Sheer as easily as a rag doll!

"YIKES!" she squealed as she darted out of the path of her tossed dinosaur who crashed to the ground and groaned in pain. Sheer widened her eyes and sweated anxiously, unable to understand how could she be so outmatched an overpowered so easily. Looking back she widened her eyes to see Ursula had taken out a new fire move card!

"Now to wrap this up! Crimson flames!" She yelled slashing it, with the intention to burn her enemies to ash! Terry too had the same idea she did, as he flared up red with the aura of fire around him as he rushed forward fearlessly to end the battle with his foe once and for all!

"Sp…Spectral punisher!" Sheer stuttered shaking in fear while yelling out her order! Forced to fight, Maximus roared out as his horse crystallised and enlarged as he rushed ahead to flip Terry into the air again!

Unexpectedly, Terry anticipated this as he charged head on, timing it just right as he swung out his tail and knocked the evil triceratops off balance for a moment as he stumbled forward somewhat! Right before he could take aim and regain his footing, Terry got his head underneath and flipped him high into the air to everyone's amazement! He charged up a fireball and blasted it at Maximus who was sent flying through the sky out of control! As he crashed down on the ground again with a massive thud, Terry stomped his foot on his now helpless foe, turning the tables as he unleashed a merciless stream of flames blanketing the triceratops!

"AAAAARRRGGGHH!"

"WAAAH!" Sheer and Zoe cried out as they braced themselves from the immense heat given off by the extreme flames! They couldn't see fortunately, as Maximus roared in pain and agony as he was at the nonexistent mercy of Terry and his powerful flames! Before long the heat began to die down and his cries softened as the others were able to look ahead, "Urgh…H….Huh?" They looked on in amazement as a purple light shone from the fires, as Maximus was returned back to a card unable to handle the merciless punishment of the fire!

Terry then stomped his foot on the ground and roared out to the sky in triumph, Sheer shook in disbelief and widened her eyes, "I…lost? I….impossible!" She cried out unable to comprehend what she witnessed first hand as Zoe blinked her eyes in disbelief.

"No way…she did it…." She never expected Ursula or Terry to be able to call forth enough power to overwhelm Maximus all on his lonesome, let alone Ursula being able to awaken Terry either….perhaps miracles did happen even for those who tended to experience plenty of misfortune and disappointment in their lives.

"Aw yeah! Who's the greatest woman of all time!?" Ursula cheered for herself in excitement before holding her head up high and proclaiming up to the heavens, "That's right! Me! Ahahahaha!" she laughed rather snobbishly, feeling most vain and full of herself much to Zoe and Paris' annoyance.

"Yeah yeah way to go old lady, you did it, not like you didn't need my help or anything…." She pouted, in annoyance at the older woman's narcissm which was reaching new heights.

Meanwhile, Sheer threw out her boomerang and swiped back Maximus' card from the flames. As she retrieved it she clicked her tongue in annoyance towards Zoe and Ursula as their dinosaurs stood together against her, to ward her off from any attack attempts. "Tch! This isn't over…not by a long shot…." she hissed spitefully.

"Hmph! You just lost the battle, that's about as over as it gets." Ursula scoffed unconvinced in response while Zoe simply hardened her gaze preparing herself for whatever tricks Sheer may have in store for them next.

As a drop of sweat fell from Sheer's cheek she noticed movement behind the 2 girls. Looking closer she then gained a malicious smirk on her face which put them off, "Heh, tell that to yourself." she said before pointing out behind them, "If you don't believe me why not just take a look behind and see for yourselves!"

"Huh?" As they looked behind they widened their eyes to see the entire horde of men they fought earlier swarm in through the room's opening as they began to block off the exit completely! "GAH!" They cried out in surprise as Terry and Paris repositioned themselves in front of their partners.

"Uh oh…." Zoe gulped nervously, feeling unsure of whether they could deal with so many opponents at once after using most of their energy just to fight off Sheer.

"Great, now we have to deal with these mindless drones again?" Ursula sighed in annoyance before rubbing her temple, "Just our luck…."

"Ahahah! Oh how the tables turn so easily!" Sheer then boasted with confidence, knowing there was no way she'd lose now, as she then pointed out at her 2 foes," Attack them now my minions! Show them no mercy! Your empress commands you!" she ordered. Ursula and Zoe narrowed their eyes readying themselves for battle, as Terry and Paris did the same as they awaited the brainwashed men to attack….but strangely after a short while passed nothing happened which puzzled the 3 females in the room as only a shade covered their eyes and silence filled the air. "Well? What are you waiting for!? Attack already like I ordered you to!" Sheer then ordered impatiently as she pointed once more at Ursula and Zoe.

What happened next caught them all by surprise, "No." One man in a worker's uniform responded in a rather unsettling monotonous voice.

"What?" Sheer stuttered as Zoe and Ursula both looked at her shaking in disbelief before bursting her top again, "What did you just say to me!?"

She was soon silenced as the men all glared up at her with demonic red eyes! "We no longer serve you."

"For we have seen first hand true beauty personified!" They announced in a chorus almost like chanting as they focused entirely on Ursula who was taken aback by this unexpected development.

"Huh?" Zoe blinked her eyes surprised at what they said, before looking towards where they were facing, "You don't actually mean…."

"What nonsense are you muttonheads talking about?" Sheer folded her arms on her hips crossly before shouting out her frustrations once more, "Stop yapping and get to work like you're told!" Her demands however fell on deaf ears as the men began to chant in unison!

"She is an angel of beauty descended to Earth! She speaks the truth!"

"She had opened our eyes to your treacherous bewitchment!"

"Now we shall fight by her side to the end of time!" They declared at the top of their lungs which caught them all completely by surprise!

"Excuse me!?" Sheer knew humans were complex creatures but even this was beyond her understanding of them.

"EH!?" Zoe widened her eyes unsure what to make of what she was being or hearing.

"Wh….WHAT!?" Ursula shook her head recollecting herself calmly before grinning deviously herself this time, "I mean….Ahahahahha! It looks like your 'loyal' followers have just deserted you! They may have been dimwitted dunces but at least they have good taste and known when to acknowledge real beauty in a woman!" she chuckled holding her head high as the men began to swarm around her like bees to their queen!

"Oh dear…..here we go again…." Zoe sighed as she closed her eyes and covered her hears, knowing she'd never hear the end of it the moment Ursula started.

Sheer however, began to sweat and her heart raced panicky as the men began to mobilise around her enemies and were glaring fearsome daggers at her! "Oh no, did the incense wear off or did they somehow get their senses back on their own? Or maybe…." She knew that humans, especially males were fickle minded and disloyal, but for another to exert far more charm and charisma than her love potion could was completely beyond her!

She didn't have much time to ponder it over as Ursula soon gave out her first decree as the men's new queen! "Now my loyal manservants! Do as your queen says and sick that hideous she-witch!" She commanded as the men saluted her obediently.

"As you command!"

"We are at your service!" They chanted as they began to converge on where Sheer was standing!

Zoe did't know which was worse, men falling all over Ursula like some kind of billionaire super star, or that they were willing to obey her commands like mindless drones.

Sheer stepped back terrified as she aimed her boomerang at them, "D…Don't come any closer! I'm warning you! Stay back!" Her threats fell on empty ears as they all rushed forward like rabid animals ready for the kill!

"RAAAAARRGH!"

"DESTROY!"

"EEEEP! Stay away from me!" she squealed in terror, taking flight and escaping just before the men were able to grab hold of and then massacre her, "This is why I hate humans! I'm so done with men!" she cried as she made a quick escape through the opening at the top of the room, abandoning the mine and their base completely as the men decided to settle for levelling it to the ground! Right after Sheer's escape they began to tear up equipment, throwing rocks into monitors or using their tools to smash into the consoles and machines, as eruptions and explosions followed with the sounds of smashing and destruction echoed throughout the mines!

BOOM! SMASH!

"Now I've seen everything…." Zoe commented as she and Paris looked on at the destruction and chaos echoing all around them along with the flames, "Well at least we've taken care of Sheer and all the trouble she caused here." she whistled seeing that was something to be proud of….until she saw a handful of men kneel before Ursula who began to cackle in a rather villainous way.

"Ahahahaha! That's right! Serve your queen!" she proclaimed sounding almost like an evil queen or witch surrounded by her subjects, if anything she might make a far worse villain than Sheer ever was before.

"Sigh….And just like that another one comes up to take its' place…." Zoe sighed as she facepalmed and shook her head in dismay, knowing the clean up job for this would be really tough.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Outside the mines, Blaze and his small team, despite being severely limited were able to route the gel jarks, melting them away in the heat or crushing them underfoot, as well as drive off several enemy dinosaurs over the hills as a handful of them pursued them in order to return them to card form and hopefully free the from the shadow empire's control.

Seeing that made Blaze grin with deep pleasure, "Alright we've got the small fry into the frying pan." he smirked, though the sound of a fierce roar ahead of him made him look back and narrow his eyes as he saw Gorgon and Daigo were both wheezing and sweating tiredly, while the Black T-Rex now fully armed to the teeth, snarled and gave off hot steam from its breath and nostrils as it had both his partners on their last legs. However, Blaze soon grinned with excitement, as it was heated final moments like these that got him the most pumped up with anticipation and determination, "Now it's time to bring the big fish into the fire!" He announced punching ahead with all his heart!

Feeling motivated and inspired by his words, his dinosaurs roared out furiously with the fire burning bright inside them and they felt more ready than they ever had in years! Sensing their spirits heating up, the black t-rex soon decided to end this battle with one final swoop, as it stomped hard on the ground and prepared to charge up a magma blaster and then unload it with full force at them!

Seizing the chance, Blaze quickly slashed a move card hoping to counter it, "Heat eruption!" Gorgon roared out fiercely as he summoned forth fiery meteors from the sky which began to batter down on the ground, several of them pelted at the back and legs of the Black T-Rex as it stumbled about unable to control the flames in its jaws! One meteor soon hit its mark at its mouth causing the magma blaster to explode in tis face as it roared in pain and crashed to the ground, its face now steaming with black smoke as a result of its misfire! Several of the other meteors also fell over the hills, some of them pelting down and striking fleeing dinosaurs and gel jarks much to the convenience of the resistance.

With the black t-rex lying helpless on the ground, "Alright, now to wrap this up in a blaze of glory!" Blaze grinned as he slashed his favourite move card, "Flare sword!" His awakened Daspletosaurus roared as he brought up a blazing fiery sword right above the black t-rex who stuttered back anxiously at the sight of the massive blade which brimmed with immense energy! With all his might, Daigo brought the blade right down on the black t-rex causing a huge burning explosion to erupt where it stood! It roared in pain as it suffered underneath the punishing flames, before turning to red energy and then returning to the form of a card. Victorious, Daigo and Gorgon both roared in triumph as Blaze smirked, heading over to pick up the card of their vanquished enemy and than smirking at it like a hard earned trophy, "Hehe, good work mates, all in a day's work!" He chuckled to himself as he tipped his hat up.

 **(Later)**

Several hours after the Resistance's reclaim of Dust Hill's dig site and regaining control of their land, plenty of work was underway as medics came in from Hua's team to help tend to both men and dinosaurs who suffered under Sheer's oppression when under her control, or were injured during the battles that took place prior to the reclamation. Amongst the medical team involved grass dinosaurs both super and alpha which included some lambeosaurus, ouranosaurus and shantungosaurus which were needed in order to heal the more serious injuries.

As some female troopers under Blaze's squadron worked to gather up the cards of some of the foes they managed to defeat, others from the medical team worked hard to help others recuperate or brought them into medical vans to take them back to HQ for recovery. Everything seemed to go smoothly and that everyone would soon be able to rest easy now that with Sheer gone and everything should go back to normal as it should be. A rather wishful thought on Zoe's end, as she sighed in dismay seeing Ursula sitting upon Sheer's former throne cackling to herself with pride as men gathered around either shouting out chants and praises, filing her nails or giving her foot rubs while worshipping her like she was some goddess from heaven, while even feeding Terry pieces of steak from a silver platter, treating him like royalty too. If anything things weren't different at all from how they started, if not, were going to turn out way worse in Zoe's opinion…..

"Fair beyond belief! About your beauty we rave! We're forever your slaves!"

"We were meant to meet! It was destined by fate! Everyone sing of love not hate!" The men chanted before Ursula as she proudly cackled almost like an evil queen herself.

"More like temporary insanity…." Zoe muttered with a heavy frown knowing a hundred and one ways this would turn out wrong or worse backfire on them all.

As the comedy skit played out before them, Blaze couldn't help but snicker at this well made humour as he then did a playful elbow at Hua, "Well Hua, what do you think?" he asked her cheekily of her opinion of both Zoe and Ursula after their admirable performance in the battlefield today.

"I can see them have much to grow in as well as some pruning needed in some parts." Hua answered calmly putting a finger to her chin in thought before smiling with confidence in them, "But, without a doubt I'm certain they can become seeds that will grow into a great future for all of us."

"Heh, I can see that," Blaze chuckled in agreement with her, "Not to mention their fiery spirits too, if we can inspire more of that into both our current and next generation, it'll be an even more awesome tomorrow than any of us could ever imagine!" He then said sounding fired up and filled with hope.

"Ahaha it's just like you to say that indeed." Hua mused as the 2 captains both felt secure in their future to come, without a doubt with the D Team and the alpha gang working with them they no doubt had a chance to set things right like how they used to before the space pirates ever set foot on Earth soil. Plus if Zoe and Ursula were able to put aside their differences and succeed here they were confident they could unite the people's hearts together and win the war at last.

RING! RING!

A ring came from Blaze's dinoshot, to which he looked to it and smiled, "Oh that's Marina, gotta take this one." he said pointing to it before looking to Hua, "Think you can handle the rest a little for me?"

She then smiled in response, "Why not? Go on ahead, you both deserve your moment after everything that's gone on."

"Hehe thanks." Blaze grinned holing up an ok sign as he went off to talk with the water captain in a private corner of the mines.

With that taken care of, Hua then looked back to where their allies were and folded her arms in thought, "Now….what do we do about this?" she wondered as the men began to prance, dance and chant out in honour of Ursula who won their hearts over in her passionate battle just now.

"Warrior of love! Shining star of the Alpha gang! Her name is-"

"Ursula the great! That's me! Hee hee hee hee!" Ursula giggled finishing after them as the men began to bow down and prostate themselves before her much to her amusement, "Ahahaha! Keep it coming! Worship me you measly ants! Bow down to your queen!" She then laughed cockily as her vanity, ego and pride began to sore to new heights never before achieved. Terry on the other hand, had enough himself and soon trotted off somewhere else to walk off the big lunch he was just fed.

"WE LOVE YOU! WE ADORE YOU!"

Zoe meanwhile felt sick to her stomach seeing all this, "Ugh….We were supposed to cure them of being brainwashed old lady now poison them again." She commented in disapproval, a big mistake as the men quickly caught wind of it and then surrounded her and Paris much to their surprise!

"HOW DARE YOU CALL HER OLD!?"

"TAKE IT BACK NOW!" They growled at her menacingly, glaring at her like a pack of ravenous hyenas which made her and Paris both jump!

"EEEEP!" She squealed as Paris hid behind her and she waved out her arms in terror, "I…I'm sorry! She's not o-" she stopped herself in time before correcting herself, "I mean! She's young and pretty! Hehehe…" she then giggled uneasily, having died a little inside and cringing deeply after that, knowing she'd have to wash her mouth clean for having let a compliment about Ursula pass her lips.

"Ahahaha! That's right, little runts like you ought to know your place, especially when you're outmatched in every way." Ursula then laughed out snobbishly as the men returned to her like her loyal dogs, much to Zoe's frustration seeing that said old lady would no doubt use her position to her advantage, no doubt making her do all sorts of things that only servants would….which would be most humiliating if that were to be the case.

"Grrr…." She gritted her teeth, in annoyance as the men continued to suck up to one of her most despised former enemies, as well as swearing she'd mangle her if she made her do anything that would scar her emotionally.

"Hahaha, you all have been most loyal and faithful my slaves." Ursula then chuckled in pleasure as she then scratched the chin of one man who was squatting next to her throne, as said man then fainted blushing red while laughing like an idiot, "But alas there's only one man in this whole room worthy of my heart and he's one whose fiery spirit and passion surpasses mine!" She then announced rather dramatically, as the men then began to whine and pout in jealousy or despair at being shot down.

"Awww….."

Before Zoe could make another snarky comment, Hua then walked in smiling warmly, "I'm happy for you that you've found someone you like Ursula." she said knowing who she was talking about, "But I'm afraid you'll have to give up on Blaze." She then said at the end.

Ursula widened her eyes in disbelief at what the grass captain told her, "What!? Never!" she growled viciously as she leapt off the throne and looked Hua in the eyes, "Don't tell me you've got your eyes set on him too!?" she hissed menacingly, though Hua, much to Zoe's surprise, still kept her calm and smiling composure, "Well he's mine! Back off and relinquish whatever claims you have on him or I'll sick my army of manservants right on you!" she threatened her as the men gathered around her began to snarl and growl like mad beasts much to Zoe's discomfort as she and Paris took shelter behind Hua for safety.

To everyone's surprise, Hua simply covered a hand over her mouth and chuckled, "Haha…No no that's not it Ursula." she then smiled before stating out her point which would shatter Ursula's dreams and hopes once again, "You see…..he's already married to Marina, the Resistance's water captain for 2 years now."

Ursula's heart skipped a beat, feeling her world turned upside down as she fell to her knees, her fantasies and dreams cracking apart in her mind as well as her heart, "Say….WHAT!?" she shrieked in disbelief as she turned pale and fainted, causing the men to swarm around her in anxiety.

Zoe then grinned feeling happy to see her NOT get her way again, like how things should be, "Hee hee hee hee, guess you'll have to settle for Dr Owen then huh old lady?" she giggled snarkily as she looked down on her.

Said forbidden words were enough to snap the Alpha trio member back to her senses as she shot back up again, "How dare you call me that!? I'm not OLD!" she growled fiercely at Zoe before stomping her foot in the ground, "Grrr! To have my heart betrayed and stomped on again!" her energy and feelings of anger soon began to be replaced with despair and sadness, "Oh world how could you be so cruel!" she then sniffled covering her face as tears began leaking from her hands.

Seeing her act all gloomy and sad made Hua eye her with pity and concern, "Oh my…..What should we do now?" she then wondered, as Zoe put a hand on her shoulder in reassurance as she then ushered her away, having had enough of this fiasco.

"Just leave her, she'll get over it soon, don't worry about it." she said to her with a cheeky grin knowing this happened all the time with her so she should be used to it by now, after all it was to eye expected coming from someone who was pretty on the outside but rather rotten inside.

"If you…say so…." Hua then replied, still feeling unsure but decided to take Zoe's word for it as she was lead off to attend to the injured with Zoe, who apparently wanted to hear a few more doctor tips from her. Leaving Ursula behind to wallow in her sadness knowing anything they'd try would only be a waste of time and effort.

"WAAAAH!" she cried out in pain as tears welled out and splashed onto the ground like a fountain, cursing herself to suffer such a cruel and unfair fate. Though as Zoe expected, it quickly passed as Ursula looked up to see her harem of men gather around to comfort her in her time of need.

"Do not cry!"

"We're here for you!"

"Till death does us apart!" They each began to declare vowing to help patch up the cracks in her broken heart.

"Sniffle…." She soon began to smile lightly and wiped the tears from her eyes as soon began to see there was a silver lining in the end, "Oh well, at least I still have my harem of manservants to indulge myself in, maybe that should help fill this hole in my heart." A moment of relief which was very much short lived, at the sound of very angry female voices which soon shouted out at the room's entrance door.

"There she is!"

"The evil witch who hexed my son!"

Ursula blinked her eyes in surprise at the unexpected shouts, "Hmm? Why do I hear a mob of angry women and children coming this way?" As she pushed the men aside and squinted her eyes ahead she turned pale to see a group of women young and old, along with a handful of little children and some teenagers, gathered together armed with flaming torches, pitchforks and some vicious dinosaurs with them which included some utahraptors and tarchia! "Uh oh…." she shuddered in terror to see the wives, girlfriends and children of the abducted males had turned up seeking revenge and they were all aiming their weapons as well as expressions of disappointment or hatred at her!

"That's the hussy who stole my husband!"

"She's got her hooks all on my boyfriend!"

"Daddy how could you!?" Some of them screamed or cried, the sight of them again made the men snap back to reality as they woke up from their phase of infatuation or excitement, realising their situation looked really bad for them!

"Huh!?"

"H…Honey!?"

"This….isn't what it looks like!" They cried out but to no avail.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were dear!?

"We thought we lost you forever!" Some of them sniffled before turning into phases of spite and disgust, "But to think all this time you were kissing up to that vile vixen!"

"I knew men were the most unfaithful creatures on the planet!"

"Plus she's so old too! All that makeup is just to hide her wrinkles I bet!" Another one of them then accused as she pointed at Ursula!

Ursula stepped back, realising she was no doubt seen as the bad guy here, maybe stealing men from women wasn't such a bright idea after all. As much as she wanted to protest against being called old she felt petrified by fear as the women began to swarm and mass together like a hive of angry wasps!

"We're going to have a nice long chat at dinner tonight."

"But first, that old lady needs to pay!"

"Get that thieving cat now!" They all screamed as they ran ahead towards her!

"EEEEEK!" She screamed as she left off the throne and ran away through the exit hatch! "Help me!"

"I'm going to skin that puma alive!"

"Get her!" They shouted as some of them went after her directly, others meanwhile set their sights on their traitorous husbands and boyfriends who too began to make a run for the hills behind Ursula!

"Not the face! Not the face!"

"Run away!"

"AAAAAAHHHH!" They cried in terror as they felt from the furious mob, wanting to avoid getting clobbered by their former loved ones as they ran through the escape hatch following Ursula!

Very soon the mob gave chase after them, relentless in their pursuit to seek justice for such betrayal and humiliation, "WE'RE COMING FOR YOOOOUUU!" After that the sounds of bashing, snarling and pained screams began to echo through the rooms of the base, as everyone else who remained only stared in bewilderment.

Not long after that Ursula's screams of pain and terror soon mixed into the chorus of pain and rage, forget her broken heart, after today she'd wound up with far more broken bones than any doctor could count! Hua could tell that was the case as she put a hand on her face and shook her head in dismay, "Oh dear….." she sighed feeling pity for anyone who was caught in this rom com gone wrong. "I suppose my medical team and I will be a little behind schedule today….." she muttered knowing her squad would be really busy having to tend to even more injured and wounded after this fiasco.

The only one who found this entertaining was Zoe, as she exploded into uncontrollable laughter, "Hahahahaha! Wait till everyone else gets a load of this!" she giggled on the verge of busting her gut while also believing karma and justice to be perfectly just and sweet this time around for the old lady.

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Yup they being polar opposites yet no less effective in battle.**

 **And also showed an opportunity for Rex to be smart and realistic too in war anything can go and sometimes you'd have to compromise your beliefs too. I wouldn't exactly compare this chapter with Snow White but I get what you mean.**

 **Yup this chapter is just as you predicted-but your idea might help for a small way as shown here in the meaning of fire and grass. Thanks for the wishes, if I have anything will ask.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Glad you liked it.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-When you put it that way yeah, also if you've done your research you knew this was coming next. Next chapter will take straight to Africa, let's hope Cera and Lunensis have luck against the former boss of the space pirates. Glad you liked the fight too, they'll try to be better with the boosters yeah.**

 **As Sheer mentioned she was the one who noticed something off about the cards but shrugged it off like the others thinking the purple border remaining meant it was fine. Among the pirates she may be the smartest, maybe more than Specter at times.**

 **Will have to see what the resistance will do with the cards later. And this time things have gotten rather….nasty indeed.**

 **Guest**

 **-Yes I already did that.**


	56. Light of redemption

Chapter 56

Light of redemption

 **(Flashback)**

Before long Specter stood before Goma, in a rather excited childish manner as he rubbed his palms together and couldn't keep himself from fidgeting in excitement. Ironically it was difficult to see who was the father and who was son as Goma stood at a slightly raised platform looking down upon Specter. He then smiled calmly as he began to explain, "Alright father, since you're obviously the 'best' as you claim to be, I've decided to give you and Brontikens the task of protecting my most important base of all." he said as he walked down the stairs till he was on near equal height with his father, before calmly putting a hand on the older pirate's shoulder, "This is a duty I can count on no one else but you, so don't let me down." he said patting him with faith.

"OH! Now that indeed sounds like a task worthy of me and my sweet little Brontikens indeed!" Specter cheered in excitement as he clapped his hands together with glee, "So tell me my son, which of your fancy hideouts are you going to give, I mean, allow me to protect?" he asked in anticipation of something big and with his while if Goma made such a big deal of it, "Rest assured as your father it's my duty to set a good example for you and to make sure you are happy! So you have nothing to worry about!" he proudly proclaimed as he beat a fist to his chest.

His son soon smirked at his response, "Very well then…dad….I'm really counting on you for this, because if you fail then it'd certainly poison my faith and trust in you." he said as he shot him a rather menacing glare as his eyes flashed purple momentarily, which made his dad's dark heart skip a beat!

"And I won't! I promise you that from father to son!" he cried in a panic waving his hands out and then bowing down at him multiple times, sucking up to him to prove he wouldn't betray his trust.

Goma's glare soon subsided as he nodded in acknowledgment of his father's reply, "Alright then, here it is." He said as he took a remote from his pocket and pressed a red button at the big screen behind him. As it lit up, depicting an enormous base shaped almost like a military fort surrounded with high walls with the space pirate marking on the front door. In the middle of that command center was a giant satellite dish, shaped the same as the spectral pirate mark with the symbol right inside its dish as an antennae was also stuck out from the middle of it broadcasting signals all across the planet.

"This control station is the very base which sends out signals which keeps my dinosaur army in check and under my command at all times." Goma explained as another screen depicted a model of the tower sending radio waves which were linked to the dinosaurs under his control, sending commands to their marks therefore he'd be able to maintain full contact and control over them no matter where they may be, "It's my most important outpost of all, second only to our command center here." He continued before smirking at his father, "And with you being the….'strongest' as you boldly claim I can think of no one better suited to protect this very base."

Specter soon put a hand to his chin in serious thought, "Hmm that is indeed a task which carries a heavy load of responsibility with it." he noted. He did ask for a job worthy of his talents after all and it appeared he got his wish, "But rest assured my boy! Your old man will show you how it's done!" he then boasted loudly as he held out a hand and clenched it into a tight fist, "Daddy will take care of any naughty humans who'd try to wreck your precious toys!" he then aid at the end displaying great power and fortitude…..before breaking out into his bubbly sunny persona as his cheeks blushed red and he ran out at his son, "Now give me a nice bear sized hug like old times!" he teared up emotionally as he prepared to embrace his son in a fatherly hug!

With little effort though, Goma was able to grab hold of his face and hold the larger pirate from getting any closet to him, "Don't push it…." he grunted in annoyance before showing him back onto the floor!

"Oof!" Specter grunted as he rubbed his backside which winced with mild pain upon slamming onto the floor. After that he pouted and began to tear up again over dramatically, "Aww….they grow up so fast and too soon…." he sniffled as he took out his hankie, wiping away his tears and then blowing on it. How he wished he had spent more time with him before this whole drama came up.

Rolling his eyes at his father's flamboyance, Goma shook his head knowing he was a lost cause. Nevertheless he still had his uses, as he folded his arms behind his back and before turning away from Specter in disgust, "Now go," he commanded without hesitation, if only it would get him out of his sight, "Make me proud and show me that you're worthy of having a seat in my empire." He stated loudly with firmness like that of a conqueror, before adding a small nearly inaudible bit at the end, "As well as my father."

Specter having received the command stood up brimming with energy, having moved on from his pouty phase and then laughing out loud with glee and anticipation! "Ahahahah! Away to Africa I go!" he cheered as he skipped away to the loading docks, while humming one of his trademark songs.

As the doors shut behind him, Goma let out a deep sigh as he face palmed and shook his head in dismay, "What am I ever going to do with him?" he asked himself. If there was one weakness he had it was his inability to take his father seriously or get him to shake off those childish habits of his. Still, after that he grinned knowing said naive facade was merely a ruse to make him lower his guard so he'd be able to swindle his empire out of his hands. He however was 2 steps ahead of him, and knew when the time would come he'd know just how to put his father as well as his henchmen in their place, right where they belonged.

 **(Present)**

As of now Specter, sat comfortably inside his seat which was in the ship's control center, the very same ship Goma used to invade Rex's time not long ago was now his to command much to his delight. As he eyed the screens depicting they had just arrived over Africa's control tower he then stroked a gentle hand across Brontikens' body, as the little apatosaurus slept dreamily on his lap. After that Specter looked down to his partner and smiled lovingly at him, "Alright Brontikens, you be good boy now and make sure you smack down any nasty intruder who'd be stupid enough to try and wreck this center." he said to him in a babyish tone, puckering his lips and petting him nicely, to which the little apatosaurs yawned.

Specter soon grinned rather diabolically, seeing everything was working in his favour, "After all, if we prove to Goma that we can be trusted, we'll work our way up to the big leagues in the empire for sure! And so many big juicy rewards will be waiting for us too! Ahoo hoo hoo!" He chuckled to himself in amusement as he began to fantasise himself being surrounded with all kinds of jewels, gold and all kinds of fancy gadgets and toys that were being handed to him by gel jarks all around him. After that his maniacal grin returned as he rubbed his palms together, "And then, once I command enough respect and power, I'll be able to wrestle control of the empire away from my spoiled little boy and then all be mine! Mine! Mine! Hahahahahah!" his diabolical laughter began to echo through the halls of the ship as it soon arrived at its destination and went into cloak mode, ready to ambush anyone who'd come in range of the base.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back at Resistance HQ, the sound of a toilet flushing could be heard from inside one of the men's bathrooms there. Stepping out of it was Dr Z, as he covered over his mouth to block out the horrible smell he had been stuck in with the entire time, it was s bad his eyes had reddened and tears of pain had began to form as a result of the burning, "Phew, I thought I'd never get that one out!" he coughed as he waved his hand over his nose in an effort to clear the stench away. "Note to self, next time take it easy on the cheese when eating hot and spicy burritos laced with chilli sauce and beans." He then muttered to himself after taking in a breath of fresh air and then grinning to himself with pride, "Now to head back and bathe in all the glorious praise and worship of my loyal followers! Ahahah!" He laughed out loud snobbishly as he strutted back to the main hall to where his many adoring fans awaited so he could indulge himself to his heart's content…..or so he assumed, till he heard a most in convenient truth just waiting for him behind the corner, where he soon learn another side to his fanbase.

"That old geezer really is a nutcase! Can't believe I actually looked up to him."

"Yeah I'm totally on board with you there." A male and female voice spoke out loudly which snapped Dr Z out of his self indulgent fantasies.

"Huh!?" He widened his eyes in alarm as he looked around the corner to see 2 teenage troopers, a purple spiky haired boy and a short orange haired female with their partners, a gojirasaurus and an edmontosaurus respectively.

"The guy's a total slave driver! A loud mouthed barking dog with no bite at all! No way could he actually be the fabled dinosaur king!" the boy rated his frustrations out loud, having been disgusted

"Yeah a guy like that could never be king even if he had a million years to do it." the girl then spat at the end.

As Dr Z overheard their inner truths, the side he had been completely blind to the entire time, his heart began to sank and his arms grew limp.

"Can't believe I wasted my whole childhood wishing I could be someone like him, what a joke." The boy then scoffed as they stomped off to their battle stations to await further orders from their superiors, "Let's just hope he gets lost and goes home already, he's just a waste of space since he isn't going to help us win the war anytime soon."

"Yeah, talk about a bogus phonie and totally unworthy to set foot in our home." Said the girl in agreement as she along with their dinosaurs followed after him.

Once they were completely out of sight, Dr Z stepped out from the corner, staring in sheer and utter disbelief at everything he heard the 2 of the troopers say. Clenching his hands into fists he gritted his teeth and shook with rage as he exploded completely, "How….How dare they call me….an unworthy bogus phonie!?" he screamed letting loose all he had as he steamed red and jumped up and down in a fit, "Why I oughta show it to them straight! That I'm not some heartless dictator who's all talk and no action! I'll show them that I'm the REAL deal worthy of commanding their respect! That I'm-" As he began to think about it even more so, he soon began to see they were completely right about him, as he lost the energy and motivation from his limbs and he grew slump and weak.

"Oh who am I kidding….they're right….all of them….." he then sighed as he squatted down and clenched his head shaking it in disappointment at himself, "All this time they've been fighting the big fight, risking their heads getting blown off every time they step outside….while still fighting to bring back the world I helped inspire them to create." The moment he stepped forth into this time all he did was talk big and look down on everyone else, thinking he ought to be worshipped for things he was going to do rather than what he had already done. Had they looked back on all his past actions, he'd soon see that he'd be called far worse than what those 2 troopers had already insulted him with. He stole, lied and cheated, none of which was worth of a king. All this time the resistance needed heroes who could give them hope and a dream, but all he did was add to their burdens and take away the faith they had in him.

"How disappointed they must feel now….having built such a great image of me all only to let them all down when they see the real me…." he breathed heavily before falling down on his knees, the negative words having embedded inside his old frail heart which drained his motivation and even the very life from his soul. "What's the use anymore…..I really am nothing but a thief with no vision or ideas of his own….Guess they were right, that me being the dinosaur king really is a pointless pipe dream after all…." He then said to himself as dark thoughts began to cloud his mind, clenching his head tight he hissed in sheer self pity and hate over what he had done this entire time, how all along he had been taking the title for granted and not lived up to it since the moment he arrived. The more he thought about what the 2 troopers said and reflected on everything he did up to this point, if they saw the man he truly was…..he couldn't find it in himself to keep trying to be the dinosaur king anymore or even live…..

He was about to completely give up on his dreams and wishes, when a male voice spoke out to him from behind, "There is still a way you can prove yourself to be worthy of their respect Dr Z."

Dr Z's eyes widened, "Huh!?" He gasped as he looked up and around, to see no one around. He narrowed his eyes hard, knowing for a fact he did indeed hear someone speak to him and he was close too, "Who said that!? Show yourself!" He demanded angrily as he clenched his hands into fists and readied himself for a fight if he had to, "If you're looking for a fight I'll give you one you'll never forget!"

"Theres no need for that," the voice calmly replied to him before revealing where he was, "I'm over here."

"Hmm?" As Dr Z looked behind towards a section of the halls which was somewhat dimly lit, he could make out the silhouettes of 2 figures approaching him. One of which he recognised as a Gel Jark as its center beeped! "GAH!" Dr Z stuttered and jumped back, believing they may have been invaded and now in danger! He was about to run off and warn the others of the intruders, till he saw the second figure, slightly taller than the jark but leaner, with spiky hair which he could make out to be blue. Looking closer he could see he was wearing a tattered brown cloak on top of his clothes and he could make out his red face paint and rather cold blue eyes through the darkness, he'd recognise them anywhere in a heartbeat, "I…Impossible! It's….you!" he exclaimed as he fell back on the floor and pointed out at him completely flabbergasted!

"Yes it's me," the man smirked in response, "It's been quite a long time Dr Z, hope you've been doing well." He said as he reached his hand out and helped the old man to his feet rather politely.

Dr Z blinked his eyes in surprise at the kindness he was shown, before then pointing out at him curiously, "H….How did you-"

"There's no time to talk, right now there's an important task at hand that I need your help with." the man cut him off seriously before making an offer that Dr Z would be a fool to pass up, "But if you follow me, I'll be more than happy to explain myself along the way, and if this works, they'll speak of your name for ages to come and you can become far greater dinosaur king than any of them could ever have envisioned before." He said with a smile which made Dr Z brighten up with hope in his eyes.

"They….will? You really think so!?" he cried sounding hopeful as his eyes glistened with tears of joy, before suddenly turning suspicious and folding his arms with a hard scowl, "You sure you're not pulling my leg like the last time several times over!?" he then questioned the man suspiciously.

The man however sighed and shook his head, "By the time I finish explaining myself it would already be too late, our window of opportunity would be lost along with your chance to make your dream and this future…a reality." he replied calmly, as Dr Z hardened his gaze and sneered at the man. A few moments passed and only tension and silence was felt between them, neither had made a move or said a word, till the man held out a hand to Dr Z, giving him one last chance, "So tell me this Dr Z, are you with me? Do you trust me?"

Dr Z simply looked to the hand for a moment, thinking it over and seeing he'd get nowhere by doing nothing, and if he really wanted to make a change to the peoples' view on him this may be his only opportunity to do it, even if it came with big risks. He hated doing anything that would endanger his own life, he'd much rather send others to do his duty work, but after thinking about it hard and well, he knew that wouldn't cut it, for the resistance had been risking their lives every day and if he were to make any sort of difference to the horrible reputation he built for himself there was only one path open to him. With great reluctance, gritting his teeth tensely knowing he may regret this, he took the chance and grabbed the man's hand and shook on it.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Kalimba Park, a small rural but no less peaceful village, with mud huts with straw grooves along with a number of small wells and oasis ponds and tall coconut trees for shelter were. Part from dinosaurs, the locals also reared livestock like camels, goats and chickens in small farm areas from within the villages walls. Here were very few members of the resistance resided due to the desert's near inhospitable living conditions of squelching heat during the day, powerful sandstorms which ravaged the landscape followed with gentle but chilling nights. Nevertheless the village's inhabitants adapted to such conditions and were able to build livelihoods upon them, which were rather delicate and fragile, as they struggled to make ends meet daily and the appearance of the shadow empire making operations within their homeland didn't make it any easier.

Thankfully for them, help had soon arrived to answer their prayers and hopes for salvation, as a portal soon opened up in the center of the village where it's D Site and manager was awaiting its arrival, and shooting out of it was a special white digger's rig known as model EV-405517, and following behind it was a special custom made red Heavy hauler with a canon mounted on top and with a massive front shredder like design like a bulldog's jaw, hence its name the Monster Maw.

"It's been a while since we've been here to Kalimba Park." said Cera with a light smile as she and Miku looked out from the window of her digger's rig to see the villagers gathering around them with bright smiles and excitement, dressed in a variety of clothing from regular t-shirts and shorts to almost tribal and local wear which represented the spirit of Africa itself. As they waved to her in greeting she smiled back and Miku merely chirped happily back.

As she took a closer look she then smiled seeing another pleasant welcoming sight, "Glad to see the people here are still strong and connected with their dinosaurs as ever." She noted seeing an ouranosaurus giving shade with its sail to some tuckered out children as they napped near it, a kentrosaurus was helping to dig into the ground to provide a new well for the villagers, while some nearby jobaria were helping to keep their oasis filled up with clean water thanks to moves like falling water.

"Indeed, they need to be so in order to meet the challenges of the desert make a living here in such unforgiving conditions Cera." Her father calmly replied to her on the monitor as his face appeared before her, reminding her that of all their D Sites this was the smallest and most remote of all, but also may have been their strongest in their connection to both the land and the dinosaurs that lived there.

Looking out from her window Cera was forced to squint her eyes a little as the sun shone in and reflected upon her face, "Good thing I lathered enough sunblock because it sure is hot…." she muttered in slight annoyance as she held out a hand in an effort to block out some of the glare, and thankfully if it weren't for her mobile's air conditioning system she'd be melting by now.

"I'm afraid we have much more to worry about than getting sunbleached out here Cera." Her father then said to her seriously as she then narrowed her eyes at him.

"I know…." she nodded back at him before looking ahead to see Kalimba Park's gates open up, leading out to the widespread dunes and endless expanse of sand, and far ahead she could make out a faint but unmistakeable image of a built structure far in the distance, "The empire's control tower lies beyond those dunes at the other side of Kalimba Desert. The symbol of their wretched control over the planet's dinosaurs….." She then added. Of all the resistance's operation and missions conducted in the past and as of now as they spoke, an attack at one of the Empire's strongest strongholds may be their most daring, daunting and dangerous of all.

With such high stakes and pressure, Cera couldn't help but swallow down a little nervously, in past attempts they encountered massive numbers of gel jarks lying in wait for them in the desert sands and all kinds of traps and defences from laser turrets to mine fields, every single attack they tried from the ground, air or even underground had ended in utter failure for there was almost no way for them to make within 3 miles of it and after each failure they suffered so many casualties and loss in resources they pretty gave up on launching any further attack attempts at it. Miku too remembered said attempts as she shuddered rather uncomfortably at being reminded of the thought.

Now much time had passed since then and Cera was starting to worry about what kinds of dangers they might expect on their way there or when they arrive, till her father smiled and voiced out some words of encouragement, "Don't worry, with the empire's forces divided across the planet and everyone engaging them simultaneously, the command center will be much less guarded and fortified. With luck it should be easy for the both of us alone to breach and put up far less resistance than it normally does." He said to her which made her nod back a bit knowing what he meant.

"Going alone will reduce any possible casualties to others, at the same time they'll never see it coming too." she said knowing the likelihood of going in unnoticed or better yet taken likely by the enemy would improve their chances of success since they won't have to worry about reinforcements showing up. She then frowned a bit as she began to realise the downside to this approach, "While this plan still carries a huge risk as we have no backup of our own either, this may be our best opportunity to strike and hopefully take it down for good."

"Yeah, and once that's done all the dinosaurs will be freed from their control and it should make our final assault upon their Antarctic headquarters all the more possible….." Her father replied in agreement.

"Once we find it of course." Cera added at the end feeling rather concerned knowing the Headquarters would be even more challenging than this base was, as it was so heavily cloaked they couldn't find it no matter how many times they scouted or scanned Antartica for many months in the past, due to its advanced clanking and jamming zones stationed around it. On top of that even if they did manage to triangulate its location, there was still the matter of engaging it too, and that worried her somewhat about what they might find waiting for them there.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Lunensis replied kindly to her knowing they'd get through it, "And when we do, we will find it and take it down." He said pumping up an arm with assurance as Cera smiled and nodded back at him putting her trust in him. As soon as that was over with, a well built African tribesman in tribal clothing, wearing a D Resistance pendant around his neck along with tribal wear, face paint, dinosaur themed ornaments and a spear with a raptor's skull at the end stood before him. "Lieutenant, make sure the village and its people is safe and guarded in our absence."

"As you command sir." the man, who was also the village chief, bowed before him with respect before slamming his staff on the ground and shouting out with pride, "We shall defend Kalimba with our lives!" he announced as some of the other villagers punched to the sky and shouted out with the other dinosaurs!

"HA!"

"Very well, we leave the village in your hands." Lunensis responded in acknowledgement, entrusting things in their hands before looking to his daughter, "Come Cera, it's time we get going."

She nodded firmly in agreement and Miku let out an affirmed squawk, "I agree father, everyone's working so hard to do their part to help people and save the dinosaurs from the empire, it's time we did ours." She said as they both started their engines which began to build up dust in the back wheels mixed in with exhaust fumes from their back tail pipes. "Let's roll." She said as they both drove out through the gates and into the sea of sand as the village waved goodbye while also chanting out wishes of success for them too.

 **(Later)**

Much time had passed since father and daughter set off from the village and they had drove over long distances past dunes and shifting sand in the winds, even bracing through dust storms which raked across the land, several times over they looked ahead as the dust settled and the wind died down only to lose sight of the structure over the horizon. With jamming stations built into the tower, radar was useless so they had little choice but to rely on only their eyes. Several times mirages may have turned up to try and mislead them off course but trusting his instincts, Lunensis assured Cera that they continue plotting a straight course from where they first began while also keeping track of their own position and direction of travel from the village.

However as a while passed and little was shown for their efforts, Cera began to grow rather uncertain and discouraged while Miku yawned with boredom along the way as they came upon a very large dusty dune which towered over them almost like a mini mountain, "We've been coming a while now dad, are you sure we're getting any closer?" she asked him seeing nothing to show for all they went through.

Filled with determination though, Lunensis replied to her the same as he did before, "We're nearly there Cera, get ready, it's just beyond this hill, I just know it." He said fully trusting in his instincts. Seeing how assured he was reminded Cera of herself and how she used her gut and her heart to guide her when it seemed like logic or technology wouldn't work.

So with a firm nod the both of them braced themselves as they pushed up the hill side, waves of sand erupting from their wheels as they pressed on and pushed upwards with all their might! It was far from an easy task as their weight of their vehicles sunk into he dune and many times they almost slid back to the bottom! Pressing in on their accelerators, they fought back against the slippery sliding sand and eventually managed to plough on through overcoming the odds as they made it to the very top at last! They didn't manage to get a moment of relief though as soon as they came up they widened their eyes at what they saw waiting them at the very top!

"AH!" Cera and Miku gasped at the sight of the massive black and purple walls up stretched and around the perimeter of a large citadel like complex in the middle of the desert below, with a massive control tower and giant satellite dish right at the top of it. Way she saw it, it must have grown and spread wider than she last saw it, and must have been twice as fortified than before, making her swallow down hard as she felt rather overwhelmed at it all.

Lunensis on the other hand hardened his gaze with firm determination, "There it is…." he said with a hard scowl as he felt the animosity towards the space pirates grow ever more so at the sight of it. His old feelings of hatred and vengeance were beginning to build within him but he was able to keep it under much better control as he closed his eyes hard with a gentle breath, "Let's take it apart and take it down." He then said as he and Cera made a beeline for the citadel as fast as their engines could go.

Within moments, spurred by determination which they put into their engines and throttle, they managed to cover half the distance within minutes "Almost there, now we can-" Right before he finished, a beam of light suddenly shot won from the sky an enveloped the both of them! Stopping them in their tracks as they were slowly being lifted up and off the ground!

"AH! What's happening!" Cera gasped in alarm as Miku squared out and flapped her arms frantically in a panic! In an attempt to escape, Cera tried pressing on the accelerator, but her tyres kept speeding against air and not solid ground as thy were lifted completely off the desert sand!

"It's a tractor beam! We're being pulled in!" Lunensis yelled out as he could feel the back tyre of his maw being lifted up first!

Cera quickly keyed into her monitor which displayed the source of the tractor beam coming from a silver crystal encrusted ship high above the clouds, one which she soon recognised as the very same vessel which attacked during Rex's time period! "That ship! It's a trap!" she cried out in realisation that they did have something planned for their arrival!

"We need to drive harder!" Her father responded urgently, his heart racing and sweating profusely as he pressed hard on the accelerator, "Maybe we can break free!"

"URGH!" The 2 of them tried their best, pressing as hard as they could on their accelerator functions, engaging to maximum velocity or trying to turn their steering hard in an effort to break free from the beam's pull!

Their efforts were valiant but unfortunately futile as the power of the beam soon overcame them and soon they were both lifted off the ground like specks of dust in the wind! "It's…no good! We're going up!" Cera cried as they suddenly shot up like rockets high to where the ship was in the tractor beam!

"AAAAAHHH!" Their cries soon died out as they disappeared in the light of the beam.

On the top of the ship's upper deck, a pair of lights shone and appeared right on top, and looking around them, Cera and Lunensis were both startled to find themselves high amidst the blue sky, as the sun beamed down on them from above and the white clouds rolled pass them.

"Where…are we?" Cera asked as she looked around curiously surveying their surroundings and seeing no one else with them.

"I don't know…." Lunensis narrowed his eyes hard as he sensed a sinister feeling in the air and a very bad vibe coming from the ship they were on, "My guess….it looks like they were expecting us…." he said hard knowing they would be in for a fight the moment whoever was piloting this warship decided to come and greet them.

Curious, Cera drove off carefully to the sides to check just how high they were, she and Miku were startled to see the desert sand and citadel right below them several hundred feet off the ground as she quickly reverse back for safety! "I have a bad feeling about this…." She then gulped at the end while Miku shuddered nervously.

The doors at the front of the ship's entrance hatch opened up before them, which made them narrow their eyes and ready themselves for what was coming for them through those doors. Be it an army of jarks or a mad dinosaur….but what coming to greet them was far worse than what they imagined, "La la lalalalaaaaaa….." the sounds of tone death and horrendous off key singing soon echoed from deep inside the dark halls from the entrance doors behind.

Cera narrowed her eyes hard as she recognised said voice in an instant, "I know that singing anywhere…" she hissed with disgust while Miku's eyes turned slit and agitated.

Her father though, gritted his teeth and gained a vicious scowl as the voice struck several bad chords in his mind, which he knew all too well as the bane of his existence and the scourge which haunted his nightmares, "Grr….It's him…."

Appearing out of the doors and resting on top of an armchair like throne which levitated by anti gravity generators, was Specter as he sat in comfortably while coming forth to greet his 2 guests with a smiling face, "Ahoo hoo hoo! Welcome aboard to my new ship! I call it sweet revenge!" he giggled with glee as he held his arms out showcasing the ship's entire profile to the 2 humans as they held firm feeling somewhat overwhelmed at its massive exterior which was far more menacing that his first ship, "Fitting isn't it? It's a fancy new toy I got from someone very special and close to me, who was also generous enough to give me this magnificent base to look after!" Gee then added as he took out a remote, pressing a button which projected an image of the control center which was down below where they were, "Beautiful isn't it? Can't have any of you naughty humans wreck it now can we?" he said with a cheeky smile which further served to tick them both off.

"Oh we'll do more than just wreck it Specter." said Lunensis as he gritted his teeth and hissed with venom, "But that's merely a luxury in the bigger picture, it's you I really want!" he declared with immense hatred and rage towards the old pirate, as Cera sweated somewhat tensely, knowing exactly what he was feeling and understanding perfectly why. Seeing him like this again worried her that he may revert back to how he was before, but she held onto the hope that she and the others would be able to bring him back to his senses if he really did try to cross the line again.

Specter then blinked his eyes in surprise, "Oh? You want me?" he gasped childishly as he squished in his face with his hands. Completely clueless to what Lunensis was talking about, he then blushed red sheepishly and then grinning brightly, "Oh my! I never expected to have an adoring fan! I don't know what to say!" he cheered as he shook his arms and legs out like an excited child, which further served to infuriate Lunensis, as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tight with rage unbeknownst to the naive pirate, "Shall I give you an autograph? Or perhaps let you take what you humans call…a selfie with me? Please?" he then begged as he clapped his hands together and his eyes glistened innocently.

That however served as the last straw to push Lunensis off the edge, taking his ridiculous manner as insulting him, as he exploded into an immense rage that startled Cera somewhat, "You make sick to my stomach, the moment I lay eyes on you I can't help but want to bury you alive!" he roared with venom, so loud Cera had to mute her com momentarily, already unnerved by her father's intense and enraged facial expressions and she didn't need to hear the words that came with it.

Specter was taken aback and covered his his hand over his chest where his heart was, "GASP! How dare you!?" he gasped shocked before glaring back at the Resistance commander.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Lunensis hissed as he clenched his hand into a tight fist, "It may have been years but it's all worth it. It's high time you answered for everything you've done! To countless innocent lives, the entire universe, but worst of all for what you did to me and my family!" he roared, as Cera said nothing but closed her eyes as she tried her best to fight back against drifting into her past nightmares of suffering and torment of days before. Her father however had relived them every day and night so it was understandable he still hadn't moved on nor forgiven the empire for their countless heinous crimes, in fact how could anybody?

The old space pirate then blinked his eyes in confusion at Lunensis' accusations, "What I've done?" he muttered before scratching his head in thought as well as pushing his chin with his fingers, "Well I've done lots of things in my time so it's possible a couple of them may have slipped my mind…." he mused before asking politely as he stuck up his finger, "Would you mind narrowing it down for me please? It would help if you did."

His childish behaviour and sheer utter blindness to what his actions have caused for everyone served to further aggravate Lunensis' hatred and scars, "You honestly don't remember? I suppose you really clueless as you are dense." he spat with disgust as he shook with rage, but he didn't give into it this time as he shot a hard glare and gave Specter an answer he'd recognise, "How about this? The year 2997, on the 5th of July. In New Saurus City." He answered so specifically even Specter would recall it, though said date also made Cera grit her teeth in pain and sadness as she recalled that time all too well. Sensing her pain, Miku nuzzled at her in effort to give her comfort, though it didn't help that much to her disappointment.

"Hmmm that actually does seem familiar….." Specter put a finger to his chin in thought and closed his eyes, focusing hard as he drifted back to what he did that very day, before opening his eyes and widening them with joy and excitement for to him it was a most special and memorable day which he held dearly to bis heart, "Oh yes that's right! That was the day I first got my sweet little Brontikens and couldn't wait to take him out for some exercise!" he cheered lapping his hands with glee before reaching into his pocket, taking out a card and activating it against his chest plate, causing a blue chibi apatosaurus to appear napping on his lap.

As soon as Cera, Miku and her father laid eyes upon that very dinosaur, they became very angsty, as if all the nightmares and suffering of that very night rushed through them like waters through a floodgate, and the emotions and screams they heard and felt that time came back to them, as they both became filled with tense anger towards the very monsters who caused it all.

"I couldn't have been more proud of you my sweet little baby! You made me so very proud!" Specter meanwhile praised his dinosaur as he stroked his hand across his spiny back, causing him to yawn in delight. "Aww isn't he just the most precious thing you ever laid eyes upon?" Specter blushed red in enjoyment to see his partner happy before holding him up like a puppy to show him to Cera and Lunensis.

As much as they loved dinosaurs and saw many of them to have been unwilling pawns who suffered under the oppressive control of the space pirates, if there was one dinosaur they couldn't every forgive for his crimes be it willing or otherwise, it had to have been Brontikens! Underneath that childish exterior was the heart and soul of a monster who desired destruction, and every fibre of their being made them want to take it down no matter the cost.

"That infernal sauropod destroyed countless lives that day…..including that of my own wife!" Lunensis then screamed in a rage which made Specter widen his eyes as he heard his outburst, "Because of you she's gone! I'll never forgive you for that! EVER!" he screamed swearing vengeance before breathing heavily after.

"Dad…." Cera breathed feeling an immense heartache came upon her, understanding his pain all too well, that very night she wished wouldn't happen and tried to forget for so long….it all came back to her at once as it served as a reminder of what she lost and could never get back again, the kind warm face of her mother Maia, her gentle embracing hugs and kind presence which held their family together in the hardest of times.

A deathly silence soon came upon them, as even Specter was rather put off by the animosity the 2 humans were showing him. He never expected them to have had such a grudge against him, though for what he put them through that time he couldn't really blame them for it. Deep down he did feel a slight amount of pity so he tried to sympathise with the the only way he knew how, "Oh boo hoo I feel really hurt…my deepest condolences….." he then wailed sounding extremely insincere as he shed out crocodile tears, rubbing his eyes before blowing on his hankie. "You know I actually understand how you feel you know?" He then stated rather causally which put them off, "A long time ago my wife actually ended things with me all because she said I needed to grow up, that I was too much of a spoilt baby, that I had to start behaving MY age and stop playing pirate! When I already WAS a pirate! Can you believe that!?" he then screamed out loud before smashing his arms on the side of his chair's arms.

A shade covered over Lunensis' eyes as he and Cera said nothing.

"….."

"Oh what a tragedy it was….sniffle…." Specter wept playfully clapping his hands over his heart before using his hankie to wipe away his fake tears.

Lunensis however was far from amused or touched, in fact Specter's attempt to understand him only served to further drive his anger and hatred past its limits, "How dare you…." he breathed which made Specter blink his eyes in surprise.

"Huh?" He stuttered as Lunensis shot him a vicious glare.

"You dare compare your pitiful squabble to what I've endured all my life!?" he screamed, "I knew you space pirates were evil, but you're all heartless monsters who take and steal from everyone you come across no matter how much it hurts them!" Lunensis then pointed out at Specter with all his hatred and anger, "I swear I'll destroy you and everything you all hold dear, if it's the last thing I do! Then maybe you just might understand what you put us through!" he swore at the top of his lungs after that.

"Father…." Cera breathed, as much as she wanted to stop him and say this was;t the way to go, this time he had every justification and reason to do just that. In fact deep down even she wanted to do the very same to Specter as well as she narrowed her eyes at their foe. "I'm with you father, there's no way we're going to let him get away with what he's done." She then said with a firm and clear conscience that she'd stand by his side to the end of this battle no matter the outcome.

After that, Spectre's shocked look turned to a grumpy scowl as he folded his arms crossly, "Hmph! Is this the thanks I get for trying to be nice and sympathetic with you?" he scoffed before turning seriously, "Fine then, if you refuse my kindness then I'll just have to get downright nasty!" he growled as he pumped up his arms and shook his fists at them in a fighting posture, "Bring it on! There's no way either of you stands a chance against the new and improved me!"

"We'll just have to show you just how wrong you are then!" Lunensis retorted as he looked towards his daughter next, "Cera!"

She nodded in response as she returned Miku to card form, "I'm with you the whole way dad!" She replied as they took out their cards and slashed them across their consoles' card slots!

"Dino slash!"

"Micro raptor shine!"

"Awaken eoraptor!" A pair of bright lights shot out from their vehicles, as Eoraptor and Miku were both summoned forth onto the field and they both let out some angry screeches at Specter and Brontikens!

At the sight of both tiny dinosaurs, Specter couldn't help but blush red and clap his hands together in amusement, "Aww aren't you just the most adorable little things!" he cried feeling rather smitten with them, "I feel almost regretful that I'm going to have to fight you too…." he said with some sad pouting after, "Mwa! Since I'm in a good mood today I'll play nice and take it a teensy bit easy on you. Maybe I won't destroy you both completely if you're lucky." he replied blowing a playful kiss at them while Brontikens simply yawned in boredom.

"Feel free to underestimate us at your own risk you swine." Lunensis spat back before pointing out at him in declaration, "That'll make it all the more easier when we wipe the floor with you!" He yelled, "Eoraptor! Lightning mode!" In response, eoraptor flashed yellow and screeched as he glowed in all the colours of the elements, and then materialising as a purple and white styracosaurus!

"Now Miku! Energy equaliser!" Cera followed up as her microraptor flared out her wings and screeched before launching herself into the air and landing on eoraptor's back, linking herself to him as both dinosaurs became instilled with power symbolising the bond that both father and daughter shared with each other! Infused with more energy, eoraptor roared out furiously towards his foes, as Brontikens woke up from his nap, narrowing his eyes hard sensing a fighting spirit in them.

Specter too narrowed his eyes, if they were taking it seriously he saw no reason not to do the same anymore, "Hmph! Unfortunately for you I've just gotten over my conflicted feelings, and will be sure not to leave a trace of your filthy existence on this earth!" he growled as he returned Brontikens to card form, "Not too shabby, too bad your puny dinosaurs pale in comparison to my darling little Brontikens! Say hi to them won't you?!" he cried as he activated the card against his chest plate, causing the giant apatosaurus to materialise on the field with a huge thud which shook the entire ship as it let out a thunderous bellow as he raised up on his hind legs, demonstrating his immense size as he towered over his enemies!

As his shadow covered over them and the battlefield appeared around them, eoraptor hardened himself for battle, while Cera and Lunensis both gritted their teeth in anger at his form as they began to relive what had happened that night, "Tch! I never thought I'd lay my eyes on that vile beast ever again….." Cera's dad clicked his tongue.

"That monster took away mom…." Cera then grunted as she clenched her fist tightly, "I may have a soft spot for dinosaurs and wish for them not to be harmed….but this time….I might just make an exception…." She thought to herself. The nightmares which plagues her father's mind for so many moons and the haunting of how Cera lost her mother, the 2 of them vowed to make sure this battle ends differently than the last time.

"Today that all ends here!" Lunensis swore as he punched forward putting all his energy into this decisive move, "Thunder bazooka!" Flashing yellow and empowered by the thoughts and feelings of both his partner and Cera, given to him by Miku, eoraptor roared as he surged with electricity as he charged forth with all his might, launched himself ahead and spun like a torpedo spiralling right at Brontikens with all his might! Unfortunately it was all for naught, as Brontikens let out a mighty bellow in defiance before turning around and swinging out his tail, deflecting the attack and sending eoraptor along with Miku crashing back at their partners! "What!?"

"AH!" They both gasped in alarm as Specter began to laugh out loud in amusement.

"Ahahahaha! What was that supposed to be? I'll have you know I've given Brontikens massages or even love taps harder than that!" he cackled mocking their efforts much to their worry and frustration.

Lunensis' heart began to race and her yes widened with worry, "No way! Even when we powered up with energy equaliser and without any armour it still withstood that move?!" he exclaimed as Eoraptor struggled to get back on his feet.

"Hehehehe! I'll have you know that Brontikens and I have learnt a couple new tricks since last time and I can't wait to introduce you both to them one by one!" Specter grinned darkly before hugging himself with excitement, "Oh the excitement is really making me all jittery with glee!"

Cera then hardened her gaze, "Get ready dad, there's no telling what that maniac's up to now…."

"Tch! Then let's try this instead! Plasma anchor!" Lunensis then yelled out, this time thinking of throwing the apatosaurus off the ship instead as Eoraptor fired out an electrical anchor at Brontikens!

Specter then nodded feeling mildly impressed, "Not bad, but let's see how that little sparkle stands up to my electro launcher!" He smirked snapping his fingers as the apatosaurus began whirling his tail, which sparked with rainbow electricity which the then fired in full force! The rainbow lightning clashed with plasma anchor for a brief moment before overpowering through!

Cera couldn't believe her eyes, "AH!"

"Get out of the way quick!" Lunensis cried out in alarm. At the last second, eoraptor was able to jump out of the way in time as the lightning bolt struck where it stood leaving behind a huge scorch mark!

"That was too close…." Cera wheezed feeling overwhelmed by just now as her father nodded with her.

"Yeah, and I'm afraid it's only the beginning…." he hissed uneasily as Brontikens let out a thundering bellow in face of the anxious eoraptor and Miku.

Soon Specter's eyes began to grow heavy and he let out a yawn of boredom, "Yawn…How lame, I expected way more of a challenge from the so called top dog of the Resistance, what a letdown…." he muttered with disinterest as he began rubbing this eyes drowsily. After that he grinned maniacally and began to laugh out at them, "What's the matter? Didn't you say you were going to make me pay? Ha! Don't make me laugh!"

"Grr!" Lunensis clenched his fists tightly swearing he'd rip out his tongue if he had the chance.

Cera narrowed her eyes, "He's toying with us…." she breathed heavily, feeling insulted that he wasn't taking them seriously, but deep down they were both also very anxious about what he would be capable of if he did give it his all.

"Come on! Hurry it up and try something that might actually give me a challenge! I'm starting to get bored here!" Specter then whined out loud as he shook out his fists childishly, which further added to Lunensis' reasons on why he detested him so much.

"Oh I'll show you challenging…." he growled with rage as he was on the verge of letting himself completely loose.

Cera then looked to him cautiously, "Easy dad, he's only trying to get you riled up so you'll make a mistake! Don't let him get to you!" she cried which made him let out a short breath as his loosened up slightly.

"I know…." he breathed before deciding to try one more move that just might be enough to knock their foe off the ship and out of the battle for good! "That case let's wrap this up easy and quick!" He declared as he and Cera cried out, "Lightning spear!" Upon command Miku began to transfer more energy into eoraptor as he bellowed out loud, surging with lightning energy before making one last ditch effort at striking Brontikens where he was must vulnerable.

Unfortunately Specter knew just the right move to fight them back with as he grinned seeing they fell right into his trap! "Ahahahah! Watching you pests about to get squashed like the bugs you are is going to be a ton of fun!" He laughed out loud with excitement before slamming his fist right into his palm! "And I know just the move that will crush you all into space dust! Megawatt stomp!" Dark clouds began to swirl above Brontikens as he raised up on his hind legs and absorbed a bolt of lightning, absorbing it like lightning rod before surging in a spectrum of rainbow colours! As Eoraptor charged in an attempt to strike up at him, the apatosaurus answered his challenge by rushing at him head on before leaping high into the air right above him!

"No way!" Cera and Lunensis were both taken aback at the massive sauropod being able to launch himself above eoraptor and was now about to crush down on them all!

Not backing down and unable to avoid it in time, eoraptor jumped up at Brontikens in an effort to spear through him, but it was an effort in vain as the enormous apatosaurus overpowered his attempt as he smashed down on him, causing a massive eruption of energy and lightning to surge from the sight of impact and sending huge shockwaves which pushed Cera and Lunensis halfway to the edge of the ship!

"AAAAAARRGH!"

"Ahahahahah!" Specter meanwhile cackled with maniacal laughter as the dust cleared and Brontikens stood triumphant with a loud roar, while before him, lay eoraptor's card along with a heavily battered microraptor…..who was barely able to escape in time by detaching herself from her partner but not before experiencing some degree of the shockwaves and energy impacts which left her lying helpless at the massive sauropod towering above her like a giant!

Cera widened her eyes at what she saw, "Miku!" she cried as she jumped out of her vehicle and made a run for her partner and her father's card, she lost her mom and she wasn't about to lose her partner next, even if it costed her her own life in turn.

Lunensis meanwhile, stared stunned beyond belief at what he witnessed first hand, "Impossible….he took both us out completely and utterly….." he breathed as his arms grew limp and he lost the energy or will to continue fighting, how easily his best efforts and research had gone up in smoke just like that while Specter exerted little to no effort in turn, "This can't be…after all we went through and suffered…it wasn't enough? Did we really come here just to throw out own lives away?" he choked heavily as guilt and pressure began to tighten around his heart and he fell at his console, overwhelmed by shock and at the sheer difference in power his dinosaur had to Brontikens….it seemed as if he wasted his entire efforts and all he suffered through with the resistance was about to end with nothing in turn, "No…." he breathed finding this revelation difficult to stomach down and accept, but as he looked ahead he widened his eyes as he saw his daughter had ran out onto the battlefield while he was choking in defeat! "AH! Cera get back!"

His words were ignored as Cera made it to where Miku was, as she quickly scooped the tiny raptor into her arms while also grabbing hold of her dad's card, "Are you okay!?" she cried desperately at Miku, her tears of pain and sorrow fell from her cheek as they hit the raptor's face, causing her to wake up weakly and chirp back much to her relief, "Thank goodness." she then breathed with a smile as she hugged her close to her chest to keep her safe while also feeling safe by her presence too.

"Aww isn't that just precious." Specter then chuckled in amusement as he hugged in his hands together and went all jittery, "Just look at you 2, all chummy and close you both are. It kinda reminds me of how I'm like with Brontikens."

"GRR!" Cera growled with frustration towards the zanjark alien, who seemed to be tormenting them just by looking down on them all because he had them driven into a corner. Her father too was just a spurious, having been waited so long to have a chance at revenge and justice for all the space pirates did, only for them to be losing badly…..this clearly wasn't how he envisioned their mission to go.

"I think you've suffered enough, so let me make this quick and easy by ending your existence right here and now!" he hen proclaimed as he activated Brontikens' card against his plate! "Spectral armour!" The apatosaurus' marks glowed before enveloping around him in a dark aura, before fully materialising as his spectral armour appeared in full form, powering the already immensely powerful dinosaur even more to Cera's horror!

"AH!" she gasped, Miku choked, both of them stunned speechless as they both felt overwhelmed and insignificant compared to the towering titan as he reared up in his armoured form and smashed down right in front of them!

"Cera get back!" Her father shouted at her as she tried to turn around and make a break for it, only for the impacts to send her and Miku flying back a few feet across the ship!

"AAAH!"

"NO!" Lunensis unable to sit still any longer risked everything as he jumped out of his monster maw and made arun for her, refusing to lose his daughter again! "Cera I'm coming!"

"Father!?" As Cera looked up to see her dad holding his arm out in an attempt to save her.

Specter though couldn't help but feel rather touched by this display of unconditional live as he clapped his hands together, "How sweet, the father is coming in to save his precious daughter eventhough he knows he has absolutely no hope of survival at all, let alone win hehehe." he chuckled mockingly as Cera and Miku both shot him angered glares despite being on the losing end.

"GRRR!"

"My my such ferocity, though I can't blame you." The space pirate mused, "Oh how painful it must be for you and your dear old daddy to carry on in the world without your precious mommy, you should be happy she isn't here to see how pathetic you look right now in your pitiful failed attempt to avenge her and everyone else who perished with her that day!" he then proclaimed out loud at the top of his lungs gloating in his inevitable victory while also intending to smash down all their hopes for good, and so far….he was actually succeeding…..

"Just get it over with…..you scumbag…."

"As you wish," Specter smirked smugly deciding to honour her wish before adding in a few final words, "Though I must admit a small part of me does have a tiny hint of regret for what I did to you both before," he then said with a light bow before shooting a sinister grin at her and Miku! "So allow me to apologise, and make up for it by reuniting you all in the afterlife!" He declared wasting no more time as he held out his arm, "Go Brontikens! Give this broken family the happy reunion they deserve! Spectral destroy!" He ordered as his pirate symbol on his chest glowed, Brontikens' appendages raised upwards and the glowing orbs in his armour shone as they generated energy beams which concentrated into the direct center as he prepared to fire it out at full force!

"Grrgh!" Cera gritted her teeth and closed her eyes looking away, while Miku hid herself inside her arms, as the apatosaurus unleashed the full power of his mighty beam attack at her!

Lunensis widened his eyes as the flashback of his wife being erased in a similar manner replayed in his mind, and now both he and his daughter were caught right in the center of its path! "CERA! NOOO!" He wailed holding his arms out and his eyes began to bawl as the beam began to close in….

"AHAHAHAH!" Specter clapped his hands and shook his legs with excitement as he looked forward to erasing his enemies form existence, only for him and Cera's dad to be surprised as a medium sized dinosaur suddenly dropped down in front of Cera!

Thud!

"What the!?" Specter blinked his eyes in surprise to see it.

"AH!" Lunensis stopped in his run as he saw the same thing.

Cera blinked her eyes as she felt the thud, "Huh?" as she looked up she was taken aback to see a cryolophosaurus was standing above her! "No way!"

"Go! Blizzard smash!" A voice shouted out from out of nowhere as the cryolphosaurus glowed in an icy aura and fired out a massive stream of ice in the path of the beam! The 2 attacks collided with one another resulting in a massive explosion which blew everyone back a bit!

"URGH!"

"ARGH!"

Everyone braced themselves but the cryolophosaurus used his own body to shield Cera and Miku from the cold blast and light! As it died down and everyone could see again, a massive impact mark of scorch marks and ice lay where the explosion occurred, Cera looked up to see the cryolophosaurus breathing down on them both. "A cryolophosaurus….." For some reason….it appeared all too familiar….

"Wh…Where did that come from?" Lunensis then asked in surprise before the sound of an incoming jet engine caught everyone's attention!

"AH!" As they looked up they saw one of the resistance's egg jets hovering right above where they battled, as the door opened up, leaping out from it was a familiar blue haired man in a cloak and rather tattered clothing as he stood above Cera and right next to his cryolophosaurus. He shot Specter a cold smirk which made the space pirate stutter momentarily, as Cera widened her eyes recognising him in an instant.

"It's been a long time Cera, though I envisioned our meeting to be rather different than now." he said to her before looking down at her with a somewhat mocking expression.

"S…Seth!?" she choked in disbelief which was shared by Miku who squawked in alarm, as well as Specter himself!

"Impossible!"

He then closed his eyes and smirked in amusement at seeing how weak and pathetic she looked now with her father, "I'm a little disappointed to think that one of the heroes who helped save the universe is actually struggling against Specter of all people, your skills must have waned since I last saw you." He sighed almost pityingly as his jet suddenly took off in another direction.

She however pointed out at him rather weakly, "H…How did you get here? More importantly, this time period! How did you-"

He then frowned, "Hmph, as usual you all underestimate me and my talents," he scoffed before shrugging his shoulders, "And as much as I'd love to gloat about my unmatched genius I'm afraid that's something to be shared another time as you can see." He said as he looked ahead towards Specter and Brontikens who bellowed out loudly and was returned by a snarl from cryolophosaurus.

Cera then nodded back uneasily, "Yeah…." she breathed, she spent so long hating him, so the fact she was genuinely saved by him was an unexpected experience for her and one she didn't know how to respond well to, as she and Miku kept a hard look at him. Despite all he did before, to their reluctance he was now their best chance at getting out of this alive.

Lunensis however was more focused on something else which came up as a result of Seth's unexpected arrival, "What? Did she say Seth?" he blinked his eyes in surprise before thinking momentarily, having heard that very name once before widening his eyes in realisation, "Wait…as in…." As he recalled looking back on past records, how he committed atrocious acts to dinosaurs in the past by manipulating them to his liking….almost like how he himself once did…..Also why would someone as despicable as the space pirates come to save them? It all didn't make any sense….

Cera narrowed her eyes hard at Seth, feeling suspicious of what his intentions, "What's your aim here? What are you planning now?" she asked him.

"Hmph, if that's the thanks I get for saving your life then remind me not to do it again." Seth scoffed as he looked away from her, which came as a big surprise for both Cera and her father.

"Huh?"

"Saved her?" They each asked in confusion, "But…why?"

Seth then rolled his eyes at their continued barrage of questions which was to no end, but soon let out a rather heavy sigh as he decided to get to the point if only it would make their questioning cease, "But if you must know, I merely have my reasons and no more….." he muttered as he looked away again, "Also, let's just call it even after what you an your friends showed me."

"Seth…." Cera couldn't believe that he of all people would actually have a genuine change of heart, which came as a complete surprise to her and she had no idea how to take it in.

Specter on the other hand though, recovered from his initial shock, shaking his head he glared blood thirsty daggers at his former servant, "GRRR! YOU! How dare you show your face in front of me again! After everything I did for you!" he yelled with immense fury as he pointed out at Seth, "In fact it was I who saved you that time when you were on the verge of oblivion, I gave you a place to belong and everything you ever desired! Without me you'd have been destroyed long ago! Then you repay my kindness by betraying me!? How dare you!?" He shouted bitterly with rage.

"Heh, it's just who I am Specter, you should have known that from the start." Seth chuckled in amusement before shrugging his shoulders, "Plus, I never liked any of you to begin with."

Specter's heart skipped a beat and he turned pale when he heard the truth from his former comrade, "EH!?"

"Let's be honest, after you got what you wanted you'd have no more use for me and then dispose of me like a piece of used tissue paper. And even if you didn't, you'd have treated me like a slave on a chain." He explained before narrowing his eyes hard, "Besides, you and the space pirates alway rubbed me the wrong way, not to mention your atrocious singing always made wish I invented a silencer to shut you up whenever I saw fit." His expression soon gained a rather unpleasant smirk at least aimed towards Specter, "Now it appears I finally get my wish of showing you exactly how I feel about you and your nonsensical fantasies of ruling the universe with no vision to back it with." In his mind he'd much rather put up with Dr Z's shenanigans over Specter's tone death singing any day of the week.

"Tch!" Lunensis clearly did not like him one bit, and neither did Cera, however as the old saying goes, the enemy of enemy is friend, as of now they have no choice in the matter and right now defeating Specter and destroying the control center took priority over old grudges in a heartbeat.

"Hehehehe! Had I knew things would have turned out like this I would've left you for dead in that temporal time stream." Specter grinned as he cackled maniacally with evil intent and rubbed his palms together, "Oh how I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart piece by piece you dirty backstabber!" he then bellowed out in a rage, "Brontikens! It's extinction time!" He screamed pointing ahead as his apatosaurus let out a loud roar in response.

"Heh, believe me the feeling is mutual Specter." Seth smirked with anticipation for battle, "Let's go cryolophosaurus! Put this fool and his pet in deep freeze!" he called out as his dino let out a vicious snarl in response!

Cera then realised there was only one way they could make the odds more even in this battle, "Can't believe I'm actually doing this…." she told herself almost begrudgingly as she looked to Miku, who nodded in acceptance of what she wanted to do, "Go! Energy equaliser!" Miku glowed in the colours of the rainbow as she attached herself to cryolophosaurus causing them both to synchronise with one another and immense power built between them!

"Fighting on the same side….heh, didn't think the day would actually come." Seth chuckled in amusement at the strange turn of events.

"Same here…." Cera replied to him seriously, "Just make sure you don't lose."

He nodded back in acknowledgement as both secret dinosaurs roared and charged at one another! Now the fight became more even sided, as the apatosaurus bellowed and tried to stomp down, cryolophosaurus left back out of his path as he smashed on the ship's hull. After that he darted in under him and in between his legs as he struck out with his claws, landing a couple of gashed to Brontikens' legs as well as snapping at his legs, ripping off pieces of skin which caused the apatosaurus to stumbled about and roar in pain as his legs weakened and he couldn't position his footing well as cryolophosaurus kept charging in and attacking non stop at his legs relentlessly, nearly tripping him up at times!

Angered he raised up his tail and tried to slam down but again he missed! As cryolophosaurus snarled and charged head on, Brontikens swung out his tail, but powered by Miku, cryolophosaurus' reactions were twice as fast as he leapt over the incoming tail in time before striking at the giant's back leg again, causing him to buckle somewhat to his knees! Will all the stomping and smashing Brontikens was going it was a miracle that the ship was still holding together well.

"Amazing…." Lunensis breathed in awe at such a battle, it was beginning to fill him with hope that they might be able to win this!

Seth though smirked as he put a hand to his chin in careful analytical thought, "Impressive, who would've thought a mutual connection between 2 dinosaurs would bring forth such power and potential." he mused with interest.

"It's called genuine friendship," Cera replied to him with a hard look, "Maybe it's something you should try with others next time."

He then shrugged his shoulders, "I might consider it since it yields promising results." he replied as cryolophosaurus swung out his own tail and smashed right in Brontikens' face as he stuttered backwards much to Specter's disbelief and annoyance!

"GRR! He's as slippery as the slime he is!" he growled in annoyance as he cloned his hand into a tight fist, "Hold still so I can crush you into space jelly!" He shouted out loudly before mashing his arms into his throne's arm rest, causing them to crack on impact!

"Heh, as if I'd be foolish enough to do that just because you said so." Seth scoffed finding the thought ridiculous as cryolophosaurus leapt out of the path of Brontikens' head doing before swinging out his tail at his face knocking him off balance again! "Now frozen glide!" Seth yelled as he motioned the attack. Cryolophosaurus then glowed in an aura of frozen snow before firing a stream of ice which covered over the surface of the ship and making the huge apatosaurus increasingly unstable and unsteady in his footing! "You're on thin ice now Specter!" Seth taunted him as the old zanjark began to shiver in the cold and hug himself to keep warm!

"Brr! Chilly!" he shivered as his teeth began to chatter! "At this rate I'm going to-Achoo! NO!" He cried as he sneezed forcing him to take out his hankie and blow into it again.

"Alright! With this we can knock that gigantic brute off the ship and out of the battle for good!" Lunensis then cheered feeling hopeful at their victory at last.

"That was my intention from the very beginning." Seth calmly replied with a smug smirk as Cera too began to smile brightly with hope herself.

"We might actually pull this off…" she said as Seth called out his final attack!

"Go cryolophosaurus! End this!" he commanded as his dinosaur snarled and raced across the frozen surface, his claws gripping the surface and stabilising him with each step as he charged straight at Brontinkens! The armoured apatosaurus looked around uneasily seeing nowhere to run, the first mister could end up being his last and he could end up falling off the ship and to his doom the moment he moved! Yet if he didn't he'd get knocked off then by the incoming cryolophosaurus!

"Grrrgh!" Specter gritted his teeth in immense frustration at both his cold and at the fact they thought they had him backed into a corner! Well he wasn't about to eat them get away with it! "That does it! I've had enough of these games! It'll soon be game over for you!" he roared having had enough of their ridiculous games, "You're in for a shock if you think you'll get me that easily! Arc discharge!" He commanded as Brontikens began to surge with rainbow energy! Raising out his front feet he began to stomped repeatedly into the ground itself, each earth shattering rumble began to crack away at the ice as energy built up in his feet! As cryolophosaurus rushed in, the apatosaurus raised both feet and smashed hard into the ground causing a wave of rainbow energy to surge through the ground, electrifying the ice which then snared the cryolophosaurus in his tracks as the energy surged through him and Miku as he roared in pain and crashed down to the ground!

"AAAH!" Seth gasped as the waves of lightning came in towards them all!

"Take cover!" Lunensis yelled was they quickly ran behind the mesozoic mobiles to take shelter! The waves of energy pushed through and blew them back even with the vehicles to shield them they could still feel the immense power and the impacts given off by them!

"AAAAAHH!"

As it died down, they looked out from behind the vehicles and widened their eyes in horror to see cryolophosaurus was now panting hard and had slumped to the ground, smoking hard from the energy attack while Brontikens let out a mighty bellow in triumph!

"No….How could I have failed to see this coming?" Seth staggered in disbelief at being so careless, how easily he underestimated Specter's capabilities as he fell to his knees.

"Urgh…." Once more the Resistance found themselves hanging on by a thread and at the mercy of Specter and Brontikens!

"Ahahahah! Lookie here! 3 pesky pests in 1 swat! Today must be my lucky day!" then laughed out loud to himself in amusement seeing he was winning once again! He then waved his hand out playfully at them knowing this was the last time he had to see their faces again, "Say goodbye and good riddance! Ahahahah!"

"Grrr…."

Before he could call out his next attack, help soon arrived for them in the most unexpected form of all.

"Hey! Don't start the party without me!" A familiar voice shouted out at them from above causing them all to look up in surprise,

"Huh!?"

"What now!?" Specter growled in frustration as the jet which dropped Seth off earlier had miraculously returned for them!

"That voice…." As Cera began to remember that voice just now had came right from that same jet, she saw the pilot reveal himself at the front windows so they could all see the face of their saviour!

"Never fear! The dinosaur king is here!" He cheered in a jolly manner and shooting them all a cheerful grin much to their surprise!

"Dr Z!?" Seth gritted his teeth in disbelief, "He was supposed to have left already and called in reinforcements right after we dropped off our secret weapon, what is he thinking!?" he grunted in annoyance, seeing he let his ego get to his head again and now the plan he so carefully crafted had been ruined!

"That old clown's here too?" Specter muttered before clicking his tongue in annoyance, "Tch! As if I already hadn't had enough nuisances on my back…." he grunted seeing how much the humans and cockroaches were alike, there was just no end to them and they didn't know when to give up.

"So sorry to be late to the party everybody, but hey, they always say the star always arrives fashionably late! Ahahah!" Dr Z then laughed out loud in amusement and much to everyone else's surprise and bewilderment.

"First Seth, now Dr Z shows up?" Lunensis commented blinking his eyes in disbelief at what to make of this unexpected turn of events, "Today really is full of surprises…."

"You guys look like you could use a hand." he Dr Z then grinned before pointing out to himself, "Worry not because the dinosaur king is here to save the day!" he proclaimed holding out his arms with pride.

Seth though didn't seem all that moved as he folded his arms and shook his head, "He's really hit his head hard this time…." he sighed heavily having given up, "We're doomed…."

"Are you sure about this Dr Z?" Cera asked him with concern, to which he quickly took offence at.

"Hey! I'm the one who helped bring Seth here to save your sorry scales! So be grateful you have help to begin with!" he shouted angrily shaking his fists in protest, "Besides, don't think for a second I'm actually defenceless here!" He countered as he fished out a purple dinoshot he brought with him as well as a card from his lab coat! "Ha! Alpha slash!" Appearing on the ground below the jet, was a silver and black feathered therizinosaurus which roared fiercely as he flashed out his long massive claws at the end of his arms!

"Whoa! What is that!?" Specter gasped in surprise at the new arrival, never before had he seen such an unusual looking dinosaur before.

"A therizinosaurus!?" Lunensis widened his eyes at the sight of the powerful secret dinosaur.

"I certainly didn't see this coming…." Seth admitted in surprise though retaining his calm composure.

"Where did that come from?" Cera then questioned Dr Z before shooting him a rather hard glare which made him stutter.

"I uhhh…held onto this one for sentimental reasons hehe…." he chuckled nervously scratching his cheek before protesting out loud in anger, "Just be thankful you still have a dinosaur left who can still fight!" he shouted as his therizinosaurus roared out flaring his massive front claws to ward off Brontikens who backed away slightly.

"One more?" Specter then muttered before growling in annoyance, "Fine! It doesn't matter if you have an entire army of dinosaurs on the way! When will you all learn you're no match for Brontikens!?" he shouted impatiently, "Stop wasting my time and just accept you can't win! You'll save yourself a lit of pain and make it easier for all of us, well more for me but you get the point!"

"Dr Z!" Seth then shouted at him warily, "He may have a point! Specter's not someone you can handle on your own! You need to return home and get help!"

Dr Z however shot a hard glare back towards his former assistant in defiance, "Never! For you see I've realised what it truly means to be a king!" he yelled to everyone's surprise and confusion.

"Huh?"

Calmly he looked down to Cera as well as Lunensis, before reflecting back on the people he met since arriving in this time, from the troopers who worshipped him for what he was going to achieve to those who were brutally honest in how they saw him and helping him see the truth, "Thanks to the people I've met here in this time, I've come to learn that a true king doesn't merely order people around to do his bidding, he unites them together and brings out what's best for and in each of his subjects!" he announced proudly before glaring at Specter, "And seeing with what you're about to do everyone here and to lots more, I can no longer sit idly by and watch others fight my battles, let alone let you filthy pirates get away with all your disgusting crimes against the universe!" he growled as he pointed a finger at him, "As the dinosaur king! I'm prepared to avenge every single man and dinosaur you wronged! Prepare to get clobbered with 225 million years of prehistoric justice!" He declared as his therizinosaurus roared out fiercely and flared out his razor sharp claws ready to back up his father and stand by his side to the end, even if it would cost him his life.

"Dr Z….." Cera breathed as the old man's words had touched her heart, every single word of his was filled with sincerity and that was what moved her the most.

"I hope he knows what he's doing…" Lunensis the narrowed his eyes, seeing he may be their only hope left, but at the same time, the image of him being the proud dinosaur king began to manifest before him in Lunensis' eyes, he was truly the man that would help pave forward their future.

"Oh my what a magnificent speech, I'm moved to tears." Specter wept as he used his hankie to wipe his eyes dry before suddenly grinning with malice, "Too bad you and your precious kingdom will just have to crumble before the empire's mighty heel!" he then boosted back, "But not before Brontikens reduces all of you to dust!" He yelled as Brontikens roared and rushed forward towards them and then raised out his front legs and prepared to slam down!

"Bring it on! We're not scared in the least!" Dr Z countered as his therizinosaurus roared and held out his claws, blocking the apatosaurus' advance as his legs began to dig in and crack the ground below as the enormous sauropod's weight began to make the smaller secret dinosaur buckle!

Despite being overwhelmed, the therizinosaurus held on and Dr Z gritted his teeth tensely, unyielding and unwilling to give up after coming this far, something which made Cera feel deeply moved inside, "Dr Z's serious…" Be it brave or stupid he truly did mean it, and there was no way she could turn her back on such passion once made as she and Miku nodded at one another, "That case, if we're going down then we go down fighting!" she declared standing up tall and Miku flare out her wings and snarled, "Miku go! Energy equaliser!" She declared as she pointed out at Dr Z's dinosaur! The mircroraptor detached herself from cryolophosaurus then swooped ahead and attached herself to therizinosaurus' back, at the very second Brontikens was about to crush him underfoot, she sent forth a charge of energy into the clawed dinosaur's body, causing hm to surge with power as he roared fiercely and pushed back, showing the apatosaurus off him!

"WHA!?" Specter's jaw hung as Brontikens stumbled back in disorientation.

"Oh?" Dr Z blinked his eyes in surprise as he turned to see Cera hold a fist at him.

"We're with you all the way Dr Z! Let's do this!" she said seriously with a nod of affirmation.

Dr Z said nothing momentarily as a shade began to cover his eyes, then he began to cackle rather unsettlingly, "Hehehehe…."

"D…Dr Z?" Cera sweated nervously, unsure of whether this was a good or bad thing.

Suddenly he burst into eerie uncontrollable laughter, "Ahahahaha! I can feel the power between us all! It's absolutely amazing!" he cackled as he felt an immense rush of energy flow through his veins at that very moment! "Such power like I've never felt before! I want more! More! More!" He screamed as both he and therizinosaurus suddenly glowed in bright rainbow light to everyone's alarm!

"AAAAH!" Cera cried as she covered her eyes and everyone looked away!

"Wh…What's happening now!?" Specter grunted in annoyance as the light forced Brontikens to halt his advance as he was forced to turn away from the glare!

As everyone became disorientated, Cer opened her eyes with a small peak through her fingers, before widening them in realisation, "That light….don't tell me-"

"Elemental fusion!" Dr Z yelled as the light erupted, revealing therizinosaurus in a new awakened form which shone in a spectrum of multiple colours! As he roared out with immense power brought out by the bond he shared with his 'father', Dr Z began to cackle proudly at having achieved this new level of power for himself at last! "Ahahahaha! So this is what it feels like to be one with your dinosaur! It feels absolutely incredible!" he cheered before letting loose all his excitement, "We did it! We did it my boy! I'm so proud of you!" he praised his 'son' as therizinosaurus roared out, flaring out his claws honoured to receive such words of kindness and motivation.

As everyone else looked up as the light died down, they widened their eyes in sheer utter disbelief at what they bore witnessed, "No way…." Lunensis breathed.

"An awakened form for a secret dinosaur?" Cera knew that awakening brought out immense power from each dinosaur element, but for it to be possible for a secret dinosaur which was already insanely strong must mean its powers were almost limitless now! While this bore unsettling possibilities for the future she was grateful it was on their side now.

Seth was most surprised of all as he stared speechlessly, "Dr Z actually did it…." he didn't expect him of all people to be able to tap into something even he couldn't achieve, perhaps even he underestimated the good doctor like how he did the children many times before, "I never imagined that old buzzard had it in him…." He then said with a small smirk.

Blinking with a gaping jaw in disbelief at what he just witnessed, Specter rubbed his eyes as he soon recollected himself, "WOOO! What a pretty colour it is!" he clapped his hands in excitement before punching a fist into his palm with a wicked grin, "Too bad it's all pretty and no punch!" he declared assuming this to be no more than a colour change, he was soon going to find out the hard way on just how wrong he was.

Dr Z grinned at the incoming giant sauropod, "Oh we'll give you a punch alright!" he yelled, "Scratch that! How about a whole claw on top of that!?" He declared as he swiped out his arm in the process! Therizinosaurus mirrored said movement as he smacked Brontikens back with a single backhanded swipe!

"AH!" everyone gasped in disbelief at how easily he repelled the attack! It wasn't over yet, as therizinosaurus raised his arm out and swiped at the apatosaurus' face and smacking him down to the ground! And before he could recover his senses he used his massive forearms, mustering all his upper body strength he was able to flip over Brontikens and send him crashing back to the ground! Everyone stared speechlessly at how easily Dr Z was turning the tables one sidedly on Specter, who grasped his face in shock!

"How dare you!? Nobody scratches my precious Brontikens and gets away with it!" he yelled furiously shaking out his fists as his spectral pirate mark glowed! "Be gone! Spectral destroy!" Once more Brontikens' armour glowed as their appendages raised up with the 6 coloured stones powering up as they concentrated their energy into a single gigantic sphere which he then fired out as a massive beam! "Ahahahah! You're done for now!" Specter cackled maniacally as his eyes widened with anticipation for the eradication of his enemies!

"I beg to differ!" Dr Z then countered much to his and everyone else's disbelief, "Son! Fight back with gyro claw!" commanded as therizinosaurus flashed in a bright rainbow aura and began to spin like a whirlwind while slashing his claws out! As the beam came in, as everyone braced for cover they widened their eyes in disbelief to see therizinosaurus was able to block against the beam with his relentless spinning and even push on through it!

"WHAT!?"

"He's actually blocking it!?"

"I don't believe it….." They each breathed and gasped as Specter turned pale.

"Th….This isn't fun anymore!" He cried as he began to bite on his hankie in a panic before moving to his finger nails!

"For you maybe but not for me! Ahahahah!" Dr Z laughed proudly as therizinosaurus pushed through and began slashing all around Brontikens in a circle, causing the huge sauropod to bellow in pain as he felt his legs give out and he fell to the ground!

"That actually did some major damage on him!" Cera cried in amazement while Lunensis and Seth continued watching in speechless awe.

Specter clenched his hand into a tight fist with his pent up rage building up inside him! "Grrr! If you think that's enough to stop us then you're in for a REAL shock!" he growled before punching forward, "Electro discharge!" The apatosaurus then lifted up his tail and twirled it around till it was surging with rainbow energy before firing out the energy stream at Dr Z and his dinosaur!

He however only scoffed unimpressed, "Please! You think a little fizzle like that will do anything to me and my boy!? Don't make me laugh!" he boasted with confidence, "Claw blade!" Therizinosaurus flashed rainbow coloured as his claws grew twice their length and were fully energised! Crossing his arms in front he was able to deflect the electro beam with ease before slicing forward and tearing through it like a string! Right after that he swung out his arms slashing at Brontikens relentlessly with his massive energy claws and then throwing him back with ease!

"AH!" Once more everyone was stuttered beyond belief at what they just witnessed.

"M….Megawatt stomp!" Specter then croaked as he pointed out weakly, feeling scared for the first time ever in a battle! Brontikens hesitated for a moment, believing this may actually be an opponent he can't best in battle, but driven on by Specter, he mustered enough energy to summon forth a lightning storm cloud which energised him as he charged forth and launched himself into the air ready to crush down on Dr Z and therizinosaurus for good! "I'll squash you into pancakes and put you all out of your misery once and for all!" he yelled as Brontikens closed in on them!

When therizinosaurus backed away a bit nervously, "Don't worry my son! You can do this! I believe in you!" Dr Z suddenly cheered for him, which helped inspire some feelings of bravery and courage inside, which were then further drawn out and amplified thanks to Miku who was connecting everyone's feelings into him at that very moment. Mustering all the energy from said feelings into his arm, "Go get him! Claw impaler!" Dr Z cried as he swung up his amor like an uppercut! In response, therizinosaurus mirrored his movements as an aura glowed around him! As Brontikens came within range, he swung up his arm as an enlarged set of claws sprouted from his already long claws which speared through the enormous sauropod moments before he landed, causing him to cough out and choke upon contact with the shining claws!

"AH!" Everyone widened their eyes in amazement as therizinosaurus raised up his arm, holding up Brontikens with such ease over his head!

"Incredible…." Cera breathed, for once Dr Z had surpassed her highest expectations in the greatest possible way. Sensing the connection between him and his therizinosaurus, she smiled warmly seeing he indeed had a change for the better, she would have been honoured if they had him as dinosaur king.

Specter's jaw hung before he grasped his head panicky at the sight of how easily his apatosaurus was being bested in battle, "WAAAAHH! Impossible!" he screamed in terror as therizinosaurus tossed Brontikens high into the air and he began to fall down at where he was! "AAAH!" Without hesitation, Specter abandoned his throne and took off out of Brontikens' path as he crashed down and smashed his throne to pieces!

BOOM!

A Huge explosion erupted from the throne's destruction, and Brontikens' pained cry echoed from the smoke as a light flashed from within! As the dust cleared, Specter widened his eyes to see his card had fallen to the ground in the middle of a huge crater made by the apatosaurus' fall! Specter gasped speechlessly, his eyes unblinking for several seconds before he burst into a wail of horror and bewilderment, "N-NOOOOOOO! BRONTIKENS!" he cried as he swooped down to pick up the card.

As everyone else stared in disbelief, Dr Z then folded his arms on his hips and began to laugh out loud snobbishly, though this time he had good reason to do so, "Ahahahaha! Behold and bow before the might of the true dinosaur king!" he proclaimed pointing up to the sky as therizinosaurus roared out in victory as he returned to his normal form and Miku detached herself from him and flew back to Cera, landing on her shoulder.

"Dr Z won….he saved us….." Cera then breathed in awe.

"I don't believe it…." Seth then muttered, feeling a little put off at being outdone by Dr Z of all people, though in this case he might have to make an exception since they won, hinted by a small smirk came upon his face soon after.

"The true dinosaur king…." As Lunesis thought back, he began to remember the statue depicting Dr Z standing tall and proud, that very pose he was putting on right now in triumph was an exact reflection of that very statue long ago at the stadium where he first competed and won a tournament, he did so feeling moved and inspired by that man's beliefs and achievements and it also allowed him to meet his wife Maia for the first time. Of all the members of the D team and the Alpha gang who were fighting with them now, Lunensis felt Dr Z was the one who had the biggest impact on his life and seeing him now he truly was indeed that very man who moved him to become the proud dino duellist he was now. The true dinosaur king….

The only one who didn't enjoy this triumph over Brontikens was without Specter, "GRRR!" who then growled furiously as his eyes glowed red, he punched all his anger into the hull of the ship causing it to crack as he shot a mad glare towards everyone else present!

"Uh oh…." Cera gulped nervously as they all readied themselves for whatever nasty trick he had waiting for them now.

"You may have beaten me….but you've won nothing you hear me!?" He growled in defiance, unwilling to step aside despite having lost, "Ahahah! You want to know why!?" he grinned psychotically as he got to the good part which ought to shut down any hopes the Resistance may have on breaching his base now, "The central station is surrounded by an impenetrable forcefield! It spans in a 200 km radius both above ground and under! Meaning you have no hope of breaching it and there's no way you'll ever be able to lay a measly finger on one of its walls!" he proclaimed with the intention of shutting them down even with all their hardest efforts.

Cera and Lunensis widened their eyes at his words, "What!?"

"AH!" They assumed him to be lying to spit them, but what he said next proved otherwise.

"Ehehe oh but it's true, and the only ones who can pass through are either us Zanjark or our minions the gel jarks! Anyone else would get swatted off like measly flies on a wind shield!" he cackled as he held out his arms stretched while holding a malicious look on his face, "Face it! Your missions was doomed to fail from the very beginning! Ahahahah!" He laughed mockingly at them before doing all sorts of ways to rub it in their face by sticking his tongue out, pulling down his eye lids and even shake his butt at them, much to their frustration.

"Tch!"

"Grrr….."

As they glared at Specter, finding themselves stuck and unable to proceed further, believing their mission may have come to an end, Dr Z strangely began to snicker in amusement, "Ehehehe!" Eveyrone then looked to him in surprise to see him smiling, along with Seth who remained calm and composed, as well as a confident smirk coming across his face.

"What's so funny?" Specter asked them suspiciously as he raised an eyebrow at them.

"Did you really think we didn't see this coming? How laughably predictable!" Dr Z grinned which surprised Cera, Lunensis as well as Specter who was most put off by this stunning development!

"Wh…What!?" He assumed they were bluffing but unfortunately what they were about to say next would change all that.

"We anticipated you might have had some sort of safety measure or booby trap lying in wait down there." Dr Z then smirked.

"So we took the liberty of getting in a little inside help for a little good measure." Seth then continued after him which came as a big interest to both Cera and Lunensis as to what they meant.

Upon hearing their words, Specter turned pale and his arms grew almost limp, "Inside…..help?" he gulped down hard.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Down below inside the Control center, at the base's power source chamber which was an enormous nuclear reactor core which was generating immense energy to power the entire complex. It also supplied power to the same force field which enshrouded the base to help deter any incoming enemy attacks from the sky. The only ones who could pass through the shield were either gel jarks or the space pirates themselves, which made it impossible to infiltrate and destroy….or at least almost impossible, therefore many of the guards present lived a rather lax and unconcerned way of living.

Gel jarks patrolled the hallways of the control center, inspecting the systems and performing regular maintenance checks, along with checking security monitors which were now fixated on Specter's battle high in the sky it drew such a large crowd as they waited in excitement to see the outcome of the battle. Little did they know, was that they had a traitor amongst them, one whom they didn't expect coming. One jark headed for the room which contained the base's power source, and having greeted the jark which was guarding it with a salute, he then took his comrade's shift…..only to gain access to it as he placed his slimy hand upon it and entered through the unlocked doors.

Standing before the huge generator, the jark beeped knowing exactly what he had to do. Heading right for its control panel, he began to key in certain codes and before long he set the reactor to overload and soon would reach critical meltdown within mere minutes! Red alert alarms rang through the base as gel jarks, having never experienced this before due to their sheltered lifestyle since being stationed here, ran about in circles panicking as some of them tried to make a break for the exits! To no avail as the core soon self destructed, causing a massive chain reaction of explosions through out the base! Swallowing up all in its path as all systems failed and meltdown was imminent!

BOOM!

The jark, having accomplished his task as ordered by Seth, beeped and gave a salute to his master, who bestowed upon him free will many months ago when they first met on Specter's ship, as he completed his final mission and was swallowed up in the explosion!

BOOM!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Outside from the ship, Specter widened his eyes in disbelief as the forcefield around the tower began to fizzle out as explosions began to erupt in different areas of the center ranging from near the border walls right close to the central dish! "GAH!" He exclaimed clenching in his face finding this inconceivable, "Wh…What's happening!? How could this happen!? My plan was perfect! Foolproof!"

Lunensis and Cera were caught completely by surprise at this, as they stared and blinked pondering over how this fortunate turn of events happened, their answer soon came, "Looks like your perfect plan just went up in smoke, that's what's happening right now." said Seth with a sneaky smirk as he recalled cryolophosaurus to its card form.

"Ahahaha! And there's nothing you can do about it!" Dr Z laughed as he pointed at and mocked the unfortunate Specter, just as he recalled therizinosaurus to his card form an then kissing it closely, "Mua! You made your daddy proud today, I'll give you a nice little treat when we get back home." he whispered lovingly into the card as he then began to stroke it gently..

Looking to them, both father and daughter were astonished beyond belief, that Seth and Dr Z were the ones who planned this out entirely, this victory was all thanks to them, "I don't believe it…." Cera's father breathed almost speechlessly.

Cera though, soon smirked at both of them, feeling deeply impressed by what they managed to pull off an int heir time of need, "Heh…Not bad Seth….not bad…." she complimented him quietly before looking to Dr Z up above in the ship, "And you too Dr Z….." She said to him after as she smiled lightly, feeling completely at peace with them both for the first time. Deep down, she was thinking perhaps the time for her to finally let go of the past and forgive them both completely may have finally come at last….

Overwhelmed by this sheer loss and utter defeat, Specter fell to his knees and looked down in despair at his very own command center which he was given to protect, fall apart into ruins as explosions from within it tore its foundation apart, as parts of the tower soon began to topple down and crash to the ground causing huge clouds of dust to erupt.

Dr Z soon cackled out cockily at him, feeling proud of his victory over the pirate's apatosaurus earlier, "In your face you flying freak! You should've known better than to challenge m-" He held himself back at the last most before clearing his throat and rephrasing himself "US! Now it's only a matter of time before the rest of your pitiful empire comes crumbling down! Ahahaha!" He then laughed cockily which made Cera smile a little bit more to see he had learned a little something in his time here, about time too….Though Dr Z did keep a certain all to himself, "Only to be replaced by my new and evolved dinosaur kingdom." He snickered, only this time he intended to make it one everyone can be proud of, not just himself.

"N…NOOOOO!" Specter then wailed in exasperation as he grasped his head in disarray, "You've ruined everything!" He then fell down on his arms and began banging his fist on the ship's hull in frustration, "There goes my big shot at gaining Goma's trust and getting into his big leagues! When Goma finds out about this I'll be ruined!" He screamed inside his head before gnashing his teeth, grinding them as he soon threw his fist right into the ship's hull so hard it caused it to dent! "GRRRR!" He growled furiously as he stood up and turned to face all 4 humans, as his fingers twitched as he itched for a up close brawl of his own! "Mark my words! This isn't over! I'll get you all for this if it's the last thing I do!" He swore at the top of his lungs before pointing out at them with hatred, "Even if it means taking you down with me!"

"Hmph! Dream on Specter," Lunenis scoffed, "The only one going down with this ship is you." he responded calmly before taking out his dinoshot and making a call to base, "Lunensis to HQ! Mission accomplished! We're returning to base at once!" He shouted to them before looking to everyone else with him, "Everyone! Evacuate now!"

"Right!" Seth and Dr Z said, as Dr Z lowered the aircraft enough for Seth to jump back in.

"You got it dad!" Cera answered as she recalled Miku to card form and jumped back insider her rig and Lunensis made a run for his Monster Maw!

"Oh no! You're not going any-" Before Secter could go after them, the 3 vehicles disappeared in a flash of glowing light as they teleported away from sight! "Where?" He finished blinking his eyes unexpectedly at the end as they vanished. The explosions below soon caught his attention and as he looked over the ship's edge he widened his eyes as the explosions soon reached the main tower and a massive chain reaction ensued as bits of metal and flaming fiery debris soon began to fly out towards the ship! "Uh oh….." Specter gulped turning pale as some of the flaming shrapnel hit his ship's engines and thrusters causing them to catch fire and explode too!

BOOM!

"WAAAH! Time for me to abandon ship!" He screamed as he threw off his cape, spread his wings and took tot he sky as fast as his wings could flap and carry him as his ship soon plummeted right into the satellite dish down below! As a result of the collision, both it and the entire command center erupted into a massive plume of fire and smoke!

BOOM!

"Huh?" Sensing something behind him, Spectre looked down below as he flew, only to see the eruption caused by the explosion had sent a shockwave so massive and fast it swatted him without warning and he was sent spiralling out of control like a rock falling off a cliff! "WAAAAAAAAAA!" he cries of panic and in disorientation echoed across the desert landscape as he crashed head first into the desert sand below, as a cloud of dust erupted from impact!

CRASH!

"Ow…" his painful moan was soon heard as the dust cleared, with a huge sandy crater made in the dusty dunes and with his lower half sticking out of the soil and one leg twitching.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At Antartica inside his computer room, Goma scowled in disappointment having bore witnessed the continued failures of his minions and the downfall of his operations one after the other on each of his screens. From Ed and Zander defeating Gavro and destroying his super computer in Europe, Max and Rex putting a stop to Foolscap and his sleeping machine in Asia, Zoe and Ursula sabotaging his mining operations in America to his father being defeated at Africa. With the fall of each outpost his hold on the planet had been weakened severely and now with the destruction of his command tower, he could only watch much to his disappointment as his dinosaurs all across the planet were freed from control, their armour and marks shattering before they returned back to cards as they either patrolled their territories or battled Resistance forces.

The tide of the battle was no doubt turning and it was not in his favour. After observing those events carefully on screen, he folded his arms and thought to himself seriously, "Hmmm….It seems I may have overestimated father and his men…..or did I perhaps underestimate the power of the resistance and the D Team?" he asked himself before turning hard and tense, "Either way, this oversight has costed me much….." he said as he narrowed his eyes and switched off all the monitors, feeling disgusted at the results as he turned his back to it, "A mistake which I have no intention of repeating." He then hissed as his eyes flared purple momentarily with rage as he began to step out from the computer room, "Now it appears that I would have to take matters into my own hands now….seeing that I can't rely on anyone else to suppress this filthy rebellion." He thought to himself, before an eager but malevolent grin came across his face, as now it finally time. Deep down despite his losses he actually hoped it would come to this, having been bored out of his mind unable to find a challenge worthy of his talents, but perhaps now he may have found it at long last.

Leaving his room, he headed for one of the open courtyards of his citadel. Along the way he could hear the sounds of a vicious bloody battle echoing from the entrance, to which he smirked at with delight as he went through to see, knowing full well what it was. As he stepped out onto it, he looked up and grinned in amusement to see an iguanodon, covered in all sorts of bloodied wounds around its' body! Cuts and scrapes along its limbs and tail, along with several vicious bleeding bite marks around its neck, it breathed and moaned heavily in agony as it bled out an immense amount of blood due to its lacerations! A loud roar then sounded out as Goma looked to the side to see the iguanodon's tormentor, a massive carcharodontosaurid dinosaur, with a black upper body with an orange underside followed with some cream white stripes along its sides, along with spectral pirate marks on its head and sides, his most prized dinosaur of them all and one he knew which met his highest expectations in a dinosaur worthy as his own, eocarcharia.

The merciless carnivore had delivered a series of savage wounds all to the helpless ornithopod, his prey was helpless and had obviously no chance of escape, and yet he still refused to let it end so quickly. In fact, the dinosaur to deep pleasure in watching his already dead prey squirm and suffer, its cries of pain and agony were like music to its ears, spurring him to deepen it even further! Only when his prey would be at its final moments, would he allow it the sweet release of death….which had soon come as the iguanodon lost consciousness and fell down to the ground as a result of blood loss. The eocarcharia then headed towards the fallen body of his prey, stomped on it and grabbed its neck in his jaws, snapping it like a twig and ending its life permanently. It then roared out ravenously before using his massive foot claws to rip apart the stomach of the iguanodon and begin his feeding frenzy! Blood gushed out and organs spilt onto the ground as the eocarcharia ripped out chunks of meat from inside before swallowing it down. The only thing which disappointed him was that his prey didn't put up as much a fight as he had hoped for, it had been a long time since he had a worthy rival to make his meal all the more sweet and satisfying as he continued to feast.

As much as Goma took great pleasure in watching the law of the jungle at work in nature at its finest, he knew full well his priorities, so with some slight degree of regret he called out to his partner signalling the end of meal time, "Eocarcharia," The carnivore perked up at the sound of his voice and turned his head to see him standing before him, "The time has finally come for our turn now." He said to his dinosaur who then swallowed his mouthful of meat and then flashed sets of sharp bloodied murderous fangs in his huge jaws, grinning just as malevolently as his master did! A near perfect reflection, almost as if both dinosaur and zanjark alien were one and the same. Looking ahead he saw the carcass of the iguanodon his dinosaur was feeding from and then smirked with delight for his partner's satisfaction who licked his lips, "Hope you've enjoyed your appetiser, because the main course is about to be served." He said as eocarcharia stomped his foot on the ground and let out a nightmarish roar which echoed across the citadel. Pressing the symbol on his armour, his dinosaur changed into purple energy before returning to his hand in the form of a card which he slid into his pocket.

The moment his dinosaur disappeared from the premises, a group of gel jarks that were hiding nearby behind pillars or walls, stepped out uneasily in terror, even their master's dinosaur feasting was far more than anything they could handle. Goma noticed their presence and shot them a look which made them stand up straight as they acknowledged his presence. He then pointed to the iguanodon remains with his thumb, "Clean up this mess and send the bones to the restoration chamber," he ordered before grinning with dark delight, "Then return them to the holding pens, very soon we shall have a victory feast to celebrate my triumph over the Resistance once and for all." he said as the jarks saluted him obediently, a handful of them ran out to the iguanodon remains, hoisting it up together as they carried it off while others came with mops and soap to wipe the bloody stains off the courtyard, as Goma took his leave much to their relief. "As they say no one is useless, there's a place for everyone, they just need to know where it is and accept it." He said to himself as he made his way to his throne room.

As he entered through it, a flash of purple lightning struck outside the cold polar winds across the ice wasteland through the windows, illuminating the throne room momentarily along with his dark form and purple eyes. "And it's high time I put the Resistance exactly where they belong." He then said as he opened up his wings and flew up to where his throne rested on the high pedestal. He looked to the right arm rest, where a red button revealed itself, smirking to himself, he pressed it which caused a compartment above his throne to open up and inside it glowed in a series of dark colours. He smirked seeing it as he flew up to its level, and inside that compartment held inside a glass case, hooked up to several wires was a glowing orb, in a dark multicoloured aura inside it, which caused him to grin maniacally at it, "Celebrate your moment of triumph while you can…..I promise you this temporary illusion won't last." He vowed with the intention to show all those meddling foolish humans the true power of the shadow empire!

Holding his arm out at the orb, dark energy began to transfer from it into the palm of his hand till he was able to collect it as a glowing ball of energy. He then placed it against his spectral pirate mark, which caused him to grit his teeth in pain at the power ravaging and running wild inside his body! The marks around his face along with his eyes flashed purple before he began to take delight in the sensation as it soon came under his full control and with the energy flowing through his veins he felt invincible and that there was no force in the universe who could ever hope to stand against him! As he thought about demonstrating this first hand to the resistance, he began to cackle and trust into demonic laughter which echoed ominously through the halls of his citadel, "Hehehehehe….AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!"

 **The next blow has been dealt, and now the battle is won….but the war is still far from over, as Goma now takes it upon himself to deal with the Resistance himself! Stay tuned for an epic clash for the ages to soon come!**

 **Starting here will refer to the pirates as Zanjark at times, which I believe to be their alien race.**

 **Surprised you didn't I? Bet most of you didn't expect Dr Z or even Seth to make an appearance did you? Wanted to showcase their redemption and also Dr Z showing off his super therizinosaurus, being the only secret dinosaur he still had a connection with therefore the best one for his partner and to go super! Fitting isn't it?**

 **Now you see where Goma gets his dark powers and what makes him so powerful, as for what it is, stay tuned to find out!**

 **On a side note in case you were wondering about the people and how they looked, for America you can look to red dead redemption for ideas, Africa you can look to the people of resident evil 5 for an idea.**

 **Also another trivial fact is that between Lunensis and Cera one can compare them to the Zaizen siblings in Yugioh Vrains.**

 **In response to reviews**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Yup wanted to highlight that here in this chapter with women's nature and men sometimes being fickle at times. Also showing Terry and Ursula making that fiery connection of rage too. The Black t-rex is a different one, the first was destroyed at the end of season 1, at least it then rested in peace. That's also the vibe I wanted to give for black saurolophus too.**

 **Sheer's definitely done rotten things to the men, though she never liked it to begin with, it was Goma who put her up to it thinking it as a joke. Wanted to make this chapter a funny one too, though things are soon going to pick up and get real tense soon. Wanted also to give another addition to Ursula's gag at being shot down again too, and yeah that's a fine way at putting it one to cool down the other.**

 **You sure know how to talk really deep, still you shouldn't give up on yourself too much, it's what inside that matters most in the end as you said.**

 **Never thought up a surname for them but then again we never got the surnames for the Alpha gang though. Also glad you liked this chapter, I didn't find it one of my favourites to write since it was a lot to cover but still good for you.**

 **Hope you enjoyed what happened here too, also gave me a couple of ideas too, though it was more to develop Seth and Dr Z too as well.**

 **Nice trivia again, though last time I wanted it to be a play on 'Sarah' but more dinosaur related, but lately wanted her name to be Saura but found it too late to change.**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Yeah I agree, she's definitely a man slayer or even a man eater if you think about it.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Well Zoe was able to put her differences aside to help Ursula so it was a start, plus she did respect Ursula a little more for being able to beat Sheer and hold her own before the armour kicked in. Ursula though didn't want to owe anything to her so in a way Zoe did spur her to go further since she did not want to be inferior to her. Glad you liked the battles, hope you liked this chapter's more.**

 **Well they were under control at first then later overcome by infatuation and excitement over Ursula. But yeah sometimes some men can be like that.**

 **Two platoon crush was used in the German submarine base once and we've seen big moves like that being used in the DS game no matter the location lol. Glad you enjoyed the humour I included too.**

 **Here Specter was a little better prepared and almost succeeded compared to the others, only things that threw him off were those he couldn't anticipate.**


	57. Descent of darkness

Chapter 57

Descent of darkness

It was a time for congratulations for the resistance as the teams all regrouped in order to recuperate from their recent ordeals, though while some were taking it easy and hiding off to take some well deserved relaxation in the grass station, others were already throwing off some rather wild parties in the mess hall or common rooms with there dinosaurs to celebrate their triumph over the Shadow empire's forces.

In the common room as some chatted with one another or parties it out with their dinosaurs who were dancing or roaring out to some music, Blaze went over and gave Marina a warm hug to welcome her back from Europe and she received him with a gentle embrace feeling relieved her husband returned home without so much as a scratch. As they did so Ursula sniffled bitterly, from both heartbreak and from great physical pain as she was now covered in bandages covering one eye and the other already looking swollen and black. Her face also seemed rather swollen too with a somewhat bloody nose, with even a few patches on her face and a cast around her arm, the painful aftermath after experiencing the wrath of several jealous housewives and girlfriends. As Zander patted her comfortingly on her back to show she was still cared for by others, Ed brought her a bucket of ice and wrapped some in a white towel to put on top her aching forehead as she once more broken down into tears of rejection.

Dr Owen on the other hand was grinning eagerly to himself behind the corner and held himself a pair of thumbs up and jittered seeing he still had a chance with Ursula, to his relief and to Patrick's dismay as he sighed and shook his head giving up on any hope of his boss moving on. Dr Taylor was having an arm wrestling match with Craig, who easily smashed down his arm and roared out in victory to the joy of his troops who cheered and jumped up and down with excitement over thier boss' 10th win in a row, while Spike unhappily broke into heavy depression at being creamed so easily as Aki went over to pat him on the back for his efforts.

Raina meanwhile was working on Helga and Jonathan in the science lab hoping to patch in some upgrades to help them better withstand attacks as well as improve their power levels so they'd be better equipped to protect the D Team and Alpha gang should the situation demanded it, while the Zoe's parents were at the Medical bay, where Dr Drake was indulging himself with using his mega needle on some heavily exhausted dinosaurs, his new serum bringing them back to life after a hard day of fighting and the first thing they did was run off the table and into the fields hoping to never have to get hurt or sick again so they'd have to endure the infernal needle of doom another time around! While her husband was depressed at having so many dissatisfied patients one after the other, Mrs Drake though was receiving all kinds of love and attention as she oversaw some of the nests in the hatching grounds nearby and every baby dinosaurs gathered around her hoping for some love and attention from her. Several mother dinosaurs felt a warm trusting vibe from her and were willing to let their young gather around her knowing they could trust her with them much to her delight.

While Terry, Tank and Spiny went over chasing some of the smaller dinosaurs like camptosaurus and brachyceratops around, they were stopped as therizinosaurus stepped in front of them and roared out, flaring and winging out his vicious claws at them, warding them away! Stepping back daily, remembering how easily he did them in last time, the 3 Alpha dinosaurs wisely give him a wide berth. Nearby Dr Z began to laugh out loud cockily as he and the Ancients looked over some nearby holographic monitors which depicted his 'son's' tremendous victory over Brontikens earlier in Africa as well as having been awakened, "Ahahahah! What did I tell you Ancient!? I achieved something YOU couldn't!" he cackled before sticking his tongue out and smacking his butt at Rex's dad, "Can you make a dinosaur evolve like I just did!? Ha! That's right! You can't! Ahahahah!"

Dr Ancient was reaching his limit at being able to tolerate Dr Z's overbearing arrogance, and even less his laughter, "Yes yes Dr Z I've already heard you like the past 20 times already…." he groaned wishing he could plug up his ears or better yet mute the old man's voice so he wouldn't need to spend the next few years at being forced to listen to his self proclaimed brilliance. He almost liked him as he was before when they were at odds, at least he was more quiet then.

"Still honey." Cretacia then spoke up which caught his attention, "If Dr Z of all people could make a connection with a dinosaur like he just did, maybe it isn't so hopeless that we can make a perfect human dinosaur utopia when we get back." She said with a bright smile.

Her statement made her husband snicker in agreement, "Heh…maybe you're right dear…." He said looking at things from a much better perspective.

"I agree." Said Rod as he and his sister walked up to them, having been listening in on their conversation.

"To think we almost gave up on him, how wrong we were." Laura giggled cheekily as Dr Z's jaw dropped at the startling revelation of how little faith his grandchildren had in him all along.

Looking around and realising the others were basically making fun of him he then gritted his teeth and shook with rage, "Wh…What's that supposed to mean!? Also I'm still here! Hello!?" He screamed his head off as he jumped up and down blowing off steam as everyone else laughed it off in amusement much to his dismay as the positions were reversed.

"Hahahahaha!"

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the control room, the nerve center of the base where a holographic globe stood in the center of the room along with huge monitor screens in the background depicting different corners of the world being monitored. Present there were the D Team, who stood right in front of the holographic earth along with Cera, with Lunensis in the further back as he watched them with a careful eye for standing before them was none other than….Seth himself.

After regrouping at the base, everyone was no less than bewildered to see that he of all people had made it to the future with them too! Many of the people from the future, didn't take too kindly of him at first glance, having recalled him committing vile and immoral acts towards dinosaurs which rivalled that of some of the worst criminals in their time who abused science in order to corrupt dinosaurs. Despite the hostility met, Seth stood firm as Cera and Lunensis made it clear to him that if it weren't for his help they never would have prevailed over Specter in Africa let alone survive. Hearing that helped put in a bit of a good word to many of the troopers and captains present and relieved some tension, though some of them still held a bitter grudge towards him as they knew some deeds of his couldn't be forgiven so easily.

Nevertheless Lunensis knew that conflicting agendas would do nothing more than hold them back, especially after they managed to secure 4 hard earned victories, so it was best they all kept to themselves while he and the D Team decided what to do with him, to which he was more than willing to allow if it meant that he'd be allowed to stay and try to atone for his past crimes, something which Miku and Cera bite sensed as genuine.

As they stood before one another in the Control room, silence came upon both sides for several moments, with neither side uttering a single word since entry, as if they were all squaring off in battle waiting for the right moment to strike with the right weapon, or in this case, the best way to start making amends….which proved to be far more difficult a challenge compared to battle given their complicated history and conflicted perspectives on the matter.

Soon however, with a little encouragement from Cera, Max and the others soon decided that they'd have to be the ones to first thank Seth for all he did for them, especially for helping them when they needed it most against the dark pterosaur, "Well this is awkward…." Max then muttered as he scratched his cheek while Zoe and Rex looked away or whistled respectively. "Never thought the day would come where we'd actually be saying…..th…." He then swallowed down hard and hissed through his teeth knowing this would leave a really bad taste in his mouth, but seeing Zoe and Rex were unwilling to initiate and seeing the look in Cera's eyes, which showed that she had forgiven him, he swallowed his pride and forced out a word he never believed he'd actually say to Seth, "Thanks…."

As he did so, he could feel his old grudge against him ebb away like dust in the wind, something shared with by his friends as they soon began to feel more at peace with him around.

"Yeah…..after everything we've been through and our old history…it seems rather strange." said Rex as he looked away unsure of how to make of it while Zoe simply said nothing but kept quiet. Chomp, Ace and Paris too were confused as how to view Seth now, but seeing their partners were willing to let go of the past they felt a little safer around him but still kept their guard around him nonetheless, not leaving the children's sides for their safety. Cera and Lunensis though watched on, though her father remained stoic and expressionless, Cera herself soon smiled feeling at ease that the bad blood between them all had been dissolved.

Seth soon smirked, "Hmph, don't misinterpret my intentions, I was merely doing this for myself and no one else." he scoffed as they all looked to him rather seriously, "I made a grave error when I sided with Specter long ago, so I merely took responsibility for my past actions and nothing more." He then said looking away with a huff.

After that the others began to smile seeing he was merely trying to keep the tough guy act up and not admit he did it because it was right and nothing more, "Heh, regardless of your intentions, you really came through for us in the end, so thank you." Rex chuckled.

"Mhmm, we wouldn't have been able to pull this off without your help." Zoe nodded after Rex.

"And we…forgive you too….for everything before." Cera concluded, to which Seth merely scoffed uncaringly.

"Hmph…."

Max's smile soon vanished as a question he had been meaning to ask soon popped up, "Still, how did you manage to come all the way here?" he asked as everyone turned towards Seth wanting to hear how he pulled off this amazing feat.

"Yeah, I heard from dad and mom that the time machine was destroyed and the only way to come here was by being summoned from this end." Rex added just as curious.

Seth soon smirked rather smugly, "Heh, as usual you children underestimate me." he said as he began to explain himself, how he detected space time anomalies when he was on the outskirts of the city. He had been planning to leave and move forward and forget the past, but realised this was something he couldn't ignore. Upon his return he was no less than surprised to see the space pirate ship over the city and the chaos being caused. After to left he sent a spy fly drone to keep tabs on the Ancient household and witnessed them all disappear into the time machine when it exploded upon overloading.

Since then he laid low and gathered information about the future using the drone he sent through the light and learn much about the far future, about how humans and dinosaurs evolved together, what he had dreamed of for so long only to see it had been reduced to ash because of the space pirates. His old self wouldn't forgive the pirates for committing such atrocities to science and dinosaur evolution while his newer persona felt regret for helping them in the first place so he knew he couldn't sit by and let them get away with it. Thus after the Ancients and the D Team's parents were summoned he worked hard to rebuild the time machine using parts salvaged and scavenged, with some improvements so he could use fake stone plates to power it in place of the originals. All that was needed was tracing the coordinates with a TPS and triangulating their exact space and time in order to come forth to the future undetected.

As he finished talking, the D team were stunned beyond belief at how much he accomplished in their time here and that he pulled it off, "Wow, have to admit it must have taken quite a lot of time and energy for you to do that all by yourself." Rex whistled deeply impressed.

"Indeed it did." Seth nodded before smiling to himself and looking around the room with admiration, "It was worth the effort though, if it meant I could come here and see how much the future holds in store for both humanity and dinosaurs alike." He said. Now he could see first hand that this was what Dr Ancient wanted from the start, a perfect state of balance and coexistence between dinosaurs and man, something he didn't think possible. It was as the children said, they could learn from one another and take both species to heights neither could reach alone. Now he was going to make it his mission to protect it.

Hearing his words and sensing the good in his heart from saying that, both the D Team and their dinosaurs smiled feeling rather at ease at last and almost able to call Seth a friend.

Lunensis too smiled seeing who they were all happy and resolved their differences, and it couldn't have come at a better timing, "It's good thing we're all here together and united with a single purpose." He said stepping in with slight regret at having to interrupt this moment, but it was necessary, "We need all the help we can get if we're going to end the shadow empire's reign of terror once and for all." He said seriously as everyone mirrored his expression knowing their task wasn't done yet and they couldn't rest on their laurels just yet. He soon looked to Seth and smiled with confidence, "And I'm certain with Seth now in our ranks, that future is now more secure." he said believing the man had more than proved his worth and trustworthiness in his aid in the African desert earlier.

"Yeah I agree…." Cera smiled too as she and her friends nodded too.

"Maybe, but it's not like we need to worry about them anymore right?" Max then said with optimism as he folded his arms behind his head laxly. As the others turned to him questioningly he shrugged his shoulders in confusion, "I mean, we've already taken down all their bases all over the planet and nearly all the dinosaurs are free from their control."

Zoe soon smiled with him seeing he had a point there, "Yeah, we're pretty much in the endgame now!" she cheered eagerly, "All we need to do is take down their HQ and then it's game over! We win!" She said as Rex, Cera and Lunensis both thought or folded their arms as they considered it.

"Hmph! How optimistic….and naive of you to think if it'd be that easy." Seth scoffed unconvinced which made Max and Zoe frown at his lack of enthusiasm.

"Hey come on, get with the groove already," Max sighed, "I mean it's not like things can be any more difficult than what we went through right?"

"Actually Max, Seth may have a point." Rex then stated as the others looked to him curiously.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean Rex?" Max and Zoe asked him as the others listened, "Is there….something you know about that we all haven't heard of?"

He then nodded uneasily, "Yeah, it was right after I defeated Foolscap in Darkwood Forest." he explained, "Right before he left, he mentioned about he and the other pirates now working under a new boss." He said folding his arms and narrowing his eyes hard, "Someone way more powerful and scarier than Specter ever was…." As he said that everyone fell rather silent, "The one who was responsible for setting up their bases and giving them all kinds of new weapons and dinosaurs to use at their at their disposal."

Max shuddered at the words which reached his ears, "That doesn't sound good…." he swallowed, knowing that whoever this new leader was already had access to so much power, and yet to give it up to the other pirates….meant he likely had more to spare…and that worried him.

"Did he mention who this new boss of theirs' is?" Cera asked Rex.

"He did." Rex nodded as her heart became heavy, wondering how she might be able to handle the news he was about to bring her.

Rx took a breath as he readied himself and uttered that very name Foolscap left him, "His name is Goma."

At the sound of it, Lunensis shuddered and his heart skipped a beat. Seth caught onto it and narrowed his eyes sensing this Goma may be more trouble than his name gave away if it could make the commander of the resistance quiver. Oblivious to his reactions, the rest of the D Team blinked questioningly at Rex wondering what kind of person he could be.

"Goma?" Cera muttered which earned her the attention of everyone else.

"Who's that Cera?" Zoe asked her.

She then lowered her head and shook her head, "I….don't know…." she sighed, "I've never heard that name before."

"I have." Lunensis then spoke up which caught the children and their dinosaurs off guard.

"Huh!?" As they gasped Seth kept a stoic look, as if he had expected this.

Cera blinked her eyes, "Dad? You….did?" she asked anxiously.

He nodded, "I've only heard it once, on a record we once procured from an outpost years ago." he answered her as he then lose his eyes and reflected back to a time when he was screening through data acquired during an outpost raid one time several months back, he hadn't given it much thought till now but the reminder of that very name soon made him realise there was a far more sinister darkness behind the scenes this whole time. "Not much was revealed on him," he said shaking his head before narrowing his eyes, "But based on the limited intel we gathered, we deduced he may have played a role in the birth of the Shadow empire itself, without a doubt he must have been the one who aided the space pirates in becoming the massive world threat as they are now."

His words inspired some rather uneasy feelings in this present at that very moment, that there was someone out there who was the brains and the true mastermind behind these operations and attacks, and everything they faced till now was merely the muscle, "I didn't think it was possible, but Specter did say the base and ship he used were given to him." Cera then spoke up as she folded her arms, "It's likely this Goma may have had a hand in rescuing them from defeat and then bringing them into his ranks."

The others grew increasingly wary knowing that with their recent victories they'd be sending more than a message to the Empire's leader to take action, what they did was nothing short of a declaration of war!

Seth meanwhile narrowed eyes and saw the opportunity to take his leave, "I'll leave you to sort this out amongst yourselves." He said as he began to walk through the open doors, "In the meantime I'll excuse myself, if I'm going to make a contribution to the cause I might as well get familiar with my surroundings and the rest of my…fellow co workers too." As the doors closed behind the others felt a little uneasy of letting him have free reign over the entire base while unsupervised, but now they had much bigger things to worry about as they decided to trust him on this…hopefully he wouldn't rub any of the others the wrong way.

"If that's the case, while we have the space pirates on the run and the advantage, maybe we can find their HQ and take the fight to them once and for all!" Max then spoke up thinking they ought not to wait and give their enemies a chance to regroup and rearm themselves.

Cera then nodded, "Yeah, sounds like a good idea too. They'll need time to recover after the huge losses we dealt them." he thought seeing this as a strategical move they could implement.

"Straight in through a brick wall and to the point, heh, I like it!" Zoe smirked feeling eager for action and confident they can pull this one off.

Rex though folded his arms with concern, "Even if it is risky that would be our best course of action…." he then decided believing they now had no more time to waste, if they had a chance to move in and end this war once and for all now was the time.

"I wish it was that simple." Lunensis then sighed as he walked over to the computers and typed on screen, the map depicting Antartica and a satellite image came on screen, "For months we performed all kinds of scans over Antartica for the Shadow empire's stronghold, but every search we performed came up with nothing no matter how strong we improved our radar's range or strength." He said with a heavy sigh as the scans picked up nothing and he even slammed his fist on the console in frustration which startled the children momentarily, "We suspect it's either the cold winds interfere with the scans or that their shielding is far superior to our best satellites." He then said wishing they could end this quickly but every attempt they made so only resulted in either nothing or setbacks due to troopers needing to recover after their cold ordeals.

"Antartica? Brr…." Zoe then shuddered questioning of all the places for a villain to have a base why there?

Rex however caught on quick, "Makes sense, if I wanted a lair so inhospitable and dangerous, plus really difficult for enemies to navigate through, I'd definitely pick there as my hideout." he said folding his arms in thought because that was exactly what he'd do.

Despite the difficulties presented before them, Max still refused to give in but still couldn't see a way around all this yet, "So then…what do we do?" he then asked before tensing up rather impatiently, "Sit around here and wait for them to come knocking!?" he then cried to the others hoping for a suggestion. His friends could only look on feeling the same as he did, angsty at hearing such a great threat incoming and yet being unable to do anything about it was tearing him apart inside.

"All I do know is, we do what we can and prepare ourselves." Lunensis sighed shaking his head seeing no other way, "Rearm and regroup our own forces properly before we launch a thorough sweep of Antartica." He then added as he remembered several of them have sustained some injuries and damage to their equipment which needed tending to first, "Without a doubt Goma is likely to catch wind of our activities and would surely act now in response to the blows dealt." He then said, believing it was likely that their enemies would take some time to rearm themselves after their recent losses, so it would be a good chance for them to do the same, with their limited options and information available, "Till then we be on guard and ready for anything."

As Lunensis finished, the rest of the D Team tensed up and hardened themselves, while Max gritted his teeth in frustration at the hard facts, as much as they disliked being forced into the position they were in it was the hand they were dealt. All they could do was prepare for the battle to come ahead….though nothing would ready them for what was about to happen right now.

RING! RING! RING!

Everyone widened their eyes at the sight of the red flaring alarms and the sirens ringing throughout the base, "Huh!?"

"What the!?"

"What's going on now!?" The D Team gasped as their dinosaurs either tensed up with agitation or cried out in alarm and ran about in a panic! Either spooked by the sudden alarms or sensing danger was incoming excuse of it.

"Trouble…."

"I'll check!" Lunensis quickly typed away at the computers as he honed in on the source of the disturbance. As he did, the screens lit up and he widened his eyes to see a number of space portals were opened up right above the top of the Resistance's upper section in various angles around the glass pyramid!

"AH! Ground bridge portals!" Cera gasped as her friends and dinosaurs widened their eyes and gasped in alarm.

"They're right above us too!" her father added in bewilderment as to what this meant for them.

Zoe squinted her eyes and widened them as she saw something from within them, "Something's coming out!" she pointed at them, as Lunensis zoomed in closer. To everyone's alarm gel jarks began to leap or roll out of the portals before either landing on the pyramid sides or smashing through them as they fell out! In an instant upon their arrival they began to attack anyone and everyone who crossed there path as they smashed in front of troopers or into the middle of break rooms and start blasting gunk out at them gumming them and their dinosaurs up! Many of the troopers who were caught off guard were thrown into a panic and disarray as a result!

Lunensis couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw, "Wh…What the!?" he gasped in alarm and stuttered back.

"Gel jarks!" Cera cried as she and her friends widened their eyes at the invasion that was happening right before them!

"And so many of them too!" Rex gasped as the slime monsters fell out of the portals like endless rain, sliding in through cracks or punching holes in the roof before jumping in! Immediately as they entered they began to spread out, attacking anything and everyone on sight! Breaking into the garage to smash mesozoic mobiles, gum up mechanics or workers, and even begin to head towards the more important areas like the 6 stations where the dinosaur hatchery and labs were also!

"They attack now!? Unbelievable!" Lunensis exclaimed in disbelief, he thought their victories would be a warning to the Empire to back off but apparently not, way it seemed it was more like a declaration of war to them and they seemed to be retaliating!

As the screens lit up showing several troopers running away to call for backup, the D Team widened their eyes as the mess hall came into view on screen and several of the jarks had broken in and were charging right at the off guard troopers stationed there, along with some other civilian guests who were with them!

"AH! Mom! Dad!" Max gasped in alarm.

"They're in danger!"

"We've gotta help them now!" Zoe and Rex soon added knowing their parents and friends were in danger of being attacked now.

"Wait!" Lunensis then shouted calling them off before they could run off, "We've got more bad news incoming!"

"What now!?" Max yelled impatiently as he gritted dish teeth and tested his hand into a fist, "How can things be any worse than they are now!?" As soon as he finished asking, he soon began to regret it as more ground bridge portals opened up around the perimeter of the base, and then a large legion of jarks marched out of them as they began to surround the other base in a sea of pink as they prepared to take it down in an all out offence! "Oh…that's how…." Max gulped nervously seeing they may have bitten off a little more than they could chew this time around.

The others soon squinted their eyes at him, "You just had to jinx it didn't you Max?" Zoe muttered as he sighed and lowered his head in shame.

"Sorry…."

Looking ahead, Cera narrowed her eyes hard seeing they were attacked both from above and from around the base, the jarks had cut off any possible escape route they may have had, "An all sided attack….this isn't going to be easy to hold off…." it was a well executed enemy strategy, while they were too busy to deal with the jarks inside they'd be too late to respond to the enemies outside and they'd be overwhelmed and outlasted through sheer numbers in their current state.

"We'll need to divide our forces carefully here…." Lunensis then thought seriously as he folded his arms and tensed up, "But how…." One wrong mistake and they'd be doomed to destruction, and under these circumstance it wasn't easy to think.

Luckily for him and Cera, the D team looked to one another and nodded knowing exactly what to do, "Commander Lunensis!" They shouted at him which caught him by surprise as he looked away from the screens and back to them.

"Huh!?"

"We'll head outside and deal with those clowns coming in!" Rex shouted out to him,

"Meantime keep everything else here under control!"

"And make sure everyone stays safe! We're counting on you!" Max and Zoe followed.

"R…Right!" Lunensis didn't have any better ideas nor the time to protest against them going alone, so he agreed in an instant as he prepared to issue commands to the masses inside to protect those who could;t and to fend off the gel jarks form reaching any vital areas.

As her friends began to run out the exit to the frontlines, "I'm coming with you guys!" Cera then called as she tired to follow them with Miku flaring up her feathers ready for battle!

"No Cera!" Rex suddenly denied her much to her surprise.

"What!?"

"We need you and your dad to stay in and take care of the slugs that did manage to get in!" He said as Max and Zoe nodded with him in agreement.

"Keep our parents and everyone else safe!"

"Meantime we can handle the rest ourselves!" They each said as their partner dinosaurs barked with them in agreement, knowing their safety took priority over their own.

She knew that too, but she was reluctant to leave them alone against such a massive army, "But-"

Max then held out a thumbs up and a grin of reassurance, "Don't worry about it! It'll be a singe!" he smiled cutting her off as Rex and Zoe too smiled with him feeling confident they could handle this fine.

Seeing how determined they were and with no time to waste, Cera sighed and reluctantly nodded, "Okay…." she said before turning serious, "Once we've cleaned up the infestation inside we'll send backup in as soon as we can."

"And the moment you're out, we'll keep the defence shields up and running so no more can get in and the ones inside won't be able to escape," said Lunensis before sighing at the hard part, "Though at the same time that means you may not be able to fall back or we can't get to you."

"Just hang in till then." Cera then pleaded with them to which they nodded firmly, ready to accept the burden and the consequences of their decision.

"Will do." said Max as they ran outside and the doors closed behind them.

"Good luck you guys." Cera then prayed for them, "Take care of yourselves and don't do anything crazy!" She thought hard before deciding to head out to the other levels of the base to clean house and help deal with the infestation at hand.

"Cera wat!" her father suddenly shouted at her which made her stop to look back. He then narrowed his eyes and nodded, trusting her to be bale to handle herself and everyone else, "Be careful now and promise me you won't get hurt." he asked her to which she nodded.

"Mhmm." As she left, Lunensis resumed to issuing out emergency procedures and orders through the speakers, he was hoping dearly the drills they practiced for instances like this were enough and now was time that their mettle be tested.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At that moment the D Team had made it to the outside of the base, as the gates opened and they ran through and came face to face with the massive waves of gel jarks incoming through the portals surrounding the base! Upon taking notice of the D Team, they decided to capitalise on the opening in the wall rather than try to climb over or break through it, as they began to swarm to where they were!

Despite that, they did not falter nor did they worry, for they knew that they were the Resistance's last line of defence against these invaders and with so many counting on them and many others to protect, the D Team steeled their resolve as they prepared themselves for the fight of their lives!

Rex then looked to his dinoshot, "We're out Lunensis!" he said through the dinoshot's com, "Activate the defence shields now!"

"Roger that, good luck you three." replied the commander as the top of the Base shot up a blue beam which then spread right around the base till it was covering the entire structure like a dome! Some of the gel jarks still on the base's outside began to climb up it in an effort to sabotage it, but thankfully a handful of troopers had made it outside and were already calling out pterosaurs like anhanguera and tapejara to fend them off or throw them away!

"Alright, the shield's up now." said Rex feeling relieved.

"Great, that means we won't need to worry about any more of these slugs slithering in." Zoe then smiled before turning around to see the huge waves incoming, "Not that it matters though, since we're about to clean house!" she cheered rather bravely showing no sign of fear.

"Yeah, and as much as I don't like doing chores, it's time to take out the trash!" Max snickered punching a hand into his fist as their dinos all barked out loud fearlessly ready for a fight!

In repose the gel jarks swarmed in and prepared to converge all on them! In response the D Team returned their partners to their cards and slashed them! "Dino slash!" Their dinosaurs appeared in full form and roared dour fiercely agsint the huge waves of enemies, who stopped in their advance in sight of the massive dinosaurs who faced them!

"We can't let them pass!" Rex yelled with determination.

"Go get em guys!" Max cried as he punched out, spurring Chomp, Ace and Paris to roar fiercely and rush towards the jark army who stuttered and began to panic!

"Plasma anchor!"

"Jet shuriken!"

"Thorn whip!" The D team slashed their moves as Chomp fired out an electrical anchor which ensured several foes and swept through them, Ace fired off wind shurikens which cut through several like a knife through butter, and Paris generated a huge throne vine which smacked a large number of them away, throwing the gel jarks into disarray as some began to retreat back into the portals knowing they were outmatched!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back inside the base, things turned increasingly chaotic as the gel jarks continued to rampage inside the base causing considerable damage to their base, aiming for the weak and injured in the medical bay or targeting their energy systems in an effort to cut off their power supply to their weapons! Thankfully like antibodies against an infection, the resistance was quick to respond in response to this sudden invasion as they amounted an aggressive defence and retaliation whoever they could! All around the base troopers worked hard with their dinosaurs in an effort to repel the invading gel jarks from breaking into certain rooms as they sent their dinosaurs to attack them in response, sending them flying with tail strikes causing them to spelt on the wall or crush them underfoot!

However, not all of them were successful as some jarks were able to fire off slime projectiles to incapacitate the troopers before they could summon any dinosaurs to ought with, gluing them to walls or sticking them together rendering them immobile, while others worked together to pile upon some weekend dinosaurs before overwhelming them in sheer numbers and smoothing over them in mass pileups! The fact was also that the resistance was rather short handed having sent several of their troops to their bases around the world in order to help patch things up there, refortify their positions or help retake land from the Shadow empire. Because of this a handful of jarks had managed to make it pass defences and into the main area of the base before splitting up to cause havoc and chaos in the other vital areas of the base, being the 6 elemental stations as their first targets before making their way to where Lunensis was in the main computer!

In the science room, several scientists were gummed up to the walls with their mouths glued over so they couldn't scream for help! They shook in terror and sweated anxiously as they saw the gel jarks approach the systems and monitors, preparing to gunk them up with slime while others were prepared to completely smother the rest of them in slime cocoons! All seemed lost for them as many closed their eyes tensing up unable to look any further, till a loud voice shouted out, "Get away from my assistants!" They all turned in surprise to see Captain Raina, who was carrying some rather advanced looking weaponry which looked like cannon guns on her back! As the jarks lumbered towards her unaware of the sinister smile which soon came upon her face, "HEE HEE HEE! Perfect timing! You'll make excellent test subjects for these new weapons I just cooked up in the lab!" she grinned as she pulled them down!

The jarks stuttered at the sight of an Frostbite ice blaster in Raina's left arm and a Shockvolt electro cannon in the other, as she began to laugh maniacally like a mad scientist as the freeze ray caused several jarks caught in its path to freeze in books of ice before cracking apart and shattering away, while the electro blasts caused others to shake uncontrollably before exploding into bits all over the lab! The other jarks soon caught on that this was one mad lady they ought not to mess with, as several of them began to make a hasty retreat for the exit!

"Hey that looks like fun!" Rod cheered as he popped up from behind a monitor he was hiding behind. Running up to her, "Let me have a go! Pretty please?" he pleaded clapping his hands together begging for a weapon.

"With pleasure," Raina grinned as she unhooked a mini flamethrower like hose device that was strapped around her waist, "Here use this one, it's a personal favourite of mine." She said tossing it at Rod without hesitation, to which he grinned eager to take it out for a test run!

"Awesome!" he cheered as the jarks began to back away and halt their assault on him! He grinned rather maliciously as he stepped forward, aiming the noble at them and as they shuddered and turned around to flee that was his cue! "Eat heat!" He yelled as he fired off a stream of flames from the hose which then caught onto the jarks as they fell down and loss their forms, melting away like ice cream in mere moments! After switching it off, Rod widened his eyes at the now charred floor and several melted puddles of jark slime which now covered over the grounds and embers still flaming in different places here and there, all this was caused by their own very hands. "Whoa, better not tell mom or dad, they'd ground us for life…." Rod whistled before tossing away the flamethrower she had in her hand knowing there were some things kids like him ought not to handle, as Raina got to freeing her comrades from their slime binds by freezing lightly over it with the frostbite so they could break out.

Elsewhere in the grass station things were looking rather desperate as the gel jarks began generating clubs or axes from their arms and began smashing apart the zen gardens and shredded through the tall grasses with multiple sweeps! With the troopers scattered about the base it was easy for them to get in and do some real deforestation to the base's green zone! Things got worse as they approached the sick bay where the injured men and dinosaurs were resting behind medical curtains in pitched up tents, as well as the dinosaur hatching grounds with the unguarded eggs and hatchlings left exposed!

Laura, unwilling to let even a single egg get cracked, let alone smashed, despite knowing hot outmatched she was, rushed out and bravely held her arms out in defiance towards the invading monsters and sported on her bravest expression of all, "NO! You stay away from these eggs you bullies!" she shouted out loud. Her valiant efforts did little to deter the monsters as they came closer and closer, some for hem raised up their arms ready to bring their weapons down on her and the eggs, as she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth looking away in fear! "Urgh…" She was about to accept wha they'd do to her, when a pair of cries caught her attention at the last precious moment!

"Laura!"

"We're coming! Hang on!"

"AH!" She widened her eyes and looked ahead to see Hua and a group of nurses along with Dr Drake rush out of the underbrush, with their dinosaurs ranging from alpha lambeosaurus and super shantungusaurus, as well as a herd of angry mother dinosaurs who rallied together to protect both the helpless eggs, young and injured comrades!

"Get away from those babies you slimy fiends!" Dr Drake threatened them as he waved out his mega needle swinging it out fiercely like a sword and keeping them at bay! "You want some of this!?" A handful of them soon stepped back and ran away flailing out their hands in a panic much to his amusement, "Ha! Works every time!" He laughed in amusement as he ran after them!

The jarks then stepped back and scurried away as Hua and her team lead the charge after the fleeing invaders as their dinosaurs along with others like oviraptor, pteranodon and minima stampeded after them into the underbrush! "All forces! Defend the eggs! Do not let any of them escape!" she ordered as several overprotective mothers and caretakers charged in full force with the intention to dish out some well deserved justice to the gel jarks as the sounds of squishing and roars echoed from up ahead.

Hearing the sounds of satisfaction through the air made Laura fall on her butt from the excitement and put a hand to her chest letting out a sigh of relief, "Phew, thanks…." she wheezed grateful to Hua as she along with her super corythosaurus came out from the brush to greet her and the nests.

"You were very brave Laura, risking your life to protect these eggs." the grass captain said to her feeling just as grateful for her guts before bowing down with respect and humility, "You have my deepest thanks."

"Hee hee." Laura then giggled as she blushed red and scratched her cheek feeling honoured.

"AAAH!"

Outside at the mess hall it was a chaotic free for all as Jonathan and Helga threw out handfuls of salt at incoming jarks, reducing them to slimy puddles as they dissolved away! They were doing so in order to protect the D team's moms who found themselves surrounded at the kitchen as the jarks closed in on them like zombies to an all you can eat buffet, raising their arms out ominously as the women armed themselves with cooking utensils and tools like frying pans and rolling pins, even if it didn't seem it'd do much good.

"You shall not pass!"

"Come and get some!" Helga and Jonathan challenged the slime monsters who then beeped ominously before charging ahead towards them!

Fortunately not all the parents were helpless, "Yee haw! Like rounding up runaway bulls in the rodeo!" Dr Taylor cheered as he rode on board a pachyrhinosaurus which reared back on its hind legs and bellowed before rushing forward and bowling through a big bunch of jarks in its path, sending them flying away or turning them to mushy pancakes underfoot! He wasn't the only one though, as Blaze and Daigo soon showed up on the scene in the nick of time as he and a squad of reinforcements soon trust into the hall much to the jarks' alarm!

"Let's drive these varmints out of the frying pan and into the fire!" the fire captain yelled energetically ride daspletosaurus and chase out

With the tide turning, Helga and Jonathan nodded to one another as they grabbed as much salt as they could before charging out after the fleeing gel jarks with the intention to finish the job once and for all. "Eat salt!" Their yells echoed through the halls as they fled before the sounds of sizzling and dying beeps rang after that.

With the defeat of the gel jarks, the mothers all let out deep received sighs as they took in well deserved gasps of fresh air with the passed danger, "Phew….that was close." Cretacia sighed as she patted her sweaty cheeks dry with a cloth, as much as she loved excitement this was too much for her to take in.

"Yes…." Mrs Drake nodded in agreement before looking around seeing so many riled up troopers and agsntcy dinosaurs with them, "What's going on here?" She asked feeling deeply concerned.

"I don't know, but I hope everyone else is okay…" Aki then replied as they moved out from the kitchen to the mess hall to help tend to any of the troopers who may have needed attention or help.

In the research room where the Stone tablet was held, Dr Ancient turned pale and stated tensely as a bunch of jarks burst through the door and were raising out their arms ready to seize both him and the stone tablet that was hooked up to the research scanners! "AH! Stay back! Don't come any closer!" he yelled out at them as he tensed his fists ready to fight, but they did little to deter the monster who were set quirk one person, to destroy anything that may pose a threat to them and the stone tablet definitely classified under that! "Grrr…." Dr Ancient gritted his teeth knowing since it came to this he'd have to defend the stone with his life, as he grabbed a nearby lightning rod which sparked with energy as he raised it up ready to use it!

"Blizzard smash!" A voice yelled as a massive beam of ice shot in front of him freezing the gel jarks in place before they cracked and shattered into a million pieces much to Ancient's eyes!

"AH!" He stumbled and fell back and looked to the side to see Seth come in alongside cryolophosaurus much to his surprise, "Seth! It's you!" he gasped in amazement before blinking curiously at the hand he was given by his former assistant, "You…saved me?" he muttered as he took the hand.

"Hmph….consider us even…." Seth scoffed as he helped his former boss up to his feet before leaving through the doors for somewhere else that may have needed his attention, seeing his help was no longer required here.

As Ancient looked on to see the blue haired man leave, he pondered over the possibility that Seth may have indeed changed for real this time around, "Seth…." Maybe it was time he could let go of the past and forgive him at last, and hopefully start things fresh and anew with him.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Don't let up! Lightning strike!"

"Stomp them into jelly Paris! Stomping hammer!"

"You can do this Ace! Biting wind!" The D Team cried out as their dinosaurs continued to feed off assault after assault, their toughened spirits and resolve to protect kept them going as they did not falter nor did they waver in the slightest.

After managing to sought off wave after wave of gel jarks, the surviving slime monsters, after having suffered enough losses and realising none of their attacks could even scratch the D Team's dinosaurs, they soon got the message and began to fall back and retreat back into the ground bridge portals they came through. "Haha! Way to go guys!" Zoe cheered as she jumped up and down with joy at their triumph. Paris, Ace and Chomp all bellowed out victoriously.

"Look at them! They're running away scared!" Max laughed in amusement as the incoming gel jarks all scrambled away to the safety of the portals before they all closed behind them.

"Hee hee, this is easier than I thought it'd be." Zoe giggled with glee as she jittered giddy with excitement.

Rex however, didn't share their enthusiasm as much though, "Yeah almost too easy…." he then muttered believing something was rather off and that it was too soon to be taking out their victory cake.

"Huh?" Max and Zoe blinked their eyes as they eyed Rex curiously as he kept a vigilant observance of their surroundings.

"Something's not right, they're backing off way too soon and we barely started." He said as he tensed up his arms into fists with suspicion, "Could it be that they wanted us to come out here?"

The sound of an engine from above caught their attention as they looked up in surprise at a shadow covering over them and an upbeat was descending from the sky! "AH!" Looking up they soon began to recognise the incoming flying object as a familiar red pod with 4 protrusions on its sides and the space pirate mark on it, along with a shadowed pilot whose image was blurred out inside it!

"A space pirate pod!" Zoe gasped in surprise as it came into closer view.

"Could it be Specter or one of the other space pirates out for payback?" Max then asked hardening his expression at the incoming vessel.

Rex however narrowed his eyes, "I don't think so Max…." he said tensely as he felt something entirely different emanating off it, unlike anything they've encountered thus far, "I'm getting really bad vibes coming from that ship…." Ace and the other dinosaurs grew increasingly restless and agitated at the incoming spacecraft's descent as they began to catch on to what Rex meant. "I think….just maybe…we may be dealing with the Shadow Empire's real boss."

As he said that Zoe and Max grew increasingly wary as the ship's upper hatch opened up, and a shadowed figure leapt out of it and smashed down into the ground, causing a cloud of dust to erupt and a rather strong shockwave to quake through the ground, blowing the D Team back a bit as well as knocking their dinosaurs off balance momentarily!

"Urgh…." Everyone held out their arms or crossed them forward and dug in their heels to keep from flying away! As they looked ahead, the dust began to die down, the form of a young purple zanjark appeared, dressed in dark brown, purple, black and gold robes, along with spiked hair in shades of black and white. The D Team widened their eyes at the sight of a new space pirate had revealed himself before them! "AH!"

As the zanjark stood up and bruised the dust off his clothes he then folded an arm on his hip and smirked deviously as he laid eyes upon just the humans he was hoping to meet, "Knock knock, hope I didn't barge in on your victory celebration or moment of relief if that was what you were doing…well actually, but in all honesty I really was counting on it." he grinned.

The D Team was taken aback by the menacing aura this individual gave off. Despite appearing young as they were it was clear he was different, almost everything he gave off him reeked of evil. "Who…are you?" Max questioned him with a hard gaze, readying himself for whoever this creep was for sending in his gel goons and waltzing right up to the base in broad daylight, clearly he had a lot of nerve, guts or was mad.

"Ah, where are my manners? Even to one's enemies one can't be so rude as to not introduce himself." The young zanjark replied in a calm, cool but no less sinister tone which sent shivers down the spines of the D Team. He soon however sported a devious grin which surprised them momentarily as he proclaimed out loudly to the heavens, "I am Goma, the leader of the Shadow Empire! Your worst nightmare and your ultimate doom! Ahahahahah!" His laughter filled the air with a sense of dread as the D Team's hearts skipped a beat and their were stunned beyond belief at the act the shadow emperor himself had now presented himself before them!

"WHAT!?"

"You're Goma!?"

"The Emperor of the shadow empire!?" They exclaimed in disbelief before widening their eyes and stepping back unable to utter another word.

"In the flesh." He grinned taking their stunned speechlessness as fear or shock, no doubt his reputation had preceded him, which would make striking fear into and crushing the hope of the Resistance, being the legendary heroes who defeated his father, all the more easy and satisfying. "I take it that you're so paralysed by fear and terror it's rendered you completely speechless and unable to respond in any way hmm?" He mused, expecting them to have some degree of bravado for not falling to their knees and begging for mercy, or perhaps foolishness, however, the real reason for them being so stunned with surprise would soon rub him the wrong way.

"But….You look just like a kid!" Max exclaimed which made the young zanjark frown.

"Yeah! Like us!" Zoe followed.

"All this time the Resistance suffered under the empire, it was really under a kid our age!?" Rex gasped flabbergasted. None of them could believe that the worst enemy whom was behind the shadow empire and pulled the strings behind the other pirates was someone no bigger than they were!

Though initially ticked off by their thoughtless comments about his appearances, Goma's scowl soon vanished as he shrugged them off as mere petty insults before laughing out with laughter, "Hahahaha! How laughable…While I may look as young as the rest of you kids but I can assure you I am far from a child." he replied, "In comparison to me age wise you are all mere infants." He smirked before clapping lightly for them as praise for their efforts, "Still, I never would have imagined children like you to have made it this far," he then commented before shrugging his shoulders casually, "Then again you did give my father Specter and his crew such a hard time so I guess I shouldn't be surprised." shrug shoulders

The D Team widened their eyes upon hearing what he said, "Say what?"

"Specter's YOUR dad!?" They couldn't believe what they just heard nor did they know which was crazier, the fact that this kid was actually related to Specter and was the founder of the shadow empire, or that Specter of all people actually managed to get a kid of his own. They shuddered and also pitied whoever would actually be willing to marry someone as obnoxious as despicable as he was the more they thought about it.

Goma then frowned somewhat taking their surprise as offence, "You have a problem with that?"

The kids stood silent without saying a single word, as a wind blew across the battlefield in a rather ominous but also awkward standoff. It soon broke however, as they began to snicker in amusement, grinning widely before bursting out into uncontrollable laughter much to Goma's surprise, "Pfft! Hahahahaha!"

As they laughed out loud, Goma blinked his eyes in confusion as to why they weren't acting afraid or begging on their knees for mercy, instead they seemed to be laughing in amusement about something…or perhaps…at him? As the thought crossed his mind he hardened into a scowl and raised an eyebrow with suspicion, "What's so amusing to you?" he questioned them, but as they began to whisper and gossip with one another ignoring him, he soon realised what was going on as his shape ears overheard what they were speaking about him.

"Heh talk about being a bad influence huh?" Rex whispered.

"I'm actually starting to see the family resemblance, guess we know where he got his ugly side from." Max grinned.

"I feel really bad for whoever his mom is…." Zoe sighed pityingly, also feeling bad that the young zanjark must have had a really terrible childhood if he had only Specter and the other space pirates as family all his life.

Goma then hardened into an irritated scowl as the insults kept pouring on and they KNEW he was still there too which made it way worse.

"Well you know what they say, like father like son right?" Rex mused.

"Didn't think a little junior pipsqueak like him could actually be brains behind this whole war," Max chuckled pointing his dumb at Goma, "Thought it would have been someone actually dangerous, not a mini Specter."

"Well if he's anything like Specter maybe he'll sing twice as bad as he did!" Zoe added as they all began to trust into amused laughter.

"Hahahaha!" If anything to them he was basically a wannabe pirate trying to live up to his dad's terrible example, meaning they'd have absolutely nothing to worry about. Little did they know…..was that everything they thought him to be was completely wrong and they had no idea about how badly their poking insults at him would bite them back.

As the D Team continued to laugh in amusement, shrugging off Goma to be no more than a pale imitation of his failure of a father, the Emperor could feel immense rage, frustration ad hatred running wild inside him! His fists clenched tightly and shook that veins could be seen popping around his face and underneath his clothes and armour! He also gnashed his teeth like a beast, hissing with venom and his eyes also began to flash purple. Their earlier remarks he could handle but for them to outright disregard him and look down on him was something he would not tolerate even for a second! Unable to hold himself back, anymore he let loose everything at the top of his lungs, "Don't you DARE compare me to that snivelling old fool!" he exploded into a roar which echoed through the skies above and catching the D Team completely by surprise!

"HUH!?"

"AH!" That clearly wasn't the reaction they'd expect, clearly he had some kind of issue if something like this were to tick him off.

As the D Team saw him fuming with rage, breathing tensely and snarling with venom, they could tell he meant business and was on a completely different level from the others pirates. His enraged yell and heavy breathing was a clear sign that they somehow struck a nerve, and that they made things rather personal with him now….and that couldn't be anything good in the slightest. What he was about to say next would change everything they initially expected or believed him to be.

"My father was short sighted and had no vision, which was why he failed to harness the full potential and power of the dinosaurs he had in his possession, let alone the cosmos stones when he acquired them." He then started before sneering with disgust, "But I however am completely different." He then said as he shot them a most sinister smirk which put them on edge, even their dinosaurs were beginning to feel wary to Goma's capabilities despite his smaller size, "Frankly I should be thanking you, for if it wasn't for what you children did to him and his men, it gave me the chance to finally cut loose." he stated as he paced back and forth calmly while the D Team kept a firm watchful eye on every step he took and action he made, "My feeble father may have looked down upon and ridiculed me for years, but thanks to your actions I was finally able to shake off that overbearing old man for good, allowing me to be free, cut loose and accomplish what he couldn't!" He then proclaimed loudly as they hardened themselves, "And the first step of doing so is by eradicating the very same humans whom he couldn't." he said aiming his gaze at them, "Then after the fall of the D Resistance, the world…no…all existence and creation shall bow before my unmatched might!" He roared as he reached out his arm and clenched it tightly, "The universe deserves something that only I can give! Which I shall once it all is in my grasp!"

Scratch that, they soon began to realise he was downright insane, no question about it, "Whoa…somebody's got daddy issues…" Max gulped down hard as his heart began to beat in terror inside his chest hoping for a way to get out and run.

"Yeah, he's just as nuts as Specter is…scratch that, make it million times worse." Rex grunted narrowing his eyes tensely.

"Hehe, I'll take that as a compliment." Goma smirked upon hearing their comments of him, as he now had a chance to give them a demonstration of the power he had at his fingertips, "And unlike him, I intend to end this meaningless struggle and resistance of yours once and for all with my own hands, considering I can't rely on anyone else to do it." He then sighed shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders uncaringly.

Max clicked his tongue, finding his snobbish attitude to be most irritating, "Tch! You sure love running your mouth and listening to yourself talk big don't you?" he scoffed.

"Surely you realise we took down your dad and the other space pirates before! On top of that we saved the universe from the cosmos stones too!" Zoe yelled shaking a fist at the young zanjark, "What makes you think you can accomplish what they couldn't!?" She declared pointing out at him to put his money where his mouth was.

Rex however narrowed his eyes, though he gave off a most arrogant impression, from what he revealed just now, perhaps he had a good enough reason to do so and no doubt was more than capable of backing it up, and that worried him greatly.

Goma then smirked rather sinisterly as he looked forward to proving his point if it would make them grovel and quake in fear, "The answer is simple, I'm not them and I have no intention of repeating the mistakes that both he and his men made." He grinned as he shrugged his shoulders laxly, "After all, I've heard about you the D Team and what you did to my father and his team." He then said before sporting a malicious grin which stared right into their souls and made them shudder momentarily, "With all your achievements and battles won under your belt I just had to come see for it myself if it was true! And how easy it was to lure you out. I couldn't care less about the Resistance base, it's but merely a luxury in the bigger picture, it's you kids that I wanted from the very beginning!" He proclaimed out loud to the sky much to the D Team's utter shock and bewilderment at this revelation!

"You….wanted to battle us from the start?" Max blinked his eyes in disbelief.

"That means…." Rex breathed as he recalled all the destruction that was raging through the base as they spoke was no more than a distraction just to get their attention, no matter how much collateral damage or innocents got caught in the crossfire to do it! "You did all this just to get our attention?" He yelled in anger, unable to hold himself back.

"Bingo!" Goma grinned with devious delight, snapping his fingers, "And you all fell like flies into a spider's web, exactly as I had planned and I didn't even need to lift a finger to do it." He snickered, each word he spoke continued to unveil more and more of his sadistic nature, his sheer delight and pleasure of complete disregard for any innocent life, as long as he got his way he'd do anything to get it even if it meant sacrificing countless individuals. It was as if his soul was a dark bottomless pit where no heart or even a shred of light existed, the D Team soon began to see he was indeed on a completely different and dangerous level compared to any villains they faced thus far.

"Grrr…." Their dinosaurs could also sense this too, unlike others they've fought till now, Goma really was a heartless monster.

"Hehe, how easy it is for me to exploit your bonds and your desire to protect the weak and helpless." He then snickered openly which further aggravated them.

"How dare you!?" Max screamed furiously shaking a fist at him, "You destroyed everything everything these people worked so hard to build, took countless lives and ruined so many innocents and their livelihoods all because you wanted to fight!?" He growled to which Goma smirked seeing he struck a nerve this time, which was what he wanted, getting his foes riled up and fight him with so much rage and everything they had, it'd make the battle all the more entertaining and tisfying once he grounded them under his heel

"You crossed the line big time and now you'll pay for it!" Zoe followed after him swearing justice for all the atrocities he caused.

"Hehe, I believe that's my line…." Goma chuckled undeterred by their petty words, as if they bounced off his already hardened heart encased in dark brimstone, "Have you been trying to get MY attention? Destroying my bases, interfering with my operations and causing my plans to be set back significantly." He then scowled hard at them with hatred, "The plans which I worked so hard to build over the course of several years. From gathering the necessary resources to build my empire, raising a big enough army to conquer the planet and then gathering the intel my father needed in order to go back and retrieve the cosmos stones." He spat before shooting them a spiteful glare at them, "It's because of you 3 that my plans are all lying ruins, and I'm not about to let you get away with it." he then swore clenching his hand at them which shook unable to hold back anymore of his anger and rage from going wild and out of control. It was clear he was itching for a fight to take it all out on those who got in his way time and again, refusing to accept defeat and the inevitable, and he was prepared to do just that and make sure they know their place.

"Grrr!" They soon began to realise he was also the one behind Specter and other pirates too from the start, how their search for the cosmos stones and their parents being dragged into it was because of him! Al the more reason why they had to take him down.

"You want to settle the war once and for all? Heh, well now you've got your wish!" Goma then laughed out loud as he held out his arms, "For your reward, let's cut to the chase and let the final battle begin! Ahahahahah!"

That was the last straw for the D Tema and their partners, as he gave them absolutely no reason why they shouldn't go all out form the very start! "Why you!"

"You're gonna pay for this you hear me!?"

"Yeah! You'll never get away with this! For everything you did to the people of our future!"

Despite their threats and vows, Goma shrugged them off "Heh, that remains to be seen." he smirked before turning serious with a hard scowl, "Enough talk! It's time we fight and see who truly knows how to master the dinosaur!" Reaching out into his pocket he held out a purple dinosaur card, which Rex widened his eyes at.

"Get ready guys! Here he comes!" He yelled warning Max and Zoe, who toughened and readied themselves as the emperor prepared to make his move!

"Come forth and awaken! Eocarcharia!" Goma proclaimed placing the card to his chest plate! A bright light soon shone forth before the D Team, and materialising in full form, was the most menacing space pirate dinosaur they ever laid eyes upon!

"AH!"

"Is that?"

"An eocarcharia….." They each breathed in awe and in fear at the sight of the monstrous dinosaur which gave off a chilling bloodthirsty vibe which rivalled that of his master! Paris, Ace and Chomp too were on edge by the new dinosaur's presence as the skies turned colourful with the battlefield, but they stood their ground knowing this was a battle they couldn't afford to lose.

Their partners too realised this as they mustered up all their courage and determination for their biggest battle yet.

"Grr! We're not scared at all!"

"Yeah! We've come way too far to call it quits!"

"We're taking you down Goma! No matter what!" They yelled out with determination as their dinosaurs followed suit!

"Heh, words are cheap and meaningless without action and ability to back it up!" The shadow emperor scoffed as he held out his arm, "Let's see if you can prove them through actions and as you humans say….bring it!" He yelled as his dinosaur roared ferociously and charged ahead towards the D Team's dinosaurs, flaring his huge serrated teeth ready sink into and tear apart dinosaur flesh!

ROAR!

"Consider it brought!" Max punched forward.

"GO!"

"Get him!" they each yelled at the top of their lungs as their partners charged forth to meet their deadliest foe in up close combat, as the fight of their lives to determine the planet's future soon went underway!

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Ahahaha! Alpha gang! Time to clean house!" Dr Z pointed ahead eagerly as his trio saluted him with excitement as they joined the battle!

"You got it Dr Z!" Terry, Tank, Spiny and therizinosaurus roared out fiercely as they launched an all out attack against the few remaining gel jarks that were trying to make a run for the exits, in order to prevent them from rallying together again for a future counterattack. With volcano burst, earthquake, aqua javelin and gyro claw, the remaining runaways were melted, crushed, speed and sliced to bits thus finally managing to put an end to the Shadow Empire's attack on their base.

"Haha! That was too easy." Ursula grinned as she pumped up her arm with confidence.

"Yeah thought the shadow empire was made of way sterner stuff that that." Zander smirked wheel Ed smiled more modestly.

"Guess they aren't so tough after all…." he thought as he folded his arms on his hips calmly as the others began to regroup in the main hall where they were, having taken care of the invaders on the other sections of the base.

Cera smiled to see majority of her friends and comrades returned unharmed for the most part and that they were bale to save their base before any irreparable damage was done, "Looks like we've taken care of everything here…." she said complimenting this hard work before looking around the area to see the remains of crushed rock and slime puddles of the gel jarks lying about the premises either on the floors or walls, as some troopers came in limping or supporting others as well as bringing in hurt dinosaurs that too suffered severe injuries in the invasion. She soon however narrowed her eyes as a bad feeling soon came into her gut, "But still…."

"Bad news everyone!" Craig suddenly shouted out loudly in worry as he ran out from an open door as fast as he could.

Everyone looked to him as he panted and sweated hard, evidence of fatigue shown as he gasped for air and sweated tiredly as he lowered himself to rest his arms on his knees, "What's the matter Craig?" Cera asked him with concern as he widened his eyes and cried out.

"The time machine! It's been damaged severely!" he shouted which caught everyone off guard.

"What!?"

Craig then gritted his teeth with anger as he stomped so loud on the floor the sound could echo through the whole base like a thunder clap, "Those blasts slugs wrecked the time drive! Smashed the engine to pieces!" he growled in frustration at his failure at being unable to stop the gel jarks in time before letting out a breath, "We were lucky to have been able to clear them out before they could destroy the computer systems," he said softly before becoming serious with the bad news, "But unfortunately it's in no shape to be making portals through time any time soon!"

"So we're stuck here with no way of going back home?!" Rod then gasped in alarm as the others from the past times began to worry too.

"Oh no!" Laura cried at the thought of being unable to see their parents again, though Dr Ancient and his wife had more pressing matters on their minds.

"Tch! If we don't go back home soon….who knows how it might change the future….." he hissed clicking his tongue as Cretacia only clenched her hands and shook tensely while the other parents looked on with concern.

"That'd be terrible…" Aki sighed as she put a hand to her chin in worry, while Spike came in to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Then we'll have to fix it, no other way around it." Reese then stated as she pushed up her glasses firmly, with Dr Ancient, Jonathan and Cretacia nodding with her in agreement.

Before long Kaze suddenly appeared inside the room before them much to their surprise, "I'd hate to be the bearer of more bad news." He said startling them with his sudden appearance, though before they could berate him for his unexpected arrival, "But you all may want to come and see what's happening now in the main room." He then stated, having been sent by Lunensis, as he hardened his expression deeply, "What Max and the others are going through right now as we speak….is something you all ought to be there to see with your own eyes."

As he said those words some of them felt their hearts sank as it could only mean something very serious, and they worried over whether they should go see or not. Eventually deciding it was something they couldn't ignore, they all followed in to the control center, where Lunensis was staring seemingly blankly at the screen for some reason.

His behaviour puzzled them for a bit but as they looked up they widened their eyes and their hears skipped many beats as they saw the D Team and their dinosaurs engaged in a brutal battle with a vicious theropod dinosaur right outside their force shield, as the eocarcharia roared and charged forward and bashing through all 3 of them at once and into the shield!

"AH!"

"No way…." Spike breathed as he and the other members of the D team's family began to worry or became filled with uncertainty over the condition of their children against this new formidable foe!

"Max, Rex and Zoe look like they're in trouble…" Cera breathed unable to comprehend how they could be overwhelmed so easily.

"But who are they fighting?" Rod asked with concern as he pointed out at a flying figure in the background behind the attacking eocarcharia. Zooming in they could see a young zanjark alien, folding his arms and striking deviously as he looked down upon the brutal battle unfold before him, like a roman emperor to a gladiator match!

"I've never seen him before." Cera then commented as everyone began receiving some rather bad vibes coming off from that individual. Despite his young appearance there was something deadly and most sinister about him that they couldn't quite put a finger on.

"Is he one of the space pirates?" Dr Ancient then asked feeling suspicious about the symbol on his chest and the marks on eocarcharia.

"Whoever he is….he's got one nasty looking dino there…." Dr Z whistled nervously as a drop of tense sweat fell from his chin.

"Yeah, can't believe I'm saying this but I'd much rather deal with Brontikens and all the other spectral dinosaurs at once instead of this guy…." Ursula gulped while Ed and Zander shuddered in terror.

It didn't take long for Cera to piece things together, "So that's Goma…." she breathed narrowing her eyes as she clenched her fists hard knowing that at last the leader of the shadow empire presented himself before them and now was without a doubt the hardest battle of their lives, "Max, everyone…be careful…." she prayed for a miracle and for their success as they cried out together encouraging their partners to get back up and fight on despite the odds. However little did they all know was that they'd need more than a miracle in order to survive this battle, not prevail.

 **(Meanwhile)**

It was a clash of the ages which raged across the battlefield, the D Team's dinosaurs who were driven with the desire to protect their partners and their allies, while Goma's eocarcharia was driven by the desire to destruction and lay all to waste in order to satisfy its lust for both power and blood! It was a brutal battle which the D Team had severely underestimated as they found themselves driven heavily into a corner, but nevertheless refused to give up! As she rushed ahead, Paris lowered her head and charged forward, using her crest she rammed into the carnivore's chest like a battering ram, causing him to stumble backwards!

A momentary inconvenience for the fire dinosaur as he quickly used his arms to grab hold of Paris' head much to her surprise! Failing to respond in time, she was unable to escape the headlock before eocarcharia opened his jaws wide and clamped down on her shoulders, biting hard and crunching deep into her back as she bellowed in pain! With ease he lifted her up her his head and threw her across the field like a rag doll as she crashed to the ground and let out a pained bellow!

"AH! Paris!" Zoe cried turning pale as eocarcharia showed no mercy, stomping on her stomach repeatedly, each blow choking the breath out of her lungs as she slumped down, looking up helplessly as the eocarcharia roared out and opened his jaws wide ready to snap her neck! "NO!" Zoe cried, frozen in fear, unable to move a muscle or even reach for her dinoshot to recall Paris, all she could do was watch helplessly as the monstrous carnivore prepared to make her extinct!

Thankfully Rex wasn't about to let one of his friends suffer such a cruel fate, "Get in and help her Ace!" he quickly yelled punching forward, spurring Ace to roar and charge in head on at eocarcharia who looked up to see him coming straight at him!

Looking up Goma raised an eyebrow at the incoming wind dinosaur, "Coming in to protect your friend?" he mused before smirking smugly, "Oh how noble…..and how very predictable hehehe…." he chuckled as he raised up his hand and snapped his fingers and getting his dinosaur's attention. Deciding to entertain his enemy's heroic attempt, he gave eye contact to eocarcharia, which made the large carnivore roar back at his smaller foe, disregarding Paris and leaping over her before charging full speed ahead in a game of chicken, in which the loser would suffer huge consequences! As he opened his jaws wide and prepared to grab Ace, the carnotaurus was able to dart out of the way in time causing the giant theropod to swallow a mouthful of dust and air! He stumbled a bit and coughed out in irritation only for Ace to seize the chance to clamp his jaws on his tail and pull him back!

"Nice! We got him!" Rex cheered pumping his arm out!

"Correction, I have you right where I want you!" Goma suddenly countered to Rex's alarm!

"Huh!?" Before he could respond in time, eocarcharia swung out his tail and threw Ace high into the air! As he fell down, his merciless enemy leapt up and caught him in his jaws before smashing him down hard on the ground and then biting hard into his neck! "AAH! ACE!" Rex screamed seeing that at this rate turning back into a card was the least of Ace's worries! His very own life was on the line now!

"Grr! How dare you!?" Max gritted his teeth in frustration at how badly his friends were getting beaten, and he wasn't going to sit by and let Goma continue to get away with it! "Chomp! Save them!" he cried to his triceratops who roared and charged to where Ace was! Eocarcharia began put on the pressure as his jaws shut tighter around Ace's neck causing him to choke and cough violently in pain as his vision began to blur and his roars began to soften, his life slowly ebbing away to Rex's horror!

"NO!"

"Ace hang on!" Zoe cried as she stood by Paris hoping to help her get back up, "Help's on the way!" she shouted pleading that he wouldn't give up just yet.

"Hurry Chomp!" Max yelled as he punched forward with all he had, spurring the triceratops to kick it into high gear as he rushed in towards eocarcharia with all he had!

Unfortunately, the eocarcharia smelt him coming in and as he looked ahead to see Chomp approaching him, he kicked out his foot which neutralised the charge, sending a big shockwave through the ground as a result of the collision as he held the triceratops at bay with little effort and preventing his horns from making contact to everyone's disbelief!

"AH! He stopped him so easily!?" Max widened his eyes as the others were taken aback by the eocarcharia's monstrous strength and ability to respond in an instant to any incoming threat!

"No way!" Zoe and Rex then gasped.

Scowling with annoyance, "Out of my sight you worthless fleas!" Goma yelled as he swung out his hand! In response eocarcharia kicked back at Chomp shoving him away! As the triceratops dug in his heels and secured himself he looked up and widened his eyes to see eocarcharia throw Ace at him! Unable to react in time, the carnotaurus slammed right into him and knocked them both off their feet as they crashed away!

"NO!" Max yelled out worrying for his partners' wellbeing.

"Whoa! He's tough!" Zoe cried as she had Paris get back up in time as she ran over to Chomp and Ace to help them both stand up groggily.

"That's an understatement," Rex narrowed his eyes, "None of the other Spectral dinosaurs were this powerful! And he hasn't even armoured up yet!" he cried fearing what their already dwindling chances would be like if he were to armour up!

The thought of it made Max grit his teeth and sweat anxiously knowing if he was this strong now, his armoured form could easily take them out in a single attack! "Urgh…."

As their dinosaurs quickly regrouped, panting with exhaustion from their injuries they kept a defensive formation to shield their partners behind them, as Goma hovered towards them with his dinosaur following next to him, which then snarled with disdain, "Is that the best you've got?" Goma scoffed unimpressed before shaking his head feeling most underwhelmed, "I'm honestly very disappointed, guess the rumours of you being the Resistance's greatest hope were no more than lying legends after all." he said in a mocking tone before grinning at them sadistically, "Heheh, if only they could see how weak and pathetic you all are now hehehe…."

"Grrr!" Max and the others growled angrily at his insults, but also knew he was right, they'd never win at this rate. They had to pull out all the stops if they were to have even the slightest hope of surviving this till help arrived! "Guys! We can't afford to go soft and easy anymore!" Max yelled looking to his friends, "I say we hit him fast and hard with everything we've got from the get go!"

"Yeah I agree." Rex nodded with him in agreement as they both smiled at one another deciding to take things up a notch!

"Here we go guys! Dig deep and find the power within!" Max shouted as they all tensed up and glowed in the colour of their elemental auras!

"AAAARRGH!" Their dinosaurs too flashed in the same auras as they flared to life! Their elemental energies infusing them with newfound power and strength which rejuvenated them as they appeared in their awakened forms! "Elemental fusion!"

As the 3 super dinosaurs roared out eocarcharia, who stepped back in surprise at this development, Goma couldn't help but fold his arms and nod with some approval, "Not bad…." he commented admitting he didn't see this coming, "So you're able to tap into the inner elemental powers of your dinosaurs," he mused seeing that he wasn't the only one who could do that, for humans to be able to achieve such power, maybe this match wouldn't be so boring after all, a thought which caused him to grin both maniacally and aggressively! "Let's see how much of it is real! Attack eocarcharia!" He commanded his dinosaur as he held out his arm, his beast roared out unfazed by the D Team's powered up dinos as it charged ahead towards them without hesitation!

"Get him guys!"

"You can do it!" They cheered their partners on as they prepared to meet in a colossal collision!

"Fire cannon!" Goma quickly shouted playing the fire move as his dinosaur charged a fire ball in its jaws and fired it towards the 3 incoming dinosaurs!

"That's nothing! Try this!" Max countered slashing a move card, "Electric charge!" A lightning bolt struck down from the sky which charged up Chomp as he rushed ahead infused with the power of lightning coursing through his saurian veins! Swinging his head he punched right through the fireball which did little to faze him as he managed to deliver a fierce strike at the eocarcharia's stomach and sending him flying high and then crashing hard into the ground as he sparked with electricity!

Despite the damage form both the charge and crash, the evil dinosaur soon recovered, kicking himself up and shaking his head clear before letting out a roar of defiance towards the D Team!

"A direct hit but it's still not enough!" Zoe cried, surprised he was able to tank such a powerful attack from an awakened dinosaur no less!

"Don't let up! We've got him on the ropes now!" Rex yelled feeling more determined than before now that they had a fighting chance at last, "Mayfly!" Ace stomped down on the ground and roared before charging ahead at supersonic speed, before spinning around the eocarcharia in a blur of wind and then striking out at him, pelting him in a barrage of hits too fast to see coming before reappearing at a safe distance further away as the eocarcharia fell to one knee heavily battered.

"And now it's my turn!" Zoe cheered as she slashed her move card, "Metal wing!" Paris roared summoning forth the pteranodon trio! They swooped down from the sky with the sun behind them so the eocarcharia couldn't see them properly where they were coming from! As they came into view they stretched out their wings slashing through him before converging into a single aerial missile which punched right into his gut and sent him flying right over Goma's head much to his alarm!

"Eocarcharia!" he yelled out as his dinosaur crashed to the ground and let out a rather pained growl!

Seeing their foe buckle and weakened made them all brighten up with delight, excitement and hope, "Aha!"

"Yes!"

"In your face!" They cheered believing they just might be able to pull this off after all!

Their smiles and moment of triumph was but a temporary illusion, as the eocarcharia that lay on the ground motionlessly suddenly began to stir, "Huh?" As they looked closer they widened their eyes as he forced himself up to his legs rather groggily, but soon stomped his foot on the ground and roared out angrily to the sky and much to their alarm!

"No way!" Zoe exclaimed, beginning to feel terrified after all their best efforts he could still fight.

"Tch! He's still standing after all we threw at him!?" Rex clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Man that thing sure doesn't know when to give up…." Max grunted gritting his teeth tensed as he soon began to see a connection between Goma and his dinosaur….and how familiar they appeared to him, "It's almost like…." To his disbelief, it was almost as if they were fighting a reflection of themselves! Goma's own spirit, despite being twisted, was what fuelled the shadow empire dinosaur to keep on fighting no matter how badly beaten it was! And now…it appeared as if they were ready to go for Round 2!

As eocarcharia stepped forward to where he was hovering, Goma smirked to see his partner on his feet again as he petted his head gently, praising the giant for his efforts which were quite impressive, "Heh, I didn't think you were able to draw out this much of your dinosaurs' power." He then smirked as he turned his attention back towards the D Team, hearing from his eocarcharia that the power they demonstrated was rather formidable.

Max narrowed his eyes feeling wary, but soon pointed out at the young zanjark with determination, "That's the power of friendship! Dinosaurs are more than our equals, they're our friends!" he declared proudly and with confidence.

"We'll protect them as much as they'll protect us!" Zoe followed.

"That's, something heartless monsters like you who see dinosaurs as tools would never understand!" Rex yelled in conclusion.

"Oh? Is that so?" Goma mused, "I'll admit my father sees dinosaurs as nothing more than weapons or means to an end." he said before sporting another sinister smirk, "But as I mentioned before….I am not my father." As soon as he finished, he suddenly began to glow purple and his eocarcharia did the same as well much to the D Team's alarm!

"Wh….What's happening!?" Max gasped as he and his friends were forced to cover their eyes to shield themselves from the light!

"Did you honestly think that you're the only ones who could awaken a dinosaur's true power!?" Goma then shouted out loud, "Hehehe, then allow me to prove you just how wrong you all are!" He screeched as his dinosaur let out a terrifying roar which shook the earth's foundation itself and the dark energy within him began to rise!

ROAR!

"AAAH!"

"Urgh…" As they braced themselves trying to hang on and not get blown away, Rex was able to open his eyes just enough to see what was going on.

"That light….can it be?" he was soon about to get his answer in the worst possible way.

"It's time for you to get a taste of your own medicine!" Goma yelled out loudly as the light died down revealing his eocarcharia in a new black and purple form which emanated with immense evil energy which reenergised the dinosaur's power and erased every trace of damage and all injuries from his body as he let out a nightmarish roar! "Elemental fusion!"

Max and the others widened their eyes and stared in sheer amazement and disbelief at what they bore witness, "AH!"

"Impossible…."

"Goma was able to awaken his eocarcharia!?"

"But…that can't be….."

"The only way to do that is if the dinosaur and partner have a bond with one another!"

"Then how could he have done that!?"

"Also….that awakening….something's definitely not right with it…."

Goma then began to snicker in amusement, taking delight in how utterly shocked they were, "Hehehe, what can I say." he snickered smugly as he petted his partner on the head again, "Eocarcharia and I simply share a very special and unique connection with each other," he commented before shooting a demonic grin towards his enemies, "Which as you just said, which none of you could possibly comprehend."

It didn't take long for the children to realise what he meant, and it was a revelation which shook the foundation of everything they believed or thought possible, "No…No way…."

"A dinosaur…that's as evil as he is?" Zoe and Rex breathed as if their world had been turned upside down, they couldn't belle it was possible for an evil power hungry dinosaur to actual exist and take delight in carrying out the destruction of the world itself!

It went agsint everything Max believed in as he gritted his teeth and shouted out in frustration, "This can't be real….there's no way!" he cried in denial refusing to accept or believe that a dinosaur could actually be as balm hearted as Goma was…and yet the evidence was all too clear for him right now….

Goma found his enemies' frustrations to be most amusing, and he planned to help deepen it if it would mean his foes would squirm and suffer all the more, "You don't believe me?" he asked before he pumped up his arms and readied himself for the next round! "Very well, then allow me to make believers out of you! Eocarcharia! Annihilate them now!" He yelled punching ahead as his dinosaur roared viciously and charged right at them once again!

Roar!

Max grunted, still finding it difficult to move past the thought of a dinosaur being evil but soon shook his head clear knowing what still had to be done, "Urgh! It doesn't matter, it's still a battle we can't afford to lose!" he shouted, knowing they had to stop him by any means necessary otherwise many more will suffer or worse perish if he got through them!

"Biting wind!" Rex quickly reacted as he slashed the wind move card! In response Ace breathed out a tall tornado, to which he swung his tail through, generating blades of wind which shot right towards the incoming awakened eocarcharia! Unfortunately as the dark carnivore lowered his head the blades merely smacked off him harmlessly and he hung out his head at the last one which smashed through it like it was made of glass! "AH!" Rex widened his eyes and Ace stuttered back in worry at how easily his attack was deflected.

"That didn't even tickle!" Goma snickered as eocarcharia stayed on course, flashing his teeth and drooling saliva in his jaws hungry for vengeance for his earlier humiliation!

"Oh no!" Max gasped seeing that he was still coming at them at full speed! If he reached them they'd be done for!

"Paris it's our turn now!" Zoe quickly volunteered as her dinosaur bellowed out loudly at the ready! "Emerald garden!" Paris charged up with green energy before firing out an energy sphere at him! As it exploded it caused a garden to bloom around eocarcharia, but as they attempted to absorb his energy, the darkness began to infect the garden, causing them to wilt and decay till they were reduced to cut and burnt up in purple flames! "WAH!?" Zoe couldn't believe it for a second, how much evil cursed energy must have been emanating from that dinosaur, eve if it had worked she shuddered to think how it would affect Paris had she absorbed it in!

"Hehehe looks like it's my turn now!" Goma grinned as they failed to react in time and eocarcharia finally reached them much to their alarm! "Feel the burn! Or better yet, The final burn!" He grinned as he played the fire move card! Glowing red, his dinosaur shot out a stream of black and purple flames over Ace and Paris! Enshrouding them in cursed black fire as they roared in pain and agony over the punishing flames which began to eat away at them! It was as if they were suffering some sort of eternal torment from the prehistoric underworld!

"AH! Paris!"

"Ace get out of there!" They cited out to their partners, who were trapped and suffering under the infernal flames and they could only watch helplessly as the fires soon died down and both dinosaurs collapsed having suffered some very severe black burns around their bodies!

"NO!" Zoe cried nearly on the verge of tears.

"They're really hurt!" Rex gritted his teeth as he looked over them in alarm then glared up at Goma who was staring down at them with sadism.

"Get in there Chomp! Hurry!" Max quickly yelled to his partner as he roared and rushed towards them, as eocarcharia stomped towards Ace and Paris then turned in annoyance to see the incoming triceratops intending to ruin his moment.

Goma glared with annoyance towards the interfering trike and he knew just how to deal with nuisances like him, "Stay out of my way! Burst of flames!" he commanded as he activated the move card, which caused eocarcharia to turn around to face Chomp and then blast out a stream of purple flames at him, stopping him in his tracks as he roared in pain under the demonic heat and fire!

"AH! Chomp!" Max cried in alarm as his triceratops was blown back and he crashed to the ground steaming in black smoke!

"These 2 are my prey now, sit there quietly and wait your turn." Goma responded to him, before completely disregarding Max and focusing his attention on Paris and Ace, who were already weakened and he wasn't about to let himself be distracted once more, now he had his chance to finish them off and he planned to take it without putting up anymore of this farce of a battle!

"Urgh…." Max could only watch helplessly as the eocarcharia blasted a stream of purple flames over Ace and Paris! Too much to handle, and the effect of the final run kicking in, the 2 dinosaurs roared out one more time before reverting back to their cards which then floated gently to the ground to the horror of both Rex and Zoe to see their partners beaten utterly and there was nothing they could do to save them.

"NO!"

"AH!"

With 2 of his enemies defeated, Goma grinned as he and his dinosaur looked over to his last remaining foe, "Hehehe, and then there was one." he grinned towards Max who could only stare with widened eyes of speechless disbelief.

"He took them both out so easily…." he breathed as he could feel fear starting to well up inside, every fibre of his being wanted him to turn and run….but something inside him told him to hold his ground and fight on even when it seemed like it was an impossible battle.

Seizing the chance while his back was turned, Zoe and Rex quickly ran over to grab their partners' cards before looking back up, feeling an immense wave of pressure and despair coming over them in light of eocarcharia's might and Goma's ability to command him, "Such power….it's unlike anything we ever faced…." Rex hissed as he sweated tensely, unsure of what to do.

"Can we really win?" Zoe shuddered with terror as her knees began to buckle with each passing moment she continued to lose hope.

"Guys….." Max breathed seeing how filled with despair and hopelessness they were in, he could understand why….but regardless he refused to let this battle end this way as he turned towards Goma and eocarcharia with determination, "I promise I won't let your sacrifice be in vain." he swore clenching his hand into a fist. Moved by Max's courage and spirit, Chomp felt his energy resonating with him as he forced himself up to his legs and roared out defiantly at eocarcharia who snared back at him!

"Oh? You still wish to fight even after how easily I dispensed with your friends?" Goma mused as he folded his arms with a smug smirk, doubting Max being able to pull off what his 2 friends couldn't.

Max then gritted his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist, "You'll pay for what you just did you creep! I swear if it's the last thing I ever do, I'll beat you and stop your plans now and forever more!" he swore to avenge his friends even if he had to put his own life on the line to do it! Chomp too was willing to go all out and past his lists in order to protect his fiends and many more from the shadow empire and its monster of a leader, as he roared out, his fierce spirit unleashed as he made a full force charge towards his enemy!

"HA! Go ahead an try if you can!" Goma laughed in amusement as he held out his arm, "Attack eocarcharia!" he commanded as his dinosaur opened up his jaws, flaring with purple flames as he rushed ahead! In response Chomp sidestepped in time as the eocarcharia tore through the ground before turning around to face Chomp again!

"Fight back Chomp!" Max yelled feeling more fired up and determined than ever, as both dinosaurs roared and leapt at one another, horns and jaws clashing with one another like bases before they landed on opposing sides! As sparks flew out and both dinosaurs matched blow for blow, tooth to horn, Rex and Zoe looked on in amazement at how far they were pushing each other to fight!

"Whoa, look at them go!" Zoe gasped clapping her hands together in awe.

"They're so evenly matched…." Rex breathed in amazement to see how the 2 dinosaurs traded blows and clashed almost like equal opposites of each other! Seeing their options were limited and they could only rely on Max, Rex then narrowed his eyes and tensed up focusing on their final line of defence, "Go get him Max, you're our only hope now."

As Chomp and eocarcharia squared off, Max saw the chance to slash his all or nothing move card as the shadow fire dinosaur charged at him with flaring purple flames gathered in his jaws! "Take this! Lightning axe!" He cried slashing the card with all his might! Chomp mustered enough energy to generate a lightning awe in between his horns before leaping up into the air, spinning and shredding through the flames as he and eocarcharia clashed at one another, with vicious sparks flying out between them!

"AAAAAARRRGGGHH!" Both Goma and Max yelled as they punched ahead, unwilling to give way to the other in this heated battle which would decided the matches outcome! In the end, spurred by the wishes of his friends, Chomp's axe managed to cut through the flames and deliver a devastating slash at eocarcharia who roared in pain as the electricity slash cut through his body and he fell down to the ground collapsing as Chomp leapt back and roared out in triumph and to the D Team's delight!

"Yeah!" Max cheered as he jumped up and down and punched his arm up to the sky!

"Direct hit too!" Zoe cheered clapping her hands feeling her hopes revitalised while Rex laughed happily that they came through at last!

At the sight of his dinosaur being overcome, Goma narrowed his eyes before looking back to Max who glared at him while also panting with exhaustion with Chomp, as that move took a lot out of him in his current condition. Before long he began to clap, praising Max's performance much to his surprise, "Impressive attack I must admit for you to be able to push through and land an attack on me in awakened form is quite commendable." he complimented Taylor in a polite and respectful manner, to which he hardened his gaze refusing to accept it. "However I must ask," His signature sinister grin suddenly came upon his face once more, "Is that the best you've got?" As soon as he said so, eocarcharia suddenly raised himself back up and stomped hard on the ground and roared out once more to the bewilderment of the D Team!

"HUH!?"

"Say what!?" They exclaimed. As soon as they did, Chomp's knees wobbled and he let out a pained growl as he fell onto his stomach, collapsing to the ground exhausted and to their shock!

"AH!"

"Chomp no!" Max cried in horror and starting to feel a sense of hopelessness, like their victory just now was no more than a temporary mirage, as the triceratops reverted to his normal form and collapsed down!

"He used up a lot of his energy," Rex commented tensely as a bead of sweat dripped from his cheek to the ground, "He can't hold his awakened form anymore." he hissed gritting his teeth as he appeared far too weak to fight!

"But….Goma's eocarcharia." As Zoe looked ahead, her heart skipped a beat as she witnessed it rise back up and stand tall without so much as a scratch on it as it roared out loudly with power! "He looks like he hasn't even broken a sweat yet!" she cried in alarm as Max and Rex both tensed up with the pressure getting to them!

"Hahaha! Now do you see the difference in power between us?" Goma then cackled with devious delight before shooting a malevolent grin towards his beaten and about to be broken enemies who didn't even put up as much of a chill age as he hoped for, "It's been fun while it lasted I admit, but all things must come to an end." He sighed having enjoyed it, while sad it had to end he'd still relish that it did happen in the end. "It's time I put you out of your misery!" He then screeched maniacally as eocarcharia roared out loud and stomped towards them and they could only watch as their own destroyer came closer to them with each step!

As he closed in on them, as Zoe fell to her knees and and shuddered, feeling overwhelmed with pure fear and terror as the dark monster was preparing to wipe them out Max and Rex gritted their teeth and hardened themselves for what was about to happen, "This…can't be how it ends…." Max hissed to himself as he went back and thought about everything they fought through from the space pirates, the cosmos stones and how everyone else fought hard in this war to make it here. How the people of the future all suffered because of the very zanjark they were fighting now, and he planned to subjugate even more worlds if they couldn't stop his reign of terror now! The fear of having to lose to him and not being able to do anything about it drove Max to punch his hand int the ground with rage as he mustered up whatever energy in him to stand up again, "I won't allow it!" He screamed refusing to let all their sacrifices and battles fought to be in vain!

Chomp's feelings resonated with Max's as he breathed heavily and dug in his heels, forcing himself back up to his legs groggily before panting with exhaustion as the move took nearly all his remaining strength just to stand his ground against the menacing eocarcharia who stared down at him and licked his lips.

"So, the worm still squirms." Goma then scoffed as he folded his arms on his hips towards Max and his friends as he gave them a most mocking look which angered them deeply.

"Y…You!" Even if it seems hopeless there was no way they were going to roll over and let him do as he pleased….but nevertheless they had nothing left they could use to stop him and that further added to their frustrations.

"Hahaha, that look of rage and frustration on your face, you think you still can win." Goma laughed out loud sadistically, "How laughable, how about I wake you up from your delusional state and put you out of your misery once and for all!" He declared intending to waste no more time, "Eocarcharia! Annihilate him now!" He commanded causing his awakened shadow dinosaur to roar out ferociously as he charged at the helpless Chomp and unprotected D team, they were at his mercy and now with them right in his claws, once they were defeated soon the entire resistance would fall and the world would be swallowed up in darkness forever!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Inside HQ, everyone looked on in horror as Goma had the D Team on the ropes, defeating both Ace and Paris without having used much effort, now having driven them along with Chomp into a corner with no way of escape! They could only watch helplessly unable to do a thing as his eocarcharia was closing in on them ready for the kill!

"MAX! REX! ZOE!" Cera along with the D Team's parents cried out in alarm as their eyes widened with the shadow dinosaur opening its jaws wide open ready flashing vicious serrated teeth ready to snap close at any moment!

Everyone else tensed, shuddered or looked away at the battle's climax from which would end in the D Team's defeat!

"Zander hold me…." Ed squeaked as he hugged his friend so tightly he choked and turned blue!

"ACK!"

"This is horrible.…" Cera breathed as her heart sank, sensing immense evil emanating from eocarcharia unlike any other dinosaur from the shadow empire they encountered thus far.

"That thing's a monster!" Dr Taylor cried widening his eyes and gritting his teeth tensely and he and the other parents watched with uncontrollable racing hearts.

Dr Z turned pale and gulped down hard, "Hate to admit it….but that's one dinosaur I wouldn't want in my dinosaur kingdom even if it was the last dinosaur on the planet…." he quivered knowing that such a dinosaur in his kingdom would turn it inside out and even make lunch meat out of him, his subjects and all the other dinosaurs in it!

"Tch! They won't last much longer at this rate…." Lunensis clicked his tongue in frustration as he began typing frantically on the computer as it began to scan Goma's dinosaur in its movements and energy readings, "But he can't be invincible, we must be overlooking something!"

"Out of my way!" Seth suddenly barged in as he shoved Lunensis aside much to his surprise.

"Hey! Seth!" he grunted at being pushed away, "What are you doing!?"

"Finding a chink in its armour." he calmly replied as he completed the scan and graphs, charts and readings began to pop up on screen, "Let's see…it's attack patterns and power levels…."

"AH! They're immensely powerful…." he breathed blinking his eyes in bewilderment, nothing he encountered or conjured up in his experiments ever came closer to something as powerful as this dinosaur was. His old self would have marvelled at Goma being able to achieve something so great, but he quickly shook his head chasing away his temptations before returning to what really mattered at hand. "But still…." He put his finger to his chin and gritted his teeth tensely before typing away fast, scanning through the energy readings for any anomalies or areas of weakness, as fast as he could driven by the desire to help Max and the others, till finally he discovered it at a certain low point in eocarcharia's low energy output! "Yes! I was right! It does have a weakness after all!" he cried as everyone else brightened up or widened their eyes.

"AH!"

"Alright! There's still hope!" Cera snapped her fingers with a smile.

"Well what are we waiting for!?" Dr Z then growled gritting his teeth frantically, "They need to know that now!"

"I agree." Dr Ancient nodded with him before looking to Cera's dad, "Luennsis! Patch us into Max's communicator now!"

"I'll get on that right away!" He replied in agreement as he hurried over to the computers to patch into Max's dinoshot.

Dear then turned toward everyone else with new orders, "Everyone else! Mobilise and move out!" she commanded as the troopers and lieutenants present saluted her.

"Yes lieutenant! Ma'am!" They said n unison as they rallied together and hurried out.

"You guys too! NOW!" She shouted towards the Alpha gang catching them by surprise!

"Y…You got it boss!" Dr Z croaked before shaking his fists and growling at the trio, "You heard him you ninnies! Move it!" he shouted which made them stutter.

"On the double!" They cited as they ran out after everyone, before Cera soon followed after them intending to join the battle too.

As she ran on she narrowed her eyes thinking about her friends who were on danger but she wasn't about to let them down, "Max, hang on, help's on the way…." she vowed wearing to protect them even if she had to risk her own life to do it.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Hahahah! It's almost over! Say goodbye to your insignificant existence!" Goma laughed in triumph as he looked down upon the near defeated D Team, with only a wounded Chomp and exhausted Max left standing in his way, it would only be a matter of time before the entire resistance crumbles beneath his feet and the entire universe would be in the palm of his hand!

"Urgh…." Max gritted his teeth and groaned with exhaustion, having used up all he had and it still wasn't enough to even slow down Goma or his monstrous eocarcharia! Now he and his friends could only watch helplessly as their worst enemy ever closed in on them ready to wipe them off the face of the planet! As he closed his eyes not wanting to look anymore, a call from his dinoshot suddenly caught his attention in the nick of time!

"Max! Do you read me!?" A familiar voice called out to him.

"AH! Seth!?" He gasped upon recognising it, as the others looked over to where he was.

"Listen to me! That eocarcharia's attacks are powerful but in their current state they're rather ineffective against that of armour!" he yelled, causing Max to blink his eyes puzzled.

"Armour?" He questioned, "What are you-" He and the others soon caught on to what he meant, "AH! Of course!"

"The dino tectors!" Rex and Zoe both said together.

"Use them now! While you have the chance! Hurry!" Seth shouted with urgency in his voice before the call cut off, possibly because he was leaving to join the others in the rescue.

It was a long time since they last used them, so it was natural they'd forget about them. Max quickly fished his hand into his side where his dino gadget was held, and was relieved to grab hold of it. Zoe and Rex both smiled with hope that they still had something left to fight back with, but Max didn't feel so sure, "You think it'll actually work?" He asked feeling nervous as to whether it might work, "You saw what it did to Paris and Ace just now right?"

His friends frowned understanding his worries, deep down they were feeling a bit uneasy as to whether they may be able to pull this off…but their hands had been forced, "It's the best option we have at the moment," said Rex before looking ahead to see their current predicament, "And we don't have a choice."

Understanding their situation first hand, Max soon nodded firmly as he shouted out to his downed partner, "Chomp get up! We know you can still do it!" His pleas and fervent wishes reached the triceratops, as he opened his eyes and tired. Mustering his energy he got back to his legs and forced himself to stand up before letting out a roar which made the D Team smile with hope one again. "Alright Chomp!"

"We're with you all the way!"

"We believe in you! We know you ca do this!" Rex and Zoe cheered with him, which further gave the triceratops strength and the will to continue fighting despite the odds stacked against him and his friends.

The eocarcharia stopped his advance in surprise to see Chomp still being bale to stand after the massive beating he was dealt just now, and so did his master, "You still intend to fight?" Goma questioned, being caught off guard by his resilience, before shaking his head sighing with pity, "Why do you continue these futile counterattacks and refuse to accept the inevitable?"

"Never!" Rex retorted as he shook out his hand at the evil zanjark, "As long as we can still get back up we'll never stop fighting and resisting the likes of you!"

"And we'll be sticking by our friends to the very end!" said Zoe as she and Rex stood together with both Max and Chomp.

A heroic notion, one which Goma soon shrugged off, "Ha! It doesn't matter how many of you weaklings band together, you'll soon perish before my might!" he proclaimed.

"We may be weak now," Max admitted but his heart remained steadfast and steeled with resolve, "But we'll fight to our last breath! In fact we'll prove it to you here and now!" the brunette shouted at the top of his lungs as Chomp roared out powerfully, his spirit resonating with Max as he activated the dino tector! "Element booster! Dino tector on!" He yelled attaching it to his dinoshot!

A bright yellow light shone from Chomp which made eocarcharia stutter back in disorientation at the light, Goma too had to hold up his arm to block out the irritating glare, but as it died down, Chomp revealed himself in his full armoured form as he roared out fiercely towards the dark eocarcharia! "Armour is it now?" Goma mused before nodding with mild approval, "To be able to handle your awakened form and then shift into armour after is rather impressive." He then smirked, "Time to see how far you can go now." He then thought hoping for more of a challenge this time.

"Go Chomp! Take it to em!" Max cried out with determination as Chomp bellowed and rushed forward fearlessly!

"Take this! Burst of flames!" Goma countered as he activated the fire move which caused his dinosaur to blast out a sure of purple flames towards Chomp! They however were nothing more than a minor deterrence as Chomp easily pushed through them and struck against the eocarcharia at his chest and bashing him back! Regaining his footing and shaking his head, eocarcharia roared out in anger before swinging out his tail at Chomp, only for the armour to absorb the hit and minimise the damage much to his frustration, as Chomp quickly grabbed the tail and threw him across the field! As he charged in, eocarcharia got kicked up and grabbed at Chomp's horns with his arms, but was unable to hold him back as his feet dragged into the ground and he desperately tried to hang on to no avail! "Tch! You actually found a way to get around my moves? Maybe I have slightly miscalculated." Goma clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"That's not your only mistake!" Max added, "Your first and biggest one of all was thinking you could march here onto our planet and do as you please with it without any consequences!" he yelled in defiance to show he was fighting on behalf of everyone in the resistance and for all the innocent lives Goma wronged and took from the world all because of his selfish lust for power, "Now we'll show you just how wrong you are and that you should never have messed with us to begin with!" In response Chomp was able to swing out his head and knock eocarcharia back before scooping him up and throwing him over his head as he crashed down several feet away! With their enemy now vulnerable, Max saw his opening at last.

"Do it Max!"

"Finish him off Chomp!" Zoe and Rex both cheered him on to seize the chance, and Max grinned seeing their moment had finally arrived and he wasn't about to blow it.

"GO! Ultimate thunder!" He yelled slashing his best move of all! Chomp roared out powerfully as he summoned forth a stream of lightning bolts form the sky which prevented eocarcharia from being able to escape as they trapped him in a single straight line and then struck down on him!

As he roared in pain from the immense thunder coursing through him, Goma gritted his teeth and held out his arm as he braced himself from this incoming attack from the heavens! "Grrgh!"

Right after that, Chomp rushed forward, a bolt of electricity blasted from his tail propelling him like a rocket as he speared right at the helpless eocarcharia! Sending him flying across the field as he crashed to the ground and lay motionless, his awakened form disappearing as he reverted back to his normal form! Chomp let out a roar in triumph while Max and his friends cheered with pure joy and excitement to see at long last they finally managed to pull it off! They defeated the shadow empire's boss at last!

"Yeah!" Max cheered as hem leapt up and punched to the sky, never having felt more joy and excitement than ever before in his whole life!

His friends clapped and cheered for him too in celebration of their victory, "You did it Max! Chomp!"

"That was an awesome battle you guys!" They praised him as Max rubbed his nose grinning cheekily and feeling flattered.

After that, seeing Goma had just landed on the ground to where his eocarcharia lay, he pointed out at him, "Hehe! In your face! It was picture perfect!" he chuckled which caught the zanjark's attention.

Needless to say he wasn't at all pleased as he shot them a hard scowl, "Hmph, maybe now I see why you were able to best my father and his men." he scoffed before smiling rather lightly, "As I suspected you all possess a strong connection with your dinosaurs, something they did not." He then said in a most calm demeanour.

The D Team soon narrowed their eyes, feeling unsettled as to why he isn't worried at all or retreating, chances were he still had something up his sleeve so they kept a firm gaze upon Goma, not letting him out of their sight and keeping on high alert.

Goma then stepped forward a bit towards them, "When I came here after hearing of your past and reset successes, I wanted to test your skills and see for myself if you were worthy of joining me and being part of the winning team, or better yet my inner circle when I rule the planet." He said before smirking with sinister intent, "And then the universe right after that hehe…."

Max and his friends widened their eyes upon hearing the words that parted from Goma's lips, "Excuse me!?" He then gritted his teeth and gnashed them furiously, taking huge offence to what the zanjark blatantly told them, "Forget it! You're out of your mind if you think we'd never side with a maniac like you!" He yelled throwing his hand out.

"Especially after all you did to so many innocent people and to the dinosaurs! We'd never forgive you let alone team up!" Rex shouted as he shook a fist at him.

"Never in a million years!" Zoe concluded before sticking her tongue.

In response Goma soon smirked as if he was expecting that from them, "I figured you'd say that." he scoffed before shrugging his shoulders uncaringly, "Not that it matters though, you didn't pass anyways, your victory was merely through sheer luck and nothing more!"

Max and the others widened their eyes at what he said to them, "Say what!?"

"All your moves were amateurish at best, your performance fell below my lowest expectations and at best merely within them!" Goma then grinned manually before bursting out in obnoxious uncontrollable laughter, "You're not worthy at all to even serve as my dinosaur's next meal! Ahahaha!"

"GRRR!" They all glared at him in anger and irritation, having just enough of his snobbish attitude and evil intentions.

"You talk real big for someone who just lost!"

"Yeah! We beat you fair and square just admit it!" Max and Zoe both yelled at him.

"Oh? Me lose?" He mused before laughing maniacally, which caused them to feel most unnerved and uneasy, "Hehehehe…hahahahahah!" His smile soon vanished as his expression made a 180 degree turn to a vicious scowl, "Don't make me laugh," He soon began to glow in a purple aura and his expression turned psychotic it wedged itself deep into their minds as a face they'd never be able to forget in a hundred years! "I'm just getting warmed up!" He yelled before shouting to his downed dinosaur, knowing he could still hear him, "Eocarcharia! Playtime is over! Rise up and destroy them now!" He commanded, having played with the D Team's hopes long enough it was time that they shut down their hopes once and for all! Knowing this, eocarcharia soon kicked himself up and let out a powerful roar to the sky much to the D Team's alarm!

"AH!"

"Impossible!" They widened their eyes at what they witnessed, even Chomp stepped back in fear, as they began to see that dinosaur of Goma's was a monster, being able to take everything they threw at him and still emerge almost unscathed! The worse thing was…it was now his turn to attack!

"A shame none of you could bring out your dinosaur's full power and potential like I have." Goma scoffed at them in disappointment, feeling nothing but pity for how far they had fallen short of his expectations. His sympathetic expression quickly melted away to that of a psychotic malevolent grin! "And you'll never get the chance to do so, because I'm erasing you eyesores from my sight this instant!" he hollered to the skies as eocarcharia let out a vicious snarl this time with the intention to hold absolutely nothing back!

"GRRGH!" Max gritted his teeth furiously, his spirit still ignited and burning with resolve, "That case we'll just have to try even harder than we did before!" He yelled as he slashed his next best move card, "Chomp! Gatling spark!" Chomp glowed bright yellow and surged with electricity as he prepared to charge at eocarcharia to get in range and hopefully deliver the decisive blow!

Unfortunately, this was early what both Goma and eocarcharia had been waiting for as they both grinned with malice at the incoming trike, "Now I'll show you the true difference between you and me." Goma breathed as he took out a special move card he had been saving to this very moment, "Eocarcharia! Unleash Fire scorcher!" He yelled as he activated the move card! The D Team's hearts skipped a beat and they widened their eyes as eocarcharia flashed red and generated a massive dark purple and red fireball in his jaws before throwing it right in the path of Chomp!

"AH!"

"Not that move!" Zoe and Rex both gasped as the move brought them back horrible memories of Seth using that move against them, strong enough to take any dinosaur out of the fight in an instant!

Max knowing its full capabilities cried out desperately, "Chomp get out of the way!" Unfortunately, Chomp's momentum couldn't be stopped even if he wanted to, he widened his eyes in horror as he charged straight at the fireball which collapsed and exploded in a massive sea of flames which swallowed him completely and sent several cinders and shockwaves at the D Team!

"AAAAAAHHH!" They cried as the wind blew them back as they desperately tried to hang on, holding out or crossing their arms forward against the flying cinders!

Chomp unfortunately wasn't as luck as they were, as he found himself caught in the center of the blazing mass! His armour could do little to help him against the blaze as he shrieked in pain and agony before being blown back out and crashing to the ground, smoking hard and lying motionlessly….before he reverted back to a card before Max.

Max's heart skipped a beat at what he saw, "Chomp! NO!" He cried in defeat to see their last hope had been shattered, neither he or his friends could believe what they just witnessed.

"Unreal…." Zoe breathed as she felt completely overwhelmed by what he just witnessed. It was one thing for Chomp to be taken out in an instant like that, even in armoured form.

Rex however, was more shocked that the eocarcharia still stood powerfully and roared in triumph over his defeated enemies, "After everything we threw at him, he still stands….." It was unlike anything they ever faced before, neither Specter's Brontikens or Seth's black T-Rex had demonstrated such limitless unbridled power and he could still control it at will with ease.

"Is there nothing we can do to stop him?" Max choked hard as his arms grew limp and the will from his spirit began to sap away….

"As they say, a trump card should always be saved for last." Goma spoke rather smugly as he flashed out his fingers most casually, "Though had I knew things would have been this easy, I would have used it far sooner."

At the sound of his words, they struck both a chord and fear into the D team's hearts upon realising that he had been merely toying with them from the very beginning, hoe he could have easily wiped them out in a single blast had he wanted….they had been playing right into or better yet…were in the palm of his hand from the very start the moment they laid eyes on him…..The very thought of it sent chills down their spines upon realising they were pit matched and outgunned in every way there was.

"What do we do now guys?" Zoe gulped as she stuck close to her friends for shelter, even though it'd be futile and running was out of the question, they'd be caught before they could even move! And even if they wanted to they couldn't as their feet were completely rooted to the spot and every nerve inside them screamed to run but they were also paralysed by fear to the point they were completely frozen!

"I'm open to suggestions, any bright ideas?" Rex shuddered, just as at a loss as the others were. What they first assumed to be an easy defending task turned out to backfire on them really badly. With no dinosaurs left to use and now traded alone and helpless without any backup didn't help in making his thoughts clear enough to think, if anything their situation was nothing short of dire.

"I….don't know…." was all Max could say, they had nothing left…no way of stopping them….they could only tense up as Goma soon hovered above them, looking down upon them like measly insects….and he had all the reason to do so….

"Now what to do with you?" He then muttered folding his arms in thought, "I am tempted to leave you all alive so you can live to tell the tale and strike fear into the heart of your comrades." He pondered over that possibility as he scratched his chin, "But the downside is that you'll certainly rise up again to interfere with my plans, which are nearing a critical stage so obviously I shouldn't leave things to chance." He soon shot them a psychotic grin at them, one which would easily run into their nightmares, "So I've made my decision, I'll wipe you specks off the face of the planet here and now!" He shouted with eager glee! No more monologging or gloating, he held out his arm gesturing to eocarcharia to end them once and for all, who then roared out and flashed his jaws wide ready to snap on them!

They all widened the eyes and huddled together, "AAAAH!" They screamed in terror as the giant carnivore roared out at them, paralysing them with fear to ensure they didn't have anything else up their sleeves, not giving them a moment to think of anything else but fear and doom!

"Don't worry though, I'm certain the resistance will tell stories of you in their final moments after you are gone." Goma smirked smugly as he rubbed his palms together eager for the grand finale which would end in his utter victory!

"N…NO!" Zoe cried as she fell to her knees and covered her face, if not to hide from being able to see their end but also crying her eyes out at being unable to see her friends and family anymore.

As Rex gritted his teeth and looked away, Max only fell to his knees and on the ground, shaking tensely at being so helpless, never feeling as such since the cosmos stones were merged. Last time there was hope in the stone plates, but now….it seemed as there was no more left…."Guys….I'm really sorry….we failed…." he berthed heavily before gritting his teeth and on the verge of giving up, before an image of a close friend appeared in his mind, whom he swore to stay by her side and help her to the end….his regret was that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his to her promise anymore, the only regret he had on his mind, "Cera…." he choked out with despair gripping his heart.

As eocarcharia prepared to charge up a fire scorcher in his jaws, Goma decided to give his unworthy enemies a fe final parting words for them to take into the afterlife so they'd writhe in their graves and their souls laid to unrest for all eternity, "Say goodbye D Team, and good riddance for you shall not be mis-"

BOOM!

Before he could finish, a fireball suddenly shot out and blasted eocarcharia's mouth causing the whole attack to backfire and explode at such a close range he fell back and roared in pain as smoke steamed from his face!

Goma widened his eyes, "What!?" he roared in disbelief looking at his collapsed dinosaur.

"AH!" Max and Rex widened their eyes in surprise at what just happened, whoever fired that fireball and stopped eocarcharia just now came in the nick of time.

Turning around Zoe widened her eyes to see where the attack had came from, "Look!" she cried pointing out as the boys followed where she pointed, widening their eyes at a miracle which unfolded.

The shields had just been dropped and the entire resistance ranging from the captains, troopers as well as their own parents all came forth in a united front as they ran out either on foot or drove in whatever mesozoic mobile they could get their hands on that wasn't damaged by the gel jark invasion! And it wasn't just them, dinosaurs of many kinds were gathered with them, all of them getting out a set of agitated and angered roars, their herding insects as well as sense of loyalty for their allies drove them to mobilise together as they roared out against Goma and eocarcharia, warning them that one wrong move and it'd spell the end for them!

"Hang on Max! We'll save you!" Lunensis cried as he and Cera lead the charge out form the resistance base with everyone else following behind them till they arrived near where the D Team were!

They couldn't believe their eyes at what they saw, "It's the resistance!" Rex exclaimed in disbelief.

"They came for us…." Max breathed in awe, feeling moved beyond emotion and how touched they all came to help them in their time of need, like they did for them….

"Stay away from our kids!" Dr Ancient yelled out angrily towards Goma while inside a small yellow Light 4WD model.

"Back off or else!" Spike growled next to him, with a glare that could kill or make a tyrannosaurus shudder.

"No one messes with those brats but us! You got that you snivelling punk!?" Ursula yelled as she along with Ed and Zander arrived with the massive group with Terry, Tank, Spiny and therizinosaurus with them!

"Yeah! And this world has room for only one kingdom and that's my dinosaur kingdom!" Dr Z yelled shaking out his fists next to Ursula, while nearby Seth was sitting inside his own Alpha vehicle which was like a the dinosaur egg pod used in the future only on wheels and shaped like a land rover.

"Those children are the light and hope of this world, as well as my best friends of all!" Cera yelled out loudly as she pointed out at Goma, "We'll never let you extinguish them! Ever!"

"Everyone….They really did come for us…." Max's knees wobbled and nearly gave out at being overwhelmed by such spirit linking everyone together. Feeling their strength resonating with him, all his dark thighs and negative feelings were washed away in a flood of hope and resolve, as he could feel his spirit on fire once again! Filled with hope one more, and not willing to let any of them down, he stood up firm and clenched his hand into a fist while sporting a confident smile to Rex and Zoe, "Well team, what do you say we go for Round 2!?" Max asked them all hopefully to which they all nodded and grinned with eager excitement!

"Yeah! You bet!"

"This ain't over until we say so!" They nodded or held a thumbs up before standing up tall together with the Resistance against the lone Goma and his eocarcharia who were faced with a massive wall of roaring vehicles, angered resistance troopers and bellowing dinosaurs on all sides!

As he focused his attention sole towards the D Team, or more precisely Max, he gritted his teeth and sneered spitefully. It wasn't because he was so heavily outnumbered, but because not a trace of despair or fear remained on the D Team, now they had hope and their resolve restored, and it'd make them that much more difficult to thwart this time around, which was what he intended to avoid from the star and now it happened. Every scenario he anticipated and planned accordingly, but not one of them turn out like this. He believed the resistance would fall into despair after seeing their great heroes fall, but for them to rally together and stand with them ruined everything he worked so hard to plan.

His eocarcharia roared out in defiance, but upon the Resistance's dinosaurs all roaring back at him aggressively, he stuttered and stepped back nervously. Goma could understand, even he felt that taking on them all would be more than he could handle, "Tch! To be cheated of victory when I came so close.…." he clicked his tongue in frustration, before looking closer to see the expressions of renewed hope and determination sported by the 3 kids, whom he was certain were clouded with despair but were soon wiped away. Despite the immeasurable number of foes before him, Goma kept calm and didn't give into his frustrations nor did he panic, instead he calmly let out a breath and and smirked to himself seeing he had no choice now, "Heh, I should have known it wouldn't have been that easy to break their spirits, guess that means I may have to resort to my final plan." He thought to himself.

"Now do you see Goma!" Max then shouted out at him, "You take on one of us then you take on all of us!"

"You may beat us down but we'll keep getting back up no matter how many times it takes!" Zoe followed after him.

"And if even if we do fall others will rise up in our place to defeat your tyranny!" Rex yelled.

"As long as there's hope you'll have to take on the entire universe!" Cera concluded at the end as everyone roared out in unison.

"That's right!"

"We'll never stop until you're defeated for good!"

Various yells and warnings came out from the united resistance gathered together, followed by the growls and roars of furious dinosaurs, some of which were once under his control and now were freed and ready to exact their long overdue payback on their former dictator.

"….." Goma said nothing but scowled hard seeing their determination and resolve was even stronger than it had ever been before. Perhaps it was his own fault that he let things turn out like this by not nipping the weed in the bud while he had his chance. But there was no time to dwell on what he couldn't do or failed to achieve, all he could focus on was what he can do now and measures he could take so he wouldn't repeat the same mistakes he made today, and he knew just where to start. Silence soon descended upon the battlefield, as both sides waited tensely and with anticipation over what the other would do, it was a standoff…..but before long, he soon scoffed uncaringly much to their surprise, "Hmph! To take on all of you would be far beneath me, not to mention a monumental waste of my time and effort." Was all he sad as he snapped his fingers and his red pod appeared above him, as he leapt up into the air and reentered it much to everyone's surprise!

"Huh?"

"He's retreating?" Zoe and Rex muttered, didn't think it'd be that easy.

Dr Z then sported a mischievous grin, "Ha! He's running away! Hahahah! What a chic-MMPH!"

"Sssh! Don't make him angry Dr Z!" Ursula hissed at him as she covered over his mouth and he flailed his hand out gasping for air, "Not unless you want him to turn you into a pile of ash that is!" she added which made the old doctor quiet down in dismay as he nodded back at her.

Max however, wasn't about to accept Goma retreating like that after all he did, "So that's it!? You're just leaving!?" He yelled in protest, finding it unbelievable that he'd just end thins off like that after the stone he just pulled.

Goma scoffed in response uncaringly, "Make no mistake, this is no more than a tactical withdrawal." he explained justifying himself, "You have been very lucky today….." he then let out a sigh knowing even if he wanted too he wouldn't be able to nip the resistance in the bud this time around, "Take pride in the fact you actually survived our encounter, but know that luck can only take you so far and it eventually runs out." A he said so everyone kept a hard look at him, not taking one eye off him or even blink, keeping watch to make sure he wasn't stalling or trying pull wool over their eyes or anything behind their backs, "Nevertheless, I will back off for now seeing you all suffered enough for today." He said calmly before smirking at them with confidence, "Besides, there's no point in wasting energy, for it's like you said, if crushed you all here and now others would rise up to take your places." he said shrugging his shoulders, "And even if I did the same to them the same result would occur on and on. Justice and revenge are immortal beliefs after all and are really powerful motivators."

His words brought up confusion amongst everyone present, "Immortal beliefs?"

"What's he talking about?"

"Don't know, your guess is as good as mine."

While a number of responses came up, some of them which included Cera and the D Team remained serious and firm, whether he was trying to play mind games with them or not they still kept a firm vigilance.

Seeing none of them could comprehend what he was saying, as he expected, Goma decided to make it clear to them if only it would stoke their fears on what will soon befall them, "I can break as many of you as I wanted, but as long as your spirits hang on to those irritating beliefs of yours you'll never stop trying." He said as they grew rather wary as to where he was going with this, "Therefore, in order to completely destroy spirits such as yours, a far more elaborate approach is required. And as of now the preparations for that aren't complete yet." He said as a malicious grin spread across his face, "Do expect your end and the day of reckoning to come in due time, before long you'll all be begging for mercy soon enough." He said as he prepared to turn his pod around.

Max and his friends soon widened his eyes, "And you think we'll let you walk away and get started on it!?" Rex growled.

"Fat chance! We're finishing this right here and now!" Max screamed as the resistance began to charge after him, refusing to let this chance slip away from them!

Unfortunately for them, Goma was, as always, at least 1 move ahead of them, "I figured you might say that, so I thought of this in event of an emergency." He grinned as he took out a move card and activated it! "Fire scorcher!" He yelled as eocarcharia gathered flames in his jaws and charged up the dark meteor in half the time it took than before and then throwing it right at them!

Everyone widened there eyes as the meteor prepared to crash and evenly them all! "AAAAH!"

"Quickly! Defensive formations now!" Lunensis yelled out in response as the earth dinosaurs ranging from pinacosaurus, lexovisaurus and stegosaurus leapt out and unleashed their most powerful defensive moves ranging from earth barrier, grand defence and critical barrier! They all smashed down on the ground and the huge clumps of earth they gathered all materialised into a powerful rock dome which covered over the entirety of the Resistance group, in time as the meteor crashed down and swept over it!

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" Everyone cried out as they held firm at the immense rattling and rumbling! Even with all their shields put up they could still feel the sheer force of the blast rumbling through the barrier! As cracks began to form above them, some of them widened their eyes over the insanely powerful fire power eocarcharia possessed or worried whether the shield would hold! Eventually it shattered to pieces as it all came down as rocks feel down around everyone who scurried about to safety or braced themselves inside their vehicles as the rocks crashed down on them! Some had to abandon their cars as the fragments smashed into them, while others took over underneath larger dinosaurs who shielded them. Though the smaller ones had to duck for cover like their owners too.

Soon it passed and everyone groaned or moaned groggily having barely made it out of that in 1 piece.

"Urgh…."

"Oogh…."

Dust had blown into the air around them as a result of fire scorcher and before them was a massive dark crater which was smiling in black dust, what they would have ended up as had they hadn't reacted in time, which may of them breathe out in relief that they could still be alive and move.

Lunensis rubbed his head which throbbed like crazy, wincing in pain he fought pass it as he tried his best to focus more on the wellbeing of his people rather than his own, "Is everyone okay?" he called out through his vehicle's communicator.

"I think so…."

"Had better days….uhh…" Various pained remarks echoed from all around the premises, though apart from a couple of complaints and whines from the alpha gang, Lunensis let out a sigh of relief to see that for the most part they made it out of that alive, miraculously. Something he won't take for granted, especially for many for the dinosaurs who sought to the protection of the people, with partners and others too.

Cera meanwhile, had hopped out of her mesozoic mobile to tend to her friends who were rather battered and banged up with dust and a few bruises, "Are you guys alright?" she asked them with concern as they looked to her.

"We're good Cera…." Max nodded with a smile shared by Rex and Zoe.

"We're just grateful you came to us when we needed it most." said Zoe next.

"We owe you one for this." Rex added.

Cera shook her head with a light smile, "I'm merely doing what's only natural," she said, "Its more than just because you're all giving your lives to help my world, it;s because you're all my irreplaceable friends. And I'll never let anything happen to you if I can help it." She said swearing that they'll never have to wade into battle alone ever again, and that they could also call for and rely on the help of their allies anytime they need to after all they've done for them already.

Feeling more assured than ever that they could win this war and defeat Goma, Max felt a wave of relief wash over him as he nodded back at Cera, acknowledging her words and promising himself to never forget them even to the end of time, "Good to hear that…." he replied as the 4 friends shared a warm moment between them.

It soon cut short however, as someone pointed out something unsettling, "Look! Goma's gone!" a trooper yelled which caught everyone off guard as they looked ahead to see the dust had cleared off and the Shadow empire elder had vanished from sight completely!

"AH!" As they looked up, where Goma's red ship was, a ground bridge portal now floated, which no doubt he used to make his get away. A purple light had also zoomed into it, which was no doubt him recalling his eocarcharia in the process.

"This is only the beginning of what I have planned for you." Roma's voice echoed from it, "Stay out of my way, or suffer the consequences…." were his final words as the portal closed completely leaving everyone to ponder over what he would plan next and also wary of the immense might he had at his disposable, if anything it wouldn't be farfetched to think that today's event was but a mere demonstration of what he had planned to come in the future….

"He got away…." Cera narrowed her eyes hard while Max gritted his teeth and punched his fist into his palm in frustration.

"Rats…." He growled while everyone else stared with hardened gazes.

"Goma….the emperor of the shadow empire." Rex breathed uneasily, "Now we know what he's truly capable of…."

"Yeah lucky us…." Zoe gulped, as a handful of others too were feeling just as nervous and worried as she were.

"He's shown us his hand and he's strong without a doubt." spoke Lunensis seriously.

Max soon stood firmly, "But it doesn't matter, he wants a war with us and we'll give it to him!" He yelled out with determination as he punched out, "And we won't rest until we've won it! No matter how long it takes!"

His words began to inspire some strong confidence in the others as his feelings of hope and freedom began to resonate with them, "Max is right, the fate of all humans and dinosaurs rests with us." said Cera supporting him all the way.

"Then we'll keep fighting until the end of time!" Max replied to her with full assurance and clarity, with no more fear or doubts clouding his eyes he could see they were strongest together and they did have a chance at ending Goma's plans and his threat to both Earth and the universe once and for all.

Rex and Zoe soon nodded with him as they stood by his side and remained close to him, vowing to never leave his side and that they'd see this all through to the end of time!

"I say go for it!"

"We're with you all the way!"

"To victory and for freedom!" Several others in the masses soon began to chant after them after having their morale being boosted.

"YEAH!" They all yelled in unison, vowing to stop his evil one and for all, no matter how long it took or what his plan was, as long as he remained on Earth soil, as long as they and many others who would continue to fight for freedom and for what was right, they will continue to resist him and never give up. For the fate of all of humanity and dinosaur kind rested solely with them and on their shoulders alone….and they had no intention of failing either one of them.

 **And thus the D Team's first brush with defeat in the war and near demise at Goma's hands. The final battle draws near, will they be able to muster the power to defeat him for good? Stay tuned!**

 **In the Dinosaur King awakened trailer where Awakened eocarcharia fought with Awakened Chomp you can picture the battle playing out here. Also eocarcharia being able to get up after each loss is reminiscent of what happened in the arcade game.**

 **The scene how they warded Goma off-look back to the movie Dinosaur when they all united together.**

 **Writing this was slow for I was away for a while, hope you enjoyed it and that it was worth the wait.**

 **In response to reviews:-**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Nice way of putting the battle between light dinosaurs. Also Cera helps keep her father going with a reason to fight as well as doing it the right way, and Lunensis fights hard to protect her and others too. Hinted in the chapter of his debut.**

 **That's why I wrote this chapter to develop him and have super therizinosaurus. Plus it was the only secret dinosaur who remained loyal to him in the end**

 **If you think Specter's evil just wait and see Goma, both this chapter and next. One way to put it, he's had a bad example from his dad and took it way worse.**

 **I think I might use that surname, cool thanks. I like hearing your thoughts expressed, helps me see things in another way. Hope you also enjoyed this chapter the way it transpired and how it sets it up for the final battle to come.**

 **anonymous**

 **-I don't plan to use dinosaurs outside of the wikia but I will say Miku did have a role in the dinosaurs going super form.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Glad you enjoyed it as usual. Here Seth explains how he came here too.**

 **Well both of them didn't expect to encounter such heavy resistance since they were the best in the Resistance to make up for their lack of quantity using best quality.**

 **Dr Z is the dinosaur king who helped make the future possible and he had to develop some way and what better way than with super therizinosaurus, the only secret dinosaur he bonded with, an idea you could take.**

 **It's not the endgame yet, it just sets the scene for it to come. And no Goma still has dinosaurs in his citadel as shown by the iguanodon he fed to eocarcharia last chapter, and a few others too.**


	58. Rise of the emperor

Chapter 58

Rise of the emperor

"Any signs of the shadow empire's headquarters yet dad?" Cera asked with concern as she came into the nerve center with Miku on her shoulder, towards her father, whose eyes were fixated on the monitor screens. As she looked on she saw how he sent every possible satellite at his disposal to scan over Antartica's surface but not so much as even a blimp on the radar showed up much to his disappointment.

After what the D Team suffered through just now he made it his mission to find the Shadow empire's fortress no matter what it too or how long it would be. Cera knew that as she saw the determined look on his eyes, which began to waver and his eyes drooped due to exhaustion, having worked non stop for several hours. She would tell him to stop and rest, but she knew he wouldn't accept it and she could understand completely, after seeing how much power Goma wielded it was natural he'd be so worked up wouldn't rest on his laurels till he found them.

"We're doing everything we can to locate them, from satellite feeds, radar scans and even field scouting out there in the Arctic." He said to his daughter as they both looked up at both the satellite feeds and ground cameras from scout drones they dispatched to the South pole only to find nothing but cold blizzards, dark night with the occasional aurora shining in the sky but other than that there wasn't a trace of the enemy base for miles. "But even with our best efforts we haven't even managed to get a blimp on our radar." Eventually, Lunensis soon let out a heavy sigh feeling as though he failed after giving it his all, losing his resolve to keep trying after several attempts with nothing to show for his efforts.

Cera put a hand to his shoulder, patting him with empathy, "Dad….we'll find them and put a stop to their evil plans." she said to him firmly to which he felt a little more encouraged.

"I hope so…." He said to her before becoming more realistic and looking back to the monitors, "Way I see it, the shadow empire won't show the rest of their hand until they come knocking." He typed on the computers and a screen popped up which depicted the vicious battle from earlier, how Goma wiped the floor with Max and the others without breaking a sweat. The sight of it made Miku tense up with agitation and Cera harden herself, holding a grudge for what that beast did to her friends, "We've seen Goma merely demonstrate a fraction of his power and he took out Max and the D Team without even breaking a sweat." He noted before flicking it away not wanting to look at the carnage a second longer, "If he could overwhelm the others with one move then what chance do we have? I…I'm getting worried…." he shook tensely and gritted his teeth feeling overwhelmed and a sense of dread slowly come over him.

"As am I too dad." Cera admitted feeling her heart was getting rather heavy and her breath hard to swallow down. She soon shook it off refusing to accept it was impossible to overcome, "But we've come this far, and we have gotten through everything thrown at us by sticking together and never giving up." She said as she remembered all the past challenges they overcame because they never quit and they stuck by each other through thick and thin, "I just know we'll be able to overcome this just like all other challenges before us." She said tensing up her hand into a fist.

"You're right Cera." Lunensis soon nodded, feeling comforted by her words before they both looked up at the screens which picked up 0 readings on the scans, "Until they do appear again, all we can do is prepare the best we can."

"And when they do, we won't just be ready for them, we'll win." Cera finished for him.

"Mhmm. I have no doubt about that." Her father nodded as he pressed a button which switched the screens around.

On the computers it depicted several various activities taking place inside the base, ranging from repairs to damaged computers, systems and to their technology in the labs and garages, to cleaning up messes and repairing areas in the station wrecked by the jark attack like at the training courses or hatching grounds. Rod, Reese and Jonathan saw to repairs in the technological department and even added some upgrades too, while Laura worked along side Zoe and her parents to help tend to the injured troopers and dinosaurs in the medical bay, while Helga got to cleaning up the slimy messes and damages that the gel jarks left behind upon their uninvited visit.

In the lab, Raina and Seth were busy scanning the attack levels and movements of eocarcharia along with Dr Ancient and Cretacia in an effort to determine its weaknesses if it had any, while Dr Z was more than happy to go create some new move cards and have them be tested first hand in target practice, or more precisely have the A Team hold up the targets as Spiny and Chomp fired out a combination of falling water and lightning strike at them much to their discomfort as they were electrocuted twice as much after being soaked wet in the process, much to Max's amusement! Dr Z even wanted to do something like equip laser guns and weapons to the dinosaurs too but that suggestion soon caused a bit of heated tension between him and Max about dinosaurs being tools of war.

In the training room under Kaze and Craig's supervision, Rex was working out hard in a harsh training regime with some other troopers in his body so that he wouldn't end up becoming a liability on the battlefield, plus he knew he couldn't rely on Ace forever as he had to get tough himself. Spike too volunteered for the job thinking it'd be fun, too bad he didn't make it through the first 10 minutes as he collapsed completely on the ground as others ran over him much to his discomfort. Ace too was busy speeding through the wind dome in order to try and chase after a pack of velociraptors to help build stamina and control, knowing he couldn't rely on Rex all the time to give moves he too had to be strong in order to protect him too.

In the various training halls, troopers were sparring in matches against one another in an effort to further strengthen their dinosaurs as well as their ties with one another so that they could either go super or be able to handle the alpha process. Overall everyone was doing their part like cogs in a machine, no matter how big or small they each had a significant role to play, with no room for mistakes as the final battle was drawing near, they could feel it in them. Seeing that everyone was working hard, Cera and Lunensis both felt inspired by all the heart their comrades were putting into this and so, not wanting to be left out on it, decided to leave the nerve center in order to supervise what was going, take part in training and further speed repairs along before resuming their search for Goma. As they left the room though, little did they all know was that the final battle was about to come for them sooner than they all expected….

 **(Meanwhile)**

Far away in the South Pole, hidden under layers of camouflage domes and jamming towers was the mighty citadel of the Shadow Empire, a dark purple and black structure shaped like the unholy offspring between a demon lord's castle and a fortress armed to the teeth with watch towers scanning the perimeter within the dome, turrets and cannons poised at each wall ready to fire anything that enters, as well as Gel jarks patrolling outside the castle perimeters and in within the courts.

Inside, another group was licking their wounds after their recent losses and defeats by the Resistance, and needless to say, their leader was far from pleased with their failures and in fact couldn't tolerate the sight of them as they stood before him tense with fear or spite, either towards themselves for failing, the D Team who thwarted them or the fact that Goma of all people was talking down to them and he was the youngest of them all! As Goma shot them a glare of disapproval, the pirates either looked away and hissed or avoided eye contact by keeping their heads down, though Specter the odd man of the bunch was crying his eyes out into his handkerchief feeling most ashamed at setting a poor example for his son and letting him down, not to mention losing all the wonderful gifts he was given, he barely had time to enjoy them.

"Pathetic, simply pathetic." Goma scoffed in disgust at his henchmen as he paced back and forth in front of them while folding his arms behind his back casually, "I gave each of you an army and near limitless resources to use at your disposal. And yet still you couldn't dispose of a few easily humans," He said as his men gritted their teeth feeling his words puncture their hearts like daggers, "Although, after seeing how incompetent you all really are first hand, I'm starting to see why you all lost so easily to those vermin even with all the cosmos stones."

As he continued to rub their failures in their faces he further was pushing them past their limits of how much they could tolerate his berating, "Grrr…."

"Tch!"

"Ugh…." Sheer, Foolscap and Gavro grunted while Specter blew into his hankie as his eyes reddened with tears, nearly swelling up and sore as if it was running out of tears to shed.

"Sniffle…."

"It's as they say, never give pearls to pigs, it'd only go to waste." Goma added at the end shrugging his shoulders.

That was the last straw for Sheer, as she suddenly exploded into a fierce rage and stood up, "Yeah well…What about you big shot!? What makes you so special huh!?" she yelled pointing at him with accusation, which made the male pirates huddle together in surprise!

"GAH!?"

Goma was taken somewhat aback by her rebellious response so he looked back to her calmly with a raised eyebrow, "Come again?" He then walked towards her and looked her in the eye as the other pirates shuddered at the increasingly tense situation, "You have something to say Sheer?" He asked her up front as the others widened their eyes, bit their nails or sweated profusely, worrying for their own safety if this situation were to get out of hand.

Sheer however didn't falter for the slightest, "You bet I do!" she retorted with a violent hiss, "You talk such a big game running your mouth! Sure we all came back empty handed and nothing to show for your defeats, but what about you!?" she pointed at him with accusation.

Foolscap and Gavro soon began to feel inspired by her bravado, working up the courage and seeing the logic in her words they too worked up the courage to stand up to Goma, "Y…Yeah! Sheer's right! You ran away from the Resistance instead of staying to fight like we did!" Foolscap grumbled as he and Gavro stood up and walked over to them, till the pirate trio were both standing before Goma who looked back to them unfazed.

"That makes you worse than we are! Ahahaha!" Gavro then laughed out loud in a boast, if only to join his friends in aiming their fingers at Goma. Specter on the other hand sat it out, if only because he couldn't bring himself to say his son was wrong in anyway even if it meant the way eh treated them.

Goma soon folded his arms and scoffed, "Hmph! The difference between me and you lot, is that I was able to defeat 3 of them with ease," he said as he looked away from them and shot an arrogant smirk, "The same humans which gave you so much trouble in the past fell like flies to me."

As soon as he pointed that out, the 3 pirates had their egos bruised seeing he had a point there and he had something to show for his shortcomings, but that further infuriated them and depend their hatred of the young zanjark, "Tch!"

"Why you little…" They growled gritting their teeth or tensing up their fists, not hesitating to turn it into an unclose brawl if necessary. Specter turned pale and bit his nails in terror, not wanting to get in between this complicated situation and figuring it be best he stayed out of the firing line for the time being.

"Also I merely chose not to fight their allies for I saw nothing to gain from it." Goma then shrugged his shoulders and folded his arms with a malevolent grin, "Besides, they all got the message, so I've decided to give them a small chance to decide what they truly want for themselves and think it over. They deserve it after they wiped the floor with each of you." He said which further added to the trio's reasons of why they hated him, "Plus, I have far bigger plans ready to be set in motion." He then stated folding his arms behind his head and then twitching his fingers which were itching to grab hold of something and crush it like a plastic bottle. "One of which would be to punish you useless lot for your miserable failures." He said with an eager grin.

That was the last straw for the pirates, "Grrr!"

"That tears it!" Sheer exploded as she stomped up to him and shook a fist threateningly at him, "We've put up with your 'I'm way stronger than you and a hundred steps ahead' attitude long enough! Now we're over it!" She yelled in his face but Goma remained unfazed as he stared back with a bored look.

"Yeah! No way are we about to let a punk kid like you boss us around a second longer!" Gavro growled as he pointed at his chest.

"Heck! I bet you don't even have one to begin with!" Foolscap scoffed as he folded his arms and tuck his tongue out at him.

Listening in to both sides, Specter soon felt inspired by the courage his men were showing and after seeing his son really was stepping out of line he believed it was time he stepped in to intervene too. Patting his eyes dry and clearing his throat he calmly paced towards them, "You know Goma, as your father while I do respect you and your decisions I'm afraid I'm going to have to side with Foolscap, Gavro and Sheer here." He said as the pirate trio grinned to see their boss stand with them making it 4 against 1, "If you really do have a big plan as you say it is, it's only fair that you fill us in on it too right?" He asked him with a raised eyebrow, "That is of course, if you really want to prove YOU are worthy of our continued loyalty and trust? Hmm?"

As the pirates shot him cocky smirks thinking he was all talk and that he had nothing to show for it all, Goma soon smiled to himself seeing they at least deserved that much, perhaps it was his fault for not properly preparing them that they suffered such a huge setback. "Very well, as you wish, I'll enlighten you lot on what my true goals and motives are," he then replied calmly much to the other pirates' surprise at how easy he was giving in to their demands, however they were soon about to learn just what kind of zanjark Goma truly was and they'd soon live to regret it, "Then once you see the means I have at achieving them, maybe then you'll begin to realise what I'm truly capable of and learn to know your place." He said with a sinister smirk on his face as he passed by them and the doors to his throne room soon opened up before them, "Come, and soon you'll learn about my masterplan so ingenuous it surpasses all of you put together." He called them as he walked inside.

"Tch!"

"Hmph!"

"Grrr….." and the other pirates, apart from Specter who was really excited and giddy, begrudgingly followed after him.

"Wooo! I love secrets!"

As they stepped inside, a bolt of lighting flashed outside as they stood before the throne, in the very room they first awoke in when they came back to the future, "Madness and short sightedness blinded all of you from being able to see how to properly wield the power you had at your disposal." He explained calmly as they came to a stop, "I am different, for I possess a vision for said power none of you ever could." He opened up his wings and flew up to the wall behind the throne before holding out a remote and pressing the big red button on it, "Thanks to this!" The compartment above the throne soon opened up and inside a glass case was the same dark multicoloured crystal ball that Goma drew his powers from!

"AAAAH!" As it glowed in a set of many different colours, the space pirates couldn't help but widen their eyes in bewilderment as they instantly recognised what that stone was!

"No way!

"Is that-"

"Impossible!"

"The cosmos stones!?" They each exclaimed flabbergasted beyond belief as to how it could be.

Goma soon smirked as he prepared to give them the correct answer, "Correction, the cosmos stone." he stated before preparing to explain himself, "The last piece in existence from the Dark Pterosaur you all called forth and were unable to control." He concluded proudly, "Before it was ultimately destroyed in the end….what a complete waste and tragedy it was to lose the greatest power in the universe to mere humans no less."

"H…How is this possible!?" As his men stared in utter speechlessness at the impossible made real, Specter quickly shook his head clear, "They were all destroyed! Erased from existence!" He cried in disbelief before looking back to his son, "Tell me Goma! How did you get your hands on that stone!?" he demanded angrily as he flew up to where his son was floating at and grabbed his shoulders and shook him close.

Goma soon smirked seeing he now had his father right where he wanted him, "I'm glad you asked. I've been waiting to recount this thrilling tale for some time." He explained with controlled eagerness as Specter let go of him to give him space. After that the younger Zanjark sat peacefully into his throne as the others gathered around him for a sinister story time, "Allow me to set the scene." He then cleared his throat before explaining himself.

 **(Flashback several months ago)**

It was not long after his father and his minions departed for the prehistoric past, and after he fired off his bolster into the portal in an effort to stop Cera from ruining his father's plan, his last act of loyalty towards his father in a desperate cry for approval and respect. But as he continued to think about it Goma knew this deed of his would end up being brushed off like dust and disappear in the wind, just like everything he tried in order to get his father's respect and approval, from acquiring the technology to revive dinosaurs in secret as well as planning strategy and learning everything about dinosaurs, bit none of his efforts were ever acknowledged and his presence was;t even noticed! The more he reflected upon it as he entered into the fortress' control center, his anger and hatred continued to rise until he could no longer hold it in.

"Grr…how dare they treat me like a child…after everything I've done for them…those ungrateful thieving rats!" he screeched with venom, with anger so thick you could swing an axe through it and you wouldn't even leave a scratch! It was made evident as he swung out his fist so hard it smashed a huge hole right into a nearby wall! Causing it to crack after the huge impact it left, along with a sound so loud it rang through the halls like a thunderclap it caused the gel jarks in the vicinity to jump up in terror! They all backed away slowly as Goma then began to breathe heavily and tensely like a mad bull and his fingers began twitching with tension, veins popped around his head and his eyes were reddening with rage, "I'll show them….I'll show them all! I'll be greater than any of them will ever be! Then no one will ever look down on me ever aga-"

BEEP! BEEP!

"Huh?" The sound of an anomaly reading snapped Goma out of his rant, and in the nick of time too for the gel jarks who were afraid of him exploding and possibly taking out his pent up rage on them. As he made his way to the computer and isolated the signal, it depicted a beacon on the African Continent, where he would one day construct his control tower. For now it seemed like a barren wasteland, but today he was about to discover a dark secret buried deep within its ancient sands, "A cosmic energy spike in Niger, Africa?" He muttered in thought as he noticed some rather abnormal energy readings upon pinpointing them. "An anomaly or error?" He shook his head denying it, "No, this needs investigation…." He then smirked seeing this as an opportunity where he could gain power and maybe earn recognition at last if he could do something spectacular upon his father's return.

Making the decision to find out what it is, he ordered the gel jarks on standby, "Activate the ground bridge! I'm going to retrieve this energy source before the Resistance get their grubby hands on it!" He commanded as the jarks quickly activated the bridge, honing in on the coordinates before they opened up a space portal leading to the African desert. Behind Goma, a squad of Jarks assembled behind him as they followed after him through the portal and into the vast African desert. Upon arriving in a basin of sand surrounded by large dunes, Goma's radar detected a mass energy source buried deep underneath, and whatever it was it was going to his no matter who got in his way. "Start excavating now." He ordered the jarks as they quickly mobilised with mining equipment from drills to shovels as they worked tirelessly to excavate the many layers of sand covering the area.

Eventually as one park's shovel hit a certain point, a red beam of light suddenly shot out from the sand which caught Goma's eyes, "AH!" He rushed over to see, shoving the jark aside and as he used his hands to brush away the sand eh soon came across an unusual red shard which glowed in a red aura. "What's this?" The light it gave off was captivating and pleasing to the eye, unable to resist he reached out and touched it, only for a stoning g burn sensation struck back at him! "Tch!" He hissed as he took his hand back, the brief sound of a burn happened as his hand made contact. He gritted his teeth in detail, refusing to let this stop him as he took out a small bag he had with him, grabbed hold of the shard and fought against the burning sensation before dropping it inside to take back for study.

As soon as he did though, a blue light suddenly shone from another section of the area, "Another one?" Blue muttered in surprise, and before long more lights shone! White, green, yellow and purple too! As Goma picked each one up and placed them into the bag, with each shard he noticed a connection between them, "These shards….they look like they fit together….I wonder…." A wind suddenly blew past him and before hims feet, what initially looked like a solid piece of rock soon had the dust blown off revealing the top of a dinosaur's skull. "Hmm?" As more of the sand was cleared, a black aura shone from inside the dinosaur's eye socket, revealing a black shard inside! "AH!" Goma fell to his knees and leaned in for a closer look, as he reached for the shard and yanked it out from the fossil, he tossed it inside his back causing it to glow in an assortment of colours!

That was the least of his concerns, as he looked before the dinosaur skull he saw it began to glow dark purple, and the outline of an entire complete dinosaur skeleton could make itself known through the desert sand in front of him, "Such power emanating from this fossil…." He breathed in awe and amazement, and it was right here for the taking! "Hehehe, soon you will be mine…." He grinned deviously rubbing his palms together knowing he stumbled onto something really big, and whatever it was he planned to find out and make it his very own. Deep down inside he believed fate was what lead to this moment where he'd find a dinosaur worthy of him and as his father once told him, when the universe presents you with an opportunity it's paramount you capitalise on it.

Hours later after excavating the entire body of the dinosaur, the fossils were brought into a restoration chamber, and while energy was being fed from beams above into the fossil to stimulate the revival process, Goma decided to take a look into the dinosaur's memories to determine what made it so special and powerful, perhaps it came across something in its time or gained power through some mutation or freak accident, either way he was determined to fond out what as he worked tirelessly to tap into the last memories and thoughts of the great beast before it met its' final moments.

It revealed a prehistoric grassland, where dinosaurs of many kinds were present, including a herd of triceratops in the distance lead by a yellow one, who were fending off against a single red tyrannosaurus, and many other herbivores in the background which soon joined in the fight to overwhelm their predator, before the last one fired off an electrical attack which finished off the red dinosaur and turned it back to card form, "How intriguing…." Goma mused with interest, scratching his chin as an image came on screen. Soon after that, the screens shifted to look up at the sky, where a giant meteor with an entourage of fireballs rained down from the sky and crashed all around the prehistoric land!

As fires erupted and its fellow dinosaurs either ran for their lives or roared in pain under the might of the flames, the dinosaur in question didn't budge. In fact, it fearlessly stood its ground and roared out in defiance towards the largest meteor of all, not moving or even looking away! But it wasn't fear, in fact, the dinosaur longed for the power of the energy dwelling within that giant space rock, as if it desired it with all its lustful heart and roared out towards it as it crashed down upon where it was and the screen blacked out. As it ended off, Goma soon began to piece it altogether, "The asteroid which wiped the dinosaurs out…." he breathed as he began to recall the only time this had ever happened, "Which means…." His eyes widened with amazement as he recalled this was the same meteor he pointed out to his father and the other pirates before they embarked for the past.

After that, feeling suspicious, he laid out the shard he gathered on a table, using a scanner and registering their energy signatures, he confirmed that they matched that of the meteor, which lead him to a single conclusion! "I was right! These are the remains of the cosmos stones!" He cried out in amazement before chuckling in amusement at the irony of it all, "For them to have turned up here, where they originally landed….Heh, fate sure has an odd sense of humour." He chuckled as he got to work, knowing he couldn't leave the fragments as they were, plus he saw this as his big moment, for when his father would return he'd be able to shrive his worth and finally earn his respect at last if he were to present a prize such as this to him and his men.

Several hours passed, after securing the needed equip,eat and tools, Goma, using a special set of gloves and tools, he pieced together the shards together, it was agonising having to work in the presence of such ancient energy as old as the universe, but Goma's determination to succeed at any cost even at the price of his life kept him going each time he was on the verge of breaking. Finally, after fitting together the pieces together into a complete single stone, Goma widened his eyes and cried out in praise at his efforts and success at long last, "At last, the rainbow cosmos stone is complete!" He was expecting great things from the stone, but was so caught up in it all he failed to stop himself from grabbing the entire stone with his own hand!

"What!?" He widened his eyes too late as a massive energy flux shot through him and began to take over him as a purple aura flooded his body! "AAAAAH!" He screamed as the power was on the verge of consuming his very mind and even his soul! But refusing to give in or lose to this, he gritted his teeth, fighting hard against its influence! It was a powerful and vicious struggle between him and the cosmos stones, whose energy wrecked havoc on his body as his eyes and marks glowed bright purple in a dark aura! Goma fell to the ground spasming with pain as the gel jarks stepped back beeping anxiously, witnessing what may be some kind of demonic possession or occult conjuring! It seemed as though he was done for….but suddenly, a sinister grin came upon Goma's face to the jarks' horror!

Standing up and rising again almost like an undead zombie, he felt immense power and strength of the darkness course through his very veins and in his own blood! Using his own strength as well as being driven by his deep hatred for his father, he refused to lose out to this, for this pain was no more than a mere besting compared to what he suffered for decades! That rage gave him power and it allowed him to conquer the incidence o the stones and even make it his own! He could feel it, knowledge of the universe and limitless power, and it was his to command at will! From now on he'd be second fiddle to no one! He'd be subjected no more, from now on he'd be the one to take charge of his own destiny and rule!

The memories of the dark pterosaur also came to him, how it suffered defeat at the hands of the D Team, as it was destroyed its final fragments scattered throughout the lands and eventually covered upon the site where the remains of the dinosaur was, the one which fearlessly stood its ground upon their first arrival to planet earth. Now fate had awarded the stones with a second chance to once again finish the work they started years ago, and this time nothing and no one was going to stop them!

"Hehehehe…Ahahahahah! The power to rule the universe itself is now mine! Mine alone!" his demonic laughter echoed through the halls of his base, causing the gel jarks around him to shudder and quake with fear, as they broke witnessed the brith and awakening of their new lord and master! After that happened, a light erupted from the revival chamber, and inside the light began taking the form of eocarcharia, the dreaded dinosaur which longed for the power of the cosmos stones whereas all others fled in terror. As he let out a mighty roar, Goma's eyes glowed purple and he grinned almost demonically as he turned around to face his new partner. Sensing a connection and understanding between one another, Goma placed his hand upon the container's seal and eocarcharia did the same placing his head against where Goma's hand was. As that was done, a dark energy aura then surround them both as a link was made.

With the formation of this fiendish friendship, Goma cast off his former self completely, the pitiful child who cried for attention and approval no longer existed. On that day, Goma, Emperor of the shadow empire was born, and he answered to no one, living for one purpose alone, to enshroud the world…no…the universe in darkness, soon all will bow before him as Emperor of darkness with no equal, with this he declared himself inevitable and he swore now and forever more. From that point on, everything he developed in the fortress, to operations around the world, everything was powered by and made possible by the rainbow cosmos stone in his possession. Tightening his iron grip upon the world with each passing day, as he expanded operations from a mere base to an almighty empire. This was only the beginning, this feeble planet was but a mere stepping stone for he had far bigger ambitions and goals in mind, a vision which he shall soon make known to the universe and bend them all to as he saw fit, his final grand design as Emperor of shadows.

 **(Present)**

"This stone happens to be the cornerstone on which my entire empire is built upon, if it weren't for this, the Shadow empire would never have come to be." Goma concluded at last. Looking ahead he saw Specter's eyes glistened with awe and admiration which made him smirk as it fed his ego.

"Wow! Now that's what I call dreaming big and going for it!" His father cheered as he clapped and praised his son for an excellent job, seeing him as a chip off the old pirate block.

Goma soon frowned somewhat as he turned to see Gavro, Foolscap and Shee either eying him unimpressed or not paying him any attention at all which annoyed him.

"Yes yes way to go, good for you." Gavro muttered as he clapped rather unenthusiastically.

"I'd hate to say it but even I'm impressed….well done….congrats….yadda yada…." Foolscap scoffed as he folded his arms behind his head rather begrudgingly.

"Indeed," Sheer mused as she folded her arms and eyes the stone with some degree of admiration, "You being able to put this altogether by yourself really is a feat of wonder." For someone as young as him to have accomplished much, surpassed every expectation she had of him, perhaps he wasn't one to be easily trifled with she thought to herself warily.

Specter, casting off all caution and being overwhelmed with sheer pride, joy and admiration soon began to rub suck up to Goma as he rubbed his hands together and said all kinds of praises to him, "To continue in your dear old dad's footsteps and continuing my legacy, Goma I'm so proud of you….." He puckered his lips hoping to butter up his son so he'd be easier to handle, though his efforts seemed to only annoy the Emperor. What he said next though would soon change everything for the space pirates, "Now hand it over like a good boy." Specter then demanded, as silence descended upon the throne room.

Goma blinked his eyes, "Excuse me?" It wasn't that he misheard what his father said, but that he had the nerve to make such a demand of him right to his face.

It didn't take long for the other pirates to grin and snicker deviously as they got up and regrouped with Specter in an effort to gang up on the lone Goma, "Hehe, you heard your dad kid, do as he says and give it up." Gavro chuckled as he popped his knuckles which were itching for action.

"Yeah, power like that is too valuable," Sheer stopped herself and then cleared her throat before correcting herself, "I mean…dangerous, in the hands of a half pint like you."

"Yeah, you could hurt yourself real bad." Foolscap leaned in at his face mockingly, to which Goma only returned with a displeased scowl.

"So now we'll be taking it off your hands. No need to thank us or anything. Consider us doing you a huge favour." Specter added as he smiled brightly with innocence, "After all it's a father's job to keep his son safe even if they don't understand or appreciate it."

As Spectre waited with a warm smile having faith that his son would make the right decision and listen like a good boy, his men grinned or snickered knowing if he were smart and knew what was good for him he'd do what they say, after all they believed it was only natural for kids too listen to grownups, such was the law of nature. However, little did they realise was that Goma had no intention of following any rules but his own. He closed his eyes and smirked a dark smile as he lay in his throne in a most lax manner, "Now why would I ever do something as foolish as that?" He said in a mocking tone which served to irritate the pirates at his insolence.

"Duh! Cos he's your dad and kids have got to do like their dads say!" Gavro growled as he tensed and shook his fists at him.

Unthreatened, Goma replied rather boredly, "You think I'm just going to give it up to nincompoops like you just because you asked?" He soon grew a most devious smirk of his own which put the lot of them off, "Heh, well too bad for you because that will never happen."

As the private trio growled and glared at him, just itching to get unclose and physical without hesitation, Specter held out his hand stopping them with a look in his eye as he decided to handle this with a civilised father and son talk, it always worked so this shouldn't be any different he assumed, "Now now Goma, be a good boy and-" Heo wrong he was. As soon as he reached out his hand to pat his son's shoulder, Goma grabbed hold of it to his alarm! "GAH!" He widened his eyes as his son's and gripped hard on his wrist it felt it was caught in a bear trap!

He then pulled in Spectre so he could look him in the eye, "Let me make myself clear, none of you are laying one finger on my stone or anything else." He said to Specter in a deep sinister throne, causing his father's old heart to skip a beat before he was suddenly thrown off the high plateau and back on the floor like a rag doll!

"Urgh!" He cried as his back hit the floor and his men widened their eyes in alarm!

"GAH!"

"BOSS!"

In response they quickly flew down to help their boss back up, as he staggered to his legs groggily as a result from the impact. After helloing him stand they turned back in shock to see Goma had risen off his throne and stood up before them in a most menacing way.

"You fools all had your chances and failed miserably, I have no intention of repeating my mistakes in giving you more, let alone the very foundation of my empire." He said to them with a mocking smirk before narrowing his eyes with a hard glare, "Never in a million years."

"Grrr! You impudent ungrateful brat!" Specter growled gnashing his teeth like a mad beast, he was beginning to lose his patience and his ability to restrain himself.

"Why you…." Sheer growled at the boy's impudence while the other 2 male pirates smacked their fists into palms or popped their knuckles itching for a brawl.

"He's really pushing it…."

"Let me at him…." They each grunted.

"Tch! In that case," Specter hissed nastily before taking a calm breath, "As much as it pains me to say this Goma, you've been a really naughty boy!" He then exploded, realising he made a mistake leaving him behind long ago, but now he intended to fix it and set his delinquent of a son straight no matter what it took, , "If you don't listen to me, then we'll have no choice but to confiscate your little toy! Or more precisely, take it from you by force!" he threatened before pointing out at him, "In fact, we'll take it right here and now!" He swore at the top of his lungs clenching his hand into a tight fist before looking to his men, "Space pirates! Get that stone now!" He ordered them as he pointed out at the cosmos stone held right above Goma's head!

"Yes boss!"

"On it!" Gavro and Sheer nodded obediently as the 3 of them took off to the air and flew over Goma's head in an effort to seize the cosmos stone!

"Hehe! Losers weepers!" Foolscap stuck out his tongue mockingly as they made it to the stone's casing and prepared to seize it.

Little did they know was that Goma had anticipated something like this happening from a mile away, "Heh, amateurs…." He smirked deviously as he pressed a button on his throne's arm rest.

As soon as Gavro punched at the case, it delivered a swift electrical shock which surged right through him and then quickly jumped into his cohorts!

BZZT!

"WAAAAAH!" They all screamed and spasmed with the powerful electrical current rushing through them before being blown back to the ground where Specter was much to his disbelief!

"AH!" he exclaimed as the stone's security measures.

"Urgh…." They groaned in pain as they smoked black and staggered to their feet in an effort to recollect themselves.

"Did you simpletons honestly think I didn't see this coming?" Goma smirked at their failed attempt as they glared at him with hatred and spite while trying to recover form the electric shock they just received, "Unlike you, I don't resort to petty thievery and steal power, I conquer in order to obtain it and make it my own." He said calmly before descending down the stairs towards them, and then shooting at them a most fearsome glare, "I've worked too hard and too long to get where I am today and I'm not going to give it up so easily so you can squander it, your failures had proved that none of you can be trusted, and your feeble attempt to betray me just now further enforced it."

"Grrr…." While Sheer and Foolscap growled with spite, Gavro and Specter sweated and tensed up anxiously, as fear for their own lives began to build up for the very first time in their lives and they had no idea how to respond.

"You only have yourselves to blame for the situation you're all in now," Goma then continued, "After all I've been living under your scorn and disrespect for decades, I'm basically a monster of your very making." As far as he could recall, not one memory he had involving his father or the other pirates had ever been happy. The only time he ever felt joy was when they left and when he discovered his own power for the first time, which he soon smirked with deep pleasure as he dwelled upon that most pleasing memory, "Don't feel too bad though, I'm actually grateful for it, if it wasn't for all the ridicule which you forced me to endure for so long I never would have had the drive or desire to go this far." He said to them as they began gulp or sweat anxiously, feeling regret for what they did, not in a sympathetic way but in upmost terror.

"Ugh…."

"Do you know what else separates me from you?" he continued, "You all saw dinosaurs as nothing more than mere tools or weapons, but when I first laid eyes upon them I saw much potential in them for greatness and absolute power." He said as he began to reflect back to that day, when he saw them attack their ship upon their arrival and declaration of war. He had never seen such primal ferocity and power at the hands of mere earthlings, so if he were to get his hands on them imagine how much further he could take them with their superior technology and expertise, "You are all far too short sighted and think too small, while I have a vision strong enough to uphold what I aim to achieve and can easily withstand anything and anyone who'd dare oppose me." He continued before standing before them all without fear or hesitation, "Especially the likes of you." he said narrowing his eyes with disapproval towards them, which further began to rub them all the wrong way.

"Grrr…."

"Why I oughta…." Whatever bad impression they had of him before had worsened a hundredfold, no way were they about to take his insults lying down a second longer!

A shade covered Specter's eyes most ominously, "Goma….for a long time I've gone easy on you," he then shot his son a furious expression a disappointed father, "But now it seems you've left me no choice but to teach you some manners and discipline you the hard way!" He shouted viciously as he shook out his fist towards him, "I'm not going to stand by and abide by such rudeness and unacceptable behaviour from MY son of all people!" He spat before pointing at him, "It's time I showed you whom you're messing with and make YOU know your place in the pecking order!"

"Y…Yeah! That's right!"

"You tell him boss!" Gavro and Foolscap cheered him on feeling inspired by Specter's bravado, something which inspired more confidence in the other pirates to team together and stand up against Goma, "Heck, let's all take him! He talks a big game but there's no way he can take us all on at once!" He grinned as he rubbed his hands together eagerly, "We'll beat him down real good! Take what's his and make him know he'll always be nothing more than a spoilt runt!" He cackled as the 4 of them began snickering together, knowing with all 4 of them working together they'd easily overwhelm him and then not only would everything he has be theirs but they'd finally be able to dish out some well deserved punishments and payback towards him for standing out of place and pushing them around like servants, and they were only beginning to scratch the iceberg's surface with what they had in mind once they were through with him.

As always, Goma hadn't felt the least but intimidated, in fact this time he felt rather amused by what they were attempting to do, "Oh? So the dogs finally bare their fangs…." he thought to himself before smiling, "Heh, is this what it means to bite the hand that feeds you?" He expected as much from ones so greedy and ungrateful even after he saved them from doom, gave them a home and provided them with plenty of resources on top of that, along with a second chance to get back at their old enemies for their humiliating defeat. Nevertheless, he could still take advantage of this situation as he knew exactly what he planned having anticipated this scenario long ago, "Very well then, since none of you seem to be backing down I'll just have to make an example of you." The older zanjark turned serious as they listened to what he had to offer them, "If any one of you can defeat me in battle, I'll be more than willing to surrender everything I have left to you, you're welcome to do with it as you see fit." He explained before sticking up his finger to add an even better condition to make things more even sided, "And to make things fair, I'll take you all on at once." He said at the end which made them all blink their eyes or widen them in surprise.

"Say wha?"

"All of us?"

"You're kidding right?" The trio questioned him, wondering if they heard right from him or if he was just plain mad.

"Oh no not at all." He calmly replied to them shaking out his hands, "You see the D Team couldn't satisfy me enough, so I want to make things more of a challenge." He explained, "Plus this may be a good chance for me to see if you can force me to put in more effort than they did, plus it also serves as the perfect punishment I had in mind for you for your failures." He continued before deciding bettering the deal he had in mind, making it more their while so they'd be more willing to cooperate, "So to make things more fair for you, should you defeat me I'll even let you off the hook and I will be more than willing to relinquish command and serve you instead."

The space pirates blinked their eyes in surprise at what they were hearing, it was as if he was putting himself in a disadvantage on purpose. He had to have been nuts to set up conditions like that, or perhaps he may actually be that good….

"Is he….serious?"

"Could be…." They muttered amongst themselves.

"So what will it be?" Goma then asked them with a confident smirk, which snapped them out of their thoughts and suspicions seeing they had nothing to lose, it was pretty much a guaranteed permanent promotion and a chance to finally earn the respect they deserved!

"Hehe, you really are a glutton for punishment aren't you?"

"You've just dug yourself a really deep grave!"

"And I'm gonna bury you in it myself!" They all grinned and snickered towards him.

"Oh the boldness of the naive. I admire your bravado son but you ought to know when you're on over your head!" Specter growled at him before grinning deviously, "But even so, we accept! And you're going down hard!" he yelled out loud boastfully as the other pirates yelled out in agreed unison.

"YEAH!"

"Very well then, come, let us decide this once and for all at the battlefield." He said as he snapped his fingers and the 5 of them disappeared from the throne room.

 **(Later)**

Before long the 5 zanjark materialised in Goma's arena, which was a set of floating islands in a vast coloured dimensional plane, one he created himself when he'd wish to train himself and ecocarchaira without exposing himself to his enemies or risk damaging his own fortress, plus it was pretty much the perfect scene set for a battle with such high stakes with everything to gain and even more to lose!

As Goma stood on his end of the field, he folded his arms and smirked with confidence as his father and the other pirates huddled together for a team meeting, "You 3 know what to do." Specter whispered to them with a stern look on his face before looking up at his son who was looking smugly back at them which made his blood boil, "Since my son's been such a bad egg, feel free to hold nothing back, I'll give you special permission to teach him a lesson he'll never forget." He said with a sinister smile as devious grins and snickers came upon the other pirates.

"Hehehe! With pleasure boss." Gavro held a thumbs up.

"You can count on us for this." Sheer bowed with respect, promising not to fail him.

"When we're done with him we'll clip his wings and make sure he gets grounded for good." Foolscap chuckled as he punched a fist into his palm before eying Goma, "And that he takes a titanic sized timeout on top of that!"

As the 3 of them stepped forward onto their side of the field, Specter smiled knowing with these odds there's no way they could lose, it was time he showed his son the difference between boldness and naivety, as well as make him know where his place is.

Taking out their cards they activated them one by one.

"Come on out Gigas!"

"You too Armatus!"

"And let's not leave Maximus out of the fun!" They said as the 3 spectral dinosaurs appeared on the field and roared out menacingly together.

"Impressive lineup." Goma complimented them, before a sinister smirk came upon his face, little did they know was that the moment they accepted his challenge their fates were already sealed. "Too bad they all pale in comparison to our combination." He said to his own dinosaur card before activating it against his own chest plate, "Come forth! Eocarcharia!" Materialising on his side of the field was none other than Goma's own personal dinosaur who roared out ferociously in defiance towards the 3 other spectral dinosaurs as the skies turned colourful with the battlefield!

Oblivious to how powerful he was, Sheer and Foolscap both grinned and snickered with confidence at the fact they had number son their side.

"Hehe this'll be easier than taking candy from a baby!"

"We'll finish this lickety split in no time flat!" They each boasted.

"Oh? Then how about we put that to the test shall we?" Goma mused as he was willing to take their bold bet, and he knew just the card to play, "Let's see how you stand up to this! Fire scorcher!" He yelled activating the move card, which made eocarcharia charge up a gigantic black and red meteor in his jaws before launching it towards the other space pirates!

The pirates widened their eyes at the sight of the incoming super move! "Gah!"

"That move took out those meddling brats in 1 go!" Gavro and Foolscap exclaimed in disbelief that Goma would play such a powerful card from the get go!

"Tch! Well it's not going to get us!" Sheer hissed in defiance, "Not if we have anything to say about it!" she growled as they all quickly responded .

"Magma blaster!" Gavro yelled as Gigas stomped his foot and fired out a powerful magma blast from his mouth!

"I'll add in a touch of spike arrows!" Foolscap snickered as Armatus' plates sparked and he fired out a barrage of arrows from his tail.

"And allow me to tip the balance in our favour with lightning strike!" Sheer concluded as her triceratops charged up a ball of pure lightning in between his horns before firing it out at full force! The 3 moves came together and collided with the meteor! For a moment it was a standoff between the 1 meteor against the pirate trio's 3 moves! Eventually unable to keep itself together, the meteor exploded and sent a huge shockwave out in the blast which pushed Gigas, Armatus and Maximus back!

BOOM!

"URGH!" The other space pirates either held out their arms or crossed in front to shield as such as they could from the blast, while Goma on the other hand stood calmly with eocarcharia as the impact merely blew his cape up in the wind but he remained unfazed.

As the explosion died down and the battlefield become somewhat charred and smoky, the pirate trio managed to get back up in a rather groggy and stuttered manner as a result from the blast, "Huff…." Gavro wheezed as he pushed himself up.

"Let's…not do that again anytime soon…." Foolscap grumbled with irritant where Sheer simply scowled and nodded back at him.

"Agreed…." she narrowed her eyes back at the battle, anticipating that despite being his best move, Goma no doubt had many more up his sleeve so they couldn't rest on their laurels yet.

Oblivious to this, Specyer who looked up after hiding behind his men like a coward, saw the chance to rub it in his son's face at his failed attempt to take them out, "Hehe, how'd you like that!? Looks like your fire isn't as hot as you claim it to be!" He laughed pointing out at Goma tauntingly while their dinosaurs got back up and roared out fiercely towards eocarcharia who answered back with a roar of his own.

Goma then folded his arms and smirked somewhat impressed, "Not bad," he said before smirking back deviously, "But let's see how well you handle an up close brawl!" He declared before holding out his arm, "Attack! Eocarcharia!" he commanded as his dinosaur roared viciously and rushed in for a full on assault towards the other 3 spectral dinosaurs!

"I'm going in first!" Gavro grinned eager for a fight and having wanted to get back at him for throwing him the last time they met, "Go get em Gigas! Stomp em into smithereens!" He punched forward as the tyrannosaurus growled and charged head on into battle! Both huge carnivores bashed heads at one another, pushing and shoving, neither giving way till Gigas flipped up eocarcharia's head. His neck exposed, Gigas seized the chance and snapped his huge jaws right onto the carcharodontosaurid and bit into it hard and causing his enemy to growl in pain! "Got him!" Gavro cheered as he pumped up his hand with excitement.

"Hehehe! He's done for now!" Foolscap grinned while Sheer smirked pleased.

"Heh, that's what you think…." Goma snickered seeing he could turn the situation to his advantage easily. Snapping his fingers, eocarcharia roared as he mustered his strength to pull Gigas away as he still hang onto his neck! Using sheer determination and force of will, he swung out his neck at one of the nearby standing pillars of the battlefield, smashing Gigas' face through it and causing him to let go as teeth fell out as a result from the hard collision with stone and then he fell to the ground in a daze and catching Garo completely off guard!

"WAH!" he gasped widening his eyes in shock as eocarcharia headed over to and stomped on Gigas' stomach without mercy, each one causing the tyrannosaurus to choke and bellow in pain and agony!

"Idiot! How did you not see that coming!?" Specter yelled in exasperation towards Gavro, with reddened eyes and bulging veins in his forehead which made the red pirate gulp and sweat nervously.

"I…I…." He stuttered paralysed by fear at his menacing glare his boss was giving him! Twiddling his fingers he couldn't think straight under pressure as his thoughts spiralled out of control from his boss breathing down on him and that Gigas was losing bad! Gritting his teeth he shot towards Foolscap and Sheer, "Grr! Don't just stand there! Help me out here!" he growled shaking a fist at them.

"Hmph! You really are useless aren't you?" Sheer scoffed with disapproval as she folded her arms and then flicked out her hair.

"Fine then, you owe us one for this!" Foolscap scowled as he decided to go next, "Armatus! Get in there and clobber that brat and his little pet!" He ordered as his stegosaurus howled and lumbered out towards Eocarcharia. Believing Gigas was out of commission and of no concern threat for the time being, eocarcharia shifting his focus towards Armatus as they met in a collision which knocked them both back a bit! Before the stegosaurus could shift himself and swing out his tail, eocarcharia recovered quickly and lunged out, grabbing Armatus' head and clamping his huge jaws and massive teeth on it in a razor sharp vice lock!

"AH!" Foolscap widened his eyes as the carnivore lifted up his dinosaur and threw him across the ground like a rag doll as his body scraped the ground and came to a stop further away! As eocarcharia roared out in victory, Gigas stomped his foot hard on the ground as he pushed himself up and shook his head clear having just managed to regain his senses. His head cringing with pain from the impact and blood dripped from his jaws from his lost teeth, but that pain soon overtook his survival instincts and all he wanted was payback as he snarled and narrowed his eyes viciously at eocarcharia who had his back turned to him! Foolscap saw this and tied out, "What are you waiting for?! Give me a hand here will ya!?" He yelled with urgency at Gavro.

"Hey! You ain't the boss of me!" The burly pirate retorted before huffing and looking back at the battle, "Good thing I was just planning the same thing, get him Gigas!" Gavro ordered as his t-rex seized the moment without hesitation and tried to catch eocarcharia by surprise. Turning around to see the incoming rex, eocarcharia snarled at the rex holding his ground which further agitated him as he held nothing back in his advance! Unfortunately it proved to be a deception to lure him in, as eocarcharia smirked at the last second before leaping out of the way much to Gigas' alarm! The tyrannosaurs widened his eyes realise g he was tricked, his momentum forced him right into Armatus, who had just managed to get back up on his feet only for him to be knocked off again by Gigas!

The 2 dinosaurs crashed to the ground and tumbled over one another, defenceless once more much to Gavro and Foolscap's alarm!

"HEY! Whose side are you on you big lug!?" Foolscap shouted at Gavro which made him stutter back.

"I…It wasn't my fault!" He protested nervously at first before gritting his teeth angrily, "I may now know much but I do know YOU were the one who told me to attack!" he yelled shaking his fist back at him.

As he watched this, Goma snickered to himself seeing this fight may be easier than he first thought, maybe even easier than when he battled the D Team, "Doesn't matter whose fault it is," he spoke out to them catching them off guard, "Because the outcome will still be the same!" He declared maliciously before activating another fire move! "Fire bomb!" Eocarcharia's jaws flamed with fire as he leapt high up into the air and spun down as a dive bomb before clamping onto Gigas just as he managed to stand back up again!

"WAAAH!" Gavro and Foolscap both widened their eyes and yelped as a huge explosion erupted and swallowed up both their dinosaurs in a huge blast!

BOOM!

As the explosion cleared Gigas and Armatus both lay down in a charred crater twitching and scorched as eocarcharia looked over them in triumph.

"AAAAH! Who ordered the barbecue!?" Foolscap cried in exasperation as he began grasping his hair and sweating in a panic!

"N….Not me, and I didn't ask for our dinos to be extra crispy!" Gavro sweated nervously as he stepped back and his heart began to race uncontrollably.

"Imbeciles!" Sheer screamed at them in frustration before face palming herself in exasperation, "Guess I'll have to do this myself! You idiots back off!" she then snarled at them as they stepped back away from her in fear and begrudgingly.

"Urgh…" In the sidelines Specter began to tense and swear nervously, knowing that if they couldn't handle his son he'd have to step in after them, but deep down his heart was beating hard in fear, as he began to question whether he may be able to do any better than they did.

"Teach that brat a lesson Maximus!" She ordered as Maximus scraped the ground with his front foot and let out a roar before charging out! It seemed at first eocarcharia's attention was diverted as he was focused on the beaten Gigas and Armatus, which seems like the perfect opening Sheer believed as Maximus threw all caution to the wind and accelerated his charge! However to his and Sheer's surprise, this was a trap, as eocarcharia could feel him approaching through the vibrations in his feet, and in response he retaliated with a swift swing of his tail, smacking right in the middle of Maximus' face before he was sent flying through some nearby stone pillars which crashed down on top of him!

As the dust cleared and Maximus had dug himself out of the rubble, his legs buckles and he fell down on his underside much to his mistress' frustration, "Get up Maximus! Don't let him smack you around like that! Attack!" She ordered refusing to end up like her 2 comrades, she was even about to consider using her boomerang to chop off his irons if he didn't obey. Maximus knew this too, spurred by fear and his anger towards his humiliation from earlier, he forced himself back up to his legs and charged out once more!

"Show these fools no mercy eocarcharia!" Goma responded as his dinosaur intercepted the attack in time, ramming straight in between Maximus' horns and pushing him back, he lunged out and grabbed one of his horns! Mustering all the strength in his jaws and back, he hoisted the triceratops high above his head before slamming him down hard into the ground!

"No way!" Sheer widened her eyes at how easily her dinosaur's attack was countered.

She could only look on helplessly as Goma's partner placed a foot down on his unprotected side and held him down so he couldn't move, "Now to give your triceratops a taste of the fiery pit that awaits you!" He grinned sadistically before playing a movie card, "Burst of flames!" Charging up flames in his jaws, eocarcharia unloaded a merciless stream of flames upon the triceratops who writhed and screeched in pain before his tormentor decided to hold himself back and stop, only because it'd be too easy and he didn't want it to end so soon.

"M…Maximus!" Sheer cried in horror as her triceratops groaned weakly while smoking black and charred to a crisp.

"How sad, not even the 3 of you together is enough to give me a challenge, let alone entertain me." Goma then sighed shaking his head in disapproval. Gavro, Sheer and Foolscap sweated and shuddered anxiously, now they were beginning to see Goma wasn't all just talk after all and now they deeply regretted it! As he looked up at Specter who shuddered at being the focus of his attention, "Well father? Care to join in the fun too? Or are you going to hide behind your incompetent henchmen and let them continue fight a hopeless battle? Hmm?" He offered with a welcoming smile, by welcoming he meant to his doom!

Gavro, Sheer and Foolscap said nothing back, for they were struck with fear and paralysed speechlessly at Goma's monstrous power, even at their best they couldn't even lay so much as a scratch on him and he was still kicking their butts when they worked together. Seeing no other way, they quickly turned to look at pester, who stuttered as they focused their attention solely on him, and even began to grovel before his feet pleading for salvation.

"B…Boss?"

"Please help?"

"With sugar on top? They pleaded desperately, even if it was humiliating to beg like dogs they ran out of options and saw no other way around this.

"Tch!" sweat and scared-also annoyed at men making him look bad

Scared but put on facade

"Hehehe not bad son, looks like you really are a chip off the old pirate block aren't you?" Specter's compliment however came off more like an insult to Goma as he scowled hard at being compared to his fool of a father once again. "But you've still got much to learn and now I'm about to teach you the hard way! Ahahaha!" His father then hollered before holding out his arm, "Me and Brontikens that is! HA!" he bellowed as he played Brontikens' card against his chest plate! A bright purple light shone out and materialising was Specter's apatosaurus in full sized form as he let out a titanic bellow and stomped so hard on the ground it shook the foundation of the floating island they battled upon, making eocarcharia stumble a bit in face of his new rival which towered over him like a mountain.

As Goma narrowed his eyes to see his father's ace in the hole appear before him, the other pirates began to snicker deviously at him, believing the odds to have shifted in their favour and their positions of being on the losing side were about to be reversed!

"Ehehe!"

"You're in trouble now kid!"

"Daddy's going to squash you flat like a pancake!" They laughed mocking him while also sticking out tongues or making faces at him.

Goma however remained unfettered and instead smirked to himself intending to take their bet, "Heh, we'll see…." he mused as eocarcharia and Brontikens began to square off. As Brontikens towered over his smaller enemy and kept a close watch on eocarcharia's movements, the smaller carnivore paced back and forth looking for an opening, blindspot or weakness he could exploit. With plenty of battles and experience under his belt, he sniffed the air and paused, narrowing his eyes at the most vulnerable spot on the apatosaurus he could aim for, his neck, back as well as his head.

Specter, blinded by arrogance and awe at his dinosaur now at full power, saw no need for any strategy, for all he needed to do was crush Goma's dinosaur back into a card and they could all be done with it, "Now Brontikens, be a good boy and give my son and his pet a well deserved thrashing!" He called out as his apatosaurus roared out obedient and lumbered straight towards him!

Goma narrowed his eyes and gave a certain nod with eye contact to his dinosaur who then roared fearlessly and rushed heads on towards the giant sauropod! This manoeuvre surprised Brontikens momentarily, as many would run away in terror of being trampled, this was the first an opponent would dare take him on in an unclose brawl, he either must be brave, had something in mind, foolish or perhaps downright insane! Nevertheless he wasn't about to falter as he kept on going till he and eocarcharia collided, the carnivore's head smashed right into his chest, causing a massive shockwave to emanate through space! Both dinosaur pushed and shoved at one another, night giving way, till Brontikens swung out his head and knocked eocarcharia back!

The eocarcharia dug in his toe claws and stabilised himself before darting in again, right as Brontikens shook his head clear from the neck swipe, eocarcharia had lunged out and grabbed hold of his leg, biting down hard and making him roar in pain! In response, Brontikens used his strength to shove the eocarcharia off him, but he was relentless as he kicked himself back up and tried to jump up at and bite his neck! Anticipating this and not wanting to give him the chance, the apatosaurus quickly turned and swung out his tail, sending eocarcharia flying away and then crashing to the ground right before Goma, to his annoyance.

"Hehe, those puny attacks ain't gonna do squat!" Specter snickered cockily believing he finally had his son backed into a corner, as Brontikens stepped forward towards eocarcharia rather menacingly, which made even the dreaded dark carnivore feel somewhat intimidated, "Now do you see you can't win!?" Specter boasted as he began to laugh out loud with pride and joy over Brontikens, "Just give up and save us all a lot of trouble will ya?" He then added at the end as he raised an eyebrow at Goma and smirked towards him, as the pirate trio began to snicker and grin seeing there was no way he could win now.

A shade covered Goma's eyes and he said nothing for a bit, which was rather unsettling at first to the adult zanjark, till he soon broke the silence, "Actually….I was just thinking…." He suddenly shot them all a psychotic expression which made their hearts jump, "Maybe it's time I start trying!" He then grinned maliciously as a purple aura erupted around him and he screamed at the tip of his lungs! "RARGH!" As he roared out loud, Eocarcharia let out a menacing snarl as he began to glow in a bright purple aura which shone out a glaring light disorienting Briontikens and the other dinosaurs as they looked away or bellowed out in annoyance at the glare.

"AAAAH!" The adult zanjark were forced to cover their eyes or hold out their arms in an effort to block it out, "Wh….What the!?" Specter squinted his eyes painfully as he peeped through the tinies gap he could open with his fingers and saw an immense power rising up from between Goma and his dinosaur. It soon began to click together as he widened his eyes in disbelief, "Don't tell me he can also do-"

"Elemental fusion!" His son finished off for him as Eocarcharia emerged from the light now coloured in deep black with shades of evil purple too! As his new form emanating with an aura which reeked of pure evil, it was an intimidating sigh that Brontikens felt uneasy and even stepped back feeling fear!

As Gavro and the others looked down they too widened their eyes and stared speechlessly with their boss at the sight of Goma's power.

"GAH!"

"Him too!?" Gavro and Sheer exclaimed.

"No fair! Why does he get all the fancy power ups!?" Foolscap whined enviously as to why even he could accomplish this new form of power, something he thought was only exclusive to the D Team and Alpha gang who just kicked their butts not long ago. Specter meanwhile could only stare in sheer utter shock and speechlessness, his jaw hung down and his eyes stared widely and unblinkingly, as he was being reminded of the very power which did him and Brontikens and now his son was about to dish out that very same humiliation to him again!

Seeing he caught them all off guard, Goma smirked to himself seeing he once again shifted the balance of power in his favour, "Still think you're so tough father?" He said to him mockingly, which made him swallow hard and it felt so painful it was like he just gulped down a dry rock. "Err…." Finding himself at a loss for words he then pointed out weakly to his son, "Th…That's cheating Goma! You can't do that!" He protested while shaking uncontrollably with terror.

"Like you guys use armour in every battle you fight?" Goma questioned him back which took the roads out of his mouth, "In war anything goes, surely you've realised that by now." He said wasting no more time with words, now he would speak with pure action and raw power! "Now go! Eocarcharia!" Upon his command and being fuelled by power, his dinosaur snarled and rushed in much faster than before! This caught Brontikens off guard and he failed to response in time as the eocarcharia grabbed his leg once again, this time pulling out with all his strength and causing him to topple down!

"WAAAH!"

"No way!"

"Impossible!" Specter and the other pirates widened their eyes in shock and disbelief.

No dinosaur had ever been able to knock Brontikens off his feet so easily like that, something even the apatosaurus couldn't believe and thus was unable to comprehend how this was possible, stunning them beyond imagination! Unfortunately for them and Brontikens, this was just the beginning, in their moment of being shocked, eocarcharia then released his leg. Now lying down vulnerable, he made a run for the sauropod's neck, clamping his jaws down like a trap he chipped right on Brontikens' throat and began to crunch down hard! It wasn't jus the force of the bite that was punishing, it soon became outright torture as his serrated blade like teeth began to sink into and shred through the apatosaurus' flesh like meat hooks! Eocarcharia positioning himself in a way he could roll his jaws back and forth with each crunching bite, thereby shredding deeper and deeper through the thick flesh of the apatosaurus!

The other space pirates looked on speechlessly, paralysed by this real life nightmare, though none of them was suffering form this traumatic experience as much as their boss was at that very moment, "B…Brontikens!" Specter widened his eyes in horror, as if he was witnessing a slaughter taking place with his very own eyes! Looking into the eyes of his beloved partner Brontikens, pleading to him for help, Specter's here sank as he saw blood gushing out from the wounds in his neck and splutter onto the ground. Looking up, he felt a chill down his spine as he saw the cold blooded eyes of Super eocarcharia, it was clear there was only one thing on his mind, to finish his foe by any means necessary! Hearing the haunting laughter of his son, his heart skipped a beat to see him cackling maniacally and in amusement of the carnage, nothing he ever did ever came close to such darkness and evil which his son committed. Soon he clenched his ahdns into fists and gnashed his teeth with rage, vowing to put a stop to all this here and now, as he turned over to Gavro, Sheer and Foolscap and shot them a piercing glare which made them all jump! "Don't just stand there you numbskulls! Do something now! Or I will use you guys as meat shields and feed you to that monster!" He yelled threateningly at them shaking his fists, spurring them into action!

"R…Right!"

"On our way!"

"Hang on boss! We're coming to save you!" They replied as their dinosaurs had managed to recover from their earlier attacks and wounds inflicted by Goma and then roar out in fury! It wasn't just to reduce their comrade, but also to take vengeance on eocarcharia for the humiliation it just dealt them, while the Space pirates were merely wanting to save their own skins.

Wasting no more time they finally decided to bring out the big guns, "Spectral armour!" They yelled as the marks on their 3 dinosaurs glowed using them to fully armour up and emerge as their armoured forms!

"Tch!" Goma then hissed in annoyance as his foes rallied together against him, this time pulling no more punches.

"This time no more holding back!" Sheer growled as she optioned out at him with spite, having lost all sense of restraint or mercy for him, "You've made this personal!"

"Yeah nobody hurts the boss and gets away with it!" Foolscap growled as he tensed up his arms into fists.

"No one! Not even his own kid!" Gavro finished at the end as his chest plate flashed purple upon activating his ultimate move, "Spectral lancer!" Gigas' armour flashed a purple aura as he sprouted 4 massive crystal lances from his back! Rushing towards eocarcharia, he looked back and widened his eyes as the tyrannosaurus leapt out at him, knocking him off Brontikens before scooping him up! Turning towards a nearby rock wall, he rushed in with full force before ramming eocarcharia inside with his huge lances and then throwing him up to the air! Gavro grinned with deep pleasure at finally margin to get a good hit in, but this time he was feeling in a really good mood and was willing to share the glory with his comrades, "Sheer! Your turn!" he then yelled out to her.

She smirked seeing her chance, "Heh, way ahead of you! Spectral punisher!" She called out as her choker flashed purple upon activating her ultimate move! In response Maximus' horn grew and crystallised as he caught eocarchaira as he was falling back down before tossing up high again into the air and blasting a beam through his chest!

"GARGH! Eocarcharia!" Goma growled as he clenched his chest as if he felt that attack epicure his own heart! As he looked back up he gnashed his teeth and glared at them with rage, which was building up deep inside of him to the point he wanted to tear them all apart with his bare hands. A dark thought which he entertained and dwelled in so deeply a malicious grin came upon his face.

"And now for the finishing touch! Spectral stinger!" Foolscap called out as his headband activated an Armatus generated a set of crystal spikes around his body before firing out a barrage of crystal missiles at eocarcharia who was still high int he air! The missiles blasted down on him, as he crashed they penetrated all around his body before shining and erupting in a massive explosion which swallowed up both Goma and his dinosaur completely!

BOOM!

"URRRRGGH!" Goma growled as he held his arms ahead of him, dug in his heels to stop himself from flying away by the impact before he was swallowed up in the dust.

Unable to see him anymore and believing themselves to finally be victorious, the space pirates all cheered and jumped up and down with joy and excitement, "Ahahahahah! We win!"

"Woo hoo! Yay team!" To them this win felt like a breath of fresh air after all the humiliating they were dealt a while back, and it was about to be even better, it was clear skies and smooth sailing ahead of them from here on they believed as their dinosaurs began roaring out in triumph.

"Like there was any doubt at all." Specter smirked as he folded his arms on his hips smugly before turning with a hard glare towards the huge plume of dust and smoke erupting from ahead, "Hehe, you see that Goma?!" he laughed taunting him, knowing he was still there and could hear him, "Now you see what we're capable of and that you should never have messed with us!" Hand over the cosmos stone like you promised!" He then demanded as he pointed out.

"Yeah, we won it fair and square….whatever it means…" Gavro muttered scratching his head in curious thought.

There was nothing but silence right after that, and the space pirates were beginning to assume that Goma may have been knocked out cold as a result of the attack or perhaps ran away in the heat of battle, which made them scowl at that thought….however, all of their thoughts and theories were greatly disproven and their assumptions to have been victorious in battle were greatly premature.

Hehehehehe….." An eerie chuckle echoed through the smoke, and a purple shadow began to appear from the dust, which made the pirates either stutter or blink in surprise, as a cold chill blew through the air and put them on edge.

"Huh?" They sweated anxiously as a silhouette began to appear right from the dust ahead of them and was coming closer into view. As it revealed itself, they all froze stiff as Goma stepped out of the dust, while covered in a few bruises or battle scars of his own, it seemed as though he had taken no damage or showed any signs of fatigue at all! What's worse, right next to him as more of the dust finally blew away, eocarcharia was standing right with him! Though his super form was gone he too appeared as if he had suffered no damage at all from all their previous attacks, or more precisely all his wounds from their attacks just now had healed!

"AH!"

"No way…."

"He's still…standing!?" At the sight of him, both they and their dinosaurs felt a wave of fear wash over them, every fiber of their being was screaming for them to run away, but they could get themselves to move an inch as they found themselves frozen in fear and unable to comprehend what their eyes were witnessing firsthand.

Specter himself felt utterly speechless, as if he was seeing his own son as some sort of undead warrior back from the grave who refused to die, or better yet couldn't die at all!

"I can't believe I'm saying this….but this…really gets my blood pumping….I can feel it….this urge to destroy you all completely and utterly is raging inside me!" Goma shrieked as his aura flared up deeper and darker than before! As he gazed towards them, his prey, they could only watch helplessly and in pure terror as he prepared to unleash his his final ace in the hole manoeuvre, one which he hadn't used in a very long time and hoped to do so, now he got his wish and intended to do so without hesitation, as he looked down to his hands with were twitching wildly with anticipation, "It's been a long time since I've had to do this….I can't hold it back anymore! Nor do I want to deny it any longer!" He screeched demonically as his expression turned psychotic and his marks began to flash a bright evil purple! "Eocarcharia! It's time we unite our powers and crush these insects under our heels!" He roared as eocarcharia began to gain a dark purple area around him and he let out a tremendous roar which shook the foundations of space itself like an earthquake!

ROAR!

"AAH!" The pirates screamed in fear as the rock they stood on shook violently with the massive energy surging through both Goma and his dinosaur but at the same time also in outright terror for the monstrosity that was about to be birthed from this!

They froze when Goma shot them a maniacal expression with glowing purple veins and markings bulging through his face and arms, "Brace yourselves, for now I'll show you what TRUE power looks like!" He shrieked holding up eocarcharia's armour card, "Behold the ultimate apex of perfection! Feast your eyes on the full strength of the Shadow empire!" He declared before activating it across his vest's marking, "OMEGA SPECTRAL ARMOUR!" He roared as the marking shone over Eocarcharia and covered him in a bright golden, as his eyes flared purple!

As the aura shattered, the armour fully materialised itself, encasing the already deadly dinosaur in menacing powerful golden dragon like armour which covered him from head to tail! What was even more impressing, was that as he even flashed out a set of pterosaur like wings which stretched out from his back making the beast appear almost like a dragon! As he glowed in a cursed malevolent aura and snarled viciously, lusting for destruction, the mere sight of him made each and everyone of the pirates' dinosaurs anxious and wary as they backed away from the monstrosity their foe had just evolved into! Even Brontikens, the awakened eocarcharia he fought just now was no more than a mere prelude to what he had become now.

Meanwhile the pirates themselves all turned pale and began to sweat tensely in terror, "N….No way!"

"First awakening and now armour too!?"

"I've never seen armour like that before!" They each cried in disbelief and in a panic.

"It's golden too!" Spectres eyes gleamed with excitement and awe, "Shiny!" he then jittered rubbing his palms together completely ignoring the fact that eocarcharia was stronger than ever and was about seek vengeance upon them all.

"Prepare yourselves for the end!" Goma declared menacingly as he saw no reason to waste anymore time with this farce, it was finally time he ended this once and for all, "Take flight my beast and wipe these specks off the face of the planet now!" He commanded as eocarcharia gained a sinister purple aura before his golden wings flared with purple energy, flapping them he took to the air high above the sky much to the pirates' disbelief and bewilderment as to such a feat being possible by a ground dinosaur!

"WAH!"

"He can do that too!?"

"Those were wings!? I thought those were only decorations!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Looking up they could see eocarcharia was staring down at them like mice ready to be picked up and dealt with by a hawk. Knowing he was going to strike at any moment, they quickly turned in alarm to Specter,

"Boss! Do something now!" They all cried at him sweating like mad and widening their eyes in a panicky manner!

"I…I…I'm on it!" In his packed state, Specter's hand nearly slipped and dropped his armour card but quickly grabbed it back in time before shoving it right at his chest place, "Sp…Spectral armour!" He cried as Brontikens' marks glowed and generated his spectral armour and he let out a mighty roar in defiance at Eocarcharia before stomping the ground, "Take this! Give it all you've got Brontikens! Spectral Destroy!" Specter yelled as he punched up with all his might, putting all bis heart and soul into this final attack! As fast as he could, Brontikens began to charge up his most powerful attack of all, focusing all the energy he had into his armour he fired out his strongest energy level beam straight up at Omega Eocarcharia high above!

Unfazed and in fact unimpressed, Goma grinned with eagerness as his mad expression became even more psychotic, "Eradicate them all eocarcharia!" He screeched showing no signs of relenting nor hesitation as his dinosaur, fuelled by his dark desires and energy soon charged up with full power! "OMEGA PHOENIX!" Goma's marks flared violet as a red Spectral pirate mark flared behind him as he was fully charged with power! Right after that he dive-bombed down, a giant Spectral mark appeared right below his flight path as he soon smashed through it, wrapping himself in purple flames as he dove down like a meteor! As he collided with Spectral Destroy, he didn't slow down in the slightest, but instead effortlessly pushed through it like it was nothing to the space pirates' disbelief!

"AAAAAH!" They screamed in terror as Goma began to laugh out loud maniacally.

"AHAHAHAHAH! This is it! This is the end for you all!" He roared as Omega Eocarcharia Broke completely through the beam and then smashed down where Brontikens was! A sea of flames erupted from the explosion which swallowed the battlefield completely and engulfed the other spectral dinosaurs in the crossfire!

BOOM!

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" The pirates all screamed as the flames blew over them too before they could make a run for it! In an instant they too were overwhelmed by the cursed fires and they all blacked out!

Moments later, all 4 adult pirates were found lying on a now black charred rock surface, seemingly lifeless at first glance as they lay scattered about the ground…..till Gavro was the first to stir and awaken from the wipeout. Gritting his teeth he forced himself to sit up, as a throbbing pain suddenly pulsated inside his brain and he grasped it tightly upon wincing with pain, "Urgh….oh my head…." he moaned as he began rubbing his temple, for having the densest head of every being in the universe, to actually feel pain was almost foreign to him, so he didn't know how to properly take it.

Around him Foolscap and Specter too were waking up from their knockout just now as they got up staggering or groggily to their legs and knees, "I feel like I just took a hit by a missile…." Foolscap muttered in annoyance as he felt aches in all sorts of places around his body.

As Sheer shook her head clear and blinked her eyes looking up, squinting them to focus through he dust as it soon cleared. The moment she was able to see clearly, her heart skipped a beat and she turned paler than usual, "M….Maybe we just did!" she squeaked shaking tensely before pointing out at what was inside, "Look!" she cried getting their attention as they groggily looked where she was focusing at.

"Huh?" As they all looked they froze stiff and widened their eyes in horror at the carnage they broke witnessed with their very own eyes. "AH!"

Before them was a gigantic crater which was steaming with dark purplish flames, the ground was cracked and filled with steaming hot lava running through them, and laying about the battlefield, beaten and near broken were Gigas, Armatus and Maximus, as they lay motionless and near death, their lives just hanging by a thread as their breathing was almost unnoticeable. Their armour had also shattered as they each returned to their card forms one by one and returned to the feet of their owners. Brontikens was the last one remaining, a his armour shattered he groaned weakly and looked up, only to have his head stomped and held down by a clawed foot. Looking up, eocarcharia snarled at him menacingly as the apatosaurus cowered before his superior might and yielded, as he returned to card form at Specter's feet and eocarcharia let out a tremendous triumphant roar as he flared out his wings, his roar echoing like a nightmare through the depths of the dark space as he prepared to show the universe who the most powerful being was!

As the adult space pirates looked on in sheer and utter speechlessness, Goma soon appeared from right out of the darkness, a malicious grin soon reappeared on his face and shone through the shadows which also glowed together with his purple eyes, markings and aura. Soon, he began to chuckle eerily and most sinisterly, causing his defeated foes to sweat and shudder in pure terror as the snickering became uncontrollable maniacal laughter, "Heheheheh…Ahahahahahahahhah! Victory is mine! All shall fear and bow before my might!" He proclaimed to the stars at the top of his lungs in triumph vowing this battle would only be the start of his new galactic conquest, as Omega eocarcharia too let out a mighty roar in victory, causing all the space pirates to buckle and quake in fear, unable to process or comprehend how easily they had been defeated in an instant.

"No….way…." Foolscap choked as he fell on his back feeling overwhelmed in the presence of this intergalactic scourge.

"He defeated us….so completely and utterly…." Sheer croaked falling on all fours while Gavro fell on his knees and stared blankly, unable to avert his eyes away, what little mind he had in his head had been blown away to bits.

Seeing no more need to be out, eocarcharia snorted at Goma, who then nodded at him in agreement seeing they already made their point clear to the others. Returning him to card form, his glowing aura soon dissipated as he stood before the 4 adult zanjark, folding his arm on his hip as he looked down upon them and they tensed up in his presence, "Since you lot put up a good fight and forced me to this extent, something which I haven't done in years, I'll be generous enough to give you one chance to surrender and submit completely to my will." He then offered them which made them grit their teeth ever more spitefully at him, out of fear and pressure and at the time time furious that they'd have to live under his thumb for the rest of eternity and they couldn't do anything about it!

Looking to the side, they saw Specter was still standing there having not moved an inch, "B…Boss?"

"You can't be serious can you?" Gavro and Sheer asking him, hoping he wouldn't accept this and that he'd still try to defend them even when it seemed all hopeless for them.

Their former boss said nothing at first, till he fell on his knees overwhelmed, "I've created a monster…." he breathed softly….before a big smile spread across his face, "A monster I couldn't be more proud of!" He cheered joyously spreading out his arms much to the disbelief of his men!

"HUH!?"

"Say what now!?" They couldn't believe their eyes and ears at what their boss was doing, they knew he was mad but to completely surrender like that without anymore resistance, he no doubt completely lost his mind this time around! Any hope of them being able to get out of this and escape went completely up in smoke.

Specter then scurried up to Goma like a dog would greet his master as he bowed before him multiple times, "I'm so sorry I ever doubted you Goma my boy! You've been a really good son! You've grown up into an even greater and more terrifying cosmic tyrant than I ever could be! Oh how I simply adore you!" He said as he began grovelling before his son, kissing his feet and then shining his boosts with his own hankie, "Plus a deal's a deal! You beat us all so thoroughly and completely, I'll do anything you ask from here on! Ahahaha!" He laughed joyously while also prostrating himself and sweating in terror at the same time, his spirit completely broken and every trace or thought of him wanting to betray or boss his son around had been purged from his mind, heart and soul forever.

Eying his boss embarrassing himself and them in top of their humiliating defeat, Foolscap sweated terrified before looking up to Sheer, "Err Sheer, is he trying to kiss up to him and lure him into a false sense of security again?" he pleaded.

"Please say yes…." Gavro begged as he clapped his hands together and prayed desperately for that to be the case.

"Actually guys…." Sheer gulped as she began to sweat tensely at the situation before hand, "I think…he really means it this time…." she croaked shuddering in terror, as the other2 male pirates gulped.

"Uh oh…." To see their boss broken completely like that, now they all began to see just how much of a monster Goma truly was and how deeply they were beginning to regret ever tossing or ridiculing him back in their early days. Had they known this was the result they would have treated him better, a regret they'll be carrying for there rest of their lives and even into the afterlife.

"Heh….You can always be counted on to listen to reason father." Goma then smirked pleased to see his father swear his loyalty and submit before him at last. After that he eyed Gavro, Foolscap and Sheer, which made them stutter, "Now make sure your pet dogs follow your example." He then stated as his first order of business, to make sure there wouldn't be anymore insurrection among the ranks.

"Yes sir! Whatever you you wish is my command!" Specter replied obediently, saluting his son and acknowledging him as emperor before bowing down before him as a faithful servant. After that he quickly shot a ferocious glare at Gavro, Sheer and Foolscap before roaring out at them, "You heard him you worthless lackeys! Bow down before our supreme emperor or you answer to me!" He snarled as he shook out his fists and glared menacingly towards them, making their souls jump in the process!

"WAH! Quickly they all nodded frantically before Specter, "Y….Yes sir!" After that they all turned and prostrated themselves before Goma, swearing there loyalty and obedience towards him.

"All hail emperor Goma!"

"We exist only to serve you and you alone! We await your orders sir!"

"And we'll destroy anyone and anything who'll try to prevent you from becoming supreme ruler of the universe!" They each said to him with full sincerity and their hearts gripped with pure terror.

With their oath made to him and their spirits of rebelliousness finally broke, Goma grinned with satisfaction as their words were like music to his ears, "Excellent, finally you all know your place and have accepted them wholeheartedly." He said with approval as that may have been the smartest and only intelligent thing they've ever done in their whole lives. Snapping his fingers, they all vanished from the space field which soon cracked under the sheer pressure of the battle; waged before breaking up and shattering into many tiny pieces.

The 5 pirates then reappeared back inside Goma's control room, which now had a large spire like pole which lay in the middle of it, "Now that we are all united with a single purpose, it's time we show the rest of the universe the exact same thing you have just learnt and make them all realise that all should bow down and submit to me as Emperor of darkness!" He howled in a spine chilling tone as he raised up his arms to the air!

"But…..how oh mighty one? If we may ask?" Sheer croaked nervously as she held out her hand, shuddering in sheer terror as Goma turned to her, knowing one wrong word could result in her being reduced to dust.

Foolscap then fell own on his face, "Yes…do enlighten us…..please?" he asked as politely and submissively as he could as he looked up at his new emperor.

Goma eyed them all seriously for a bit but soon smiled pleased with their manner, "I'm glad you asked." He then snapped his fingers, "Computer, divert all power from cloaking systems to the cosmic tractor beam now!" He shouted out to his monitor as it recognised his voice and began to do as he commanded.

RUMBLE!

"WAAH!"

"Wh…What's happening!?" The other pirates stumbled and stuttered as the whole room and ground beneath their feet shook violently as a few of them even fell down either face flat or on their butts unsteadily!

"Behold." He answered them as they looked to where he was.

"Huh?" They widened their eyes as the roof of the room opened up revealing the dark cloudy skies of the Antartica high above with cold winds and snow blowing by. In moments the spire stretched up through the opening before opening up like a blooming flow into that of a giant satellite dish which began to surge and charge up wth purple electricity being fed into it by the base itself! Goma grinned maliciously and spend up his arms outstretched as the time had finally arrived for him to put his final plan into motion, "The time has now arrived to summon both the Reaper's Wrath! The time for laying low and hiding has passed, Earth's day of reckoning has finally come!"

His minions widened their eyes in disbelief as the Satellite dish began to charge up and reach full power, whatever he was using all that energy for was no doubt something huge and it was happening right here and now, "Wh…What did we just get ourselves into!?" Sheer and Foolscap both cried out.

"I don't know what we're in but I'd say this is big time trouble!" Gavro croaked as he swallowed down hard.

Specter's eyes glistened and he clapped his hands together with childish excitement for something big an no doubt fun was about to happen and he couldn't wait to be part of it. Apparently he was the only one amongst them who could smile and remain positive at a moment like this.

He then shot a sudden glare towards them, "Minions!"

They turned pale and saluted him obediently, "Yes sir!" They said in unison as they acknowledged him as their master completely without qualm.

He then began to smile sinisterly, "If you desire to see tomorrow, ready yourselves." he said calmly to them before turning away to eye his master piece at work, for the time had finally arrived for the world's day of reckoning, "The final battle to decide the fate of the universe begins now, and I intend to win it." He grinned maniacally as the game of destiny was about to begin, where the future of all creation would be staked upon this very battle that would span across all space and time for generations to come. As the dish finally fired a powerful dark beam into the sky, it sent earthquakes and tremors which shook the foundation of the planet itself! As the space pirates all shuddered, hunkered down or ran about in a panic with the base quaking like jelly, Goma stood firmly where he was and only grinned with excitement for the moment of truth! Soon everything and everyone in the known universe and beyond would bow before him as Emperor or better yet….a God!

 **(Meanwhile)**

The earthquakes soon shook the Resistance base violently as alarms rang like crazy all throughout the interior, catching everyone off guard and interrupting them abruptly from whatever they were doing!

"AAAAH!"

"Wh….What's happening!?"

"WHOA!" Some gasped in alarm as they were being shaken up.

Others who were in more sensitive areas like the labs often ended up falling and dropping fragile equipment or in the grass station where the earthquakes caused some trees to topple over and nearly crash down on some individuals! "HELP ME!"

"DUCK! COVER AND RUN!"

CRASH!

Some hurried over to help those less fortunate, while others disregarded everything and everyone else around them and looked out only to their own wellbeing! "ACK!"

"I didn't sign up for this ride!"

"What the!?" It was complete chaos as screams of panic and terror, mixed in with the agitated and terrified cries of dinosaurs everywhere as the underground base shook violently in some areas the ceiling even began to collapse! Nearly burying some underneath rubble or completely cutting off some routes to other sections, either trapping some troopers in between stations or forcing them to take REALLY long detours!

As soon as the quakes hit, Lunensis quickly rushed back to the control room and was typing hard into the computers to determine the scale of this disaster and hopefully determine its cause, "The energy readings are off the scale…beyond anything we've ever faced before!" He gasped worriedly as the room around him began to shake violently and the energy charts for the quakes spiked higher and higher with each passing second, "Computer! Triangulate it's location!" He shouted into it, and before long after tracing the energy readings through the quakes and pinpointing its source, it soon revealed it on the satellite maps, "Antartica?" He muttered in surprise before leaning closer and putting a finger to his chin, "Could it be-"

"Lunensis!" Dr Ancient yelled as he burst into the room suddenly, with the D Team and entire alpha gang with him!

"AH!" Cera's father stuttered as he came face with so many unexpected visitors at once in such a crucial time, though that was to be expected.

Cera then rushed in panting with exhaustion having rushed here as fast as her legs could carry her, "What's going on father!?" she cried out while still wheezing for air and sweating profusely.

"Yeah! What's the situation?!"

"Will we be safe here!?"

"Shouldn't we evacuate!?" They all began to ask him one after the other with worry and with upmost urgency.

"Fill us in already!"

"Don't keep us in the dark!"

"Is it the end of the world!?" The Alpha trio began to cry out in a panic.

Seeing so many anxious and agitated expressions aimed at him, Lunensis couldn't help but feel somewhat pressured, and also worried as to whether he may be able to give them an answer, and even if he could it'd likely be one they wouldn't like, "I don't know….but it can't be good…." He said uncertainly, knowing whatever was casing this was not only big but may also threaten their entire well being. Seeing how determined and worried everyone was, Lunensis soon decided to find out knowing this couldn't be ignored, as he shouted out an order to his computer, "Bring it up on screen now!" he commanded as a screen lite up, revealing the massive forts of the shadow empire, sitting in a flat clearing of Antartica while firing off a massive beam from a giant satellite dish high into the sky through the night aurora filled skies!

"WHOA!"

"What is that thing!?"

"It looks scary!"

"Hold me!" The trio shuddered as they huddled together around Dr Z, suffocating him wit their combined body mass much to his annoyance, while everyone else from just looked on with hard gazes or gritted teeth with tension.

Lunensis soon narrowed his eyes, "This serious…." he breathed knowing if the Shadow empire were suing a weapon as powerful and massive as that, they must have some kind of dastardly purpose in mind for it, and he intended to find out, "Bring up that laser's projection course!" He ordered.

As the computer screens scanned the beam's energy readings and began to trace its' direction of travel, the results pinpointed that it was stretching so high into deep space. Lunensis then began to trace its trajectory, assuming it to be some sort of signal, but before long a beeping sound suddenly proved him wrong, dead wrong.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Huh!?"

"What's that!?" Max and Zoe both gasped in surprise, as the image of something nearing the Earth's atmosphere was detected by the Resistance's orbiting space satellites.

As Lunensis aimed the satellites to focus upon the incoming space object and brought it up on screen, everyone widened their eyes in shock and horror to see a gigantic asteroid on screen, plummeting at a terrifying speed towards the planet and the beam that was fired out from the Shadow Empire's base happened to be pulling it right at them!

"AH!"

"Is that….a meteor!?" Rex exclaimed as he stepped back unable to comprehend what he just witnessed.

It didn't take long for fear and worry to overtake the minds of the Alpha gang as they suddenly screamed their heads off and ran around in circles panicking for their lives! "WAAAAH! Everyone run for your lives!"

"We're doomed!"

"We need to get off this planet! Anyone got a space ship we can use!?"

"If there is one! I call shotgun!"

"Grampa! Get a hold of yourself!" Rod, Laura and the parents tried their best to get hold of the Alpha gang and hopefully keep them under control somehow.

As they did so, while Lunensis continued to stare in stunned disbelief at the incoming comet, the planet's ultimate doom, Max and the others, fearing for their lives quickly looked to Cera hoping she had an explanation for this, "Cera….do you know what's going on?" Max asked her uneasily.

After staring speechlessly for a while, she narrowed her eyes hard and clicked her tongue tensely, "Tch! From the looks of it, the shadow empire's begun to make it's move….." she said, "And unless we do something about them now…this may be the end of the world as we know it…." The countdown to the final battle had begun, today was the day that the outcome of the war would finally be decided.

 **And with that the full power of omega eocarcharia is revealed and the final plan of Goma is put into play! The fate of the world rests on this final war game (Like the tower of hanoi in yugioh vrains) and only 1 side can be victorious! Stay tuned as the D team's final battle soon will dawn.**

 **P.S-the place where the space pirates battled Goma in their power struggle is in the arcade game's space field when Goma is fought.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Yeah after their first impression of Specter they'd easily compare his son to him, a huge mistake that was indeed. Now here Goma demonstrates his real power, the D Team and resistance should be grateful he didn't unleash upon them.**

 **Love the backstory but never really thought of it all that much, definitely like what you come up with but in the time as it is now it's unlikely they'd want to ask Cera O' Sauria about this would they?**

 **Glad you're giving that Vrains story a chance too. Am curious how you're able to review multiple times.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Now you see his final form in action, what you think now?**

 **Also the Resistance will need to pull out ALL the stops for a calamity of cosmic scale about to strike Earth once more! It is indeed the planet's darkest day!**


	59. Ends of the Earth

Chapter 59

Ends of the Earth

Not long after the alarms went off, people from all across the Resistance base flooded into the main room till it became almost more crowded and packed than the assembly hall. Soon they were all stacked to the brim with troopers and a handful of dinosaurs that were not of their cards, which thankfully were mainly smaller ones like utahraptor or brachyceratops, as they began firing all kinds off panicked comments upon first glance at the meteor and the giant laser beam being shot at it.

"AH!"

"Wh….What's happening!?"

"I've never seen anything like it before!"

"What's that laser doing to that meteor!?"

"It's huge!"

"What if it hits us!?"

"What'll happen to us then!?"

As the captains did their best to calm down their squads as well as any refugees they had under their wing, the D Team's families huddled together staring at the situation both with anxiety and tensely with so many agitated people gathered together as well as being fearful of what was going on which they also had absolutely no clue of. Seeing how her friends were getting increasingly worried, "Dad! See if you can lock onto the source of that laser!" Cera then cried to her father hoping for answers soon as he immediately began typing on the console as fast as he could.

"I'll do that right away!" He responded to her as he locked onto the source of the beam, tracing its' exact coordinates and then widening his eyes as they focused on Antartica, "AH! Impossible!"

Everyone quickly turned to him upon hearing his baffled gasp, "What!? What is it!?" Cera cried feeling worried about her father's unnerved response.

Trying his best to maintain a calm composure, "Is it something you'd like to share with us please?" Dr Ancient then asked trying his best not to give into his worries though inside his heart was already beginning to race like many of the others present.

Lunensis gritted his teeth knowing this was going to be hard to admit, but seeing all eyes were on him he began to force it out rather painfully, "The source of that beam…." he keyed into his computer to enlarge the image on the map, "It's coming from….here!" As the monitors zoomed in on the designated coordinates, it brought up the image of the Shadow empire's dark fortress on full screen with a huge satellite dish outstretched from its center, which was also firing the beam into space thus making contact with the giant meteor high above in outer space!

"AH!" Everyone widened their eyes as the sight of the dreaded looking structure appeared before them.

"What is that place!?" Dr Taylor exclaimed, he had seen all kinds of horrendous structures which only nightmares could give brith to but this place took the cake and ate it.

"And I thought the fortress in Africa was gnarly, it's nothing compared to that place!" Dr Z cried flabbergasted while Seth merely narrowed his eyes hard.

Upon noticing Cera eying the fortress with a hard gaze and shaking tensely, Max and the rest of the D Team looked to her most uneasily, "Cera….is that?"

She nodded at Rex's question, "No doubt about it, it's the Shadow Empire's Headquarters." she answered with a hiss through her teeth, as they all narrowed their eyes at the Space pirates' base of operations on the big screen.

"So that's where they are." said Zoe with a hard and unsettled look on her face.

"Good!" Max gritted his teeth angrily as he punched his fist into the palm of his hand, "Now we can hit them fast and hard too." he said feeling eager for a fight.

Rex narrowed his eyes hard, "Something's not right here…." He muttered as the others looked to him curiously, "Why would they take such a heavy risk giving themselves away like that?" He then asked out loud which puzzled his friends and family till he explained himself, "In order to use that laser, whatever it is, it must consume a massive amount of energy, meaning they'd without a doubt have to drop down their cloak."

"And thus exposing themselves to detection too." Reese then finished for him as she too eyed the base with suspicion.

"You're right Rex," Lunensis responded to him, "It doesn't make sense at all for them to give us a way to launch a full scale attack at them right on their stronghold." He said as some of the captains of the resistance then began to mutter or converse with one another with the right approach to this turn of events.

"Who cares!?" Dr Z rudely interrupted in an outburst, "All that matters is that we can end this ridiculous war once and for all and then we can get back to rebuilding the dinosaur king-I mean utopia that they so heartlessly destroyed!" he cried flailing out his arms in a fuss before pointing out at the monitor screen, "With them gone everyone can go back to their normal lives and we can say goodbye to all our worries and strife! I say we hit them fast and with everything we've got with us! Be it dino might or all the firepower we can spare!" He declared before turning to the masses, "Now who's with me?!"

"YEAH!"

"We're right behind you Dr Z!"

"Say the word!" Various shouts came from the troopers as well as the Alpha gang trio who naturally would stay by their leader's side and even follow him blindly off a cliff too.

"Wow, grampa sure knows how to motivate a crowd…." Laura whistled feeling quite impressed at how easily he rallied the group together and how riled up he got them too.

Rod then sighed and rubbed his temple in annoyance knowing this was going to go over well, "Yeah, ever since he came back from Africa, he's been way over his head more than before." he said with a heavy sigh.

"Easy Dr Z," Dr Ancient then said calmly as he spoke up, "While it is true we may have an opportunity to exploit we also can't ignore the possibility that the Empire's fortress may also be highly fortified and nothing short of a trap! We have to be cautious and smart about this!" He said with extreme caution in his tone as others too began to stand by him, even a handful of troopers who were inspired by Dr Z realised they let the excitement get to their heads and even sided with Ancient instead.

"Tch! Always the coward aren't you Ancient?" Dr Z huffed as he folded his arms crossly, seeing him being shut down reminded him of why they were at odds last time.

Rex narrowed his eyes and was tempted to yell back at the old man for badmouthing his father, but on closer inspection of the masses he could see it was pretty much the same going on between them all. It wasn't just them, there were even some amongst the troopers and captains themselves as they began to argue over what was happening or what sort of action they ought to take, and the tension was nothing less than peaking. On one hand it could be a trap with really big risks but on the other, this could be a huge opportunity and perhaps even worth the risk. Needless to say everyone was on edge over how they ought to act in this situation, if only they knew about the shadow empire's intentions with that meteor in the sky, that was the key piece they were missing from the puzzle.

"Still though, what are those space pirates planning to do with that meteor?" Jonathan then wondered as he put a finger to his chin in curious thought, even with his advanced mental capacities he still couldn't compute as to a logical reason for the shadow empire to make use of that giant space rock.

"Think this could this have something to do with the endgame Goma mentioned not long ago?" Max then asked as Zoe shrugged her shoulders unsurely though not shrugging it off as a possibility.

Whatever the case was, it was clear the shadow empire had something planned with that giant meteor that was heading towards the planet's orbit and it couldn't be anything good at all. Before they could even ponder or speculate what was happening, a sound rang from the monitor, with the symbol of the space pirates blinking right over their computer screen!

BEEP! BEEP!

"Huh?" Everyone was caught by surprise at the unexpected call that had reached their mainframe, and as Lunensis began to trace to its point of origin, he blinked his eyes in surprise upon reaching it.

"A transmission….from the space pirates?" He muttered in confusion before widening his eyes at a call being made through to them right this instant, "They're hacking into our communications feed! They're bringing up a message for us now!" He gasped catching the others by surprise.

"AH!" Everyone gasped and looked to the screen as a live video feed window had just opened, as a connection was being formed and an image was starting to appear through the static. They also began to narrow their eyes, whatever the empire had to say it had to be significant for them to call them at this point. It could be anything from a threat, negotiation, gloating or perhaps some sort of trap….but in any case it was something they couldn't afford to ignore, nor could they as their systems were being hacked and a forced transmission was being fed into their systems.

They all couldn't believe their eyes as the face of the one responsible for the transmission appeared on screen in all his notorious glory….Goma….

"AH!"

"It's him!"

"Goma!" Various startled responses echoed from amongst the D Team and the Resistance before they soon became hard glares or worried looks as he stared down upon them with a sinister smirk.

"Greetings you insignificant insects of the Resistance, if you're reading this I guess that means you've discovered the location of my humble abode." He greeted in a rather sinister manner as many glared hateful daggers at him while others tensed or shuddered feeling most unnerved to see him again, after recalling the terrfying power he demonstrated to long ago, "An acceptable calculated risk and a small price to pay in exchange for ending this war in my victory." He then boasted rather confidently which meant that all that was taking place was all pat of his newest scheme which many believed was going to be his most diabolic of all.

"What are you planning to do Goma!?" Lunensis shouted out loud through the monitor.

"Tell us now! Or we'll march right up to your doorstep and beat it out of you!" Max yelled as he shoved his way to the front and shook his fist in anger at him, while his friends kept their parents behind them as they looked on as the situation grew tense.

"Hmph, none of you are in any position to make demands or threats." Goma scoffed feeling insulted at the nerve they had, but a sinister grin appeared on his face as he knew just what to do to get them to be more respectful and easy to manage, "However, to show my respect for your efforts in lasting this long in this war, how about I clue you in?" The Resistance grew tense but silent as he prepared to explain himself, with a depiction of the massive meteor hurtling towards Earth was depicted, which made several of the Resistance gasp at the sight of it while others like the D Team and Cera narrowed their eyes at it, "My ultimate plan, is both elaborate and elegant, for I designed it myself to have absolutely no flaws or openings for you to exploit!" He grinned deviously to himself before holding out his arms widely, "At long last I have summoned forth the Reaper's Wrath!" He proclaimed thus revealing the name of the meteor and of his ultimate weapon of all.

"Reaper's-"

"Wrath?" Dr Ancient and Cretacia muttered, as the very name of the meteor sent chills down everyone's spines and various murmurs began to echo form amongst the rest of the group.

"Is that what the meteor's called?"

"Brrr…Scary name…."

"Jus saying its' name is already giving me chills…."

"And just what do you plan to do with this giant meteor?" Cera asked him suspiciously, "What are you planning to accomplish?"

Goma soon smirked as she asked, "I'm glad you asked." In fact he paused momentarily fixing his gaze upon her before looking away to prevent drawing any suspicion toward his motives, "As you are all aware a phenomena like this once took place millions of years ago, which wiped out the dinosaurs from the face of the Earth. A tragic end for such mighty creatures, but in the end life did manage to make a comeback after the planet was barely able to heal itself from said scars." He said sighing pityingly for Earth's ancient suffering which several dinosaurs in the room were agitated to hear upon being reminded of it. Some of the troopers as well as the D Team were also angered to see him talk so casually about such a horrible event, but that wasn't the worst part as he soon began to reveal his horrible plan to them, "However, as they say history inevitably repeats itself, and with my final plan I intend to wipe out the entire human race and the resistance with it using the Reaper's Wrath! Erasing this failed rebellious epoch, thus giving this planet a completely clean slate, one which would gladly welcome my rule and mine alone! Ahahahahah!" He laughed out loud maniacally.

To prove his point and that he wasn't crazy or saying empty words, he revealed a diagram which opened over his viewing screen momentarily, depicting the Earth itself, and then a diagram of the giant meteor now known as the Reaper, hurtling towards the Earth before exploding on contact with it, thus bathing the entire planet in a sea of flames which swept over the entire world! As it ended, everyone stared speechlessly or gasped in sheer utter horror upon realise what his intentions were and they were far darker or more horrendous than anything they imagined from him! Compared to what his past actions through the war and oppressing them through the years, this plan of his made each and every suffering they endured prior to this feel like a paper cut!

Everyone widened their eyes and their hearts skipped what seemed like a thousand beats upon this stunning revelation be brought forth to them. "What!? You mean you're actually bringing in that meteor to slam into the Earth!?" Lunensis exclaimed at the top of his lungs while others either gasped or stared with stunned speechlessness.

"Hehehe….that's exactly the plan." Goma chuckled darkly as everyone gasped or murmured in a panic.

"AH!"

"NO WAY!"

"That's insane!" The situation had grown increasingly more tense at this reveal, and seeing so much panic rising amongst them was deeply worrying to the D Team and the higher members of the Resistance.

"I did say that I needed a way to completely break your spirits and shatter all your hopes into dust." Goma calmly responded to them as he shrugged his shoulders and grinned at them most sadistically, "And from the look of things, it seems to already be working hehehehe…." He chuckled in amusement at the sight of their shocked, horrified and panicked expressions that were all over the faces of his enemies this very moment.

"GRR!" Others though turned exceedingly furious at his insane plot and exploded right at him.

"I knew you were mad Goma, but we never thought you'd actually take it this far!" Cera shouted out loud.

"Yeah! Don't you realise you're endangering all life on the planet as we know it!?" Max rebutted towards the shadow emperor, "If this is your final plan then it's either desperate or downright stupid! Perhaps even both!"

Lunensis narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth knowing a plan of this scale could easily devastate all life for centuries, life which they worked so hard to protect and risked their own lives and limbs for, "Are you so obsessed with winning the war and destroying us that you haven't even considered the fact you'd be destroying the very same planet you sought to conquer and endanger yourself in the process too!?" He yelled.

In response, Goma began to chuckle in amusement much to their increased unsettlement, "Hehehe, do take me for a fool? Do honestly think I'd do something without considering all possible consequences? I'm nothing like you humans." He shook his head at them pityingly as he placed his fingers and tapped them together, "Unlike you I'm always several moves ahead of you, which was why I decided to be generous enough and let you all know in advance." He replied calmly as an image of his base appeared on screen and was soon covered over by some sort of barrier depiction.

"My base is also equipped with a security forcefield that has more than enough power to shield anything surrounding it from any threat faced, which includes any kind of measly natural disaster your meals planet could throw at it as well as massive global extinction events, meteors included I assure you." He explained. As he did so, some of them began to narrow their eyes hard at him as they knew exactly where this was going, "Should you surrender your measly lives into my hands, I promise you all that you'll live to see a new day as well as the creation of a brand new perfect world from the ashes of this fallen one." He then blurted out in a joyous tone, "You all ought to be grateful I've decided to allow you all an hour to make your decision." Goma sang playfully at the end as if he took pleasure in dangling their only line of escape and also in them squirming helplessly in the palm of his hand.

The way he so causally threw his words around and even enjoyed crushing all their hopes in an instant continued to further anger them, truly his evil knew no bounds and he wasn't even finished yet. "Or if you'd like you can try and stop me like you always do," He then scoffed before grinning at them maniacally, "But know that the moment you do so, you all shall perish either before or with the Earth as you know it!" He screeched before shrugging out his shoulders uncaringly, "Frankly I couldn't care l less what you decide, because either way I've already won! Ahahahahah!" He cackled as he finished saying his piece, feeling triumphant over his impending victory and how good the sensation was to finally get that out of his systems and see how his enemies would respond in turn.

"Why you monster!" Cera growled as she shook a fist and gnashed her teeth with immense rage, as others began to cry or shudder in terror. It was clear his intentions were also to smash down their hopes and blind their eyes with fear and that was downright low.

"Just who do you think you are!?" Dr Z then let out an outburst he couldn't hold in anymore, "Who are you decide that you can waltz right onto our planet and take what you please then destroy the rest!?"

"After everything you've done do you think we'll sit idly by and let you get away with it!? You hear me!?" Captain Craig bellowed as he punched a fist right at him form where he stood.

"This isn't over! Not by a longshot!" Rod yelled next.

"We'll stop you no matter what it takes! I swear it on the name of the entire Resistance!" Lunensis vowed as various angered cries and responses echoed from the crowds.

Despite their defiant threats and responses, Goma shrugged them off as a dog's barking and no more as he laid back in his throne laxly, "Heh, perhaps you may say that, but let's see how it holds once time's up, and you'll wish you'd have surrendered while you had the chance." He smirked before looking over them one by one, "Of course, who's to say that some of you may think differently, hmm?" As he said so it caused some of the troopers and members of the resistance to tense up, as if he knew exactly what some of them were thinking deep down inside or puzzled by what he meant but knew nonetheless it wasn't anything good. "Anyways, feel free to think about it as long as you need to. Just know your entire future and existence depends on the choice you make today." He said rather playfully at the end before waving out at them, "I look forward to hearing your answer or more precisely your surrender 1 hour from now! Chow!" he smiled at the end before his call ended and the connection was severed much to the frustration of the D Team!

"Hey you get back here!"

"We're not finished with you yet!" Zoe and Max both yelled as his face vanished from the screen.

Rex and Dr Ancient quickly turned to Cera's father, "Lunensis!"

"Can you trace the call back to Goma!?" They both asked him a he nodded in acknowledgement and tried…..only to turn up with a big ERROR icon on screen as he let out a heavy disappointed sigh.

"Tch! No…he's severed all communication links with the Resistance base….I'm afraid establishing a call with him is impossible now…." he hissed through his teeth as Rex clicked his tongue in deep distraught.

"Great…."

"So then…what now?" asked Cretacia uneasily, "I mean….We can't just sit idly by and let that brat get away with this right?"

"Or worse surrender…." Dr Ancient said tensely as he clenched his hands tightly. Those words he uttered made several others inside the room angsty or angered at the very thought of it.

"Of course not!" Lunensis protested out loudly, "If we did then all the batter we fought, blood spilt and sacrifices we made till now would've been for nothing!" As he said so they began to murmur amongst themselves seeing he had a good point, though others felt rather worried about their chances and were starting to feel hopeless. The children looked around them uneasily knowing the situation was growing serious with the increased tension between differing opinions on how to approach this situation.

"I take it you have a plan then Lunensis?" Dr Taylor then asked the Resistance's leader who focused towards him, "What do you suggest then?" he asked both hopeful and serious as everyone else began to focus on him for direction.

He was a little nervous at first seeing how it appeared to be all on him to lead them out of this calamity, but at the same time he soon mustered up his courage knowing that as leader it was his duty and responsibility for times like this and thus embraced it wholeheartedly and calmly. "I'll do a scan on the meteor incoming towards us first…..then we'll work out how to proceed from there." He said uneasily as he began to type on his computer and do a complete examination of the massive space rock that was hurtling towards their planet right this very moment.

As he focused hard on it everyone looked on and waited with anticipation for the results, some had their hearts beating hard with anxiety for the results while others were trying their best to hold onto the hope that there was a way they could stop it from destroying their world, "Hopefully we can find some kind of weak spot on it, and by judging its size and trajectory maybe we can determine where it would strike the Earth and hopefully intercept it in time."

"Let's hope for the best then." Dr Owen then squeaked weakly as he and everyone else looked on and waited in anticipation for Lunensis' results.

He felt a bit pressured with everyone's eyes fixated on him the whole way as he triangulated the trajectory of the meteor but he did his best to stay focused all the way, "Let's see….the speed and acceleration, combined with the energy pull from the tractor beam…." As soon as he got the final readings his heart skipped a beat when he discovered the dreadful results from his calculations, "Oh my….."

At the sound of his worried tone, some of the members present felt their hearts sank or their hopes dashed.

"That…doesn't sound very good…." Max gulped nervously as his friends and the other children like Rod and Laura turned rather pale or weak.

Many were afraid to ask, some of them were already quaking with fear and pressure and didn't want to add anymore on top of that….but Cera, knowing it had to be important if her father was seeing it so seriously, mustered up her strength and courage to ask what seemed like a forbidden question, "Wh…What is it dad?"

Upon her question, everyone braced themselves internally as Lunensis let out a heavy sigh and began to reveal the dark secret he discovered, "Cera, are you aware of the asteroid which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs during the Cretaceous?" he asked her in a deep solemn tone.

Cera wasn't sure what he meant by asking her that but she nodded uneasily, "Y…Yes…the meteor which wiped the dinosaurs out years ago was 6 miles in diameter." She and some of the others present were beginning to feel suspicious of this meteor had any relation to that same space rock which carried the cosmos stones and ended the age of the dinosaurs.

"6 miles!? I can barely run 1 mile!" Ed cried in alarm as he scrunched up his face before earning a smash to his head by Ursula for saying something stupid.

WHAM!

"YOW!"

"Well….that was nothing….for the Reaper's Wrath…the meteor that's now heading towards us now….." Lunensis swallowed swallow hard as he revealed the tragic truth to everyone present, "Is 3 times as wide!"

If everyone wasn't panicked or alarmed before they had all the more reason now, "Say what!?"

"You're kidding!" Jonathan and Dr Drake both gasped while Helga and Mrs Drake's jaws dropped in horror.

"AAAAH!" Dr Owen and Patrick both cried out in a panic!

"No way! That means it's like 30 kilometres wide!" Dr Taylor then added, the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs before devastated the world for many years, but for a meteor of this scale it may as well wipe out life on the planet 3 times as long or even all eternity!

These were only a handful of the panicked murmurs which echoed amongst the members of he resistance gathered, even some like Craig or Blaze, who had the strongest spirit and wills of the team were beginning to fell the pressure get to them for the first time ever and that was in no way a good record in any book, as it began to spread like a disease to others and make them have their confidence undermined as fear was insight in its place.

"H…How much time do we have till it hits us?" Aki croaked as she began to sweat tensely and the others looked to Lunensis, who remained silent and almost frozen in place.

"….."

"Dad?" Cera asked her father cautiously, taking his silence to be something to worry about.

He swallowed hard as he forced out painful words form his throat once again, "Based on its trajectory and current speed, I'd say about an hour and a half….."

Upon his reveal the masses soon broke out into uncontrolled terror, "AH!"

"That short!?"

"We don't have enough time to evacuate! And even if we did there'll be nowhere else we can go!"

"It's the end of the world!"

"We're doomed!"

"WAAAAH!"

"This is terrible! The Reaper's Wrath is going to slam right into the planet!"

"I don't want to be extinct!" They all began cry in a panic as fear began to flood their minds and blind all their rational thinking and moral codes, only thing they could focus on was their impending doom from space.

The captains tried their best to keep their troops under control, but deep down even they were beginning to worry for their own survival too. The D team, their families along with their allies could only watch helplessly as even they didn't know how to address such a massive panicked mob…..They could understand they were scared, and even they were too, but deep down they knew they couldn't just surrender….yet they didn't know how to get through to the masses, it was a if they were forgetting what they fought for originally.

But soon, some of them began to think and even consider the unthinkable, "We should surrender while we have the chance!" One trooper then cried out having lost all reason or sense of morals.

"If we beg maybe he might take us in! It's out only chance now!"

"I'm all in for it!" His mindset was beginning to spread to a handful of other troopers almost like a virus was.

Soon heated arguments were beginning to break out amongst them to the discomfort of the Resistance's higher ups, "Excuse me!?"

"After all that slime ball did to our planet and to everyone else on the planet, you're thinking of siding with him!?"

"How could you say or even think of something that!?"

"Take that back!" Some of the more loyal or stronger hearted members retorted against those who were thinking of giving up or even surrendering, but it didn't appear they were getting through to their old comrades who shot back at them in retaliation.

"Forget it! It's every man for himself now!"

"Yeah! Let's just enjoy the time we have left then!"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Fighting soon began to ensue as some tackled others down and began punching them hoping to knock sense into them. It grew worse as some of the dinosaurs grew increasingly agitated and unnerved at the thought of facing extinction all over again! Some bellowed or roared in a panic, others tried to keep their comrades under control or in line only to end up fighting one another too.

As the D team and their loved ones looked on in horror they saw friends and families pitted against one another, consumed by fear so much they couldn't even remember what they were fighting for! At this rate they'd tear each other apart and the Resistance would be destroyed completely by in-fighting long before the meteor would strike! Laura was scared and hugged close to Rod who sheltered her from the madness while Helga came in to hug them both close. The D Team's parents looked on sadly or in anger at what was unfolding before them but held back, worrying about getting themselves hurt in the crossfire if they tried to break up or tame that riled up crowd. Most of all was the Alpha gang as they hugged one another and shuddered in terror seeing the dinosaurs were even begining to tear one another apart too in the ensuing chaos!

It soon gone on long enough as Max and the D Team soon realised that this was what Goma was aiming for from the start, to turn them against each other so they'd further divide or better yet destroy themselves! "That does it! We have to stop this now!" Max yelled. Gritting their teeth they summoned forth their dinosaurs who let out loud roars to get everyone's attention!

ROAR!

"Everyone! Calm down!" Max shouted angrily as the others looked to them in surprise and alarm as Chomp stomped his foot on the ground hard.

"Get a hold of yourselves! You're acting like we already lost!" Rex protested as he threw his arm out and Ace let out an angered snort.

"Don't you see this is exactly what Goma wants us to do!?" Zoe then yelled out towards them all while Paris let out a loud noise from her crest to keep the panicking dinosaurs under control as they focused on them..

"He's trying to make us panic and throw us into disarray! Make us surrender to us like there's no hope left, or for worse turn us against one another!" Max then explained.

"And it's happening right now! Look at us!" Rex followed after him.

Cera too began to see the light, at first she was worried and nearly had her fears take over her mind but thanks to her friends' words she woke up in time and now took a stand with them, "If we give up now then all our battles and sacrifices we made to this point would have been for nothing!" she shouted out next as she gritted her teeth and hissed painfully as a tear was squeezed out from her eye as past images of their turmoil and strife began to playback through her mind, "We'd be dishonouring those who gave up their lives to help protect this world and the people and dinosaurs who live on it!" she cried as she remembered her mother who was erased before her eyes, a haunting nightmare which scarred her through this day. After what she and others went through she refused to let their deaths be for nothing, no way could she allow it all to end in defeat.

Seeing her sniffle hard and appear almost like she was suffering inside, sympathising with her Max decided to finish for Cera, "That's why giving up is not and will never be an option!" He shouted at the end as Zoe and Rex also nodded with him too.

"Max…." His parents wept happily for their son seeing how much he was growing up and maturing as an adult.

"It's like I'm looking at a man and not our son anymore dear." Dr Ancient commented to Cretacia who nodded, seeing their boy could grow up to be a great leader in the future when ushering a new age for people and dinosaurs to live together.

"Mhmm."

"My little girl's all grown up…." Dr Drake sniffled heavily as his wife smiled and gave him a hankie to blow his nose into as he nuzzled closer to her and she hugged him in, shedding a few tears herself feeling deeply moved by the children taking charge as future leaders.

"Cera…." Lunensis sniffled proudly to see her speak up almost like that of a world leader. She did so better than he could think of, and in his heart he just knew his wife Maia wouldn't be more proud of their daughter if she saw her now. In his heart he felt with upmost confidence he could not only entrust the resistance into her hands one day….but perhaps the entire future of the world too.

Hearing what the D Team children said out loud and with such confidence, the Alpha gang felt most guilty and embarassed of themselves deep inside, for being adults the children easily showed them up in more ways than they could count, and were able to find heart and the resolve to keep fighting inside them when even they were on the verge of quitting too. Rod, Laura and even Seth felt moved and inspired by their combined words conveyed to the masses, as many of the troopers along with the captains and dinosaurs were beginning to reclaim their old senses and beliefs which they almost threw away, a they looked to each other feeling ashamed of their earlier behaviour.

Unfortunately, a few remaining individuals were much harder to convince as they suddenly shouted back at them.

"Then what do you propose we do then!?"

"Yeah! Tell us!" These first few retorts not only caught the D Team off guard, that they'd go back to protesting so quickly, but it would soon grow into arguments that they have no answer to.

"We've got no time, almost no resources left after our recent attack and no way to escape in time, yet you refuse to allow us the only option that may give us a slim chance of survival without anymore needless loss."

"And you suggest we keep fighting against the only one who can save us!?"

"What can we do in this hopeless situation!?" Some of them began to protest again as Max and the others grew rather unsteady and insecure on how to respond.

"I…I…."

"Well…we could-" No matter how hard they tried they just couldn't find the right words to use, and without a plan all they said would be no more than a pipe dream or delusion.

Right before the troopers could begin to riot once more, Cera closed her eyes and thought calmly, processing everything that they all said and acted just now, before finally coming to a conclusion that would be able to answer everyone's concerns once and for all. Walking up to the stage she held out her amor to her fiends who eyed her curiously as to what she was doing, "I think I understand now." she then said to them before nodding, hinting she knew just who to handle the people now.

Stepping forth onto the stage the masses all fixated their attention on her, "Everyone, I know how you all feel." she said to them all in a stoic and firm tone as all eye gathered on her. She looked to each and every one of them, "You're scared, worried we can't win, afraid of letting others down after so many long hears of fighting and bloodshed." She stated understandingly for even she felt it herself too, "I know it may seem hopeless now but don't forget, we've all faced threats like these before time and time again." She then closed her eyes and thought back how cycles of destruction and war were eventually followed by peace. Like opposite sides of the same coin they eventually must balance each other out, the strife and suffering gives people willpower to grow and fight against it thus bringing peace once more, and this…overall wasn't any different if one were to look hard enough at it.

"I've seen it first hand many times before. No matter how hard we try there will always be times of darkness no matter how hard we try and prevent them it's inevitable." She said in a rather sad tone, but soon turned serious again, "But that doesn't mean we quit, in the end, there's always hope." She then began to reveal to them something that she saw in Goma during their last encounter on the battlefield, "He may not have shown it but Goma was scared that time." The people then looked at her questionably but she began to explain, "He knew he couldn't beat our united power, which was why he backed off before." She explained, "And I just know Goma would never have exerted this much effort if he didn't feel threatened! It's a no brainer why he would want to cause us to panic and give up, making us lose trust in one another that we can win, when all along it's he reason we've been abel to win battle after battle and last this long in the war!"

The groups soon began to murmur amongst one another seeing she did have a point and logic to her words. There couldn't be any other reason for him to resort to something so drastic since they resisted him for so long, it's because they forced his hand for he believed they were a threat to his ambitions.

"I know you all think it's too much to handle and at times you'd wish you could walk away from it all and not look back. Believe me I've felt like giving up many times before." she admitted with a heavy sigh before being them all seriously, "But know this, there's no one else who can do but us." She said to them, her words piercing into their hearts like hard daggers as they began to slowly realise the reality of the situation, that it wasn't just about them but also for the people around the world too, the families and friends they fought so hard to protect, to give up would be to turn their backs on them after so many long years of fighting. It would render their efforts completely meaningless, "If we give up then not only do we dishonour all who gave their lives so we could live, but also letting down everyone else who have their hopes all pinned on us! We can't let them down after helping them have hope again after so long!" She shouted out loud at them before lowering her he'd down and her hands tensing up and shaking.

"If we fail everything would be swallowed up by the darkness." She said heavily as her mind shuddered at the thought of a future swallowed in shadow and all under the rule of the maniacal madman Goma. "And a future where those villains rule, one filled with darkness without a shred of light or hope, isn't one worth living in. I know you're all scared and I admit even I am too." She continued as the others listened to her intently, "But I know we can face this threat together, because we're altogether and I know we'll stick with one another through thick and thin to the end of ages." She proclaimed before punching her arm out to the sky with energy and confidence, "So what do you say? Are you all with me….with us? Together?"

"Cera…." Her friends felt deeply moved by her all inspiring words of encouragement and soon began to smile and eagerly run to her.

"You bet!"

"You never had to ask in the first place!" They each said to her as they fist bumped her together, their initiation started a series in a chain of good hope which spread from one trooper to the other, flushing away most of their doubts and worries out of their minds and hearts.

"I feel so fired up I could take on an army of those slimy gel jarks with my own bare hands!"

"For the people and dinosaurs of this world, yesterday, today and tomorrow!"

"We will do whatever it takes!"

"Fine…let's be heroes then…."

"Guess if we're going out better to do so in a bang rather than in a whimper." They all began to speak to one another in a more positive light much to the relief and joy of the D Team to see they had their support and managed to unite them altogether.

Hearing footsteps next to them, they saw Lunensis stand before them as they gave him their attention as well as their dinosaurs, "Cera…Max….Rex…and Zoe…." He said looking to them each and then to their partners, "You have all shown exceptional courage and heart no matter how dark the night gets. Always holding onto the hope of day arriving, it truly is an inspiration that shall echo for generations to come." He said to them with upmost humility and gratitude before them, "It is an honour to have you amongst us and to fight alongside you, whom shall no doubt be the ones to usher in a brand new age for us all." He said at the end with a light bow as others too began to cheer and applaud for their leader giving his respects to the heroes of their time and for the future too.

"Dad…" Cera breathed feeling touched by his genuine sincere words before nodding in acknowledgement of his support, "Thank you very much."

"And we promise you that your faith won't be misplaced." Rex stated after her.

"I know that, and I have no doubt that we shall prevail, to just because you're here but because we all are." He said smiling with full reassurance in their victory.

"Yeah." Max nodded.

Everyone was treating in their great moment, till Seth turned serious and had to speak his concerns, "But even so, without a plan of attack, the good that speech is." He said with as much respect as he could.

The others soon quieted down upon hearing the reality of the situation, "Yeah, how do we proceed about this under these dire circumstances?" Dr Ancient then asked curiously, "It'll be difficult coming up with a careful and calculated strategy with such limited time." He then mused putting a finger to his chin in serious thought.

"Mhmm." Cera nodded as she began to look back on Goma's past actions and his behavioural traits as well as his strategies thus far, "Way I see it, after all our battles till this point Goma treats everything like a game, however he leaves nothing to chance and at the same time preferring to be several steps ahead of his enemies." She said folding her arms in serious careful thought, "Preferring to control very possible event and outcome, and to do so he stacks everything in his favour to make it seem we have no hope but to go about the plan he decided for us."

Everyone else narrowed their eyes or frowned hard knowing that despite being younger than the other pirates, Goma's intellect and knack for strategy surpassed each and everyone of them. He was no doubt going to be a difficult opponent to catch by surprise or overcome in battle if he knew all their moves and weaknesses on top of that.

As it appeared they were all at a loss on how to approach this situation, Cera soon thought up an idea, both daring and risky but just may have the slightest chance of success they would need, "I may have an idea on what we can do." She said as they looked to her in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You do Cera?" Asked Raina and Dr Ancient with interest and curiosity.

In response to their questions as she nodded confidently and began to explain what she had in mind, "We'll catch him by surprise and attack him at where he believes he has himself completely secure and fortified." She pressed a few buttons on the keyboard as the image zoomed on her intended attack target, "Right at his very command center."

Her statement came as a huge shock too the resistance and even to her friends as well, "What!?" They all gasped.

"You're suggesting we launch an attack right at his base of operations!?" Blaze widened his eyes seeing this to be a most daring idea, even more than he had ever seen in his life.

"Are you out of your mind!?" Dr Z exclaimed.

She took their bewildered responses as completely natural, and luckily for both hem and her she had a reasonable explanation for it, "It's something he won't see coming, plus he'll believe we're doing so out of desperation, so he'll be more than likely to underestimate us and thus make a mistake somewhere." She stated as the others began to see logic in her words. After that she brought the image of his fortress closer on the display screen which depicted and outline of his base's shield radius. "Knowing him he's likely to try and use his force shield to keep himself safe as well as keep us out. So need only get a handful of us through so we can attack in 3 possible approaches." She continued as 3 beacons on the display demonstrated said infiltration as they moved through the shield's closing.

Everyone listened closely to what she said as she began to unravel her step by step attack strategy for saving the Earth, "First, we can aim for his tractor beam." She stated as the image of his fortress' satellite was brought closer to view, "Destroy that or better yet recalibrate it and we can maybe send the meteor away from Earth rather than have it crash into us." She said which made the groups murmur amongst one another in surprise of such an ingenious idea and that it was coming from someone so young.

"Hey that's actually a pretty smart idea." Zoe breathed.

"Of course! I mean I would have gotten there eventually…." Dr Z spat in disgust.

"Wow go figure, who knew she had it in her…" Rod whistled, he knew she was good before but this was something else.

"That's my daughter for you," Lunensis smiled proudly of her after hearing everyone complimenting her in awe as well as smiling brightly at her excellent plan, "Always thinking in the big picture and in the long term." he couldn't help but hold his head up with pride a little as some of the others eyed him with mild envy over having a daughter as smart and beautiful as she was.

Casting that aside, Dr Ancient then asked Cera curiously, "So what's the second option?"

She then looked to him, "We go for the shield generator." She said as an image of Goma's forcefield covering his fortress was brought on screen, "This forcefield must be powered by a generator inside." She explained, "Once we get inside, if we can find and destroy it, Goma will realise he and everything he values too would be in danger of being wiped out by the Reaper's Wrath with the rest of us. Knowing that he'll have no choice but to give into our demands and send the meteor away himself." She said as she switched off the diagram, "Way I see it, it's best that whoever manages to get inside the fortress, we'll best split up and aim for both largest simultaneously so he'd have to divide up his forces giving us an even 50-50 chance of success." She thought to herself out loud while folding her arms in thought after considering the chances that their enemies may anticipate this.

The others couldn't help but widen their eyes or breathe in even more amazement at her plan, "Wow…"

"Ingenius…"

"Brilliant deduction." Rod, Dr Owen and Jonathan each breathed.

"I always knew she was great at strategy but this is incredible." Reese mused.

"And in the event something goes wrong, at least we'll take him down with us and end his that to the universe once and for all." She then added at the end as some of them nodded in agreement.

"Mhmm…." Inside they felt firm and ready too, if they couldn't win then they'd make sure that he lost with them too, any result that required them to sacrifice was acceptable and far more preferable compared to Goma living another day to bring destruction to another world.

There was still one more thing to address, "And…you said there were 3 approaches." Cretacia then spoke up curiously, "What's the last plan you had in mind?"

"It may be our most important one of all." She answered Cretacia as she eyed her, Dr Ancient, along with a few others including Seth rather intently, giving them the hint that this final bit would require their skills and talents, "Some of us will have to remain behind to not only monitor the situation on the meteor, but hopefully find a way to discover some kind of blindspot or weakness we can use take it down." She said as the image of the stone tablet was brought up on screen for them to see, "We know the stone plates were powerful against the cosmos stones once, which came in the meteor which wiped out the dinosaurs. So there's no reason why they can't be used to do so again."

What she said next helped filled the D Team with hope once more.

"Hey that actually did work before!" Max pointed out with a bright smile.

"Of course! We had the solution with us the whole time!" Rex gasped in disbelief that he didn't see it earlier.

The scientific minds of the Resistance soon gathered together and nodded firmly at Cera's idea, "We'll put everything we have into tapping into the stone tablet's power, hopefully using it for some kind of super weapon we can use to destroy the Reaper's Wrath." said Raina.

"And not just that, we've got 2 other backup plans that are sure to work in case we can't in time!" Max cried out pumping his arm in excitement.

"Maybe we can do this after all!" Zoe then smiled as she clapped her hands together.

"Not maybe, we will do this!" Rex corrected her.

Cera then smiled seeing there was hope being restored in her friends and comrades, and seeing this helped her feel much more confident in herself too as a leader, "Time is running out for us all and we face our darkest hour." She then continued seriously taking charge as everyone listened. She then smiled with confidence and pumped up an arm, "But we can do this! I know we can! I believe in all of us united this world and everyone on the planet will have a chance to see a new age!" She said, "We've met every challenge before head on fearlessly, without hesitation and because of that we prevailed or endured through it which made us stronger the next time! If we can overcome the end of the world by the cosmos stones once then we can do it again this time around!" She declared with full assurance as everyone began to applaud and cheer supporting her, most of all being her closest friends who were moved by her words and felt they spirits set on fire after what she made clear to them.

"We're with you all the way to the end! You can count on it!" Max then smiled at her, putting his full confidence in her idea. It didn't take long for the rest of the D Team's allies to vouch for her plan as well considering they had nothing more to lose at this point and it all rested on this one plan which offered them even the slightest chance at victory.

Feeling more assured of herself than ever, Cera then proclaimed out to the masses and punched out her arm, "Let's do this! For the dinosaurs and people our future!"

"YEAH!"

"We're with you all the way!"

"To the end!" Her allies all cheered with her in response before roars of applause, praising and clapping echoed from the crowds.

"Heh, all my life I didn't do anything worth doing till now." Dr Z then chuckled in amassment before punching up his arms with excitement, "Now's the time to have the title of world saviour added to being dinosaur king of the world! Hahahaha!" He laughed out loud joyously with energy as the trio sighed and sweat dropped at his childish enthusiasm.

"Ugh….If Dr Z can remain positive even in times of doom maybe there might be hope for us all." Ursula commented with a warm smile.

"Or that we're doomed…." Zander uttered at the end believing that fall always comes after pride.

"That too." Ed then muttered though hoping he didn't jinx it.

Cera then looked over to her most irreplaceable friends of all right after all this was settled, "Thank you guys," she said with to them humbly, "I don't think my father and I would've been able to rally everyone together and unite them all with a sense of hope without you. We really are in your debt for this." She said gratefully to them as they smiled back at her.

"Don't mention it Cera." Max grinned as he waved his hand playfully at her and rested his head in his hands laxly.

Yeah, if it wasn't for your help we never would have mad with this far in the first place." Zoe smiled at her.

"That's even before we made it here to your time," Rex continued, "Without you we may never have been able to pull through many of the other challenges we faced in our time and in the ancient past too."

"Now it's our turn to return the favour and save your world." said Zoe as she reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"And we will do it together." Said Max as they all came together as a unified group before nodding together feeling confident that their bonds with one another and the dinosaurs, as well as their hopes for the future of the world will help see their victory through.

Their parents looked on with proud smiles to see their children growing up

"Lunensis."

He blinked his eyes looking to Max's father, "Yes Dr Taylor?"

He placed a hand on the Commander's shoulder with a smile of support, "You've raised a fantastic daughter, one we all couldn't be more proud of." he said praising him before grinning cheekily, "When this is over, and it will end in the world being saved."

"You'd better let us see, with our own eyes, the new dinosaur utopia you'll rebuild with your hands." Dr Ancient then spoke with keen interest to see how the future was like during its golden age.

"One we can all be proud of." Mrs Drake nodded after him.

"Pretty please?" Her husband along with Spike and Dr Owen both pleaded with sparkling eyes.

In response Lunensis couldn't help but snicker in amusement as the answer to that was wall too obvious, "Heheh, when the war is finally over and we see a bright new day ahead of us, I'll definitely make it so." He said giving them his word as he held out his hand to them.

"It's a done deal then!" Dr Tayor grinned as he and Lunensis did a firm handshake with one another thus cementing their friendship and the deal.

 **(Later)**

Deep inside the citadel, Goma sat upon his throne inside a room where he was resting calmly in his seat, meditating as if he was collecting his focus and readying himself for whatever will come his way. He opened his eyes and smirked, as the deadline had finally arrived and no matter which choice they'd make he'd win either way. As he brought up the screens depicting the outside perimeter around his fortress, he saw no movement or any signs of life for miles as the cold wind blew across the Antarctic wasteland. He then grinned, believing that they were too cowardly to face him, which was even better for him, as he could now enjoy carrying out his plans without any further interference. "Time's up Resistance, if you don't show up right this instant I'll have no choice but to-"

Before he could finish, a ground bridge portal suddenly opened up on screen which caught his attention. He then smiled as he began to take this as a good sign, "Heh, it seems you've all come to your senses and decided to make the smart decision to surrender." He believed as the image of 1 Mesozoic mobile began to materialise from it, which he assumed was one coming to try and negotiate with him. Whether they's surrender or try to reason with him, in the end there was only one outcome, and that he wins in the end, it couldn't be anything else other than that.

His hopes however were set too high, to his surprise more portals also began to open across the frozen tundra. Appearing out of them was like a battalion of Resistance mobiles as they began shooting out of the portals, and behind them were herds of bellowing dinosaurs! They amassed together in their hundreds or maybe even thousands as the people as well as their dinosaurs were raring to go, growls and roars of agitation and anger were aimed right at the fortress, and through his camera screen, Goma could see clearly that their hostility was aimed right at him. At the front, spearheading this attack, was the D Tema, with Max, Rex and Zoe being seen inside their buggies along with Cera, and they all were aiming their looks of determination to finish this once and for all. Behind them was Dr Z in his own customised Alpha buggy which was a maroon jeep with a dinosaur's hood ornament, along with the trio behind him and a handful of the Squad captains at their sides which included Kaze, Craig and Blaze.

At the right of this formidable front, Goma soon scowled as he could see clearly that the Resistance was far from surrendering, in fact, it appeared as though they were going to bet everything on one final gambit. "Hmph! I suppose I was just kidding myself if I believed they'd actually give up without a fight." He sighed shaking his head in disapproval, wondering as to why things couldn't just proceed as he wanted for once, was it too much to ask? Then again after years of battles behind them it would be nonsensical to think that the resistance would actually end things so easily between them, it was clear they'd choose to die fighting a hopeless battle than surrender in a heartbeat. "Predictable and defiant to the end….." Goma then sighed as he finally began to see no place for the humans in his new world order, if he had realised this sooner perhaps he could have saved himself the time, effort and trouble by going through with his plans instead of threatening them in advance.

He soon smiled as he recollected himself, despite giving up on them he admired is their spirit or perhaps stupidity for wanting to go through with this….but it can only go so far. He tapped his fingers together, as a certain vile plot began to brew dee inside his twisted mind, he grinned maliciously to himself as he began to entertain such thoughts to himself and prepared to enact them without hesitation, "They'll soon regret turning down my generous offer, and I'll make sure their last moments before they leave this world are those filled with pain and agony, along with regret at their pitiful failure at being unable to do anything about it." He snickered to himself as he was fully prepared to show the humans that it was futile for them to resist against him, like how they were helpless against a natural disaster like an earthquake or tornado, any decision by mother nature to eliminate them was inevitable.

He saw himself just the same or perhaps even more so, with the power he wielded in his fingertips, he now considered himself a deity, and it was high time he put them in their place and made them come to grips about their current situation and that this is no game they can win. His only regret for going through with this decision was that he hated to waste or break a life if it could be spent in eternal servitude to him, although in life it's inevitable that it'd be impossible for everything to go the way as one pleases….though at least he'll have the satisfaction of crushing all opposition before him with his mighty hand and then emerge victorious at the end.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Down on the Antarctic tundra, the Resistance had gathered every available trooper and dinosaur who were still in fighting condition after their recent skirmish back at their base. They suffered much after having their base and troops attacked, but now they intended to even the score and give Goma a taste of his own medicine. Now they planned to go on the attack this time, no more defending or beating each threat as it comes. With the shadow empire finally having revealed themselves and played their trump card, it was time they pulled out all the stops this time around. With no do overs left this time around, they were prepared to launch a full scale assault upon the shadow empire's final and most dangerous stronghold of all, with so much stacked against them this was a battle they had to win no matter the cost.

"We've arrived at our destination….the heart of evil….." Cera narrow her eyes as the mist and snow began to lessen till the winds died down, revealing the massive dark fortress of the shadow empire lying right there before them.

"There it is." Said Rex as he and the others hardened themselves for the battle which lay waiting for them there. Just the sight of it and the beam fired from it into the sky where the Reaper's Wrath was coming in from was getting them riled up and the dinosaurs grunting with agitation and anxiety with the danger coming from space once again. Several of them were suffering from past trauma having bore witnessed that horrific event which doomed their species long ago, and while some of them were on the verge of panicking, thankfully they either had their human partners to comfort them or other saurian comrades who had faith that the outcome will be different that last time which helped keep them from getting out of control or going wild.

Some of the troopers still were afraid or worried whether they could pull it off, but after some inspiration from the D Team, they knew that they had to at least try for everyone's sakes and they had a reason why they couldn't give up now after coming this far. As some of them looked up at the beam emanating from the fortress' tower, they could tell the Reaper's Wrath was coming closer every second, the final battle lay ahead just beyond that citadel and they had to make this one count. Just like the last time the D Team and Alpha gang could tell there weren't anymore second chances after this with such high stakes on the line, it was finally time to finish this once and for all.

A while passed and the tension peaked as everyone else stood silently, knowing this was it at long last, the moment they waited for when they could put an end to the war once and for all. "Well what are we waiting for team!?" Dr Z suddenly interrupted rather impatiently, though also with a hint of panic in his voice seeing no one was moving or doing anything but stare. "Let's smash that place to pieces and then blow that meteor to even tinier pieces after!" He then declared as he pointed out ahead.

"For once Dr Z's got the right idea!" Max replied seeing it was that simple and no need for strategy or contemplating anymore, the time to take action was now.

Cera then nodded with them both, "I agree, the sooner we do that the sooner we can save our world and take down Goma one and for all."

"Mhmm!"

"Yeah!" Everyone else began to agree in unison, or preparing to get this over with and waste no more time talking since they waited for this moment to make the Shadow emperor pay and save their world from extinction.

Max then revved his engines as roars began to echo from the others' mesozoic mobiles, "Great then it's settled! Let's-"

Suddenly before they could move, a holographic projection suddenly shot out before them from the citadel ahead which caught them all by surprise! "AH!"

"What the!?"

As it fully materialised, it projected none other than the Emperor himself as he sat comfortably in his throne, with one leg over the other as he looked down upon them like insects from where he sat.

Mixed feelings of shock and anger arose amongst the resistance as they laid eyes on him, "It's him!"

"Goma!"

"Grr…." Those who remained behind to watch, which concluded the D Team's parents and Lunensis, looked on with hard expressions and worry knowing it was finally time for the final battle to begin.

As he looked down upon them all he then smirked at them, "It seems you've all made your decision." He then shrugged his shoulders, "Can't say I approve of it but I suppose it's to be expected of humans." He said as he shook his head with disapproval, "Always defiant to the end I see, never willing to or perhaps even completely incapable of learning from their mistakes accepting the inevitable." He sighing pityingly at them, which a,de them arrow their eyes or glare at him for his belittling of humanity, "It's no wonder this planet is already on a crash course towards extinction." He stated blatantly, rubbing the truth in their faces believing that why he was doing for them would be salvation from their own self inflicted calamities like war, overpopulation and pollution. He saw himself as their saving grace and yet they harshly rejected him, he was beginning to wonder why he even tried.

"Perhaps it was silly of me to think there'd be any hope or promise in humanity in the first place." He continued, knowing that even if some did accept him as their new ruler, it was inevitable that their inborn human nature would drive them to rebel against him sooner or later. After all, freedom is something that humans would never relinquish or surrender to anyone else, and they'd fight defiantly to the end to protect it, unwilling to accept anything as above them nor wanting to be controlled. As far as he knows every one of them would die fighting him long before they completely subjected to his will, he then sighed to himself find such a waste for them to throw away all their worth and high hopes he had for them just like that.

Having had enough with his careless and heartless comments, especially after everything he put them and the dinosaurs through for what seems like forever, Cera then exploded furiously having lost all restraint in herself, "Like we care about what you think of us you monster!" She screamed at the top of her lungs before pointing out at him, "The last thing we'll ever do is surrender, you're out of your mind if you think we'd just give up without a fight! Especially after everything you put us, the dinosaurs and this whole planet through! We'll never let you get away with it as long as we still live and breathe." Even if he escaped off Earth, she vowed that as long as they lived they'd chase him through the stars for all eternity until his threat was ended once and for all.

"If we surrendered now then all the sacrifices and battles we fought till this point would have been meaningless from the start! And we won't let that happen!" Rex then yelled feeling his spirit and sense of justice triggered, as they all could feel one another's emotions resonating together as if they were united in a single thought and mindset, and that was to both protect their world and bring Goma and his empire down for good.

"Plus if we had to choose between going extinct or sell our future and ourselves into slavery, we'd choose extinction over you in a heartbeat!" Zoe then shouted.

"And if there's one thing we know about the future, it's that it's never set in stone nor are there any absolutes! There's always hope for change!" Max vowed with full belief that humans still have a chance to take charge of their own future as he pointed out at Goma, "We decide our own fate! We'll never let some monster like you control us! Ever!" He swore before clenching his hand into a tight tense fist as he recalled everything he had done to this planet an countless innocents in his pursuit of power like any mad tyrant, "You've enslaved dinosaurs and used them to bring this world and its people to ruin, we won't let you do that to another world ever again!"

"We'll fight with every ounce of strength and to our last breath to make you pay, if it's the last thing we ever do!" Cera then shouted out after him with fierce resolve, "Today on this day, regardless of the outcome, that all ends once and for all!"

"YEAH!" Everyone else then shouted curses or hurled insults or words of boldness toward Goma showing they were not afraid, which was reflected in the many dinosaurs gathered around them which taped on the ground or roared out in fury towards the evil zanjark who invaded and devastated their home, and was about to bring forth a meteor bigger than the one which wiped them out in the first place, no way would they let that happen again.

Goma soon scowled hard in response to their defiance and determination within their spirits, as well as their bitter hatred an spite towards him, knowing that they'd never stop until they would make him answer for what he did….even if it was impossible that they could ever do such a thing. "Is that your best answer?" He muttered before scoffing, "Hmph, such a shame, such spirit is foolish but I also must admit is quite admirable in the face of overwhelming odds. It could have had a future in the world…no…the universe which I would soon shape with my own 2 hands." he smiled before shrugging his shoulders, "A pity none of you would be alive to see it, though I will at least grant you the chance to see me usher in its new beginning."

He knew it would have been a glorious new age and that once they got a taste of it, they'd be begging to live in his world or better yet serve him faithfully to their last dying breath. How much easier it would have been if they just relinquished their freedom instead of putting on such a hopeless struggle which would waste what little remaining time they had, which they could have been using to prepare some kind of speech of surrender, and his own. His casual uncaring attitude towards them only served to further ignite the flames of hatred they harboured towards him as they growled and snarled at him, readying themselves to take him down no matte the cost.

Seeing just how raring they were to go, Goma so no more reason to hold anything back against them and decided to entertain their amusing thoughts of rebellion and justice, "But so be it then, in honour of your spirit and to show my appreciation, I shall allow you this 1 chance to prove it, not that it would do you any good since your cause is already lost!" He declared, "In fact your fates had always been sealed the moment the Zanjark came to this world! Prepare to go extinct like the dinosaurs you all so treasured and loved!" He announced holding his arms widely, urging them to try and make him pay, "Come! I welcome you to in! All you shall find is your complete destruction and humiliating failure! Soon you will all writhe in your graves as I remake your pitiful world in my glorious dark image! Ahahahahaha!" His demonic laughter echoed through across the Antarctic tundra as his hologram disappeared at last.

As it did, a large number of dark shadows began to appear out of the freezing snowy winds, and the Resistance could see a massive army of Gel jarks had risen out from the snow, beeping ominously as they were ready to take arms with the resistance and defend both their ruthless master and their base! They weren't the only line of defence Goma had set for them, a large number of turrets and cannons with the Spectral markings on them, began to sprout out from the snow or reveal themselves around boulders or within the mountainsides as they also turned and aimed right at the Resistance much to their alarm!

"AH!"

They all widened their eyes at the sight of all that was set against them, a massive legion of enemies marching out against them on the battlefield already outnumbering them by the thousands! And already the citadel's tower was glowing as it prepared to charge up its force shield which could close down at anytime thus closing their brief window of opportunity which they had out.

Many of them were hesitant or agitated at the sight of such resistance set up, some troopers believed they were likely to meet their ends on this cold life forsaken wasteland, at the hands of the gel jarks and turrets long before the meteor would strike.

"Urgh….I'm starting to regret coming out here…."

"We're gonna die…."

"That's a lot of enemies…." Marina thought to herself anxiously, usually she had a knack for staying calm and dating to the flow of battle, but this situation was like a huge dam against a small river in which the only way was to go over and it wasn't going to be easy in the slightest.

"Tch! I already don't like our chances of winning….scratch that our survival…." Kaze hissed gritting his teeth as a bead of her sweat fell from his cheek.

Others already were giving into their fears and were starting to crack completely under pressure, "EEP!"

"Those look like they could punch a hole right into a tank!"

"Imagine what it'd do to us!" The Alpha gang all cried out shuddering in sheer terror, hugging themselves and wanting their bodies to stay perfectly intact.

While some were already giving into fear or insecurity, others though were more riled up and angered to see so much set against them yet they weren't about to waver for they came this far and weren't willing to turn back empty handed or without a fight at least.

"Tch! Looks like Goma's finally bringing out the big guns, and I mean literally!" Max grunted feeling rather angsty as they saw that they were up against. It was clear Goma didn't want them anywhere near his ultimate weapon and he was now throwing everything he had at them right this moment! Thinking about it, he and the others could see that Goma indeed was getting desperate or felt deeply threatened to organise such a massive battalion, so perhaps they may have some hope after all.

Seeing some of the other troopers were beginning to grow anxious or insecure, Cera quickly shouted out to them, "Don't falter now everyone!" she cried, "We've come too far to give up now! Everyone's counting on us and we can't let them down!" She said in an effort to keep them from panicking or giving into fear at their darkest hour.

"Cera is right!" Craig soon bellowed out to motivate his troopers to not lose heart yet, "Everything we fought through was for this very moment! We all dreamed of this for a long time now, and we finally have that chance, so let's not blow it!"

As he said that everyone began to grow louder and more ready for battle than ever, much to the pleasure of the D Team to see that they had most of their support now.

As soon as that was over with, Cera narrowed her eyes and looked straight ahead without hesitation or faltering. Closing her eyes and reflecting on all their past sufferings, including the loss of her comrades and her own mother over the years….the battles they went through and now to this moment it was finally time to see this through at long last. "This is for everyone! For our loved ones, the dinosaurs, the world and our future!" She declared before driving ahead and taking the lead!

"YEAAAAH!" They all shouted in unison as they drove forth into battle and the field rumbled and quaked with the revving of tyres, engines and the thundering footsteps and roars of many dinosaurs with them!

In response the turrets took aim and began firing purple energy blasts from their cannons, while the gel jarks all rushed at them almost like a single entity towards them! "Here they all come!" Kaze cried out warning the troops behind them.

"Let em have it!" Blaze punched forward, "Give them everything we've got!"

"Charge!" Craig then yelled rallying the group together! Courageously, the Resistance rushed head first into battle, braving everything the shadow empire had stacked against them! In an instant, explosions, destruction and chaos erupted all across the artic tundra as vicious battles raged, turning the frozen landscape into a battlefield!

BOOM!

SMASH!

As turrets operated by gel jarks began to fire off repeatedly, blasting several mobiles into scrap or overturning them in the explosion, as well as blasting holes in the ground to make them topple over or crash into others, some were lucky to be able to evade them, others who were more daring were willing to ram their buggies right into the turrets and destroy them on the spot! The white snowy field soon began to be covered tis the stains of pink slime, burning scrap, motor oil or even the instance of red blood from injuries too….

In response dinosaurs began firing off moves like fire cannon, hydro cutter, spike arrows or egg attack in order to destroy the incoming cannons or block projectiles! Some of them like ceratopsians charged head first and rammed through the cannons, others like sauropods and ankylosaurs smashed down on them with their front legs or flung them with their tails! Larger theropods grabbed hold of and ripped them clean off their supports and tossed them away into other enemy defences or gel jarks, others decided to melt them down into slag with burst of flames! Smaller dinosaurs like leallynasaura or liliensternus were able to outmanoeuvre the turret blasts after timing them right and even got clever and jumped in between them so they'd fire at and blow one another up!

Some blasts hit their mark, sending some dinosaurs flying and reverting them to their cards! Thankful some dinosaurs had such courage and loyalty for their comrades they were willing to take the hit for others less able to defend themselves, the larger bulkier stegosaurs or ceratopsians used themselves as shields, tanking the hits allowing some wounded comrades to escape or make a counterattack from the sides! Despite the losses they suffered, the resistance was making pretty good progress as they managed to cover a lot more ground ploughing through the enemy defences and even run through some of the enemy gel jarks that were unwise to stand in their way!

"Oh yeah! Now we're talking!" Max cheered excitedly, feeling his blood pumping really well in the heat of this epic battle. It was like he was living an actual VR video game experience only real life! As dreadful as this war was seeing so many get hurt around them, Max and the D Team still did their best to focus on what was ahead of them and not let either their excitement or their worries overtake their thoughts completely, but kept a firm balance in between both emotions.

It seemed going well for most, though there were instances of battle cries or cries of pain echoing around the field! "WAAAH!" Those who got blown out of their vehicles and got injured with heavy bleeding or broken limbs, often cried out for help to others to save them, while a handful of them knew what was more important and urged others to continue on without them as their comrades reluctantly pressed on.

"Don't falter! We can do this!" Blaze shouted to the remaining others with him, as he sent out Gorgon and Daigo to help protect some fallen troopers on the ground from any incoming gel jarks as they either stomped down on or smacked them away with their heads or tails!

While Balze was encouraging, others though were far more strict and merciless on the topic of motivation, "Buck up soldier! This is no place to die!" Craig yelled out aggressively to one of his soldiers, who didn't want to disgrace the name of the resistance by falling here as he gritted his teeth and pressed himself up before continuing the rest of the way on foot alongside his iguanodon who was kind enough o help him up on his back.

At the head of this, Cera and the D Team spearheaded the attack as they went in full speed ahead, running down enemy gel jarks and evading their blasts best they could while keeping their dinosaurs in reserve, considering them for the inside of the citadel knowing that they'd need their dinosaurs at full strength for whatever was lying in wait inside.

"Hahaha! This is like a really fun game of bowling!" Max laughed as he found it rather amusing to smack out many jarks in his way or that they were terrified and jumped out of his path as he and the others drove on through their ranks!

"Let's just hope your driving isn't as reckless when you take a real driver's test back home Max…." Zoe muttered in disappointment towards him through the monitors.

"Heheh, come on guys just who do you think I am?" He snickered in amusement rubbing his nose which earned a couple of questionable looks from his 3 friends.

"Do we even want to answer?" They all muttered at him which made him face fault at their lack of faith in him,

As the D Team and Cera courageously drove through the enemy frontlines, finally breaching through them, Captain Blaze and Kaze followed in behind them bravely, while the Alpha gang was lagging slightly behind them though appearing a little less heroic….

"YEEEEK!" Ursula squealed as she did her best to speed around the turrets' blasts, having a few close shaves with death as a few of them blasted her off the road only to land back down on the icy landscape with hard thuds!

Another pair of blasts form nearby turrets fired right towards Zander and Ed, who widened their eyes as they cam right at them! "GAH!"

BOOM!

"AH!" Everyone ahead gasped in alarm to see the energy blasts hit their mark on Zander, but soon sighed with relief as the dust cleared and both their rock crusher and heavy hauler came out slightly battered but mostly alright!

They slowly opened their eyes and looked around in surprise to see apart from their buggies they didn't get a single scratch on themselves! "H…Hey! Nothing happened!" Ed gasped in amazement before he and Zander grinned taking the opportunity for some payback as they both sped ahead and smashed right through the very turrets which fired at them! Reducing them to a pile of scrap metal in an instant!

SMASH!

"Ahahaha! I feel invincible in this thing!"

"Hahahaha! Bring it on! Anything you throw I'll knock down easily!" They both laughed confidently feeling they could take on the world…..till another blast further off blew a turf shredder off its wheels and causing both it and the driver to tumbled across the the tundra and then lie smoking as a pile of wreckage and the driver lying unconscious on the battlefield! "Gulp….On second thought never mind…." Ed swallowed hard as he and Zander turned pale upon seeing that they may not have been as invulnerable as they initially believed themselves to be.

Ursula though wasn't as fortunate as her comrades, as a gel jark jumped out at and landed on her hood ornament in an effort to topple her over! As it covered over her entire windshield she turned blue and squealed in disgust, "EWW GROSS! Get off!" Pressing buttons randomly in a panic, she had her car send out its small digging hammer to smack at its face and then a light drill to spark its head, before a pair of wipers finally smacked it off her car much to her relief, "Ahhh much better…." She sighed taking a breather of relief only to suddenly run over another and for its remains to splatter over the front of her car like roadkill! "Ugh…I think I'm going to be sick…." She moaned turning green before covering her mouth trying to hold in her breakfast from spewing all over the cushions.

Others though didn't seem to mind it much, and in fact were getting quite a kick out of this instead, "Out of my way you slugs! The dinosaur king coming through!" Dr Z shouted shaking his fist out crankily as he underwent road rage mode and ended up turning multiple gel jarks into slimy pancakes underneath his vehicle's wheels or turn them into literal roadkill as he splattered through them.

"Stay focused guys!" Cera shouted out to them, motivating them to keep going and not to falter or lose heart yet, "We're almost there!"

"Good." Rex nodded feeling himself more fired up, "Once we're in we can shut this thing down at the source!" Despite their fixated focus on the task at hand, the sounds of agonised cries and explosions in the background made them feel insecure at having to leave their comrades behind, but they knew the greater good and thus focused straight ahead best they could. "Don't give up now! We can make it!" He then shouted out loud so that the others wouldn't get sidetracked.

As if things weren't already bad enough, their difficult task grew incredibly more difficult as the tower finished charging up its barrier and began to unleash a purplish dome which began to enclose around the entirety of the citadel! "The shield's dropping down!" Kaze cried out to them as they gasped to see their window of opportunity was closing.

"NO! We can't let that stop us!" Max shouted undeterred as it only spurred him to press harder on the accelerator!

Everyone else followed suit as they kicked their gear to the highest they could, their tyres making tracks and blowing out both snow and exhaust behind them in the process! "Keep going! Don't stop!" They kept their eyes fixed on the end goal like that of a big race, and for a while as they drove straight ahead despite the flying lasers and friendly fire going all around them and over their heads they didn't waver in their pursuit towards the end zone! It was going so well and it seemed like they'd all be able to make it in….till a stray blast from a turret fired at Blaze's rock crusher, hitting a critical point and causing him to be sent flying outside of his vehicle's front windows and onto the outside!

"AAAH!"

The D Team looked around to see Blaze's rock crusher had been blown off and he was sent flying outside of his vehicle too as he landed hard on the snowy field! "AH!" They widened their eyes in horror to see they had a man down!

"Blaze!" Cera yelled as she and her friends rushed over to come to his aid.

"NO CERA!" The wind captain yelled out at her through the monitor screens which made her stop her approach, "You and your fiends go on without us! We'll be fine!" Before she could protest against him, he shot back at her again, "Remember what the prize is! Don't get sidetracked nor lose sight of it ever!" The way he said to her almost reminded her of herself the way she thought more on the long term and not to lose sight of the true goal in the end.

Looking closer at him, Cera could see he was indeed right, and in fact all around the battlefield there were already so many of their troopers downed or weakening, while their captains like Craig and Marina were still standing by their side to fight and protect them. With the meteor coming closer with each passing moment they couldn't afford to waste time trying to help each and every one of them. They came here prepared to make sacrifices and the soldiers knew what they were getting into and were willing to put their lives on the line to ensure that their families and friends would get to see a bright tomorrow even if they couldn't. To fail them would mean to deny everything they fought towards or gave themselves up for, and Cera knew she couldn't do that.

Everyone else was hesitant at first, but gritted their teeth and drove on away most reluctantly knowing it had to be done….though not without a few parting words for them.

"Tch! Your sacrifice won't be in vain."

"We'll be back for you as soon as we can."

"It's been an honour fighting alongside you guys." said Max and his friends.

"And we will defeat Goma too. We promise." Cera concluded for them as they drove on ahead and she remained behind to watch over her captains a little longer till they could get back on their feet.

As Kaze appeared before them and grabbed the hand of his comrade and helped him up, Blaze nodded in acknowledgement to Cera, smiling at her with full assurance knowing for fact they will succeed, "The rest is up to you now! Good luck and don't let your fiery passion burn out!" He said to her encouragingly as Cera made her hard choice and nodded back before driving ahead to rendezvous with her friends.

As she made it inside, Dr Z too joined them as he then shouted out to the Trio who were still lagging outside. "Hurry you slugs! Get in here or we won't be able to stop the meteor!" He shouted out to them waving his hand.

"I don't care about that!" Ursula retorted in a panic, "I care more about keeping my head on!" She wanted nothing more than to escape from all the chaos and madness running wild outside. Made evident now that her car was all coated in gel jark slime all over which she felt was going to be more than her credit card could handle for washing, hopefully Zander would let her use his.

"Same here! Now out of our way!" Zander yelled out frantically as he and Ed came closer into view, their vehicles looking heavily banged up from all the thrashing they took along the way.

"Hang up! Don't leave without me!" Ed cried tearfully as they made a beeline right for the citadel not caring who or what was in their way as long as they could get away from all the chaos running wild outside!

"WAAAH!" Dr Z screamed in a panic seeing they were about to run him over! Turning around he sped inside the open gates of the citadel as fast as he could, with the other members of the Alpha gang following him inside and then finally ending with the D Tea and Cera, as they entered right into the heart of darkness as the force held completely closed, cutting off father access and any form of escape for the D Team, for now there was no turning back for them….

As they disappeared inside, back at the main HQ of the resistance, Lunensis and the D Team's families looked on with a serious looks on their faces, knowing there was nothing more they could do for the world's future now and that it all rested with that of the D Team, Cera and the Alpha gang.

"It's all up to them now." said Lunensis as they all nodded in agreement with him.

"Good luck kids, the fate of the world rests in your hands now." Dr Taylor then spoke as they all prayed hard for their success and entrusted them with everything, will full faith in them that they will prevail. Looking further out they also narrowed their eyes to seeing the fierce fighting unfolding on the Antarctic surface, as painful as it was, at leas this would be the last time they'd ever see something as horrendous as this.

Deep down in his mind, Dr Ancient knew the danger of dinosaurs if they were to ever fall into the wrong hands, and thus swore inside his heat that when this was over he'd do everything in his power to make sure that not only will Cera's future come to pass but also he and everyone else will help make a much better foundation for them to build upon.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Inside the fortress, it was much warmer with its own heating system in order to make the conditions liveable for whoever was in. Down one hallway upon busting through the front door with their mesozoic mobiles, the Resistance's team of legendary heroes all were racing as fast as their legs could carry them, it was a perilous race against the clock as they hurried down in the direction where their target rooms were located, "Hurry guys!" Max cried out urgently, "With, each passing moment that passes brings us closer to extinction!" He shouted gritting his teeth as he refused to slow down for even second to catch his breath.

"Every second counts!" Rex added after him, which spurred more determination into the others of the group though made things more worrying for a handful of them though.

"Sheesh! No pressure or anything!" Ursula hissed in frustration as if they already didn't have more on their plate than they already did.

The other members of the Alpha gang began to shout out their frustrations after her, "Yeah, not like we already have enough to worry about!" Zander moaned as he could feel the pain in his legs beginning to make him wince and his entire back grow sweaty and damp.

The only one of them who could take this situation in a positive light was Dr Z, as he began to grin with excitement as his heart raced with eagerness, "Well if these are my final moments then at least I get to spend it going down as a hero that everyone can all be proud of! Ahahahaha!" He laughed out loud joyously which made some of the D team assume he may have lost it under all the pressure. He knew better though. Never before had he felt so alive or did anything worth doing till now, if this was his last chance at life then to use to help others and become someone they could all be proud of, to go down in history as a great hero, the thought of it felt really good and he didn't want this moment to be taken from him.

Nevertheless the group kept a firm gaze as well as both a hard and serious expression as they didn't stop to look behind believing it may slow them down…..except for Ed, as he did one little check to make sure the coat was clear. It was a good thing he did, as he saw who was following him, he turned a little pale and called out to them in a squeaky voice, "Umm guys." he muttered anxiously.

"What is it Ed? Can it wait?" Ursula muttered to him, "If you need to use the bathroom then hold it in!" she then grumbled before shooting him a hard scowl.

Ed quickly shook his head, "N…No it's not that…." though he couldn't deny that he was on the verge of wetting his pants as he thought back to what he saw behind them just now, "It's just….I'd really hate to be the bearer of bad news, you know with everything that's going on already." He stuttered swallowing hard wondering whether he ought to say it with everything already going on.

"Spit it out already then!" she growled impatiently as they all stopped to see what he had to say.

He gulped at all the stern looks everyone was giving him knowing one wrong answer could earn him a brutal beatdown from each and every one of them if he stopped to waste their time over something insignificant or stupid. Mustering up his courage he pointed out behind them, "We've got company!" He screamed and jumped frantically which earned him a coupe of puzzled looks and raised eyebrows as to what he was talking about.

"Huh?" Looking ahead they then widened their eyes in shock, "WAH!"

A huge horde of gel jarks was rushing straight at them form the other end of the hallway! They also raised out their arms as they prepared to fire out slime bullets and immobilise the intruders from getting any further inside their base than they already had!

"Not these guys again!" Zoe cried as the others tensed and sweated at how fast they were doing and that they'd catch up to them in no time flat at the rate they were going!

They were hoping that Goma would focus all his forces on the outside with all the commotion going on and the he wouldn't notice or didn't have any more forces to spare on them, guess they were wrong about both.

Dr Z clicked his tongue in disgust, "Tch! I'm not about to run away from a bunch of slugs!" he spat as he began to unhook his dinoshot from his waist, "My therizinosaurus and I will-"

Rex grabbed his hand before yanking him away, "No Dr Z! You're coming with us!" he yelled catching him by surprise as they hurried off again down the halls with the guards on hot pursuit of them!

"WAH! What's the big idea!" Dr Z cried as his legs struggled to keep up with Rex's speed, repeatedly he tried to yank his arm free from Rex's grip though the boy's firm hold on him made it impossible to wrench are or even twist around. He was even abut to consider gnawing his own arm off, no way was he going to skip this opportunity for glory.

Rex could feel Dr Z's ego would doom them all, as he shouted out his frustrations in the old man's face, "We don't have time to waste with these clowns! Don't you see!? They're only trying to slow us down so we won't stop the meteor in time!"

Rex's statement made him croak and turn pale in realisation, "ACK! Good point there…." he muttered weakly, feeling disappointed he wouldn't have the chance to use his precious dinosaur in another battle, after the last confrontation with the space pirates in the desert he was hoping to have another go on the battlefield.

Despite their best efforts to outrun their pursuers, they were relentless as if they never tired nor even felt pain in the slightest, thus giving them a dangerous advantage over the humans as they slowly began to tire at the most crucial moment. Cera widened her eyes, being the most physically fit of the group she was ahead of them though it didn't help her friends that much seeing their stamina was about to give out made evident by their professed sweating and wincing faces of pain, "Faster guys! If they catch us now we'll all be done for!" she cried urgently.

"I'm going as fast as my legs can go!" Zoe screamed out in agony as she and the D Team were reaching their last legs, already gasping for air as their hearts pounded madly inside their chests from the immense pressure exerted on them form both the incoming meteor and with the gel jarks coming at them!

Father behind them the Alpha gang was lagging dangerously behind as they struggled to catch up to the D Team kids, "GRR! Don't they ever quit or have anything better to do!?" Ursula screeched in agony as she could feel her entire body grow uncomfortably itchy, sweaty and sticky from all the running they were doing from minute one the moment they arrived in.

"They're even more annoying than the Alpha droids!" Zander yelled as he was feeling the same too.

"S…Slow down! I can't keep-wha!" Ed teared up before tripping over and falling on his front!

They all widened their eyes to see him on the ground helpless before their incoming enemies! "ED!"

"Oof…." He wheezed as he looked up weakly, wheezing for air as he appeared almost like a fish out of water. He was so exhausted and fatigued he could;t find the energy to turn himself over as he arm grew limp and he collapsed on the ground completely!

Zander, Dr Z and Ursula gritted their teeth in frustration at Ed's worst possible time for a screw up. They were tempted to abandon him and go on, but deep down their consciences wouldn't allow them too, as they begrudgingly ran over to tug at his arms or get under him in an effort to lift him up though to little success, "Of all the times your fat gut had to get in the way, why'd it have to be now!?" Zander hissed cursing as he tugged at Ed's arm only to lose his grip under his sweaty palms and then fall back away! Ursula tried to push at him from behind but soon gave up after less than a few seconds believing he weighed almost as much as a baby hippo!

"When we survive this you're going on a diet!" Dr Z growled threateningly, "And we'll whip you into shape so hard you won't be able to move for days!" He screeched as he turned blue feeling the pain in his backside as he tried in vain to help Ed back up on his feet. Unfortunately the sheer weight of his underling was too much even for him as his sweaty mass fell right on top of him much to his annoyance, "OOF!" Dr Z yelped as his hand spasmed and twitched underneath Ed's massive body, thus spurring Zander and Ursula to pull him are such to his relief, as he could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel as he gasped for air with appreciation.

"Come on you guys! Quit messing around!" Cera yelled out impatiently, any other day this would be a humorous skits she'd never get tired off but this was not one of those days.

"Those slime balls will be here any second!"

"Hurry it up!" Max and Rex yelled frantically shouting all kinds of urgent words and statements to motivate the Alpha gang to hurry up with carrying or waking Ed, but to little avail.

Zoe gritted her teeth and tensed as they began to run out of time, but soon got an idea into her head that would do the trick, "What's the matter old lady?!" Zoe screamed impatiently at the end having run out of options, "Don't tell me he's too much for you to handle! Put your back into it!"

Her very words caused the older woman to gain a tic mark on her forehead as she felt her body surge with energy "Hey!" Ursula growled at her as she stood up with ease while managing to support Ed, exactly as she had hoped for "You take that back or-" She stopped upon hearing slimy footprints slushing behind them, "Hmm?" As she and the others looked back they widened their eyes and screamed

"WAH! They're coming!"

"GAAAH!" Ed suddenly cried in terror as he jumped off Ursula's back, needing just the right kickstart to get his batteries recharged again much to the relief of the others….though it came much too late for them as the gel jarks were merely within moments of reaching their current position!

Max tensed up with immense frustration as he clenched his hands into tight fists, "Grr! And we're so close too!" He hissed feeling that with so much on the line and everyone counting on them outside this was the worst possible scenario for them. Even if they tried to make a run for it now they'd get caught easily in no time. As much as they hated to do this now, their only option now was to fight their way out of this. They all began to see this as they tried to reach for their dinoshots, "Tch! Guess we've got no choice now but to-"

To their surprise, Cera quickly cut in front of them much to their alarm.

"HUH!?" They gasped in surprise as she held out an arm to them, urging them to keep back.

"Go guys! I will hold them off while you stop Goma!" She shouted at them as she readied her own dinoshot already.

"What!?" Her friends couldn't believe their eyes at the 'self-sacrificing' stunt she was about to pull for the umpteenth time.

Max gritted his teeth and shouted at her having had enough of her wanting to play the hero, "Cera! Not again! Why do you always have to-"

"This is no time for debate!" She cut him off, "They'll catch up to us anyways! At least this way the rest of you will be able to continue without any inhibitions and we all get a fighting chance at survival!" As they began to think about what she said they could see that she was right, as they found no other way to speak back to her nor could they as she mad wit clear there was no time for further discussion. More calmly she took a breath and explained to them, "You're the legendary heroes who helped create our world and now it's time for you to help save it! You're our best hope and we'll never stop believing in you!" She cried out to them which impacted them all most deeply.

"Cera…." thinking about it in the face of this war they were the ones who mattered most as they were the Resistance's best hope, if they failed then everyone's hopes will be gone with them. This way as long as they stayed alive and kept fighting on the Resistance would still ave a future no matter how many of them would be sacrificed to achieve it. They could see she was also willing to make this choice and she wasn't going to let them talk her out of it, and they had no reason to go against her wishes.

Regardless of whether she makes it out of this or not she knows it was her greatest honour of all to fight alongside the greta heroes they believed in, the same heroes she adored when young, now they were her closest friends, and she was going to do everything in he ropier to protect them too. She made it clear to them with a light smile before shouting out at them with all her heart, "Go now! Hurry!"

Surprisingly the alpha gang were the first to acknowledge her decision, "You got it!"

"No need to tell me twice!" They said to her before running off. Whether being moved by her words or wanted to save themselves from the gel jarks and the incoming meteor that Goma had summoned, one thing was clear to them, they could;t stay here an they had to get a move on. They came this far so their only path open to them was to see it through.

"Tch! Can't believe I'm actually taking orders from you…." Dr Z hissed in annoyance before turning away begrudgingly, "But considering the circumstances I'll make it an exception just this once!" He then shouted out his frustrations as he and the A Team went ahead first.

Steeling themselves for this, they nodded firmly as they prepared to see the wishes of her as well as everyone else through, "Grrgh! Okay fine!" Max growled tensely as he painfully turned his back to her and ran off ahead of his friends, "But you'd better come out of this okay!" He shouted as Rex followed after him with no other words to spare, though he wished he could but there wasn't much time left.

"Good luck, we'll be back for you as soon as you know it!" Zoe promised her as she followed after them, while Cera nodded back at them and turned to make her stand against the swarming gel jark horde approaching her.

"I hope so too." She told herself as she looked ahead ready to face them.

Further ahead the D Team and Alpha gang came to a crossroad in the path, "The path splits ahead!" Rex called out as they came to a stop. Reading the signs closely Rex looked to the others as he explained it out to them, "The shield generator's on the left and the beam's on the other!"

Ursula curiously looked both ways then put a finger to her chin in thought, "So which way do we go or how do we decide?"

"We could flip a coin?" Ed then suggested, either way both sides were likely to be heavily guarded so they would have to be prepared for a fight knowing that Goma or the space pirates could be lying in wait for the at any time.

Max and his friends looked to one another before nodding together, deciding which one they were going to take, "We'll go for the beam!" Taylor told the Alpha gang before pointing down the opposite direction, "You guys take down the shield!"

"Hey! Why do you guys get to choose!?" Dr Z protested as he shook a fist out at them.

"Doesn't matter who goes where!" Rex retorted in exasperation, "What does is that if either one of us manages to stop one of them, we'll win! That's all that matters!"

"Now get your butts moving or we'll never survive!" Max then yelled.

"Or better yet you won't have anyone left to share your dinosaur kingdom with Dr Z!" Zoe finished after him.

Her words struck a chord in Dr Z's mind as he widened them and scrunched up his face at the though of his legacy perishing in a sea of fire the moment the meteor strikes Earth, "GAH! I can't let anything happen to my precious dinosaurs or my beloved subjects!" He squealed in terror before deciding in an instant, "Alpha gang! Follow me into the fray!" He announced proudly as he pointed down the corridor and charged through head first without any sense of caution, either he was brave or that he was blinded by his pride and ego from being caught up in the moment he threw away all common sense to the wind.

It didn't take long for his team to follow him blindly into the fray though, "W…Wait up Dr Z!" like wayward sheep following a blind shepherd they followed after him without any second thought…unsurprising to the D Team as they looked on in surprise at how easily they listened to him.

Shaking it off, the 3 kids looked to each other and nodded firmly knowing what they had to do. "Come on guys, it's time we did our part now." Said Max bravely as he held up a fist and punched it forward.

Rex and Zoe soon nodded with him, feeling motivated by his sense of leadership and bravery, "Yeah it's all on us now, and we will win this together."

"Like we always do." They said in agreement, knowing they could put their full faith in him and were more than ready to back him up no matter what they were going to face at the other end.

Feeling their support in him as well as the spirits of everyone counting on them outside the forcefield as well as both those waiting for them back home in the past as well as in the future to come, Max steeled himself with resolve as he looked ahead and charged forth without hesitation, "Let's go!" He yelled out loud at the top of his lungs as he and his friends all ran down together to face their destiny.

Eying them behind, Cera watched as her friends divided, ready to take on what may eb their most perilous and possibly final mission ever. She closed her eyes and took a breath, burning this very memory of hers into her mind and soul in the event that if they did fail and they;d never see each other again at least she could have no regrets as they gave it their all. "Take care you guys, may the spirits of us and the dinosaurs all be with you." she said to them before hardening herself back towards the incoming gel jarks, "I'll make sure you all get there safely." she promised them as she took out a pair of dinosaur cards from her pocket, "Dino slash! Micro raptor! Eoraptor! Shine!" She yelled slashing both cards and then summoning forth both secret dinosaurs to the field as they shrieked out fiercely towards their incoming enemies! Undeterred by the sight of dinosaurs, the gel jarks continued rushing at her with full force, as Cera and her partners both narrowed their eyes hard knowing this was going to be a hard fight. Looking to both her dinosaurs, she then waved out to them, "Come on team! Let's clean house! Charge!" She announced pointing had before they all yelled together and charged into the fray!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Inside a certain room, painted dark purple and black with all kinds of electrical wirings lining the ceiling, walls and even the floor all connecting to a massive generator like device, shaped almost like a beating heart as it pulsated with electricity being fed into it, the doors to it opened up as Dr Z and the Alpha gang burst into it without wanting, interrupting the silence, "This looks like the place!" Dr Z yelled as they made it and took a look around uneasily.

"Whoa….freaky…." Ed commented as the sight of the room and its eerie atmosphere was giving him the willies.

"Yeah, I've seen all kinds of mad scientist labs but this place really takes the cake…." Zander gulped down as he could feel a hard weight on his shoulders.

"This place makes even our labs look like a happy children's playground." Ursula concluded as she felt her heart banging and screaming inside her chest wanting to escape, it was as if they were being watched and someone or something was waiting for the right moment to pounce.

The sounds of a running machine soon snapped them out of their phase as they focused their attention on the pulsating generator, which looked almost like that of an evil monster's heart, in which this very fortress was the monster they came to take down form the inside out.

"That's got to be the shield generator." Dr Z then narrowed his eyes at it seeing it to be nothing else, "We take that down, the shield goes down and then everyone else get in on the party." he then said knowing that with the shield down they can get backup and hopefully overwhelm Goma, hopefully force him to send the Reaper's Wrath away in time.

"So uhh….how how do we turn this thing off?" Zander then asked curiously as he scratched this cheek and saw no operating console or button in sight.

"I don't know, maybe just start smashing things!" Ed then pointed out playfully as he patted his fist into a palm. He was expecting one of them to hit him on the head for coming up with a ridiculous idea, but the response from his friends was one he didn't expect.

"Heheh, that may be first smart thing you said all day Ed! Better yet your whole life!" Dr Z grinned as Ed then sctrhaed his head bashfully.

"Aww thanks….I think?" he muttered at the end.

"Then there's no time to waste!" Dr Z said before he pointed out towards the generator, "Alpha gang! Go wreck that-" Before he could finish, a razor sharp boomerang suddenly flew out in front of him making him stumble and stutter before falling back on his butt! "EEP!"

The trio widened their eyes and quickly rushed to his aid, "Dr Z! You alright!?" Ursula cried widening her eyes as she picked I'm up and he clutched his chest where his way frail heart was pulsating with pain! Seeing he was traumatised, she and the others gritted their teeth angrily and looked around, "Who did that!?"

"Yeah show yourselves!" They shouted out furiously, demanding that they knew their enemies were here and they were;t afraid to face them. Any fears they were harbouring towards being in the enemy's lair were driven out and replaced with thoughts of anger and also the desire to protect too.

"Boo hoo, I was so close to taking your head off….which would have been an improvement." A pouty female voice sounded above them seeing there was no point in hiding anymore, one the Alpha gang recognised in an instant as they widened their eyes and looked up above in alarm!

"AH!" They saw Specter, Foolscap, Sheer and Gavro descend from above, apparently hiding in wait, as they hovered right before them above the generator.

"Am I getting sloppy?" Sheer muttered to herself as she fingered her boomerang all around, "Maybe I am a little out of practice lately…." she then sighed to herself.

"Did you really think we didn't expect you to come here hmm?" Foolscap then snickered before glaring at the intruders, "Sorry but we can't let you lay one filthy finger on that generator you pests."

The Alpha gang then began to glare angrily towards them, "Out of our way you rats with wings!" Ursula shouted out loud impatiently.

"We don't gave time to play with you today!" Zander followed after her as he pointed at them with spite.

"Yeah! Go pirate someone else or some other planet for a change!" Ed grunted after him as he shook out his fists ready for a fight. Last time they could deal with their antics and scheming but to destroy the world wit a meteor was crossing the line for them, no way were they about to hold anything back this time around.

"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!" Specter wagged his finger playfully, unbothered by them or their words, "No can do! Goma put us all in charge of this room so if anything were to happen to it, my boy-I mean my Lord will be really unhappy." He then said as he puckered his lips lovingly and clapped his hands together believing as a good father he ought to be making him happy from now onwards. After that his childish person vanished and he sported a more menacing expression, "And you wouldn't like it when he's unhappy…" he said in a deep voice which brought a chill to the air, as he spoke from firsthand experience, and no way did he ever want to go through that ever again.

The other pirates gulped down hard as they remembered before shaking their heads clear and returning to the matter at hand, "Plus we're pretty much out of the pirate business, when were done with this world we'll all rule over this little mud ball of yours and we'll each have our own corner of it to call our own!" Foolscap shrugged his shoulders uncaringly.

"It wouldn't be very nice if you all showed up and ruined it all." Sheer commented as she folded her arms on her hips, "All that's left is to make sure that meteor goes Kaboom over your planet and there'll be no one left to get in our emperor's way." She said with a malicious grin as she smacked a fist right into her open palm to visualise what would soon happen to the Earth.

Gavro then grinned rather sadistically, "But before that happens we'll have a little fun giving you a good thrashing before throwing you all out to be vaporised with your little friends!" He grinned as he began popping his knuckles which were itching to bash something, "That should get on Goma's good side when he sees what we're worth! Which is a lot!" After that all 4 pirates took out their cards and placed them across their activators! Shining in bright purple light and materialising was Gigas, Armatus, Maximus and Brontikens all armoured up and at full power form the get go as they roared out menacingly towards the Alpha gang!

"Grrr!" Despite being faced with their powerful enemies once again, the Alpha gang didn't waver, but instead their spirits and resolve were toughened and tempered to the highest point, never before had they felt more determined to win than ever.

"Not on my watch!" Dr Z growled as he stood up, casting away all his previous worries, "No one's going to destroy my planet and get away with it! Nobody!" He vowed as he pointed out at the Zanjark, holding a grudge towards them for destroying his kingdom in the future and all the people who loved him, no way was he about to let their past, present and future actions go unpunished, "Alpha gang! Seems we'll have to make these guys see reason the hard way!" He shouted to them seeing the only way to make them leave was by force.

The Alpha trio pumped themselves up with either eager or angered expressions, "I couldn't agree more Dr Z!" Ursula grinned eagerly as she popped her knuckles.

"I've been waiting a long time for this! This time it's for keeps!" Zander pumped up his arm.

"Let's do this!" Ed shook out his fist as they took out their cards and dinoshots together!

"Alpha slash!" They all shouted slashing their cards and summoning forth Terry, Tank, Spiny and therizinosaurus to the field as they roared out loudly!

"Element booster! Dino tector on!" Ursula, Zander and Ed activated their element boosters at their dinoshots which caused their dinosaurs to be armoured up!

Dr Z, not willing to be left out of the fun, felt the energy surging between him and his son as they felt their wavelengths sync up and the power unleashed between their newfound connection, "Elemental fusion!" He yelled as therizinosaurus erupted in a bright rainbow aura and emerged in his awakened form!

As both sides took their stand, neither willing to back down it was clear that a fight was unavoidable as both sides had a reason they couldn't afford to lose. "Hmph! Struggle all you want! It won't change a thing!" Specter scoffed as he waved out his arm, "You're all through! This planet is ours for the taking and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"So just quit while you're ahead already," Foolscap grinned, fading his arms, "It'll save you a cosmic sized beatdown and a whole planet worth of trouble for all of us."

"That's what you think!" Dr Z retorted feeling insulted that they were being taken lightly, a big mistake on the zanjark's part, "Alpha gang! Time to send these space monkeys back where they came from!" he declared.

"You got it Dr Z!" The trio shouted as their 4 dinosaurs roared and charged out towards their hated enemies!

"Space pirates! Attack!" Specter commanded as their dinosaurs responded in turn! Soon the room echoed with the sounds of roaring, snarls as well as vicious attacks echoing like a complete massacre through the halls of the Spectral Citadel….whatever was going inside was something one could only imagine was happening…..

ROAR!

CRUNCH!

SHRIEK!

SMASH!

 **(Meanwhile)**

At a higher level of the citadel closer to the center of the citadel's nerve core, a central spire, stretched high up through an open roof above and a massive satellite dish firing the beam straight through the top of the base's forcefield into the skies above.

Seconds later, the D Team rushed through a pair of automatic doors to find their target lying right before their very eyes, "There! The laser!" Rex pointed out as they widened their eyes at the sight of how massive it stood, almost as tall as the Statue of Liberty back in New York City!

"Whoa….That thing looks way bigger than when we first saw it from outside just now….." Zoe commented as they stared in overwhelming disbelief at the sight of it and the massive power that was emanating right out of its' top, they could even feel the immense energy running through its circuitry just by standing outside it and for it to generate enough to pull down a whole meteor, it truly was a terrifying piece of work.

Max quickly shook his head and remembered why they were here and they couldn't waste time admiring such a despicable tool of war, "Alright, guys time to summon our dinos and take it down pronto!" He said as he took out his dinoshot and his friends snapped out of their faze as they nodded with him.

"Yeah."

"Let's turn this thing to scrap metal!" Zoe and Rex responded to him as they took out their cards and dinoshots too. Right before they could act, a purple energy blast from out of nowhere suddenly fired right at Max, which Rex quickly took notice of! "MAX! LOOK OUT!" He cried warning him as Max looked up!

"Huh?" He widened his eyes as the laser projectile was shooting right for him! "AH!" Max and Zoe both yelled in shock, as Rex was able to grab him in time as the blast hit its mark!

BANG!

"Get back!" Rex cried pulling his friend away from where he just stood, where a steam scorch mark now was sizzling!

As Max stood up and clenched a hand over his chest where he could feel his heart was pounding hard from the shock, Rex patted him on the back comforting him while Zoe ran over to check for any injuries, "You okay Max!?" she cried with concern as she looked around to find no wounds thankfully.

"A little surprised there…." Max swallowed hard as a beat of tense sweat dropped from his cheek, "But I'm good." He said as his friends let out a sigh of relief before looking back at the blast mark on the floor. "That…was way too close…." Max croaked, feeling relieved that Rex got him out in time, a second longer and he would have been reduced to a smudge on the ground.

"Not one step further." A sinister voice spoke out at them from above which caught the kids' attention.

"Huh?" Looking up their eyes widened to see none other than Goma himself, who was descending from high above from the opening of the ceiling before hovering where he could look down upon them.

"GAH! You!"

"It's Goma!" Rex and Zoe both gasped in alarm to see him again.

"Grrr….." Max on the other hand gritted his teeth angrily, it was clear that Goma was keeping track of them this entire time and was expecting them from the very beginning. He was as crafty and calculative as he was evil, this was going to be a fight, their biggest one yet.

"Heheheh, you 3 kids just couldn't leave well enough alone could you?" he chuckled before shaking his head pityingly at them, "You were fortunate to escape with your lives last time….I expected you to have learnt something since then, but you instead stubbornly chose to refuse accepting defeat." He soon gained a malicious grin as he looked back at them, "And look where you all ended up, right here at my doorstep begging for a second helping of despair and destruction." He snickered with a devilish grin as he held out a hand and clenched it into a fist, "This time I can promise, that none of you will leave this place alive." He swore as the D Team narrowed their eyes and hardened themselves for battle, it was more than just winning, it was saving the world and everyone's lives on it too.

"Oh yeah!? Well we don't intend to let you get away with what you've done to us!" Rex protested against him defiantly, "This time will be different! With everything that's on the line we're more determined than ever to put a stop to you and your plan!"

"We made a promise to our friends and family that not only will we come back home to them but we'll also make sure they have a home and a tomorrow to come back to!" Zoe followed after him, "And we intend to keep that promise!"

"So say your prayers! Because we're stopping your plans now and forever!" Max yelled out loud at the tip of his lungs as the 3 friends banded together in a last ditch effort in order to defeat the shadow emperor once and for all.

Goa frowned in response to their spirit and resolve, but soon he couldn't help but clap in response, having a slight degree of admiration for them to show such courage within their final moments, "Such bold words…..it makes me sick to my stomach…." He muttered, the only reason he was even bothering was that they showed no signs of hesitation nor any insecurity or worry in their eyes as they did so. He soon smirked however as it made him more eager to break said spirit and he knew just how to do it, "Perhaps you'll all change your tune once you see what you're truly up against." Snapping his fingers, a compartment soon opened up on his satellite laser which caught their attention as they focused right at it.

"AH!" They widened their eyes in shock to see a certain stone like object was seated right behind a casing of glass, with wires connecting right into it as they were transferring energy right out of the stones and into the machine itself, which was then using it to power the tractor beam above it!

"That glowing stone has got to be that dish's power source!" Zoe pointed out at it, seeing it to be nothing else but that.

"Then it's obvious that's where we'll aim for!" Max spoke out firmly with determination before looking to his friends, "Come on! Let's summon our dinosaurs and go prehistoric on it!"

"Right behind you Max!" Zoe nodded in agreement with him as he smiled having her support.

"Great!" He grinned before looking towards their other teammate, "You too Rex!"

They blinked their eyes in surprise to see Rex hadn't moved at all from where he stood, "…." in fact he only stood in stunned silence as he fixed his gaze right at the glowing light emanating from the satellite tower.

"Rex?"

"What's up?" They both asked him rather uneasily, taking his silence to mean something bad was going on, he knew something that they didn't and they were worried about whet they should find out. Goma then grinned with delight knowing that he was seeing exactly what he wanted them to.

The blond haired boy narrowed his eyes as he focused on the laser's energy core, "Something's up with that energy generator…." He gritted his teeth as he could feel the sinister energies emanating right out of its core, "That power source….it's giving me some really bad vibes…"

"Bad vibes?" Max and Zoe both muttered in confusion. As they turned their attention to where he was, they soon were beginning to feel the same bad feeling he was right now.

"Wait….Now that you mention it…." It was eerily familiar, yet they didn't think it to be possible, it couldn't be….

"Your friend is more perceptive than the rest of you." Goma complimented Rex as they glared back at him, "Take a good look at the gem powering it, does it look familiar to you?" He pointed at it, and as they focused harder they could see a glowing dark but multicoloured orb glowing right inside it, in the same shape and size of 7 certain jewels they encountered some time ago.

"Familiar?" Max muttered questioning him. His heart however was growing heavy and uneasy inside as a dark revelation was about to be revealed to them.

"Surely you all remember. After all you kids fought so hard but still failed to stop my father from uniting all 7 stones together. However miraculously you were able to destroy them." He said with a disappointed frown before smirking at them unsettlingly, "Too bad miracles happen only once, and I guarantee you that it won't happen again."

Upon putting together the pieces of the puzzle with the hints Goma gave them, the D Team widened their eyes in sheer shock and horror as they finally realised it, "AH!"

"No way!"

"It can't be!" Their hearts skipped a beat as if a ghost from their past had returned to haunt them from the grave.

Max stuttered and nearly fell backwards upon being smashed with the stunning revelation, "The….Cosmos Stones!?" He exclaimed in bewilderment at the thought of the stones that threatened the universe had returned once again to finish what it started.

"Bingo, it seems you've all finally caught on." Goma answered for them as he snapped his fingers, confirming their suspicions much to their horror and disbelief.

"But….how….!?" Rex gasped unable to comprehend this madness.

"They were destroyed completely! We saw it ourselves!" Zoe cried.

In response Goma smirked rather smugly, "Heh, even with all your puny powers combined you could never destroy something which existed long before you precious Earth came to be!" He proclaimed boastfully, "Surely you would've realised that by now, but I guess not."

Max gritted his teeth and a bead of hard sweat fell from his cheeks as he began to see the logic in it, "It makes sense….If the stone plates survived….then the cosmos stones did too…." he choked hard, and the more he looked at it, back then when they believed they destroyed the dark pterosaur using the stone plates, if the central stone remained it meant that a piece of the Dark Pterosaur's core must have survived too and then ended up far into the future….which resulted in Goma salving it and then using it as his secret weapon against the Resistance, putting them through so much suffering while he built his dreaded shadow empire….

The D team fell weak and wobbly upon seeing that in a way…it was their fault that the people of the future suffered so much, because they failed to make sure their future was secure and safe for them as the threat of the cosmos stones was never fully eradicated. Now not only Goma had established his shadow empire, it would become a mere stepping stone which he would then use to conquer the galaxy piece by piece….crushing any and all who may oppose him….unless they stopped him right here and now.

"And it was thanks to this very stone my Shadow Empire came to be!" Goma then announced once more proudly, which further aggravated the D Team as they began to see how he made the shadow empire possible and he used the very stone they worked hard to destroy in the past, only to hurt the future they sought to protect. "Till you lot arrived and began to tear down what took me years to build….." He then scoffed at them with a disgusted scowl, "Which is why you forced my hand, now I have no other choice but to resort to my final plan." He explained before smiling most sisterly at them, "At long last, I've harnessed enough energy from them to summon forth the biggest and most powerful meteor of all from the void beyond!" He announced holding out his arms and gave the D Team a full view of his satellite tractor beam and as they looked higher up they widened their eyes at the sight of the incoming Reaper's Wrath as it was nearly breaking through the Earth's atmosphere! They had only minutes before it would make contact with their Earth!

"A meteor so enormous it'll be enough to erase all life on the planet! Leaving behind a clean slate on the Earth's face, a slate which I will use to write down a new chapter of life which I shall call forth from the ashes of its former self." He boasted out loud as the D Team listened in horror at what he intended to do without hesitation, and this wasn't even the end of it, "And this will be just the beginning! Soon all worlds will bow before my unmatched might! I will blanket the cosmos in shadows and both my empire and power will have no bounds or limits that we can't surpass! All will bow before me as a God! Ahahahaha!" He then laughed out loud.

"Tch!" The more the D Team heard from him, the more insane and psychotic they could see he truly was. It was clear Goma was like this from the very beginning, he was already too far gone and the cosmos stones only further increased his insanity and maniacal ambitions. Thos very ambitions caused so many innocents to perish and suffer in his quest for power, if they didn't stop him other worlds would fall before him and suffer the same fate as Earth. They couldn't allow that to happen again! Readying their spirits, they knew full well that it was up to them and them alone to crush those ambitions for good, this time they intended to see their mission through to the end and not repeat their former mistakes again this time around.

"NEVER!" Max roared out in immense fury, if he didn't hate Goma and the space pirates enough he absolutely detested them even more now! "That will never happen Goma!"

"Your ambitions will never come to pass!" Rex declared after his friend as their spirits were further fired up, and inside their cards their dinosaurs could feel their very emotions and feelings too, as if their souls were resonating on the same wavelength as that of their humans too.

"Oh? And just who is going to stop me?" He then mused, "Surely not a couple of measly children like you." He then scoffed at the sight of them, the very thought of them being able to do anything about it was downright laughable to him, which further fuelled the fires of determination within the D Team's spirits.

"Oh you bet we are!" Zoe cried out at him angrily.

"And we won't just stop you, in fact your own existence is a threat to the whole universe! No way we'll ever let that slide!" Rex yelled throwing his arm out, "Right here and right now we're taking you and this whole base of yours down then after that we'll destroy the cosmos stones for good this time around!" He vowed.

"But before that, if we have to get you out of the way first then so be it!" Max declared as they all took out their partner cards and dinoshots!

"Dino slash!" They yelled slashing their cards with all their might, summoning forth Chomp, Ace and Paris to the field who bellowed out powerfully with determination!

In sight of them, Goma remained unimpressed, though the D Team intended to change that soon enough, "Bring it on Goma! This time we'll hit you with everything we've got right from the get go!" Max yelled as he and his friends took out their secret weapons and activated them!

"Element booster! Dino tector on!" Their 3 dinosaurs armoured up to their powered up forms before roaring out against Goma, who still scoffed and remained undeterred in sight of them.

"Even though you already realise the difference in power between us you'll still fight nonetheless?" He questioned seeing absolutely no logic in their actions, "You're basically throwing your own lives away for nothing!" He then declared right back at them.

"We won't know unless we try!" Max retorted, "And if we don't then the result will pretty much be the same either way!"

"Least this way we'll have no regrets and that we gave it our very best to the end!" Zoe followed after her friend as their dinosaurs roared out the same as they did right back at him.

Folding his arms and scowling in annoyance, Goma soon began to see that they wouldn't leave nor give up without a fight. "Hmph! You already fail to realise you were all doomed from the very start, no matter how hard you struggle you can't stop the inevitable. Yet you still continue to resist, you're either brave, desperate, crazy or most likely….foolish." He soon however began to smirk, finding the situation to be rather amusing and he could turn it to his advantage by killing off a little time till his meteor hits its mark, "But very well, since there's no changing it anyways, I'll entertain you for a little bit if only to keep you busy until the Reaper's Wrath arrives and bathes the planet in a sea of fire and darkness upon impact!" He boasted loudly which made the D Team and their dinosaurs further agitated. "You lot will be lucky to survive the extinction thanks to being inside my base's shield, but it'll be only momentary bliss I promise you'll get no more mercy from me this time around."

"Grrr….." The children couldn't wait to shut his mouth, as long as he remained at large not one second could go by on this world or any other where they could truly be in peace.

However, Goma this time around wasn't about to merely throw words around, he was going to heed their previous advice and turn it against them in the worst possible way, "You wanted to play keeps, well then," he then grinned filled with malice as he took out his own dinosaur card right out of his pocket, "Allow me to do just that as well! Come forth! Omega Eocarcharia!" He declared as he activated the card across his chest plate! A bright light shone out which disoriented the D Team and their dinosaurs momentarily, as it cleared they widened their eyes in horror to see none other than Goma's eocarcharia once again! This time fully armoured in golden skeleton like armour making him appear almost like a dragon!

As he flare out his wings and let out a tremendous roar, the D Team braced themselves and hunkered behind their partners in response to the shockwaves emitted by the roar but even so they could still feel the force of the wind and the dinosaur's might blasting at them!

"AAAAH!"

As it died down they looked up and tensed to see Goma was through playing around, "Ahahahaha! D Team! Prepare to meet the face of your ultimate destroyer!" He declared as eocarchaira let out a tremendous roar up to the skies, a they gritted thier teeth ready to fight and their dinosaurs too roared in response before they charged towards their dreaded enemies for one final battle!

ROAR!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Meanwhile back outside, Cera stood her ground, though she was panting exhaustedly from giving out commands to her dinosaurs and having had to fight off countless gel jarks by herself, her spirit refused to yield. She gritted her teeth, tense in exhaustion but driven on knowing that so many were counting on her to do her part, and this battle was one they couldn't afford to lose, so with all her might she resisted against her own fatigue and exhaustion as the final wave of jarks rushed at her and eoraptor who had taken the form of saurophaganax.

Eoraptor too was driven to the point of collapse but spurred by the feelings of Cera he let out a loud roar as he mustered up all his remaining strength for one more strike! "Go Eoraptor! Miku! Smash those slugs to smithereens!" She cried as Miku screeched and attached to eoraptor's head, "Energy equaliser!" As the 2 dinosaurs shared power with one another and roared, the gel jarks halted their charge as they were caught off guard by the blinding light! Generating fire in his jaws, eoraptor unleaded a burst of flames and swept it across the field, blanketing the slime monsters in a sea of flames! They let out pained and dying mechanised noises as they melted away into no more than slimy puddles on the floor which then evaporated too.

As the flames died down and the cuddles bubbles and dissolved away, eoraptor let out an exhausted gasping roar in triumph before falling down to the ground and reverting to a card. "And that's the last of them….for now…." Cera breathed a she fell on her knees and wiped away a little sweat from her brow. She was about to sit down and take a momentary breather thinking she and Miku may deserve it after what they just went through, but the sounds of roaring echoing through the dark halls of the citadel along with the change in colour of the scenery made her open her eyes as she began to realise what was happening now. "A battle…." She then breathed knowing there could only be one reason for this, her friends were now engaged in battle with Goma and the other space pirates right this instant.

She began to narrow her eyes tensely, recalling flashbacks of all their battles and sacrifices till now, with the meteor coming in and everything that was on the line she knew she couldn't afford to rest on her laurels. Gritting her teeth, her legs stung with pain causing her to wince, but she fought against it nonetheless as she forced herself back up to her legs. Looking down, Miku hopped right up to her while holding eoraptor's card in her mouth, as her human partner then scooped her up into her hands, "We'd better hurry, everyone's counting on us guys and we'd better not let them down." Cera said to her as she took the card from her dinosaur and rested her on her shoulder before running off to her rendezvous point, as they had agreed and planned on. Everyone was going their part to put a stop to Goma, and now it was time she did hers. As she ran down the halls, she narrowed her eyes tensely hoping she wasn't too late.

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back in the other room, the D Team stared down with hardened looks as they braced themselves for battle against Goma and his Omega eocarcharia for the rematch of the century, they hadn't forgotten what he did to them last time and they planned on avenging not only their previous defeat but also those they both wronged for years. Now the only thing standing in the way of them saving the Earth from the Reaper's Warth was their most powerful enemy yet and this time they intended to end things very differently. "Here we go Chomp! Thunder bazooka!" He yelled slashing the move card! Chomp roared as he charged with energy and launched himself forward like a torpedo surging with energy! He smashed right into eocarcharia's head, only for the winged dinosaur to deflect him off with a head swing and send him flying into the nearby wall!

CRASH!

"Gah! In my mind I saw that differently…." Max stuttered, feeling complete regret for both trying and believing it could work.

Rex quickly looked over to Zoe, "Looks like we're up next Zoe!" he shouted to her who then respond with a thumbs up and a smirk.

"You got it! This time together!" She agreed with him as she took out a grass move, "Thorn whip!" Paris flashed green before summoning forth a giant throne vine from the ground!

"And I'll follow up with Mayfly!" Rex yelled as he did the same with a wind move! Stomping his foot on the ground, Ace roared before charging forward like a speeding bullet at Eocarcharia right as Paris' whip swung out at the same time!

"Eocarcharia! Smite these pests now!" Goma commanded as his dinosaur speed out his wings which infused with energy before he took to the air! Spiralling down at them, his wings spread out and sliced through the huge vine with ease before smashing right into Ace and sending him flying right into Paris as they both crashed away!

Both Zoe and Rex widened their eyes in horror to see their partners being beaten back so easily, "Oh no Ace!"

"Hang in there Paris!" They cried to them hoping they'd be able to get back up after the hits they took. They tried their best to force themselves up to their legs but a sudden wince of pain caused them to collapse back down! "NO!"

"Ahahaha! That's right! Stay down and kneel before your emperor! Your cause and your entire planet is lost!" Goma then laughed as he further backed his foes into a corner.

"Urgh…." They gritted their teeth tensely under pressure before looking to their downed dinosaurs with hopeful expressions that they could still continue.

"Paris! Please you have to get up!" Zoe pleaded.

"Stand together guys! Everything hinges right on this battle!" Rex called out.

"Yeah, Rex is right!" Max shouted out to them and to Chomp as well, "For everyone's sake, we need to keep fighting!" Hearing his words the 3 dinosaurs breathed heavily with pain but fought hard against it as they worked themselves back up to their legs though still rather groggily.

"Keep fighting!? Ha! What a joke! You can't even defend yourselves!" Goma laughed at the ridiculous thought before shrugging his shoulders, "But if you still hold delusions about there being hope for you then come at me already! Try something I won't expect!" He grinned towards them mockingly which further aggravated the D Team.

"Grr! Fine! Then how's this!" Max growled furiously, aiming to avenge his friends and help save the world as he took out his next move, "Lightning strike!" He yelled slashing the card with full force as Chomp charged a ball of lightning in between his horns before firing it off at eocarcharia!

It didn't take long for Rex and Zoe to rally to Max's side as they did the same as him! "Biting wind!"

"Emerald garden!" Ace summoned a whirlwind and slashed through it, generating a huge blade of wind while Paris fired a green energy ball from her mouth! The 3 attacks collided at eocarcharia resulting in a massive explosion which erupted!

BOOM!

"Alright direct hit!" Zoe cheered with a big smile.

"In your face!" Max boasted as he punched forward energetically.

Rex however remained cautious as he held out his arm at them, "Hold on guys…." he warned them as they looked hard through the dust tensely, only for it to clear off and for eocarcharia to emerge completely unscathed much to their horror as he let out a defiant roar!

They widened their eyes in shock and disbelief at what they witnessed, "AH!"

"No way!" The battle they were fighting now was even more one sided than the last time, their hearts were beginning to race as they worried about not only their chances of winning but their odds of survival as a whole.

"How disappointing, I would have expected you to have learnt something from our last encounter but truly you've fallen even further below my expectations." He scoffed in disappointment, shaking his head with dissatisfaction while eocarcharia simply snorted back at them. As the D Team stepped back anxiously, Goma grinned sinisterly as he held up a fire move card, "Now it's my turn! Heat eruption!" Eocarcharia roar out furiously as he summoned forth fiery meteors from the sky before they crashed all around the the D Team!

"WAAAAAH!" They cried as they did their best to try and evade the incoming fireballs, having made near miraculous escapes as they leapt out of the way in time! Their dinosaurs weren't as lucky as they were pelted mercilessly by the rain of fireballs and then blown back away to their partner's horror!

"NO!" Max cried in horror to see their friends were wounded pretty badly now.

"Unreal, that dinosaur was strong before but now he's downright unstoppable!" Rex hissed through his teeth feeling the pressure get to him.

"How can we possibly win against that!?" Zoe breathed nervously as she began to shudder in fear.

Goma folded his arms on his hips and laughed out loud with arrogance, "Hahaha! That's the thing! You can't and WON'T!" He sneered at them which further angered or worried the D Team as they glared back at him.

"Grrr!" They tensed up and sweated as the situation worsened, unlike any villain or foe they ever faced, Goma was completely different, in fact he was evil to the core. Not only were his goals completely diabolical but his methods of achieving them were even more unforgivable, how he delighted in torturing or toying with his foes, giving them an illusion of hope before crushing their bodies and their spirits completely. What he said next confirmed their worst suspicions and expectations they had of him.

"Hehehe the looks on your face are absolutely priceless." He snickered at them with sadistic delight, "You came here out of sheer desperation, giving it your best shot at your final chance and failed miserably! What's more? You failed your entirely planet and all your people!" He proclaimed as eocarcharia let out a tremendous roar which forced the D Team to cover their ears as the horrifying sound echoed in the integrity of the room, it felt as though their ears were on the verge of bleeding!

"AAAAAH!" They all cried as their dinosaurs also bellowed or groaned in agony at the shadow dinosaur's shrill cry before staring down upon them with disdain.

"Give it up already, you don't honestly think you can actually win now do you hmm?" Goma then mused at them, believing his victory was all but assured at this point.

Max clicked his tongue in shouted back at him in defiance, "Tch! Either way we'll never stop trying until we're dead!" he vowed, having promised they'd come back victorious and that they'd never allow themselves to lose to someone as despicable as Goma was.

A mindset that was shared by his friends as well as they defiantly shot back at Goma, "And you can bet on it!"

"That goes for us and our dinos!" Zoe and Rex both retorted as their dinosaur partners roared back out at eocarcharia, as they worked their way back up to their legs determined to protect their comrades who gave their lives and sacrificed themselves so they'd make it this far and they wouldn't allow all their battles to be fought in vain.

"Heh, well down, it would seem I'd have to finish you all off quickly then." Goma then smirked smugly as he held out his arm and his eocarcharia let out a menacing roar before stomping towards them as they stood helplessly, unable to flee or do anything to stop his advance!

"Grrrgh…." Max and Rex gritted their teeth and sweated tensely as the monstrous dinosaur stared down at them, his fangs flashing and dripping with ravenous saliva as Zoe shuddered and hung back nervously as they stood in front to protect her…even though they knew they could do little in this situation.

A beeping sound from Goma's wrist caught their attention as they blinked their eyes in surprise at the dire situation suddenly interrupted unexpectedly. Though with what was soon to happen….things were about to get a whole lot worse as Goma smirked at the sight of it, "Ah, but it seems I won't need to after all." He said as he eyed them with sinister intent before proclaiming out loud at the top of his lungs! "The Reaper's Wrath will soon arrive and your pitiful will soon cease to exist!" He then pressed a button on his wrist to prove his point to them as well as further fan the flames of fear within them, "Behold!" A monitor screen soon appeared from one of the walls and as it flashed on it revealed the gigantic meteor was already on a collision course with the Earth!

The D Team widened their eyes in horror to see their worst nightmare was about to unfold!

"AH!"

"NO!"

"We're too late!" They each gasped to see the harbinger of the world's end had arrived and despite their best efforts they failed…..it was the worst possible case scenario they could have ever envisioned…

At the sight of their expressions of terror and despair, Goma couldn't help but let lout a triumphant laugh, "Ahahahahah! Prepare to watch helplessly as I transform your world into a lifeless wasteland shrouded in darkness forever!" He proclaimed darkly as his villainous tone echoed not only through the room but through the hearts and minds of the D Team which made their blood run cold as they saw how truly despicable he was. Never before had they detested anyone as much as him, and what's worse they were completely powerless to stop him when they needed to most and he knew it! "Don't worry, once your spirits are completely broken I'll be certain to send you all to the afterlife where you can only watch me bend the entire universe to my will while you all spend the eternity wallowing in regret for being unable to stop me!" He sneered at them as the Reaper's Wrath could be seen entering the Earth's atmosphere, burning a deep dark red as it prepared to make contact with the South Pole!

The 3 children's eyes widened with hopelessness clouding them over, "This can't be happening….." Max breathed heavily as his heart felt like it was about to crack and shatter completely.

Rex gritted his teeth and his fists shook, "After everything we fought through….was it all for naught?" He sneered before his arms grew limp and he gradually lost the will to continue.

"It….can't end like this….." Zoe sniffled as she fell to her knees and tears began to run from her eyes, their dinosaurs looked up and bellowed out in painful despair as they were about to relive their age old nightmare once again….while eocarcharia on the other hand let out a roar in triumph, as if he was rejoicing the return of the great meteor which devastated the earth long ago, this time the ultimate power would belong to him and his master forever!

"Oh but it can…and it will!" Goma proclaimed as he held out his hand and began to countdown from 3, "Behold! My first step towards universal domination shall soon dawn in Three! Two!"

"No….." Zoe cried in despair as she hugged Max closely, who glared furisouly at Goma with Rex as he grinned with sadistic delight, holding up his fingers and preparing to complete the countdown!

They widened their eyes as his hand prepared to reach zero….looking away unable to bear with this any longer….

"O-" Before he could finish the countdown, an alarm suddenly ran down his monitor which cut his count short!

ERROR!

Goan blinked his eyes in surprise at the unexpected development, "Wh….What!?" As he looked towards the screen, the meteor apparently had stopped in its place, frozen right above the Earth's atmosphere and suspended there without giving an inch!

"Huh?" Max and his friends looked up again, equally surprised at this too, as Goma rushed over to the computers and tried to isolate the source of this problematic occurrence.

"Wh…What is happening!? Why did it stop!?" He gasped in shock as he typed along his console to get the laser to complete its work, to his horror he saw the meteor was being fired back at the opposite direction of which he intended! "It's…..going BACK!?" He exclaimed in disbelief as the giant rock began to leave the Earth's atmosphere! "NO! This can't be!" He cried in disbelief as he did everything he could to prevent this from happening, as the D team watched him closely from behind, and a small size appeared on their faces unbeknownst to him. "What's wrong with this device! Override!" He demanded as he keyed in the necessary codes, only for an Error message to light up on his monitor in turn!

ERROR!

He was completely taken aback by this unexpected development, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't regain control of his device! "WHAT!? NO! How can I be locked out of my own systems!?" He screeched as he typed frantically, each result ending the same as the last before he smashed his fists down on it in frustration! "GRARGH!"

"Because I made it so!" A female voice suddenly shouted out at him, and lighting up on a nearby monitor was none other than the D Team's secret weapon whom they smiled brightly at upon seeing her face!

"Cera!"

"Ha ha!"

"She did it!" They all smiled and cheered much to Goma's disbelief as he looked back and forth between them, at a loss for what as going on now.

"WH…WHAT!?"

Rex then let out a sigh of relief, "Talk about cutting it real close, but the timing couldn't have been better!" he said to her as she nodded back at him in agreement.

Goma widened his eyes and then glared back towards the children behind him, knowing they were responsible for this, "Wh….What is the meaning of this!? I demand an explanation!"

"You seriously don't get Goma?" said Rex to him with a confident smirk which was shared by each of his friends present, "Some self proclaimed God you are, you don't deserved to be called one if you couldn't see something through a diversion as easy as this!"

Goma widened his eyes and his heart skipped a beat upon hearing what was revealed to him, "D…Diversion!?" His dark heart skipped a beat as he realised from the very start, since Max and the others arrived in this rom Cera was never with them so he assumed her to have been trapped outside the entire time…

"After our last battle we knew that we couldn't take things as lightly as we once did, so we thought a few steps further!" Max smirked at their enemy's shocked expression, this time seeing it to be real and not a facade to deceive them.

Rex and Zoe soon smiled with confidence too, "We had a feeling you'd anticipate us going after the shield generator and the laser simultaneously, so you set up defences around them believing they'd be our sole focus."

"But what you didn't take into account, was that we planned further in advance and thought of the bigger picture, right before coming here in the first place." They each said. Form all their past experiences they grew and matured, realising that even with courage, spirit and heart, the right mindset along with both strategy and strength were also essential to achieving victory, and now their efforts were finally beginning to bear fruits of hope for humanity's future.

"We knew we could never win a battle against you through normal means," Cera explained, "So we let things play out like how you thought it'd be. Let you think you were one step ahead the whole time as you focused on us entirely."

"And while you focused your attention entirely on us, Cera got in and hacked your main systems, shutting down your base's operations one by one!" Rex pointed out at Goma further adding to his horror and shock, he even felt his own heart sink at the revelation of being outplayed.

"So in the event that we couldn't win this battle, we could at least destroy your final base of operations and give the Resistance as a whole a chance at winning the war in the event that we're gone."

Goma turned pale, he shook intensely and then widened his eyes with anger and gritted his teeth before screeching out loud, "You…..You tricked me!?" He had taken into account every possible scenario, was complexly assured of a perfect victory and yet what shocked him the most wasn't that he failed to consider this, but that mere children, insects he looked down upon from the start, were able to outsmart him!

"Hehehe, took you long enough to realise it." Max snickered at him as he folded his arms and looked smugly at the disoriented Zanjark, "Too little too late, guess you're not as smart as you let on huh?"

"In case you don't believe us, we'll let you have a front row seat." said Cera as she began hacking into the room's computer monitors so he could give the Shadow empire a first class view of their hard earned victory happening right now, "Now you can watch as what's left of your entire empire comes crumbling down!" She proclaimed as the other monitors in the room began to light up, each one depicting a scene which further added to Goma's list of horrors.

Not only was the meteor shooting far out into space again, the gel jark generator machine had shut down and soon self destructed, cutting off the supply to Goma's army and ground forces! After that, the jark control system ceased function as one by one the gel jarks inside and outside the base began to fizzle uncontrollably and then met away! Finally the base defence systems were down, causing not only the turrets to cease firing but the shield surrounding the citadel had dissipated, thus allowing the rest of the resistance to charge right in! It wouldn't be long before they complexly had the base surrounded and he'd be overwhelmed in an instant!

As he watched all around him his empire was falling apart piece by piece, Goma widened his eyes in sheer horror as he grasped his hair in utter disbelief, "No….This….Can't be! To be outsmarted and outplayed by mere humans!? Inconceivable!" He screamed.

"If you have to blame someone blame yourself for this Goma." said Cera to him with a smirk, "We know how much you like to control the odds, so we decided to take a cue from your book and do just that. Not so fun when the shoe is finally on the other foot is it?" she added, it wasn't just focusing his methods against him but also to give him a taste of the very same pain they suffered at his hands.

"UNACCEPTABLE!" He then screeched, his eyes widening and veins popping all across his forehead as he then grasped it tightly in his hands. As he ranted and threw out his tantrums, omega eocarcharia could only look up at him, worrying for his master and wondering if there was anything he could do to please him to take up for this unfortunate turn of events.

Rex narrowed his eyes seeing their window of opportunity had finally presented itself, "Quick guys! He's off focus! Now's our chance!" He shouted pointing ahead, letting his friends know it was now or never!

Zoe nodded firmly and turned serious, "Yeah! This time we'll show em what we're really made of!" she cried with firm determination.

"Let's do it!" Max yelled punching forward as their dinosaurs got back up on their feet and roared out, having managed to recuperate during the time they were talking and now they had just enough energy for one more strike!

"Ultimate thunder!"

"Ultimate leaf!"

"Ultimate wind!"

As the 3 kids slashed their move cards in unison, Chomp, Ace and Paris surged with energy as they charged forth infused with the energies of their elements! Omega eocarchaira looked back, widening his eyes as they attacks came in faster than he could react! Together they struck him down below at his unprotected side, his only weak point as they drove the strength of their spirits through their attacks right into him! He roared in pain as he was off balance and unable to hold his ground as the 3 dinosaurs sent him flying uncontrollably right towards his master!

Goma quickly turned his head and widened his eyes at the sight of his dinosaur being struck directly and sent flying right at him! "GAH!" He swooped out of the way and could only watch as Omega eocarcharia was flung right into the tower, smashing through its outer hull and then electrocuting violently in the wiring and cables exposed as a result! "WAH! NO! Eocarcharia!" He cried in horror as his dinosaur let out one more painful groan before collapsing his head down and then smoking hard as a result of the electrocution. The Shadow emperor, once feared and completely invulnerable, for the first time felt helpless and in complete disbelief to see he had been outmanoeuvred in strategy and now his dinosaur had been out battled all thanks to a sneak attack and a lucky hit in…..this was the first time he had experienced such loss and humiliation in his whole life since becoming emperor and he could only stare speechless and froze in place unable to comprehend what he just witnessed.

Thing were about to get a whole lot worse for him as his precious machine suddenly began to spark uncontrollably and alarms began to ring throughout the entire room as a result of the massive breach and damage it just sustained.

ALERT! POWER CORE RUPTURED! SYSTEMS FAILING! FUNCTIONS CEASE!

"Way to go guys! You did it!" Cera praised them as Miku jumped up and down squawking with excitement!

"Yeah!"

"That oughta do it!" Max and the others cheered seeing they managed to throw a wrench into his plans for good!

As the machine shut down and the laser finally died away till it was no more than an empty mechanical husk of what it was, Goma widened his eyes in immense shock and bewilderment. Speechlessly, overwhelmed by the development which smashed right intones face, his wings weakened and he wobbly landed on the ground, stumbled forth to his machine before his legs gave out from the shock he suffered and then falling on his knees in disbelief, "What…have you….done!?" He then yelled before slamming his fists on the ground which echoed with a loud thud! "NO! My life's work! Ruined!" He screamed in despair before falling on his front arms.

The D Team along with Cera only glared at him, if anything this was the least he deserved after all he put them through, now he was finally getting a taste of what he did to countless individuals in his quest for ultimate power and it was clear he didn't like his own medicine one bit.

"Everything…my dreams….my vision….it's….slipping away….." He stuttered as he looked up, raising out his hand as a mental image of the planet earth was within his grasp….only for it to disappear from sight and replaced by images of the humans, the very same one he looked down upon as insects….now looking down upon him with disdain…like his father did once before…."I came so close….it was within my grasp…and now….because of these humans…." His eyes tensed and he shuddered uncontrollably before something inside him snapped completely. "I…I will not allow it!" His eyes tensed and he gnashed his teeth like a feral beast. As if something had awakened deep within him…..something….horrifying was about to be unleashed…."GRRRRR!" Deep down inside, his former self which was held back by certain limits and boundaries had ceased to exist…..now, no longer tied down by such fears, he casted aside everything he once knew or feared, now he saw no reason to hold anything back. After everything he worked and suffered through to get where he was, he wasn't going to let it all end like this, especially not by the hands of mere insects! He was through acting like a God, now he planned on becoming just that….no matter what happened to him in the process.

Unaware of what he was going through, Max, Zoe and Rex stood around him with their dinosaurs closely keeping watch on omega eocarcharia who was still apparently knocked unconscious though not enough to revert to a card, "Give it up Goma, you've lost." said Max, "Your base is now offline, your army is defeated and now you've got no one left to depend on."

"And you can just forget about running away because that's not going to happen!" Zoe yelled as she shook a fist at him.

"We're taking you in!" Rex pointed down at him.

"Just give yourself up! It's time to pay for everything you've done and everyone you've wronged!" Cera then shouted at him through the monitor as Miku also let out an agitated shriek at him.

Their words struck a nerve deep inside Goma, as he gritted his teeth and snarled viciously, "How dare you insignificant welps talk down to me…..It's you who will pay dearly for this…." He breathed heavily which surprised the D Team.

"Wh…What?"

"Huh?" They muttered confused, only for him to suddenly shoot a savage glare at them!

"How…DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OF ME!?" He screeched which caused them to jump back in alarm!

"WAH!"

He spread out his wings flaring them with rage as he began snarling at them, twitching his clawed hands maniacally which made their hearts skipped a beat. It was as if they were facing down someone completely different from before! "You will not get away with this…..No….I swear….NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW!" He screeched as he took to the air! "I will destroy you all!"

Recovering from their initial shock, Max and his friends blinked or shook their heads clear before yelling out at him.

"Hold it!"

"Get back here!"

"We're not finished with you yet!" They yelled at him as their dinosaurs roared out too.

"No one commands me! No one!" Goma retorted as he flew up towards the glass container where the cosmos stone was being held, "I never thought I would ever resort to this…." he breathed at first before his hand shook immensely with rage, "But I'm so furious….YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE!" He roared before charing at the stone!

The D team widened their eyes at what they were seeing, "What are you doing!?" Cera yelled at him, she was starting to believe he either had become desperate or lost it completely now.

"What I should have done from the beginning!" He roared clenching one of his hands into a tight rock hard fist before throwing it out right at the glass casing shielding the rainbow cosmos stone! "GRARGH!" He screamed as he smashed his hand right through the glass like it was nothing and then yanking the entire cosmos stone out of its holding compartment and holding it up high as the dark energies from within it began to pour right into his very body!

"WAH!" They couldn't believe their eyes at what they saw him do.

"He's got the cosmos stones!" Cera exclaimed as Miku jumped back in shock!

"GRRRGH!" Goma gritted his teeth and growled in immense pain as the cosmic energy flooded his whole system but to their surprise he instead tightened his grip upon the stones and refused to release them despite the havoc they were ravaging upon his body!

Max and the others down below stepped back nervously at what was unfolding, "Wh…What's he doing!?" Zoe cried.

"Doesn't he know the stones should never be held!?" Rex gasped in alarm.

"I don't think he even cares!" Max cried as their dinosaurs rallied to their sides to protect them.

Having lost all restraint, Goma glared psychotically towards the D Team as he shoved the cosmos stone against his armour, which then absorbed the entirety of their power along with the stone itself into his body! "GRAAAAARRGH!" He screeched as power ran wild inside him and he could feel his grip on his sanity slipping away….and he didn't care one bit! All that power was now his and his alone forever! "Ahahahahahah!" He began to laugh maniacally as his eyes and veins flared purple and a dark aura began to form around him much to the D Team's horror and disbelief!

"AH!" They widened their eyes unable to comprehend what they just witnessed.

"Did he just take in all the cosmos stones at once!?" Cera exclaimed!

"I knew he was worse than Specter but not even he was this downright insane!" Max gasped while Zoe and Rex looked on speechlessly!

Things were beginning to turn from bad to worst, as the aura around Goma soon began to swallow him completely, his form disappearing under the cloud of darkness which began to emit immense shockwaves through the entire room as it spread out an grew from him, as if it fed off the very darkness within his heart which was already immeasurable! It began to spread and grow, swallowing up the fainted body of Omega eocarcharia as the room's floors and walls began to crack and give way under the quakes!

"GAH!"

"WH…What's happening!?"

"I don't like this one bit!" They looked around in a panic as the whole place was cracking and about to fall apart, their dinosaurs bellowed with anxious agitation seeing the ground was becoming unseal beneath their feet too!

"The whole place is coming down!" Cera shouted in alarm seeing it collapse down on them all in any minute! "Everyone! Run for it!" she then shouted to them through the screens in alarm as she could feel the control room collapsing on her end too as Miku squawked and flapped her wings frantically in a panic! "Get out before the fortress crashes down on us all!" She cried as her screen fizzled out and then collapsed on the ground in the shockwaves!

"R….Right!" Rex nodded to her as he shouted to his friends, "Hurry! Let's get out fast!"

Zoe nodded without hesitation as they and their dinosaurs made a run for the doors!

Max though was a little hesitant to leave just yet, as still had unfinished matters with Goma, but under the circumstances with the dark energy flooding the room and causing the entire room to collapse down on them, "Grrgh….Alright…." he grunted in frustration as he and Chomp reluctantly rushed out of the room following after the others as fast as their legs could go….as the doors behind them closed and the fortress began to collapse in on itself.

 **(Meanwhile)**

At the room where the shield generator room was located, the Alpha gang had the space pirates on the ropes as therizinosaurus wing out his arm and slashed Brontikens, forcing the apatosaurus back as he bellowed in pain! Specter and his men tensed and began to sweat anxiously as their dinosaurs were further backed into a corner while on the other hand, The Alpha gang and their own dinosaurs were closing the gap between them as they stepped forward with confidence! It was a brutal battle between both sides made evident by the injuries they each sustained, but the Alpha gang's desire to win was far stronger than that of the space pirates, plus they believed in their dinosaurs too, that faith in their partners was what increased their determination, power and stamina, allowing them to outdo their enemies and tip the balance just enough in their favour.

"Great job team! We've got them on the ropes now!" Dr Z clapped his hands praising his team as they grinned excitedly.

"Ahahaha! I forgotten the last time this was actually a challenge." Usual laughed snobbishly as she held her head up high.

"Almost makes me wish they weren't so easy to take down…." Zander snickered in amusement as he rubbed his nose cheekily and grinned.

"Mhmm…" Ed then nodded with him, never before had the A Team had such kinship with one another or with their dinosaurs no less, perhaps the D Team's influence rubbed off on them overtime or that with the world's existence at stake they had to fight together with a single shared purpose as everyone was counting on them to do their part.

Whatever the reason was, the Space pirates tensed up with agitation at the sight of their newfound strength and determination, seeing themselves get overwhelmed so much was something they hadn't yet recovered from, "This….This is NOT happening!" Specter screeched as he grasped his face in exasperation, not long ago they were no more than mere clowns and nuisances, but now they were something complete different and a million times worse!

"How did these low lives get so much stronger in so little time!? It makes no sense!" Sheer widened her eyes as she stepped back and sweated profusely.

"N…No fair!" Foolscap whined.

"We've wasted enough time with you lot!" Dr Z then grumbled in annoyance, coming to the conclusion that the space pirates had delayed them long enough, "Let's wrap this up and smash that generator to bits!" He announced pointing ahead.

"Oh yeah!" The trio then cried out in full agreement with their leader as they slashed their ultimate move cards!

"Ultimate fire!"

"Ultimate water!"

"Ultimate Earth!" Upon slashing their cards, Terry, Tank and Spiny roared out as they became infused with power! They all then charged full speed ahead and struck the enemy spectral dinosaurs head on, Terry wrapped himself in flames as he collided with Maximus, Spiny unleashed all he had in avail of water and punched right at Armatus' vulnerable stomach, while Tank rushed head on through some crystals before striking at Gigas!

Dr Z then punched forward as he joined in too, "Gyro claw!" He commanded as therizinosaurus flared out his claws and spun in a vicious whirlwind, slashing right at Brontikens! The force of the impact was so great, the massive apatosaurus was sent flying along with the other dinosaurs as they were about to crash right on top of Specter and his crew!

"WAAAAAH!" They all cried flailing their arms out in terror before taking off like pigeons, out of of the way of their incoming dinosaurs who all crashed right into the shield generator they were supposed to be protecting!

BOOM!

A huge cloud of smoke and fire erupted from the explosion before bright lights shone out of it. As it cleared, the adult zanjark landed back on the ground, staring in complete and utter shock as the dust dissipated and their 4 cards lay down on the floor, along with the charred and smashed remains of the generator, reduced to a pile of scrap metal, shattered computer parts and sparking wires. As their hearts snack into despair, having lost all hope or even the will to live upon seeing their hard efforts gone to waste and then the consequences that would befall them once Goma were to realise this.

They all turned pale and felt a chill run down their spines as they began to imagine the horrendous torture their master would put through them if he found out, "N…NOOOO!" Specter wailed as he fell to his knees and began crying into his hankie, believing he had failed his son and was terrified of what he'd be going through after this.

"We can't lose! Not now! And certainly not to those clowns!" Sheer screeched as she began biting her finger nails and her teeth chattered.

"If Goma finds out about this….." Gavro croaked before they all gulped in unison. As far as they could see their options for survival were non existent. If they returned to Goma begging for mercy he'd do away with them the moment he laid eyes on them, and if they fled he'd blame them for his setback and there was nowhere in the universe they could possibly escape from his wrath! The only chance they'd have of surviving was if they gave themselves up, which was a big definite no for them, either way ti was clear they lost and the jig was up for them no matter what they tried. Dark panicked thoughts began to arise amongst them as they felt themselves trapped in a cage right in the middle of a pool of quicksand…..

On the other side though, the Alpha gang were beginning to celebrate with victory upon seeing they had managed to defeat the space pirates as well as destroy the shield generator as they had planned. "We did it!"

"Hooray for us! Yippee!"

"Who knew being the good guys would actually be this fun! I could get used to this!" The trio cheered jumping up and down for joy and swallowed up by their excitement, while their dinosaurs roared out in triumph as well.

"Well done you three," Dr Z smiled at them proudly right after he finished petting his therizinosaurus on the face, "As a reward for not screwing this up, maybe I might actually give you a place in my inner circle once I fully establish my dinosaur kingdom when this is over with." He then stated primly which made them all brighten up with glistening teary eyes as they fell to their knees overwhelmed with emotion at their boss' generosity.

"Oh Dr Z thank you! Your kindness knows no limits!" Ursula praised as she also took back all nasty things she ever said about him.

"We're eternally grateful for this! We swear you shall never regret this!"

"We are not worthy!" Zander and Ed both bowed down before him and prostrated themselves.

All their words of praise and worship were beginning to feed right into Dr Z's ego and pride as he grinned and held his head up high, "Hehehe, you have no idea how much I want to dance and do a victory jig right this moment!" he jittered with excitement feeling on the verge of exploding into a victory dance. He soon however snapped out of it as he began to realise there was more impotent work to be done. They may have destroyed the shield generator but it was time they wrapped things up and finished the job with the space pirates, no way could they just leave such loose ends unattended, "But for now we-" A rumble suddenly began to shake underneath where they were which caught them by surprise.

"Huh?" All of a sudden a chunk of rock fell right in front of where Dr Z was, making him jump back and turn pale!

SMASH!

"WAAAH!" He screamed as Ursula held him back and the dinosaurs growled startled as to how it happened without warning.

"Dr Z! Get back!"

"You okay!?" His men asked him as he began to breathe heavy, his face wincing with terror knowing he could have been turned to mush had he been an inch further.

"Wh…What's that!?" He cried pointing out at the cracked piece of debris in front of him, sweat trickling down his face like rain and his eyes widening with reddened veins hinting how shaken and edgy he was feeling.

As they all began to look up, they widened their eyes and turned pale as they recognised a red alert threat right above them!

"EEEP! We'll be pancakes!" The trio squealed as they scrunched up their faces together and their dinosaurs let out worried and concerned cries seeing the roof was cracking piece by piece, small bits were already falling out of it and it could give way at any second!

Dr Z gulped, seeing there was nothing to decide, it was obvious what they should do right this instant! "On second thought! Forget the space pirates! Run for your lives!" He cried out to them in panic as he jumped out of Ursula's arms and made a beeline for the door!

"No need to tell us twice Dr Z!"

"Saving ourselves is way more important!"

"WAAAAH!" They all then screamed as they scurried out through the door terrified while their dinosaurs raced after them, smashing through the doors and leaving a giant hole upon their exit.

CRASH!

Hearing the smashing sound, the space pirates were sapped out of their fearful thoughts on Goma punishing them, as they then looked ahead curiously as to where they heard the yelp, "Huh?" In surprise they found the Alpha gang had left for some odd reason, and through the holes they left in the exit doors they could see them running panicked for some reason.

Whatever the case they began to grin and snicker in amusement, "Hey look! They're running away scared of us!" Specter pointed out.

"Hehehehe! Serves them right!" Foolscap chuckled as he rubbed his palms together, "They knew they'd be no match for us so they made the smart decision!" he grinned.

"Guess humans aren't as dumb as we thought after all." Gavro smiled as he and the other male zanjark began to make all sorts of mocking noises and gestures such as sticking tongues out or shaking their butts out.

"Nyeh! Nyeh!" While being completely oblivious to what was really going on, as small pebbles began to fall from the ceiling around them.

Unlike them, Sheer narrowed her eyes feeling rather suspicious as to what was going on, the humans and them at their mercy and yet still chose to retreat, something didn't add up and she wasn't about to blindly look to the bright side. A pebble fell on her head, getting her attention as she looked up from where it came from, only to turn pale and her heart to skip a beat as she saw the ceiling was cracking high above them and was about to cave in on them at any second! She quickly reached out her hand and began tapping Specter's shoulder frantically, "Umm boss, I don't think those humans were running from us." She spoke out to him weakly as he and the other zanjark looked to her in annoyance for spoiling their victory party.

"Hmm? What do you mean Sheer?" He grumbled at her with a raised eyebrow, as she simply pointed for him to look up.

As the rest of her cohorts followed where she pointed, they widened their eyes upon seeing the real reason why the Alpha gang had decided to make a quick getaway, "Uh oh…." They all gulped as the ceiling began to crack apart and before long the entire structure collapsed all at once! A rain of debris and rocks began to fall around right where they were as they huddled together in a panic as the ground and the entire room began to shake, dislodging a giant boulder from high above which collapsed right where they were standing! "GAAAAAHH!" They screamed, frozen stiff as the boulder along with the entire ceiling began to collapse on them completely, burying them under layers of rock and concrete!

CRASH!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Outside the battle continued to rage fiercely between the Resistance troopers, captains and dinosaurs against the Shadow empire's gel jarks and fortress defences. In comparison the humans and dinosaurs, the jarks never tired out nor did their machine lose any energy or have any need to cool down, giving them a deadly endurance advantage over the humans! They tensed up as many troopers found themselves surrounded, Blaze and Marina stood back to back with their dinosaurs protecting them on both sides while Craig and Kaze were already on their last legs while trying to protect the injured and defeated. Already heavily shorthanded with a number of their troopers down, vehicles destroyed and dinosaurs reverted, they tensed up as they made their final stand with the gel jarks closing in and the turrets time at them…..till suddenly…..

"AH!" They widened their eyes in surprise as the turrets sounded a dying robotic echo before the cannons drooped down having been depowered or lost all energy much to their surprise.

"The turrets all stopped firing….." Marina commented in surprise, feeling suspicious about that was going on, as her suchomimus and camarasaurus looked around scanning the situation for any other changes.

What was even more surprising was that the gel jarks that were about to fire or attack, suddenly stopped their advance before fizzling uncontrollably and then lose their form before melting down into slimy puddles!

"They're all melting!" Kaze exclaimed in surprise as his dinosaurs backed away feeling rather unnerved by the development.

Craig suddenly widened his eyes as he pointed ahead, "Look! The shield's coming down!" he gasped as they saw the forcefield around the citadel also shut down and vanished away completely.

"And the meteor's stopped too!" Blaze pointed out as they could see the giant fireball which was larger than Mount Everest itself, leave the skies of their world and disappear deep into the darkness of the night as the Auroras lit up brightly as if the planet was celebrating this joyous miracle in its time for ages to come.

Down below applause and cheers erupted amongst the Resistance troopers as they and their dinosaurs let out joyous praises, jumped around waving their arms in a frenzy or even did jolly dances and jigs with one another as they did their own celebration to commemorate this moment, "Woo hoo!"

"Yeah!"

"I knew they could pull it off! I just knew it!"

"Like there was any doubt at all!"

Back in the Resistance HQ, right in the main room, Lunensis' eyes brightened with hope and joy to see the giant rock which was about to destroy the planet was being redirected back into he dark recesses of space again! The threat to their world had been averted to everyone's joy! "It's going back into space! They did it! The children did it!"

"Yay grampa!" Rod and Laura cheered as they high fived each other.

"Ahahahah!" Helga laughed clapping her hands together.

"Way to go!" Jonathan praised as he punched his arm forward.

They all began to cheer and applaud not just for the fact that they were saved but also giving honour and thanks to the ones who were responsible for it. The Resistance who bought the time the kids and Alpha gang needed to get inside, and for them to be able to pull off this astounding feat of saving the world not once but TWICE!

"Thank you…..you saved us all…." Lunensis breathed to himself with immense gratitude, placing a hand across his heart as he embedded this very memory deep inside him, promising himself and to everyone else to never lose faith again.

Their loved ones couldn't be more proud to have them as part of their families, "I couldn't be more happier of our son than I am now." Aki wept as she shed a tear from her eye which she flicked away.

"Same goes for all of us….." said Dr Owen as he stood with the other parents too who nodded together, feeling honoured to have been able to raise such great children who would no doubt have grown well under their experiences which they learnt in their own and would no doubt be able to guide the world and its people into a great future indeed.

Back on tundra, while everyone was enjoying their moment of glory and believing peace had come at long last and wanted to enjoy it, Blaze however shook his head clear as he remembered they still needed to make sure they finished the job for good. Clapping his hands he got everyone's attention as they focused on him, "Okay everyone, let's put the victory cake back in the freezer for now!" He then pointed head of them, "It's time the shadow empire got what's coming to them!"

Soon after everyone began to agree with him "Yeah! Let's make em pay for all they did!" Some of them were getting riled up and itching for a beatdown, made evident in some of the dinosaurs present who let out angered roars or stomped their feet hard into the ground.

They then looked ahead towards the shadow citadel, as Blaze held his arm up telling them to hold back until he gave the call, "On my signal! Ready! G-"

Before he could finish, a quake suddenly rumbled from the citadel which traversed through he ground so hard small cracks could be seen underneath form ahead which shook up the resistance violently and even startled the dinosaurs, disorienting them greatly!

"AAAAAAH!"

"Wh….What's happening!?" Marina suddenly gasped as she could feel herself nearly thrown off her feet, as around her a few troopers had already fallen to the ground and some dinosaurs were bellowing in a panic, some of which had to be returned before they could rampage or fall.

"Look!" Kaze then pointed ahead widening his eyes as the citadel itself began to crack apart and eventually collapse in on itself! Like a tower made of blocks, the increased instability and shaking caused it to break apart and crack apart as its walls buckled and towers split apart as it appeared to almost sink into a giant hole in the process!

"It's collapsing in on itself!" Craig pointed out.

Soon the rest of them realised to their horror that it wasn't the earthquakes they had to worry about, it was who was still inside the collapsing structure that mattered!

"NO! The children!"

"And the Alpha gang are still in!" They gasped as it appeared as though their mightiest and bravest heroes whom they believed and looked up to….all sank into the collapsing base of their hated enemies and lost forever….

Inside the HQ, the D Team's loved ones watched in horror as they saw first hand the collapse of the Empire on itself and erupting from it was an immense cloud of dust.

"MAX!"

"ZOE!"

"Rex!" Their respective parents gasped in alarm as it appeared their precious children were gone…..

"Grampa!"

"Dr Z!" Rod, Laura and Helga felt exactly the same way for their beloved grandfather, and deep down they even felt worried for the sake of their other friends who appeared to have fallen too….

"CERA!" Lunensis shouted out loud in anger as he held out his arm at the screen, before falling to his knees, "No…." He soon fell into despair, that he lost her again after all they went through together….just when they had won at last fate dealt them another unfair hand at the price of their victory….making it seem almost worthless everything they endured.

"This can't be…."

"No…." Tears and weeping began to sound from both HQ and along the Antartic tundra, as the warm joyous moment suddenly turned cold and cruel….

It all seemed hopeless at first…..That the great heroes who saved the world had fallen….the day of victory over the shadow empire would soon turn to one of mourning instead of cheers it seemed for the Resistance…..till suddenly several vehicles trust out for the dust and drove onto the icy surface right towards the rest of the resistance forces! And right behind them their dinosaurs all raced right behind them too! Much to the surprise of the entirety of the resistance!

"AH!"

Max and the others quickly called out to them on their monitors, "Don't worry guys!"

"We're okay!"

"Ahahaha!" they waved out their hands and laughed with big smiles on their faces as their dinosaurs bellowed out to their comrades all on the ice ahead!

"Yay! We're alive!" The Alpha gang all cheered happy to be alive and in one piece.

Immediately the feelings of sadness and lost quickly reversed into joy and hope once again, this time even more so than before now the the Resistance could celebrate and honour the great heroes return triumphantly, "Yes!"

"They made it out in one piece!"

"Ahahah! I knew they'd be fine the whole time!"

"Woo hoo!" Many of the troopers bore witnessed a grand miracle which they'd engrave into their hearts forever, as some celebrated by clapping or fist bumping one another, while those in the HQ either shed tears or took in the moment as something far more emotional and warm, with relief washing over them and chasing away their doubts and worries for them.

"It's a miracle….." Aki smiled as she shed a tear and clapped her hands together warmly.

"Indeed…." Lunensis nodded in agreement with her before smiling at ease, "And also…it's finally over….at last…." Their long nightmare was over, finally they could rest easy and at peace.

As they finally rendezvoused with the rest of the group, "Phew….thank goodness we made it out of there in time." Rex let out a heavy sigh of relief as he placed a hand to his chest, "A second longer and we'd be buried alive under all that rubble."

"Yeah, talk about cutting it close, Max wheezed as he slumped further into his car's seat, "If this was a game I'm never playing again." They were 5 seconds away from extinction, but thankfully they never gave up hope and kept doing the best they could and never faltered every step of the way….in the end their efforts bore fruit that would span seeds into the far future and would yield a bountiful harvest of peace and prosperity for humans and dinosaurs for years to come.

"Thanks Cera, if it wasn't for you I don't think we ever would have been able to pull it off." Said Zoe gratefully to Cera as she and her friends focused on her.

"You always come through for us when we need it most, and you're both a strong ally and an even greater friend." Rex nodded in agreement after her, "We'll always be grateful to have you with us no matter where or when we will be."

Cera though shook her head in disagreement, "No, it's thanks to you guys fighting so hard for us that we would never have been able to make it this far, nor would I have been able to find the strength and determination to keep going or to find out how I could help you all." She corrected them, "You all gave us dreams once, and now you gave us all renewed hope and resolve. Should danger ever come again like this, we'll never waver nor give up," she promised them with full assurance that she would make it so, "And you can be sure we'll make a future that you can all be proud of." She added at the end, feeling that with this victory over the shadow empire at long last everyone finally has the chance to start a clean slate and move on.

"Hehe, we're good with that." Max then chuckled feeling more satisfied than the answer he gave her.

"Ugh….my stomach feels all weird…." Ed then moaned as he felt his stomach churn all around inside, "Must be because I had too much excitement for one day…." He muttered uncomfortably as he turned green and his cheeks puffed up as he tried to hold in his last meal!

"Tell me about it Ed…." Zander moaned as he lay back inside his seat and then slumping to lie down on the entire couch cushion inside his driver compartment.

"Well I for one had more than my fair share of adventures for a lifetime." said Ursula as she stretched out her arms, feeling all exhausted and stiff after their recent battles and close shaves with death over and over again, "When we get home I'm treating myself to a week long spa vacation, full of nice long mud baths, massages and nothing to do with dinosaurs! Ahahahah!" She then laughed snobbishly.

"I second that." Zander raised his arm in agreement with her while lying down inside his rock crusher.

"Hmph! Speak for yourselves you wimps." Dr Z scoffed, "Now with those space clowns finally out of the picture, we can finally get started on building my almighty dinosaur kingdom in peace and quiet! Ahahahaha!" He then laughed rather snobbishly as his men sighed and sweat dropped at him.

"Heh….same old Dr Z….." Rex chuckled, though this time, after all they've been through he actually wouldn't mind helping out Dr Z in achieving his dream, just long as he built it the right way.

Everyone cheered and congratulated one another for each having made an important contribution and support to the cause as well as the team, and all proceeding well as they had believed it so….till some footsteps from behind caught the attention of a handful of them.

"Huh?" When Blaze and a few others looked back, they saw 4 figures limping out of the mists from where the citadel collapsed earlier. As they came closer into view, it was revealed to be Specter, Foolscap and Sheer carrying Gavro out of the murk, all of them appeared heavily battered with bruises and rips int heir clothing, made apparent from their base collapsing right on top of them and then having to dig their way out of all the rubble and shrapnel! Eventually having trekked a long way from out of the pit the 4 of them collapsed on the snowy ground and moaned in pain and agony as Garo's weight piled on them!

"URGH!"

"Ugh….Good thing you're body's the sturdiest material there is in the known universe Gavro…." Specter muttered in annoyance as he felt himself squashed under everyone else's weight, despite having managed to get under the burly pirate in time he somehow ended up as being the last one on the bottom therefore suffered the most pressure and weight from both his men and the fallen debris which collapsed on them.

"Yeah…lucky me…or us…." The red pirate moaned with his face buried deep in the snow, unsure of whether to take it as insult or a compliment.

Foolscap suddenly shot his head up gasping for air, barely managing to pull himself free from under Gavro, "It's a miracle we all survived and got out of there in one piece!" he cried out loud feeling relieved that they weren't buried alive under their own headquarters and were finally free from Goma at long last!

As Sheer wrestled herself out form under her boss and Gavro, she turned pale and swallowed hard upon seeing their current situation would make them wish they were buried in the ground, "Actually we won't be for long! Look!" she pointed out ahead of them while sweating frantically as her comrades looked to her curiously and then in the direction she pointed at.

"Huh? What do you-" As they all looked they widened their eyes to see they were completely surrounded by the Resistance captains and their squads!

"WAH!"

"Urk…." With no dinosaurs left to back them up, the 4 space pirates were outnumbered and completely helpless!

"YOU!"

"There isn't a punishment worthy of all you've done!"

"When we're finished with you, you'd wished you stayed buried underground!" They all began to shout in fury towards their hated foes! Goma may not have been present so they assumed he may have been buried deeper or better yet perished in the battle, so they were willing to settle with his 4 generals instead.

"YEEP!" The space pirates yelped before trying to act innocent as they could, hoping to earn sympathy from the Resistance as they protracted themselves or flashed puppy dog eyes.

"Eheheh….we're….sorry?" Specter squared as he clapped his hands and pouted like a child.

"It was all Goma's idea! We swear!" Gavro and Sheer both cried, "We never even liked or wanted to go through with it!"

"T…T…Take it easy! Let's be civil here!" Foolscap stuttered as he waved out his arms frantically, though their efforts only seemed to further aggravate the people they wronged unjustly.

"You be civil all you want, but we prefer justice!" Blaze yelled angrily as he pipped his knuckles and Craig punched a fist into the palm of his hand as they, the troopers and their dinos all agtehrend around the now weak and defenceless space pirates and were aiming to give them a colossal sized beatdown for the ages!

Glares and snarls all amassed around them as they could watch helpless as they found themselves puny and overwhelmed by the size of both the Resistance forces and the dinosaurs they brogan with them who towered over them like trees ready to bury them in the ground and make fossils out of them!

The space pirates turn pale, shuddered with sheer terror and sweated profusely as their day of reckoning had come upon them, "It's time for you to answer for all your crimes you committed on Earth and to countless other worlds you wronged and robbed!" Kaze yelled pointing at them as his dinosaurs snarled with venom and couldn't wait to sink their teeth into fresh meat! "You're all through!" Upon his yell, the resistance and their dinosaurs all rushed in aiming to give the space pirates exactly what their deeds earned them!

"YIKES!"

"HELP!"

"Mercy!"

"Not the face!" They all squealed as they shook out their arms or covered out afraid of what was about to happen to them!

Before the Resistance could reach them however, a massive pillar of dark energy suddenly erupted out from the sinkhole where the fortress stood, sending shockwaves through the ground and shaking everyone up violently!

"AAAAAH!"

It soon travelled to where the D Team and Alpha gang were as they and their dinos were shaken up too! "Wh…What now!?" Zoe cried!

"Why is it every time we think we've won, something always comes back to bite us back in the butt!?" Ed whined, from personal experience back when they were at odds with the D Team this happened to them more than they could count, even when they turned over a new leaf for the better they still couldn't get away from jinxing it!

Seeng the situation was growing too dangerous and the pit was growing larger from the instability, "Everyone stand clear!" Blaze yelled out loudly as he held out his arm warning the others to keep back as the cracks from the pit began to race after them!

"MOVE!" Craig then shouted as everyone stood clear and retreated further away from the collapsing sinkhole!

"WAAAAH!" The Resistance screamed as they ran back putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the pit!

"GAAAH!" The space pirates saw the cracks heading right for them, taking a cue from the humans and dinosaurs they spread out their wings and flew up as high as they could, where they looked down an got a bird's eye view of the destruction ensuing down below, and the debut of the very destroyer itself emerging from the ruins of their Fortress!

As everyone fixed their eyes on the pillar of dark energy erupting from the ruins, it soon took form and curled into eh form of a giant energy sphere which suspended in mid air while sparking with dark purple lightning, in an aura much like the dark pterosaur gave off.

"What the!?"

"What's going on now!?" Max and Dr Z were soon about to get their answer, though they would soon wish they didn't…..

The sphere soon twisted itself, sprouting a pair of giant clawed arms and clawed feet which landed on the ground with a huge thud which shook the earth! After that the rest of the sphere turned more serpentine, sprouting out a long serpentine tail with a pair of spikes at the end and even a pair of monstrous feathery wings! The head of the beast soon sprouted out from the top, a long slender head with a pair of feathery antennae much like that of the Dark Pterosaur's, only this time, its head appeared more reptilian and a set of ferocious serrated teeth formed in its jaws as it opened its glowing purple eyes! The gigantic beast let out a terrifying roar which sent out a wave of dark energy which everyone did their best to brace for as they held out their arms or took shelter behind anything large to cover them!

ROAR!

"AAAAH!"

"What…is that thing!?"

"A dragon!?" Everyone gasped or cried out in sheer disbelief as they stared face to face of an entirely new and even more terrifying monster than they had ever encountered or even imagined!

On the D Team's end, they stared in sheer utter disbelief at what they were bear witnessing with their own eyes, "Guys! You seeing what I'm seeing!?" Max gasped as he felt his heart skip a beat, recognising the form of the dragon to be very familiar to an ancient enemy they once defeated a while back, "Doesn't that remind you of-"

"The Dark Pterosaur…." Cera hissed tensely, recalling who it formed when the Cosmos stones were untied the last time…..the last time they saw the stones was when Goma absorbed them into himself but they in turn consumed him and his eocarcharia completely! Which meant-

"AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!" The dragon suddenly let out a spine chilling demonic laughter which echoed across the Antarctic tundra! The sound of that monstrous cackle sent chills down the spines of everyone present, but none of them were more shocked and stunned than the D Team, who recognised that very voice anywhere!

"That voice!" Max gasped.

"Is that….GOMA!?" Rex widened his eyes in disbelief.

Everyone else present and at HQ who witnessed this nightmare unfold before their eyes stared with hung jaws and in utter speechlessness, that the emperor of darkness not only survived, but now was a real monster beyond imagining!

"Why…..Why do they always come back?" Lunensis breathed before shaking in utter terror and anger at the same time, "Why can't they ever stay down!?"

The now revived Goma, now in the form of a demonic dragon of the cosmos, stared down on his many enemies who were truly no more than insects now before him! He grinned a sinister grin as his eyes flashed purple and he let out a soul crushing roar! "Foolish mortals! For even thinking you could stand up against the might of a God, you've invited your own destruction right to your own doorstep!" He shrieked at the top of his lungs! "ROAR!"

The sound of his dark cry shook forth the lands and blew everyone back several feet away and even cracked the foundation of the land itself, shattering mountains around them and causing glaciers to crack apart and sink below the sea waves! "AAAAH!" Looking ahead, The D Team gritted their teeth tensely under pressure as the darkest hour of their darkest day of all had arrived…..

"Ahahahah! Prepare for oblivion!" The dragon roared out at them as he stretched out his wings, and then firing out beams of dark energy which began to destroy anything they made contact with all around them! The Resistance widened their eyes as the skies of Antartica became swallowed up by darkness, blocking out the bright lights of the aurora as their darkest hour had dawned upon them…

 **Thus the final battle for the fate of both the Earth and the universe draws near. Stay tuned as the Reaper's Wrath is about to doom the planet and Goma now becomes the Ultimate Destroyer God! How will the D Team and the Resistance possibly prevail!? Stay tuned as the climax approaches and the conclusion to this titanic tale across time approaches.**

 **Sorry this took so long, wanted to post the finale as back to back, stay tuned as it comes soon.**

 **P.S-the Resistance's entrance to Goma's base, I got that idea from Avengers endgame which was one of the most epic scenes I ever saw on the big screen. When seeing the battle raging you can look to Transformers War for and Fall of Cybertron with the war and chaos reigning between both sides.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **Anonymous**

 **-Glad you like it.**

 **Tsukikami02**

 **-Indeed if you think things were intense earlier what do you think now?**

 **That's what makes Goma the most powerful of them all and the Leader of the Shadow Empire. That flashback was something he discovered himself when he took in the power of the cosmos stones the first time. If the stone plates survived and became the tablet, it's natural that their equal and opposites, the cosmos stones would too, otherwise this wouldn't come to be.**

 **And yes, let's just say the Resistance will be receiving some special help next chapter in the face of this great calamity.**

 **Thanks for the suggestion but it's a little late for to be adding that kind of flashback in now at this point but just consider it did happen already with no need to write it down. Stay tuned for the final chapter to come.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-That's what makes eocarcharia so powerful and now as you've jut seen he and Goma have become insanely strong too after fully binding to the stones. Despite being shattered Goma rearmoured them again but ultimately they fell once more.**

 **The Reaper's Wrath was 3 times bigger than that which killed the dinosaurs in the DS game so yup it's definitely larger.**

 **Glad you liked the story too.**


	60. Towards a new future

Chapter 60

Towards a new future

Great storms began to erupt across the cold polar seas, as the waves tossed and turned violently with the skies turning a dark purple and red, the same as those of the cosmos stone itself as it spread out from the Shadow Empire's location and began creeping across the skies and swallowing up the light! Purple lightning also struck down all around from the black clouds itself, as Goma, now infused with the power of the cosmos stones, was reborn anew and more deadlier than ever! He let out a terrifying roar as if to challenge the very Gods themselves before staring down with a menacing glare upon the lowly insects who had dared stand in his way from the start of this entire war, the Resistance, who were now petrified completely by fear and terror which flooded every vein in their bodies as well as raining every inch of their resolve and spirit too.

Cera, the D Team, the Alpha gang and everyone one present or watching from the Resistance HQ were stunned beyond belief at the monster which now presented itself before them, and they were at a complete loss for words and found it impossible to processing what they just bore witnessed.

"Oh no…." Lunensis let out a heavy gasp as the others in the base, though wear away and underground they felt as though Goma was literally staring at them through the screens! The parents huddled close to their respective spouses for protection as so did the others for whoever they felt most secure with. Try as they might, deep down they knew that no matter where they would run or hide, no one in this planet or any other would be safe now…..

On the icy plains those who bore witness this calamity unfold before them got a front row seat of it and they were far from pleased.

"No way…." Cera stared speechlessly as she and the rest of the group looked on, quaking in terror or anxiety over what the dragon would do next and what would soon become of them and their planet now!

"I don't believe it…." Max felt the most impacted by this development as he felt his heart sink deep inside his chest, "He's….become one with the stones…." he choked as if something was squeezing the very life and breath out of him. This situation was nothing like what happened with the space pirates the first time this happened, they weren't able to fully control the stones and it overtook then, here….it seemed Goma had reversed the situation and now absorbed the stones themselves into him and now he was able to manipulate their full power at will!

Others around her stared speechlessly, either in angst or gritting their teeth with anger, believing their worst enemy of all to have been gone at first after all they threw at him….only to return even more powerful than before!

Max soon clicked his tongue as he began to feel the tension in the air had never been higher than before, "Tch! Things just got from really bad to even worse….." he hissed in anger towards Goma's tenacity, now they were starting to understand how their enemies felt the way they never gave up trying to stop their evil plans….yet to be faced with a villain who wouldn't give up his evil schemes, they didn't know how to respond to that.

"Why can't we just win and have a happy ending already!?" Ed suddenly cried out in agony, "What did we ever do to deserve this!?"

"I'm scared! I just want go home!" Zander then wailed after him.

"Me too!" Ursula soon joined in, wishing they could just go home and retire from anything dinosaur related.

"Quit whining you ninnies!" Dr Z spat at them in disgust, "What are you!? Afraid of some giant cosmos monster!? We beat one before remember!?"

It didn't take long though for him to have his words shoved right back down his throat, "Ahahahahaha!" Goma let out some demonic laughter as he flared out his massive wings and his eyes flashed bright purple, "You shall all suffer my wrath! Prepare for your end!" He roared as the storms around him intensified and soon began to spread across the planet, striking lightning down across the lands as far as the Americas and Asia! Everywhere people and dinosaurs across the planet suffered from the wrath of storms, earthquakes and tsunamis! They began to run screaming in panic, as if the momentary peace they were beginning to enjoy was but the calm before the storm, and everything from their houses and small livelihoods they rebuilt thus far was beginning to be wiped out in an instant!

Upon hearing the dragon's demonstration of power, Dr Z's courage suddenly fizzled out like a candle under a waterfall, "EEP! Of course it didn't talk or have a will of its own back then…." He gulped hard as his old decrepit heart was beginning to race dangerously and he turned as pale a ghost, "Plus we don't have the stone plates with us now at the moment ehehehe…he…." He chuckled anxiously, feeling as though his very short time left was already accelerated and could run out for in mere moments for all of them the way things were going!

Like everyone else around them, the space pirates too were stunned beyond imagining as they heard the voice that echoed from the dragon's roars. "Th…That voice!" Sheer exclaimed as Foolscap and Garo's jaws hung and they began sweating like crazy, they knew he was insanely strong before but now they had absolutely no words to describe how terrified they were to see him now.

"It…can't be…." Specter widened his eyes and shuddered in an almost horrified way as he saw what his son had transformed into, "G…GOMA!? My son!? What's happened to you my precious little boy!?" He exclaimed unable to decide whether he should be proud or terrified at him actually being taking things this far with the cosmos stones more than he ever could.

"He's….big boss." Gavro answered him bluntly as he and the other adult pirates began to shudder in complete terror, at the monstrosity Goma had manifested himself as! His newly acquired form, demonstrated pure omnipresence of the darkest form far greater than anything imaginable, not even when they brought the cosmos stones together had they been able to bring forth a result such as this! It was clear now they were beginning to see the true difference between themselves and Goma and it made them feel insignificant and puny.

"The more I look at him the more I'm starting to see being an evil maniac runs in the family…." Foolscap swallowed down hard as bullets of sweat began to fall down from his face and his teeth began to chatter, both from the Antarctic cold and in fear, "Note to self, if I ever have a kids make sure I treat them with proper respect and give them whatever want and when they ask it." He told himself making a vow if he lived past this.

"Better yet Foolscap, don't have any at all!" Sheer shouted frantically in terror while also correcting him as she shook a fist right at his face.

"Oh yeah good point there." He then replied agreeing with her completely as Gavro nodded too deciding to follow said advice.

Max however, soon recovered from his initial shock as he began to remember what they were fighting for all this time, and seeing that situation hadn't changed in the slightest but just became far more critical than before. Gritting his teeth hard and shouted out at the top of his lungs, "GRR! You think you're so tough just cos you're big don't you Goma!?" He yelled in defiance as a few of the others with him including his friends tensed up and hardened themselves for battle, "Well we're not scared of you one bit! We'll fight to defend our planet to the end!" He yelled as he shook a fist right at him!

The dragon looked down upon Max in amusement, as a dark toothy grin spread across his face in sight of the boy's valiant but far less than futile display, "Hoh? Bold words coming from mere insects." he scoffed seeing he was merely shouting empty words driven by sole emotion with nothing to back it up. It was like an ant shouting in defiance to a grizzly bear, while amusing he decided to entertain Max's fantasy of still being able to fight under such circumstances, "Come then, see if you can back them up! I dare you!" He then roared welcoming Max's challenge, his very voice shaking the foundations of the Earth itself and everyone on it! It would seem that he'd have to give a demonstration of his newfound might if it meant that he'd truly be able to prove his might as an almighty deity and then crush all false hope they may harbour or held onto, plus it would be all the more entertaining to see them struggle pitifully and satisfying to grind them under his heel.

Cera soon shook her head, chasing away her worries and replaced them with anger as she was reminded that even under all that power it was still Goma in the end, the same Zanjark who started this accursed war in the first place. "You won't be talking so smug with us when we're done with you!" She shouted fearlessly, no matter what form he took she still intended to make sure he saw justice for his crimes against Earth and even the universe! Miku also shared her mindset as she let out an agitated screech as the dark cosmic energies from the dragon represented everything she despised.

"Yeah! You're going down!" Max the yelled as he punched forward showing no fear at all, "Let's go Chomp!" As he cried out, Chomp roared a powerful bellow as he charged straight towards Goma! Even in the face of a titanic sized monster which dwarfed him and everyone else around him, he refused to quit and would fight any enemy to the death it if could prevent extinction to his world like how it happened before, as he recalled the first time it happened and how he wished he could've saved the triceratops herd and other dinosaurs then….no way was he about to let such a calamity befall his world again!

"Ace! Paris! You're with us!"

"For our planet!" Zoe and Rex both followed up as Paris and Ace both backed Chomp up and followed right behind him as they made their stand against the colossal dragon who let out a huge roar at them! They dug in their heels and held on despite the immense shockwaves they felt from it, shielding there partners behind them as they proved they weren't afraid in the slightest!

Cera too felt the same way, as she slashed her card and summoned forth eoraptor who transformed into saurophaganax as she charged in to stand by her friends' side!

Upon sighting the D Team charging into battle without hesitation, the Resistance widened their eyes in complete disbelief at the children throwing caution to the wind as they were prepared to go head on right into battle against a monster! Instead of being inspired and rallying to them, many of the Resistance thought their behaviour to be nonsensical and insane!

"Are they crazy!?"

"They'll get massacred!" Under normal circumstances they would have felt inspired to right with them, but in face of such a monstrous calamity before them which would doom their entire planet, they saw the D Team to be throwing away their lives and many of them had given up on hope believing it was a lost cause to continue fighting.

Eventually, driven and blinded by fear, several troopers along with their dinosaurs began to turn tail and run for their lives!

"We're all goners! I'm out of here!"

"Retreat!"

Many of them had began to abandon their comrades who were still recovering or were able to fight, believing that it was crazy for them to even think they could do anything and that they were merely living a childish fantasy of victory and no more, even harbouring doubts and regrets about coming here in the first place!

The captains couldn't believe what they heard as their troops were daring to actually abandon them in their time of most need!

"Wait! Stop! We need you!" Blaze yelled out to them as he horned from his rock crusher and his dinosaurs Daigo and Gorgon roared, only for them to be completely ignored!

"Don't go! Please!" Marina pleaded to several of her forces and dinosaurs who were leaving but her pleas fell and eat ears, completely blocked out by fear.

Kaze gritted his teeth knowing that they weren't fit to be part of the Resistance if they gave up so easily, and he didn't bother calling hem back seeing they made their decision, "Grrgh! Cowards! Guess we'll have to do this ourselves!" His ninjas were thankfully loyal to the end as they all drove off to back up Max and the D Team, knowing what was right!

"Wait for us!" Ursula then yelled out, feeling every fibre in her body screaming to save herself as she drove on ahead after the other deserters to save her own skin, the again if the whole universe was going to be erased there really was no place else they could go, but fear clouded their judgement and the only thing on their minds was to get as far away from the Antarctic as they could.

"We're coming too!" Zander and Ed both squealed terrified as they attempted to follow after her, with their dinosaurs following them too as they too were beginning to have their fears of extinction again get to them too, only to be stopped by Dr Z yelling at them through the communicator!

"You 3 stay put!" His furious voice roared as he glared at them through the computer screen with a look that could kill them a million times over!

"EH!?" They widened their eyes and froze in their tracks as his eyes stared right into their souls, freezing them completely in their tracks faster than the cold winds did.

Dr Z then gnashed his teeth with fury as he glared right up at Goma who appeared to almost stare at them mockingly and he wasn't about to take that lying down, "I'm not about some intergalactic abomination take over MY world!" he sneered clenching his hands into a tight fist, "We're staying put! You hear me!?"

"B…But Dr Z…He's huge!" Zander screams his head off as he felt on the verge of wetting his pants and his seat.

"We'll get annihilated in an instant!" Ursula cried out her concerns worried for not just herself but for the rest of them too.

He then shot a piercing glare towards them through the monitors, "Would you rather feel his wrath or MINE!?" he hissed threateningly.

It was obvious the choice the A Team would make in a heartbeat, knowing that if they were doomed to be destroyed if they ran away Dr Z would wring their necks and squeeze their souls right out of their own bodies, "P…Point taken!" They croaked hard and gulped down with both fear and heavy reluctance of doing this. While it seemed foolish to go into a battle they had absolutely no chance at, last thing they wanted though was to take the furious heart stopping glare of Dr Z as their final thoughts into the after life. At least this way if anyone did manage to defeat Goma or at least survive this ordeal then they'd be remembered as heroes as consolation….despite it being really small and almost pointless to them.

"Good!" He nodded in approval at having made the right and smart decision for the first time in a long while. As he looked ahead to see the demonic dragon roar out, he gritted his teeth and fearlessly pointed ahead, "Now onward Alpha gang! YAAAH!" He yelled screaming a battle cry as he pressed on the accelerator and charged forth, with therizinosaurus flaring out his claws as he faithfully followed his father into the fray with the D Team!

"Y….Yes Dr Z!"

"Whatever you say!" They then cried, feeling motivated by threats and peer pressure they rushed forward blindly as Terry, Tank and Spiny, unwilling to let humans outdo them in the bravery department, roared out before following them into battle without hesitation as they joined their comrades in arms in the battle for the survival of their species and the fate of their own world at stake!

Hearing their battle cries and roars, many of the deserters turned back an widened their eyes in alarm at what they just saw.

"There they go!"

"Are they insane!?"

"They've lost all common sense!" They began to exclaim.

However, some of them soon began to change their minds as they began to feel ashamed of themselves for turning tail and running when mere children were still willing to stand firm and defend their planet to the end, "NO! They're right! We can't quit now!" One woman then yelled as she tensed up with determination alongside her Alpha rajasaurus which roared out furiously towards Goma, seeing how the Alpha gang was motivated to continue fighting, who the legendary heroes they believed in were united together, they felt inspired and so no reason why they shouldn't join the battle too in order to save the world they fought so hard to protect.

"Grrgh! Fine alright! We'll fight too!"

"Our world and friends need us! We can't abandon them! It'd be the end of everything we fought for!"

"Into the fray!"

"For Earth!" They began to yell, motivated by peer pressure or by guilty consciences at their own actions as they summoned out their dinosaurs and returned to the battlefield! The skies turned colourful too with the battlefield having returned, and some downed members felt motivated by the return of their comrades as well as those already fighting, as they got back up too and joined them in a single united front!

In sight of the armies of man and dinosaurs rallying together in a last ditch effort to take him on, Goma gained a malicious smirk as he outstretched his arms and wings, "Ahahaha! Yes! Come! There is no greater honour than to fall at the hand of a God!" he boasted his immense power, confident in his abilities to be more than sufficient as he welcomed them all to take him on and fail!

"Let's go Chomp! Lightning strike!" Max yelled out at the top of his lungs as he slashed the card, causing Chomp to charge up his signature lightning attack before firing out a beam of lightning right towards the enormous dragon! Max grinned and clenched his hand into a tight fist with excitement as it nearly reached their most hated enemy, "The bigger they are the harder they-" Before he could finish, to his and everyone else's horror the lightning strike merely phased through the dragon's body harmlessly before firing out the other end into the sky! Seeing his attack rendered completely useless, Max turned pale and his heart skipped a beat, "Are to take down…." He finished at the end, swallowing down what felt like a rock in his throat as everyone stared unblinkingly and speechlessly at what they just witnessed.

"AAAH!"

"I don't believe what I just saw!"

"Is he a g…g..ghost!?" Already many of them including the Alpha gang were beginning to feel fear's ice cold grip around their hearts and slowly lose their nerve and courage to continue.

In response the demonic dragon soon let out an amused cackle which echoed through the darkness of the night, "Ahahah! Was that supposed to hurt me? That didn't even tickle!" He roared an eerie holler which made the blood of many run cold.

Despite the overwhelming strength and monstrous powers Goma wielded in his claws, some of them still weren't willing to give up, seeing this as a reason to try harder rather than give up!

"Oh yeah!? Well….try this on for size!" Zoe gritted her teeth in defiance as she slashed a move card, "Green impulse!" Paris let out a loud bellow summoning forth a flock of tupuxuara which began to surround Goma, swooping acrobatically around his legs, tail and wings as they began to glow with green energy before spearing right through the dragon's body! Unfortunately, instead of sapping away any energy, as the tupuxuara flock shot out of his form, they screeched in pain as they were covered in all kinds of burns and scars before growing green and reverting back into a single move card to Zoe's horror! "OH NO!"

"Even that didn't have any effect on him!"

"It's hopeless! We're doomed!" Some of the troopers then cried out as they began to lose hope.

"Keep trying everyone!" Marina shouted at the panicked and terrified soldiers, refusing to give into peer pressure and let it throw off her cool, "Don't give up! Something has to work!" Upon her command her awakened camarasaurus summoned forth Futabasaurus which fired a burst of water from its jaws only for it to phase through without any effect!

Terry, Tank and Spiny fired off magma blaster, spike arrows and hydro cutter too but like the others before them none of their moves didn't even manage to make a dent or so much as scratch Goma as they began to step back nervously.

"Easier said than done!" Ursula yelled out frantically in response to Marina, as her heart began to race and she began to get sweaty all over her seat was pretty much drenched and even starting to smell much to her discomfort.

"Yeah! Our attacks aren't even fazing him!" Zander screamed in frustration as everyone's attacks had absolutely no effect!

Others began to fire off various attacks like rock roller, fire cannon, leaf blades and bubble attack but none of their attacks couldn't even touch the dark dragon! Pterosaurs like pteranodon and tapejara whooped at the dragon fearlessly from all angels, but they were ether swatted away by the beast's massive arms or as they passed through it like Zoe's tupuxuara, they suffered under the punishing influence of the dark energies of the cosmos stones causing them to revert back to card form! A seismosaurus and supersaurus were summoned too but they barely made it to half the height of the dragon! Swinging their massive tails through it, they merely phased through the gaseous form of Goma and emerge the other end all singed and burned as they bellowed in pain to the others' horror!

"So when will you be launching your real attack hmm? I'm starting to get bored." Goma then scoffed at them and believing his time to be wasted with such puny counterattacks.

"That thing's unstoppable! We can't even touch him!" Craig shouted his frustrations out as his men sweated or tensed, their dinosaurs coming together to form a defensive front to protect their comrades behind them in advance.

Blaze gritted his teeth as Daigo and Gorgon, even in their altered forms, were beginning to pant and wheeze in exhaustion as they fired our fire cannons and were already beginning to lose stamina and the will to keep going, "Grr! We can't fight this way! We're just wasting time and energy!" he yelled.

"And at this rate we'll all be wiped out one by one!" Rex then cried out his worries seeing in the long run they'd wear themselves out before Goma would launch an attack of his own! It was as if his very presence was also draining the dinosaurs of their power as one by one they were beginning to collapse, losing air and energy before reverting to cards!

"Wh…What are we going to do now!?" Zoe then gasped widening her eyes seeing some of the dinosaurs who were backing her, being a szechuanosaurus and a pinacosaurus, suddenly collapse and changed back into cards!

"That's a good question….." Cera let out a heavy mutter, it was clear they never faced any threat like this before….She gritted her teeth tensely feeling the pressure get to her, but her spirit remained strong and she refused to quit, "Keep your eyes peeled! He has to have some kind of weakness somewhere!" she shouted out to them. Thinking as hard as she could, she widened her eyes upon realising they hadn't tried one strategy yet, and it just may work! "Wait guys! We've still got one final ace up our sleeves!" She gasped patting a fist into the palm of her hand in realisation.

The others looked to her in surprise, "W…We do?" Max asked.

She nodded back, "The same way we attacked the dark pterosaur last time!" she yelled which made them widen their eyes in realisation.

"AH!" They recalled how they combined their attacks last time and then broke through the other layer of the Dark pterosaur.

Soon they brightened up with hope and felt their spirits reenergised, "Yeah! That just might do it!" Zoe cheered clapping her hands together.

Rex then yelled out to everyone present, "Everyone! Let's use our moves together!" He called out as they soon began to get the message.

"Oh yeah!" Max then cheered loudly in excitement as one by one they took out their move cards!

"Ultimate fusion move!" They yelled slashing their move cards all at the same time! All their dinosaurs flawed in a bright array of rainbow colours as they fired off their attacks like fire cannon, gyro claw, emerald garden, falling water as well as counter blitz, which all then merged as a single energy blast which shot right at Goma! He stood his ground, snarling viciously and held out his arms as the collided, hitting its mark right at him and causing a massive explosion to erupt on contact!

BOOM!

A huge blinding light erupted from where he stood as everyone began to cheer feeling victorious at their success!

"Alright!"

"Goma's a goner!"

"Ahahah!" They grinned and smiled, some even high fived believing they did it at last….that was….until the light died down and the dragon emerged with but a mere hole in his chest which soon closed up in mere seconds!

"Hahahahaha! It could have fooled me!" Goma laughed it off taking the attack to be but a minor flesh wound which he healed quickly from and reducing their efforts to nothing!

"N…No way!" Max exclaimed as everyone reared back and started speechlessly, unable to comprehend what they just witnessed! "All those attacks and not one scratch!? That doesn't make any sense!" he cried.

Cera widened her eyes and turned pale at the sight of her best plan being shrugged off like it was nothing, "He…He can't be invincible….Everyone stay calm! I'm sure we're just overlooking something!" she cried desperately to them all in an effort to keep them calm and their hopes up….but she couldn't hide the truth that she was beginning to waver deep down underneath as her eoraptor stepped back and many of them were beginning to grow weary themselves.

"Hehe, keep telling yourself that." Goma scoffed it off as nonsense, "Even if that were true which of course isn't, by the time you discover it you'd be long dead by then! Ahahahaha!" He laughed out loud before a malevolent grin spread across his face and dark flames began to build up in his jaws! "Which happens to be right about….NOW!" He roared as he opened his massive jaws wide, into what looked like a bottomless pit deep inside his throat as a giant black ball of flame began to charge up inside it ready to go off at any second!

"WAH!" The D Team gasped as they and their allies widened their eyes in horror at what was about to happen

"I hate to bring even more bad news, but it looks its' that thing's turn to attack now!" Ed screamed as the monstrous dragon unloaded a dark rainbow like blast from his jaws straight at them all!

"RUN!"

"Take cover!" Cera and Rex then yelled warning them as everyone tried to retreat as fast as they could away from Goma's attack!

He was merciless as he was relentless, unwilling to give them a chance to fight back as he let loose everything he had from his jaws which fired out a huge dark shadow ball which cashed down like that of fire scorcher and then blowing them all back! "RAAAARRGGGHH!" The ball let out a powerful wave of shadow fire which blew over them and sent each and every one of them flying away like leaves in the wind and some of them were even swallowed up by the fires too!

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

As the attack ceased and the flames died down, revealing a massive dark scorcher crater in the middle of the Antarctic plains, with several vehicles charred black in the flames….It was a sight that no war movie aftermath could match in the sight of such sheer utter devastation!

From a white buggy, the door kicked open as Cera forced herself through the door and climbed out heavily discomforted, even sustaining a few bloody scratches across her face and arms as a result of broken glass from her shattered windshields and windows! Miku, who thankfully hid inside her shirt pocket, climbed out in a groggy way having been shaken up heavily as a result of the attack they just suffered. In her mind though, Cera couldn't care less about her own injuries and the beating they just took, only one thought continued to echo inside her which would haunt her for many moons.

"Urgh….such….power…." She grunted looking up hard from inside her vehicle, thankfully if it wasn't for the fact she was inside her buggy she would have been turned to ash in an instant. Her heart also sank heavily as she saw the immense devastation surrounding her, vehicles tossed aside like toys and overturned while charred black and steaming, some troopers were also thrown out of their buggies and lay almost lifeless on the field beside their cards, it was thankful that the dinosaurs could turn back to cards for if not they would have been reduced to atoms in an instant.

As for her friends, looking ahead she could see that the impact of the blast had knocked them out of range of the fires and thankfully their dinosaurs were still alive and able to fight. As they all got up, struggling up to their legs weakly, their partners had to get outside too and onto the Antarctic ice field, their vehicles having been knocked out of commission and now reducing them to fight by normal means….exposed to imminent danger. They too were filled with discomfort, horror or anger to see their comrades near the point of death and how much Goma was treating this suffering as a mere game! They glared at him in disgust for his unforgivable actions, at the same time tense knowing that there was little they could do about it after what they just witnessed and suffered….

"Yeah….and what's worse….." Rex then gritted his teeth hard as he and some of his friends came to a hard realisation, "I don't think that was his full power…."

As some troopers soon regained their senses, groggily and in pain, many of them soon felt fear overtake their senses completely as they began to rush out of their mobiles without hesitation or a backwards glance! "It's hopeless! We're doomed!"

"Run for your lives!"

"AAAAAH!" In an instant, every single trooper and dinosaur that miraculously except for the captains and their partners quickly abandoned all hope, seeing no use or any sense fighting a hopeless inevitable outcome, as they turned around and retreated without hesitation! Running or riding away as fast as they could without a backwards glance without looking back much to the shock of those who still remained behind or hadn't yet recovered, some of which were even abandoning the cards of their dinosaur partners on the battlefield, though they had reason to fear for their own safety more than others'.

"Come back! Wait!"

"NO! Don't go!"

"We need you!" But no matter how hard the D Team, captains or stragglers pleaded for their allies to help them, it was as if their hearts were completely closed off and all they could do was shoot empty words to the cold winter winds. It was most disheartening for them as they were left alone to face the dreaded might of Goma all by their lonesome making their difficult situation become nearly impossible.

Some of those who remained on the ground, unable to move due to injury, or remained standing on the field, fell down to their knees n despair, feeling themselves abandoned and all in the cold….as hopelessness and dread soon began to consume them from the inside too….

Further away as the space pirates looked on from behind a large icy hill they took shelter behind, having managed to sneak away in the heat of the battle, they widened their eyes as they looked out upon the battlefield to see the immense destruction and the Resistance had been all but reduced to a few measly stragglers who were still putting up one last feeble stand together inspire of the odds, and how Goma was towering over them all and making them appear like mere germs in comparison to his own might!

"Such power….." Sheer breathed as her comrades stared in horror and awe, that the stones they held at their disposal before had possessed so much power in them, how Goma was able to channel it all and master it effortlessly without any effort in comparison to them….just what had they been playing with this entire time….they were even beginning to question some of the choices they made and how much they had been dabbling in powers they couldn't comprehend.

"Such destruction and chaos….sniffle….it's so beautiful!" Specter sniffled before smiling brightly and cheering at the top of his lungs! The other space pirates widened their eyes and eyed Specter in bewilderment, it was clear he had no grasp of the situation at hand, without a doubt he lost what little mind he had left in him. Throwing away any sense he had in him, Specter scurried over to where Goma was and whistled out at him, "Oh Goma! I couldn't be more proud of you than ever before!" he praised his son with upmost sincerity, though none of it was acknowledged or even noticed by Goma who kept his gaze fixated on the downed D Team, Alpha gang and Resistance who still stood their ground despite how badly beaten into a corner they all were.

"Grrrgh!"

"This..isn't…over…." Max then wheezed as he stepped out shaken but still strong in spirit, despite being covered in scrapes and bruises his body didn't reflect his spirit's resolve as he swore to himself to keep fighting no matter what happened, they couldn't allow Goma to get away with his plans otherwise all life in the universe was doomed. As his friends got back up too, heavily battered as he was they too rallied to his side as their dinosaurs got together again, insticnts telling them they stood a better chance fighting together than being separated. Terry, Tank and Spiny too got back up on their feet and therizinosaurus pulled himself out of the snow and they all stood along side the D Team together, with the Alpha gang shuddering in terror and hiding behind them as shields.

Cera too joined them as she and Miku made a stand together with their friends as their dinosaurs all roared out in defiance at Goma, who merely snickered in amusement at their desperate situation, "Hehehe….In all honesty, despite your meddling and how much it had costed me overall….I really should be thanking you for this." He grinned at them which deeply puzzled his enemies.

"Th…Thanking us?" Cera questioned him with a raised eyebrow and also wincing with pain at the same time.

"If it wasn't for your continued interference, I never would have been driven to this point of desperation or realisation." He answers calmly before looking up to the skies, "The only way to truly destroy an immortal belief like justice, is to become immortal myself!" He roared as his dark howl echoed through the skies itself and could even be heard across the globe putting chills down the spines of all who heard him both living and even the dead beneath…."Now the power to bend space, time and all reality is all in the palm of my hand! Now and forever!" He roared powerfully as he prepared to waste no more time playing, now it was time he finished things once and for all and then restart all anew!

Looking up to the sky, where the smallest speck of the Reaper's Wrath could be seen above, Goma then raised his arm up as if he cold grasp it within his own hand, and then gripped his claws tightly into a fist, "Now, I shall shred apart this very universe, rip the fabric of space and time and start everything anew as I see fit! For a universe that won't bend to my will is one that doesn't deserve to exist!" He roared which shook the heavens itself, as he made a vow to reset all reality to how he saw fit! "As a token of my respect to you…my enemies." He grinned malevolently towards his defeated foes as he prepared to seal their very fate, "I shall be merciful! And grant you all a swift end!" He roared upon firing a beam from his palm right into the skies to everyone's shock and horror!

"Urk…"

"No….."

They widened their eyes as the beam from Goma, ensnared the meteor in his grip! As he pulled down his arm he too pulled down the Reaper's Wrath far deep in space from when it had been thrown and one more like a replay on a lost game, the meteor was sent hurtling towards the planet once more! Threatening to wipe out all life on Earth and this time with no way or hope of stopping it!

"AAAAH!"

As they cried out, those fleeing soon took notice of the meteor approaching their planet once more, which froze them all in their tracks upon sight of it!

"WAH!"

"The Reaper's Wrath!"

"It's hurtling back towards Earth!"

"EEEEP!" It also shut down any hope they had of fleeing, there was no way they could ever run far enough to escape the impact, and no way of getting off the planet in time before it struck! To them they either froze in place or fell to their knees with the spirits shattered beyond repair….

"This world has proved itself unfit to be ruled under me! Now you shall all perish for your insolence!" Goma roared triumphantly, as all the humans and dinosaurs below him looked up in horror and in despair as their world was about to face extinction once more, after all their efforts it made their plight feel meaningless.

Max, stuttered and fell to his knees before gritting his teeth, a flashback of the dinosaurs going extinct in the Cretaceous and also in his dreams once, about to take place before his very eyes…..and soon it would engulf him and everyone else he loved and cherished! The very thought of it made him scream out in agony, "N..NO!" He wailed as everyone around him either looked at him with deep empathy and worry for losing those they loved and cared, fear at being wiped out by the meteor as well as spite and hatred towards the meteor and Goma who summoned it back to Earth!

"Eheheheh….." The space pirates began ti snicker and grin seeing their victory was at hand, finally they could be rid of the resistance once and for all and finally get their well deserved payback on them at long last!

It seemed like a great idea in the end….till Gavro suddenly blinked his eyes, "Hey hold on a sec…." he muttered curiously as he began scratching his head in thought, "How are WE going to escape the Earth going kaboom without our base to protect us?" He asked his friends who soon stood still and turned pale at his words.

"….." It took 5 seconds for them to contemplate everything that was unfolding before their very eyes and how they would also get wiped out in the process….before widening their eyes and screaming their heads off in alarm that they'd be sharing the same fate as their enemies too being in complete oblivion! "WAAAAAAHH!"

Realising the danger that they themselves faced, the space pirates spread out their wings and flew up in a hurry towards where Goma's face was, "W…Wait! Goma!" Specter screamed out at th top of his lungs. To Goma it was like a fly buzzing in one's ear, annoying but it was enough to get his attention, as he turned around to where his father and his men were.

"We're still loyal to you! We served you faithfully this whole time!"

"Yeah! So come on! Take us with you!"

"We're family aren't we!?" They pleaded with him for mercy…..

Unfortunately all they earned from their former master was but a look of scorn as he looked away from them in disgust, "Hmph! Sorry to disappoint you but I see no use for any of you in the new universe I will forge with my own claws." he hissed before shooting them a grin of malice, "You useless fools all can just perish with this planet and everyone else on it for all I care!" He snarled with venom which made them all freeze and turn pale at the revelation that they were being abandoned like rubbish!

"Say whaaaaa!?" They gasped at the thought of being double crossed! Even the D Team and the Resistance who heard this couldn't believe their ears at how heartless Goma was to turn on his own loyal followers, it was clear his evil knew no bounds and his lust of absolute power was immeasurable!

Specter turned pale as words he never thought could be put into a sentence reached his ears. Before long he clenched his face, shook intensely before his mind was completely blown and he screamed his head off as his entire world was flipped upside down, "AAAAH! My…heart…." He clenched over his chest tightly, as his trial aching heart had finally given out, overwhelmed by trauma at being disowned by his very own son, as he then collapsed and fell down unconscious!

THUD!

"Boss!" The space pirates cried out in alarm as they flew down to the impact of snow, landing around Specter who lay deep in the snow in an almost lifeless manner!

"Hey boss! Wake up! You can't faint on us now! Wake up!" Sheer cried desperately as she helped him sit up and shook him over and over but to no avail, not even so much as a groan or mutter from him!

"PLEASE!" Foolscap and Gavro begged for even a sign of life too but to no avail.

Turning away from them, Goma regained his malevolent expression and shot it towards his now helpless enemies, "Ahahahaha! Now you mortals can only watch helplessly as your world ceases to exist! Victory is mine!" He laughed in triumph as he began to spread his wings hinting he was about to take off and watch the destruction of the Earth from space!

The D team widened their eyes seeing he was going to leave them to perish, no way were they going to let him get away with it! "HOLD IT! YOU GET BACK HERE!" Max yelled furiously as he and the others ran out at him with tjehor dinosaurs!

"We're not finished with you yet!" Cera shouted out loud as Miku also let out a vicious screech!

"Be gone!" He roared out at them with disdain as he let loose a tremendous shockwave which blew them all back with ease!

"AAAAAAHHH!" They screamed as their dinosaurs were blown like tumbleweed across the tundra, even bowling over the Alpha gang who lay flat in the snow after being smashed down by Terry!

"Urgh….." they groaned as they all looked up weakly gritting their teeth from the pain of frostbite, the crash and also in anger to see Goma had already launched himself into the air and was flapping his monstrous wings keeping hsimelf airborne! Their hearts sank as they saw he was about to escape and they could do nothing to stop him…and he knew it too….

As he gazed upon each and every one of his enemies defeated utterly and him standing triumphant over all, Goma let out a nightmarish roar which shook the earth and skies, his dark energies growing ever so much and the image of his form engraved itself into the D Team's hearts, as they opened their eyes weakly to see him towering above them all. Dark lightning began firing all around from his very own body, setting off explosions everywhere they struck and leaving scars on both the land and the Earth itself! "Hehehehehe! Ahahahahahah!" His dark laughter echoed through the sky as he spread out his wings and began flapping them, taking off into the air and disappearing into the dark night skies above, his silhouette blocked out by the burning red light of the Reaper's Wrath as it approached the planet and was about to collide, wiping them out as well as everything and everyone they held dear to their hearts…..

"No….." Cera soon breathed as she felt her limbs grow limp and she began to lose the will to continue on, "After everything….are we just going to let him escape like that?" She questioned herself with self hatred at their own weaknesses,as well as Goma himself, they had their worst enemy right before them and not only did he brush them away like gnats, he was now making a getaway to where they could not follow, "We threw everything we had….and he still manages to walk away from us….."

Her friends heard her sympathised completely with her, knowing that Goma not only wanted them to watch and suffer but even to carry it to their graves too…."Tch! This can't be how it ends! I won't accept it!" Max hissed bitterly as he punched his fist into the snow in defiance, as Chomp looked over him and let out a saddened grunt wishing he could do something to help but even he felt his spirit giving out in the face of extinction all over again…..they all did….

"Urgh…." Around them others began to tear up or grit their teeth in pain and agony at being unable to protect what they held most dear, as they began to question why they even bothered to try or even live if this was the destined outcome for them all….

Back with the space pirates, they clenched their hands into fists or gnashed their teeth in fury towards Goma as he disappeared into the night skies above having deserted them without hesitation! "Goma just ditched us like garbage! How dare he!?" Sheer yelled out her frustrations!

"Yeah, we worked our blood, sweat and tears for him and he never even gives us our final pay check before firing us!? Worst boss ever!" Foolscap clicked his tongue wishing he pounded the stuffing out of the kid when he was still no more than a brat.

"Speaking of bosses…." Gavro muttered uncomfortably as he rubbed his aching forehead which throbbed like crazy. Looking to the side they could see Specter was lying on the icy floor, still in his sleeping death like state, with his hand over his chest.

Not finding any humour in their boss' condition from being like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, the 3 other pirates rushed over to his side to see he was still in a coma. "Hey boss! Wake up! Come on this is no time for a nap!" Gavro cried out in a panic as he shook him violently hoping to wake him up in a hurry with the meteor incoming at any second but to no avail. Foolscap then tried snapping his fingers right in his face but to no avail either,

Her heart racing and seeing it would only be mere moments before the Reaper's Wrath would hit its mark, Sheer finally lost out, seeing their very survival outweighed their loyalty to Specter in a heartbeat! "Come on guys! Let's just ditch him and save ourselves!" She shouted without hesitation as she began to spread out her wings!

Foolscap and Gavro soon smiled brightly and nodded in agreement with her, "You're right! We're through being pirates! From now on let's live out our own lives however we want it!"

"Yeah…a fresh start! Best idea I ever had!" They cheered seeing there may be hope for them on another planet somewhere as they decided to cast off their old selves and begin their lives anew…..too bad there were still others who weren't about to let them do as they pleased.

"You're not going anywhere!" A voice yelled out angrily at them making them turn!

"Huh!?" They widened their eyes as the whole lot of them were ensnared by an aqua ship fired at them by a suchomimus which ensnared them and than began to slam them into the ground! "EEP!" They screamed making impact and then finding the sleeves trapped half buried in the ice! Looking up they turned pale as they found themselves surround by Blaze, Marina, Craig and Kaze who glared down at them with spite and hatred with their dinosaurs! Even with Goma being the one responsible for everything that happened they still contributed to it and many other crimes too, and they weren't about to let them get away with it scot free while they still had a say about it!

"You shall stay put and see this through with your own eyes what you've all done!" Blaze roared out at them, punching a fist into the palm of his hand, if they would al go down at least he can take deep pleasure in beating the stuffing out of the other space pirates first before they all went down together!

"N-NOOOOO!" They wailed in terror at what he or the others would do to them, as they began to struggle frantically in the ice in a futile effort to break free!

"I'm too young to die!"

"Let us go! You can't waste time with small fry like us!"

"Yeah! Don't you see!? We're all doomed here! DOOMED!" They screamed out loud as the captains and their dinosaurs began to take turns beating the snot out of them, either with kicks to the heads or even tail slams from their dinosaurs too!

As irritating as their whining was, Max had to agree with one thing they said as he clicked his tongue in frustration at their dire situation, "Tch! I hate to admit guys." He hissed through his teeth cursing clenching his hands into a shaking fist, "Unless we find someway to take down Goma AND the Reaper's Wrath too…..It'll just as they said….." He breathed heavily at the end as a bead of hard sweat wrinkled down his cheek and the others looked at either him or the approaching meteor with hard tense looks.

"But….can we?" Zoe then asked with insecurity in her tone, clenching a hand over her chest and aching heart as she looked up to see the skies reddening and fireballs beginning to break off from the Reaper's Wrath and already they were pelting the land around them! Creating huge craters and explosions upon impact, and the biggest was still yet to come! What they witnessed before hand was merely a prelude to the end of the Earth as they knew it!

"We have to, for everyone's sakes!" He shouted back at them like there was no question about it.

"But what can we do Max!?" Cera then yelled before hissing painfully sounding almost defeated, lowering her arms which grew limp as she was exhausted both outside and in, "We've got nothing! No way of stopping him….." Her usually indomitable resolve was finally beginning to give way….and to the others around her, that was never a good sign in anyone's book….

Max then stomped his foot on the ground in defiance once more, "There's got to be a way….There always is!" He shouted in fury as he soon pushed himself to exertion, falling on his knees and looking up, he gritted his teeth as if he was in pain, looking up to the skies to see the skies turning almost blood red as if the planet itself was crying in pain, "There….has to….." he choked weakly, as he could feel his now heart begin to crack. In his mind he could even hear the cries and tears of the dinosaurs resting beneath the earth's surface too, they were meant to rest in peace after their long ordeals only to endure extinction all over again. It was as if nothing they ever did could make a difference, the feeling of helplessness was eating away at his heart, he knew for a fact they had to stop the meteor and Goma from destroying the universe and remaking it in his twisted dark image….and yet….they didn't know how nor even believed it could be possible….

Around him everyone else huddled together or closed their eyes looking away, bracing themselves for the ultimate doom….as he then closed his eyes, shedding a painful tear as he prayed for a miracle to shine upon them once more….

 **(Meanwhile)**

In the main room things were going rather badly for the D Team's allies after they bore witnessed their glimmer of hope to be no more than a temporary illusion. How horrified they were to see that Goma had returned, more powerful than ever and not only were the D Team's attacks have absolutely no effect on him but he also brushed them off like gnats and resummoned the Reaper's Wrath back towards Earth as the countdown towards extinction ran again! This time with absolutely no way of stopping it….Nevertheless they refused to give up and upon learning of their inching peril they began to research and scan the meteor and the newly evolved dragon Goma but unfortunately none of their efforts gave any positive results.

"Any luck yet honey!?" Dr Ancient yelled frantically towards Cretacia as they along with every other scientific mind present, which also included Seth, Rod, Reese and Lunensis, in the main room began to type away at the monitors hoping to uncover some sort of strategy or weapon they could use against the Reaper's Wrath or Goma.

"N…No…Nothing at all!" She cried back to him just the same as she looked over her results each of them resulting in negative, failure or no result for every trial she ran for an attack strategy they could implement but none of her efforts bore any fruit! "I've ran every test and simulation, performed deep scans to try and isolate weak points or openings in the meteor or Goma that we can exploit but nothing I've tried came up with any result!" Her panicked response sent worries down everyone else's spines as the other parents and allies looked on, Aki and Dr Drake huddled in worry close to their spouses while Laura hugged closely to Helga who held her tightly as Jonathan went over to shield a cowering Dr Owen and Patrick.

"Well keep looking!" Seth yelled in frustration towards them, startling the others momentarily before resuming back to what he was doing, "There has to be some blindspot or weakness! If we don't find it soon, our planet will perish and so will we!" He gritted his teeth tensely and his eyes reddened as for the first time, he was losing his calm composure and panic was beginning to take over his senses.

"You think we don't already know that!?" Cretacia then retorted taking offence at him thinking only he cared about the universe's future.

"We're trying the best we can Seth!" Rod then cried out gritting his teeth in frustration as the pressure was getting to him too.

"Well try harder! Humanity and all life in the universe depends on it!" Seth spat back as he brought up an image of Goma in his cosmic dragon form and did a scan, the readings spiking far beyond anything they ever encountered before, in fact the Dark Pterosaur which formed when the cosmos stones were united the first time had nothing on him now. It was as if the dark negative energies of the cosmos stones had infused themselves with the evil in Goma's heart, which resulted in this monstrosity coming to be, which meant the darkness in that zanjark's heart must have been immeasurable.

"That thing Goma became….It's like a living extinction event…." Lunensis breathed in sheer horror.

"I'm scared…." Laura shuddered as she clutched her hands together and hunkered down in fear.

Seeing this, her brother got off his seat and ran over to her and embraced her in his arms, "Stay close to me Laura, I'll protect you." said Rod as Laura felt comforted to have her brother close to her, smiling and feeling secure, till a shadow loomed over them.

"And I'll be here to protect you both." Helga stated as she hugged the children both in with a stern look on her face, "No dragon is going to make a meal out of you while I can help it." She said with a brave look on her face, which made the Alpha siblings felt a tiny bit better….though it would have lasted longer if everyone else on the planet would be safe too.

Looking outside to see the entire resistance outside at the Antarctic, exposed and at the mercy of the incoming Reaper, the D Team's parents shuddered with worry or gritted their teeth tensely, knowing that everyone outside, not least of all their own children, would be the first to be wiped out by the meteor's impact….

"The kids….they don't stand a chance…." Mrs Drake placed a hand over her chest and clutched it with worry.

"And the worst part is….there's nothing we can do for them…." Aki sobbed heavily before covering over her eyes and tearing into them bitterly.

"Honey, I'm here….everything's going to be fine….I promise…."

"I hope you're right about that Dr Taylor." Reese replied to him seriously before looking ahead to see the Reaper's Wrath nearing the Earth's atmosphere again as it began to turn red upon entry, "Because I don't think we've ever had a day as dark as this one ever in history…." As much as she wanted to be on the optimistic side she still saw things on a realistic point of view and from the way it looked, their chances of survival weren't all that promising….

Having typed for so long, giving everything he had into trying to uncover a weakness or tactical edge over the meteor or Goma only to turn up with nothing, Lunensis lost all restraint in himself as he slammed his frustration onto the monitor in a rage! "GARGH!" He growled loudly in anger which caught everyone in the room by surprise!

"AH!" Seeing him shudder tensely and gritted his teeth like a feral beast, they looked on worried, while Rod and Laura hid behind Helga and Jonathan feeling most unnerved at his behaviour, it was understandable what he was going through ruth now with the fate of the world already at stake….but still they couldn't just walk up to him and say it would be fine because clearly it wasn't and dip down they were just as worried as he was for everyone's sakes….

He hissed in agony through his teeth, feeling himself shredded with despair and hopelessness and his will to continue fighting was slowly slipping away from him, "It's no use…..nothing…nothing will work! We've got no way of stopping this calamity from happening!" He gritted his teeth tensely, believing that all their battles and sacrifices up until now were for nothing even after they gave it their all…only to have it snatched out of their hands like some kind of illusion. He cursed fate for being so cruel to them for having suffered so much till this point, only to end in utter defeat, he couldn't accept things like this and at the same time couldn't do anything about it….to him it was complete torture….

The others were empathising with him, having felt like to have been cheated unfairly of their hard fought battles too, but because of them they knew they couldn't give up after all they went through. Tensing his arm hard, Dr Taylor walked up to him and placed an arm on Lunensis' shoulder as the father looked up to him, "There's always a way Lunensis."

"The children managed to stop this threat once, and they can do so again, I know it." he said to him with full faith and assurance.

"Plus they have us helping them here, I'm certain we'll find a way out of this mess." Dr Ancient followed after him, the last time they were but helpless victims being used as bargaining chips by the space pirates for the cosmos stones, now this time they swore it would be different.

Lunensis could see they were determined and still were willing to keep trying even when it seemed hopeless, however he himself wasn't so easy to convince, "Heh….You make it sound so easy….." It may have helped in past situations but on a calamity of this scale he couldn't see anything that could work in the face of a power which existed since the dawn of time which had now become even more powerful than it ever had, "Then tell me how or what we can do? I'm all ears…." He then questioned Dr Taylor as he reared back having not thought of it.

"I uhh…well…." He was adept at coming up with pep talks and rallying speeches but as for strategies and plans he was pretty much an elementary schooler, as he found himself at a loss.

Luckily for him, as Seth began thinking back on Dr Taylor's words, one of which still rang inside his head over and over, "Again…." Thinking hard back to how the cosmos stones were defeated the last time, focusing as hard as he could he opened his eyes widely in realisation, "Wait! I've got it! The stone tablet!" He cried out as everyone heard him loud and clear.

Everyone else widened their eyes upon hearing Seth's words, "AH!"

"Of course!" Ancient patted his fist into his open palm in realisation as everyone else soon began to widen their eyes in realisation at their silver lining of hope

"Hey that's right!" Laura gasped.

"They beat the cosmos stones once and they can do it again for sure!" Rod grinned eagerly as he punched up in excitement.

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Dr Owen then cried out, "Let's do it then!"

They all soon smiled filled with hope and energy once more, at a chance at saving the earth being presented before them.

"But…how?" Dr Drake then asked curiously as they looked to him, "Even if they are the key to stopping this disaster, how can we use them to do it!?"

As if right on cue, a female voice spoke out to them before their hopes could be shot down again, "I think I may have the answer to that."

"Huh?" Looking in the direction it came from, Lunensis took notice of his grass captain standing out near the doors waiting for them to his and everyone else's surprise.

"Captain Hua! You know how we can use the stone tablet to destroy the Reaper's Wrath and Goma too!?" She calmly responded with mild nod.

What was more surprising than her being there suddenly but was also that she seemed to have the answer to the calamity that was approaching their world as they spoke.

"Well then, tell us already!" Dr Owen demanded, "How we can use them to stop both threats at the same time?"

"Yeah! Not only are our friends about to get wiped out there, but soon we and the entire planet will go extinct too!" Rod yelled.

"Come on! Out with it please!" Cretacia then pleaded as she and the others appeared desperate.

Hua looked to each of them who were shooting concerned or serious looks at her. However she shook her head denying them any answers for the moment, "There's no time but if you insist, I'll explain along the way," She said calmly to their confusion as she turned her back to them and began to walk out the exit doors. Before leaving she looked back to them, "Follow me and bring the stone tablet with you, if you wish to save the Earth." She said at the end before leaving outside.

Everyone was confused as to what she was talking about and to what purpose or method she had in mind for the stone tablet, but with no time to debate they decided to take a chance and trust her. Lunensis went and disconnected the tablet from the wires as he and the others followed Hua out over to the grass station. As they made it in to the area she told them to rendezvous at, they were surprised to find she also had another guest waiting for them with her at the base of a huge stone pillar sticking out from the ground and in the center of a circle of stones, 6 of them and they each were coloured in the same pattern as those of the 6 elemental stones.

"You made it." said Raina to them calmly with Hua right next to the stone pillar itself.

Everyone else looked on in awe and amazement, having not noticed this before when they first came to this part of the station before, even Lunensis himself was surprised to only notice this now.

"Wow….."

"No way…."

"What is this place?"

"It seems…mysterious in some way…." They each breathed in awe as they aged around how majestic it appeared to them.

"Indeed," Seth commented with deep interest as he took out a scanner device from his trenchcoat and did a scan on the area, with the readings being such higher than he initially anticipated, yet also strangely familiar, "All the energy radiating from this place, it's exactly like that of the stones but of a much more colossal scale." He breathed in amazement, knowing that this formation wasn't artificial in the slightest yet also not completely natural…..the scientist side of him wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery and uncover it but under the circumstances he couldn't afford to.

"Hua, what are you planning with the stone tablet?" Lunensis then asked her with a suspicious but also rather authoritative tone. She said nothing at first but turned her attention at the stone pillar in the middle of the circle, to everyone's suspicion. "Would you kindly explain yourself?" He then asked as calmly as he could, though deep down Cera's father was beginning to lose patience, for she too ought to know by now the crisis that their planet faced. Whatever she had in mind, it had better be good and not be a waste of time at their most crucial moment of all.

She then closed her eyes calmly and let out a deep sigh, "Before we get to there, allow us to start from the beginning." She said which puzzled everyone present.

"Something that we have been researching for sometime now," Raina then continued for her, "A hypothesis which I didn't think was necessary to reveal nor could I confirm earlier, but now is more an appropriate time to test out considering we are all out of options." Everyone said nothing but kept a serious look at both captains.

Hua then slowly turned around to face the group as she prepared to give them a little trip down memory lane regarding the history of the stones, "You are aware of how the stones were formed years ago, when the spirits of the dinosaurs merged together to form them."

Dr Ancient nodded, "Yes that's exactly what happened." he answered.

"We researched that thoroughly and came to that very conclusion." His wife Cretacia followed after him though none of them knew where she was going with this….yet.

Raina nodded back at them, "Correct, but you never knew how that came to be, which is where this rock comes into play." She explained as she and Hua looked up to it and everyone diverted their attention right towards it.

"Their spirits all converged into this very formation you see before you," said Hua as she stroked it gently, as if having some sort of spiritual connection with it….something she learnt during her daily meditations upon it at sunrise and sunset, "Formed from the impact of the meteor during the cretaceous period after it smashed into the planet." She breathed calmly and at peace as she stroked it with a hint of affection, "The circle absorbed all their spirits, containing them within its stone surface and harnessed it so that it would be able to give life back to the planet after it would heal itself from the calamity it suffered."

"And….the stone plates?" Reese asked with deep interest and curiosity as it looked as though they were all learning more about the stones than they first realised.

"I believe this is where they would come into play." Hua answered her, as she brushed away some dust from the stone pillar, causing it to reveal a rectangular shaped indent….shaped exactly like that of the stone tablet which Lunensis was holding in his hands right now!

"AH!"

"So the stone plates were once part of this massive formation of rocks?" Dr Ancient asked with keen interest as he and several of the others listened more closely, a few of them like Reese or Cretacia even began writing notes or recorded said conversation for future research purposes.

Hua then nodded back at Rex's father, confirming his theory, "Yes, from your dig you uncovered only 1 small fragment of it, which was where the main source of its power was concentrated into." She said, having remembered the records of the stone plates' discovering during a dig conducted by the Ancients many years ago, "Shattered off from it as time passed and the land changed." She explained, revealing that as time passed the elements and continental shifts caused the stone circle and pillar to be buried underground and its core piece to have been shattered off it, originally a round circle piece which eventually eroded further away till it would become that of a rectangular shape as the tablet was….

"And now years later, the rest of it has been uncovered, kept here safely where we built the Resistance base." Raina continued after Hua, remembering how they found refuge in this secure location, and built their entire headquarters around it as it was not only well fortified but also was capable of supporting life where everywhere else was ravaged by war. It acted as a place of hope and sanctuary for the people and dinosaurs who were trying to find a place to take shelter in and give them the strength of spirit they needed to fight back.

"Only for the tablet to be returned to it at long last where it belongs." Seth then noted upon seeing it was coming full circle, almost like the last time when they used the stone plates to defeat the Dark Pterosaur the last time. "Heh, how many of you want to bet that all of this is a coincidence?" He chuckled in amusement as he looked to everyone else.

"Fate sure has an odd sense of humour doesn't it?" Dr Taylor couldn't help but comment seeing it to be all amusing in its own way.

Curiously, Dr Ancient blinked his eyes feeling a little suspicious as to how they managed to learn all of this, "Just….how do you know all this Hua…Raina?" He asked looking to them both.

Raina then smiled proudly as she folded her arms and held her head up high, "Let's just say we listened to the dinosaurs, and we let them speak for themselves." she smirked, having recalled that the dinosaurs were connected to the stone plates and heard it from their perspective….thanks to an experimental translator chip Raina had developed which helped them learn from the dinosaurs' sides of the story, being the eldest of those they revived, those of which were once bonded to the stones when their lives ended only to are resurrected once more when they were brought back from the dead.

"They know far more about our planet than we do," Hua explained, "How they wanted life to continue once more even after their passing and they didn't want their mighty lineage to end all because of 1 single disaster they could not control."

"And now that such a threat is descending upon the planet once more, I believe it's time we entrust everything upon this one chance we have." said Raina after her as the group looked to one another, wondering if they should leave things to some kind of ancient legend when all their strategies and planning they tried came up with nothing.

Seeing they wouldn't get anywhere with discussion, Seth soon decided it was time they took action as they were short on time, "Alright, we're all out of options and as illogical as it may sound that something may happen should we unite the tablet with this stone….." He stated, as much as he preferred the scientific approach clearly it wouldn't work in this scenario and as much as he disliked it, they'd have to resort to more unconventional means in which the results could be unpredictable.

"It's our only choice left." Dr Ancient finished for him as they all nodded at one another in agreement on what was to be done.

"Let's do it." Lunensis said seriously as he took the stone tablet from Ancient and then reached for the indentation in the main pillar.

"Cross our fingers and hope for the best." said Dr Taylor as everyone tensed up and remained silent, as Cera's father fitted the stone tablet inside the pillar.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, "Here goes everything…." he said as he took this leap of faith and pushed the tablet inside till it fit snugly, completing the stone. In an instant and without warning the tablet suddenly glowed a bright rainbow colour, reacting to the 6 coloured stone builders which lined the circle around the pillar! Before long the energy from it began to feed right into the rest of the rock pillar and then causing the entirety to glow a bright white, whose glare caught everyone by surprise as they reared back and shielded their eyes from the blinding radiance!

"AAAH!"

"What's this!?"

"Everyone get back!" Lunensis then gasped as they all stood back keeping their distance away from the shining pillar which glowed in the 6 colours of the elemental stones and glowed a bright rainbow aura around it! They all stared in complete disbelief and shock, as it fired off a powerful energy ray high in the sky before shooting right for the South Pole.

All glow and the pillar common forth a bright light to the sky which head for the South pole!

 **(Meanwhile)**

Back on the Antarctic surface, the Resistance tensed themselves as they braced for the meteor's impact right at their location…..some willing to accept their fate and given up, others still praying for salvation or wishing for a way they could still save the Earth…..

All hope seemed lost for them….when suddenly Max, Zoe and Rex began to shine in the colours of their elemental stones!

"AAAAH!" They were immediately startled by this unexpected development, but what happened next would change everything for them all.

"Everyone….Please….You must stop the Reaper…You are our only hope…." An old faint voice echoed out to the ears of not just the D Team, but to everyone present who had command of a dinosaur! In fact around them the dinosaurs that were still active and even the cards themselves that were scattered about the grounds of Antartica began to shine in the colour of their own element too! With secret dinosaurs illuminating in a bright rainbow glow!

Max and his friends froze in amazement as they soon recognised whom it belonged to, "That voice…."

"It's the same voice from the stones!" Zoe then gasped in surprise! All around them, everyone who even had contact with a dinosaur began to shine in the respective attribute of the dinosaur they commanded!

As for Cera herself, she glowed a bright rainbow much to her amazement, as she and everyone else looked all around them to see their comrades were shining too and were even able to hear the voices of the stones! All across the world this very same phenomenon could be felt as people also began to glow too as the voices of the stones reached them and they could only widen their eyes in awe at what was unfolding before them! The space pirates widened their eyes speechlessly at what they were witnessing as well, now they were beginning to see that perhaps targeting Earth for plundering in the beginning may have been a huge mistake had they realised sooner that humans were far more than what they first appeared!

"We do not wish for death to visit this planet once more, though fate has sent another harbinger of it hurtling towards our world as we speak." Spoke the voice in a solemn tone to them all as they listened carefully, "But you, who were chosen by us have the power to shatter the chain of fate and bring everlasting peace to our home once again, and bring forth a future in which destruction will have no place in." The voice spoke in various tones, as it was conveyed by various dinosaurs from across the ages.

Max and his friends were shocked and bewildered to hear the stones again after so long, but considering the situation they didn't question them but instead focused their minds on saving their hime as the stones pleaded them too, "How?"

"Tell us! We'll do anything to save our world!"

"Whatever it takes! We swear it on all life on this Earth and any other!" The D Team cried out to the voice as Cera looked on, feeling herself inspired to see why the D Team were revered as the legendary heroes the Resistance and the people of the future looked up to for years….for they were the first to develop connections with the dinosaurs and the spirits of their ancestors long gone….

The spirits could sense their will and resolve deep within, "Very well then, you are prepared to take charge of your destiny." The voice spoke, having acknowledged and recognised their will to live and the desire to protect the world so others may live too, "Your spirit and courage is acknowledged, and it shall echo on the scrolls of time for eons to come, never to be forgotten."

At that very moment, the lights emanating from each and every dino duelist began to converge before the D Team! Uniting together into a giant glowing rainbow energy sphere much to their amazement!

"AAAH!" They all stared in utter amazement as the light took full form, spreading out a pair of feathery angelic wings and then appearing before them in her most majestic form of all, one they all recognised in an instant!

"Look!" Rex pointed ahead as Cera, Max and Rex all smiled brightly with hope!

"It's the Pterosaur!"

"She's back!" They cheered and gasped, as everyone else stared speechlessly in awe at her, it was almost as though she seemed brighter, larger and more powerful than she was before! The very sight of her pure and brilliant form gave hope to the people who beheld her in sight, chasing away all their worries, doubts and fears installed upon them by Goma as she descended before them all.

"Everyone, I thank you for restoring my strength." She said to them with upmost gratitude, "The hopes of the dinosaurs of this world's last, along with your wishes for the future have reawakened me once more." She said as they all gazed upon her, knowing she had something else to ask of them if they were to save this world from the Reaper. "Now, I need you all of you, to believe in me." She instructed them.

"Believe in….you?" Max blinked his eyes in surprise.

"Yes, wish for the world to be saved, for the Reaper's Wrath to be destroyed and the cosmos stones to be forever erased from all time forever." She answered him.

Without hesitation, Max nodded and gained a firm look in his eyes, "Of course!" He aid determinedly as Chomp let out a loud roar filled with energy.

Cera then stood by his side, "Anything to save this world and preserve its future for generations to come, so no tragedy like this will ever happen again to thus planet or any other!" She declared!

"Mhmm!" Zoe and Rex nodded together, as soon everyone began to grow firm and stand together as they all began to be united in spirit and heart!

All around them, the bright glowing ghosts of all the dinosaurs across the world began to materialise around them to their amazement! They gazed around them in surprise and bewilderment as the ghosts of dinosaurs ranging from stegosaurs, sauropods, ceratopsians and many more all materialised around them, on the plains and around the hills and mountains till nearly every inch of Antartica was occupied by a dinosaur or a dinosaur spirit which glowed bright golden! Letting out powerful roars which let out a kind of chorus which resonated with the Pterosaur which made her glow ever more radiant! Dinosaurs that were in card form also began to reactivate as they joined too much to the bewilderment of everyone present! It wasn't just them, the spirits of pterosaurs appeared in the sky all around them, screeching while plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs also appeared from the waters around the South Pole, causing the sea to light up with patches of gold from space even!

"AH!" Cera gasped speechlessly wth everyone else looking around in every direction to see dinosaurs or spirits in every corner.

"Are you seeing this!?" Zoe breathed flabbergasted.

"It's like the souls of all the dinosaurs from the ancient past are coming together." said Max in sheer amazement as they gathered around where they were and roared out towards the Pterosaur who was the embodiment of the stones themselves.

"For one final battle for the fate of their world." Rex narrowed his eyes hard.

From HQ, everyone was back in the main computer room to bear witness this astounding miracle first hand! It wasn't just in Antarctica, dinosaurs and their spirits all across the planet were also appearing in their millions, standing alongside the people as they too were conveying their wishes for the meteor to be stopped!

The D team's families, even Seth, were at a complete loss for words at what they were seeing with their own eyes. The only one who could even utter a sound was Cera's father, of all his years of dinosaur research and battling he never came across anything like this before, "Incredible…." Lunensis breathed as this would no doubt be a sight to behold. He also made sure to record every single moment of this, a moment that would go down in history, so that it would never be forgotten no matter how much time would pass from this very day.

With all the power they amassed together, Max soon closed his eyes and opened them firmly, knowing what must be done, "Let's give the Pterosaur all our strength!" He called out at the top of his lungs as he punched out at the Pterosaur.

Cera nodded in agreement with him before shouting out to the entire resistance, "Everyone! Wish! For the sake of our world, the people and dinosaur who live on it! Wish as hard as you can with everything you've got!" She cried to them.

"Okay! We'll do it!" Blaze nodded in agreement as he closed his eyes along with his fellow captains and wished hard for the world to be saved.

"You really think that will work Dr Z?" Ursula whispered to their boss feeling skeptical about all this.

"Yeah I mean wishing for the world to be saved?"

"Doesn't sound too legit to me….." Zander and Ed both muttered feeling suspicious and doubtful about something like that being possible.

In an instant he yelled back at them, "Quiet you 3! Wish for our world to be saved just like everyone else or else we won't have a world to come back to!" He growled shaking his fists at them which made them stutter in surprise that he was going to believe in magic and superstition, then again he did fortune telling with dinosaur bones so this wasn't all too farfetched, "Do it now!" He then screamed threatening them with a fist to their faces as they nodded back frantically!

"OKAY!" They squealed before they all closed their eyes and clapped their hands in prayer!

This was soon followed by every trooper and human across the planet, hearing the voices of the dinosaurs of the past praying for them all to wish for the world's salvation, as they all freed themselves from their fears and insecurities! As they all wished, they emanated with golden light which began to feed into the Pterosaur herself as she began to take upon their energies into her very being! Very soon she illuminated in bright golden light and spreading out her wings she let out a bright golden shockwave which chased away all darkness from the skies and bathed the entire earth itself in her great golden gleam! Driving out every disaster and ounce of destruction away with her very spirit to everyone's amazement as they gazed upon her new glorious form in sheer speechlessness!

"AH!" It was beyond anything they could have imagined would happen and it was absolutely amazing.

"Wow…." Cera breathed feeling her heart soar inside her with hope, as so did Miku, they knew the Pterosaur and the stones were capable of amazing things, but this was something else….

The only ones who didn't take this well was the space pirates, whose eyes nearly bulged out of their eye sockets and their minds were blown into a million bits upon witnessing this unfold! "AAAAH!" They exclaimed shuddering at the incredible power the Pterosaur gave off which was practically the same or perhaps even greater than the cosmos stones too! In the midst of their sheer and utter shock at what they just saw, like Specter, they too collapsed unconsciously and fainted too with him.

Looking down upon them all, the Pterosaur gazed upon the smiles and hopes of the people and the dinosaurs too, and inside she felt at peace with what she was about to do. With that she decided to leave them with a few final parting words before she competed her last quest, "Take care, I will leave the world in your hands." She said to them, those very words made the D Team's hearts sank as they began to realise that this may be the last they ever see or even hear of her again…."Farewell." Were her final words before she turned around and spread her wings and then taking to the air!

Cera widened her eyes as the great spirit of the dinosaurs took to the skies and sped away like a shooting star into the far reaches of space, to complete one final mission in order for all life to continue on the Earth, "Pterosaur!" She cried out to her as she disappeared into the darkness of space, in the path of the Reaper's Wrath! As she disappeared from sight, Cera could feel her heart grow heavy inside her, as tis meant it would be the last she would ever see of the spirit which guided her through time and saved her very life before. Her friends understood how she felt, as they gathered around hoping to shelter some of her burden as their saviour disappeared in the skies above….

 **(Meanwhile)**

High above in the depths of space, Goma grinned with dark sadism as he gazed down from above, the Reaper's Wrath glowing in dark red flames as it was prepared to collide with the Earth itself! Soon its' tainted face of rebellion would be clean and be ready and for for him to start all anew and reshape to his liking! "Hehehehehe…." he laughed to himself darkly, knowing that not only was he doing the planet a favour by giving it a fresh start but would soon set an example to all other worlds that would dare to rebel against him, an actual deity with he power to command space and time at will! Soon all would belong to him and him alone, and the destruction of Earth would mark the beginning of his reshaping of the universe!

It was a perfect picture and he couldn't wait to see it firsthand with his very own eyes as he grinned with dark delight as the meteor closed in on the planet….till something bright shone out from below the Reaper's Wrath which ruined his perfect picture as it began to irritate his eyes, "Hmm?" As he narrowed his eyes closer he noticed a bright golden glow incoming from the Earth's surface! Widening his eyes as she came into full view, the golden pterosaur was on a collision course with the Reaper's Wrath! Sensing the power within her, Goma could feel the cosmos stones within him sensing a grave threat deep down, a threat to not just the meteor but to his own existence as well!

"Grrr! Do not interfere!" He roared in defiance swooping down and appearing right in the path of the golden pterosaur, putting himself between the meteor and her! "Be gone! GRAARRGH!" He roared firing a dark cosmic stream from his mouth towards her! The Pterosaur however maintained a steady course but soon accelerated as the beam made contact! To his horror, his attack has absolutely no effect on her at all! Like how he easily shrugged off the attacks of Earth's dinosaurs, now the Pterosaur turned the tables on him as she speared through the flames like a golden arrow!

He tried as hard as he could to destroy her, but she still pushed on through his attack effortlessly! As his blast soon ceased, he widened his eyes, feeling true fear for the first time in his life as she came within point blank range! "N-NO! Impossible!" He screeched as the Pterosaur speared right through his body! "AAAAARRRGGGHH!" The dragon let out a pained screech in agony as the golden pterosaur punched a massive hole through his body, leaving a gigantic glowing hole through him as the energies of the cosmos began to erupt form him as he lost control of his powers!

It wasn't over yet, paying him no heed, the Pterosaur fixated her sights on her true goal, the Reaper's Wrath! Folding her wings like a dive bomb, she propelled herself with full force straight through the meteor! Striking through it in an instant, before fading away as the light of many stars in the vast space as she erupted the other end…..Within seconds, Goma looked behind and widened his eyes as the meteor erupted into a massive cosmic explosion which soon began to swallow him up in the process! "THIS….CANNOT….BEEEEE!" He wailed in pain as his body was swallowed completely by the explosion which expanded through the cosmos!

BOOM!

 **(Meanwhile)**

As the explosion erupted from high above, a bright golden light erupted from the clouds above, followed by an incredible shockwave which travelled down from pace and shook the entire planet itself! "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Everyone across the world cried as they held on due to the shaking of the planet, the light shining through as bright as the sun as they all turned away or covered their eyes! The shockwaves caused the mountains in America themselves to crack and collapse into rockslides, desert dunes across Africa to flatten and blow away in winds, trees in the forests of Asia to topple down, the oceans to swirl and churn as the planet and its inhabitants did its bets to hang on…..

Before log….it passed, and everyone else looked up at the sky, widening their eyes in amazement at what they bore witnessed, "Ah…." As the bright light from the explosion began to fade away from the clouds above, small cinders and tiny fire rocks began to rain down and splash in the seas around the continent, a few of them crashed on Antartica but many were no bigger than the size of coconuts and thus posed of little danger to the people or the dinosaurs, for they fixed their eyes above on the bigger picture….at their victory in the final battle….

Before long, smiles of excitement began to spread on the faces of the resistance as they erupted in cheers and shouted for joy and praise in celebration of Earth's salvation! "The meteor is destroyed!" Captain Marina announced to the masses that there was nothing more to fear, as the dinosaurs stomped hard on the ground and screeched in victory, unable to hold in their enthusiasm as much as their human partners!

"The Reaper is no more!"

"YEAH!"

"Woo hoo!"

"We're alive!" The Alpha gang also cheered as Ed rushed in and gave his friends a huge bear hug much to their discomfort as they turned blue and choked, feeling their spines about to snap at any moment!

"ACK!"

"We did it guys!" Zoe leaped up for joy as her friends joined her too.

"Haha!" Rex laughed as Max fist bumped him.

"Our wishes have saved the world!" He cheered out proudly, as everyone else got together to celebrate their finest moment ever in Earth's history, how they averted mass extinction and were able to use the spirits of the dinosaurs to do so, it was the most amazing thing they had ever seen and they'd never forget this moment even to the end of time.

"Yes….they sure did." Cera nodded in full agreement, smiling calmly and at peace now that the threat to their world was averted….before realising the bigger picture behind it, "But…at what cost?" she then asked herself as she began to look around and see the cost they paid to save the planet was beginning to reveal itself to them all.

As soon as she said so, the spirits of the dinosaurs all around them and across the world began to fade away too. Some of the live dinosaurs who stood next to their spiritual comrades, seemed to even groan sadly to see some of their oldest friends of all fade away into the afterlife once more.

"The dinosaurs….they're…vanishing…." Rex breathed as he and everyone else looked on with mixed feelings as the dinosaurs disappeared back into the Earth as if they were finally able to rest in peace…..

Everyone began to murmur or converse to one another as to why it happened, and what it meant for them too. However, the D Team frowned and sighed with deep sadness as they knew full well what had just happened…..

"With the destruction of the reaper's wrath and the cosmos stones….I think guys…the stone plates really weren't needed anymore." said Max with a heavy sigh, knowing that their sole purpose was to keep the cosmos stones in balance and ensure their threat was neutralised…but with said threat gone forever, like opposite sides of the same coin they served no purpose and couldn't exist without their other halves.

"Hence what the Pterosaur said….she entrusted the future….to us to make…." said Rex knowing full well now the true meaning of the Pterosaur's words, as in order to break the chain of fate once and for all, they had to use up the last ounce of energy to do so, which came with a heavy price…..

"So the stones…are now gone for good….." Zoe let out a heavy sigh as she and her friends began to shed heavy tears from their eyes knowing that things would never be the same again without them. It was a miracle they survived last time as the tablet, but for the spirit of the dinosaurs and the Pterosaur to be gone forever again was something they never thought they would ever experience twice and they had no idea how to take it in.

Around them the Resistance and Alpha gang eyed them with sympathy, knowing they had the closest connection to the stones more than anyone else. Deep down they felt sad to have to give up the spirits of the dinosaurs too but not as much as the D Team kids felt.

Cera too was nearly about to shed tears of her own, but soon wiped them away and sported a calm but also firm look as she placed a hand on Max's shoulder, "It was….a necessary sacrifice…." she said with a heavy sigh which caught their attention, hinting the deep remorse she had for them having to make that inevitable choice, "In order to truly eliminate the threat of the cosmos stones once and for all…." While the cost was high, at least the universe would be a much better place with the cosmos stones gone, now everyone anywhere in the universe was safe and the powers of the stone tablet or the cosmos stones could never be used for evil again.

"I know…." Rex nodded back understandingly before lowering his head, "But still….it…isn't easy to accept."

Cera knew it was hard but she didn't want her friends to let their sadness blind them to what they had been able to achieve thanks to this sacrifice the stones did for them, "We won't let their sacrifice be in vain." she said to him with a firm look on her face, "They gave themselves up so we all can still have a planet to call home." As she said that she looked around to all her friends, comrades in arms as well as the dinosaurs too who aimed their attention towards them, "The dinosaurs of the past entrusted their future to us, and it's our turn now to make a future they can be proud of." When she finished her speech to them they began to cheer and roar excitedly and in agreement as they looked forward to doing just that.

Hearing her very words of staying positive and looking forward while honouring the past generations who helped give them the chance to make way for the next, was an honour they couldn't ask to be better. Max wiped away the tears from his eyes and nodded firmly with a confident look on his face, "Yeah, you're right Cera, in a way they're still alive with us." He said placing a hand upon his chest.

Zoe and Rex both nodded in agreement with his words, "In our hearts, as long as we never forget what we fought for and what the stones sacrificed themselves for, they'll live on forever through us and through the generations of the future through how we live and the world we'll make in their name." said Rex with full confidence.

"And they'll still be with us here to this very age and to beyond as well." Zoe concluded as Chomp and the other dinosaurs began to roar in triumph, their voices echoing to form a beautiful chorus in celebration of a brand new era for them all.

As they all looked around, they could see the troopers reconcile with one another as well as their dinosaurs, some of them pounding on their partners and licking them affectionally while others were more modest giving each other back pats or fist bumps too. While some received some reprimanding form their superiors for deserting, at least they knew better next time and swore not to do it again, things were certainly looking yup already for the people of the future as they could now move forward in their lives without looking back on what they went through in the war.

"Let's hear it for the D Team!" Blaze then cheered as he punched upwards feeling his spirit being totally lit and on fire, "The bravest of us all!"

"YAY!" The resistance cheered as they surround the children and either gave them hugs, tossed them playfully into the air or did congratulatory handshakes with the legendary heroes of all time. The D Team chuckled happily as they received all the praise thinking they deserved it after all they inspired in the resistance, though there were a few cases where there was such thing as too much attention….as they felt their space invaded as dinosaurs even began to crowd in for some head pats and snuggles too much to their discomfort!

As everyone fixed their eyes solely on the children, the alpha gang looked on pouting with jealousy at them hogging all the attention from the masses, "Why do they always get the glory!?" Zander gritted his teeth and stomped his foot on the ground in frustration.

"Makes me wish I was a kid again!" Ed cried as he fell on the ground and began pounding at it in agony as well as envy.

"I deserve everyone's praise!" Ursula then screeched as a tic mark appeared on her forehead and she shook his fist out to the skies, "Why couldn't the Pterosaur have picked me!? I would have made a far better heroine than all those kids put together!"

"YOU!? Out of the question! If anyone should be chosen to save the would it ought to be me!" Dr Z protested as he smacked them all down to the ground in frustration!

WHAM!

"YOW!"

Dr Z after that then teared up and cried into his eyes at how everyone was ignoring HIM! The great dinosaur king! As he wept painfully feeling all alone and forgotten like yesterday's news, therizinosaurus went over and nuzzled close to him hoping to make his father feel better, for he was still number one in his book.

As everyone began to celebrate and cheer, or even dance in excitement of this memorial occasion, none of them took notice that one meteorite fragment from the reaper, larger than the others, crashed down a little further ahead from where they all were gathered as it smoked a deep dark black and even glowed purple too….

Obvious to it, Max placed his arms around Zoe and Rex as he brought them all in and smiled began to spread across their faces with joy, "Heh, I think this may actually be the start of some really great things to come for this day and age eh guys?" He asked with enthusiasm.

"Mhmm, it's been a really incredible adventure too." Zoe nodded with him, "All the people and what the future has to offer, what's in store for us down the line….to think we're going to make it all happen." she said with pride and awe inner voice as she looked around to see what will happen years later thanks to them.

"I couldn't agree more with you guys, and we made this all possible now too." Rex nodded, as he also felt that it wasn't just that they helped make the future to come for future generations and the dinosaurs, they even helped ended the war that they suffered too.

None of them could have felt more grateful than Cera, who felt an immense weight lifted off her chest with this outcome of their victory over the shadow empire at last, "Finally, at long last….we finally achieved everlasting peace, everyone's spirits are restored and the dinosaurs can live happily with us as before and their ancestors can rest in peace." She said to herself as she looked over to see so many smiling faces and warmth between both humans and dinosaurs. In their eyes there was no hatred, no desire for revenge or any hostility or tension….it was all joy and kindness, the warmth which emanated from the all gave Cera a warm flashback to the golden age of dinosaur human coexistence, and now that age could begin again at last, "It took a lot of battles and sacrifices to get this far….." She let out a deep breath as Miku crept up to her and chirped. She smiled as she nuzzled her partner's chin, "But in the end…..it was all worth it in the end." Seeing everyone's eyes she could tell they were moving on too inside, and login around she could see the spirits of their past comrades who fell in battle during the war, smiling at them for a job well done and for bringing peace where they failed….including her own mother, who smiled warmly towards her daughter before fading away with the spirits of the dinosaurs before.

Cera nodded firmly in acknowledgement of them, now they could all carry on and write a new legacy to take into the future, one without war or destruction, in due time everyone's wounds would heal and they may even move on completely and forget about the war for just knew it was possible with all that was going on around her…..

It was indeed a great moment for humanity and dinosaur kind alike….though the moment was soon interrupted, at the sound of a large cracking sound which echoed from far ahead….right where the large meteorite had fallen….

CRACK!

"Huh?" They turned around to see the dark piece of the meteor had gained a crack in it, much to their confusion.

There was no one near it nor anything else within range to have cracked it, and there was no way a piece of an asteroid that huge could break so easily or make a sound that loud all on its own, so something had to have caused it. To their surprise, the crack seemed to….get bigger….

"What the?" Cera narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, with Max holding an arm to her with caution and encouraging her to keep her distance. It was wise he did so, as a clawed hand suddenly burst out through the chunk of rock itself and caught everyone off guard!

SMASH!

"AAAAH!" Everyone backed away from the meteorite chunk, fearing what kind of unholy offspring was coming to be from it…..but what pulled itself free from the charred rock was their worst nightmare yet which returned once more from the dead refusing to stay down!

"GRARRRGH!" Goma roared as he burst out of the rock in a rage! As he pulled himself free and stepped forth onto the icy ground, his entire body was covered in burns, scrapes and scars as a result of the tremendous battle earlier in peace! Many parts of his robe were torn up and ripped off giving him a most rugged and savage look, as he glared at them all with immense hatred and fury as he gnashed his teeth at them like a rabid animal! The only part of his outfit which remained completely intact was his chest plate, the activator was cracked but still fully functional as it glowed with energy.

The entire Resistance widened their eyes in bewilderment and disbelief at the sight of Goma, staring with speechlessly with gaping jaws as many of them stuttered and stumbled back as if they saw a ghost!

"GOMA!?"

"He survived that!?"

"Impossible!" They all gasped in horror as if he was some kind of undead zombie, if not even an explosion like that could kill him off, what could they possibly do against him now!? They even began to worry that with him back again, the threat he posed was still at large.

As Cera and her friends looked on, there was only one phrase she could describe him after seeing what he just survived and now emerged as, "He's a monster….."

Upon seeing all their shocked and horrified expressions, Goma then grinned with deep sadistic satisfaction to see he struck fear into their very souls just by them laying eyes on him pulling off the impossible. "Heh….forgive me for being late to your victory celebration," he grinned malevolently at them, as he pulled himself free from the debris, his fingers and eyes twitching psychotically as he made his way towards them, "But I have no intention of letting any of you enjoy it." He hissed, with every sole intention of crashing their party and make sure that their victory and even their own lives….short lived.

Already upon sight of their old enemy now back from the dead apparently, the resistance began to bare their fangs and animosity right towards him, "Tch! What it going to take with this guy!?" Kaze hissed bitterly as he gripped his hands over his katana, given the chance he'd just take his head off an be done with it, while his dinosaurs snarled and hissed viciously with rage.

"Doesn't he have anything better to do!?" Zander grunted taking offence at his party pooping, "Why's he got to ruin the mood!?"

"Heh, did you really think I could be destroyed so easily?" Goma mused to them, "That explosion was nothing more than a bess sting compared to what I've endured previously in life." he boasted cockily before shooting a hard glare, "And it also pales in comparison to what I have planned for you!" He roared, signalling to the Resistance his fight with them was far from finished much to their frustration!

"Just give it up Goma!" Rex then yelled out at him, "Your fortress is gone, your army is defeated! You've got nothing left to fight for, so just give it up already!"

"Hasn't there been enough damage and destruction already!?" Cera then cried out feeling her heart ache just when she and everyone else was given a moment's relief from the war, "Just accept you've lost and save us all a lot of trouble!" She was beginngin to feel pity for him if he couldn't move on and still wanted to fight in his weakened state.

"Get it through your thick skull already you sore loser!" Zoe shouted before sticking her tongue out at him as the Resistance began to shout all kinds of insults and their dinosaurs let out some fierce roars in agitation towards him!

A sisniter smirk soon come upon his face despite all the opposition he faced, in fact, nothing would please him more than to make each and every one of them suffer like he just did, "Heh, why should I?" He grinned madly as his eyes turned psychotic and veins pipped all around his face and eyes, setting off several troopers too with the look he shot their way, "None of you are any better at giving up….huff….it seems your tenacity has rubbed off on me and I enjoy it very much." He let out a heavy breath as he rested his arms on one knee, as he began to muster up whatever strength he had led, now he was starting to see what it meant when his enemies never gave up until their last dying breath…..perhaps it was time he employed the same mindset as they did….

Closing his eyes and dwelling on everything he worked towards, the scorn and ridicule he endured from his peers, only for all he had to be taken away from him all because of mere humans, insignificant specks of dust in comparison to him. The very thought of it was unthinkable, as he dwelled on said thoughts and let his negative feelings of hatred grow and fester within his mind, heart and soul, he then gained a psychotic grin across his face as a shade covered over his eyes,

"Congratulations, I could never hate anyone else in the universe anymore than I despise each and every one of you!" He screeched demonically out to the skies!

Upon his outburst, the rocks behind him began to erupt and bursting forth form them was omega eocarcharia, who too let out a monstrous roar as he stood by his master and shocked the entire resistance speechlessly!

"AAAAH!"

"It's like you said, I lost everything because of you, my plans, my empire….everything I worked so hard to build for years now lies in ruins….." He hissed with venom as he gnashed his teeth and clenched his clawed hands tightly.

"So let this end already right now!" Max then shouted out at him.

"Never! This ends when I say it ends!" Goma roared defiantly as he clenched his hands into taught fists which he gripped so hard he could crack a rock in half, "Never in a million years would I ever let this…humiliation you've dealt me go unpunished, nor will I ever forgive you for such insolence for defying a God!" He roared, "You may have destroyed everything I built, but all you did was merely destroy the body of my empire! I on the other hand, am its very soul! I still live! As long as I live, it shall rise again no matter how long it takes!" He screeched to the stars vowing to rebuild from scratch if that was what it took, even if it would take an eternity he vowed the world and the universe would be his as long as he still lived and breathed!

"Tch! He's really gone off the deep end…." Max gritted his teeth seeing there was no reasoning with him at all.

Cera narrowed her eyes hard, "I think he already has a long time ago." She said as everyone else tensed up at their most critical moment yet.

It was soon clear what they must do, they hd to stop him here and now once and for all, otherwise the cycle of pain and destruction would continue once again, "Not a chance Goma!"

"We will never let that happen!"

"Yeah! We'll end you and your reign before it even begins!" Max and the D Team shouted out furiously at him in defiance, which was soon followed by angry yells and dinosaur roars fro the Resistance.

However despite being heavily outnumbered an on his own, Goma soon scoffed in response to their threats, "Oh it will you foolish feeble humans. It's the inevitable…." he snickered before closing his eyes and scoffing with arrogance, "I am a Zanjark and can easily outlive any one of your frail lifespans. So I can assure you that none of you alive today will to see it happen!" He grinned, "But first, to ensure my empire's future is secure, I'll take the liberty of uprooting any and all threats to its rebirth!" He declared before holding out his arm! "Starting with you! Right here and now!" In the palm of his hand he generated a dark energy sphere which unnerved the dinosaurs present before he slammed it on the ground and it began to spread in a large eruption around him and then spread over to the Resistance much to their alarm! "Hahahahahaha!" He laughed maniacally as he and eocarcharia were enveloped in the darkness which soon shot over to where his enemies were gathered!

"WAH!" Quickly in response they all turned and ran away as fast as they could from the dark wave, putting as much distance as they could away from the crater as possible!

"Out of my way! Coming through!" Dr Z screamed as he shoved past the trio and ran ahed of them much to their horror!

"C…Come back Dr Z!"

"Don't leave us!" They pleaded as their dinosaurs followed after them! For some of the troopers who had trouble getting up the steep slopes it was thankful they had their dinosaurs to either give them a boost or carry them the rest of the way, some of which were initially abandoned on the ice earlier and had no intention of repeating the same mistakes as before with their renewed bonds from just now.

As Cera tried to run after them, she tripped over a stone in the ice and then fell forwards onto the ground with Miku tumbling out of her pocket! "AH! NO!" She gasped as she scurried over to scoop her back up, but as she turned she cried out loud in fear to see it close in to where they were! "AAAAH!"

Hearing her screams, "Cera!" Max widened his eyes in alarm as he ran back for her! As he and Chomp managed to get to her and Miku, helping her up to their feet they widened their eyes as the wave soon began to sweep over them!

"WAAAH!" They cried as they held out their arms, with Chomp running in front to take the front of the wave but to no avail as it covered over them completely!

As everyone backed away in time, they looked back and gasped to see them left behind!

"Max! Cera!"

"Run! Get away quick!" Marina and Blaze both cried out to them but to no avail!

"AAAAH!" They cried as the wave washed over them! Everyone widened their eyes speechlessly in horror, believing it was the end of them….till the wave soon topped and solidified, turning rather translucent so they could be seen inside!

As they looked up, Max, Cera and their dinosaurs looked around in alarm to find themselves strapped inside some kind of dark energy dome! "H…Huh!?"

"What the!?" All around them they could see they were completely sealed in with no escape! Chomp and Miku narrowed their eyes and growled with agitation, sensing some dangerous amidst with this imprisonment.

"Max! Cera!" As they looked ahead they saw Rex and Zoe slide down the walls of the crater and run up to where they were.

"Are you guys alright!?" They both cried in worry and concern for their friends.

"Y…Yeah…." Cera nodded uneasily, while physically alright she wasn't quite sure of their current situation though.

"That's a relief." Zoe let out a sigh of relief as she put a hand over her chest calming herself down but she didn't want them to stay in any longer than they needed to.

"Sit still, we'll get you out!" Rex yelled out assuring his friends not to worry as he slammed his fist at it in an effort to try and shatter it!

BZZT!

"AAAH!" Upon contact, Rex felt an immense electrical surge course out at his fist, which burned and repelled him off much to the others' alarm!

"WAH!"

"Tha's gotta hurt…" Ursula and Zander gasped as they took a cue to keep away from it unless they wanted to get shocked too.

"Rex! Get back!" Cera yelled out as he kept his distance and backed away from the barrier cautiously.

"Grrrgh! That actually stung…." Rex gritted his teeth painfully, hissing and wincing with pain as he looked to his hand which was already charred black from contact with it!

"Ouch…." Zoe turned pale and covered over her mouth at the mere sight of his wounds.

Despite the pain, Rex refused to let this stop him as he then looked over to his partner who rushed to his aid, "Ace! Go in and smash it to bits!" he ordered pointing ahead at it, spurring the carnotaurus to roar and charge head on!

"Paris! You help too!" Zoe followed up as Paris bellowed as she followed beside Ace! As both dinosaurs made contact with the dome and rammed it, a surge of dark electricity pulsated through them and blew them both back as they crashed to the ground much to Zoe and Rex's alarm!

"AH!"

"N…Not even a scratch!" Dr Z gasped as he looked closer at the impact marks, and whatever the material which made the dome was it was unlike anything he had ever come across in his whole life of research!

"Argh! What's that thing even made of!?"

"Whatever it is we could use something like that to keep us safe if it can hold back a mad dinosaur…." Ursula couldn't help but comment snarkily which earned her some hard discerning looks from those around her.

"Hang on tight! We'll get you out somehow!" Zoe promised them but deep down she didn't quite know how they could do it.

"Urgh…." Max and Cera both sweated anxiously worrying about being trapped inside this prison forever with no way of getting out….and unfortunately things were about to get a whole lot worse for the 2 of them!

"Don't waste your energy nor give your friends any false promises." A sinister voice spoke out from behind which made their hearts freeze or skip a beat!

"AH!" Widening their eyes and looking behind, Max and Zoe froze as they found themselves face to face with Goma and eocarcharia, and seeing they were trapped inside WITH them!

"Oh no…."

Goma grinned with sadistic delight as he spread out his arms gesturing to his dome, "This cage of mine is designed so that it's completely unbreakable and escape proof." He grinned before wagging a finger at them playfully, "Try as you might, it can't be hacked nor can it be released until one of us loses in a battle." He then closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, "Till then, we're all locked in together, or better yet….you're locked in here with me." He snickered at them which made them arrow their eyes and glare back at him in frustration!

"Grrr!" They and the others outside could see he had forced them into a fight and there was no escape, only one way out and it was through him whether they liked it or not.

He looked outside to see every dinosaur and member of the Resistance gather around the perimeter of the dome, in his idea this was going to be a sold out performance in no time where he made his come back and the whole world could see him triumphant return as he dispatched with the D Team and the Resistance! "Now all your friends can watch from a front row seat helplessly as I dispense with you all one by one!" He proclaimed to the masses as well as to HQ knowing that they were seeing this Live as well, "What you'll soon see is a prelude of what I'll do to each and every one of you! Ahahahahah!" He began to laugh in uncontrolled maniacal laughter.

Now they were all beginning to see the start of his revenge would be for them to watch helplessly as he picked them off one by one and it was obvious he was going to take his time with them too while they could just sit back and do absolutely nothing about it!

"That's just low!" Rex shouted out in disgust towards him.

"You're despicable! The worst of the worst!" Zoe yelled demanding that he fight them too. A sentiment shared by everyone who bore witness this first hand or from afar.

"Heh….your feeble insults amount to less than nothing, so please, stop wasting your breath." He scoffed at them, smirking at the fact they couldn't do a single thing about ti before diverting his full attention towards his prey. As eocarcharia let out a ravenous snarl at them, Chomp roared back and took a stand against him with Miku perched right on his head and flaring out her wings defensively, while both their partners made their stand by the dinosaurs. "So then…Max…Cera….what will it be? What will you do hmm?" Goma then smirked at them, "Either face me, or I'll have eocarcharia slaughter you both right here and now in the blink of an eye. It's your call and you've got 1 minute to decide." He sneered towards them as they tensed up and hardened themselves feeling pressured like they never had before….

"Urgh…." They gritted their teeth and sweated tensely as they could feel that Goma wasn't kidding about this.

Goma then shrugged his shoulders unconcerned and uncaringly, "Choose carefully, thought it's not like you actually have any choice at all, since your fates are pretty much sealed! Ahahahaha!" He laughed out loud obnoxiously, each word that passed his mouth was filled with so much arrogance it was like poison to everyone's ears.

"Tch! Guess the only way out is to fight Cera," Max hissed angrily, having just had enough of him and wanting to shove his fist down his throat if it would shut him up for good, "No way am I about to let us become his dino's lunch meat." he grunted as he clenched his hand into a tight fist.

"Yeah, I can tell he's dead serious about this Max." Cera added seriously, "It'll be a tough battle but it's the card we're dealt and we have only one path left open to us that gives us even the smallest chance at survival."

"Grrgh….." They both sweated, already tired from their previous battles from earlier and the chances of them winning in their current condition was very slim and the odds as always were not in their favour. The others outside knew this and they all tensed up with anger and frustration towards Goma for being do despicable and them being unable to do anything about it.

Nevertheless, it was clear this was their only way out, and so be it, the fate of the entire universe now rested on them and them alone to stop Goma and his mad ambitions once and for all. Realising that, they fully accepted that very responsibility, as they took a calm breath together, clearing their minds of all their worries and distractions before fixing their focus solely on the shadow emperor himself.

"If that's how it's going to be then so be it." Max then said as he opened his eyes with full clarity, "We'll end all this pain, suffering and loss once and for all." He vowed deep down inside before looking to one of his closest friends ever, "Cera, you ready for this?"

She nodded firmly in response and without hesitation, "More than ever Max. We've waged this war for far too long, it's time we put an end to they struggle once and for all." She said to him smiling wth confidence knowing he'd back her up, and Max did the same knowing that together they won't fall. Together they looked ahead seriously, "One way or another….this ends here." She then said as their dinosaurs roared out together!

Deep down inside they both knew for everyone's sake, they can't afford to lose and must win no matter the cost. Everything they stood for hinged on this very battle and they have no intention of failing their comrades and friends who were counting on them or gave their lives for this very moment. There was no turning back now, both of them prepared themselves as they, Chomp and Miku stood shoulder to shoulder and faced against Goma and his eocarcharia who snarled viciously at them! The tension was peaking, it was so thick and heavy one could slice it with a knife as the universe watched on for the battle of the century!

"Is this what I think it is?" Zander asked.

Ed nodded hard, "Yeah….the final battle like they always do in video games…." he said as he sweated a beads of hard sweat from his forehead.

"Only this time….the stakes couldn't be any higher…." Kaze concluded for him as everyone gathered together, routing and praying for the success of both Max and Cera as this was the final battle of all time. This very battle was also broadcasted worldwide rom HQ as they bore witness this winner take all match and they all were joined together knowing that Max and Cera were the last line of defence and their best hope of all.

"I see you've both made your decision without hesitation." Goma smirked as he closed his eyes calmly, "How commendable you've finally come to accept the inevitable. Battling me is your only option left open to you that gives you even a sliver chance of getting out of this." He then grinned deviously at them both, "Too bad for you both, that will never happen, for the only one walking away from this…alive….will be none other than me and eocarcharia!" He proclaimed, believing their fates to be sealed, "Prepare yourselves for your final doom! And everyone else can all watch as I tear you and their last shred of hope piece by piece! Ahahahaha!" He laughed out maniacally as his dinosaur let out an evil roar which made them both grit their teeth feeling under pressure from the sheer power he gave off even after the explosion from the Reaper's Wrath from just now.

"Tch!"

"And you can be sure that I'll finish the job this time!" He then shouted after that as he clenched his hand into a tight fist, "Last time I went easy on you when you left through the time portal after my father, but this time I will pull no more punches this time around!" He swore with hatred in his voice, something which Cera picked up on with suspicion.

"Wh…What do you mean by that?" she asked in confusion as well as a hint of unease.

Goma then raised an eyebrow at her response and soon smirked in amusement, "OH? You mean you don't actually know?" he replied, "Surely you don't mean you never felt any kind of attack or interference during your travel through time? Like some sort of accident hmm?" He then asked her as he aimed his full focus completely on her.

"Attack? Accident?" She muttered in confusion over what he was talking about, she soon put the pieces together and widened her eyes, "AH! You mean-"

It didn't take long for Max to reach the same conclusion she did, as he shot a shocked looked towards him, "Goma? You….know something about that attack Cera went through!?"

He nodded in response to Max's question, "Indeed, for you see…..that accident was no accident." He said smoothly before shooting a psychotic look towards them both, "It was caused by none other than myself!" He boasted stunning everyone present!

"AH!"

The whole world, Cera most of all, widened their eyes at his reveal, "What did you say!?"

Goma grinned seeing he got everyone's attention and now came the best and juiciest part of it all, "When you pursued my father that day, I couldn't simply let you interfere could I?" He smirked as Cera began to shudder as the nightmare of that very day flashbacked through her mind….she risked everything on an all or nothing gamble when Specter aimed to seize the cosmos stones. How she charged after him and his men through the time gate back then, "So I took the initiative to be rid of you one and for all." At that moment, she recalled how her ship suffered a head impact from behind, causing her to lose control of her systems before it exploded and then ending up stranded in space time and her life barely hanging by a thread…

"That….was you?" Cera then breathed heavily as she also began to breathe heavily and even fall to her knees upon this mind-blowing revelation which hit her in the face hard….striking a heavy chord deep down in her heart.

"Heheheh, now you see the pieces fit together at last." He grinned with dark delight as Max and everyone else widened their eyes and gasped speechlessly at what he revealed to them all, how she went missing from the future and then wound up in the past with no memory…it was all his doing from the start! Cera's suffering as well as the resistance's was all because of him! "With you out of the picture, it was so easy to break the spirits of your comrades when I spread the word of your demise during the attack!" He then boasted arrogantly, "How simply it was to break their hopes and resolve then and how easy it was to conquer this miserable world." He boasted his atrocious acts in such a way he enjoyed every second of it, the destruction, the chaos, the pain he inflicted upon countless innocents, it was all but a mere game to him and it made it all clear to the Resistance how despicable and utterly unforgivable of a monster Goma truly was.

"Grrr….." All around the battlefield hard glares, gritted teeth and scowls of hatred were all shot at him.

Seeing them, Goma grinned as it would make things more exciting if they were to battle harder, driven by pure rage and blind emotion. It would make the battle more intense, exciting and all the more fun as they squirmed and tore apart from the indie as well as out, and he was eager to further ignite their fires of hatred against him, "It was supposed to have stayed that way, back then I believed you were done for," He sighed as he began to shake his head in disappointment, "How wrong I was to overlook it….." He then recalled back to Rex's time when he invaded to retrieve his men's dinosaur cards, when it changed completely for him.

"When I saw you that time in Rex's future, I was caught off guard to see you alive and well." He muttered knowing it was too good to be true and it was far too easy the way things had went prior to then, "Then again it did make sense, since you teamed up with the D team, and joined them in their battles against my father and his men throughout time, it's no wonder you were able to defeat them." He mused before narrowing his eyes and shooting a glare towards her and Max, "You make have survived that accident and threw a wrench into my father's plans and destroyed the cosmos stones then. But this time I guarantee it will be different!" He vowed as his expression turned maniacal, "I'll make an example of you, by crushing you and Max Taylor with my own hand right before the entire planet!" He declared as he pointed out at them, further angering them and all those who heard every word he just said, "I'll shatter their spirit and will to resist completely and then the entire world will be mine again forever!"

Seeing Cera was trapped in her own mind and down dark memory lane, Max turned towards Goma and clenched his fists tightly with rage, "How dare you….." he hissed bitterly under his breath, for him to have hurt his friend and put her through so much suffering and trauma….he wasn't about to let him get away with it not one bit!

"Don't fret, soon it will all be over." He then smiled at them early, "As an act of mercy, I'll make this quick and reunite you with all your fallen brethren who threw their lives away for nothing!" He screeched as he saw it was time he stopped monologuing and finally got to the main event at last, "Then when I'm done with you, I'll make sure you have plenty of company in the afterlife, and you can live happily never after altogether. Wouldn't that be nice?" He grinned as the marks on his head glowed purple and he summoned forth every ounce of dark energy he had remaining in every cell of his body!

"Grrr!" Emotions and thoughts of immense animosity towards him welled up inside the Resistance who heard every word that passed his lips, others were more shocked and devastated too hear what Cera had been put trough all this time when she disappeared, all because of what he did to her and enjoyed very much.

"He's a heartless monster to the very core."

"His heart is blacker than a black hole…." Any possible chance of them showing any sympathy or mercy towards Goma vanished completely without a trace, and now they just couldn't wait to get at him. It didn't matter if Cera or Max lost, they vowed to avenge their comrades at any cost now.

"I made the mistake of not eliminating you completely, an oversight I will rectify immediately this instant!" Goma then roared as a streak of pain coursed through his side making him clench it, "Grrgh! I may have lost much of my energy after you destroyed the cosmos stones, but I still have just enough of it left for this one final strike!" He yelled as he forced all the dark energies of the cosmos stones into his activator on his chest, which then fed into eocarcharia who let out a powerful roar as his wings flared purple! Flapping them he took up tot he sky as he and Goma prepared to unleash one last strike! "Take this! The final power of the shadow empire! Omega Phoenix!" He yelled in a fury as he punched out, a bright red spectral pirate mark flare out behind Omega eocarcharia as he prepared to dive down at both Max, Cera and Chomp! His eyes narrowed at them and he snarled with a malevolent grin, along with Goma who reflected his dinosaur's very own facial expression, "Haahahahaha! Prepare for your ultimate doom!" He laughed maniacally, feeling triumphant as he prepared to call out his ultimate move to wipe them off the face of the Earth and soon everyone else too one by one!

They all widened their eyes as Goma readied his final attack and their friends had no way of escape! "MAX!"

"Cera!"

"Look out!"

"Grrrgh….." Max gritted his teeth and sweated anxiously, as Chomp took the stand in front to protect them. Deep down he worried about whether they would e able to survive this attack….till he looked to the side and blinked his eyes in surprise, "Huh?" He saw Cera being calm and collected despite their situation, a development which even surprised Goma too.

"You know Goma, I'll say this, I've seen all kinds of wickedness in the world, I've seen people do all sorts of horrible things to dinosaurs and each time and again." She said to him before shooting a hard glare at him, "But none of them comes close to you…..there's no one else I absolutely despise more than you."

"My my, how flattering," He smirked taking it as a compliment, "Too bad it will do no good for you since you and your fired will be erased in an instant. But I'll be sure to remember your honesty, perhaps I may even put them upon your tombstone." He grinned licking his lips as he started to hunger for the screams of pain and agony they would soon cry out once his attack was fully charged!

To ho surprise though, as well as Max, she gained a rather light smile on her face rather than grow weary or furious at him, "Oh you shouldn't after all Max and I don't plan on dying anytime today." She calmly responded before looking at him, "Plus….I never thought I'd be saying this….but….I thank you for what you did."

"You….what?"

"If it wasn't for what you did to me….I never would have met Max, Zoe, Rex and many other irreplaceable friends."

"I may have lost my memories back then but it was a blessing in disguise all along. The old me would never have been able to find hope, but what you did gave me that very chance of finding it again!"

"Cera…."

She then opened up her eyes filled with resolve and determination, which started Goma as her eyes met his! "Now I realise full hand the power one can gain from making connections with others, the same goes for both humans and dinosaurs!" She shouted out loudly with pride and firmness, "And right now, I have even more of a reason to keep fighting with everything I've got!" She declared and pointed out at him, "I'll do anything to protect the friends who helped raise me in the past, and I won't let you steal the tomorrows of everyone else in the future!" Deep down it was thanks to Max and the D team that she was able to regain something she hadn't felt in so long, the trusted bond between a dinosaur and human, and the wondrous possibilities and connections that rose from said connections! Now she wanted to return that to the world and make sure everyone else today and tomorrow would be able to experience the same joys and happiness she did then, and the only way to do that was to defeat Goma once and for all and she planned to do just that!

Upon hearing her words, everyone felt deeply moved and inspired by her words, their spirits reignited with hope as well as their resolve restrengthened too as they began to cheer and root for not just their last hope but the greatest heroes of all times.

"Yeah! You tell him Cera!"

"We believe in you!"

From HQ, Lunensis' heart was moved beyond belief, as he shed a tear in complete joy to see how much of a woman she had grown into, and feeling eternally and grateful for all the people she met who helped her come this far.

The only one who didn't take her words well was Goma, who had aimed to agitate and rattle his foes with his words so that they'd be thrown off and fell that more worse after he defeated them, "Tch! How disgusting…." he hissed clicking his tongue seeing his attempt had backfired and now their spirits were even stronger than ever! No matter, it just meant he'd have to try that much harder in turn!

Max then grinned excitedly as he and Chomp both felt more fired up than ever! "Let's go Cera!" He said to her as he pumped his arms up, "We'll hit him with everything we've got!" He said as she nodded with him in full agreement!

"Take all our power too!" Rex then cried as he and Zoe glowed golden like before!

"We're with you all the way!" Blaze cried out as he and the other captains too began to shine as well, along with the troopers and dinosaurs gathered with them!

"Teach that snivelling space punk a lesson!" Ursula, Zander and Ed shouted too as they glowed golden as well!

"As dinosaur king I'll give you both the honour of dealing with this threat to our world!" Dr Z cheered as everyone's cries and echoes from around the world could be heard by Cera and Max!

They received them both by their ears and hearts, the wishes of the planet's people and dinosaurs were conveyed to them, their final and best hope to end this nightmare once and for all.

"You feel them Max?" Cera asked him.

He smirked proudly in response, "I sure do, and I bet Chomp and Miku do too!" Looking up to them both, the dinosaurs roared out in unison, vowing not to let their partners nor the entire planet down! "Let this be known, we'll never surrender!" Max then declared making a vow, "We'll show Goma our real power! Born from our combined hearts and for the future of our world!" He announced with full determination before looking towards his partner who was more ready than ever! "Chomp!" The triceratops bellowed a powerful battle cry as his heart was fully inspired and moved by everyone's prayers and wishes!

"Miku!" Cera cried as the microraptor screeched and flared golden together with Chomp!

"Together!" They both punched forward as the 2 dinosaurs channeled in the hopes and wishes of the entire world as the people and dinosaurs poured their energies into them both! As Miku absorbed the energies within herself then power linked to Chomp in energy equaliser, it was so powerful it caused him to turn into awakened form while still sporting his Dino tector armour! A development which caused him to bellow with so much power it blew eocarcharia and even Goma back a bit much to their surprise!

"URGH! Such power…..unbelievable…." He growled gritting his teeth and wincing as he felt himself pushed back! He dug in his heels and glared back at them as they held a firm gaze towards him, which was shared by every other human and dinosaur present! "But still, no matter how many of you worms unite together you're no match for me! You hear me!?" He screamed in defiance as he flared a dark purple aura! "RARGH!" He roared as he channeled every last ounce of energy into omega eocarcharia who swooped down and spiralled through his spectral mark energised and was coated in purple flames preparing to make contact!

"GOOOOO! ULTIMATE THUNDERRR!" Cera and Max both shouted in unison as they, along with everyone else on the entire planet conveyed their hopes and thoughts towards the Lightning dinosaur who achieved a power unlike anything the world had ever seen! With all the strength in him given by his comrades, Chomp launched himself forward towards omega eocarcharia!

"EOCARCHARIA!" Goma yelled punching out as his shadow dinosaur swooped down and they both clashed, causing purple cinders and golden lightning sparks to fly out between them! The collision of their moves caused an immense buildup of energy sending shockwaves through the ground as it cracked beneath them!

"GRRRRRGGGH!"

"GRAAAARRRGGGHH!"

Through their clash of wills, neither dinosaur gave in as they each held their ground, powered up by their partners with the desire to triumph by any means necessary! In the end, from their clash, a massive powerful explosion erupted from where they met in battle which began to swallow up the entire battlefield and was so powerful, not even the sphere fields could contain it any longer, as it began to crack! Light spewed out form the cracks made by the tremendous energy unleashed from the blast before it finally exploded too!

BOOM!

The explosion sent an immense shockwave of light and energy which blew everyone back, as some dug in their heels or held their arms bracing themselves, others too weak to handle it and were sent flying away! Both dinosaurs, troopers and mobiles!

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

"Urgh…." the sounds of pained groans echoed through the Antarctic tundra, as they slowly stirred and looked ahead, their eyes squinted due to the light. Those in HQ stared speechlessly and in anticipation for what had happened, their hearts racing or beating firm as they awaited to see who had emerged victorious.

As the light faded away, a huge pillar of dust and ash took its place emanating from a deep dark crater no doubt created by the blast just now! As it cleared, everyone widened their eyes to see Chomp, having reverted back to his original form without any armour or awakened powers, lying on the ground heavily battered and wounded, and with Cera and Max taking shelter together right behind him clutching Miku!

"Ah!" Rex and Zoe both gasped in alarm but soon eased a bit as he came to his senses, letting out a painful growl as he forced himself back up to his legs, which wobbled as he had been drained of nearly all his energy and could collapse and revert back to card form at any time. Everyone was relieved to see that they were alright at least…till a low roar echoed from the dust ahead!

Stepping out from it, was omega eocarcharia, who was covered in bruises and injured underneath his armour but snarled menacingly and let out a loud roar as he stomped right towards their helpless friends!

"Ugh…."

"Tch!"

Max and Cera tensed up as they had nothing left to fight back with, and Miku buried her face in Cera's chest, fearful of what would happen to them and her. Chomp bravely stood his ground, putting himself between the humans and omega eocarcharia as he made his way towards them.

"AH!" Everyone gasped in alarm seeing they had to act immediately.

"Quick we need to get in there now!" Rex pointed forward with upmost urgency as the Alpha gang nodded, ready to go in too in order to save their comrades!

Before they could all make a move though, "Wait!" Craig suddenly yelled stopping them much to their surprise as they turned to him.

"Huh?"

He then pointed ahead, "Look closer!" He said as they curiously looked back to the battlefield, as eocarcharia continued to approach Max, Cera and Chomp.

The eocarcharia, heavily beaten and battered as a result of the attack and explosion, stumbled towards them groggily, with his killing instinct and loyalty to Goma being the only reason he hadn't lost yet…..but soon, as his energy and stamina drained further with each step, his vision blurred and his breath shortened with exhaustion. Stopping in his tracks, Cera, Max, Miku and Chomp looked to see him lift up his head and let out one final roar, which echoed to the stars. It soon however…began to soften and die down, and to everyone's surprise, his armour suddenly glowed and shattered apart into many pieces! After that, having lost all energy and soon consciousness, the mighty shadow dinosaur collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, before finally glowing red and reverting back to a dinosaur card which settled gently on the snowy ground….

Seeing himself to be the only dinosaur standing now, Chomp stomped his foot and let out a victorious roar which echoed across the entire planet, as everyone stared speechlessly, stunned beyond belief at what they just witnessed before hand with their very own eyes….the fall of the dreaded Omega eocarcharia….Goma's ultimate dinosaur….and ultimately….Goma himself…..at last….

"They…did it…." Rex muttered in amazement before he and the others began to grin with deep excitement and joy!

"Haha! They actually did it! They won!" Rex and Zoe both cheered and high fived each other as applause and excited cheers echoed across Antartica, followed by the chorus of victory cries and screeches by dinosaurs all around the planet, as if they could sense their triumph over Goma once and for all!

"YEAH!"

"Alright!"

"That was the most crazy and epic thing I ever did see!"

"You're the absolute best!"

"Way to go Max!"

"Lieutenant Cera! Congratulations!" They praised and applauded both Max and Cera for their courageous and outstanding efforts, to them they and the entire D Team would be remembered through all time now and forever more for what they accomplsuekhd on this very day.

"Huff….." Max let out an exhausted but deeply satisfied breath, which he held under pressure from just now, but after what just happened perhaps he was worried all for nothing after all.

"We did it Max….we finally did it…." Cera then let out a heavy wheeze as she placed a hand over her chest to still her racing excited heart, and then feeling more at ease now that their long hard war was over at last.

"Yup, hehe, and it was a blast doing it too." Max chuckled with a smile as he held out a thumbs up to her.

"Way to go you br-I mean kids!" Ursula held back at the end, admittedly she couldn't deny how happy she was to see them win, "We take back all the horrible things we ever said about you being obnoxious ankle biters!" She cheered as Zander, Ed and Dr Z whistled for them.

"We never doubted you all for a second!" Marina cried out.

"Your spirits are on fire!" Blaze roared with excitement and fire burning deep inside his own soul.

The same could also be said back at the Resistance HQ, as the D Team's families stared in complete and utter speechlessness at what had just unfolded, before big grins and smiles of joy came upon them all and the too let loose all the excitement from deep within them too in light of this miracle and astonishing victory!

"That was….Incredible!" Dr Owen whistled and clapped as everyone else began to erupt in cheers too.

"YEAH!" Laura and Rod clapped hands together before dancing together.

"A fine performance indeed!" Jonathan clapped in applause, if he were a critic he'd give that a 10 star performance without question! "This brings tears to my eyes, and I'm an android no less." He then sobbed, feeling his heart processor racing hard, though his emotions were all programs and chips they were real enough to make him almost shed a tear of oil from his eye.

Helga with empathy patted his shoulder with a warm smile, "I understand the feeling all too well." She said feeling him.

"Oh Max…..my sweet baby…." sniffled Aki as she used a hanky to pat her eyes dry from all the emotions running through her that very moment, while Spike on the other hand let out everything he had inside him in a massive explosion of applause and praise!

"Well done my boy! I couldn't be prouder to call you my son! Way to goo!"

As the other parents teared up, clapped or whistled for the D Team's victory as well as their children's success, Lunensis kept it to himself more modestly as he simply wiped away a tear from his eye but deep down no words could express the tearful emotions welling up inside him, "Cera….thank the heavens…." he whispered to himself deep inside feeling at ease and also smiling well, knowing that his wife Maia was smiling down upon them from above too, knowing she couldn't be prouder to see their daughter grow up so well and be able to save the world, its people and the dinosaurs from devastation.

Back on the Antarctic tundra, Cera could feel the praises and cheers from the people and dinosaurs not just around the world but even their spirits crying out in victory for them in the winds and even from the stars above. Deep down she could even feel the Pterosaur's own presence through the light and hope of the planet as it lived on and shone brightly in everyone's brightness. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh of relief, feeling eternally grateful and thankful for not just the Pterosaur for saving her but also giving her a new chance at life and for being able to meet so many wondrous people and have countless adventures and experiences she would keep in her heart for all eternity…and even help others start their own journeys so they can all grow together with dinosaurs and experience just as she did.

"Now we can finally start a new age of peace." Max smiled looking around to see everyone cheering and applauding all around them and with the threat of the cosmos stones and the shadow empire erased from existence at last.

Rex nodded with her as he and the others in the D Team agtehrend around her to celebrate, "Yeah, and finally give this world a clean slate free from-"

Before he could finish, a painted groan echoed behind them, "Urgh…." The voice of whom

"AH!" They widened their eyes in alarm to see Goma, stumble out towards them from the dust of the battle, limping towards them as he grasped one arm tightly with the other, sneering and wincing with pain and hate as he gnashed his teeth and glared at all his enemies with immense intensity! As he appeared in full form before them all, it revealed more of his cloak had torn off as a result of the battle, along with several scrapes and cuts around his chest and arms which were bleeding out dark purple blood which dripped onto the white snow ground. In fact from his mouth he was even bleeding somewhat too!

Yet despite that, he was edging towards them, hungering for vengeance against everyone who wronged him like this, reducing him to such a pitiful state, and he was going to do it even if it tore his very being apart as the cold ravaged his exposed body! As the D Team and everyone else saw him fight through both his injured and the cold as he forced himself towards them, they couldn't believe their eyes, both at his determination and the fact he still wasn't going to yield….

"No way….."

"Goma…." They all uttered and gasped in horror, seeing he was indeed a monster to be able to keep up and endure such punishment and still go on….

To Cera, seeing him in such a state, almost made her feel pity for him, "He's in….really bad shape…." A part of her anted to end his suffering, out of mercy but another part of her actually wanted to make him suffer more for what he put them through….and that part was beginning to sit within her as she gritted her teeth ahed, seeing this could be their chance to finally rid the universe of his vile presence for good…..

Even in his weakened state, had he gotten his hands on one of them he'd tear them in 2 if given the chance, as he fought hard against the pain coursing through every fibre of his being as he lumbered forward towards the D Team, who got up and readied themselves if the situation would demand it.

"Everyone get ready!"

"Hold your positions!" Craig and Kaze each shouted out to their troopers as they readied themselves, and remained on high alert, their dinosaurs on standby ready to attack at any second should Goma make any sudden movements or even act suspicious in any way.

Everyone narrowed their eyes and fixed their eyes on him, not even turning away for a second or even blink, keeping close watch knowing the slightest mistake or misjudgement could mean the end of any one of them. After all he did, they couldn't possibly take any chances with him and until he was subdued or better yet taken out for good, they remained vigilant. As he stopped in his tracks and made no further movements, but instead wheezed and gasped for air, he suddenly collapsed down to their surprise.

"Gasp….Urk…." he croaked in pain as he fell right down on one of his knees, gritting his teeth and tensing with unbearable pain coursing through every fibre of his body! He sneered and hissed through his teeth almost in agony, a sensation he never believed he'd feel ever in his entire life. Seeing how truly weakened he was and sensing he was in no condition to be able to fight back or escape, the D Team though still kept their guard up in case after their previous experiences with him. To Goma though, what shocked him more than anything else wasn't the sensation of pain itself, but was by how completely outmatched he was during that battle even after he gave everything he had, "How….How could I….have lost?" he muttered to himself as his eyes shook and he couldn't comprehend what he just witnessed, it was as if the world itself had turned upside down for him.

"Everything I worked towards….My vision….Eocarcharia and I shared a bond, our combined powers along with that of the cosmos stones…..how…." he choked weakly as he held out his arm for his dinosaur card, which lay out of his fingers by merely an inch, and it was torturous how he couldn't make contact with the card due to his lack of energy, "How could we still fall!? I don't understand it! GRARGH!" he roared in his frustration, gnashing his teeth before slamming his fist hard into the ground with all the force he had left, causing the ice to crack underneath, as well as exerting his last ounce of strength before falling forward in defeat!

Cera scowled at him with disdain and disapproval before stepping a little closer to him, "There's only 1 obvious reason why Goma." She said getting his attention.

"Huh!?" He shot his head dup at her, widening his eyes in shock at the D Team before gritting his teeth in fury, "What is it!? I demand you tell me now!" he roared threateningly at them, even in his weakened tate many of them were amazed he had the energy to do so.

"We can try but we highly doubt you'd understand it." she sighed feeling pity before shooting a fierce glare at him in disgust, "But we'll make this point clear, eventhough you and your dinosaur share a connection, it's a bond that's born from putrid evil. Something that shouldn't even exist."

"And compared to the unified feelings and wishes of everyone in the world, who gave us all their energy in the hopes of a better world free from your influence, it never stood a chance." Max added after her, "That was why you lost, or better yet….doomed to be defeated from the very start."

As he listened closely to what they each said, a shade soon covered his eyes as he looked down away form them, and then he began to chuckle eerily, "Hehehehehe…"

"Huh?" They blinked their eyes in surprise and were startled as he suddenly exploded into uncontrollable laughter once again!

"Ahahahahah!"

They narrowed their eyes ticked off at his cocky attitude, having heard enough of his voice for a lifetime, "What's so funny!?" Max demanded taking huge offence at him making a mockery of what they believed in, and wouldn't hesitate to beat the stuffing out of him if pushed too far.

Roma's laughter soon quelled as he began to wheeze out of breath and then calming down, "Heh….I may not understanding much or perhaps anything at all about you humans….." He said before focusing on them and smirking, "But I do know this….the thrill of battle, 2 sides fighting on the edge with everything they've got and with such high stakes as countless eyes watch on…..heh…." He smirked in amusement, deep down he couldn't deny that he enjoyed that very battle for he gave it his very all and had no regrets despite the outcome, in the end if there was one good thing that came out of this battle, it's that he found worthy rivals who could match his power and the idea of battling them again got him really pumped up and motivated, "Maybe now I see why you enjoyed the sport of dino battling so much to your heart's content." He let out a heavy breath as they all watched on closely, still eying him with suspicion to make sure he didn't try anything funny in his monologuing.

He looked up weakly at Max and Cera and smirked momentarily before his head fell back on the ground, "I may despise you all with all my being…..but I won't deny that I actually had fun this time around….perhaps the most I've ever had in years." He said so to the very first beings in the universe who actually earned his very respect. Deep down, after years of spilling blood, the act of conquering and the pain he inflicted, while satisfactory it was always short-lived in the end, to him dino battling was no more than a means to an end, a mere step towards universal domination and as part of the job….but for the first time ever….he felt genuinely happy…."If fighting with you has this good….heh….I can't wait for the rematch." He chuckled in amusement as he entertained that very thought of fighting again, which made him grin sadistically over how much stronger they would be then and how much getter he'd have gotten by then too, it'd no doubt make their earlier battle feel tame in comparison and he looked forward to it with every fibre of his being deep inside.

"I highly doubt it." Rex scoffed.

"Yeah, there will be no rematch." Zoe added in agreement with him.

"You're through, done, finished!" Max yelled as he threw out his arm at him.

"And when we're through with you, we'll make sure you never see the outside again." Cera vowed with all her being.

Their unenthusiastic responses made Goma scowl in disappointment that they didn't think the same as he did, "Hmph! Savour your triumph over me while you can….urk…." he grunted in pain as he winced hard with it, before glaring back up at them, "But don't let it get to your head. Light and dark are both opposite sides of the same coin, one would be completely pointless or better yet wouldn't be exist without the other." He replied seriously, "No matter how bright the light a shadow will always appear eventually behind it." He said as his signature grin spread across his face, "As long as I live, the shadow empire will rise again." His grin depend as he could feel the unease and tension in the Resistance through his words, "And I know there's nothing you can do about it, for you'll never have the guts to truly finish it once and for all." He also knew deep down they'd never cross the line of ending it for good too….they didn't have the guts too nor would they ever want to be on the same level as him, for if they did he knew it would be a line they can never come back from and he'd be remembered for all eternity and immortalised in their darkest nightmares shod that happen.

"In any case….I'm defeated…..and everything I stand for ends today…for now…." He then muttered disgruntledly soon as he collapsed hard on the ground, but not before shooting both a glare and a final few parting words before they would take him away, "So enjoy your moment of peace while you still can, I promise you this isn't the last you'll see of me, for I shall return again." He vowed.

"Not anytime soon." Cera retorted firmly, vowing that it would be many years before ehe reared his ugly face again, she would personally see to it herself.

"Yeah, and if you ever become stupid enough to try starting up the empire again, we'll be ready to take you down again." Max swore as he pointed at him with a hard look.

Rex nodded, "That's right, even if they are opposite, light always shines brightest on the darkest day, and will always triumph over shadow in the end no matter what."

"Just like good will always conquer evil, as demonstrated today, as long as we never forget that, you will never win." Zoe concluded at the end.

Cera soon nodded in agreement with her friends before saying one final piece towards the fallen shadow emperor, "Ever." As long as she lived and breathed, she would see to it that there will always be people who will never forget what they accomplished today and that they will continue to stand up and fight for what was right, and will do so long after they were gone too, therefore no threat like this would ever befall the Earth ever again.

Goma scowled and say nothing at first…before he began to chuckle unnervingly after processing everything they told him first hand, "Heh….Hehehehehehe…..now that's the most cheesy thing I ever heard….Hehehehe Ahahahah! Hah….." He snickered mocking them with his last breath before he finally gave out. Losing consciousness and the straight in his arms, he collapsed onto he ground, and he lay motionlessly in an almost death like state.

Having used up all his energy as he lay almost peacefully on the icy ground, where everyone could get a good her look of their worst enemy of all….the one who started this accursed war in the beginning and made them all suffer so much, even threatening to reset the whole universe to his liking. Now he lay before them, helpless, vulnerable and completely at his mercy! The question now was…..what to do with him?

Around them troopers began narrowing their eyes with hard and furious scowls towards Goma, and the snarls and roars of several angered dinosaurs echoed from amongst the crowds too as they couldn't wait to exact both revenge and justice for what Goma did, the list of crimes he committed was immeasurable and the acts of starting the war, pitting dinosaurs against one another and forever scarring and ruining the livelihoods of many as a result of his mad ambitions were but the tip of the iceberg. Some of them including the Alpha gang were already popping their knuckles or gnashing their teeth just itching to get at him, dinosaurs were even willing to crush him underfoot or even chomp him up and spit him out too!

Cera, clenched her fists tightly as the memories of not only the war and what she and many others suffered through play backed through her mind, but also the nightmare of her mother being erased by the attack of Brontikens which was no doubt Goma's doing from behind the scenes without a doubt. She was tempted to have the first go at him, as she clenched her hands tightly into fists that shook with uncontrollable rage, she planned to march up to Goma and smash his face in….when unexpectedly she was stopped by Max as he held out his arm to her shoulder.

"No Cera." He said firmly stopping her as she looked back to him with a hard scowl. He was startled at first by the furious glare she gave him, which made Rex and Zoe stutter back nervously….but he held steadfast and in response he calmly shook his head, despite her and everyone else having every right to do as they pleased with him, he knew they'd just be giving Goma what he wanted, the easy way out and he for one didn't deserve it. Plus, he also knew better too as he calmly explained while surpassing his own rage deep down towards the young zanjark, "If you do that you'll be no different than him, your hatred won't go away and you know it." Cera tensed up at his words.

Zoe wanted to step in, but Rex held her shoulder back and shook his head, knowing this was something they had to settle between them and they had no part in it. They and everyone else turned to look back at Max and Cera as they stared down one another, "He's not worth crossing a line you'll never be able to come back from," Max calmly explained, "Deep down even after all he put you and your people through….I know you feel the same way as I do right now." It took him everything he had in him to resist his urges to make Goma pay for what he did to the dinosaurs and the future. It was true he was an unredeemable monster with all the crimes and sins he committed, but if they gave into said desires they'd be playing by his rules and they'd be just the same as he did.

Thinking about it hard and clear, Cera closed her eyes in deep thought remembering everything they fought for was not revenge but justice and peace. Thinking about it, if she crossed that line, she'd become everything she fought against, and she knew first hand it wasn't what her friends and especially he mother would want. It took every ounce of restraint in her to fight against the temptations in her mind to enact her own justice upon Goma….but thanks to Max, she let out a heavy breath as he helped her to see better and to realise she knew far better than that.

As she held herself back and the other calmed down to see she didn't cross the line, she looked to Max who smiled with ease at her, as she soon nodded back at him with the same smile, "You're right Max, we'll find another way to justly punish him and the other Zanjark for everything they've done to us and countless other worlds before us." She said grateful to him for helping her to realise that. Her words helped fill him with ease too and everyone else around her too. After that she looked towards Goma once again on the ground, "Till then, I think I may have just the place to hold them all." She said at the end as she narrowed her eyes at Goma, knowing just the place to put him and all his cronies, believing that it'd be secure and fortified enough to keep them contained until they can decide the right sentence for all their crimes. At long last….the war was won and their long struggle finally came to an end….

 **(Later)**

Much time had passed since the final defeat of the Shadow Empire and Goma, peace was beginning to return at last to the world of the future and already with the fall of the zanjark and the threat of the cosmos stones eliminated, it's effects upon the countries and its inhabitants were already being felt. A dark chapter of Earth's story had finally been closed and time had begun to move forward for people now that they were able to avenge the sacrifices of their loved ones who gave their own lives in the battle so others may be able to see a new day….though for some individuals, moving on in life wasn't as desirable others believed.

Inside the time machine room, where the Resistance had gave their best efforts in order to repair the systems and the time gate itself, resulting in a newly repaired gateway for the D Team, Alpha gang and all their friends to finally return home to where they belonged. It was going to be a rather sad parting once again, perhaps a little more so, as they all would be separated by years of time once more and being unable to see each other again….at least for a long while, and while some like Max and Zoe were ready to accept it knowing it was for the best….others weren't quite ready or even willing to say goodbye and for all the wrong reasons.

"NO! I don't want to go home!" Dr Z whined as though he was in agony as he jumped up and down flailing his arms and fuming red throwing a tantrum as his grandkids and the trio looked on in dismay at his embarrassing behaviour, "I want to stay here where I already have my beloved dinosaur kingdom and subjects to worship me every single day!" Not only did Dr Z want to stay in the future where he'd be surrounded by loving subjects and dinosaurs who'd worship him like a God for every waking moment of his life, but he also didn't have any desire to go back home and rebuild it. It was like he wanted to enjoy the fruits of his achieved labour without doing any of the needed labour at all.

"Not this again…." Rod and Laura sighed heavily and shook their heads disappointed in their grandfather acting more like a child than they were, even they knew better than him.

"Come on Dr Z, we've been over this already several times…." Dr Ancient facepalmed and rubbed his temple in exasperation, "We don't belong in this time, and so do the rest of our close friends, we have to go home otherwise who knows how it could change history."

"This is inevitable and you know it." Cretacia narrowed her eyes at Dr Z who huffed and folded his arms crossly.

"I don't care! Hmph!" Dr Z scowled as he turned his head away from them, making the situation more complicated than it needed to be.

Rod scratched his head unsure of how to convince him to change his mind, "This is gonna be tricky…." he muttered while his sister simply nodded in agreement.

"He's as stubborn as a mule.…" Jonathan frowned as he folded his arms and shook his head in displeasure, "Maybe even more so."

Helga as always though, knew exactly how to set him straight this time with a more effective strategy and one he wouldn't see coming, "Okay then how about this." she then spoke out rather politely with the hands off approach, as she knew just how to get under Dr Z's skin, "If you're not around to build your beloved dinosaur kingdom Dr Z, then wouldn't that mean this future would cease to exist hmm?"

Upon hearing the solid point his own housemaid revealed to him, Dr Z felt an arrow pierce right into his heart which made him stutter and fall to his knee with the realisation which just hit him, "Urk…." he croaked weakly, unable to fight back against such logic.

The others smiled or grinned seeing that Helga had managed to get through his hard skull which was as thick as bedrock, and decided to apply even more pressure at the weak point she made in him, "You wouldn't want them all to just fade out of existence now would you?" Dr Ancient then told him with authority.

"All our friends here in the future, along with all your precious dinosaurs and many cool awesome things that come out between them and people. They'll all just vanish into thin air all because you weren't there." Helga pointed at him which made him turn pale as he fantasied his dinosaur kingdom crumbling down into ruins and then blowing away like dust in the wind….

"Is that what you really want grampa?" Laura then asked putting on her saddest puppy dog eyes of innocence which made the old man sweat bullets, unable to resist her tears and purity.

Rod then folded his arms behind his head as he made a point of his won, "It wouldn't be nice if you took away all their lives just because you didn't want to build them the world of their dreams now would it?" He then questioned him, comparing him to be no different than a murderer, and what's worse, one who'd be wiping out his own legacy and all those who were willing to follow him too.

Finally unable to fight back against such logic thrown in his face, Dr Z swallowed hard with guilt in his heart, realising how selfish he was behaving before finally relenting, "P….Point taken…." he croaked in defeat lowering himself down as they all smiled at him having made the right decision, "Oh well, at least I know I'll be remembered for ages to come…." He then sniffled seeing that as acceptable consolation even if he would never be able to see it. On the bright side deep down in his heart he believed he lived a long and wholesome life with no regrets, he had his fun and now he felt it was now his turn to give that same feeling to the future, so his grandkids and others will be able to experience and better yet love dinosaurs like he had.

Nearby another old matter that was thought to have been buried in the ground was now dug up again, as Dr Owen knelt before Ursula and held out his dino bone ring in a ring holder box before her, "Oh Ursula, you sure you wouldn't reconsider?" he pleaded as Patrick, Zander and Ed looked on to see what would happen.

"I told you once and I told you a thousand times Dr Owen, no means no." Ursula sighed feeling sympathy for him, she had to admire his spirit of never quitting but even he ought to learn when to accept rejection and respect another's choice. She did however have a compromise which should keep him off her back and at least help give him some comfort, "But we could still be just friends. That's my best offer, take it or leave it." She offered him.

In an instant, Dr Owen felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces as he grasped his hair in agony, "WAAAH! I've been friendzoned! It's not fair!" He then screamed his his head off before his face fell flat on the ground and tears began to run out of his eyes and make a puddle under his face.

"There there señor, everything will be fine." said Patrick went over to pat him on the back comfortingly.

"Oh dear….." Ursula then sighed feeling pity for the poor man, having captured his heart and then smashed it down again. She felt this many times and while she really wanted a man to call her soulmate she wasn't THAT desperate for love, plus they belonged to 2 different times she just knew it wasn't meant to be.

Ed and Zander snickered in amusement, seeing she matured and took it much better than just bursting into a hissy fit, while some of Dr Owen's associates which included the D Team's families only chuckled or smiled.

"A terrible tragedy my friend….I feel you…." Dr Taylor sighed as he took off his hat in condolences for his fallen friend, which earned him a hard scowl from Aki who looked at him with an unhappy expression, when they got home she'd reprimand him for this. Perhaps she can give him a taste of being on the other end of the lasso which he used to wrangle and bother quite a number of dinosaurs since he set foot here.

"Have to give him credit for trying though." Reese then giggled as she covered her hand over her lips to suppress a laugh as everyone began to chuckle or sigh at the drama unfolding like some sort of comedy skit. Admittedly she was going to miss all these technological advancements in the future, it was something a scientist like her could only dream of.

Seth also felt satisfied to see how far dinosaurs had taken civilisation and perhaps with humans they could evolve into a species far better than anything he envisioned himself. Dr Drake felt most satisfied having vaccinated dinosaurs of the future with his new mega needle and all cure dino formula, which he took pride in making with his own 2 hands and would easily span forth into the future and revolutionise healthcare in the future world, and Dr Ancient and Cretacia were both proud to see that a dinosaur human utopia was indeed possible and now it was their responsibility to help make it come real the moment they return home. In a way everyone was satisfied from their visit to Cera's time and have been able to meet so many new people and learn about how wonderful their world would become many years down the line, feeling a newfound sense of ownership for their planet and times, now that they know what would happen it was their responsibility to make sure future generations could enjoy and experience like they have.

However, between a certain group of friends, parting couldn't have hurt more than it had before, as the others looked ahead to see the D Team saying goodbye to one another once again. After shaking hands with Rex, having enjoyed their reunion they all then turned towards their final member who was there to see them off. "So this is it then Cera?" Max asked their best and most trusted friend of all, as she and her father stood outside of the teleporter pad's range and looked on at them with an expression mixed with sadness and joy, "We're really going to say goodbye?" He asked, his heart feeling heavy knowing that this separation from his friends would make him feel a piece would be missing. A sentiment shared by each and every member of the D Team and all those who were impacted by Cera.

Reluctantly she nodded back at him, "I'm afraid so guys." She said to her friends and then looked to each and everyone gathered at the time gate whom she had grown accustomed to and even considered family, "The Shadow empire may be defeated, but we still have much to fix up after our war with them. Not just buildings and homes but also livelihoods and spirits." She said knowing it would be difficult to fix some more than others, and even if it would seem possible to erase everything the Shadow Empire did to them they knew they had to at least try.

"It'll take time to heal I know…." her father then spoke up seriously before smiling with faith and confidence, "But after what we've been through first hand, I now see that it isn't impossible." he then said as he placed a hand on Ceras shoulder which made her smile happy to be comforted by her father, "I know for a fact that we will be able to not only return to the golden age of man and dinosaurs, but perhaps make an even greater era out of the ashes of the old."

"Well said Lunensis," Dr Taylor nodded feeling himself moved by his words, and agreeing with that while one must honour a past that can't be changed whether good or bad, it's important to move forward and never dwell on it.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Jonathan then agreed.

Dr Ancient then stepped forward and bowed down with respect, "It's been an incredible honour to see the future and learn so much about how far humanity and dinosaurs will grow together." He said with gratitude for being granted this chance, something he would never forget ever.

"And that it's something we'll help forge too." His wife Cretacia then said after him, feeling fired up to help get this new dream of their started, and maybe even make it better than how it looked now.

"I'll keep this experience in a special place in my heart forever." Dr Drake breathed dreamily as he recalled vaccinating many dinosaurs with his needle, the sweet sounds of their satisfied cries still signing in his ears as he blushed red and eyes glistened….much to Zoe's and Reese's uneasiness.

On her mind Reese was rather inspired to see how far technology had come through human ingenuity and even childish imagination could give birth to an inspiring future as how she witnessed firsthand, feeling more motivated than ever to help build up the D Lab when she returns.

"Glad you're all happy, that really warms my soul to hear you say that." Lunensis bowed back feeling happy to have not only met but even inspired the great people of the past which made their future a reality.

Max soon held out his hand to Cera, who then shook on it as everyone watched on, feeling warm inside to see such closeness between friends and how even their bonds would span through space and time, "You've been a great member of the D Team and an even greater friend Cera." He said to her.

Rex then put his hand on next, "Yeah, you've always come through for us when we needed help the most and you always knew how to do it." He said nodding in acknowledgement of one of her greatest strengths of all, "We'll be sure to take your example and grow from it too." He added at the end feeling inspired as who great an example she was.

"You're like a diamond in the rough, a once in a lifetime talent! Never ever forget that!" Zoe cheered as she took their hands too with a warm and hopeful smile.

Cera could feel the love in everyone's eyes and hearts, knowing the parting would be painful but at least now something new can start for all of them with this farewell, "Thank you for everything, it's been a total blast." She said promising to never forget their experiences together since the day they met as she looked to each of her other friends behind the D Team.

"Mhmm."

"I totally agree." Rod and Laura nodded along with many more.

"Meh, it wasn't all that bad I guess…." Ursula shrugged her shoulders, knowing she got in their way many times involving the dinosaur cards but in this case she'll let it slide.

"And I thank you all for being able to have looked after and raised my daughter into who she is now." Lunensis then spoke up to them, "You've done a far better job than I could have ever done." How they gave her a safe place to live and on top of that a chance to shine and grow, with friends and experiences she could never have because of the war.

His words had an impact on the D Team and their parents who were honoured to hear such words of praise from such an incredible man who raised an equally stunning girl, "We're really touched to hear you say that." said Dr Ancient, knowing that she helped them almost as or even more than they had done for her.

"You have an incredible daughter Lunensis, we've seen her many special gifts first hand," said Dr Taylor as he put an arm on her father's shoulder as he stepped forward to him, "Promise us you'll take extra good care of her, and raise her into a leader we call can be proud of and to have known." He said with a firm look, to which he shook hands with like men.

"You have my word, all of you." said Lunensis looking to them all, "I will make it so and devote my entire being to it." His answer giving everyone full assurance and comfort in knowing Cera was in great hands when they all returned home.

As they finished the pillars around the time gate began to light up and the pad below them glowed as they all looked around it curiously wondering what was happening.

"The time machine's operational now." said Cera as she looked on a bit hard as their moment of departure had arrived, "There isn't enough power but there's enough to make a time jump for each of you and no more."

"Then let's not waste anymore time then." Seth then spoke up thinking realistically as the others turned serious knowing now was their only chance to go back to their original times and with no more to expense.

"Yeah…." Max breathed with some degree of reluctance as they all gathered in the middle of it, each side dividing in half as the time machine began to register both sides and the right times to send them home to.

As it did, Cera smiled at first seeing they could finally go home and be happy where they belonged, having been sent away from so long they must have missed it….but on closer look she could see that it wasn't completely the case with her best friends. "Are you…okay guys?" she asked them with concern upon noticing they were beginning to tear up rather painfully. Inside she was feeling quite the same but held herself together so she wouldn't show it nor make them feel any worse about parting ways.

"No we're fine Cera…." Zoe sniffled heavily, trying to deny her feelings as she rubbed her eyes and nose, "It's just…..well…."

"We knew this day would come eventually," Max choked as he looked down, "Where we'd have to say goodbye to each other….again…." he said looking to Rex and then back at her.

"But we never thought it would be so soon." Rex added, being more mature he didn't show as much sadness as his friends did though that didn't mean he felt nothing about this parting, "We were focusing so much on fighting and helping your people, we never realise that very day would be just around the corner, right after we finally won….." He sighed believing heir victory to be rather bittersweet if they fought so hard together only to say goodbye to each other again.

"Everyone…." Cera breathed feeling her heart was touched by everything they had done for her, to part ways with them like this was incredibly painful, even more so than any flesh wound. Her father knew this first hand, and decided to let her have the time she deserved with them as the 4 best friends ran out to one another, at the edge of the time gate for one final close up with each other.

"You sure you're all going to be alright?" Zoe asked her feeling worried about who they would fare once the gate would be closed for a long time and they'd be cut off from any kind of help too. If an emergency came up and they couldn't come….

Cera however smiled touched by their concerns before nodding back, "We will, I promise you that." she said with full assurance, "Goma and the other space pirates are taken to our highest security holding facility, which is guaranteed escape proof. Their dinosaurs are also held in our vaults as well so you can rest assured we'll work hard towards freeing them from their influence for good and hopefully rehabilitate them….Plus you're all needed back home more than here." She said which made her friends either nod understandably or frown with sadness that it wasn't fair, "And don't worry, once repairs are complete and the time gate is stabilised, I'll be happy to let you guys have a first class tour of our newly reborn dinotopia with your very own eyes." She then added at the end which made them all beam with excitement.

"That'd be awesome!"

"Really!?"

"You mean it!?" They asked her with hope as she confirmed back with a nod.

"Mhmm."

Her fiends then high fived one another and jumped excitedly with joy and energy, "Yay!"

"Hahaha!" They cheered and laughed as their parents and friends all smiled wanting to be part of it too when their return would come.

"We look forward to it." said Mrs Drake with a nod, while her husband hugged his mega needle tightly with excitement to inject more dinosaurs with new serums he would cook up thanks to advice he picked up from people her win the future.

"I really can't wait to see my great dinosaur kingdom in its true glory! I wouldn't miss it for anything! Ahahaha!" Dr Z laughed with excitement.

"It would no doubt be a sight to behold indeed." Jonathan then commented knowing that it would be absolutely spectacular once the people in Cera's time sorted themselves out completely.

"Till then, we'll be waiting for when we can meet again." Cera herself then said to them as her friends nodded with one another.

"Mhmm."

"It's a promise." said Max and Rex as they shook hands once more and then returned to their respective family sides.

"Take care you all, have a safe journey home and a long fruitful life too." she said to them before eying the last person she thought she would ever thank, "Even you Seth, even you." She said having cast off all old grudges she held at him.

"Heh….." he smiled lightly at her before looking to the others as well, "I suppose I should be thanking you all….for helping me see the light and the truth." He admitted, blinded by his ambitions for so long he finally could understand what future he should have been working towards and now he would devote his entire being to achieving it.

"Glad you finally see it at long last." said Dr Ancient to his former assistant as he and his wife smiled at him and he nodded back.

"And about time too!" Dr Z then growled as Ursula and the others hushed him.

"Ssh! Don't ruin the moment Dr Z…." They scolded which made him frown with shame.

As the light around them glowed even more so, reaching its energy peak and about to send both groups back to their respective eras, they knew their time of departure had arrived. As they stood away from each other, and most of all from Cera herself they smiled brightly with teary eyes once more, "We couldn't have been more proud to have met you."

"Or to have had you on the D Team." said Max and Rex to her.

"You have my word that Dr Z and I will do our absolute best to make our future your present." Dr Ancient added as Rex took his arm and smiled at him.

"We will dad, together." He corrected him as Ancient patted his son on the head.

"That's right son, of course." He smiled ruffling it up a little as Rex chuckled too with it.

Cera felt her heart warmed up seeing such love with one another and she decided to give them one final piece of advice for them to take home with them, "Everyone, don't be sad that our time is over." She said to them, "Just treasure the fact that it did happen and you'll have no regrets. Which goes for every other great moment in your lives, never forget that."

Max and his friends sniffled, as no wiser words had ever been spoken to them, "We will Cera….We will…." He cried wiping away a tear from his eye as Zoe and Rex felt the same way too.

"Friends to the end of time." They all said with one another, as both sides disappeared in red and blue lights which then banished away to their different eras. As the people vanished from the time gate's platform, the entire device let out a dying whirr as it lost all energy and shut down completely…..

As Cera remained fixed where she stood, staring at the now bare platform where all her friends stood earlier, she place a hand on her chest to ease her heart which was crying on the inside for them now that they had left.

Her father, decided to step forth and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she looked up to him with eyes reddened from tears, "Are you…alright Cera?" He found no other words to say and wished he could say more but didn't know the right words.

"Yes….I am…." she then said with a nod, thankfully she soon got over as she knew for a fact this wasn't the end, as she wiped her eyes dry and nodded with full assurance that it was for the best.

Her father then smiled with relief, her past experiences had toughened up her heart and spirit well so he was confident in her maturity to handle this, as he now could at last. He then frowned with slight concern as he looked ahead at the time gate, "Are you certain it's wise that we leave their memories all intact? Wouldn't it affect the future if they knew what will be?" he asked her feeling worry for how their future may change if they had knowledge of what was to come.

Cera however shook her head in response, "They'd never go through it and I wouldn't want to force them through something they'd never willingly do. I trust them with my own life that we can leave the future in their hands." she explained with full confidence in them, that they would help make a better future now that they knew what challenges they may face too along the way and how much better prepared they may be, "And even if they did….." she then smiled, "I'm certain they'd remember it eventually….after all…friendship and bonds do work in the strangest and most powerful ways of all." she said at the end.

"You know Cera." As she looked up to her father he smiled back to her, "I couldn't agree more. You've made excellent friends, and you've grown so much since I last saw you…..perhaps it may have a been a good thing in the end after you disappeared…." he said choking at the end before looking ahead at the time gate, "If she were here, I know your mother would be just as proud of or even more than I am now."

Cera nodded, knowing that while she would have to live on in the world without her mother, whom was the most loving person she had ever met, she knew for a fact that the life she lived now would be one to honour her and many others too of the past. "Well….it's time we did our part dad, and follow their example in moving forward and always believing in the future." She then said to him as they turned around to leave the time room.

"Yes Cera, let's do just that." He nodded in agreement with her as they exited the time room and made their way to the main computer room. As they viewed the many screens lit up around them, they depicted everyone in the resistance and in the towns around the world were rebuilding what they lost from homes to lifestyles.

Kaze and Hua in Gobi Village, helping to reawaken the sick and weak there while the grass dinosaurs helped in replanting the trees in the forests and cleaning the air with them. Marina took it upon herself to perform a dazzling after illusion act as she, sporting an underwater ballerina outfit, danced about in a bubble attack generated by her camarasaurus, before her suchomimus fired out a falling water through it, shooting her into the air as a rainbow formed with the water plashing around and she struck a fantastic pose while remaining atop the geyser her dinosaur fired and bringing bright smiles back to the townsfolk. Blaze and his team supervised the men to make up with their families and even get back to work in the mines, which also acted as the right discipline for some individuals as a fierce saurophanganax watched to make sure they didn't slack off. Finally, Roland and his team were working hard to restore the livelihood to the people of Kalimba Park, as his dinosaurs helped to create barriers against incoming sandstorms and dig holes in the ground in search of water for the villagers who cheered as they struck a new oasis.

The progress of rebuilding and restoring would no doubt be slow and some may not recover completely or maybe never….but overall the majority would fare off better and in due time the scars of battle and war on both body and soul, will fade away and may be no more than an old memory like with previous world wars the earth had seen. It was now made that way thanks to the efforts of the D Team who helped give the people of the future the hope they needed, as the faiths in them for being legends weren't misplaced. "Thank you Max….and everyone too…..We'll always be eternally grateful and never forget what you've done." Cera prayed thankfully in her heart, feeling secure in their future at last, seeing the people and the dinosaurs finally felt true peace at long last, as if they had finally woke up from a terrible nightmare and were ready to begin lives anew.

 **(Meanwhile)**

"Now let's see if this works." Inside her lab, Raina was typing away at her latest invention which was a large computer linked to a scanner which was shaped like that of a weighing scale. She had just finished keying in the necessary configurations and she smiled seeing it was ready for use, "Using a sample of one's DNA I'll be able to trace back that person's lineage to as far as 500 generations! Oh how intriguing it'll be to learn about one's family history and past achievements." She smiled to herself eager to learn about a person's lineage, and she knew exactly whom to start with as she used a set of tweezers and reached into a small box she had with her near her lab table, and form it she took out a small strand of strawberry red hair which she eyed closely with a smile.

"With a strand of hair from Lieutenant Sauria, I'll see if there's anything within her family's heritage allows her to be so adept and connected with dinosaurs as she is now." She thought to herself as she placed the piece of Cera's hair in the scanner and it glowed upon recognising the DNA from the strand. As it did, Cera's face lit up on the screen and tracing from her was a very long line of ancestors, many of which ranged from wold class dino duelists across history to famous fossil hunters. At first as Raina looked over the results she kept a rather emotionless look as if she wasn't at all surprised…..till 2 results caught her eye which made her cover her mouth in surprise, "Oh my!"

She took off her glasses and rubbed them with a cloth to make sure she was seeing right before putting them back on and looking closer. As she did and confirmed for herself she was seeing correctly, she then giggled in amusement at fate's sense of humour, "Hee hee, well with evidence such as this, it shouldn't be too surprising as to why she's so gifted." She thought to herself before smiling intently at the screen, "You really are the luckiest girl alive Cera, and truly you'll become the bridge which connects us people with the dinosaurs." She commented as she sat up from her chair and decided to leave the room and get some other work done somewhere else, "And it'll be an honour to watch you carve that future with your own hands." She said at the end as she exited the room.

On the screen it depicted right in the middle of her family lineage, depicted Max Taylor and Zoe Drake together at the top before a line joined them both which then stretched all the way down till it ended at an orange haired girl which connected right with Rex Ancient, before the line between the both of them lead up to Maia, Cera's mother….before finally ending at her…..

 **(Meanwhile)**

Far away from the mainland shore stood a large menacing island which had large stone walls built around its sheer steep cliffs. Heavy winds and storms blew across the sea as the waves crashed upon the walls and the many sharp poitned rocks surrounding the island's perimeter, making it impossible to approach by sea. In the waters around the island swam some futabasaurus and muraenosaurus on patrol along with a school of opthalmosaurus splashing around after fish in the area. Inside behind the walls, was a teleport panel which was the only means of accessing or leaving the island, as a pair of troopers stood upon it and disappeared only to be replaced by a pair of female guards who were rotating their shifts.

Inside was a menacing looking prison, shaped to look like a tyrannosaurus' skull built into a giant rocky mountain in the middle of the island. The mouton had mechanical parts sticking around and fused with the rock, with barbed wires lining its walls and security cameras equipped alongside the walls of the barrier or by walkways, which were all viewed in the security room which was fortified by layers of heavily encrypted security systems and alert guards who kept a visual. Around the skies surrounding it were pterosaurs like pteranodon and tapejara swooping around, gliding about the warm air currents while keeping a sharp eye out for any suspicious movement and activities on the outside. A few dinosaurs like megaraptor or tarbosaurus were also patrolling along the different levels of the prison with their human partners as they guarded the most heavily fortified criminal holding facility on the planet, all this security was necessary for it housed the most dangerous criminals the world or better yet the universe had ever seen.

In a certain area of the prison caverns, unlike the others which had metallic bolted doors and bars to keep human criminals in, one of them was equipped with security stasis containment fields which acted as walls to seal in 5 dangerous individuals who were now taking the time to….settle into their new home as well as one another's permanent company…..

"Rock a' bye baby on the treetop! When the wind blows the cradle will rock!" Specter sang, while covered in bandages and bruises all over his face with even a black eye, as he clapped his hands together and puckered his lips while Sheer and Foolscap covered their ears in agony! They each suffered broken limbs as well as bite marks from carnivores all over their faces too.

"Boss! Please stop with the nursery rhymes already!"

"Yeah! I can hardly sleep with that horrible noise tearing my eardrums!" They whined as they lay on the ground begging to be put out of their misery so they wouldn't need to endure a second more of their boss' horrendous voice. The solitude and insults from the guards they could take, the pain from their injuries and beatings they took in Antartica were just bearable, the rotten gruel meals they were being fed was just tolerable and no more, but they all paled in comparison to their boss' non stop solo performance which he just couldn't get enough of.

"How dare you doubt my sweet sensational serenade!?" He shouted out at them taking offence, "And here I was trying to sing a lullaby to help us all get some shut eye!"

"I don't know, Goma seems to like it just fine." Gavro muttered as he looked up from where he was, with a bandage covering one eye, an icepack on his forehead and feeling very bored being cooped up in his full body cast and being unable to move, as he looked out from his cell to the far end of the cavern, where a large and dark stasis chamber was and no sound was heard from inside.

"Huh!?" Foolscap and Sheer widened their eyes in surprise as they heard not a peep or even a complaint from their former master inside, even though they couldn't see him it was obvious he could hear them as well as they could hear one another and they were bewildered beyond belief as to how he had such tolerance.

"I don't believe it…."

"It's a miracle how he's actually able to sleep through all that." They each muttered, feeling envious of him being so strong willed and able to endure, as they gritted their teeth and began to curse him under their breath for having all the luck.

Gavro meanwhile lay down on his stomach and rested his head in his shoulder, while Specter clapped his hands together and blushed red with love and affection, "Aww, deep down he's still my little boy!" He cheered in a jolly manner before clearing his throat, "Now to take it from the top one more time!" He cried as he took in a deep breath and prepared his throat for his biggest note of all!

Foolscap and Sheer with widened their eyes and waved out their hands pleadingly, "W…Wait!"

"Stop!" They begged but their words fell on deaf ears.

"Twinkle twinkle little star!" Specter's horrendous voice echoed through the caverns causing the ears of his minions to ring and throb with pain as they revered over them and cried in agony!

"NOOOO!" It was clear that none of them were going to be getting any sleep tonight…..well…almost none of them….

Goma in his dark cell, was bound up by a very powerful straightjacket which was made nearly of titanium chainmail, which bound up his arms completely around him. His legs were tied together by a set of long belts, and his body was also restraint to the walls by a set of huge chain cuffs, with cameras aimed at him as he slept seemingly peacefully, with a mouthpiece covering over most of his face with nothing but a breathing hole as deep heavy breathing sounded from it. To him there was something far more humiliating and torturous to him than his father's singing, and that was is complete and utter defeat by the D Team, the ruination of his plans and the fall of his mopier which was gnawing at his heart and completely blinded his other senses as his entirety of being was focused solely on getting revenge and nothing else. He opened his eyes which glowed purple as he snarled and hissed through his teeth, biding his time and waiting patiently for the day he would rise once again…..

"This…isn't….over….." He breathed heavily as a sinister dark grin formed underneath his mouth cover, "Hehehehe….." He chuckled to himself eager for the day he would return, and deep down he knew will come soon and when it did, he would have his revenge and so much more…..

 **And thus concludes the story of Dinosaur Queen, glad for some of you sticking with this story to the very end and really appreciated your support which helped keep me going at many times when I felt like giving up.**

 **As stated here it shows how the story comes full circle, how the Resistance uncovered the stone circle and pillar (from the DS game where it's given a more prominent role here) and built their entire HQ around it, as well as to the final defeat of the Shadow Empire. How you enjoyed it, and in the arcade game how there's a golden bird move which erases all other attacks? I had the golden Pterosaur based off that for the final blow! As for Chomp going both super and armoured at the same time, it's a one time thing only though, a cool idea I thought what if they were combined? It may be too powerful for a dinosaur to handle at first but Miku was with Chomp as they embraced the power of the entire world's hope and light together so that can be a legit explanation for it.**

 **Enjoy the twist at the end? Where Cera is actually a descendant of the D Team?**

 **Hope I managed to end off the story well and that you enjoyed it as a whole. Feel free to give my profile a favourite so you can stay up to date in the event I decide to post another story on Dinosaur King, I have some plans for one which continues after this one, I just hope I can see it through too.**

 **Hope you all enjoy the new year to come too. Thanks and till next time.**

 **In response to reviews-**

 **tsukikami02**

 **-Perhaps now you see things have reached a happy ending, hope it's too your liking too. Thanks for being such a great help and would appreciate your idea for the flashback and writing it too.**

 **Lunensis entrusted her with eoraptor indeed since he didn't want her going in defenceless and he needed to remain behind as the last line of defence.**

 **Drew Luczynski**

 **-Hope this conclusion was worth the wait and thanks for reading it and for your support.**


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